Transcript

Appreciate and ultimately that it should seep in that when we daven that when we take advantage of the minyanim which are very easily available to us that we do so and we appreciate that it's made easy but we do so not because it's easy so why not but because it's absolutely vital. And be-zos tivacheinu, be-zos nivachei when there are times when it's not easy, when there are times when it's very very difficult and a-vada there are times, but if it's a vital need it will always be kind. If there's a vital need there's no such thing, just psychologically there's no such thing as not having time. And when people tell you there's no time for something they're telling the truth, but they're also telling you psychologically that this is something which it's possible that there's no time for, which it's possible that there's no time for, and that reflects a person's values. So it's very very important to be mis-chazeik and the same applies in terms of k-vias itim, whether or not there will ever be a metzius in which there's no time to learn will depend upon whether learning is something you enjoy and something you do and something which is important or whether it's absolutely vital, and only if it's absolutely vital can you be confident that there always will be time to continue learning. And in parshas hashavua, we discussed last week a little bit the inyan of be-eiros. Let's try to understand a little bit more about this parsha. The Torah says

וישב יצחק ויחפר בארת המים אשר חפרו בימי אברהם אביו

and then סתמום פלשתים אחרי מות אברהם סתמום פלשתים וימלאום עפר. The Sfas Emes quotes from the Chiddushei HaRim that the pshat is as follows: The symbolism of digging should be understood be-emes, this is a very very basic, very fundamental theme, is that there's a need to penetrate the chitzoniyus of the world we live in. That the world we live in seems to be entirely materialistic; we don't see the nitzotz of kedusha which in reality is really the vital spark of everything which has a materialistic facade. And in order to recognize and see the ultimate reality, and how the ultimate reality is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu שאינו גוף ולא ישיגוהו משיגי גוף, that it's Hakadosh Baruch Hu הוא מחיה את הכל. So that means a person has to penetrate beyond surface impressions, beyond superficialities, and penetrate to the nekuda hapnimit, to this central point, this vital spark of kedusha which gives life to everything. That's the symbolism of vayachpor, of digging, that you have to penetrate through the facade of corporeality and through the facade. of gashmius and to see how the ultimate reality of everything comes from Hakadosh Baruch Hu and the ultimate reality is of course not chas veshalom materialistic but is that nitzotz of kedushah which Hakadosh Baruch Hu has given to the world. So the vayachpor represents Yitzchok's attempt, successful attempt again at finding Hakadosh Baruch Hu within the world, again the Chidushei Harim's yesod of olam lashon ha'elam, lashon nistar that the world hides Hakadosh Baruch Hu's presence, Hakadosh Baruch Hu's presence is hidden within teva, and the vayachpor was to dig, to penetrate, to understand, to recognize, to find Hakadosh Baruch Hu within the world. Now we know zera Avraham ohavi. Avraham Avinu is identified with the middah of ahavah. When Yaakov refers to Yitzchok, he refers to Hakadosh Baruch Hu as Pachad Yitzchok. Yitzchok, we know, is identified with yirah. Yitzchok is identified with yirah. So the Sfas Emes, basically elaborating on this vort of the Chidushei Harim, says that when Yitzchok redigged those wells, again with all the deeper meaning of what that entails, when Yitzchok found Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so Yitzchok did it through his own middah, with the middah of yirah. Whereas Avraham Avinu discovered Hakadosh Baruch Hu through the middah of ahavah, so Yitzchok Avinu did so through the middah of yirah. And again, since מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, wherever the avos did, whatever avodah the avos performed, so this avodah also established the binyan av, it established a paradigm, it created a capacity within all of Klal Yisrael of subsequent doros to be able to engage in that form of avodah. So we have from Avraham Avinu a yerushah from Avraham Avinu to be able to find Hakadosh Baruch Hu through the middah of ahavah. And we have from Yitzchok a yerushah to be able to find Hakadosh Baruch Hu through the middah of yirah. So let's try to maybe in terms which for us are more familiar and more down to earth, try to understand what the Chidushei Harim, what the Sfas Emes are talking about. Both within Torah, within the world, the natural world, within a person's own life, there are moments when a person experiences bracha, when he's happy. It can be a special occasion, a person gets engaged, he's getting married, a child is born, it can be a special occasion which generates the simcha, which generates the sense of bracha, or it can be without a special occasion, just a person is just feels enveloped and embraced by chasdei Hashem. Looks out on Harei Yerushalayim and sees the beauty, the תשעה קבין יופי שירדו לעולם. And he finds Hakadosh Baruch Hu, a person learns, a person experiences a Shabbos, טעמו וראו כי טוב השם. He's To'eim. He's To'eim almost tangibly as it were, and he is רואה כי טוב השם. So that's a Bechina of Ahava. That's a Bechina of finding Hakadosh Baruch Hu Mikoach Ahava through positive experiences within Torah, within Hakadosh Baruch Hu's the natural world, in a person's own life, through the positive experience, through the Shefa Bracha which a person is enveloped by Mikoach Ahava. And that's Davka the Midrash that we had discussed in Parshas Lech Lecha. Avraham Avinu didn't have any crisis. There wasn't an Eis Tzara, there wasn't an Eis Tzara which prompted Avraham Avinu to find Hakadosh Baruch Hu, but just how he interacted with the world. But then there is another type of experience which we have also, and again, sometimes it can be just a regular component of our existence, and sometimes it's triggered by a special experience. Sometimes a person encounters the Midas Hadin. The Torah says describing the punishment meted out to Nadav Ve'avihu is בקרובי אקדש ועל פני כל העם אכבד. And Rashi quotes there that Shem Shamayim is Miskadesh through the Midas Hadin. So on one level what that means is, everything we're saying is on the simplest level. So on that simplest level what it means is that when a person encounters Midas Hadin, either Rachmana Litzlan because one of the Shiva Kerovim was Niftar, or Rachmana Litzlan because he himself is visited by sickness or some other Eis Tzara, so Midas Hadin exposes the shallowness and the worthlessness of the material world and material pursuits which so dominate our daily lives. And it's that Midas Hadin which breaks a person's Ga'avah and it's the Midas Hadin which intrudes upon the person's slumber which the Rambam describes in Hilchos Teshuva in the famous passage. Many people, many people in the aftermath of an encounter with Midas Hadin come closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu because it was Mikoach Yira, Mikoach the encounter and the experience of מידת הדין של הקדוש ברוך הוא that they see that Nekuda Penimis, and it's the Midas Hadin again which exposes the hollowness and shallowness of what we sometimes mistakenly think is real. You see if you'll ask Rabbanim, practicing Rabbanim. So you'll see there is a disproportionate number of shailas asked in inyonei aveilus. Disproportionate. More than in hilchos Shabbos, more than in other areas. And not only on things which are absolute dinim of aveilus, but even on minhagim, even on minhagim. When do you cover the mirrors? Do you cover the mirrors? Don't you cover the mirrors? And it's not that questions shouldn't be asked then, but comparable questions in hilchos Shabbos or in other דברים העומדים ברומו של עולם sometimes don't get asked. And the reason for that is that here, through the legacy of Yitzchak Avinu, it's because of this capacity of vayecherad through the bechina of yira to be able to find Hakadosh Baruch Hu through the middas hadin by experiencing, reacting to, responding to middas hadin, so that's why people are transformed at this moment. There's a brocha of hatov vehameisiv when a person sees yad Hashem through a bechina of ahava, and there's a brocha, rachmana litzlan, dayan emes when a person sees Hakadosh Baruch Hu through a bechina of yira, through a bechina of middas hadin. And it's not only on the special occasions, but it's even on a daily basis, on a daily basis, so sometimes a person has a sense of ותחסרהו מעט מאלהים וכבוד והדר תעטרהו and is inspired to come closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And at other times he has a sense, Dovid Hamelech in the same kapittel refers to a sense of מה אנו ומה חיינו ואחריתנו רימה ותולעה and that too makes him feel totally dependent upon Hakadosh Baruch Hu and he comes to find Hakadosh Baruch Hu out of his own worthlessness through a bechina of yira, through a bechina of yira. So both of these kochos were given to us. The first koach was cultivated by Avraham Avinu, second by Yitzchak. Based on this, you can also understand a very well-known but very difficult gemara in Berachos. We're only going to explain two-thirds of the gemara today, and maybe another time we'll come to the last third. The gemara is the famous machlokes of itmar tefillos avos tiknum or תפילות כנגד תמידים תקנום. Couple of very, very strange things in this gemara. Number one, there's a lack of symmetry lichora. The man de'amar who says תפילות כנגד תמידים תקנום, he doesn't say as Rashi fills in that the Anshei Knesses Hagedola were mesaken tefilla. He doesn't tell you who was mesaken tefilla. He's telling you something about the content of tefilla, something about the significance or the role or the function of tefilla, but he's telling you something in terms of content, theme. He's not telling you authorship. And the other man de'amar says tefillos avos tiknum, doesn't seem to be telling you anything about the tefilla, he's just telling you about who introduced the tefilla. It's a strange, strange lack of symmetry. Okay. Leave that kashya for a second. It's also שווער לכאורה מאן דאמר תפילות אבות תקנום. We know the famous Rambam in Peirush Hamishnayos and chulu in Perek Gid Hanasheh based on the Yerushalmi that נתנה תורה ונתחדשה הלכה that any halacha which is binding on us bizman hazeh is only binding because it was, even if it were had been noheg prior to mattan Torah, it's only binding on us because נתנה תורה ונתחדשה הלכה because it was reaffirmed at mattan Torah. But nothing, even dinim d'rabbanan which preceded mattan Torah, nothing carried over by virtue of its original chiyuv, by virtue of its original takanah to after mattan Torah. So what do you mean that tefillos avos tiknum? Tefillos avos tiknum, the avos didn't have a koach to be mesaken a tefillah which would be binding on us now, which would be binding on us now. So be-emes if you look in the Ma'aratz Chayes on this Gemara, so the Ma'aratz Chayes says ein hachi nami, tefillos avos tiknum is purely historical, theoretical, doesn't really make any difference, and he taki refers to that Rambam in Peirush Hamishnayos and chulu because our tefillah bizman hazeh is certainly because of Anshei Knesses Hagedolah. Because what the avos did couldn't have any standing post-mattan Torah. So it comes out according to the Ma'aratz Chayes that tefillos avos tiknum is a totally historical statement and of not too much importance, of purely historical significance. If you look in the Gilyon Hashas, Rebbi Akiva Eiger is metzayen a Gemara in Ta'anis. Tells you to look at a Gemara and a Rashi in Ta'anis. There Rashi explains the Gemara comments why is it on the day in which there was a korban eitzim that they didn't have the ma'amados at ne'ilah that they would have the ma'amados at the other tefillos. They would have the ma'amados at the other tefillos. So the Gemara says, this is the Gemara here in daf chaf-ches Rebbi Akiva Eiger refers to, that הללו מה הפרשן בין זה לזה. Rashi:

מאי שנא דקרבן עצים דחי מעמד דנעילה ומעמד דמנחה לא דחי?

So הללו דברי תורה והללו דברי סופרים. הללו דברי תורה says Rashi mincha kid-amrinan in Berachos

יצחק אבינו תיקן תפילת מנחה שנאמר ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה לפנות ערב

u-dene'ilah midivrei soferim. So mincha is more important than ne'ilah because mincha is divrei Torah. So obviously it doesn't mean divrei Torah literally, it doesn't mean that it's a chiyuv d'oraisa, but it means that mincha has some kind of yesod in the Torah, is referred to in the Torah, and therefore has more standing than ne'ilah. Therefore it has more standing than ne'ilah. So why did Rebbi Akiva Eiger quote this Gemara? Why did Rebbi Akiva Eiger quote this Gemara? Just to show off a bekiyus where Rashi refers to the Gemara in Berachos? Teretz is lichora what Rebbi Akiva Eiger has in mind is le-afukei from the pshat of the Ma'aratz Chayes. If you say like the Ma'aratz Chayes says in the Gemara that tefillos avos tiknum is a purely historical statement and of no... there's no link between the takanah of the avos and our tefillah, so then what this Gemara in Ta'anis says and what Rashi says isn't true. Because our mincha isn't the same mincha as what Yitzchak Avinu שנאמר ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה לפנות ערב. Because Yitzchak Avinu's takanah expired with mattan Torah and what we have is based on the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah of asmachinu rabanan akorbanos. Asmachinu rabanan akorbanos. So al korchacha what Rebbi Akiva Eiger is telling you is that you see from this Gemara... that somehow or other there is some continuation, there is some continuity between the takana of the avos and the tefilla we have. And if that's the case, so then you can refer to it as halalo d'bei tora, as halalo d'bei tora. So what does it mean? L'maise, what does it mean? I, the perush hamishnayos in chullin, the yerushalmi, that everything expired at matan torah? So what it means lechora is as follows. And here's where the two questions we have in the gemara converge. Tefillos avos tiknum al korchacha isn't just telling you who authored the tefillos, but it's telling you the same way תפילות כנגד תמידין תקנום, it's telling you something about the content of the tefilla. It's telling you something about the cheftza of tefilla. It's telling you that there is tefilla which is keneged temidim, tefilla as a form of korban keneged temidim, and then there's tefilla which represents the middos of the avos. And it's for that reason that the gemara says tefillos avos tiknum. Just to tell us who was misaken the tefillos, so then takeh it would, there would be no symmetry between avos tiknum and keneged temidim tiknum. And then number two, so then the gemara really wouldn't be telling us anything of practical importance and the gemara in taanis would be very shver. So al korchacha you see that the pshat in tefillos avos tiknum is that what tefilla is, the cheftza of tefilla, is something which the avos created. Ein hachi nami, it had to be reaffirmed after matan torah. It needed a new takana d'rabbanan to reaffirm it. But what they reaffirmed was not just a tefilla keneged temidim, but also a tefilla which has that bechina of avos tiknum of representing the middos of the avos. What does that mean? Let's try to explain a little bit better. The rav has in his sefer rayonos al hatefilla. So I'll read you a few lines here.

נמצא כי שלוש הברכות מטביעות שלושה מוטיבים יסודיים במבנה התפילה ומהותה.

Aleph, the bracha of avos, the first bracha.

האדם פונה לא-ל והוא מגלה אותו בתוך ההוויה סובב לו.

A person longs for Hakadosh Baruch Hu and discovers him within the world around him. האלוקים הוא אלוקי החסד הממלא את הכל. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is a God of chesed who's imminent within the world.

ומשתף את כל היצור במציאותו. בו אנו מוצאים מפלט ומשגב, אנו ניגשים אליו במנוחה ובשאננות.

Now,

המצב משתנה כשאדם עובר מאבות לגבורות. כאן התפילה משנה את כיוונה. לכתחילה באבות לא הרגיש המתפלל במבוכת הנפש צרכו וחסרונותיו.

Again, the main theme of avos isn't that a person discovers Hakadosh Baruch Hu because of a middas hadin, because of his helplessness or his worthlessness. Ade raba,

בשלב הראשון לא חסר כלום, היה לו די והותר, דקרבת אלוקים היה וניזון מן ההוויה השלמה ללא כל פגם ומום.

However, by contrast in the second bracha,

האדם מגלה את הריקנות שבו. ומתחיל להבין כי אין לו מעמד כלל.

He realizes how totally helpless and dependent he is. יכול הוא להינצל רק בחסדו של הקדוש ברוך הוא. zakai lekablo. A person can only be saved by the grace of Hakadosh Baruch Hu which he's not worthy to receive.

אלוקים הוא גיבור וכל יכול האדם חלש ומסכן ואיננו מסוגל לספק לחם חוקו ולמלא כל צרכיו. אתה גיבור לעולם ה,

so Atah is a miut. אתה ממעט את הכל ורק אתה גבוה ועליון. So what are these two themes, these two ideas which the Rav explains, one dominates the first bracha of the Shalosh Rishonos, one encountering Hakadosh Baruch Hu as Elokei Chesed, and the second as encountering Gevuras Hashem and our own helplessness, so be'emes those correspond to these two bchinos which we were discussing of the bchinas ahava of Avraham Avinu and the bchinas yira of Yitzchak Avinu. There's a clear correspondence between the two. So l'chora that's the pshat of Tefillos Avos Tiknum. Tefillos Avos Tiknum in terms of how we approach Hakadosh Baruch Hu through tfillah, how we relate to Hakadosh Baruch Hu through tfillah, relating finding Hakadosh Baruch Hu through bchina of ahava by experiencing bracha because we feel close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu because we sense that he's very close, that he's within the world, memalei es kol, immanent. And then on the other hand a person looks for Hakadosh Baruch Hu because he feels totally helpless because of an encounter with middas hadin which shows how helpless he is and how worthless his pursuits have been. So that's the bchina of gevura. So that's Tefillos Avos Tiknum, takeh it retains its meaning after Matan Torah. The original takana expired but in terms of those dimensions of tfillah, so those dimensions of tfillah remain l'achar Matan Torah as well. L'chora that's the pshat in Tefillos Avos Tiknum. What the bchina of Yaakov Avinu is is for another time, be'ezras Hashem. So it's very important in terms of the halacha l'maaseh of all this that a person has to use both those kochos, both the koach of experiencing bracha, of experiencing the wonders of maaseh bereishis, of experiencing personal simchas to find Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the bchina of Avraham Avinu as well as the bchina of yira, the bchina of helplessness, worthlessness, that that too a person should use that koach to help him find Ribono Shel Olam. A couple of other very important yesodos in the sedra as well, related to what we're talking about here also. One of the most troubling things, I mean it troubles you when you first learn the parsha as a child and it remains troubling when you get older, is why Yaakov Avinu receives the brachos ba achicha b'mirma. Why doesn't he receive the brachos in a more smooth fashion? Not so glatt. Okay, so ba achicha b'mirma, so Onkelos and Rashi says mirma means chochma. It doesn't have a negative connotation, it's supposed to have a positive connotation. But אף על פי כן, אף על פי כן, even if ba achicha b'mirma means be'chochma, why is it that it's davka in this fashion that Yaakov Avinu is zocha to the brachos? Why wasn't it, why couldn't it, why wasn't the hashgacha content that Yitzchak Avinu should have recognized and understood on his own that Yaakov should get the brachos? And why is it as it were That Rivka and Yaakov, again, because it was the hashgacha, had to outwit Yitzchak to get the brochos? So there are many answers which are complementary, supplementary, so we'll just give one partial answer. And here too this is something which if you take a look the Sfas Emes talks about similar to what we're going to discuss. One of the lessons of ba achicha b'mirma, had Yaakov been chosen by Yitzchak to receive the bracha, we wouldn't have learned the yesod that kedusha and kirvas elokim, v'yiten l'cha elokim is v'yiten v'yachzor v'yiten, the continuous close relationship which Yaakov was promised with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. We would've thought that perhaps you can be somewhat passive. You can be somewhat passive. Ba achicha b'mirma, the Torah underscores that for Yaakov Avinu to have been zocha in the bracha and everything that came along with the bracha, to be the progenitor of the am hanivchar, Yaakov Avinu had to pursue kedusha. He couldn't just sit idly without taking any initiative, but he had to pursue kedusha. And not only did he have to pursue kedusha, but the simple pshat, the simple pshat in alai kilalasecha bni is that he mamash had to be moser nefesh. He was moser nefesh. He ran the risk of incurring Yitzchak's wrath and of receiving a klala rather than a bracha. So the message is that Yaakov Avinu, the hashgacha wanted that Yaakov Avinu should receive the bracha, but only because he pursued kedusha, only because he used all of his chochma and channeled all of his chochma to try to figure out how he could find kedusha. Because he didn't just sit in the beis medrash and just go through the motions and be on automatic pilot and go about his routine. No, Yaakov Avinu was constantly searching for kedusha, he was pursuing kedusha. That's what the Torah tells us that the way Yaakov was zocha in the brachos was only because ba achicha b'mirma, because he used his chochma to pursue kedusha and because he was always running after kedusha, looking for kedusha, searching for kedusha, it's bizchus that, it was in that fashion that he was zocha to the bracha. It didn't come served on a silver platter, but it was ba achicha b'mirma. The importance of this of pursuing kedusha, just to give one application of many, is as follows. Often we make a mistake of having a very limited definition of what avodas Hashem means. We think avodas Hashem means learning Torah and doing mitzvos and mameila when we're involved in other pursuits, worldly pursuits. Involved with parnassa, involved with tzorchei haguf, so that falls outside the parameters of avodas Hashem, and it's sort of neutral. It's not assur. I mean, we we we have to do it. It's not assur, but on the other hand it falls outside of the parameters of avodas Hashem. If a person pursues kedusha, if a person is mindful of kedusha, so then a person realizes that at every second, whatever he's engaged in, he should be engaged in avodas Hashem. He should be mindful of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. When a person goes out to earn a parnassa, so it's also an avodas Hashem. It's an avodas Hashem if a person goes out into the world, let's say into the business world, be it be it law, be it accounting, be it some form of business, so cheating and corruption are rampant. Are rampant. Ad kedei kach that it's become the norm. It's the norm. If a person sees that when he's involved in parnassa, that it's also a sphere in which he should be engaging in avodas Hashem, so a person will be more mindful of, well, no, you don't cheat because that's the way everyone does business, but I'm not here involved just in business, I'm here engaged in avodas Hashem. And engaged in avodas Hashem means that you have to make a Kiddush Hashem in whatever endeavor you're involved in. And you have to show the world that a frum Jew does business differently than other people do. And that a frum Jew practices law differently than other people do. And that a frum Jew treats patients differently than other people do. And if a person is always pursuing kedusha, is always mindful of avodas Hashem, so then a person doesn't have any neutral areas in his life, but he is constantly engaged in avodas Hashem. Baruch hicheh bimurmo, he used his chochma to attain kedusha. It wasn't just when the opportunity presented itself to him. It's not just when there was a shiur bein mincha lema’ariv that he listened to the shiur, but he went and he found opportunities for avodas Hashem. He made his parnassa into an occasion for avodas Hashem. That requires the bechina of Baruch hicheh bimurmo. And if we lack that murmo, so then such a major part of our lives, so much time is devoted to, between the time you spend sleeping and eating and earning a parnassa, so that's the majority of your life. Not too many years left in which you're learning Torah. The majority of your life. So if you have this very restricted definition of avodas Hashem, and avodas Hashem is only Torah and mitzvos, but when you're eating or when you're working, so that's not avodas Hashem. It's neutral. It's neutral. It's a אין קמח אין תורה, so it's necessary, but it's basically neutral. So what happens is you spend the majority of your life is a wasted opportunity. Is a wasted opportunity. But if a person is always mindful of kedusha, so the way a person engages in business is an expression of bitachon. It's avodas Hashem, it's not neutral. If a person is only going to be tempted to cheat in business if he thinks kochi ve'otzem yadi. If כחי ועצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה, that ultimately the person himself determines his success or failure, so then he's going to be very strongly tempted to try to get an upper hand over the competition. But if a person believes that

כל מזונותיו של אדם קצובים לו מראש השנה ועד יום הכפורים,

and Hakadosh Hakadosh Baruch Hu apportions to each and every one of us, so then already there's no, there's no nisayon to try to cheat in business. So a person can engage in business, it's not neutral. Person engages in business, so it should be an expression of his bitachon, of his emunah that כל מזונותיו של אדם קצובים. A person engages in in business, again business lav davka the business world, but in any any secular profession, pursuit, so a person can bring along the standards of a ben Torah or a person can can lower himself to the standards of the circles in which he moves. If a person is bar hachi bimima, if he uses his chochmah to always find occasions and opportunities for avodas Hashem, so then at every turn, every turn a person can be engaged in avodas Hashem. Finally, one last very important yesod in the bracha to Esav, so Yitzchak Avinu says והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עלו מעל צוארך. Rashi explains.