Rav Aaron Dovid Poston: Does G-d Have Triggers?

[music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] >> Shalom aleichem everybody. Welcome back to the Yibaneh Beit Hamikdash. Welcome home to Torah and welcome home to Torah. We are using the Kli Yakar, specifically the Eer Giborim, for the basis of this discussion. He always deals with fundamentals and I encourage people to use the Hebrew sheets, which you can find down below in the description box, a link to the parsha, just to familiar familiarize yourself with the Hebrew. Many of the as we discussed, many of the concepts, you really the English is misleading, could be misleading. But you become more familiar with the Hebrew, Lashon Hakodesh, it's called the holy language, right? The holy tongue for a reason and it should be like should penetrate into our consciousness, the the holy thoughts and the holy ideas that we're going to cover tonight. Okay, so the this edition of the Eer Giborim, he always opens with a Midrash. We'll go through the Midrash. I'm not so sure yet because it's like a 15-page essay. We're only going to deal with a page and a half how the Midrash actually relates to his thesis and his essay, but we'll start with the famous pasuk that we all know that Moses gathered everyone together and I want to emphasize certain words, both I'll do it in English and in Hebrew because what this Midrash is attempting to do is to explain why Moses gathered everyone together and the fact that he said something and what did he say is going to somehow, let's say, reverse or atone for things that happened previously. That's going to be the the the nutshell here of this measure. >> [snorts] >> So, when when it says that Moses assembled the entire assembly of the children of Israel, the Yakel Moshe et kol adat Bnei Israel, okay? He He gathered the whole community of the children of Israel. He said to them, "Vayomer aleichem." Okay? Those words, the Yakel, he gathered. Vayomer aleichem, and he said something to them. And what did he say? "Eleh hadevarim." These things that the Lord commanded to make, which is really referring to the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle, according to Rashi, is coming as a um atonement for the sin of the golden calf. You might say, "Well, what if we never sinned with the golden calf?" I don't know what Rashi would have said. I know what the Ramban would have said. The Ramban holds that this was from the very beginning of creation, there always was going to be a um a uh a Tabernacle, even if we had never sinned. Okay, that's a whole philosophical uh debate that you can have and look into on its own. But, that's the premise according to Rashi, and that's what we're going with. The measure says, when it says "The Yakel Moshe," Moses gathered everyone together, this idea of gathering everyone together, "Tav ohel Moshe," is "utkaper al kehilat Aaron." It's to atone for the gathering against Aaron. They actually went up against Aaron, as it says in Exodus. By the way, the verse the main verse we're using is is Exodus 35:1. So, he's taking us on a journey to Exodus 32:1, which says, "The A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A The people gathered against Aaron. The A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A So, that's part of the verse. We're going to stick with that verse in a second. When Moses says to them, the A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A The The measure says that's coming to The measure says that's coming to The measure says In the same verse, the A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A They actually said, "Come on, right? Make us gods." Okay? They went up up against Aaron and said, "Come on, let's say, get up and make for us gods." And what did Moses say in that in the first verse of 35:1 of Exodus? A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A >> [cough and clears throat] >> So, the word A in our portion in our verse is referring back to when the A when the Jews who slaughtered and and worshipped the golden calf. And what is one of the 13 ingredients or materials used to build the tabernacle, used in the construction? So, in Exodus 38:24, you'll find this in number four on the source sheet. All the gold that had been used for the work in all the work of the holy, the gold of the waving. And it tells you how much was 29 talents, 730 shekels according to the holy shekel. In Hebrew, hat nufah. This particular type of gold. And the measures ends by saying that the bringing of the gold was to look up here the heart of ego. Because what was used for to build to make the ego, construct the ego, of course, was gold. That's why we call it the golden calf. Okay, so that's the measures. Now we're going to start the nitty-gritty, the really, you know, I'm going to say difficult if you're trying to follow the Hebrew and and the tsukim, the verses, it's a little bit it's not disjointed. There actually is quite a great order to it. But to follow the order, he begins by saying it's already known. K'var y'dua. The Bi'ta Rishon nichra b'avon gilei arayot, sh'fichat damim, v'avoda zarah. But he adds a fourth dimension. So we all know that the big three cardinal sins, the greatest sins that God forbid one could commit, is the reason why the first temple was destroyed. We just in Hebrew, gilei arayot is is sexual immorality. Sh'fichat damim means pouring blood. And literally we we translate as murder. And avoda zarah means serving idols. But then he says these next four words. Gam b'avon gasut ruach. I mean, we did we ever think we're talking about the first temple. I mean, we all know for the second temple, it's because it was destroyed because of what? Because of sinat chinam. It could be the root of sinat chinam is part of haughtiness. Right? Could be. But in the first temple, also he says that the sin of God is a root, coarse spirit. I'm going to translate it as haughtiness, arrogance. >> [snorts] >> He's going to bring two proofs that the sin of arrogance was prevalent, was rampant perhaps. Otherwise, why would the prophet have to come and rebuke us? Jeremiah rebukes us about arrogance in source number five, it's Jeremiah 13:15. He says, "Hearken and give ear, do not be proud." Old Hebrew, >> [snorts] >> Tig bahu, do not put yourself on a pedestal. Okay, don't be proud. That is the first verse, that's Jeremiah. And then he brings a a source from Isaiah. Now, Jeremiah lived at the time of the you know, the right before and during the destruction of the first temple. Isaiah Isaiah lived before a little bit before and when we had the um the I'll call it exile, the exile of the northern kingdom. >> [snorts] >> So, he says he's also rebuking us. It says in Isaiah chapter 3:16, number six on the source sheet. I'll say it in English first. And the Lord said, "Because the daughters of Zion are so haughty." I mean, you can't like get around that. It's like clear in English. In Hebrew, because That's the same word. They put themselves on some type of pedestal, they were haughty. Happens to be the rest of this verse is dealing with also sexual immorality. Preaches the opposite of being modest. I'll just read it in English and they walk with neck stretched forth and winking eyes, walking and raising themselves as they walk and with their feet they sprout venom. Interesting what they would do. What's venom? They would put perfume packets into their feet, into their shoes, into their socks and when they went around the single boys they would squish them or pounce them and tap their feet, maybe tap dance and the called venom but the perfume would be sprayed sprayed about. And then you can see that in Rashi. We're going to get to that because one of the three cardinal sins was sexual immorality. But this is Isaiah giving rebuke regarding haughtiness. That's the focus at the moment. And now the clear card says the din noise and shimitza dalid midos aelu yigalom in aretz. It's not just the destruction of the temple, it's the reason for the exile that we were exiled from Eretz Yisrael at the end of the at the end of the first temple because he says I would have thought he would have used the word avon or avonot or averot. He says because of these four character traits. So there must be something that we need to work on at least when you think about haughtiness for sure that's a character trait. So I'm assuming that later on in his thesis he'll probably describe why he's using the word midos but in the meantime he's saying that logic dictates that the punishment of exile is because of these four, I'm going to call them character traits. Now he goes through them and he'll start with idol worship and give proof that that's why we were exiled. And because of um a Gili Arius. He'll discuss that and because of murder. Actually, the orders um idol worship. We're going to start with that. And then murder and then Gili Arius, uh sexual immorality. So, let's start. We are 1 2 3 4 5 6, I think seven lines down. "Mitzad avoda zarah l'ilim, when it comes to idol worship, it actually says" Now, this when you read this verse, you don't really see it. But, he'll explain it. Rashi certainly explains it that way. And that's how it's to be understood. It's in Isaiah chapter 28 verse 20. >> [snorts] >> "For the bed is too short for one to stretch, and the ruler it shall be narrow when he enters." How do you see that having anything to do with idol worship? Remember, the idea is this is the reason for the exile. Idol worship is the reason for the exile. And if you look uh six line five lines down in the Rashi, our rabbis explain it as referring to an idol that Manasseh brought into the temple. Okay, you can see that in 2 Chronicles chapter 33 verse 7. What does it mean the the bed is too short? It's not the bed, it's the cover. Yeah, you ever have two people in a bed and the the the the the what's called a mat, but in this case it's it's it's a blanket, and the blanket's too short. So, there's a little bit of a tug-of-war. You know, like I think just the concept is, you know, there's not enough room for the both of us. And that's how God yeah, he built it and he had the house built. He's going to dwell there, and the idea, the truth is that it can't even contain him. And yet, you're going to bring something else in there, like an idol? It's like they're going to would fighting over the blanket. Not that there's a real fight between them. But it's the fact that we brought it in is a problem. So, Rashi mentions, "This bed is too short." The word is "mihistarea". Now, the word "rea" is interesting because the word "ra" really means enemy. But the same word is used for lover. For friendship, right? "V'ahavta l're'acha kamocha." Why are lovers called I'm going to use the word contenders, rivals? That's really what's happening. You know, Hashem and the idol are going to be rivals. And yet, it's very strange because it's a word of friendship at the same time. But that's how it's translated. The bed is too short for two friends to rule over it. I mean, that's part of the word "mihistarea". Okay? And that's according to the simple meaning. And the Targum Yonathan renders it. Now, the Midrashic interpretation, according to our rabbis, can be reconciled with the context. Meaning, God is going to now bring retribution on us. The temple will be destroyed. We're going to be exiled. And the reason is because the bed is too narrow for me alone, capital M E, me alone to stretch out on it. As it's mentioned in 1 Kings chapter 8:27, we know that behold the heavens and the heavens of heavens cannot contain you. Guess what? If the if they can't contain him, and this house can certainly not contain him. Then surely, when you bring in a molten image with me, so to speak, the place is too narrow for us. So, when we first saw Isaiah 28:20, we said, "Ah, what does it have to do with idol worship?" But when you understand it and what Rashi's trying to say, and we're going to take this apart a little bit. "Ki katzar matza." "Mihistamrea." "V'hamasecha tzara." "Ki Now we're going to take that apart a little bit. We'll go back into the clear car for now. He says Kazal. That the rabbis explained in Gemara Yoma 9B. is like somehow ruling over it two friends. [snorts] There's a They're contending with each other. Who was going to really be the ruler over it? Therefore, Nicra Kodesh Baruch Elohe Aretz. This brings us to the next idea because God is called in 2 Kings chapter 17:26. It actually says about the Samaritans, right? We know who the Samaritans are. They're up north. Right? How did they get there? Sennacherib did a population transfer. That's how they did it back then. They wanted people to assimilate and never rebel against the king. So they took these people from near Iraq. Bring them here and they took the 10 tribes and put them over there, the northern tribes. And they hoped hoped to assimilate. >> Is that the Kuzim or the >> No, these are the Shomrim, I think they call them, the Samaritans up north. Called the Shomrim. Anybody know what they're called? Shomrim? No. Anyway, they're the guys that make Pesach. They they actually in the Gemara they call them Kutim. Because that was one of the You heard the Kutim? And they actually did not believe in the oral Torah. But they held by the written Torah. Sounds familiar? And they were very strict about the written Torah. So the Gemara says we can like eat their matzahs or they can do bris milah, things something like that, but we couldn't marry them. Because wait till you hear this. When Sennacherib brought them to the land of Israel, they were being attacked by lions. And they wondered, why are we being attacked by lions?" So, they went to the sages and they asked, it's kind of clear, cuz it says in this verse, 2 Kings 17:26, uh I think I have the whole verse here. They look in Where is it? Number nine. And they said to the king of Assyria, they went to him, "The nations that you exiled and settled in the cities of Samaria," they were talking about themselves, "do not know the law of the God of the land." Hashem is called the God of the land, right? The land of Israel. He's a Zionist. And he had incited lions against them, they're talking about themselves to the king and other people, and behold, they're killing them. As and the reason they're being killed must be they don't know the law of the land, I'm sorry, the law of the God of the land. They don't know the law of the God of the land. >> [clears throat] >> Lo ya'du et mishpat Elohei aretz. And last part of the verse, einam yudi'im et mishpat Elohei aretz. They're clearly calling God, the God of Israel, the land of the land the land the God of the land that they're in, and they they don't understand why they're being killed. So, they stopped uh worshipping well, I'm not sure if they stopped worshipping idols, but they started to accept a lot of the mitzvahs, they converted, and we contend that they converted under false pretenses. Why did they convert? Just so the lions would stop killing them. Not necessarily to accept everything as Jews, that's why we can't marry them, but we could eat their matzah, you know, cuz they kept by the by the the letter of the law, so to speak. Okay. So, what's the point here? We're leading in. What was the original question? Why are these four midos a reason to exile the Jews from the land. So, we're going to go on he says, meaning there in the land of Israel. This is where God's presence dwells, rests. Okay. And he says it's though. Right? There's a that says like this. This is where the gods the eyes of them are constantly desiring. He's He's the God of the land of Israel as well. Therefore, no time. Therefore, God could not either carry or tolerate the the uh them being on the land. That he would she me so sorry to be a hole. As if to bring them, you don't want to bring I don't know if you're aware of this, but we keep by Jewish men only have one wife. But back in the day before maybe even in Arab countries for pretty recently. So, in the when it speaks about the two wives, there's a there's a term called it Sarah. Either because they give each other pain, but the real is it's a it's a contender. It's a rivalry. It's a the rival the second wife well, they're to each other is considered a rival. So, God cannot tolerate them in the land to bring them meaning whoever the Jews are that brought in such abomination into the temple and having idol worship the God cannot enter the the um the rival into his house, so to speak. His house is not just a temple, it uses symbolism, but it's also Eric Israel. We are in the palace of the king. How do we dress? Do we dress and we feel like we're we wake up in the morning I have opportunity to serve Hashem, to serve the king? But that's what the land of Israel is, the palace. And No, they were talking about themselves in the possuk, but he's referring to our exile. The clear car is referring to there's no room for us if we're idol worshipers. Right? There's no room for the idol. There's no room in our thoughts. It's just like right? The truth is we are talking about a tabernacle, we are talking about a real temple, but at the same time we should know that God says make yourselves a temple, right? That God will dwell within you. So whether we're looking on the micro, the personal, right? Even foreign thoughts shouldn't be there. Certainly in on the inside of who we are, but on in society in the level of community community here in Eretz Israel, the same thing applies. But you have to apply it to yourself first. Right? That's where it always begin always begins. He just ends with the the last few words of the verse we quoted before Isaiah chapter 28 verse 20 which when it says it's it's too narrow when he enters. So yeah, the word tsar is narrow but it also means that it's like the the rival. There's no room for both. Just something one of my friends has shared with me just as a thought. Think about Eretz Yisrael. We look at at Egypt. Maybe today you can look on you know, Google Maps or they have the satellite images. It's a big country. And yet it's very narrow where everyone lives. They all seem to flock and live and survive by the Nile. Right? You ever notice that? So, it's a big country, but it's very narrow. What is Eretz Yisrael called? Right? Eretz Hamda Tova or Hava. The land of Israel is actually called vast, wide, expansive. But, what do we know? It's I don't know, maybe the size of New Jersey. It's very small. But, the truth is like this. So, Egypt is a metzer. It's It's actually very tiny and narrow. When you come to Eretz Yisrael, I mean, you can go from one of the highest Not it's the highest points in the world, although we call it the highest point in the world. Some very high mountains to some, I think, the lowest place on Earth. You have the Shfela. You have, you know, uh uh uh citrus trees. You have, you know, cherries and apples growing in the Golan. I mean, you got dates in uh in Jericho, you know, uh down by the Dead Sea. And you have every kind of topography and every type of fruit and and besides that, minerals. We're full of minerals, too. And oil. I'll say it again. >> We have people living all over the country. >> Yes, baruch Hashem. Okay, so that's how he ends that part about idol worship. You know, we think of idol worship, there was only 3,000 Jews Jews that were killed. The Erev Rav was responsible. Why? Right? Why were 3,000 Jews killed? And if that's true, what ever happened that we're still paying the price? This whole premise is that we're actually forgiven. Right? The The Tabernacle, the things that we do, somehow we're forgiven. Moses prayed. God wanted to destroy us. And Moses prayed, and we understand through our tradition we were forgiven. We're going to find out why it lingers. I'll use the word lingers, okay? For now. Why we still have to atone I'm you maybe I'm using that a little bit loosely. Why it's still lingering. I'll leave it at that and you'll see why I'm using that terminology. Let's move on to shfichas damim. Murder. We're going to be exiled because of murder. Okay, mitzvah shfichas damim ki k'shfichas damim gam ha'aretz ne'enashit. That the land was also punished. Remember the reason why we're being exiled? So, for the sin of murder Remember Cain and Abel? What happened? That the land was also punished. What do we see in Genesis chapter 4:11? Look number 10 on the source sheet. God is talking to Cain. And now you are cursed. Cain is cursed, but what are the next words? Even more than the ground which opened its mouth to take your brother's blood from your hand. So, you can't escape that the ground was punished. Okay, the fact that an inanimate object with no free will should be punished, well, put that aside. That's obviously worthy of a discussion on its own. But the land itself was punished. Okay, there's some kind of consequence, negative consequence to the fact that it absorbed the blood. Okay, that had to do with murder. So, on the left side, second line down, l'fi kach, gurshu misham, therefore, it's appropriate to be exiled from there. Because shelo hitkalel admat eretz hak'dusha hak'dusha ba'avoram. In order that the land the land of the holy land of Eretz Yisrael be punished even more, cursed even more because of murder, because of murderers, because of them, because of the Jewish people. And but again, because gam shall mark on my shirt skin at all. Because the land of Israel is where the um the divine presence dwells. I just want to regress for 1 minute. During the the flood, not the flood of Noah, the whole world was covered in water. We have a tradition that Israel did not experience the flood. Why? What was the purpose of flood? Yes, to kill all the animals. Okay, why? Again, they didn't have free will. I'll tell you why. The animals had to be killed because of uh bestiality. It starts with us. What we do has a ripple effect on the whole world. There was, you know, we're talking about whether it's the feeling, the nobles that had uh relations with the uh with the vulnerable and uh exploited the lower class. You want to tell look at it that way, the angels were intermating with the uh humans race. Okay, but then even we were involved in bestiality and then even the animals were interacting with other animals. So, basically had to be cleansed. Had nothing to do with their free will. They weren't guilty. The animals weren't guilty, right? The lion's not guilty of murder for killing uh uh whatever he kills, right? The hyena. No. So, back to the point. Israel did not need to be cleansed. Israel does not become tummy. So, over here, the Jewish people, if they're doing murder, have to be exiled in order not to have the curse of the land because it really it won't be cursed. But, the Shekinah dwells there. The Shekinah is dwelling. And what is the Shekinah called? There's a name, shalom. Even God's name, like there's certain names you can use in the bathroom. Certain names you cannot. Certain words you cannot. Even if you wanted to say shalom aleichem to your friend in the mikveh, whatever, in the bathroom, you know, maybe a public, you can't do that cuz shalom is one of God's names. Um the word is strangely the word emet is not, even though we say it's the stamp. It's the stamp of God. Khatima of Hashem, the word emet. >> [cough] >> Aleph, the first letter of the alphabet, the mem, the middle, and tav, the last letter, God's name is stamped, so to speak, with truth. Emes is a stamp of God, yet we can use that, you know, in uh in the bathroom and whatnot. But anyway, there's a verse in in Judges 6:24. Look at number 11. So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there, and he called it he called it Hashem Shalom. The Lord of peace or the Lord who bestows peace or bestows upon us peace, however you want to look at it, okay? So, we already said that God is the God of the land, and the word peace he's calling a place. He's calling the altar. He's calling a God of peace. So, interesting that the name of Hashem not only is connected with shalom, but it's also connected to the land. Okay? So, if you continue to look at the Kli Yakar, he mentions Lefikha lo tov lihyot bamakom shalom haherev hariga. So, it's not appropriate, it's not good for the place that we're going to call shalom, which means the land of Israel, which is a place of peace, and is connected with Hashem, it's not good to have weapons of war or murder. It just doesn't go together. In fact, the mizbe'ach, the altar, the stone altar, if you look in Deuteronomy chapter 27 verse 5. It's number 14 on the source sheet. The way the altar is to be made is with a shamir worm or today I think they have lasers. They're using laser to prepare the altar, right? Cuz it's not a uh it's not iron. You cannot use iron. Um here look at the So it says you shall not Let me read it from the beginning. And there it's Deuteronomy 27:5. You shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. You shall not wield any iron upon them. Lo tanif alehem barzel. Okay, so this Say it again? Uh the everything is being prepared for the third temple. You hear that, Tucker? You hear that, Candace? Okay. So everything is being prepared. We've been waiting 2,000 years. So what are we going to We're going to everything is prepared. So within 35 minutes it'll all be ready in >> Is that by the Temple Institute or >> Nachman. Okay. So that's what it says. You cannot use stone I'm sorry iron to carve out the stones. So lasers are certainly kosher, okay? Metam ze kal vachomer haregam amish. Now if that's true, and by the way there's another halakha, you're really not supposed to bring a sword into a Beit Hamikdash. A Beit Hamikdash is like a temple. It's a miniature temple. That's why they So it's called a mikdash meat. Not supposed to. I mean this I'm going to tell you how I learned it. That let's say a pistol, you cover your jacket with it or even the handle is not part of the gun so to speak. It's not uh at least mine was covered with wood. It's already covered. So okay. So basically the the a handgun is easy to cover. And the the synagogues that I was around where people had rifles, you brought a towel or you took off your sweater and you wrapped in your sweater. Um it should be covered. It should be covered. Okay, now, I'm not going to go against if there's people that say you have to be able to shoot at any moment in case someone comes. So, there could be, let's say, a leniency under certain circumstances. But, if it was a time of peace, then for sure you would have to cover it. Okay? >> It's just that so many people rifle >> And if that's true by the stones of the altar, which brings atonement, right? Shalom, then certainly the land itself cannot, let's say, tolerate uh murder as well. Okay, so we dealt with uh idol worship and we dealt with murder. Now, we're going to deal with gili arayus. Okay, we did discuss this a few months ago. That the natural springs, the water that bubbles up from the ground or that's it's found here and it could be the Kinneret, but >> [cough and clears throat] >> the the springs, the water that's found in Israel causes people to be modest. Okay? Now, could be that we all come from chutz la'aretz and it takes a while for the the water to filter through our system. Right? Could be. Could be. So, um the idea is that Eretz Yisrael, because of the water, maybe the air, causes people to be more modest. K'sheyishuv ba'aretz b'ezrat Hashem parshas Pinchas, he'll discuss this in parshas Pinchas regarding a Midrash in Tan Midrash Tan Chuma that says like this, "Remember the daughters of Tzelafchad, they they desired a piece of Eretz Yisrael. And according to the laws of inheritance, it wasn't clear that they would. So, we have this concept that Nashim Hayu Mechalvos Etz Ha'aretz. In fact, why does it say Why does Why did God say, "Go ahead, Moses, send men." Shlach Lecha Anashim. Because in a certain sense, God was setting up for failure. Gave us 40 more years with Moshe, by the way. If we were to go in and Moses already was told he's not going in. In the very last pasuk of Shmos, and Parshas Shmos, chapter 6, verse 1, Hashem says to Moses after he complains. He's complaining, you know, "It only got worse. It only got worse. You know, I went down to Egypt and asked for my fellows to go out and you know, they have They have Now they have to collect their own straw and work double shifts." Hashem said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. For through a strong hand, he will send them out. And with a strong hand, he will drive them from the land." Now, you just read this part of the narrative, but Rashi says, God says to him, "I'm going to show you what I'm going to do to Pharaoh, but you're not going to see what I'm going to do to the 31 kings, to the seven nations. You're not going in." It was already decreed there that his complaint. Okay? We said that when it came to the spies, God said, "Send men." Why send men? Because the men don't love the land of Israel as much as the women. The statement here is that Nashim Hayu Mechalvos Etz Ha'aretz. And we learn from the daughters of Tzelafchad. But also, they weren't involved in the buying the whole story of the spies. they weren't involved in the sin of the eagle either. The women are our key to Geulah. Okay, it's only because of the righteous women that we're going to be redeemed. But going back to the story, the women were um loving the land. If they would have been the spies, then we would have gone straight in. But the fact is, Shlach Lecha, the word Lecha, Rashi tells us over and over again, it's for your benefit. God was saying it's for your benefit, Moses, to send men. Cuz then you get an extra 40 years of life, or 39 years of life at this point. Anyway, um we learn that why were the women loving the land? Let the fish out of the aquarium. Because they have this modesty. They drank the Kool-Aid. They drank the water. All right, Lecha Lecha Shiva Kodesh Baruchu LeMoshe Sheyikachu Maros Hatzvuos LeKiyor. Remember that the brass Kiyor, the the the place where the Kohanim are going to wash their hands and their feet, is from this copper vessel. And what was it made out of? The mirrors. Now, the mirrors were used for what purpose? To look in Well, remember, I think I discussed this last week also. You don't find mirrors in the bathrooms in the Haredi neighborhoods. The uh in the the wedding halls. Maybe you didn't know that. Maybe that's why you caught the guys in there once in a while trying to comb their hair. But uh so the idea of a mirror is not a it's not a man's object. It was a woman's object used to beautify themselves, which is somewhat related to the Yetzer Hara. Okay, well, it rouses the Yetzer Hara, even in men, or more so in men. But so that's what he says. Moses was told by God, he was commanded by God to take these mirrors, gather them together for the killer as well as Kumar's which are like a brooch, some kind of a pin. And we're going to discuss the difference. The The mirrors were used to make yourself beautiful and then to attract men, whereas the brooch or the pin was used to um hide the collarbone. Um to to use the begged to use the garment and close it, not to open it, but to close it. We'll see the difference here in a second. So Moses had to be commanded to take these mirrors as well as the brooches. Even though that somehow supported or awakened or inclined towards a positive a possible negative thing, Khasal tell us Mosha Ratzali Amaras that Moses was hesitant. He didn't really want to take these mirrors. But the Tisha because they were used for some possibly negative ideas until God commanded him that he should take them for the purpose of the temple. Again, what we use you know, meter canega meter we were talking about earlier like different phraseologies are going to somehow impact in the opposite direction. So too here that it works in the opposite direction too because this was actually endearing for Hashem. Now we're going to find out why the the Kumar's was Moses did not hesitate. He only hesitated by the mirrors, but he didn't hesitate by the brooch. So the next page says Rabim Shalim Lamen Notal Hakumas Miyat. Why did Moses not hesitate? He went ahead and he took the brooches or he asked the brooches to be taken. So he read many of them of worship and they all answer a little bit differently according to their own, you know, intellectual understanding. But the clear car says the near relation of the dark shot. It seems like we can actually answer this in a very simple way. What again, what was the question? Why with the mirrors he was hesitant, didn't want to run and take them, but the brooches he he would. He a Kumar's higher with the loot because what the brooch did was it was actually used for modest purposes. Even though it's a piece of jewelry that could be attractive, but it was used to close the gear the place of nakedness which again it could have been Maybe they had an open skirt and it closed the skirt. Maybe it was covered the collarbone. I don't know, but it says here it was used to close that part which is considered nakedness. I will have a mirror he is a sweet list taco bowl but when it comes to the mirrors, what was the purpose? It was in order to look to beautify themselves. And that is clear according to the clear car. Now we said there were four meters. So we talked about idol worship, we talked about murder, we talked about sex illicit sexual relations. What about humility or the opposite the haughtiness? Where was that? gone Even haughtiness or even more so haughtiness, but he says from the aspect of haughtiness also it's necessary to be exiled from the land of Israel. Hazal tell us in Gemara Sota cha- page 5A, "Kol Hamitgaye omer Kodesh Baruchu." By the word By the way, the word in Hebrew for pride is gay. And we all know in America they have or maybe even here the gay pride. So, gay means pride. Okay? So, they're repeating themselves. Okay. So, "Hamitgaye omer Kodesh Baruchu." When it comes to anyone who is proud, like, you know, in a ostentatious kind of way, in a not positive kind of way, it says, "Ani v'hu einenu cholim ladur ba'olam." God is saying, "There's not enough room for both of us. One of us has to go, right?" "Ani v'hu." Me and you, me and him, we can't dwell together. It's not possible. It says in Psalms 101 verse 5, he It's really the second part of the verse, but we'll read the first part. >> [clears throat] >> "He who slanders his neighbor in secret, I will cut him down." Now, this is the part he wants us to see. "One whose eyes are raised up." Right? We think of like We call people stuck up. Right? Their nose is up in the air. Okay? So, "One whose eyes are raised up, gova the word gova einayim." And also someone whose heart is expansive or havli vov. Like, we're not talking about generosity. We're talking about he's full of himself. "Lo uchal." God says, "Oto." What's the word "oto"? With him. Him. Him I cannot tolerate. Him I cannot be around. I'm not able. So, the word "oto," remember, there's no vowels in in the Bible. The clear [clears throat] cut explains, according to the Gemara, a all, according to Chazal in Gemara Sotah there, "I'll tick rate auto Ella Ito." It's not to be read or understood, I can't tolerate him. It means I can't tolerate with him. I cannot be with him. With him, Ito, with him. Mach lo noso visam ha'aretz yachad. Therefore, God does not tolerate or bring them up, carry them into the land together in a makom mishrab shchinato, where he dwells. This is the palace of the king. Lafikach sibinyan ha'galut. Therefore, remember what it says. This is a little bit complicated. In Ezekiel chapter 9:1, we have to look at the Hebrew. We'll start with the English. Then he called into my ears with a loud voice, saying, "Bring near those appointed over the city. Each one his weapon of destruction in his hand." Now, those words, "Bring near the appointed over the city," korvu pekudei ha'ir. See the word pekudei? Parshas Pekudei. It sounds familiar. Like, what is pakud? Right? You have instruction, law, counting, right? A deposit, right? We use it We use it in all kinds of fashions. But here it's appointed. Okay? For those who are What does Rashi say? Bring near the appointees to my appointed destroy the city. These are like minuyin. Okay? Someone who has a certain tafkid. Same word. Tafkid, a job. But it also sar umena was visited, to visit. Poketz Sarah. So, it says in our Well, when we're dealing with the the uh sin of the golden calf, look in chapter 32 verse 34. Where is it on the sheet? Number 18. And now go, lead the people to the place where of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel will go before you. But on the day I will make an accounting of sins upon them, I will bring their sin to account against them. Ahanakh asked, "We got over, we were already forgiven. What's going on? Why are we still re-hashing and going over and still need to find atonement?" You know, whether it was the tabernacle. Going to say it's like a trigger. Whenever we violate any one of these four sins, whether it's idol worship or murder or sexual immorality or haughtiness, Hashem remembers. The word pakad is to remember. It it drudges up. I don't know if it's a trigger in the sense of a human trigger, but it drudges up the sin that was forgiven but not fully forgiven. Look in Rashi on number 18. Right? It's uh Genesis It's Exodus 32:34. See, but on the day I will make an accounting. Now I have listened to you not to destroy them all at once. So, God is saying, "Okay, Moses, you begged, you begged, you begged. I'm going to forgive them, but not all at once. There's going to be like a still a memory there. They're still holding on to a little bit." And then, but always always, whenever I take an accounting of their sins, I will also account a little of this sin with the other sins. This means that no punishment befalls Israel in which there is not a part of the punishment for the sin of the golden calf. Uh how does that answer your question a little bit? >> No. >> No? Okay, so hold on to your question. We're looking through the Kli Yakar and he says, "Regarding the exile, Korvu Pekudai Sair, Ma Eima Pekudai? What exactly are these appointees? Shekruvu Eilu, these appointed are uh hinting to the Maaseh Egel, to the actual sin of the golden calf. As it says in chapter 32, verse 34, which we just read. "But on that day that I make an accounting of sins upon them, I will bring their sin to account against them." It wasn't fully forgotten. It wasn't fully forgiven. Okay? And that's what it means. I'm going to bring their sins. Biyom Pikdidi, what does that mean? Hinei Shekruvu Pekudai Sair She Avru Yisrael Al Dalet Averot Eilu, that this is a trigger, that this is a remembrance, it's going to bring the remembrance of the city um that they transgressed, the Jewish people transgressed those four sins. I'm going to remember every sin we do, not just these four. They're going to be reminded. Could be just these four. That's what he says. Oz Eskor Lahem Maaseh Egel, I will remember them, I'll remind them of the Maaseh Egel. God will remember. Ki Maaseh Egel Avru Gam Kein Al Dalet Eilu, at the actual sin of the golden calf we transgressed all four of these. So if we transgressed Hanokh, those four at the sin of the golden calf, and if we repeat those sins, of course God might have forgiven us, but how much of our teshuvah really took place if we repeat them? You get the idea? If we're repeating them, God remembers, Yeah, you did chuva then, but it wasn't 100%. How can his forgiveness be 100%? That's how I'm looking at it. So, it's like a trigger for him. And how do we know that at the golden calf, we violated all four? So, in chapter 32 verse 6 of of Exodus, many translate the word let sochek as reveled. So, when the next day they rose early, offered up burnt offerings and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they got up to make merry. In Hebrew, viyakumu let sochek. Let sochek is used, we'll see, by all three big sins, by murder, by idol worship, and by sexual immorality. Here, this verse is talking about idol worship. That that day is the day we got up to make viyakumu let sochek. Look at what Rashi Satan aroused them so they would sin. To make merry, let sochek. In this word, there's actually a connotation of sexual immorality because we're going to see in Genesis 39:17, um by Yosef, that the woman, Mrs. Potiphar, says he was mocking us, meaning she's blaming him for, you know, sexual advances. So, you see that it you refers to sexual advantages and advances. Blood shed also in 2 Samuel chapter 2 verse 14, that these we talked about this already, I think we we used that verse, which is right here. Let the boys go up now and play before us. If you notice, if you read the narrative, you're talking about a war. It's they're about to kill each other. Okay, so Avner said to Yoav, yakumu na hanarim. Now, it is with a sin and not with a tzadik, viysachaku lifanenu. But um it's still the same word in in in context because the the sin and the tsadik are interchangeable. Okay. Uh look at number 21. That's the verse dealing with Mrs. Potiphar. Okay, so we go back into the Kli Yakar. We're almost finished. Um so we saw the idea of idol worship. That's what he says, "Yikumu l'tsachek." "Nirm'zu bo avodas elilim k'pshuto." Obviously, the sin of the golden calf is idol worship. "N'arim yits'chaku l'fanav." Even though it's a sin not a tsadik, that is dealing with murder. And then giluy arayos there is um from Genesis 39:14. And that was by Mrs. Potiphar. She claims that this man, meaning her husband, brought this Hebrew slave to mock us, to revel with us. It's implied sexual immorality. "K'may tzeena b'feirush." We also see explicitly "Sha'arei Yisha'arim eilu." So we know that the Jews violated those three big sins. That's why we were exiled from our land. "Al avodas elilim avodas elilim k'pshuto." That we understood clearly because it says "Vayivnu mizbei'ach l'fanav." "Mizbei'ach l'fanav." Not only did we build the altar, but even sacrificed using it. And sh'fichus damim, you know, Chur Chur was killed. Right? Miriam's husband was killed. Or that's Machlokes son. Her son was killed. And his name was Chur. Uh because why? "Ashlo asu r'tzonam." Because he didn't do what the Jews wanted or the Erev Rav. They He to make an idol. He fought against him. He defended Aaron. The Cain and Abel. And similarly, and we we read this verse already that they gathered against Aaron. Why did they gather against Aaron? She killed all of the They gathered in order to kill Aaron in lower return on. If he didn't do their will. So, whatever he When they say he survived another day, right? To fight another day. Um he tried to trick them. How How did he try to trick them? He said, "Okay, go ahead. Take the gold from your wives." He thought, "No woman's going to give it up." Right? He trusted the women weren't going to give it up. He just knew that Moses was late. So, to delay them a little bit. They ripped the earrings out of their wives' ears. >> I thought they took their own gold because the women didn't >> Look at the rush. You'll see. The women did not give up willingly. They were not participants. The men ripped the earrings out of their wives' ears. >> own gold. >> Everyone had a lot of gold. We were very very wealthy. That's called old money. Imagine if we still had some of that money left over. Okay. So, then that's dealing with murder. What about Gili Arayos? Gili Arayos is a little bit complicated. Call call on us and okay show me out. So, in chapter 32 verse 18 of Exodus, Moses said, "It is neither a voice shouting victory or a voice shouting defeat. A voice of blasphemy I hear." So, what did he hear? Even though in English the translating is blasphemy, it's like the movie. You know, Charlton Heston, the movie 10 Commandments? They were belly dancers. So, that showed you they were doing some illicit sexual stuff. But here, this is the what he heard. He heard the reveling. Right? The hearing call on out. On out could mean oppression. Right? Uh look at the next source cuz he's going to bring us to this idea on the top left. Um just a few lines left. Ain Onote Ella Gulei Raya. This idea of oppression is nothing other than sexual relations, illicit relations. And in this case, it's using uh rape case case of rape. Deuteronomy chapter 22 verse 24 or adultery. Um You shall take them both out to the gate of the city and you shall pelt them with stones and they shall die. The girl because she didn't cry out even though she was in the city. It's not it's a case of uh adultery. And the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. The word violate. He he was oppressive. He basically stole uh right? He was a violation of his neighbor's wife. So that's the word Tak Asher Eno as Ishus Reihu. That's the pasuk. V'chein perush Rashi kol ha'olam k'ilu k'irufein. And he gains it by saying the regarding gasus ha'ruach. So everything was in line. We talked about the three major ones. But what about arrogance? Gasus ha'ruach she bo me'rov kesef v'zahav she yerbeh l'cha v'ram l'vav'cha. There's a pasuk that in um in Exodus 32:31 that says like this. It's number 25. Moses returned to the Lord. He was begging, "Please forgive the Jewish people. Please forgive the Jewish people." He says the people committed a grave sin. They made themselves a god of gold. Great. They made themselves a god of gold. What was Moses trying to say? God, it's your fault. You gave him all that gold. Remember, he's our advocate. He is trying to get us off the hook. Well, guess what happens when you give us a lot of gold? There's a possuk that says, "When if you become very um wealthy, and uh you're going to forget the Lord your God." Where do we see that? Maybe I didn't bring it down. Um but that's a famous concept that God says, "Oh, that's the possuk." That is the possuk. Um where it says, "Mayrov kesef v'zahav yirbe l'cha v'ram levavcha." That because of a great amount of wealth, the increase of wealth, your heart will become haughty, and you'll forget the Lord your God. And that's what the Gemara is bringing this idea, "Yaasu lahem elohei zahav." They made for themselves gods of gold. What did Moses say? "Amor Mosheh, bishvil rov kesef zahav shehashpa'at lahem." You are the one that granted it to them. You you influenced them. You provided them. You uh made it flow from heaven, right? The blessing. So, there's a a blessing and a curse. Right? We thought I just a side point that um people are very upset with the Epstein files and this and that, and they're wondering, "What is it about these Jews? They they seem to run the world." But they're only looking at the dark side. It's true. We said, I think last week, maybe in my Sunday night share, that the greater yetzer tov, the greater yetzer hara. Okay? So, unfortunately, or fortunately, because of the great yetzer tov, unfortunately, we also have a big yetzer hara. And it's amazing. I mean, I have to say, I mean, some of the worst crimes in history I say amazing not in a good sense. Uh some of the worst crimes in history, you know, at least modern history that we know of, whether it's, you know, a guy like Madoff, or like Epstein, who Who You can just probably unfortunately too many. Weinstein. You know, I'm just mentioning names. No no connection to anything. I don't want to get sued. But the idea is that um that we have we have contributed so much to the world, you know, just in America alone last 250, 300 years what Jews have contributed to America, which we contributed to to the to the Western civilization. You know, do not murder. Funny story, you know, like uh my friend uh Ken Spiro, Rabbi Ken Spiro, says if if you were like this religious Jew at the time of um the gladiators and you stood outside with a sign like protesting, do not murder. They throw you for lunch. You'd be lunch. I mean, this is what we brought to the world, do not murder, right? We brought so many good things and uh the idea of the love for life, the love for your fellow human being, right? This is a Jewish statement. It's in Leviticus, love your neighbor as yourself. It's not some guy 2,000 years ago on some mountaintop said, oh, I invented this new phrase, right? Sounds like such a chiddish. It's a such a in novel idea. This is what Judaism has brought to the world. So, b'ezrat Hashem, we'll find our own way to make tikkunim in our own lives and through that should spread to the world. B'ezrat Hashem will continue this this particular parsha next year and we'll see what else we can come up with other jewels we can come up with. >> [music] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music]