Yisro - 7th Portion

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.