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Yisro - 7th Portion
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Join me as we learnish
for the seventh vers for Shab is paras
Isra the seventh Torah reading of
parishes Israel chapter 20 verse1 15
yesterday we learned the ten
commandments and as God gave the Jewish
people the ten commandments the first
two that God said himself the other
eight that Moshe said and God amplified
for the Jewish people to the to Torah
continues to tell us about the reaction
of the Jewish people at the Ten
Commandments. Verse 15,
the Jewish people all witnessed God's
voice and the voices and the flames and
the blast of the chauffeur
and the mountain smoking
and the Jewish people saw it and they
shuddered
and they stood from a distance.
What does it mean? They all saw that
nobody was blind.
How do you know that nobody was mute?
That they all answered that everybody
was healed. How do you know that there
was nobody deaf there? Because the verse
says
we will do and when we hear from here we
see that everybody mount si by the
giving of the Torah all people from all
illnesses were healed.
How is it possible for them? I should
say that they heard the voices. What
does it mean they saw the voices? But
this was one of the miraculous events
that occurred.
They saw what can be heard.
Was not able to hear it see it any other
place.
That means they saw what was heard in
which is impossible in any other place.
What are the voices
from the god when he spoke
and they shuddered?
meaning that they shudder, they shook
and they were takenback by it
and they stood from a distance. What
does this mean?
That means they were shuttered and
because of that they were thrown back 12
meal
like the distance of their camps. And
when would happen was
and then the angels would come and push
them forward. So they would go back to
the people that were standing in the
back and everybody was pushed back.
As it says
that the angels will push them forward.
Verse 16.
They said to Moshe,
"You speak with us. We will listen.
But let not God speak with us lest we
die." Verse 17.
And Moshe spoke to the people, you know,
don't be afraid.
Do not be afraid because God has come in
order to raise you up to make you great
so that you should have your fear. You
should be imbued with the awe of Hashem
on your faces
so that you should not sin.
The word over here means it does not
mean necessarily it doesn't mean over
here to challenge but the word nasis
comes from the word n like a mass led to
uplift you.
in the world
that people should know in the nations
that people will hear that God revealed
himself to the Jewish people. God
himself revealed himself to the Jewish
people. The word nasis as Rashi explains
means to uplift you to make you great
like we see in other places in Isaiah
lift them up over the nations
which means that to stand them up tall
they should see from distance
because the very fact that you today saw
God
you'll be afraid you'll have the awe of
God imbued within you for now for
eternity that you'll know that there's
nothing else beyond God.
And yet the people stood from a distance
while Moshe drew near through the thick
cloud
where God was present
within the three different uh
partitions. For example, because we
mentioned before, if you look in the
verse, there's three different
partitions of how dark where God was in
the presence of God. There was darkness,
then there was then there was a cloud,
then the thick cloud, as we learned in
the as we learned in the book of
Deuteronomy
that the mountain was inflamed until the
heaven. And there were three levels,
a a darkness, a cloud, and a thick
cloud.
This what we call is the thickness of a
cloud that we learned before.
that I come to you in the thickness of a
cloud. Verse 19,
God said to Moshe, "So too, you should
tell the Jewish people,
you have seen that from the heaven I
have spoken to you.
Use this terminology.
you have seen.
There's a big difference to what people
see and to what people tell you about
what they have seen.
Because what other people tell you
because sometimes you believe it or
sometimes you don't. And therefore you
can sometimes say maybe I never saw it.
Maybe the guy's lying
cannot be incor could be incorrect. This
was before AI that people can make up
things.
And one verse tells you that God came
down Mount Si.
A third verse says and he says it came
from the heaven. So which one was it? In
one verse it says I spoke you from
heaven. In another verse it says that
God came down on from that God spoke to
you from God came down Mount Si. So
which is it? Therefore, I have a third
verse that comes and tells me the
conclusion and makes a decision between
the two of the conflicting verses.
What's the says
from heaven you heard my voice to warn
you and on heaven on earth
flame meaning where was God's glory and
honor in heaven that means that's where
you heard the voice from but however the
great flame the fire the awesomeness the
strength was on the earth that means
what the Jewish people saw was on earth
God's presence his honor his glory was
in heaven another
As we mentioned earlier said that God
took the heaven and the lower parts of
the heaven and spread them out like a
sheet on the mountain
as it says that God stretched out the
heaven and it came down upon them. And
therefore the voice that came was also
from the mountain and they were both
intertwined interlocked one with the
other. Verse 20.
Do not make for yourself. Do not you
should not make with me idols of silver,
idols of gold. You should not make for
yourself. What does this mean?
What does it mean? You should not make
with me. So explains,
don't think that you can make images of
what you saw in heaven for idolatry.
Don't make such type of images that
things that help me up in heaven, so to
speak, to make for your own beauty for
idolatry.
And this is also even though it may not
be for idolatry but the distance
themselves that it shouldn't come to
idolatry.
It's coming to warn them and tell them
about the will be on top of the ark
that you're going to make that's going
to be eventually in the holy of holies.
Don't make them of silver.
That means if you're not going to follow
exactly the way God tells you to make
those then you did it wrong. Not only
did you do it wrong, it's considered
idolatry. So when God tells you to make
the crew of matter of gold have to be
gold and not silver
comes to tell you I sell you make two
crew and not more. Don't add on to it.
If you made four
then as if you're making idolatry it's
as if you're making idols
don't make it for you.
Don't say that I'm going to make in our
synagogues, in our holy places, I want
to make it like they make in other
places. No, don't even make it for you.
That means don't make for you what they
make in other places, even though you
have other intentions.
Verse 21,
the altar you shall make for me shall be
directly upon the earth. And you'll
bring on it as your sacrifices and your
peace offerings your sheep as your
cattle
and any place that you will mention my
that wherever I allow my name to be
mentioned
I will come to you and I will bless you
verse 21
not that it's made earth and have to be
connected in the earth
don't build it on top of pillars I'll be
buses or on top of a foundation Another
thing is that the actual inside of the
altar they would fill with earth. That's
why even in the holy temple, not only in
the tabernacle would they fill the
inside with earth, but even in the holy
temple there was a spot that that was
the only place that was untiled and the
altar had to sit directly on the earth.
When you build it, it has to be for my
sake. Meaning, do not take a ready-made
altar and use it as an altar. It has to
be built for the purpose of a sacrifice.
You'll bring sacrifices
meaning on it.
Have to be specifically honored.
Therefore, later on in the book of
Deuteronomy, it says the flesh and the
blood will go directly in the altar.
The actual slaughtering did not have to
be was not done on the actual altar. The
slaughtering was done on the side. And
then they brought those flesh and blood
and put it on the altar. I said, "What
is it? What are you going to bring those
peace offerings and burnt offerings
from? They're going to be used from your
sheep and your cattle and your
does this language of using
meaning that those sacrifices that
you're going to bring are going to be
not from any type of animal that you
want. It's going to have to be
specifically from sheep and the cattle
that I enumerate.
ask any place and Rashi continues what
does it mean not any place where you
mention my name
that I give you permission to mention my
name
God's name it's written
I will come there and bless you what
does it mean
I will make my divine presence there
from here we learn a very important
lesson
you're not allowed to mention God's Holy
pure name only in a place where the
divine presence comes through. What is
it?
That's in the holy temple. The holy
temple was the only place one was
allowed to mention God's holy name.
There was the place that the had the
permission to mention God's special
name. And this was done when the would
give the blessing to all the people to
bless the nation. And that was the only
time in the blessing that they would use
the shish to God's special holy name.
And as well as when the holy going would
go into the holy of holies would also
say it as well.
Verse 22.
But if you're going to make a altar of
stones,
don't build it with whose
because you'll lift your sword on it but
and that will desecrate it and will
profane it.
Stones meaning that it shouldn't be
carved out stones.
What does it mean? If you're going to
build a stoneish
says and this is an interesting debate
that we have when the word if when it
says
is does that mean if if you so happen to
do it or is it an obligation that that's
the way you should do it says
that any time that the Torah says it's
giving you permission to do it in stone
but it doesn't mean you have to do it.
So
when you will build it out of stone
when you'll build an altar out of stone
says don't use chiseled out stones
and so too in other places
and or you can learn when it will come a
time when you have an obligation to
build an altar of stones.
You should build your altar out of
complete stones.
So to and you have if you will happen to
loan money to somebody it's an
obligation
if you shall do it
if you will bring
it's not dependent on the will of the
person there are obligatory
that means the word if means not if you
would like to do it it's only when so in
this case when you will do it and not
that if you have a choice if I want to
bring the or if I would like to do it.
In these cases, the im is talking about
you have an obligation to do so. As we
see when it comes to building the altar
of stones, it tells us as we see later
on when it will come the time as it says
in the book of Deuteronomy that you will
build the actual altar of complete
stones. So it's not if you want to, it's
when you're obligated when you will do
it. So this im in this case means when.
Gazis means actually carved out stones.
The word gazes comes from the word cut
out
that a person cuts them and carves them
when them with different metal
materials. Why?
Because you lifted your sword on them
and it desecrates them. This key
because maybe you'll use your sword
there maybe.
Maybe you'll lift your sword on it and
it desecrates it. What does it teach us?
that even on a stone which is not carved
out and you use the sword on it then
profains it.
Why is that? Because the altar is there
to lengthen the life of a person
and metal
is there that shortens the life of a
person.
So isn't it appro it's not appropriate
that you should use something that
shortens a person's life on something
that makes a person's life long so
the altar is there to make peace between
the Jewish people and God in heaven
therefore one should make sure to have
respect for it
that somebody who wants to destroy and
to cut should not be there
and isn't this a lesson that we can
learn from how much more
If stones that don't see or hear and
don't speak
and still in all the Torah says because
they bring peace, we should not put
metal on them. How much more so?
If the Torah tells us, how much more so
when it comes to an altar, which this
altar that the stones don't hear or see,
and still in all the Torah says that
they bring peace amongst people, how
much more so and therefore
not only does this bring peace, but it
should also bring punishment. It
shouldn't bring desecration. It
shouldn't bring disaster amongst people
as well. For that reason, there's a hal
in go to Jewish law that when it comes
to benching, the person should take off
the knife off the table because the
table is considered as an as an altar.
Benching is considered bringing peace
and also lengthens a person's life. And
therefore, before we bench, we take the
knives off the table as well. Verse
23.
You should not go with steps on to my
you should not ascend to the altar with
steps
so that your nakedness should not be
exposed over it.
When you build a ramp to the altar,
don't make it steps.
It should be smooth and straight. Why?
Because when a person goes on steps,
you need to then make big steps. You
have to lengthen your your steps
even though it's not revealing the
nakedness literally
wearing pants and it was covering their
nakedness
making large steps that's close to
revealing nakedness
and it's not respectful.
And over here again, we learn something
so important from these stones.
These stones, they don't have any
knowledge. They don't know how
somebody's going to embarrass them or
not. They're stones. But the Torah says
because they're important and they're
used for a holy item.
Don't do anything that's embarrassing.
Don't do anything which is disgraceful
on it.
Your friend
who is in the image of God, in the image
of your creator, how much more so
You have to make sure to be careful not
to embarrass him and not to do anything
which is disgraceful towards your
friend.
This concludes the Torah reading of
Paras Israel.