The Torah’s definition of Retzicha

We mentioned in the beginning of this morning's share and in the beginning of the first share on parshas mishpatim that all the mitzvahs that are mentioned here in parshas mishpatim are commentary on the aseres hadibros. Today's mitzvahs, what or which of the aseres hadibros are they commenting on? So if you take a look at the abarbanel, who is the maramakum on this idea, the abarbanel says every single mitzvah that we learned this morning from the beginning makeh ish b'hemais moseer umas to the halacha of v'chi yigach shor ish oyis ish v'hemais, they're all commenting, they're all an expansion and an an elaboration of the sixth commandment and that is lo sirtzach. They're all related to lo sirtzach and really everything that we just discussed is retzicha. As a matter of fact, the abarbanel says that the very first mitzvah that's mentioned in parshas mishpatim, the parsha of avadim, is also an elaboration on lo sirtzach. We said the rabbonim says it's related to anochi hashem elokecha, but says the abarbanel, it's all related to retzicha. Now, there's no question if you do a sichum in your mind, there was a lot of retzicha that was discussed, right? A lot of people died today. Makeh ish b'hemais, moseer umas and then we talk about what if he kills b'shogeig. We discussed the person that killed somebody inadvertently. gizeila hora gizeila, the infamous ish hora. We talked about somebody shor that goes ahead and kills. So there was definitely a lot of retzicha took place, but not everything that was mentioned was lo sirtzach. The parsha of avadim that the abarbanel says is the beginning of the commentary on lo sirtzach, there's no one that died in the parsha of avadim. Makeh ish b'hemais. He didn't kill his parents, he was oisur chabura, he He kill anybody. Mekalel aviv v'eemaiv. He didn't kill anybody. The kind of visual machaira. Nobody died. He clearly didn't die, right? An eye for an eye. Nobody died. So, really, there's a big chunk of what we just learned that for sure feels like a commentary on but not everything feels like a commentary on stating that they says that really everything going on over here is related to I'll just read a a few excerpts. Says the Abarbanel. They're both included in that. Because really, if you go and you take someone as a slave, right? What you're doing is is on some level you're murdering the person. Now, you're not killing him. You're not putting a gun to his head. If you enslave somebody, you keep somebody as a hostage, you took away his life while he's alive. How is that not That doesn't mean the person doesn't have a pulse. It means that you robbed this person of his life. And if somebody goes out and robs somebody of his life, that in and of itself is considered that. If somebody is and he's over the he's a that. If you do it to a regular person, you're not a that. But for the the mama, it's it's a whole different set of sensitivities and that. That's included says the Abarbanel in that. And he goes on to explain every single line item over you. You have to see it inside. It's all included in that. So, says the Abarbanel that really all the of that are a commentary on that of that. From the beginning until where we just ended the second year, was all a commentary on the sixth commandment. It's all a period on that. The truth is, if you think about this it's interesting because what emerges is you think of thou shall not murder. But really is much bigger than thou shall not murder. It's much more encompassing. Means that you can't do anything that's going to impede a person from living the best life that he wants to live. And if you go ahead and you rob a person from his life even while he's alive, that's included in the idea of that. The clearest definition of that is different is different than the secular definition of the secular definition means don't kill somebody. The definition of is is that don't rob a person in any way, shape or form of his life. I think the number one to the in is everybody knows that if someone's very very how how say it's better for a person to jump into a fire than to embarrass his friend. And ask the question, how could you say that it's better to jump into a fire not to embarrass my friend? We know call if a person is forced to choose and decide between observing the giving up his life. So of course you give up the you don't give up your life. There's three where it's your what we know is the three cardinal sins. Not one of them. And if it's not one of them, so how could it be? So some of them say it's only meaning it's okay. Ordinarily you wouldn't be allowed to give up your life if mandates you to go and violate that there. When it comes to this, it's different. But, other Rishonim say, "No, it sounds like this aveira of Yihareg v'al Ya'avor." But, Yihareg v'al Ya'avor is only by three aveiros. But, do you do what the Sefarim say, that if someone embarrasses somebody, it's tantamount to killing that person. And Chazal ALREADY TOLD US THAT P'shichas Dam in the Halacha is Yihareg v'al Ya'avor, because that's one of the three cardinal sins. Malbin P'nei Chaveiro b'Rabim is also a Sif Katan in the idea of Lo Yisa If you embarrass somebody, you didn't kill the person, right? So, why would that be included? The Torah says, you embarrass somebody, you shame a person, you could actually violate and abuse the person on some level, where it's literally going to be to the level of Retzicha. Just to add one Hasbara, we've spoken about this in the Rebbe's many times over the years, and that is we're familiar with the Parsha of the Egla Arufa. The Egla Arufa is mentioned at the very end of Parshas Shoftim, where the Torah says that in the event that a dead body was found, and it's not clear who killed this person. So, there's a very obscure ritual that Beis Din had to follow. Beis Din would go and they would measure the corpse to the closest city, and then the Ziknei Ha'Ir of that city would have to come out. They would take an Egel, they would behead it, and they would say, "Yadeinu Lo Shafchu Es HaDam." And they would get Kapara for this person that died, because they think that they're closest to this person. It seems on some level they bear the responsibility. Now, there's a lot of very nuanced laws that govern this Parsha of Egla Arufa. Number one, the Egel had to be an Egel that never had any children. As a matter of fact, never even worked, never produced anything. The place that they did it was called a Nachal Eisan. It had to be a Nachal, it had to be a valley that never produced anything. And the question is, why? So, Rashi quotes the Chazal. An Egel Bashnosa that never produced should come, and they are even if it should be beheaded b'Makom She'ein Bo Yotzei Peros, in a place that doesn't produce Peros, l'Chaper Al Hareg Goseh Shel Zeh, to be mechaper on this person that was killed shilo yini last his payrus who wasn't given the ability to be oiser payrus. The reason why sirtsa is so sacred in our world is not just because had you ba'avel someone on a ben adam lechavero level that you take away his life. It's because every person was put on this world for a purpose. Every person was put on this world for a tafkid. And if you go ahead and you kill somebody lo yini last his payrus. You didn't allow this person to produce the payrus that he was put on this world to produce. And it's for that reason you now need kapara. And that was all symbolized in the egla rufa. They took an egla that never produced payrus and they went to a nacha that never produced payrus to be MECHAPER FOR THE FACT THAT this person wasn't allowed to fulfill his purpose and produce payrus. If a person wakes up in the morning, that means Hashem decided that this person today has a tachlis in this world and that's why I'm keeping here. There's some tachlis. There's some payrus that this person has the ability to produce. Otherwise, he wouldn't be alive. And by you going ahead and murdering that person, what you're doing is you're taking away that ability for him to produce. The oimek of le sirtsa is that a person was created for a purpose. We're part of the am segula. We're part of the am Take a look at the rishoinim in da seras of sirtsa. You're going to see this idea being expressed in a very very subtle way. Le sirtsa is not just a ben adam lechavero. Le sirtsa is understanding Hakadosh Baruch Hu, understanding Klal Yisrael. It's understanding the value of a Jewish soul and realizing that it's here for a purpose. And if you go ahead and you murder somebody, you kill somebody, what you just DID WAS YOU EXTINGUISHED THAT ABILITY, that koach that that person had to produce in this world. And by the way, no two people have the same purpose in life. And no two people have the ability to produce in the same way. You know, one of the reasons that a mourner says kaddish when a loved one dies is because the Seforim say that every person has an ability to be mekadesh shem shamayim in his unique way. And when a person is taken away from the world, there's a void because that kiddush shem shamayim that that plony, whether he was a poshut Yid or the biggest rebbe in the world, it doesn't matter. There was a certain shem shamayim that he was able to be mekadesh and be megadel like like no one else is able to. And that means there's a void. And therefore the Yorshim get up and they go to the bimah and they say Yiskadal v'yiskadash shmei rabba. That that void, that kedusha and that gedula that's not here right now, that's missing kaviyochol, may it somehow be replenished and be filled in some other way cuz we understand that when a person leaves this world, his tachlis, his teiyeles is not there. The issur of lo sirtzach, the sanctity of lo sirtzach is not just bein adam l'chaveiro. It's understanding the role of the Yid. And every Yid has a purpose. Every Yid has a teiyeles. And if you take away a person from this world, you just killed one of God's people. You just killed a ranking member of Hashem's army. That's a very, very bad thing. That's what lo sirtzach is. But when you understand that, it's so poshut why lo sirtzach would have this expanded definition. If somebody's malbin pnei chaveiro berabim and he humiliates a person to the point where he doesn't feel maybe so much as he has koiches or he feels like who am I, mi anochi ki eilech el Paroh, right? If that's what he walks around with a chip on his shoulder because somebody once told him something. Rachmana litzlan, when people bully people or abuse people, they're literally killing the person. They really, really are because they're taking away that person's ability to fulfill his potential. They're taking away his ability to be oiseh peiros. They're taking away his ability to be mekadesh and be megadel shmei rabba. And when a person does that, that is the Torah's definition of retzicha. That's the Torah's definition of lo sirtzach. So said the Baal HaTurim that's what the Torah was coming to teach me. Lo Yirtzach, but I want you to understand what Lo Yirtzach means. It's a peerush, it's not even just halachas, it's a peerush, it's a deeper understanding of what retzicha is. If somebody enslaves somebody, somebody keeps somebody hostage, if somebody even embarrasses somebody, hits somebody, you'll be surprised what could fall into retzicha. Anytime you affect a person in a way where that person is not able to go about his business, he's not able to fulfill his full potential on some level, what you did was you murdered a piece of his soul, and that's all included in this expansive definition of retzicha. Just to end with a dvar Torah, midos tovah is merubah midos peronius. If somebody is malbin pnei chaveiro berabim, he's considered a rotzeach. You imagine if somebody builds somebody up, somebody is mechazek somebody, if somebody sees someone who maybe feels me'unaf kele cheres, and you give him the self-confidence, and you give him the koach, the ability to go ahead and strive for more, and to reach a a greater potential, then you didn't not just kill the person, but to the contrary, you just built him up. You were mechayeha this person literally. We have the ability to be mechayeha meisim. People that are alive, that are on some level walking around dead, but we could be mechayeha them, mamash through through a good word. I mean, that's mamash what this inyan is. But this is the abarbanel's definition of retzicha, and this is really why these pesukim are mentioned right over here in the beginning of parshas mishpatim. Everything from kesikna ever divrei until the parsha of the shor that shoots and goes ahead and kills an ish or an ishah, or a ben, or a bas, or an eved, or an amah, these are all sifrei katan, they're all defining in a richer way what exactly retzicha means. And next time in the next year, we're going to pick up and we're going to continue with more halachas, try to get an understanding of how exactly they connect to the aseres hadibros.