Transcript

The Gemara says that shma kagram, that a name has a determining impact. Chaim Volozhin in Ruach Chaim says that a name encapsulates the etzem hadavar, the mahus hadavar. Presumably, if this is true for shmos bnei adam, the names of people, it's equally true for the names of yamim tovim. So shma kagram. So the etzem hadavar is contained within the name of the yom tov. So let's reflect a little bit about Chag HaMatzos and what it reveals about the mahus of the yom tov. What's the definition of matzah? Definition of matzah. Seems like a simplistic question and perhaps it is, but what's the definition of matzah? So the definition of matzah, you have chameishes haminim. Chameishes haminim which can ba'im lidei chimutz, right? We know from the hekesh of

לא תאכל עליו חמץ שבעת ימים תאכל עליו מצות לחם עוני,

that it's those chameishes haminim which can become chametz that you make into matzah. And the definition of matzah is that it didn't become chametz. So halo davar hu. The definition of matzah is a negative definition. It's what it isn't, right? It's not chametz. That's what matzah is. Not chametz from chameishes haminim. I mean potatoes are not chametz either, but within the chameishes haminim, so there isn't a hagdarah chiyuvus, but the definition of matzah is a hagdarah shlilus. It's something that it isn't. It isn't chametz. The mitzvos of chametz, which are sort of the twin mitzvos of Chag HaMatzos, avada they're mitzvos lo sa'asei. They certainly emphasize meniyah and shlilus. Issur chametz, and even more so, בל יראה בל ימצא, biur chametz. There's an emphasis on meniyah and shlilus. Even the positive mitzvos, those mitzvos asei of the yom tov, the Torah is miyased in the meniyah and the shlilus. The mitzvah of hakravas hapesach, so the Torah says לא תשחט על חמץ דם זבחי. So even the mitzvas asei of hakravas hapesach is miyusedes on the meniyah of having chametz. The din of shmirah, of matzah shmurah. So according to some Rishonim is also just the Rambam, the lashon of the Rambam in perek hey of Chametz U'Matzah, is also a שמירה מכל צד חימוץ. Lav davka, it's not the case according to all Rishonim that matzah shmurah denotes asiyah lishma. That's a big machlokes Rishonim. According to some Rishonim, even the whole din shmirah is also an emphasis on meniyah, to be שמור מכל צד חימוץ. There is a remarkable he'arah in the Meshech Chochmah. Meshech Chochmah in Parshas Bo comments ushmartem es hamatzos. ושמרתם את העבודה הזאת, according to that view in Tana'im that avodah hazos means asiyas hapesach, שמור את חודש האביב. Says the Torah time and time again speaks of shmirah. in relation to Pesach and he says you find the same thing with regard to Shabbos. Es shabsosai tishmoru,

ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת, שמור את יום השבת לקדשו,

also the emphasis on shmira. And then he says something absolutely remarkable. He says that the hekesh which the Gemara has of כל שישנו בבל תאכל חמץ ישנו בקום אכול מצה, which is the basis for the chiyuv of nashim in achilas matzah even though it's a מצות עשה שהזמן גרמא. And the hekesh of כל שישנו בשמור ישנו בזכור which is the basis of the chiyuv nashim in Kiddush even though it's a מצות עשה שהזמן גרמא. So says Mei Simcha, so why does the hekesh go and what's pshat in the hekesh? The pshat in the hekesh is that hayos, that the Torah emphasizes that the dominant theme both by Shabbos and by mitzvos of Pesach is shmira. So even the mitzvos asei shebo have the techuna of shmira and that's why nashim achiyavos. That's pshat in the hekesh and he says that's the answer to Tosfos' kasha in Menachos. Tosfos says in Menachos, why don't we have a similar kol sheyeshno by kilayim and tzitzis? The Yerushalmi says that the same way, ich veis, you have שמור וזכור בדיבור אחד, so too, לא תלבש כלאים וגדילים תעשה לך are also b'dibbur echad. So why don't you say that kol sheyeshno by kilayim should be yeshno by tzitzis, so nashim should be chayavos in tzitzis? So Mei Simcha says no, it's not the fact of dibbur echad per se, but by Shabbos and by Pesach, what underlies the hekesh, again, is the dominance of shmira. It's the שמור את חודש האביב ושמרתם את העבודה הזאת ushmartem es hamatzos, in light of that, you darshen כל שישנו בבל תאכל חמץ ישנו בקום אכול מצה. Again, the same he'ara that we were commenting that the emphasis is on the menia, the emphasis is on the shlila. And again, and we're adding to that that the very definition of chametz and maybe the very din of shmira by chametz is also purely menia and shlila. So what's pshat in that? How do we understand that? So Chag HaMatzos is zman cheirusenu. The emes is when you think about cheirus, so there's cheirus on two levels. On its most basic level, cheirus is also only a shlila. Cheirus means that the bonds of servitude have been broken. משל למה הדבר דומה, let's say you have someone he's been incarcerated for many many years and finally he gets paroled or finally he finishes his sentence after 25 years in jail, he's finally free. So what does his freedom consist of? He walks out, what does his freedom consist of? He doesn't have any friends, he's been out of society for so many years, he doesn't have a job yet, he just this minute walked out of prison. His family long since gave up on him or maybe they're not even alive anymore. So what does the cheirus consist of? The cheirus consists of that he's no longer incarcerated. So on its most elementary level, cheirus is also just a shlila. It's something which negates the prior servitude, the prior bondage. There is of course a higher level of cheirus. If the former convict now free takes advantage of the freedom and establishes a new network of friends and he reconnects with family and he pursues a career, so then his cheirus is not only a negation of shibbud, it's not only a prikas ol but it expresses something positive as well. So the emes is Chazal tell us that אין לך בן חורין אלא העוסק בתורה. So the primary cheirus from the time of yetzias Mitzrayim until mattan Torah was really a cheirus, again, which represents represented a nituk of the shibud mitzrayim, which represented a prika of the ol of mitzrayim, but primarily the emphasis in the cheirus short term was taka the shlila shebo, the shlilas ha'avdus shebo, as opposed to positive attainment. That's one one one part of the explanation. Now we know from all the sefarim that matzah represents and matzah signifies emuna. The the matzah by definition is is is pashut, representing emuna peshuta, representing the lechteich acharai bamidbar without without without procrastinating. It represents, it signifies emuna, lachma de'meimanusa. Now within emuna, it's a fundamental teaching of the Rambam and one which one which the the the yodei chein in different leshonos apparently agree with entirely. Within emuna also shlila occupies a a pivotal position. What does that mean as follows? Rambam says that whenever we speak about Hakadosh Baruch Hu in positive terms, רחום וחנון ארך אפים ורב חסד ואמת נצר חסד, whenever we speak about Hakadosh Baruch Hu in positive terms, so all we're professing to do is to describe Hakadosh Baruch Hu's actions. Those are all actional attributes. We're not making, we're not saying anything about Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself. Not saying that Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself is rachum, is chanun, is erech apayim, is rav chesed. We're describing Hakadosh Baruch Hu's actions. The reason for that being is that we can't describe Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself. Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself is beyond our understanding, beyond our comprehension, beyond definition. There's in in siddurim, there's a there's a there's a piece from the Zohar printed before the the tikkun shacharis in some of the siddurim. So the way the way in the the Zohar's leshonos, so this idea is expressed by לית מחשבה תפיסא ביה, that that Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself, the there's no לית מחשבה תפיסא ביה, which is why when we talk about Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself, the Rambam says we have to employ toarim shlilim. You can only talk about Hakadosh Baruch Hu with negative attributes. We can say what Hakadosh Baruch Hu isn't. Right? When we say Hakadosh Baruch Hu is infinite, so what does infinite mean? He's not finite. We're saying something, we're saying something again which is we're negating any limitation, we're negating any shortcoming. But we can't speak about Hakadosh Baruch Hu in positive terms because that's that's beyond us. That's beyond us. That's why in again in in the the sefarim that quote from from from kabbalah, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu is referred to as ein sof. Same thing. Because because we can't give a positive definition because Hakadosh Baruch Hu is beyond our understanding. We talk about Hakadosh Baruch Hu, but we talk about Hakadosh Baruch Hu as He acts in the world, as He appears in the world, but we don't for a minute think or claim to be talking about Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself. That's why there's a remarkable remarkable diyuk in the Rambam in the beginning of Hilchos Deios. In Hilchos Deios is talking about the mitzva of ve'halachta bidrachav. So he says

כך למדו חכמים בפירוש מצוה זו מה הוא נקרא רחום אף אתה היה רחום ומה הוא נקרא חנון אף אתה היה חנון.

So there's a lack of symmetry. It's ma hu nikra, af ata heye. So so the Rambam lishitoso, so it's... It's clear what the Rambam is saying that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is nikra rachum, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is nikra chanun, we're only describing Hakadosh Baruch Hu's actions. We're not defining Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Ma she'ein kein, a person's chiyuv is not only to be nikra rachum, to be nikra chanun, a person's chiyuv is to be rachum, is to be chanun. And that's that's what the Rambam compresses this yesod into that lashon of מה הוא נקרא רחום אף אתה היה רחום. So Chag Hamatzos, which is a Yom Tov of emunah also again, matzah, the very definition of matzah is is a shelilah, it's not chametz, it's chamishah minim which are not chametz, that's the definition of matzah. Because in emunah, in emunah we always have to have recourse again to the to'arim sheliliyim because if we we talk about Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself, we can only talk about Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself in those terms. When we say Hakadosh Baruch Hu is rachum, when we say that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has yud gimmel middos, we're not talking about Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself, we're talking about the actions, we're talking about how Hakadosh Baruch Hu appears in the world, how he reveals himself in the world, how he acts within the world. But Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself is is again can only be defined by saying what he's not: he's not finite, he doesn't have any imperfection, he doesn't have any shortcomings. Maybe some other time we'll we'll come back and and discuss a little bit these two peshatim that that we've suggested so far in in the significance of of the fact that the the Chag Hamatzos is a Yom Tov which accentuates again meni'ah and shelilah. So these two peshatim actually complement each other: the the one of cheirus Mitzrayim prior to Matan Torah being essentially a cheirus which negated avdus Mitzrayim but didn't yet generate kabbalas haTorah, together with this peshat that again what Chag Hamatzos as a Yom Tov of meni'ah and shelilah points to that that component within within emunah. But there is another at least another level of of understanding as well in terms of of Chag Hamatzos as a Yom Tov again which accentuates meni'ah and shelilah. And that is as follows: as I was thinking this afternoon a little bit about these inyanim, so so there were a couple of guys sitting in in the Beis Medrash and and they were talking about the pasuk where Mitzrayim is compared to kur habarzel, a furnace. What's the peshat what happens in in a furnace when when you take iron and you put it into a furnace? So a gevaldige a gevaldige mussar haskel happens in in a furnace. What happens is that through sereifah the furnace burns and through that it purifies. To be metzareif you have to be soreif. That's what happens in in a kur habarzel. What's the what's the remez bador? Remez bador is everyone has within him other than than than someone who's a tzaddik gamur, everyone has within him ra. The ra may be present in the form of middos ra'os, the ra may be present in the form of an excessive involvement in in gashmiyus, the ra may be present in in some form or rather of ga'avah. But everyone of us again with the exception of a tzaddik gamur has ra within him. The sod of kur habarzel is that to be oker the ra... A person has to target the ra. It's not enough that a person is engaged in asei tov, but a person has to target the ra shebo and in so doing to be miva'er. In Mitzrayim, so Chazal comment on the pasuk of משכו וקחו לכם צאן למשפחותיכם ושחטו הפסח. The pshat of the pasuk is

משכו ידיכם מן עבודה זרה. משכו ידיכם מן עבודה זרה.

Again, all the sefarim quote from, I think it's also from the Zohar hakadosh, that the seven weeks from Pesach to Shavuot is modeled on shivah neki'im. Shivah neki'im. So what's the idea that emerges? That in Mitzrayim, there was a concerted effort of bi'ur hara, there was a concerted effort of akiras hatum'ah, all of which of course is represented by the mitzvah of bi'ur chametz al pi the Gemara in Berachos yud zayin, which רצוננו לעשות רצונך ומי מעכב שאור שבעיסה. So Chazal already associate the mitzvah of bi'ur chametz with that of bi'ur yetzer hara. So there's a yesod of bi'ur hara. What does that mean very practically? So let's try to understand what that means on a very, very practical mundane level. A person is aware, should be aware, of all kinds of again, shortcomings and faults within himself. Different, different midos ra'os that he has. It's not the case that simply by learning or simply by doing mitzvos he's going to be miva'er that. That's what the message of the definition of Chag Hamatzos in terms of meni'ah and shlilah, in terms of mitzvas bi'ur chametz, in terms of koach habazal, all these things converge to say that when there's a ra within oneself, again, the ra let's talk about midos ra'os, that ra has to be targeted. The ra doesn't just fall away mimeila. The ra has to be targeted. If a person knows that he has a weakness to listen to gossip, to listen to lashon hara, it's not the case that that chesron is going to automatically fall away just because he learns. If there's not a concerted effort made to address and be oker that chesron, so the chesron remains. If a person knows, and who doesn't or who shouldn't, that there's a shemetz of ga'avah within him, that shemetz of ga'avah may manifest itself in a crude way of having a sense of kochi ve'otzem yadi about one's G-d-given abilities but one doesn't think of it that way. That shemetz of ga'avah may express itself in a... as a refusal when appropriate to be machnia oneself, to be mevatel one's da'as to people who are who are wiser and to people who are great. That shemetz of ga'avah may express itself in in being a kapdan with others and being makpid on on what's kavod and and not being ma'avir al middosav, is all different expressions and different manifestations of se'or sheba'isa. So the mitzvah of biur chametz, again, the the hagdarah shlilis of Chag HaMatzos, the yesod of ko'ach habarzel is that these things don't don't solve themselves. A person has to target a middah ra'ah and has to work on a middah ra'ah. Rav Chaim was known to to the world as as the as the author of חידושי רבינו חיים הלוי. In Brisk, he was known as בעל חסד שאין כמוהו. The Rav used to say that by nature, Rav Chaim wasn't wasn't kind. He wasn't he wasn't born with the some people are born and you sort of see that that netiyah from youth. Rav Chaim wasn't born that way and and he was aware of it as well. And he worked tremendously hard. He worked. Sometimes, sometimes I guess you can look around or maybe it's it's more productive to look in the mirror instead of looking around. But but you can see people davening and people who learn. And yet as as people, in terms of being mushlam, in terms of middos, especially if you know people first first you just there's a jarring contrast between the person's involvement in learning, the person's dikduk on tefillah, tefillah b'tzibbur, and the middos shebo. It doesn't it's not commensurate. It doesn't doesn't match. Another spectacle which is sad, if you sometimes, again, look around or look in the mirror. You know people over a long course of time and they're the same people, same people 10 years later, 20 years later. Same pettiness. Same katnus hamochin. Because the lesson of Chag HaMatzos is that the shlilah also has to be a concerted effort. If I have ga'avah within me that I'm not working on, so a good morning seder can contribute to the ga'avah. It's not necessarily going to be oker the ga'avah. So the havanah in Rashi reinforces the ga'avah instead of being oker the ga'avah. If there's a simultaneous concerted effort to be oker the ga'avah, so then Torah is metaheres. Torah is metaheres. But if there's no simultaneous concerted effort, so then the morning seder can reinforce, can reinforce the ga'avah. If there's a chisaron in in my bein adam l'chaveiro, my bein adam l'chaveiro, morning seder can bring it out. Morning seder can can accentuate it. And and the bittul with which I'll respond to to my chavrusa's svara will be more than milchamto shel Torah or ריתחא דאורייתא קא רתחא ביה justifies. Now not to be misunderstood, the asei tov is part of the targeting the middos ra'os. It absolutely is, but the point is there has to be a concerted effort, concerted effort, again, whether it's one's shortcomings, whether it's in terms of gaiva, whether it's in terms of kaas, which often stems from gaiva, whether it's in terms of taiva, which according to some sefarim is also a manifestation of gaiva, whether it's in terms of other middos ra'os bein adam l'chaveiro. The yesod of koach habarzel, the yesod of again the hagdarah of shlilus is that the ra has to be targeted. It's not mimeila through asei tov. That's why in the whole Mesillas Yesharim the progression is first zehirous and then zerizous, first nekiyous and then perishous, first lo sa'asei then the asei. Because if the asei isn't being employed as part of a concerted directed effort to be meva'er the ra, so then the ra can again, as in the examples we gave before, the ra just adulterates the tov. In amongst Chasidim there are stories how beginning on I think the Mishnah Berurah has two deios whether the שלושה ימים קודם החג begins on yud daled or tes vav Adar, but either way Purim time it begins. So there are stories amongst Chasidim about how this process of se'or shebe'isa, how that process was a process that they began on Purim to try to target that ra and to try to make again a concerted effort to identify and to target and to be'oker and to correct the middos ra'os shebehem.