Transcript

I mean dibbur not necessarily in contrast to amira as sometimes is intended but there's a stress on dibbur on speech. Tes vav Nissan. Obviously most prominently in the mitzvah of v'higadeta l'vincha, sippur yetzias Mitzrayim, but perhaps even more distinctively that even the mitzvos achila of the night are connected and as it were nismachim are leaning on dibbur. לחם עוני לחם שעונין עליו דברים. The Rav zecher tzaddik livracha used to call attention to a machlokes between the Rambam and the Ramban, how to understand Rabban Gamliel's meimra of

כל שלא אמר שלשה דברים אלו בפסח לא יצא ידי חובתו. לא יצא איזה חובה?

So the Rambam, the way the Rambam quotes in perek zayin of Hilchos Chametz u'Matzah, it's clear that לא יצא ידי חובת סיפור יציאת מצרים. That that part of the mitzvah sippur yetzias Mitzrayim is to comment on the significance or the background of the mitzvos of Pesach matzah u'maror. The Ramban in two places the Rav was metzayen in Milchamos in the first perek in Berachos as well as in Sefer HaMitzvos in מצוות עשה ששכח הרב. So the Ramban learns pshat implicitly that

כל שלא אמר שלשה דברים אלו בפסח לא יצא ידי חובתו

means he hasn't been yotzei the mitzvas achila. If a person eats Pesach matzah u'maror without previously commenting

פסח זו שאנו אוכלין על שום מה מצה זו שאנו אוכלין על שום מה מרור זה שאנו אוכלין על שום מה,

so then it's lacking in the mitzvas achila. Parenthetically, the Maharsha on the Mishnah of Rabban Gamliel also learns pshat in kuf tes vav like the Ramban. So according to the Ramban's havana, so not only is it true for mitzvas matzah lechem oni that that mitzvas matzah is upgraded by its connection to dibbur, but it's also true for the mitzvos of achilas mitzvos or mitzvah of Pesach and maror as well. The pshat al derech ha'agadda is follows: Golus Mitzrayim was triggered by cheit halashon. And that in at least two different senses. First of all ויבא יוסף את דבתם רעה אל אביהם which is the sort of long-term catalyst for Golus Mitzrayim. The lashon hara of which Yosef ha'tzaddik was nichshal. ויבא יוסף את דבתם רעה אל אביהם. And then the ma'amar Chazal that Rashi quotes, achen noda hadavar, that Moshe Rabbeinu when he sees Dathan and Aviram, achen noda hadavar why it is that umma zu nishtabda more than kol ha'ummot because yesh daltorin beineihem. So Golus Mitzrayim was triggered by cheit halashon. In fact, there is a much quoted passage in many different places, it's cited from the Zohar HaKadosh that in Mitzrayim dibbur was in golus. Dibbur was in golus. Whatever that means, but dibbur was in golus. That the misuse, the abuse of dibbur resulted in dibbur being in golus. Well what's the mida k'neged mida in shibud Mitzrayim as a response to cheit halashon? So al pi din when we think of avdus again if you take the model of an eved Kena'ani who belongs to Yisrael, agam that technically... A nochri doesn't have, cannot have such a kinyan in a yisrael. But if you take the model of an eved knaani who belongs to yisrael, there would seem to be three distinctive features. First of all, that he's potur or perhaps mufka from certain mitzvos. Second of all, that an eved is ein lo chayus. An eved has no relations. An eved is not even considered related al pi din, unlike a nochri, an eved is not even considered related to his own biological progeny. And that an eved for certain dinim is treated as a chefza shel mamon כשור וחמור של האדם. So how is this status of avdus the mida keneged mida, again, technically, technically a nochri can't have this full kinyan in a yisrael. But even if the kinyan didn't exist, the metzius existed of these elements, of these aspects, so how is that a mida keneged mida for cheit halashon? The Chofetz Chaim writes in the hakdama to Shmiras Halashon in talking about the chomer haaveira both of dibbur as well as shmira or קבלת לשון הרע ורכילות. And he says that whenever a person does a mitzva based on the Shaarei Kedusha that the correlation between the taryag mitzvos and the evarei v'gidei haadam ultimately the correspondence is not with the evarim and the gidim hagufaniyim, but that in turn mirrors the neshama and this notion of רמ"ח איברים ושס"ה גידים which we find in the guf is because the guf reflects the neshama and the correlation is not between really between the mitzvos and the guf haadam but really the mitzvos and nishmas haadam. And that as a result, what follows is this, that whenever a person does a mitzva or rachmana litzlan differently, הן לטוב הן למוטב, so he either perfects or rachmana litzlan is pogem in that corresponding chelek haneshama. So if a person uses dibbur and shmira to speak divrei Torah, to hear divrei Torah, to daven, to listen to a chazaros hashas, to say divrei nechama to an aveil rachmana litzlan, divrei chizuk to a person, to listen to someone else's problems, so then he perfects these evarim. And if a person abuses the koach hadibbur and the koach hashmira, so then he's pogem. The Chofetz Chaim writes and we know that of all the faculties that a person has, the primary defining ones are those of dibbur and shmira. And this is reflected in the halacha that he quotes from the Gemara in Bava Kamma that chersho if a person is chovel b'chaveiro and renders him a cheresh is נותן לו דמי כולו. Like this if if a person is chovel b'chaveiro rachmana litzlan and kata yado or whatever happens, okay, so k'eved hanimkar bashuk, so how much did the price go down? But chersho is nosein dmei kulo. It means that that's the whole person. These are the in terms of tzuras haadam, in terms of what it means to be a person, it it's it can be distilled into how a person uses his koach hadibbur and koach hashmira. is נותן לו דמי כולו. He renders him worthless. And that's what the Chofetz Chaim says rachmana litzlan if a person makes himself a baal mum in terms of koach hadibbur and koach hashmiyah in terms of the neshama, so it's the worst rachmana litzlan, the worst possible mum that a person can generate in himself. So the koach hadibbur, the koach hashmiyah of a person is the defining human characteristic, which of course is totally consistent with the famous Targum Onkelos of ויהי האדם לנפש חיה לרוח ממללא. That's the essence, that's the essence of a person. It follows then that a person who rachmana litzlan abuses that koach hadibbur, that koach hashmiyah, so again he distorts the very tzuras ha'adam. The midah k'neged midah again we said one of the most salient features either bimtzius or even al pi din in the case of eved knaani is that for certain dinim he's treated as a cheftza shel mamon, not as a person but as a cheftza shel mamon כשור וחמור של אדם. The midah k'neged midah he takes again the chushim ha'ikarim as the Chofetz Chaim writes which provide, which define tzuras ha'adam and he ruins those, he spoils those, so the midah k'neged midah takeh is that now again either bimtzius or even al pi din his status is relegated to that of someone who's viewed k'shor v'chamor. That's also why again the eved's relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu is compromised as reflected in the fact that there's again by an eved knaani al pi din a p'tur maybe even a hafk'ah from some mitzvos. A person, not just a person according to the biological definition, but to connect to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, to have a relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, has to be a person. Has to be a person. A person who pogem again betzuras ha'adam, so then automatically that compromises, that downgrades what relationship a person can have with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And finally, cheit halashon, the divisiveness which results from cheit halashon. The midah k'neged midah again is the existential isolation of the eved that ein lo chayas because again through his again the midah k'neged midah is through the cheit halashon a person sows discord, he creates divisiveness, so the midah k'neged midah of that is the again whether the din in the case of an eved knaani or the metzius in terms of an avdus even if it isn't true as a formal din of the isolation of the ein lo chayas of the eved. To emerge from Mitzrayim meant to be misakein and for the koach hadibbur to be nigal. Hence the stress, the emphasis that with which we began on dibbur the night of the Seder, both representing both the tikun and the geulah of the koach hadibbur. Now it's interesting. Probably one of the first, if not the first association, if we were to be asked what the avoda of chag hamatzos is, so I think we would all and correctly respond say yomtov of emuna. Pesach is a yomtov of emuna. The progression over the course of the seven days of Pesach is one of growing in emuna until the point where the Midrash says, Rashi refers to it, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu says: כדאי היא האמונה שהאמינו בי שאקרע להם את הים. Pesach is a yomtov of emuna represented by the matzah. Is there any connection between again the focus on the Seder on tikkun and geulah of dibbor and chag hamatzos as a yomtov of emuna? So even before we understand at all even superficially, so it's worth just noting that it does seem to be some kind of special connection between dibbor and between emuna. Whether as reflected in mitzvas kriyas shema, קבלת עול מלכות שמים where there has to be davka dibbor la-afokei according to the Gra and some Rishonim, and the Gra's famous vort in מאימתי קורין את שמע la-afokei even shomea k-oneh, has to be davka a first-hand direct dibbor for the קבלת עול מלכות שמים. Whether it's in the significance of answering amen, whether it's in what the Mechilta tells us that at kabbalas ha-Torah so klal Yisrael had to answer hein or maybe they answered lav on the last five dibros. But there is a connection between dibbor and emuna. The Mechaber Bilvavi talks about, he suggests not necessarily in this context but in talking about this point, maybe just begin with a little bit of a mashal. Right, we all know from experience let's say that listening to music can have a certain effect on a person. Let's say it's soft music, it can have a calming effect. A person can be agitated, nervous and if the tone and the beat of the music is appropriate, it can have a calming effect. A person can be somewhat down and again if the music is appropriately geared so the music can help boost his spirits. Eich shehu, eich shehu, I'm not sure that we necessarily understand the mechanism here either but since we know it, we're comfortable with it and we feel like we have a sense for it. So listening as it were to the speech of music is poel, it acts on a person's emotional and psychological state. That's a metzius with which we're all familiar. So the Mechaber Bilvavi writes how on a deeper level, again not using dibbor here in contrast to amira as throughout, that it's through dibbor, through speech that a person is meorer the neshama. And through the dibbor, through the speech again how is that possible, how can there be such a thing, okay so we have a... A little bit of a musag again when we think of the of the analogy to music. A person penetrates, a person awakens, a person is me'orer the neshama where he feels and where he experiences and where he lives their emuna. And yitachen in light of that that the the emphasis on dibbur and mitzvas hadibbur by the seder and the focus of emuna are are two sides of a coin that they go together. Yitachen just in in conclusion that this would be an added perspective or an added dimension. You know that when a person learns there's an inyan that he should learn aloud. He shouldn't just ich veis read the Gemara silently just looking at it and and just reading with his eyes without moving his lips but a person should be motzi bifeh. The Baal HaTanya goes so far as to say that when a person can do that and doesn't do that he's not even yotzei the mitzva. Okay so that's again that's a rather mechudashdike opinion of of the Baal HaTanya but everyone agrees Chazal say that it's it's a segula for remembering when a person learns aloud. Those are ma'amarei Chazal that there's an inyan to learn aloud. Again sometimes a person has to be quiet, a person is thinking, trying to understand pshat in the milchama so he can't can't be blabbering the whole time. He has to he has to stop and sometimes there's an eis lishkot also even in Talmud Torah. But lema'aseh the point being whenever a person's machen a leining, a person is so then there's an inyan to be motzi bifeh. Okay so again there are many dimensions to this but maybe what we've been talking about provides one added dimension. The Ramban hayadu'a in the mitzvos lo sa'aseh sheshachach harav v'nos Mitzva beis

שמנמנענו שלא נשכח מעמד הר סיני ולא נסיר אותו מדעתנו אבל יהיו עינינו ולבנו שם כל הימים והוא אמר יתעלה השמר לך ושמור נפשך מאד פן תשכח את הדברים אשר ראו עיניך ופן יסורו מלבבך כל ימי חייך והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך יום אשר עמדת לפני ה' אלקיך בחורב.

Okay. So hishamer pen is is a lashon lo sa'aseh. So Ramban says this is a mitzvos lo sa'aseh not to forget ma'amad Har Sinai. Now he says then he says towards the end of the paragraph he says

ואל תטעה בזה מפני דרשם בפרק קמא דקידושין והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך בלמוד התורה לבני בנים.

So the fact that Chazal in the Gemara Kiddushin say והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך talks about that a person should learn Torah not only with his, not only with banim but with bnei banim as well so doesn't that mean that Chazal are interpreting this pasuk as not והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך emunas haTorah but to teach Avos Venizikin, to teach בפני נכתב בפני נכתב. So doesn't that contradict my pshat? The Ramban says no. He says כי למוד אמונת התורה הוא הלמוד בתורה. Part of the way a person teaches, transmits emunas haTorah is by teaching and transmitting Torah gufa. Which then means that according to the Ramban... And that lichora again would be an added dimension to the stress on being motzi bafey and on dibbur within the context of Talmud Torah, all of which halacha lemayssa lichora suggests that part of our hachanas for Pesach has to include a focus on shmiras haloshon. The limud of the halachos of shmiras haloshon is important not only because what we don't know we can't comply with, but also the constant involvement in learning translates into an awareness which carries over the rest of the day also in terms of if a person every day is learning a little bit of the halachos, so then he's much much less susceptible to forgetting and talking carelessly, speaking loosely. A person is involved, again, he's involved tmiddim kesidran in learning the halachos, it's one of the most effective ways to raise and to heighten his awareness in terms of measuring motza fiv and ensuring that we continue to be mesaken the koach hadibbur as part of the avoda of chag hamatzos.