Rabbi Mordechai Kraft - Foundations of Relationship & Marriage

So, let's begin. You know, I I wanted to just present something to you this morning that I think is both you know, it's it's intriguing, it's fascinating. It's a little bit deals with a very radical statement made about Moshe Rabbeinu in this week's parashah, which is kind of something we're going to read and it's going to be unnerving a little bit. And I'm going to take us through an explanation of Maharal of Prague. And by doing so, I think we're going to accomplish a number of goals. Goal number one, we're just going to understand how when our sages say something that appears so strange and so radical, the depth of what the explanation is behind that. And that's something the Maharal does. And I think this particular explanation we're going to learn understand a little bit about relationships in general, and especially interaction, male-female, and um get a deeper insight into what marriage is. It's It's It's something for me this particular class with It is very foundational on many levels, okay? And it's certainly going to be It's The The starting point is going to be parashah Korach. And but we're going to by we're going to look and we're going to understand something I think that's going to just touch us on again on many many different areas. Okay, so that's that's the goal we're going to try to do right now. What Let's take a look at at at the parashah just for a moment. And in the parashah we know the story of Korach. So, we ended we ended yesterday's class or the last few days of class we were we explored colors together. The reds, the whites, the blues. And we The conclusion The conclusion of that discussion really brought us right to parashah Korach. Because he dressed everybody up in the khevrah in blue. And he was making a statement by that. The statement he was trying to to say to Moshe Rabbeinu was that, you know, we we all want to go for the goal. We all want kedusha. We all we all holy. We don't need a process. And that's what blue represents, the ultimate piece of cover, the blue of call. The call this means all. The root of the call is call which means it all comes together. Everything comes together. And there's a truth in his argument. And and as we know, a good argument is has some truth. You know, a good falseness has some truth. He was saying something absolutely true. You know, the goal is to get to that blue. And maybe, you know, what do we need? You know, why do we need all the details if we want to strive for the holiness? So, the answer to the question is is of course that there's a process. And the process requires what we call tahara, going from white going from reds to whites. And that was our our code word yesterday. So, I hope that that system works, you know, for us all. You know, if you have any questions, you know, please ask me about it. You know, I think it is helpful in the red, white, blue scheme and I'm really understanding the vision of Judaism through it. That that we try to take the physical world and bring out that white light, bring out that white color, bring out that that wisdom. Now, in in the parshas Korach, so in the attack against Moshe Rabbeinu, you know, again, it was Korach was a a direct relative. He was a first cousin. He was a extraordinary talmid chacham. He was also one of the wealthiest men in Klal Yisrael. He really had it all. He had He had a degree of jealousy. And he started fomenting this rebellion against Moshe. And this rebellion was very difficult for Moshe to to to accept because Moshe did everything l'shem Shamayim. He didn't want any kavod. He He didn't even want the position. Remember at the early in in when Hashem appears to him at the tells him to go down to Misrayim to rescue the Jewish people. So he says, "Aharon, take Aharon. Aharon's my older brother. He should do it. He's been leading the Jewish nation. I've been in Midian for all these years. Uh why me? You know, so so we see his level of anivut, his level of humility. And therefore for the, you know, for people to accuse him of usurping power and wanting power and and nepotism and and appointing his brother, you know, to be the Kohen Gadol was a command of Hashem was extraordinarily difficult for him. Now, Chazal say something else. And this is what we're going to right now. Our sages say they accuse Moshe Rabbeinu of something else. Now, hold on to your hold on to your to your to your seats for this one. So I'll read you the verse. The pasuk says in the in the beginning of the parsha, again, this is to be the pasuk. It says that Yakov al Moshe, they gathered against Moshe and Aharon. They yell at him and they said to them, "Rav lachem. You've taken too much for yourself. Ki chol ha'eidah kulam kedoshim u'visocham Hashem. The entire nation is holy. U'visocham Hashem, Hashem is amongst all of us all of us. Madua hisna'su kol ha'eidah al Moshe? Why have you elevated yourselves above the entire Jewish people?" That's their attack. Right? There should be equality. There should be democracy. There shouldn't be a a leadership where some people are given greater responsibility and power. And and there's some truth to that also, by the way. You know, but there's some falseness in it. We do have a system of experts and we have to rely on experts and there's sometimes different people do different things. And then, listen to this. He says, "Vayishma Moshe." Moshe listens. "Vayipol al panav." he hears and he falls on his face. So people are bothered by that. What do you mean he heard? Of course he heard. He heard, he just we just spoke to him. What do you mean he listened and he heard? And he reacts to it very dramatically. He falls down, he can't stand. So again there's something in Moses' response which seems to be a little strange. They come with the attack. He listens, of course he listens, he just was speaking to them. Why is it hard to say he heard? Sounds like he heard something else. And whatever he heard causes him to fall down. So this is what I say to say. And again this can be found in in in tractate Sanhedrin folio 100 page 110. The Yishma Moshe The Yishma Moshe Yipol al Panav And Moshe heard and he fell on his face. So Mashma Oshma Shama What hearing did he hear? Of course I mean again, the Torah doesn't waste words. He just spoke to him and he heard. Of course he heard. What What does that mean and he heard? It says Mashma Oshma What hearing did he hear? Amar Resh Lakish bar Nachmani Amar Rebbi Yochanan Said Resh Lakish bar Nachmani Amar Rebbi Yochanan Said Resh Lakish bar Nachmani Amar Rebbi Yochanan She Chashdu al Ishes Ish They suspected him of Ishes Ish She Nemar Vayikaneu oto Moshe Nachon As the pasuk says and they were jealous of Moshe in the camp. What did he hear? He heard an amazing and shocking complaint against him. They suspected him of being involved with other people's wives. Did you hear that? It's called asusish. Asusish is one of the explicit violations of the Ten Commandments. It's um one of the most severe crimes um of immorality a person could commit. It says "B'chasheduhu" he heard. This is what he heard. He heard something not just what they're saying. He heard a shmuah. Shmuah means like a rumor. He heard something floating in the camp that he was in violation of asusish. They accused him of infidelity with all of the women in the camp. And it says as the possuk says that that's a possuk in Tehillim. It says "Vayikane'u l'Moshe u'l'Aharon." Dovid Hamelech says it in Tehillim. "Vayikane'u l'Moshe u'l'Aharon." And they were jealous of Moshe in the camp. Jealousy. Amora Shmuel bar Yitzchak in the Gemara continues and says "Amora Shmuel bar Yitzchak says "A shmuah this on Yitzchak m'lamed that teaches us "Shekol echad v'echad kineh es ishto m'Moshe." Every man was jealous of Moshe regarding his own wife. She namar it says "UMoshe yakach es ohelo v'not l'vikuach l'Aharon." And what What was Moshe's response to that? He took his tent and he camped outside of the camp. He left. Moshe went out of the camp. Why? Because people were suspecting him of infidelity. Okay, everybody. What do we do with this one? Yeah? Are we working on this? This is a uh a shocking accusation against Moshe Rabbeinu. And again, what's How does it fit into the words? It fits into the words because it says "Vayishma Moshe." He he said to him they came to Korach and Korach means complaint and he said that we're all holy. All of the Jewish nation stood at our Sinai. You know, why have you usurped all this power for yourself? And then the possuk says, by Yishmael motion. And Moshe heard. What do you mean he heard? Standing right there, of course he heard. No, he heard something else. He heard a shmuah. Shmuah in Hebrew means a rumor. And what did that And that And that And that rumor caused him to fall down physically on his face. And to take his tent to move outside of the camp, according to the Gemara. And again, what did the accusers mouth? What does the Gemara say? The Gemara says Gemara Sanhedrin. So, I'm saying to you that our telling us what's what this possuk this verse is referring to. Again, let me read it one more time, the Gemara. It says by Yishmael motion, he fell upon him. And Moshe fell on his hearing and fell on his face. My shmuah shama, what did he hear? Rishmael bar Nachmani amora Yochanan. Rishmael bar Nachmani says in the name of Yochanan, shekhashduhu al ishto she They suspected him of infidelity. Immorality. She nemar as it says in the name of Hillel, be kind in the motion of machan David hamelech says this. And they were jealous of Moshe in the camp. Amora Shmuel bar Yitzchak says Amora Shmuel bar Yitzchak, vilam me shiko echad me echad, every man kinat ishto me ishto me Moshe. Was kinah, was jealous of his wife regarding Moshe. She nemar Moshe yikach ishto al yedey natla me chutz le machan. As the possuk said, and therefore Moshe went outside the camp and camped outside the camp. Okay, everybody. Go ahead. Any questions on this? What do we do with this? What do we do with this statement of our sages? I mean, how much more shocking can it be? Talk about so shocking, I didn't want to include it in the title of the when I you know I often times put a title to the class and when I put it on the the WhatsApp chat, I didn't want to put that. But they accused Mosha of infidelity because I didn't want the people to see it and you know and just be so shocked. But it's it's a shocking statement. How could that be? How could they accuse Mosha of infidelity? It's almost beyond belief. But I think there are different times when this technique used every day. So they are used to this technique. Unfortunately. So go ahead What do you mean? Say again. I didn't understand say What do you What do you mean? I mean that people accuse powerful people in infidelity. That's true. But but number one, one would think Mosha was so above criticism. I mean it's and infidelity? And not only that, it says every man accused him of infidelity. It's one thing to say, you know, find one woman somewhere or something. No, every man accused him. Or was concerned was jealous of his wife regarding Mosha. How could that be? How could it be every man in the class Israel? Every man? So how do we understand that? That that's really what the the issue is. How could that be? It's it's it's such a wild accusation it boggles the mind. And you know, that that that What do we do What do we do with the statement of our sages? How do we understand this? I get double the Malik refers to it in the Tehillim. King David says it in Tehillim. The kind of the Mosha Ben Nachman. They were jealous of Mosha in the camp. And what were they jealous of? They were jealous of the fact that men suspected Mosha of of some sort of infidelity with the wives. So where does that How do we How do we not that? What do we do with this? So, when when when you read a statement like this, which is so you know, so you know that that's so absurd, so wild an accusation, it must mean obviously that there's some deep explanation to it. It must mean that this is a code word. These are codes to give us some deep understanding of who Moshe was and about his relationship to Klal Yisrael, what was all that. And that's what we want to explore right now. It can't It can't be taken on face value. It's It's It's It's It's too huge. It's too wild. Every man accuses Moshe of infidelity. Every man How could that be? I mean, it you know, it just doesn't make sense. So, what I'd like to look at right now are really two things. We're going to look together at a a Malbim and a Maharal. Both deal with this question in slightly different ways. But, what they do demonstrate to us is number one when our sages say things which are very difficult to understand how we have to penetrate and we have to understand and analyze it in order to get the depth of what they're saying. And the depth of what they're saying is is is very very powerful and very meaningful. So, let's see if we can understand this statement. But, if you just read it we'd certainly be very very bothered by it, you know, by this type of accusation. True? Is that a good point? Should be almost like shocked. What? Moshe Rabbeinu accused of infidelity with every woman of the Jewish nation? Like that wasn't I didn't learn that in Hebrew school. You know? They didn't teach me that. That's not in Right? That's not I I never heard that before. So, let's understand what it means and our our main our main target's going to be the Maharal of Prague. But first, let's take a look at at the uh Kli Yakar. What's one of the great muforshim on Torah was the Kli Yakar. The Kli Yakar says like this. He says, "Dov is over Hochman and Sekhel Mu'ad." He says something like this is too distant from the human mind to comprehend. It says in the beginning, "Kabbalah Yafina." He goes, "I don't I don't goes I don't really have an explanation." Kiman Yima Shulchan Shushan Shulchan Zeh Hayah Bizman Zeh Davka Ein Lo Remez BaPosuk. He said, "Where do you get this from?" His question is, "I don't see this anywhere." So, he's bothered by this. This is something people are are bothered by. There's no hint to this anywhere. So, therefore, when there's no hint to it, it's obviously must be coming from a place which is uh is much higher. So, there there a question? So, we have a question? Okay. Now, what does the Maharal say in this? Um well, I should go right to Maharal. We'll go to Maharal. The Maharal, who was the Maharal of Prague? The Maharal of Prague was Rabbi Yehudah Loewy, Yehudah Leib Loewy, and he lived in most basically in Prague years 1520-1609. So, Yeah, I'm sorry. The Maharal of Prague was probably the the greatest sages really of the whole 16th century. The 1520 to 1609, he covered the 1500s. And he wrote a huge amount of of philosophical writings. And you can actually visit his his cavern today in in Prague. Yeah, I'm going to explain I'm going to explain the accusation. So, it it and we'll do it through the Maharal of Prague. So, again, the Maharal we call him the Maharal, we call him the Rabbi Judah Loewy, Judah Loewy, Loewy. You can visit his grave and the shul where he was the rav in Prague today. I've been there a number of times with different Amud groups. A very beautiful place to go and to see, especially his kever. And he wrote different works. And in about five places he addresses this question. So, I'm I'm just going to take us to to to two of them right now. So, first of all, he says, the Maharal of Prague says, one way to understand this is that it's very interesting. Because what does it mean that the dark Moshe Rabbeinu to say how can you suspect Moshe Rabbeinu of of aishes ish? Aishes ish means being involved with another man's wife. That that's too that's the you know, as the Kli Yakar said, that's too distant from the human mind to comprehend. So, that's what he says. You ask to us Moshe Rabbeinu aishes ish, what could it mean? You have Kli Yisrael and Hakadosh Baruch Hu who are by Yisrael. So, he wants to first explanation, he wants to say, this is a very this is a this is a metaphor. The Kli Yisrael are designated to Hakadosh Baruch Hu Hashem for whom Baal Yisrael. Hashem, so to speak, is the husband of Kli Yisrael. In other words, in our relationship, the Jewish nation's relationship with with with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, with Hashem, it's a relationship of like a husband and wife. And Hashem, so to speak, is the husband in this context, we receive from Hashem, and therefore the the nature of the Jewish nation has more of a feminine aspect and more and more like a wife in this in this respect. So, he says, the high note that's what he means. The high note who are class A sham really you know, is sort of the we all belong to a sham as it were. Look at the doctor that that's why he said I am the doctor of her. And therefore the the the followers of Korach accused Moshiach he said He said, "You're not the only one who heard the words from a sham. You're not the only one who heard who was at our Sinai. That's to say Korach You know, what does that mean? He's saying in other words He said like this. What what what's what does infidelity mean? What's the aspect of of of of interfering with someone else's marriage? If there's a special relationship between husband and wife and someone else walks in there and disrupts that and so and so to speak says, "You know, I I'm I'm going to take the place of the husband." That's called infidelity, immorality. If a sham so to speak is the husband of class and all of a sudden Moshiach steps in and Moshiach says, "I'm the communicator. I'm going to be the one who's going to bring down the word of God to you. You have to go through me so to speak to get to a sham. Of course, everyone has direct relationship with a sham. We're not talking in any way this Christian model in any means. You know, and then everyone has direct communication but Moshiach is that primary teacher. As we know that at our Sinai the first thing you should know what did a sham say at our Sinai? A sham says in front of class so you know, Moshiach is to be your teacher. Moshiach is the one I'm speaking through so listen to Moshe, he is direct he is the direct communicator of me. Of course, Korach does that in front of the entire Jewish nation, so the Jewish nation should should understand that Moshe isn't just making it up, he's getting it from Hashem, he's not usurping power. But still, the fact that Moshe, so to speak, is sort of this liaison between the message of Hashem and the Jewish nation. If our relationship with Hashem is such like a marriage, so what's this middle party doing there? That's like the sense of of immorality. That's the sense like a a man kind of interfering in a marriage. So, the first explanation of Maharal is he says, this is what this is part of their accusation. When Korach came and said, you're seizing too much power. You know, we're all holy. So, what does that mean? He says like this, he says, "Who am I that I should say I know you well you are the Korach." We all heard God say, "I'm the Lord your God." Make me a from up from from Hashem's mouth. That's the same BP as the double gamma of the Korach and the Omer. Should not be applied as well. So, what are you coming in and saying you're the navi? You're the prophet for the Jewish nation. What are you doing interfering with our relationship with Hashem? This is like a this is like you're like a you're like an usurper. Like another man coming into the marriage. Should look at stuff. You want to take away it's like a man coming to the marriage. Why do you take away someone's wife? Where the wife according to to Hashem as it were. And you're coming in, so to speak, and you want to take us away from the husband. That's the definition of infidelity. Look, do you hear that everybody a little bit? In other words, the first explanation of Maharal is the accusation again wasn't literal. You weren't accusing Moshe being God forbid of of of of being intimate with all the women of Klal Yisrael. They're saying "Our relationship with Hashem is such that we all have a direct relationship with God. He's the husband for us. He's our Baal. And Moshe Rabbeinu, you're coming in and saying you're the navi for everybody. You're the prophet for everyone. You're that that liaison. You're that link. What are you doing to interfere with our relationship?" Just like a man walks into the relationship between a husband and wife and interferes with it. That's infidelity. You're interfering where you don't belong. That was their accusation. Now, that fits very nicely because that's really what they were accusing Moshe of. We all stood at Har Sinai. We all were there. We're all kedoshim. We all heard Hashem say, "Anochi Hashem Elokecha, I'm your God." Moshe, why are you coming in now and you know, we're coming in and interfering with our relationship?" Now, again, that accusation was based on jealousy because they all did what the God said that Moshe is to be the intermediary. But when jealousy gets in and wants to look for a reason, like Korach's case, why he wants the power. We could hear this is a good argument to foment against Moshe. You know, you are exactly like an usurper in a marriage. You're guilty of infidelity. You're interfering with our relationship with the Kodesh Baruchu, and we all have the right and to that relationship. He's our all of our husbands. What are you doing saying you have the teachings come through you, that you make these decisions? You're interfering. That's what adultery is. That's what That's what infidelity is, isn't it? What a beautiful explanation. They heard that explanation number one. Now, by the way, Yirmiyahu Hanavi, the moral points out, was also accused of this. Yirmiyahu was the prophet who prophesied during the time of destruction of the first temple. And Klal will accuse them of the same language. So to where Yirmiyahu Hanavi the prophet Yirmiyahu he was the navi of Klal Yisrael. He was the prophet for the entire Klal Yisrael, the entire Jewish nation. And they said about him also "You are violating a marriage." Because Klal Yisrael the Jewish nation is married to God and therefore you the prophet are interfering with our relationship with God. Of course, the reason they accused Yirmiyahu of this was because he was telling them things that they didn't they didn't want to hear. That unless you do teshuvah, Hashem is going to do is going to destroy the temple is going to take away our Beit Hamikdash. So the the kind of, you know, the psychology of the of the nation was it must mean that you're just interfering with our relationship with God. The Koh Gadol Moshe Rabbeinu alav hashalom so to by Moshe Rabbeinu they suspected him of ishus ish. They suspected him of interfering in a marriage. Interesting, just like Yirmiyahu Hanavi. Okay, that's first explanation I wanted to share. First explanation is of the idea is that God forbid that Moshe Rabbeinu you know, commit any act of infidelity. That's impossible. That's not what's going on. But the relationship with the Jewish nation is a marriage. God's relationship with the Jewish nation is a marriage. And therefore Moshe, what are you doing being the the the prophet for the Jewish people. What what are you doing stepping in into the middle there, so to speak? Now again their accusation is really based on on Korach's jealousy of Moshe. Because had that jealousy not been there, they would have realized, "Wait a minute. Didn't God spoke to the entire Jewish nation and in front of the Jewish nation sent Moses to be the prophet?" It's not like Moses was making this up. They all heard God say Moses is to be a prophet. But Korach is utilizing Moses' position now against Moses. "Why are you interfering with that relationship with the Kushite wife?" And there's a truth in that, right? The truth is we do have relationship with Hashem. We The Jewish nation is married to God. We all have that intimate relationship with Hashem. Therefore, what is the job of the prophet? You know, in the Chassidic circles, it's the Rebbe. The Rebbe has a has a has a, you know, understands the neshama of a of of of of a of of a Chassid. And therefore, the Rebbe helps the Chassid to develop his neshama. That's the job of a prophet. That's the job of Moshe Rabbeinu. So, the it was a mis- you know, a a turning Moshe Rabbeinu's actual function against him. as it were. And utilizing that strong language of of you are interfering with a marriage. You're guilty of violating a marriage. A very strong accusation. So, I have just a few points I think that come out of this. Number one, we got to appreciate we're married to Hashem. I think it's a very beautiful point. Number two, you know, it's interesting our sages express things in very metaphorical language sometimes. And and and that language needs to be penetrated, understood. And to say we're going to understand it just on face value, of course we'll get a a a distorted definition and understanding. And how interesting it is that our sages our sages, I mean the sages of the Talmud going back approximately 1,700 1,800 years ago, is all based on Midrashim, which go back even further, which are connected to Klal Yisrael's history, you know, either during the Midbar or in the desert or or afterwards it it's this this insight of of the great sages of the Jewish nation and the way they weren't afraid to say things in ways that could be very inflammatory, you know, very very scary to hear. And and and hear that misunderstands it come up with the wrong wrong conception. But the confidence in the civic confidence in system, the confidence in knowing we have truth and emes, never there's no fear to say things which are which were are truthful even if one's expressing it in a metaphorical way. Okay, we okay with this point everybody? Please jump in if you have any any any if you'd like to share something, have any questions. Okay with that? That's approach number one. Jewish nation is married to Hashem. Approach number two. And this comes from another point place in the maror and this is the one that that intrigues me the most. Because he takes us back to a story in the beginning of Breishis. And what's that story? It says that when before Hava was created, before Eve was created it says that Adam was sent out to name the animal kingdom. And what did he name them? He gave them all He named the names that the names that we have for the animals all comes from Adam. Hashem wanted him to be a partner so to speak in naming the animal kingdom. So, how did he do it? He went out and he he looked at the animals and he knew their essence and he gave them names based on their essence. So, for example, I always like to use this as my example. It's it's Look at the elephant. And he said, "You're a pe And he drew an elephant as a pe lammed." A pe pe lammed. And why why is a pe lammed the perfect description of an elephant? Because the letter pe means mouth. Pe. The letter yud, yad, means a hand. The letter lammed means lammed. Teach. Lammed. Teach. Mouth, hand, teach. Pe. Ooh, let's put that one together. Well, where does the elephant have his hand? On his mouth. That's what we call the trunk. He's a hand on mouth. And what does that teach? Well, the trunk is so powerful it can lift up a tree. And it's so delicate it can dissect a seed from a nut. It's both a tractor and a laparoscopic operating tool in the same organ. That's pretty amazing. We human beings can only We can create tractors, you know, but that can move a lot of dirt. And we can create very refined and and intricate operating tools. But we haven't been able to create a tractor that's both a tractor and an operating tool. If the elephant has that strength of the tractor and that delicacy of the operating tool on that hand on its mouth. So all the book that he said, "You're a pe." The hand on its mouth teaches. What does it teach? The glory of God. Only the creator can create something like That's the elephant. So he called him a pe. A pe lammed. Okay? So he went to all the animals and named them all. Now, our sages say something over there that is a little bit shocking. It's Says that before Eve was created he went out the animal kingdom. But our sages say that it What does it mean he went to the animal kingdom? It teaches us that that he had some sort of marriage with all the animals. It's a language of marriage, shibah. Here. A language of marriage. He married the animals. But he discovered that but he was not at peace until finally created Eve for him. So how do we understand that? Now again, listen to what I'm going to say. It does not mean bestiality. It cannot mean that. How do we know it cannot mean that? Because when it says that the says that one of the commandments when he was commanded not to eat the tree it says and he commanded all the eights that included the seven laws of Noah. And the seven laws of Noah one is absolutely that any type of bestiality is forbidden. This is not possible. Impossibility. But but our sages used a language of marriage. Let me repeat that. I'm going to repeat it. Why? Because I gave a share on this about um I don't know how many years ago. Over 10 years ago, which went up online and it went on YouTube. And I got a lot of views. Like over 100,000 views. And all of a sudden people started All of a sudden someone started claiming Rabbi Kraft said that Adam had bestiality with with the animals. So it was exactly what I didn't say. You know, there's a metaphor going on over here. And I said it over and over again, please do not misinterpret my words because I want to teach you something. But people misinterpret my words. So, I want to stress to our group right now, please listen very carefully to what I'm saying. It does not mean bestiality, God forbid. God forbid, that's forbidden from the divine system. And the first And the first commandment given to Adam called the seven commandments on the tree. Included that was the seven most of them which are morality, okay? But I say that because uh you know, someone misinterpreted my words. And I I was very disturbed by that. I think it was interpreted. So, whenever I I say this concept, I emphasize over and over and over again that is a metaphor. There's a deeper concept going on. But we're going to try to understand that deeper concept. So, it says like this. Our sages used this language that he had like a marriage with the animals. Not just naming the animals, but in a marriage. So, what could that possibly mean? So, this is what the mouth says. And this is going to be a very similar concept to what we're going to understand about the accusation about motion. So, he says like this. He says animal curiosity upon the mission. The explanation is God forbid would you possibly think that there was any bestiality. It's both morally and and and ethically absolutely forbidden. And it's uh it's and biologically impossible. So, it's not It's obviously some sort of metaphor. And so, the holy one blessed be created all the righteous people who are perfect. In fact, it says in the when he commanded them on the tree, he commanded them on all sexual morality. So, what's the explanation? That people nature Adam who serves meaning but who knows them most. This is a very deep idea. That our relationship the relationship with the human being with the animal kingdom as such that the job of mankind is to give completion to the animal kingdom. The animal kingdom, so to speak, the physical world needs man. Those were here the world is here so to speak in order to help fulfill the mission of humanity. That's what God created the world. He doesn't need to create a world of birds and and and and and and bees and things like this. He creates only because it's part of helping humanity fulfill its purpose. It's all there for us. So we have a relationship with the animal kingdom, with the world. We do and then you know there is a relationship. What does that relationship look like? Means we give it meaning. If there weren't if there wasn't a human being in the world there would be no meaning for the animal kingdom. We complete the animal kingdom so to speak. With the the animal kingdom is looking to the human the human world in order to to to so to spiritually allow for its existence. Because remember the whole purpose of creation is that we should utilize our free choice the relationship with the God forever. So what do we need the animal kingdom for? Why did he create it? So it's there to help serve us. It's it's there to help to enable our you know to to give the world existence. To give us pleasure also in observing it and seeing it and to learn from it. You know the moral says you can learn things from the animal kingdom. You can learn you can learn how to work ethic from an ant. Never stops working till the day it dies. Never stops moving. She says we can learn modesty from a cat. Because a cat you know is a little private in the way it does its private functions. The animal kingdom is there to teach us. At the same time it teaches us and it's looking for us to so to speak to give it existence because without us there's no purpose for it. So, when it says he came upon all the animals in marriage, so to speak, it says he recognizes his job vis-a-vis the animal kingdom was to give it existence, to give it purpose and meaning. It's there for us, it's there to serve us, and at the same time we give it meaning by by allowing it to serve us, so to speak. That's marriage, by the way. That's the aspect of marriage where there one part where the husband comes to the marriage, so to speak, and is so some extent completing its other half. A wife is completing other half. Is that not also completing the animal kingdom? Because its existence depends on us. That we're we're working at entering the that's some level of a marriage, giving it an existence. Right? That we perhaps we might want to consider this, you know, sometimes, you know, the the when that chicken ends up on your Shabbat table, right? It's it's you don't have to feel bad for the chicken. It's said that chicken is fulfilling its purpose of creation to allow it to to elevate the Shabbat. No, it's it's elevating the Shabbat through its existence. So, we we we don't necessarily have to feel bad for it. We could choose to not eat if we don't want to, but we might not have to. Oh, you can't hear me? Oh, no. Can Can everybody hear me? Do we have a hands up? I hear you. Yes, everything is okay. Okay, yeah, someone just suggested that you can hear me. Okay, Rosa, maybe it's your phone. I don't know. Okay, I'll try try to speak louder. So, do we hear that point, everybody? Are we with me on that? That that that Adam's relationship with the animal kingdom was like a marriage, completing it. And that's why our rabbis use that language to say it was like a a an intimacy. It wasn't a physical intimacy. It was what marriage is supposed to be where where one gives completion to the other, gives meaning to the other. That that through that that relationship there there is a greater wholeness, a greater meaning that was there before. The animal kingdom is looking to the human kingdom, so to speak, to say, "Give me meaning." There's no existence without that without us. Whole purpose of the world is for us that we should have free choice to get it have a nation of purpose for all of forever. What do we need the animals for? So, our relationship with the animals is like a marriage. We're giving meaning, completing them. So, our rabbis expressed that in the language of an intimacy. That's that's the intimacy of marriage to to to have this unity where you're giving completion to the other. It God forbid doesn't mean a physical intimacy. It's just what what the intimacy is all about. Where we're giving a greater sense of of of shlemut, of completion. That's that's what our rabbis are trying to express through that. So, it's it's But again, they're not afraid to use a language of marriage. So, that God forbid doesn't mean that the mouth says chas v'shalom. It doesn't mean doesn't mean doesn't mean intimacy in in in the physical sense. That that was that's forbidden from the Torah, as we know. So, it is interesting you can say things very directly but people get the wrong idea. You know what I'm saying? I was very concerned when people said that they misunderstood what I meant. And then I said that that bothered me a lot. I never write, you know, so but you know, sometimes you have to So, whenever I say these concepts, I I repeat it over and over and over again that we're we're we're getting a deep insight into into what marriage is right now. That the aspect of of intimacy is aspect of parties completing each other. There's a spiritual completion happening. There's a physical expression of it and there's a spiritual expression. The spiritual expression is that one is able to give over to another in a way where the essence of that other becomes even more full. And again, Adam's relationship with the animal kingdom was such that that the animal kingdom had was able to have a purpose because of Adam's existence. And that's where he went out and named them. You know, I'm I'm to some extent your husband. I'm giving you a purpose, a meaning, a completion. Okay? Are we We good on that, everybody? We hear that point? Any questions on that? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I have a question. Yeah. Yes, thank you. Thanks, thank you. Good. Um Okay. Now, let's see where the moral takes us. Listen to where it goes with this. And this gets to be really beautiful. It says like this. He says that that Rock Pirusha bin Aisha Adam suras called meaning the one who knows the shape that it means that Adam he gave a sura of form to all the creation and gave them the completion. It says the called sura mishaber lasher who looks sura. And called sura is joined to that which share who looks sura which needs a form. What does that mean? The moral uses the language here. And this is language I think I've I've mentioned before. It's the language that we could call on the Hebrew words. Sura b'chomer. Chomer means like the word it means chomer in Hebrew means like material. Like mud, raw material. Sura means form. He said there are two ways the world works. It's chomer and sura. Now, for example, you have a tree. A tree has a potentiality. It's called the Homer. The purpose of that tree, let's say it's a peach tree. The purpose of that tree is peaches. That's called the Tsurah. The Homer is what it exists in form. The Tsurah what is its purpose that comes out of it. That's what he always calls the Tsurah and the Homer. Homer raw material potentiality, Tsurah is giving form and and definition. Giving, bringing out the essence of what that is supposed to be. That's a language that the Marah probably uses throughout. So, again, the aspect of Adam and the animals, the animals have a potentiality. The Tsurah, the form is when they're there to contribute to the to the destiny of the Jewish nation of of of of of humanity. Not just the Jewish nation, of humanity. You know, when when when the bee makes honey in order to allow the human being to put an apple on on Rosh Hashanah. It's contributing. Or just the fact that you know, the animal are keeping the ecosystem alive. Each has it prepares each has a function in the ecosystem. You remove You remove one spider out of the ecosystem, everything begins to to crumble. Interconnection the ecosystem is is so intricate that and and that and and it's all there for us so that we should have a world that works. You know, I just just got back from the I became less I got a Cape Cod lobster on my parents. I have a place in Cape Cod. And they've had a lot of sharks the last number of years. It's it's an infestation with sharks in the point where it's it's I never did that growing up and it's dangerous to go to the beach because of the sharks. So, I was speaking to with my kids. We went to like where the the fishermen were there. And I was saying that what do you you know, what do you think of all these sharks? And you know he said, he said I wish there were more of them. So, really? What What you mean? Why? He said because in the 1970s a movie came out called Jaws. Did anybody see Jaws? You can admit it. You saw Did anybody see Jaws? It was the blockbuster of the 1970s about a big shark. You see it? No one saw Jaws. Yes, you saw it. Good. Thank you. I saw it, too. So, I I everyone was scared to go to the ocean swimming because it was so scary, this giant shark. But, it created a wave of panic in the world. And it it people went out killing sharks. So, the next basically decade millions of sharks were killed throughout the oceans. And what did that do in terms of Cape Cod? Cape Cod has a lot of seals. And seals are are naturally, you know, are the sharks feed on seals. So, as long as there are sharks, the seal population is kept, you know, intact. In other words, the sharks eat the seals, the seal population doesn't get too large. What happened was was because all the sharks were killed in the Atlantic over off of Massachusetts, the seal population the seal herd in Cape Cod grew to a point of like something like a half a million, something like that, which is double what it's supposed to be. A huge seal population. And that's dangerous. Why? Because first of all, their waste, um, you know, infects the the beach line and destroys a lot of the the algae and plant life. And not only that, that they they consume over I think like a million pounds of fish a day. So, it's killing the fishing industry. And as and and the reason there's so many since there's so many more seals kind of populate the beaches and and the waters, so the sharks that are out there look look at them and say, "Wow, this is, you know, easy prey. You know, it's too easy." They start moving closer inland in order to, uh, just to get lunch. And of course, when human beings are out there, they mistake the human being for the than and and there's some danger. So, this fisherman said, "I wish there were more sharks. The more sharks there would be to eat more seals, and the more seals the seals would eat many fish. My business would be better." So, one movie, Jaws, and and destroying the shark population so disrupts the ecosystem that that that that that that, you know, human beings suffers. Fishermen suffer. All because of movie Jaws. Interesting, isn't it interesting? So, it it it this this this idea that the human being is like gives a gives a definition to the animal kingdom. Is the idea of giving that raw material a form. So, this is what he says now. He says that He says shark We called so who was so, okay. So, that's what he means that Adam came up on all the animals. Show your name shall be each. The motion model if they say Cuz it's known that the Torah is name shall be each. A man, John, is in view to be a marriage. Is to give Torah. Is to give form. As it says in the capital of Torah name shall be king. The one who receives that form is always known as the feminine aspect. So, in in marriage, husband and wife are just an idea. A woman in Hebrew is called a Nekeiva. And Nekeiva means in Hebrew literally means the cave. Means a cavity or an opening. What does it mean, an opening? Well, I guess we could say biologically that that's true in the differences between men men and women. And there's a spiritual aspect that manifests. Physicality always has a manifestation of spiritual core. The spiritual aspect of that is a woman in marriage, a wife, is capable of receiving from her husband. Both receiving biologically in order to create new life, but also to receive spiritually in order to to develop herself even further. It's called say being a woman's name in the Hebrew language is I am open. The cave means open. I am open. Meaning I'm available to receive. I'm available for a spiritual message that will enact and bring out my true essence. And a man's job vis-a-vis his wife is to be available to provide that. To to give her that inspiration and spirituality that she needs in order to to to activate her her power as it were and develop the the the complete essence of who she is. Just like biologically, it's true. Man gives over to to to to enable a a new new tsurah, a new form. And that's expression of spiritual essence. Which you know, is is a man is supposed to be giving over the idea of giving over sparks of of of spirituality, sparks of of inspiration, sparks of you know, sparks of of of of of meaning that allows his wife's life to to be even greater and more fuller. That's the male aspect, giving it over. The woman's aspect is able to receive. By the way, which requires more strength? To give over or to be vulnerable or to say I'm willing to receive. Takes more strength to be willing to receive, by the way. Takes more humility. It's easier to give over. To say I'm willing to to give up my ego and receive is a female quality. And that takes a lot more guts. A lot more strength. And oftentimes men who don't know that their job is to be there to give over to the wives aren't doing it. They could leave they you know, could could leave the woman could leave her hus- her wife very much empty and not fulfilled in in that aspect. The beginning of the spiritual sparks of of of of of development as it were. So, you know it's it's an interesting concept. The male idea is to fill to give the tsurah the form. A female vision is to to receive and say "I'm available to receive." And by the way, you know, when when when a woman says "I'm available to receive." it's really an act of giving. It's like "I'm giving you the opportunity to express who you are." That's not That's not passivity. That's my active. That's an active statement that I'm willing and open to let you give over. I want to accept it. That also is active. And that's a male-female dynamic that exists in the world. Do we hear that a little bit? It's an important concept to understand. And and you know, it's um sometimes in marriages they get confused and man doesn't realize that yeah, his job is to be giving over and to be that inspiration. And sometimes a wife might understand that her job is to allow her husband to be able to do that and be available for that and to help him do it succeed in that and actively be receptive. And and that creates a very dynamic and happy home. You know, but could be when a wife isn't receptive to that and doesn't and stifles that and doesn't allow it. You know, that that could man feels very very uh could could feel a little bit uh uneasy. And a wife who's not receiving what she's supposed to receive from her husband also feels very dissatisfied. But this is a male-female spiritual dynamic. And our relationship with Hashem is like that also. Hashem is giving over and we're receiving. We are that female aspect vis-a-vis Hashem. Is that clear a little bit? You know, it it's uh That's what's called the soul and home mate. So, let's see if we can understand this in in terms of what's happening over here. So, it says like this, that it says It says like this, in the relationship of Moshiach ben David, the Jewish nation, Well, it says like this, you know, just like in the relationship the male says just like other relationship to the animal kingdom, so to speak, is called a marriage, because he's completing the kingdom. It says, so to Moshiach ben David, Moshiach ben David's relationship with the Jewish nation was such where he's supposed to, so to speak, complete the Jewish people. In other words, what Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants from Moshiach ben David to be, almost in essence, is to give greater definition, greater form to each neshama of the Jewish people. Now, again, one way to look at that is they said, "Moshiach, you're you're cute. We're we're This is it, you know, this is infidelity. We're We have a relation with Hakadosh with Hashem. What are you doing interfering?" Another way to look at it is is saying that if the job of Moshiach is to complete every member of the Jewish nation, it means that he really has to understand each neshama. He has to understand each person. He has to really be there to to to to really get who the other person is. Now, how can that be perceived, perhaps? It's the job of a husband, so to speak, to be able to understand his wife, and to offer that fulfillment of that completion. And now there's Moshiach ben David, someone this great prophet who seems to understand every person or let's say every wife better than the husband understands her. Wait a minute, it's a husband's job to give that sura, that form to the home, that form to the person. And now Moshe Rabbeinu is doing it? Moshe, that's infidelity. That's inter- That's That's That's interfering with the intimacy of marriage. What are you doing? It was a misunderstanding of Moshe Rabbeinu, of the attack against Moshe Rabbeinu. You're interfering where you don't belong. See, had they understood Moshe Rabbeinu properly, had they guided him and realized, "Wait a minute, he's not interfering. He's going to help every member of the Jewish nation bring out from themselves their completeness. He's not trying to interfere physically, God forbid. He's not trying to interfere emotionally. He's trying to tap and touch it and help every neshama express itself and give it its sura. Give it its form. But it's the job of the husband to do that. And therefore they turned to Moshe and said, "You're interfering where you don't belong. That's That's infidelity." And they accused Moshe Rabbeinu of infidelity. So, do we hear this little bit? This is kind of the concept I wanted us to bring out for you this morning. It is is this idea and we'll stop over here with this. It's It's um It's getting late. This is the concept I wanted to bring out to you. Was you know, the statement of our sages, which on one hand looks so um explosive and so inflammatory. Moshe Rabbeinu is accused of of having a relationship with every woman in Klal Yisrael. How could it Again, then we analyze the moral and we we study it, we realize it's really an expression of a very deep spiritual concept. Either that every Jewish person has a relationship with Hashem. Therefore, Moshe, why are you this intermediary? Of course the we need motion as that intermediary as a work as God said he should be the communicator. But he is, so to speak, somewhere kind of getting in the way of the relationship with Hashem. Or the second explanation of Rashi, which I think personally is is is very very foundational, that really a relationship of husband and wife is this idea of sura and chomer, where a man is supposed to give off the spark of inspiration, and a woman allows herself to receive. So, if motion now is going to so to speak say, "I know how to create your I know how to create you spiritually better than your husband does." Oh, you could hear how maybe a husband could be jealous of that. There could be a jealousy in that. How come he knows you better than me? Isn't that an infidelity? Someone interfering in the marriage where they don't belong? But again, this accusation against Moshe is is is being misused, because his ability to see who the Jewish people is and what they're all about is a function of the fact that he's going to help the Jew He's going to help each person grow. He's not interfering. He's going to help the husband activate the man activate his sura, bring out who he's supposed to be. He's going to be able to help the husband help his wife to bring out who she's supposed to be. He's going to contribute. He's not interfering. But the jealousy of Korach and his followers, where they wanted sort of discredit Moshe, they built it around an accusation, "Moshe, you're interfering where you don't belong. That's an expression of infidelity." Okay, everybody. I think I'm going to stop at this point over here. Do we have any questions on this? Any questions on it? No questions. You know, what what what moves me the most about it is I think it really gives us a male-female paradigm understanding of marriage better. That marriage is about a man's job to be giving over. And with his ability to be able to be in the cave out to receive. And by saying I want to receive what you have to give over and have the humility to remove my ego to say I'm ready to to to growth with you and from you. That takes a tremendous amount of strength. That's an act of reception. That's actively saying I'm open to your ideas. And a man to know that his job is to give over these ideas and to help his wife perfect herself and thereby help him perfect himself in the process. That's really what creates the harmony of relationship and marriage. And that's Adam's relation to the animal kingdom. That's a husband's relation to his wife. That was Moses' relation Moses relation to the Jewish nation. And again, our sages expressed it as in intimacy. That's really what intimacy is all about. Helping the other develop something from the inside themselves that they didn't have before. And the way our sages say it or the way Moses was accused by Korach is you're guilty of aishas ish. You are mixing in where you don't belong. But again, that is a total distortion of of what what Moses' function was and what could have achieved had they allowed Moses to say I'm here for everybody. So this is a little bit of a vision of of of maleness and femaleness. And and how it was applied in the discussion of Moses and the Jewish nation. But in a practical way, well first of all, practically as I said, I'm just stating what our sages are very deep. I want us to get that. You know, and they say things in ways you have to penetrate it to get its depth. And when you do, you hear a beauty in it. And number two, I think I just want us to start thinking about this in terms of maleness and femaleness because this is because of a very important foundational model of all Jewish thought. Of a man's job and a woman's job. A man is the idea of a mush be he gives over an idea. A woman is in the cave where she's open, she receives an active reception where she removes her ego and says, "I want to grow from you." I want you to be the sewer for my home. I want you to get formed to me. And a man by being able to allow himself to be able to give form to somebody else develops the gold self. That's the harmony where where where male female relationships can exist and be lived. Okay everybody, maybe we'll hold it here and uh I wish you a wonderful day. And um Do you have any questions? Please feel free to uh text me or email me if you like or call me. And um and enjoy the rest of the day. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Rabbi. You're welcome. Bye everybody. Bye big off and you shine. Thank you. Bye, Rabbi. Thank Thank you, Rabbi. You're welcome.