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Sponsored in memory of Fay and Nathan Holzman
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[00:00:00] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:00:00] Speaker B: The Messohar Baltimore Rosh Chodesh program is sponsored in memory of Faye and Nathan Holtzman. And may all the learning that has been done through this entire series be in Aliyah for their shemos. Tonight, our Rosh Chodesh Steve on. Sponsors are Cindy Ring, Lailoi Nishmat Habakkhar, Chaim Yaakovichal Simcha, whose yard site is the 25th of er, and Julie Meister in memory of her parents, Avramosha ben SvI and Leiaboth Mordechai. May the learning done be an aliyah for all of their nishamos. It is my pleasure to turn the program over to misses Jacqueline Silva. It's always a treat when Jacqueline can fit us into her very busy schedule. On top of being an educator, she also is the executive director of BG Cube, the wonderful organization which is hopefully cultivating young women to one day be Matilda members also later in life, and giving them an appreciation for learning and for Tora. So I'm going to turn the program over to Jacqueline, and we will get started.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: Okay. Thank you so much for having me. I think I've told this to Andrea before, and I've said it behind Missouri Baltimore's back. So that's how, you know, I really mean it. That this. I would say this room, but, you know, especially when we're in person, is one of my favorite rooms in all of Baltimore.
This group of women who's just so sincere and driven to learn, to grow, to just be transformed, it's really amazing. I far prefer being on the audience side with you, but I definitely very much appreciate the opportunity to learn Torah with you tonight.
I think every time that a Yantiv comes, different speakers make it sound like this Yantiv is the most important. Yantiv. This is the one who's powered, you know, whether it's Rosh Hashanah, this is the yunzef. And then, you know, we can transform ourselves in Yom Kippur. This is the yanzif. And, like, it feels like the gates are never closed, right? It's some chasid somewhere said it goes until Chanukah, but then Pezach's amazing. So I just think before we go in, and I will get very excited about Sivan and Shavuos. And I know this year we learned Chanukah together, which really, really is one of my favorites. But I just want to start off by saying that I read recently in Rabbi Deniszewski's book attached, that really, from the Torah's perspective, a yantif or a chag is called a moed. Hashem specifically calls it a mowid, which means a meeting place.
And if that's the case, if this is almost, you know, a date opportunity with Hashem, Kebiyachel, then, yeah, this is the most exciting. The Rav is not being silly by saying, this next one's my most favorite. If the next date opportunity with Hashem is the next one coming up, then it is. Then I am really excited about it, and it is one of my favorites. So here we go. We will jump in. I will share my screen, correct, Andrea? Okay, I'm going to share my screen, and I'm very excited to learn with you.
Here we go. Okay, I have. Let me just make it a little smaller. Sorry.
Okay. Is that good? You guys can see.
Okay, here we go. So, as you know, I usually have questions. So, as usual, I have four different questions tonight related to Matantorah, to this season coming up. And the first question is in my first three, four sources. Okay. And that is that the famous thing that happens in Siva and that happens over Shavuos is that the jewish people sit around this mountain, and we said the very famous words that we are so praised for. That is not an Ishmael. Right. We said these words, Hashem. Even before you tell us the details, even before I know what I'm signing up for, I am ready to do it. And the medrash tells us, the miheltah says, that was what was so incredible. The jewish people, his maim Bismcha, this showed that we were unified. We were excited. We were really Bihad, and in a simcha type of way, to accept this Torah.
And yet this is. Many of us know that if you look at a different place in the Torah, in Parshas Yisro, that the chumash tells us, Viet Yatvu, Betakte Sahar, that the jewish people stood at the foot of the mountain, that the Gemara tells us what happened there? Well, what happens there was Milami chakafaka, Deshbokhalima, Tahar kagigas. Hashem held the mountain over their heads. Va amarlam. And he said to them, umutav, sorry, imakabal. Matara, mutav. If you accept the Torah, great.
If not, basically convert or die. Right? This was essentially Hashem's version of convert or die. So you're kind of stuck thinking like, well, what was so great about Kalyasal saying not seven Ishmael? What was the alternative? If we turn back, we were slaves, right? Forward is, you know, a grave. So what's the alternative? We might as well say yes. So what is the medrash talking about? That we were so united and so excited and happy to get the Torah when it's in essential in essence. And essentially, it sounds like we were forced, in a very scary way, into accepting the Torah. So that's a well known question. That's the first question that I do want to deal with.
The second. Oh, I am so sorry. I don't know what I just did right there. Okay, sorry.
The second question.
Sorry about that.
The second question is these two sources, and that is that if you look at the scene of how the Torah was given so bark hash and Baltimore, especially in the spring, knows how to do rain. Well, when it rains, it rains. So recently, there was, like, an insane thunder outside. I don't know if you remember. I think it was last week. And I said to my kids, guys, imagine that, but non stop with lightning and with. With really loud chauffeur sounds and Hashem speaking. Can you imagine how scary, right? And how intense and how inducing getting the Torah was, right. That's really what the chumash was. Kolos brakim. There's a heavy cloud. There's sounds, there's lightning. There's this allowed chauffeur. There's smoke, there's fire. We hear Hashem talking. It's a very intimidating, scary scene.
But my question for question number two is, it's so interesting, because if we go to Malach and we fast forward in time, Hashem has a conversation with Eliyahu Annabi, and he tells Eliyahu Annabi, after Eliyahu Annabi, who's a very zealous, intense personality, after he proved right, he had a showdown with the fake prophets, the false prophets, and he wins. And Hashem takes his car upon. And after that, Hashem says, eliyahu, come out, and he takes him out, and he says, first, hashem has this insane wind come that basically is whipping through mountains and breaking rocks. And then Hashem says, lo baruach, hashem, I'm not in the strong wind.
And after the wind came a very loud noise, maybe even a thunder of some sort below barash Hashem. And Hashem says, I'm not in the loud sound. Ba acha harash ish velo ba ish, hashem. But hashem is saying, I'm not in the fire. I'm not in the loud noise. I'm not in the. In the fire. I'm not in the wind.
Kohl d'mama dakah.
It was the sound of silence.
And Hashem is essentially telling Eliyahu, if you really want to find me, finds me in quiet moments and in quiet places where you really can find me, is Nicole's mama daka in the sound of silence? So my question number two is, if that is the case, then why did you not give Torah in the way that we can find you? Why are you giving Torah over in the very places, right, with the fire and the strong noises and all these lights, and it's like a lights and sound show, but you're telling me cold, mama Dakai can find you in the sound of silence. So question number two is, I'm confused. Can I find you in the sound of silence? And if yes, then why are you making this scene so loud, intense and dramatic, so sensory overload? Okay, so question number one is, I love that we're given compliments for saying NASA of an ishma. But if we were forced, then what was so great? Question number two is, what's with the lights and sound show? If Hashem is saying only finds me in the sound of silence? And question number three, which is so appropriate, is the measure, tells us there's no Torah like the Torah of Eret Yisrael. Right? You really want to learn Torah? There's no Torah like the Torah of Eret Yisrael. And lo Chachma chachmas aret Israel. There's no Chachma like the Chachma of Eretz Israel. And Rav Kook explains that what this really means is that there's three unique aspects of this. There's. The jewish people are unique amongst the people of peoples, of nations.
The Torah is unique amongst knowledges, and Eretzrail is unique amongst lands. In which case, that brings me to my next question. Question number three, which really, the magic asks Lama bemid Barcinai, not just specifically why in the Sinai desert, but why in a desert at all? If you're going to give over Torah, then give it over. If Ain Torah, Ketorah, Eretz Yisrael. If it's true that there's no Torah like the Torah of Eret Yisrael, then give it over in Eretz Israel. Give it over in the place where it's in an ideal habitat, right? This is where it's naturally at its best. Why are you giving to me in subpar conditions? And when it's not at its finest? If ain't Torah Keturah Eretzerl, then why are you giving it to me in a desert? Why are you giving me the Torah in a midbar. That is question number three. In question number four, I'm taking directly from Rav Hersh, which is the following.
You know, it's kind of ironic that if you were to look at the jewish calendar and ask, what are the most popular holidays? What are the most popular holidays?
The most popular holidays is probably Hanukkah, Rosh hashanah, Pesach. But if we were to ask you what was the most transformative for the jewish people, I really think you can argue with Pesach. I think it was Harsinah. I think it was shavuos. That's what made us not just of taking us out of slavery, but making us into Hashem's people. And yet, says Rafirsh, why then is the celebration itself on so small a scale, so quiet and restricted in the Torah to the fleeting span of but a single day? And on that day itself, the celebration is marked by scarcely one positive symbol, and it's expressed nearly in a negative way by abstaining from doing any work. Only one day. Only one quiet day. Only one quiet day for the Torah. Question number four is, if any day deserves to have fanfare and, you know, all of these symbolisms, give it to Shavuos, which is the most transformative of us in our history.
Why does Pesach get along? A lot of drama, a lot of sweat, a lot of attention.
Circus gets a lot of time. It gets a lot of attention. Lots of guys effort, a lot of symbolism. Sucka lulu, honey, there's no shortage apple. Like, all these different holidays have so much going. Shavuos is so transformative. Why is it just a day? And if we were to ask me, what do we do? I mean, maybe we could have cheesecake, but you don't even need to, right? Like, what do we do? Nobody knows about it. So just to recap the four questions, again, number one, natsavanishma, what's the big deal if essentially, we were given the option of convert or die? We're like, yeah, no, we're in. And we're like, okay, great. But what was the alternative? Right? Okay, that's question number one. Question number two is if cold Ramada kaf, it's true that Hashem is ideally found in the sound of silence. Why are you giving over the Torah in such a lights and sound show? Question number three is if Ain Torah ketoris Eretz Yisrael, if there's no Torah like the Torah of Eretz Yisrael, then why are you giving over in a midbar and question number four is, why is Shavuos so, like, uncelebrated? Almost. It's just like. It's just a day with almost nothing. It's a quiet day. A quiet day.
So let us begin, and we're going to begin our answer with this meshachma.
So we're going to begin understanding that, according to the beshachma, a very important idea. The next few ideas are essential to understanding what we're going to talk about tonight.
And that is that the Misha chachma argues that when Hashem held the mountain over our heads, what it means is not that Hashem forced us into it with a convert or die option, but what the meshachma argues is, what that means, according to the Masha chachma, is that it's not that Hashem threatened us with a convert or die option. It's that Hashem gave us, for one time in jewish history, a 2020 vision of him in such a way, with such clarity, with 100% clarity, that, in essence, we did not have Bakira. Not because Hashem took away our bakheera, not because we were no longer human, but if you think about what free choice in Bakira is, Bakheera is in those moments when I'm not sure what's right, when I'm not sure what to do, I'm not sure if things are gray, when think about an example when things are not unclear. Right.
You know, when you walk out of the classroom, say thank you to the teacher, or don't say thank you to the teacher. Right. It's black. Right. It's a clear thing. You say thank you to the teacher after class. Right. That's easy. It's black and white. It's very polite and nice to say that there's no gray there. When it's a 100% clarity, there's no free choice because it's so clear there's no other.
Hashem essentially made things so clear on purpose, and I bolded that on purpose. They were essentially, for this moment in jewish history, like angels with no difference. If you think about what the experience of an angel is, and this is going to be very important at some point of this tonight, an angel's experience is not necessarily. I once heard this. It's not necessarily that angels and Malachim don't have free will, but when your entire existence is standing before Hashem 24/7 you have such clarity.
You don't have bakheera.
Does that make sense?
I'll give you an example. My students were like, no, but you still do have free will. I said, guys, if the principal walked into the room and gave you his keys and said, I'm rushing, but I need you to get something out of my trunk.
What are you doing? I said, of course we would go. I said, but what if you weren't so in the mood? They said, no, of course we would go. The principal asked us to go. You go. I said, what if it was, like, drizzling a little? They said, no, no, mister Sova, you don't say no to the principal. I said, okay, now let me ask you. What if your friends came in and your friend said, can you do me a favor? You just go to my car, and let's even say it's sunny outside. They're like, I would tell my friend, go get it yourself. So what's the difference? You're the same person in the same scenario with the same energy levels. What's the difference is that when the principal walks, in essence, you don't have the. There's no. There's no say no. It's 100% clarity. I say yes because you're the principal. With 100% clarity, Hashem revealed himself. Now the question is, why did Hashem have to reveal himself? We know we've learned this before together a few years ago, that Hashem is a kelmestater. Hashem prefers to remain hidden. Hashem does not like coming out and making himself obvious. So what was so needed? Why did Hashem feel the need to come out in such a dramatic, obvious 2020 vision type of way at this moment? And this is important because the ma'hara, I keep doing that. I am so sorry. I have a touchscreen and I am forgetting that I should not use it here.
The morale says the reason why this was so important for this time to give 2020 vision is because if we did not accept the Torah, when Hashem says sham tehik Furatzchem, it doesn't mean I was giving you a threat sentence. I wasn't giving you a threatening you. I wasn't giving you a death sentence. It's that which it means is that the world would cease to be.
Without the Torah, the world would go back to Soho, Vavohu. Without the Torah, the world won't be. Hashem had to, for one moment in jewish history, come out and make himself so clear to us that it's so obvious, the benefits, the importance. Hashem, you run the world. Who wrote this Torah is so clear to me one time in jewish history.
We're so clear because we needed to accept the Torah, because if we didn't, the world would cease to exist. And how do I know this? Because anything that is. That happens is already finds its roots in voracious. In boracious empiric alif. It says, after the end of creation, Hashem creates the whole world.
Hashem saw everything that he did via tov ma od. Hashem created an amazing, amazing world. Vai arab vahi bokir yom hashishi.
It was the 6th day. And says rashi, you know, that's so interesting, because every other day of creation, it says Yom Rishon, Yom Shlishi, yom Revi, yom khamishi, not yom ha. The. What's with this extra hey? Like the.
So Rashid says, you know what? It. It's very, actually very, very important that hey symbolizes one of two things, and I think that they're really related.
Number one is that the five. The hey is five big matria. And that Rashi tells us to say that this entire beautiful world that I've given you, shet nayimahem. This world that I've given you, Almana Sheikabalu Alayhi misral Hamishe cham Sheitora. It's all pending you accepting the five books. Alto of me'od. I mean, a gorgeous world. It's beautiful.
But if you don't accept the five books, it won't continue to be.
Or what's this? Hashishi? The 6th day, says Rashi. It's the 6th day of Sivan, the day we get the Torah.
The entire world. This is pretty crazy. What that means is the entire world that was created was really. Its existence was pending, was really dependent on whether the jewish people standing around Tar Sinai would say, we want to bring Torah into the world. And if they wouldn't, the world cease to exist.
You have to accept this Torah. And I have to make it so obvious to how important this Torah is, because if you don't accept it, the world will cease to exist.
So I want to take us to an interesting place, maybe an unexpected place. And that is on the week that we learn that we are maqabul of the Torah in Chumash is parshas yisro. So I wanted to understand what happens in the haftorah of that week. Like, does that tell me anything about Kabbalah Sator and what it means to be meet the Kabul Torah in 2024? So I found something that I thought was very, very interesting. What's that week's haftorah that week's haftra is Yeshayahu Paragvav. A very famous scene where Yeshayahu gets his first nevua.
It's in the year that Uziyahu is king, and Ishayahu sees Hashem sitting on this lofty throne. Srafimaalo, these angels are standing there. Mima. Allo, standing. What it means is they're standing, ready to serve hashem, these angels, sheikh from La Echad, each one with six wings. Shtaymihasa panav. Two to cover their face, two to cover their legs, and two to fly the karaza aza, the amar. And they call to each other and they say, Kadosh. Kadosh, kadosh. Hashem. Tzvakos moloklarat kavodo.
We are taken to a scene of angels of malachim.
That's so interesting, because you remember the words of the Meshachma. They should resonate with you. Wait. That's so interesting. Do you remember rasinai? His very words were. Right. Do you remember? His words were, we were like angels at Harcinai. And here I turn and I go to my haftora of that parsha, and it's showing me all about angels. You were one's angels. You're reading about angels. Hey, this is like what you were, except something quite depressing happens when you fast forward, because all of a sudden, Yeshayahu's vision gets a little interrupted by an earthquake, because it turns out that it was yahu. The king wanted to give a ketorah, a type of carbon that really kings can't give, but he didn't listen. So he goes into the base, hamikdash.
There's an earthquake, and yeshayahu says, ayli, ay ki ish tamaitza vasay manohi. I'm impure, and the people are impure.
He.
And we saw Hashem. The king is clearly a failure. I'm a failure. The people are a failure. We're gonna die. We just. I just saw Hashem's vision, and I don't deserve to. They don't deserve to have this, and the king certainly doesn't deserve this. And it's kind of this depressing thought. Like, we just were at HR Sinai. We were like angels, right? That's. That's Meshach Hachmoth's words. Vaiyu mukherachim kemalachim. Below hebdal at Harsinai. We were like angels with 2020 vision. And then you fast forward to the havator and you're like, but how does this end for humanity? You know how it ends? The malachim are still awesome.
The malachim are still united and singing together with full clarity of how amazing HAShem is. And where is humanity? You know, where humanity is not doing so well.
Kings are doing whatever they want. No one seems to be deserving of seeing Hashem.
Like, wow, that's so depressing.
And what's ironic and interesting is that I think that at the parsha, parshas yisro, it's not our parsha, but that's really where shavuos happens. Gives the answer to this problem, because, of course, Hashem knew what humans are.
And we're not angels. We were angels for one time. So what are we supposed to make of this? It's depressing. So one time in jewish history, we stood there like angels having 2020 vision like, such clarity and fast forward, and here we are, and everyone's messing up. So what's the solution? What's the answer?
So I think that Parshas Yezor gives us the answer. And in there, Hashem says, you are going to become a holy people.
And says the medrash, that when Hashem wanted to create the very first human, the very first person, Adam Harishon Nimlach bimache Hasharis. Hashem consulted, he invited the angels to create with him. And he said to them, na, as the Adam, let us make man. You, the angels, and me, let us make man together.
Amrula Fanath. And the angel said to Hashem, we see how these humans are gonna end up. Like, what's he worth thinking, considering? Ubun adam ki tif kadenu. Why are you even considering making this. This creature, this human?
Amar Alam and Hashram said to them, adam, zesh animakish libraos. This man that I am intending and that I plan to create for ulami in my world. Chachmaso maruma mishalachem. Their wisdom and their knowledge is even more than yours. And says the sefsechacham of Chaim Cleanlander, what he means by that is their Torah. B'nai Enoshma allah.
Sanchez, their Torah is greater than your Torah. That there's something, ironically, even actually more special and more holy about this human than you angels will ever be.
Like, wait, I don't know, but we're failing. The Haftar makes that very clear.
How are we meant to be better and holier?
So I want to share a mahara that is stunning.
I have to give credit where credit is due. I originally heard it recently quoted by Rav Arlo Pyansky, and it was in. It was. He quoted it in two different places. You know, sometimes when you listen to a person, a few times you can hear, like, their way of thinking, which is very nice.
And it became clear that a question that he kept being asked in different communities is like, what do you think is the problem of our generation?
Subarach Hashem I feel like a lot of people can throw issues on our generation. There's no shortage.
But he felt very strongly that what this ma'aral has to offer really gets to the heart of what's wrong with what we need to consider. Let's be positive what we need to consider to make our generation turn around, and I'll explain it as we learn it. He says, you know, we're learning par kiyapos this season.
And one of the most famous of the mishnayas is the famous four questions, right? Ezu Hashir Hasamech bechal ko. And then the other question. And he said, you know, it's almost like an insulting Mishnah, right?
Who's wealthy? Well, whoever's happy with what they have. And it makes it sound like, you know, it's to make someone feel better. Like, okay, we know you didn't really bring in the wealth this year, but, like, if you're just happy with what you have, like, you're great. You know, it's like when your kid brings home certain awards at the end of the year, like, best smiler award, and you're like, that's so sweet. But, like, is that telling me something right? Like, if. What? What? Right? It's almost like, are you trying to cover up the fact that I actually don't have wealth? And it's almost like a comfort prize here.
What says the maharaj? No. Says, very deep. And he says no.
But there's an essential rule about being human, and that is, it's over here.
Yagia Kapach al Kisokal, Ashracha Vitovlach. And this is what Rev. Arno Pyansky argued. He feels like our generation does not have enough of. Not here in Baltimore, in this massora, Baltimore, Hevre, but outside of here. Yagiya ka para kisokal means that when a person puts in effort, when a person works hard, kisochal, then you get. When you work hard, when you plant kisochal, then you eat ashrachov atovlach. Lucky is such a person. Lucky is such a person who can work hard. See, the fruits of their efforts. That is a lucky person.
And, says the maharaj, that explains what we're saying.
What that really means is the following. It's very, it's a very special idea.
What that means is, imagine that a person, emirates Hashem by me, got some sort of inheritance. A million dollars. I'll take it. Don't you worry. Okay, a million dollars.
And in that same year, the person worked very hard with certain deals, and they brought in $200,000.
Which one is really his? Which one really is him?
So it says to Maharaj, no question that a person will enjoy getting the gift for you. Ask him which one feels like it has a piece of him. Which one transformed him? Which one has, like, made him, like, does he feel more satisfaction from. No question, the $200,000. Because what you work hard for, what you work hard for gives you a sense of satisfaction. Like, I can do hard things. I did that, I accomplished that. I created that.
And Lopianski argued that he's worried that we live in a time where things come so fast and so easy, that we're not working hard for anything. Entertainment comes fast, you know, groceries come fast, everything. No one's working hard anymore. You know, Kiviakal, a person who learns how to play an instrument, there's something very satisfying about that.
It's hard work. But Ashracha Vatovlach, how lucky as a person that you worked hard, you're able to do it. That's true. Simcha, that's a true sense of satisfaction. The hard work, the effort is what makes it satisfactory. I want to be clear. It's not the product, it's not the $200,000. It's the fact that I worked hard, and that is what brought it. It's a sense of self, it's a sense of accomplishment.
And that is what humans have over Malachim, were made holy. They are holy. They will be holy.
People were made. Tahor, Alokayna, shamashna, Satabi, Tahor were very pure.
But you have to become Kadosh. Kadush is in your hands.
And the way that we get Kedusha is by Yagiya, kapacha ki socal, working hard, effort, working on ourselves.
And that's what Rasaloveitchik actually fascinatingly says. He says, you know what Kedusha is, Salvatrix says, in a different place than Tanakh. He says, it means, he quotes uncles, and he says, it means to prepare. Holiness means preparation.
It's not a transcendental phenomenon which rises against man's will. It's not a scene that happens to me. Like, they had our Sinai, and all of a sudden, holiness happens. And now I'm holy man must choose it, wait for it, yearn for it. Only then does holiness descend slowly and cleave to us.
Each jew must develop within himself the ability to experience the.
Though we can neither see him nor hear him, we must be able to experience hashem.
I don't know if you can relate to this, but I feel like when I grew up and at Baruch Hashem, I'm relatively young, when we sang a kumsit, we would sing the same song, and we might be able to sing it three times. And everyone's eyes were closed and they were really thinking, you know? And sometimes I feel like sometimes I show up to a concept. Now people are going from song to song to song to song, and they're, like, doing, like, hand motions, like, while they're singing. And I'm like, you have to. You have to be able to feel Hashem and think about hashem and yearn for hashem and have kedusha enter. You have to become a person who's making an opportunity in a moment with and for Hashem.
I thought this was so beautiful. So let's just for a second, some of our questions.
Did they. Was it amazing that they said n seven Ishma, or were they forced into it?
So it wasn't that they were forced into it. Hashem gave them 2020 clarity, 2020 vision. And he needed to give them 2020 vision because the world was depending on this moment.
In fact, rabbit, yesterday, I wasn't planning on saying this, but literally yesterday went to Rabbi Gross this year, and he said, I believe he quoted the vilna gone, who has different names for each of the five books of Chamish and Shmos. He called Sefer Sheeni. He said, there are a lot of different names you can give. That's not the most creative. The second book, we could have done a little bit better than that. That's not so creative. But with this in mind, it really makes sense. Meaning whatever was created in book one wouldn't be if not for what happened in book two. Book one, the entirety of boracious and creation is pending. The Kabbalah Satora of Sefer number two. They're united, because without number two, book one will cease to exist.
So let's come to answer another question. And I thought this was so beautiful. I was so excited when I saw this.
Rabbi Jonathan Sachs so beautifully says, so why the desert? You know, if ain Torah Katoris ertisrael. And if any year where we feel like we. You know, that's so true. This is the year. Why the desert? So he says, the desert is a place of silence.
There's nothing visually to distract you. There's no noise to muffle sounds. He says, obviously, when we received the Torah, there was thunder, there was lightning, right? It felt like it was shaking. But in a later age, when Eliyahu Navi stood at the same mountain after his confrontation with the prophets of Baal, Hashem made it clear, right, that he can be found in the cold. Mama daka, in the still, small voice, literally, the sound of silence.
And here, as we go, and I absolutely love this paragraph. I define this as the sounds you can hear only if you are listening.
In the silence of the midbar, the desert, you can hear the midaber, the speaker, and the midubar, that which is spoken.
He took the same word, midbar, and said, midbar, a place that is usually silent. It's true that Harcinai was an exception, but the midbar is a place that's usually one where there's no distractions.
And in the mid bar, let's change the Nakudo. So that's where you can hear a midaber with speaker, and the Midubar, that which is spoken from time to time. We need to step back from the noise and hubbub of the social world and create in our hearts the stillness of the desert, where within the silence, we can hear the cold. Mamataka, perhaps have moments of mid bar moments. We need to be able to create mid bar moments amid our very busy, hectic schedules. Shabbos is a perfect example. But even in our day, I don't know if it's in your car. I don't know where it could be for you, a midbar moment where you close your eyes and you can connect to the midabir and maybe try to hear the madhubar, what he's trying to tell us.
And that is why Shavuos is the way that it is, because Shavuos is a midbar. It's so silent. There's no noise, there's no distractions, there's no, you know, everyone take out the different symbolisms and songs and no Mora's projects.
It's the still. It's the still and silent day of Torah, with no adornment or symbol enters your life. Strange it is how, in all its stillness, this day of revelation, Shavuos is so impressive in all its silence, so eloquent in spite of the absence of any symbol so full of significance.
That's the point of Shavuos, is to go back to the Midbar where there's no distractions, no noise.
And to hear the Madaber and the Madubar. To connect with Hashem and his Torah. The Madaber being Hashem, of course, and the Madubar being his Torah.
This is the final reason why the Torah rejects any symbolic expression and even any designation of Shavuos as the festival of revelation. From the very beginning, it should be clear, should clearly be conveyed to us that the Torah, the quintessence of all that is good and precious, is not satisfied that we devote a festival, be it a day, a week or even a month to it. The Torah demands of us the dedication of every hour and every moment throughout the year. Hashem designated the Torah to be the soul of your whole life. That it's true that for one day a year we thank you Hashem and we relive this acceptance with Simcha where we're in our proverbial midbar to connect with the Madaber and his madubar.
But Torah is an everyday thing.
And every day we have to find moments of Midbar. Moments where we're connecting with the Madabir and the Maduba.
And that brings us to perhaps one of the most beautiful, the most beautiful depictions that the madrish has to say about what happened at Harsinai.
It is true Hashem held the mountain over ahead according to the medrash. But I want you to think for 1 second, stay with me visually, where are the jewish people standing when they got the Torah?
They are told to stand around the mountain. I ask you if Hashem were to lift the mountain, who is under the mountain?
No one.
No one is under the mountain.
No one is going to be crushed by the mountain.
Isn't that so interesting? If we are around the mountain and you lift it, no one's under it and says the Madras, that's what happens. That when Hashem lifted the mountain I think it's so beautiful and such a gorgeous imagery.
What happened was that we were standing around the mountain and you know what happened? We all. Biyahad Ubasimcha took a step forward and what happened was.
Next source Ben Yahoyada and many others say that what happened was Harsinai became our chuppah. With Hashem we chose to take a step under the mountain. Hashem, Nassev and Ishma, we want this. We're in. And I want you to notice something fascinating about the threat of Hashem.
He says, if you accept this Torah, great. And if not, sham tehe kvatchem, your burial place will be there.
Not here, there, there. Far away from Torah is a life devoid of life and meaning.
Here is life, here is Chuppah, here is relationship.
Sham tehik for Asgham. That's where things are sad and go away.
So now let's go back to Arav Torah and start to close things up.
We were once like angels, and the angels in Arahath Torah are still so beautiful and amazing. And Kal Yusrael Yusha was like the king's clearly messed up. And I don't deserve this, and the jewish people don't deserve this. We're just at a bad place, so what are we supposed to do?
But if you look more carefully at this haftorah, Hashem said, Malachim is very praised. Was Kadosh. Kadosh, Kasham hash, you're so holy in time and place and in every way.
Malokola art kavod. You fill the whole world with your presence. And the haftur ends by Hashem saying, et miyashlachu mi le chanu. Who can I send and who will go for us? And Yeshayahu raises his hand and he says, hineni shlacheini sends me. I want to go on your mission.
And Rabbi doctor Julius Hirsch says that when Hashem asked, who will I send and who will go for us?
The singular of the first question, meaning who will I send? Is followed by a plural, who will go for us?
We surmise that the second includes a reference to Torah. Who will champion my cause and that of my law at this challenge.
At this challenge, the distant descendant of the ancestor who responded to this call utter the same heinini as Avraham, the same as Moshe, the same as other people throughout Tanakh, to dedicate himself to the service of Hashem. Here I am. Send me like the seraphim who serve you with veiled faces and covered feet.
I will devote my all my strength to carrying out the tasks for which I will be designated.
What the haftor is ending by saying is that it's true that Malachim, their entire existence, is ready to do the will of Hashem. But then Hashem turns to us and say, who will go for us? Who will bring Torah into the world? And every single one of us has the opportunity not just to be like the Abraham and Moshe and so many other countless grandparents in our lives.
Yeshaya was saying, Hina Nishlacheini send me every single one of us. That's the Medubar. That's the sound that Hashem is saying to us every day. And as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote in his book, a letter in the scroll, he wrote, more than the Torah, more than the Bible. Is interested in the home God made for man. More than we're interested in creation and the world that Hashem brought Adam into. It's concerns with the home man makes for God, what will we do with our lives? He name are we bringing Hashem into the world? And this is so beautiful, because if you look at the words Hashem tells the whole world, says the tanya, it means that when you learn Torah and you do Mitvos Hashem, this is Hashem's home. We need to make this hashem's home. And you know what he says?
I bolded it for you. When you learn Torah and you do mitzvahs, you fill the whole world with Hashem's kavod. You make a place for Hashem. Here. You are the Yeshiaws, and you are the moshe, and you are the avraham, who make a home for Hashem more than Hashem cares about the home he made for you. Right?
Hashem made us a home. That was the first few prokim, the first few chapters of voracious. From then and on, it's a challenge to humanity. But will you be able to make a home for Hashem? Well, your actions will. The things that we talk about, the things that we do, is that a place where Hashem wants to live? The Yamaleh. You can make the world filled with Hashem.
But to close up, I thought that this was so beautiful that Raf Huntner once had someone come over to him and felt like he was living a double life. He felt like he was living a devil life, a Torah life, and a secular life centered around his career. And he wanted to get advice from Rofetner and rough. Hertner responded with a metaphor. And he said, if a person has a home and then he also lives in a hotel, you're living a double life. If you live in a hotel and you live in a house, you're living a double life. But if you have a home that has two rooms, you're not living a double life. You're living a broad life by placing it all under one roof. There is a broad unit, unity. There's a broad life, not a split life. Behold, you know him in all your ways. And that's is what it means.
What it means is that it's true that the malachim are holy, and they will always be holy. And they say holy. Do you know where they're holy?
Up there.
Our job is to be like the angels, like the seraphim who are Heini. I'm here to serve you, but by bringing GM's presence down here, and that is more kadosh than anything that the malachim can do. And I thought that this was so beautiful, this next piece, that piggybacking on the fact that we saw the sounds and Harsine were told vhola am ro imas hakolos, we saw sounds like an interest, right? How do you see sounds so Ephraim Goldberg? And I'll read it directly because it's so beautiful. Some speakers are talented at communicating ideas. They are well organized, articulate, and effectively transmit the information, idea or concept. Yet, as successful as these speakers are, their content remains intellectual, cognitive, and abstract.
Much more rare and unusual are those speakers that are able to paint a picture with their words. Their message is so compelling and persuasive, the listener not only hears what they are saying, but sees their vision and pictures themselves living the life being described. This information doesnt remain abstract and theoretical, but it's absorbed by the listener such that they can envision themselves transformed and behaving differently. The giving of the Torah was undoubtedly an educational, pedagogic experience. Laws and rules were communicated and transmitted to a nation that was now bound to observe them. For most people, law is dry, sterile, and uninspiring. Law books and different code, right? These codes are for reference only and are grossly unexciting and monotonous. One could easily have mistaken mount in Torah as an information session, an intellectual transmission of the new laws incumbent on the people. Perhaps the Torah is telling us that its description couldnt be further from the truthful. At that fateful and faithful moments at Sinai, hashem painted a picture for his people of a purpose driven life, of an existence that is sacred and sanctified, of a lifestyle that is extraordinarily rewarding and spiritually satisfying. Perhaps the whole haam wrote immas ha kolos. That they all saw the sounds means they didnt hear about 39 categories of forbidden creative labor on Chavez. They saw what a Shabbos is like. They felt the serenity, tranquility, and rest that Shabbos provides. They heard the laws of Shabbos, but they pictured the Shabbos table filled with family and friends. They smelled the cholence and tasted the chicken soup. At Harcini, they didn't just hear about the details laws of the prohibition against stealing. They envisioned an ethical society and pictured themselves submitting honest tax returns. Indeed, Harcinae is a defining moment of our history, not for the laws that we heard, but the pictures and the images that we saw and became the vision of a lifestyle that is divinely enriching and elevating.
That is what it means to live a broad life, that there's nothing in your life that cannot bring Hashem into it. And being able to understand that you and the life that you live is changing the world and making a home for Hashem and everything that we do.
And that's really the point of Har Sinai. The points of Hina, just to answer some of the questions again, is, no, we were not forced.
We needed 2020 clarity. We needed full. There was no other. It wasn't that Hashem froze our bakheera. It wasn't that Hashem threatened us. It's that when you have such 2020 vision, there is no other. The choice is so clear.
And why did Hashem have to do that? Because the world is pending on Torah. With no Torah, the world ceases to exist.
And that's why Hashem had to make it so intense, both on a sensory level and on a clarity level. The world needs the Torah.
And why give it in the mid bar? Because to really live a life of Torah, we have to tap into those Midbar moments to really and sincerely and authentically find Midbar moments in our lives. When we're connecting to the Midaber and hearing the Midubar, what he's saying.
And that's really what Shavuos is the ultimate of. It's the ultimate Midbar. It's the midbar of. This is the Kabbal Satorah, and all of its silence. Because every day is shavuos. You have to take the silence and learn how to live like this every day.
And with that, I want to say one last source.
Emmanuel Bernstein says that when Avraham Mavino did not end up giving Yitzchak as a korban, we know that he had a ram that he gave, and the left horn of that ram was used, that the shofar that was blown into our sinai was the left horn of that ram.
The right horn, the right horn will be used for mashiach.
And says Raph Emmanuel Bernstein, this means I'm over here.
That the process of redemption, the process of mashiach, which will culminate the arrival of the mashiach, actually began with the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Right. We already started Harsinai for contain therein is everything necessary for the rectification and perfection of the world. The tools with which we elevate our lives and transform the world that surrounds us into a godly place are to be found within the Torah, which we received all those years ago and which we continue to receive each year. And what that means is that the very coming of mashiach started at Har Sinai. One chauffeur is because if you. If you tap into the midabir and the midubar, which started at Har Sinai, and we really live that way. And like angels, but not like angels who don't have Bakira in this world. Like angels with clarity of mission of Hineni. I'm here to do your ratzon, Hineini. I'm here to bring your presence into this world, Hineini. I'm here to ask myself, is this what Hashem would want me to do?
Is this consistent with my inner Alokos, I have inner Hashem inside of me? Is what I'm about to do consistent with that? Then you bring Hashem more and more into this world. And then in Mirza Shem obi Zocha, the first, the first chauffeur, the first ram's horn will lead the way for the second. Because when we really live a life of Torah authentically, sincerely for Hashem's Kavod, always doing what's right and not what's popular. We're trying to do what's right and not what's popular, and we'll be zochad to hear the second horn. Imrit Hashem Bakarov, Mamish, thank you so, so much.
That was beautiful. Jacqueline, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. That was beautiful. Yes, thank you. Thank you so much.
Beautiful perspective on shavuos. Thank you. And it was very clear.
[00:50:02] Speaker B: Wait for Jacqueline to give us a shear in the summer, which she will be doing. Keep good. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Hopefully we'll see everybody tomorrow night in person at 08:00 p.m. have a great night, everybody.
[00:50:17] Speaker A: Thank you.
Thank you. Andrea.
