א watch יצר- ינצר-
מ''ד בני- speaking in the name of ה'. He’s saying that you are as dear to me as a child is to his
father. He’s warning that you shouldn’t forget His תורה.
מלבי''ם לימוד התורה =תורתי אל תשכח and קיום המצוות =מצותי יצר לבך.
What is included in a man’s חיוב of לימוד התורה? Even דינים that will never be done by
some people, like מצות הקרבנות. Why would a man learn these הלכות? There is a מצוה of לימוד התורה- ''והיגית בו יומם ולילה''. One has to learn לשמע, not necessarily to come out with any הלכות.
What else is included in ''תורתי''? The stories in the תורה that are the cornerstones of our אמונה, for example we get the יסוד of נבואה from our אבות and the יסוד of יצ''ם from the מכות. We are warned not to forget them. We should learn and remember until we come to a point that we won’t forget. By the מצות, it’s not enough to know them, we also have to keep them.
(Not inside) What is the ל' of ''לבך''?
1. The לב is the command center of the body and it rules over all the אורים.
2. ''רחמנא ליבא באי''- ה' wants the כונה that’s in our hearts.
All מצות can be divided into three parts:
1. חובות האורים- done with the body, for example:
a. צדקה
b. לולב
2. חובות הלבבות-
a. יראת ה'
b. גדלות ה'
c. אמונה
d. חשבון הנפש
e. ''לא תחמד''
3. חובות האורים and חובות הלבבות together- a prime example would be תפילה.
By חובות האורים, you don’t need כונה the whole time to be יוצא, just initially. But like this you aren’t doing it the right way. Really, the right way would be to have כונה the whole time. חובות האורים and חובות הלבבות together needs to be backed up by כונת הלב. We know that ''תפילה בלי כונה כגוף בלי נשמה''- it’s like a peel without the fruit inside. משל- servant who prepares food for the king, but leaves. נמשל- תפילה can be compared to the food, and we send our lips to serve Him. ה' wants our hearts and our minds. חובות הלבבות is an area in עבודת ה' that is often overlooked. They are really חיובים and must be learnt so that we could do them properly. -משל servant with field duties and house duties. נמשל- the field duties are equal to חובות האורים and the house duties are equal to חובות הלבבות.
ב This פסוק is a תוצאה of פסוק א. If you keep פסוק א, they you’ll have ארך ימים, שנות חיים
and שלום.
מצודת דוד -ושנות חיים The years that a person lives will be quality years when good things will happen.
גר''א -שלום שלום is the כלי that holds all the other ברכות in place. Without שלום, there is no point in ארך ימים or שנות חיים. ארך ימים and שנות חיים are תוצאות of קייום המצוות. שלום is the תוצאה of לימוד התורה. שלום is that which holds all the other ברכות in place, so we can say that שלום is equal to all the other ברכות. שלום is a fitting result from לימוד התורה which is equal to all the other מצוות.
The תורה and the מצוות are מלמד זכות on someone, so that ה' gives him ארך ימים and שנות חיים.
We can’t always see how פסוק ב is a תוצאה of פסוק א because we don’t know the חשבונות of ה'.
ג מצודת דוד -אל יעזבך Don’t allow yourself to be without them.
ג קשרם-קשר אותם
גרגרתיך- הצואר שלך
מצודת דוד -קשרם You should constantly talk about them and think about them.
ר' יונה sheet חסד includes most מידות טובות. אמת includes מעלות in a person’s דעות and שכליות. חסד is to put all of your energy and desires into another’s happiness. A true בעל חסד is someone who is דורש שלמם וטובתם- wants other to be happy and is anxious to do what’s best for them. We usually define someone as a בעל חסד if they do חסדים for others. But that alone isn’t such a big deal- you don’t have to go against your nature because by a Jew, his nature is to be a גומל חסד and likes to be on the giving end. Such a person is an עשות חסד. But a real בעל חסד is someone with אהבת חסד- this is a much higher level. Why? By nature, we want ourselves to have and others not to have and to be above. When we don’t have and be happy for others and want them to have good, this goes against our nature and is much harder. When someone is a true בעל חסד, the bad מידות that are in a person’s nature are removed from him, such as:
1. אכזריות- opposite of this because he wants harm for others.
2. כילות- stinginess- he has a hard time giving things up because he doesn’t want good for others. This doesn’t mean he’s a miser, but many of us can be like this. We often have a hard time giving to those that aren’t close to us. But as soon as a בעל חסד feels that each person is an extension of himself, he doesn’t have a hard time giving.
3. שנאה- he hates people and doesn’t want good for them. Sometimes, there’s something about someone that you just can’t stand. But a בעל חסד sees everyone as an extension of himself, so he doesn’t hate people.
4. קנעה- he’s jealous of something someone has, but a בעל חסד sees everyone as an extension of himself so he isn’t jealous.
5. תאוה- he’s self centered and doesn’t care for the good of others.
6. גאוה- he feels that he’s better than anyone else.
Someone who is an אוהב חסד will inevitably do חסד, (but someone who does חסד isn’t necessarily an אוהב חסד). He will do גמ''ח even if he doesn’t have money for צדקה. He will do ביקור חולים, ניחום אבילים…
ה' demands from us to try to be an אוהב חסד. How can one become an אוהב חסד? The חיצוניות is מעורר the פנימיות. So why doesn’t help us to become an אוהב חסד if we do חסדים? Because we must realize that there’s a פנימיות and try to be מכון to want to help others, and not do it because of ulterior motives.
Why was the II בית destroyed if they had תורה and גמ''ח? Because they had שנאת חינם. So even though they had גמ''ח, there wasn’t an אהבה for people, so there was no אהבת חסד. We need to be מתקן it.
אמת isn’t considered something bad to be good or good to be bad. The בעל אמת isn’t scared to say that something is bad or good. He doesn’t flatter people and has קנאות- zealousness to stand up for good.
חניפה- flattery is a form of שקר, but it’s also an אסור within itself. It’s one of the כתות that can’t be מקבל פני השכינה. The four כתות:
1. חניפים
2. שקרנים
3. בעלי ל''ה
4. לצים
So what’s חניפה? Flattering someone who’s doing an עבירה by telling them that is was right or fine. During the תקופה before II בית, the Romans appointed a goyish king over the Jews- אגריפס. He tried to be מקיים the מצוות and once did הקהל and read the פסוק that said that ב''י shouldn’t have a goyish king, and he started to cry. ב''י were scared of the repercussions so they told him that it’s fine because he’s considered to be ''אחינו''. By doing this, not only weren’t they giving תוכחה but they were also being מחזק his resolve to be חוטא.
If one’s in a position to give תוכחה and doesn’t, that’s also considered חניפה. If you’re sitting among people who are doing something wrong, and you know that they won’t listen to your תוכחה, you have to do something because otherwise people will think you’re expressing your approval. So either give תוכחה or get up and leave.
A בעל אמת is willing to go against the flow, but it’s very difficult. Story- Rabbi Brown and מחיצה.
Someone who is a בעל אמת is happy when צדיקים receive כבוד and when רשעים are lowered because it’s אמת, and even thought he knows, he’s happy that everyone else should see.
A בעל אמת, at the time when he’s judging won’t show favoritism and he’ll give an honest verdict. We pass judgment all the time on other people. We shouldn’t show favoritism to ourselves or someone close to us. We tend to judge with a double standard- we judge others very quickly, but when it comes to judging ourselves, we come up with excuses to justify our actions.
A בעל אמת is מודה על האמת- admits. It’s a difficult thing to do, but it’s אמת. We tend to say that we’re never going to convince the other person so he should just forget it, but that isn’t אמת. When someone gives us מוסר, we should accept it. A בעל אמת has a firm commitment to אמת, so he’s open to hear.
A בעל אמת is someone who isn’t מקבל ל''ה and doesn’t believe everything he hears, lest he believes something untrue. A בעל אמת checks out to see if a rumor or story is true before he believes its and repeats it.
Someone who’s a true בעל אמת will turn away from crooked דעות and השקפות that may be displayed under the banner of Yiddishkeit. A בעל אמת will investigate in order to see what’s the אמת, because he’s scared to let שקר come into his heart. He won’t let go until he comes to the truth.
The מעלות of חסד and אמת are so great that we can’t even comprehend the greatness of someone who reaches שלמות in these מעלות. Someone who is at the other extreme is among the רשעים who are despised in the eyes of ה'- ''אדם בליעל איש און... שנא ה' ''. With everything that we do, were moving one step closer to שלמות and one more step away from the opposite extreme.
שלמה talks about these מידות so that our עבודת ה' should be desired and accepted by ה'. Two פסוקים to prove this:
1. ''חדשיכם ומועדיכם שנאה נפשי''- as long as כלל ישראל don’t get rid of certain faults, ה' hates when they come to the בהמ''ק.
2. ''נירו לכם ניר ואל תזרעו אל קוצים''- it’s useless to plant seeds on top of thorns. First, remove the thorns, then you can plant beautiful seeds.
ר' יונה -קשרם על גרגרתיךWhy is it important for us to talk about these מידות?
1. It helps him and he can have a constant reminder to be נזהר in these מידות- when you hear yourself talking, it makes an impression.
2. Other people can also learn from you, even if you aren’t שלם. They’ll learn to praise and think highly of בעלי אמת- someone who’s always praising good מידות and putting down bad מידות.
3. ''מצרף לכסף וכור לזהב ואיש לפי מהללו''-in order to test gold and silver’s purity, put it through a furnace. In order to test the essence of a person, see what he praises and what he constantly talks about.
-כתבם על לח לבך this is the עבודה of ''וידעת הום והשיבותה אל לבבך''. This is lifetime goal. Why is it necessary to write it in our heart? Because it’s our heart that is responsible for our actions. We have to take what is in our mind and put it in our heart, because without putting it in our heart we won’t get anywhere. Possibly the longest journey of our life is the journey from the head to the heart. How do we do this?
מכתב 1. Repetition- if you repeat something out loud enough times, you can’t help it but it’ll
מאליהו have an influence because repetition goes into your subconscious. Make yourself a
Sentence about what you want to get into your heart and it’ll help.
2. כח ציור- imagination. When you hear or see something, it doesn’t affect your subconscious, but if you imagine it, it’ll penetrate. You should picture the עונש and it will stop you from doing a חטא.
ד פסוק ד is תוצאה of פסוק ג.
מ''ד -ומצא חן through the מידות of חסד and אמת, we’ll find favor and it will be known before
ה' and others that he has שכל טוב.
ר' יונה ומצא חן → חסד
and גר''א שכל טוב → אמת
Someone who is a בעל חסד will find חן in the eyes of ה' and others and someone who is a
בעל אמת will find אמת in the eyes of ה' and other people.
ר' יונה Why will a בעל חסד find חן in the eyes of ה'? ''כל המרחם על הבריות הבריות מרחמין עליו מן
השמים''- when ה' sees us treating His children with compassion, it’s מעורר a tremendous amount of רחמים from ה'. It’s like a key that unlocks good for us in שמים. Why will a בעל חסד find חן in the eyes of other people? A בעל חסד wants to always help others, so it’s
obvious that he will find favor in the eyes of others.
גר''א -חן it comes from the שרש of חינם because חן is a מתנת חינם from ה'. We always see a ל' of מצא before חן because someone who has חן isn’t deserving of it, it was just found. A
בעל חסד gives others more than they deserve, so ה' sometimes gives him more than he deserves. חן is inner qualities that shine forth to the outside. Not everyone who is a בעל חסד gets חן- it is very rare and given out randomly, but ה' likes to give it to בעלי חסד. It may seem that it’s a reward for a בעל חסד and not a מתנת חינם. It can be compared to someone paying $100 for a gorgeous diamond- it’s really a מתנה. ה' also likes to give חן to ענוים- ''לענוים יתן חן''. Besides for חן, מידות טובות also cause have a person to have a shine.
ר' יונה Someone who is a בעל אמת will be known for his שכל טוב- people will respect him. When we stand up for the אמת, in the long run we will be respected for it.
גר''א שכל טוב= הצלחה. Someone who has שכל טוב will be מצליח in what he tries to do. This is not a שכר, rather a תוצאה.
מאירי This פסוק is a צווי- commands us to do מעשים in a way that will find favor in the eyes of both ה' and other people. There is another פסוק with a similar צווי- ''והייתם נקיים מה' ומישראל''- when ראובן, גד, חצי שבט מנשה came before משה and asked to settle מעבר לירדן, משה said that they had to fight first so that it shouldn’t seem like they only wanted to settle there so that they wouldn’t have to fight, and then they’ll be נקיים. It isn’t enough that ה' knows that our actions are done for the right reason, others must know too.
An עיר הנדחת would be an example of this. An עיר הנדחת is a city where everyone serves ע''ז. Everyone must be killed and the spoils must be burnt. It seems that בעל תשחית is being done, but it’s more important that people should understand the reason why it was done was (to justify a wrongdoing, and not to get spoils) than to do בעל תשחית because it could cause a חלול ה'. Also, if people see you doing something wrong, they might copy. Story- ר' משה and tea. In our society, everyone contributes. If you do something that appears to be wrong, the esteem of that thing will be lowered in the eyes of society. If there’s no way to justify an action that seems wrong but is really right, rather don’t do it. If we see someone doing something wrong, we have to be דן לכף זכות, but we also can’t put ourselves into a situation where others will have to be ךן us לכף זכות.
But we can’t take this concept too far, that everything we do is done in the hope of finding favor in the eyes of others. A גנב is someone who steals secretly. A גזלן is someone who commits an armed robbery publicly. A גנב is scared only of ה'. A גזלן isn’t scared ה' or others. A גנב is worse because he’s concerned about what others think about him, but not what ה' thinks about him. We see the severity of a גנב that he has to pay back four times. Even if we’re doing everything right, we can still be like a גנב if we’re doing it because of what others will think about us. Sometimes, there’s a conflict between finding favor in the eyes of ה' and finding favor in the eyes of other people. Obviously, we have to find favor in the eyes of ה', but someone who lives their whole life to impress other people will have a very difficult time when faced with this נסיון. Story- Rabbi Rosenberg and the O-U. We have to always keep in mind and ask ourselves- what would ה' think about it? If He wouldn’t approve, don’t do it.
The idea of being such an approval seeker connects to בטחון- an approval seeker thinks that people run the world and if he makes the right impression on the right people, he’ll get places. This shows a total lack of בטחון.
ה בטח- צריך לבטח
בכל לבך- בלב שלם, בלי שום ספק
תשען- תסמך
מ''ד -אל תשען when you plan something out so carefully and use your חכמה, don’t think that it’ll automatically work out because everything is dependant on ה', not on חכמה.
ר' יונה sheet The שלמות of בטחון is that a person believes only in ה' and not in his own strengths, שכל or other people, therefore the פסוק says, ''ואל בינתך אל תשען''. Why does the פסוק specify not to rely only on חכמה? One can’t rely on anything accept for ה'!
1. Because it’s a mistake that’s most commonly made- people feel that חכמה is something that could be relied on. Don’t make that mistake!
2. It also includes not to trust in anything else. A person thinks that he could trust in other things because his שכל tells him. Don’t trust your שכל when it tells you to rely on other things because everything is dependant on יד ה' and not on anything else. There are פסוקים that come to prove that nothing is dependant on anything other than ה':
a. ''משיב חכמים אחור ודעתם יסכל''- ה' can and sometimes does take away a person’s חכמה. חכמה isn’t in your control. Sometimes, everything just flies out of your brain- shows that חכמה is in ה'’s control.
b. ''רבות מחשבות בלב איש ועצת ה' היא תקום''- a person makes plans and strategies and thinks that things will turn out according to his plans. Really, everything works out according to ה'’s plans.
c. ''אם ה' לא יבנה בית שוא עמלו בוניו בו''- you could work on building a house for days, but if ה' doesn’t want it to stand it won’t.
d. ''כי כל מעשינו הבל''- all our actions are nothing and are for nothing. Actions are nothing in that it’s not our actions that’ll determine what’ll happen to us- ה' does.
e. ''כי לא לקלים המרוץ...''- a race isn’t necessarily won by the fastest person. Whoever ה' wants to win will win- it’s totally in His hands.
f. ''לאדם מערכי לב ומה' מענה לשון''- a person plans out what he’s going to say and how he’s going to say it, but it’s up to ה' how his words will come out. ר' יונה learns out a קו''ח from here- if even our speech isn’t up to us, how could we think that our actions are in our control?
ר' בחיי sheet A wealthy person or a fast person shouldn’t think that it’s because of his talent- ''כי לא
לקלים המרוץ ולא לגבורים המלחמה וגם לא לחכמים לחם וגם לא לנבונים עשר וגם לא ליודעים חן כי עח ופגע יקרה את כלם''- ה' set up the world that it looks likes the fastest win the race, but we see enough exemptions to realize that it isn’t like that. A person shouldn’t put
his hope in his השתדלות, he should place his hope in ה'. ''אף לאלקים דומי נסשי כי ממט תקותי'' – only hope to ה' because the only hope is from ה' and not from השתדלות.
In theory, we agree and believe it, but do we live our lives like that? No. The primary reason for this is because ה' set up the world according to cause and effect. Usually, if you put in effort, you get the desired effect. It seems to us that because one works he gets פרנסה. If we want the desired result, we’ll do the cause. ה' is THE CAUSE- סיבת כל הסיבות. The מכתב מאליהו gives two משלים:
1. משל- the dog fetches the stick in order to get the meat. To the dog, it seems that fetching the stick sends forth meat, but really it’s the owner. נמשל- things we do seem to bring us the desired results. Really, this is a narrow perspective- we have to see that ה' is in control.
2. משל- a man is looking into a room through a keyhole. He sees a pen written on its own. Really if he would just open the door, he would see that someone is controlling the pen. נמשל- our perspective of this world is necessarily limited. From our limited perspective, we think that medicine heals a person, that work brings פרנסה… - really it’s ה'. We have to open the door= get בטחון, and see that everything is ביד ה'.
When we do השתדלות, we thing that it’s doing something. משל- a child on a ride where a car runs on its own, but the child thinks that by turning the wheel they’re moving the car. נמשל- the connections between our השתדלות and what actually happens in no different than the child thinking that he’s controlling the car. Let’s say that the amusement park made a rule that the ride operator can’t start the ride until each child spins the wheel three times- ה' made a גזירה that things don’t happen without השתדלות. We have to do the necessary השתדלות to set the ride in motion. How much money a person makes was נגזר on ר''ה and that’s how much money he is going to make, no matter how much השתדלות he puts in.
Why do we have to do השתדלות? משל- a man has a millionaire friend. He sees this man’s son working in a store. He comes up with many reasons why this boy is working, but know that it isn’t for money. נמשל- ''לי הכסף ולי הזהב''- ה' tells His children that if they want money, they have to work for it. Every single aspect of every single bit of our lives is completely in His control. ה' tells us that if we want something, He will give it to us in the normal way. But know that the reason it works isn’t because of our effort.
If ה' controls everything, why do we have to do השתדלות? Because of the חטא of אדם הראשון. It used to be that there was no טבע in this world, but then אדם was חוטא and a set of curses came upon this world. Among them was the curse of ''בזעת אפיך תאכל לחם''. This was the introduction of טבע into the world. When ה' gives a punishment, it’s not נקמה, rather it’s מכ''מ. Our job is to be מתקן- the חטא of אדם הראשון was in a tiny way showing a lack of belief in יחוד ה'. To be מתקן it, we have to believe that ה' is the only power. We were thrust into a world of טבע and we must see past the טבע and see the יד ה'. If we do this, we can be מתקן the חטא of אדם הראשון. משל- a person is told to break a barrel but not to let the wine spill. This is a very difficult נסיון.
The מסילת ישרים says that one thing that stops a person from מידת החסידות is worries in עניני עוה''ז. What stops those worries? Having בטחון- completely relying on ה' because you know that you have nothing to worry about. ה' gives you what He decided with or without your השתדלות. But,מועיל אלא שהשתדלות מוכרח'' ''לא שהשתדלות- it doesn’t help but rather it’s necessary. השתדלות is a tax. After you have paid the necessary tax, now you’ll get what you need. So who pays extra taxes? No one! So just fill your חיוב and you’ll be finished with it, because you’ll only get what ה' wanted.
What is the minimum amount of השתדלות? There’s a כלל that the amount that you’re required to do is dependant on your מדרגה in בטחון. Someone who is still just learning בטחון has to do what the world considers normal השתדלות. What’s considered more than normal השתדלות? If you live normally but want to live luxuriously, work more hours or change professions. In this case, you won’t gain anything but you’ll lose time for עבודת ה'. We don’t want to be on the level of just learning השתדלות; assuming that we are on a higher level and keep telling ourselves that it’s not our work that’s doing this but rather ה', then our השתדלות that is necessary is minimized.
How do we know if we’re ready for that? Ask yourself, “What would happen if I didn’t do this השתדלות and I didn’t achieve my goal? Would I regret that I didn’t do it or would I accept it?” If you wouldn’t regret it then you’re on that level. But if you’re not on that level yet, don’t minimize your השתדלות so that you won’t be regretful of a מצוה. The highest level is not really anyone’s level today but it’s total, one hundred percent trust in ה' and one doesn’t need to do any השתדלות.
חובות הלבבות If you do too much השתדלות and rely too much on it, then ה' will leave you and won’tbe משגיח on you. He’ll leave you in the hands of your own השתדלות. That’s the worst situation to be in in life. What about someone who thinks that he could rely on both his בטחון and his השתדלות? One can’t trust in both ה' and his השתדלות. If he does, he’ll lose the little amount of בטחון that he does have.
We also have a special weapon- תפילה. If we concentrate on what we were saying, we would realize that it isn’t השתדלות, rather ה' that gives us all of our needs. For example, if someone was sick and they said ''רפאנו'', they would realize that ה' is the One who heals.
What is בטחון? A בעל בטחון is tranquil and knows in his heart that he can rely on ה', that everything that ה' does for him is for his good. The basis for this is
1. ה'’s יכולת
2. ה' knows that which is good for us.
משך חכמה Tells us that we have to believe that:
1. ה' is constantly looking out for His creations and giving us everything that we need. He is also looking to protect us from any lacks such as sickness or misfortune.
2. He has the ability to do good.
3. He knows everything that’s inside of us and what’s good for us.
What comes out from here then is that ה' is looking our for our good and feels our good more than we ourselves do. A person will have מנוחת הנפש and won’t do more השתדלות than necessary because he knows that ה' will give him what’s good for him. If we don’t get what we want, obviously it’s not for our good.
Seven qualities that if a person has, you can trust him completely:
1. If a person cares about you and loves you, he is מרחם on you.
2. He doesn’t forget about you for a second- he’s constantly looking out for you and looking to see what good he can do for you.
3. Has the ability to do whatever is good for you.
4. Has to know what’s good for you on a fundamental level, not just on a superficial level.
5. Has to be with you from when you’re born until the day you die.
6. No one can do anything to you besides for this entity.
7. This entity has to be the ultimate בעל חסד- not only on those who are deserving but also on those who aren’t deserving.
No person has all seven qualities, only ה' does. It’s impossible that something can happen to you that’s bad. Everything is covered by one of the seven qualities. We have to internalize all these principles and once we have integrated them, we’ll be able to submit to ה' completely. ''כוס ישועות אשא ובשם ה' אקרא'', ''צרה ויגון אמצא ובשם ה' אקרא'' because we know that everything that ה' does is good for me.
Our עבודה in בטחון-את עצמו לרשותו'' ''וימסר- submitting ourselves to ה'’s control. This is very hard because everyone wants to feel that they’re in control of their lives. בטחון means to realize that everything is being controlled by ה' who only wants that which is good for us. ה' controls everyone, even those that don’t submit. Every breath is dependant on ה'- ''על חיינו המסורים בידך''. What difference does it make if we submit or not- ה' is controlling anyway?!
1. When we do succeed in submitting, it brings a feeling of tremendous מנוחת הנפש. The difference between one who submits and one who doesn’t is a life of מנוחת הנפש or a life of stress. As long as someone feels that he’s in the driver’s seat, every obstacle makes him worried and scared. If you know that ה' is in the driver’s seat and you’re just the passenger, you don’t have to worry.
2. When someone submits, ה' will lead him with extra special השגחה פרטית because ''ה' צלך''.
Often, בטחון can bring about ישועות because of the extra השגחה פרטית he has. Sources:
1. ''הבוטח בה' חסד יסובבני'' –תהלים
2. ''ובוטח בה' ישוגב'' –משלי. ר' יונה says that ישוגב מן הצרה שכר הבטחון- אע''פ שהצרה ראוי' לבוא עליו ישוגב מן הצרה בשבר הבטחון
3. אוה''ח in בשלח- ב''י find themselves in a difficult situation. They davened to ה' and ה' told משה not to daven, but to go into the ים סוף. Why did ה' say not to daven? Sometimes, a person can be in such a strong צרה that even with תפילות he can’t be helped because of the testimony against him. Only בטחון will help.
When a yid is in a difficult situation, בטחון dictates that he should:
1. Think that it’s from ה'. If it’s from ה' it must be good for him. Sometimes, depending on the level of the situation, this alone might be enough. Sometimes the reason a person is put in a situation is to test him to see how he handles it.
2. A person hopes and prays to ה'. He asks ה' that it should be good in a way that he can see that it’s good= ישועה. Also included is trusting that ה' could bring about the ישועה in an instant. In a difficult situation, one must be afraid of ה' and of his חטאים- by יעקב, it says ''וירא יעקב מאד''- he was afraid because of his חטאים. Despite this, we have to have בטחון though.
Why תפילה?
1. The world is often set up in a way where ה' has something that’s waiting for you, but you have to daven, like by אדם.
2. We daven for ourselves- to strengthen our בטחון, to remind and drill into ourselves that everything is from ה'.
3. If we believe that a צרה is good for us, why are we davening that it should be taken away? AS a result of our תפילה and בטחון, sometimes we will then have achieved the point of our צרה.
When in a צרה, one should always daven, but תפילה must come with an amendment- if as a result of my shortsightedness and foolishness, please don’t give me what isn’t good for me. What You with Your ultimate בחירה choose for me is far better than what I could choose for myself.
The final מדרגה in בטחון is to leave ourselves in ה'’s hands, just like דוד said in תהלים, ''אם לא שוויתי ודוממתי נפשי כגמל עלי אמו''- I imagine myself as a nursing infant in its mother’s arms. Why is this the ultimate symbol of בטחון? Because he is secure and has nothing to worry about. We have to feel secure in ה'’s arms and accept that everything that he gives us is for our good.
ו דעהו- דע אותו
יישר ארחתיך- יעשה שדרכים שלך יהי ישרים
ח''זל tell us about this פסוק that one of the חכמים asked, ''איזהי פרשה קטנה שכל גופי
התורה תלוין בה?''. The קיום of the whole תורה is dependant on our קיום of this פסוק.
ר' יונה sheet How does it connect to בטחון? Any endeavor of yours, you have to remember and have
תקוה toward ה' that he’ll help you because it isn’t in your hands. What does this פסוק come to add? There could be someone who has בטחון- he has reached שלמות in פסוק ה- a very high level. Something could still be missing though- when it comes to little details, he doesn’t think about בטחון. This פסוק is telling us בכל דרכיך- in every detail of everything that you’re doing, no matter how small, you have to have בטחון.
When someone is in a big, risky situation, he knows that he needs ה'’s help and turns to Him. Whey don’t we ask ה' to help with the small things?
1. ע''פ טבע it works out.
2. Very often, we don’t care if it works out or not, and why should we bother ה' with such small things? Some also feel that if they ask for help with small things, they’ll use up their זכותים that they want for the bigger things.
משל- rich man and poor man- ''השלך על ה'...''. Who do you think is doing all the small things and taking care of details? He does it anyway, so we should acknowledge that we need ה'’s help. When it comes to small things, you don’t have to worry about using up your זכותים. If ה' has to change טבע for you, then you could worry. When you turn to ה', you get more זכותים. This פסוק tells us that we have to learn to turn to ה', even by small things. There is no such thing as something happening on its own- it’s חסד ה'.
Since this is true down to the smallest action, we are מחויב to turn to ה'. When it’s a question of whether or not we should turn to ה', it turns into something much bigger. Whether or not your cake flops isn’t such a big deal, but whether or not you turn to ה' is a big deal. By not acknowledging ה', you’re shortchanging your עבודת ה'. If you did turn to ה' before, it doesn’t matter because it’s a small thing but it does matter because you strengthened your בטחון and you get tremendous שכר.
This פסוק is the key of our בטחון and therefore the key to our entire קיום המצוות- שכל גופי התורה תלוין בה. Our entire relationship with ה' is dependant on this פסוק- a constant hint to remember ה'. It’s a high מדרגה, but it’s not so hard to do.
If you’re מקיים the first half of the פסוק, the second half will be fulfilled- there’s a much greater chance that you’ll succeed when you remember that it’s only through ה' that you’ll be successful.
Two practical ways to bring it into our lives:
1. שפתי חיים recommends three times a day to turn to ה' with a small request. If it does work out, realize that it’s from ה' and thank Him.
2. Think about what you’re saying when you say ב''ה, בע''ה, ע''ה.
מ''ד -בכל דרכיך In everything that you do, ask yourself how it’ll bring a benefit to your עבודת
ה', and you’ll be מצליח.
רמב''ם It shouldn’t be in a person’s heart that he’s working to make money or eating because he’s hungry, rather he’s doing everything so that he’ll be able to serve ה'. The highest level is that everything you do should be לשם שמים. A person who does this, it comes out that he’s constantly serving ה' no matter what he’s doing- ''וכל מעשיך יהיו לש''ש''.
מאירי ''ואהבת את ה' אלקיך בכל לבביך''- with your יצה'ר and your יצר הטוב. How does someone do this? Things which we think would be in the domain of the יצה'ר, have כונה that you’re doing it לש''ש and it’s like you’re serving ה' with his יצר הטוב.
ח''ח A person who’s מקים this will get שכר for the גשמיות. Why? משל- Master has to pay his servant for travel time. נמשל- if we have the right כונה, we’re actively serving ה' so we get שכר.
We tend to think that life is divided into two:
1. רוחניות- עבודת ה'
2. Everything else.
This פסוק is telling us that we have to have one goal in life and everything falls under that category- עבודת ה'. We don’t’ have to think the whole time that we’re going in the way of ה' so long as our goal is עבודת ה' and you don’t get sidetracked. Also make sure that it doesn’t go against the רצון ה'.
In life, two people can be doing the exact same thing however one will be doing עבודת ה' and one won’t.
Someone that ה' blessed him with שכל should use it by getting into his heart that ה' sent us on a mission in this world- to be מקים his תורה and מצוות- dot the רצון ה'. The highest level in עבודת ה' is someone who doesn’t make a move unless it gets him to his goal. He’ll get the ultimate joy in עוה''ב. משל- we’re like a servant of ה'. If we are faithful, we will be thinking about the mission the whole time. נמשל- At the end of one’s life, he should be able to say that he carried out his mission faithfully.
I’m missing a little bit at the end… I’ll have it a lil l8r, im just running out… if u want it, call me and I’ll gladly fax it 2 u.. my number is 362.5844. Good Luck studying and enjoy!!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Dinim
ראש השנה is יום הדין- it’s a scary and frightening moment. We should at least know that there’s something to be scared about and have בטחון in ה'- without His רחמים, it won’t go. It can be compared to the boys in Japan waiting for their trial. ה' is the sweetest person, but there are people around Him so He has no choice.
We don’t blow the שופר this year. It says that somewhere where they don’t blow the שופר, they should expect a tragedy to come because they don’t have the protection that blowing it brings upon us. By taking away this took, we are showing that we are being מוסר נפש for שבת.
These 10 days between ראש השנה and יו''כ are known as the עשרת ימי תשובה. חז''ל discuss the עשי''ת in the גמרא- gives it authority.
These days are specially designated for תשובה. These days start at ראש השנה and culminate at יו''כ- ''בין כסה לעשר''. תשובה isn’t so easy to accomplish most of the time, but it’s easier during the עשי''ת.
דינים on מחילה:
יו''כ has so much קדושה because ה' is מוחל us. ה' is so happy- it’s a big חסד.
We have to think about תשובה on יו''כ:
1. חרטה
2. קבלה על העתיד
3. עזיבת החטא
4. ודוי- it is said ten times. You only have to say it one time to be יוצא, but you must be standing. One should stand with a bowed heart.
There are התירים to take medicine on יו''כ, but you should ask a doctor and רב before using them. Medicine can’t be taken with water and you shouldn’t take chewables.
חמישת עינוים:
1. You shouldn’t wear leather shoes.
2. Fasting- at the end of the fast, even if your father isn’t home, you can say ברוך המבדיל and drink water. If you’re really hungry, you can make your own הבדלה- make sure to take fire from the נר שבת.
3. Washing- only up to the knuckles.
Saying מוריד הטל isn’t as eloquent- it’s a substitute, and when we talk to ה', we want to talk in the most eloquent manner.
If you didn’t say משיב הרוח:
1. If you finished the whole ש''ע, you have to repeat. Take three steps back (putting the שכינה in front of you) and say ה' שפתי.
2. If you caught yourself in the middle of ש''ע, you go back to ה' שפתי, but you don’t take the three steps back. If you were in the middle of שם ה', say ''למדני חוקיך''.
3. If you caught yourself before ''ברוך אתה'' of that ברכה, even if you said מוריד הטל, you go back. If you said the שם ה', you only go back if you didn’t say anything. IF you got up to ''מחיה'', finish the ברכה and say משיב הרוח over there.
יעלה ויבא is in the ברכה of הודאה.
If you forgot יעלה ויבא:
1. If you finished the whole ש''ע, you have to repeat.
2. If you didn’t yet finish ש''ע, you go back to the beginning of the ברכה of רצה because you have ruined that ברכה.
3. If you said ''ותחזנה...אתה'', you go back. Once you said the שם ה', you finish the ברכה and say it then.
The תורה warns us about שבת 12 times. Why so many?
The תורה doesn’t tell what the מלאכות are, so how do we know? It’s מסורה from משהand חז''ל knew it from קבלה and they found a רמז in the תורה- in ויקהל and פקודי it talks about the מלאכת המשכן.
What’s an אב and what’s a תולדה? An אב is how the מלאכה was done it the משכן. The תולדה is just as important as the אב. Why are they called by these names? Because the אב is the concept. Each of the אב מלאכות have a purpose, and this is how we derive the תולדה. An activity that has the same תכלית as the אב is a תולדה.
What’s the definition of בורר- what’s the תכלית? Sorting from a mixture of types.
In order for something to be בורר, it has to have things:
1. It has to be a mixture.
2. In the mixture, there have to be types.
If you have lemon and lime candies, it would be considered a mixture because the two different flavors mean there are two types.
What isn’t an assortment? If you have a pot of soup with chicken and vegetables, in this pot there are different types, but they aren’t mixed. If you wanted to remove the chicken and vegetables from the soup to make it clear, you would be allowed to because there’s no mixture. If there were noodles in the soup, that would be a mixture.
You can have a mixture but not have two types, like if you have a plate of cookies, and some are bigger than others. This wouldn’t be בורר.
What’s a mixture? You wash silverware on Friday night, and it’s all mixed together after you wash it. Now you want to set the table and you want to take out the knives. Every time you remove something from the mixture, you’re sorting types. This is an act of בורר. If the silverware was divided into compartments, you would be allowed to remove items from the compartments and set the table.
If you have different types that are a mixture, there is a התיר to separate when you follow the following conditions:
1. אוכל מן פסולת- take the good from the bad.
2. יד- separate by hand.
3. מיד- do it before you eat, in the time frame of סמוך לסעודה.
If you’re going somewhere and want to set the table before you leave, what do you do? If אי''ם doesn’t work for you, you could spread the silverware out, so that it isn’t a mixture anymore.
Two other methods of getting out of בורר:
1. You can take some of the good with the bad that you want to remove.
2. פסולת that blocks access to the food is considered part of the food, like by a peel or wrapper. (Questionable התיר)
How can you remove bones from fish or seeds from watermelon?
1. Remove the פסולת for immediate use. This is called דרך אכילה- remove the bones while it’s still in your mouth.
2. מיד לפה- since it’s on my plate in front of me, it’s considered דרך אכילה, so I can remove the bones from the fish. This applies when feeding children who can’t remove the bones the first way.
טוחן= grinding.
1. אב- crushing grain.
2. תכלית- breaking down a large particle into smaller particles for a different kind of use. The purpose can’t be achieved in its original form.
Included in the תכלית is breaking down everything else, not just grain. For example, gravel for laying down a sidewalk- big rocks wouldn’t do the job, but smaller pebbles can.
The fact that you’re making something smaller isn’t טוחן. There is no standard of smallness with the מלאכה of טוחן. The תכלית is to achieve something significant. By giving it a new use or purpose, that defines it as טוחן.
When you chop vegetables for a salad, you’re giving them a new use. Mashing a banana would also be giving it a new use. The חזון איש says that mashing is טוחן and רב משה says that it isn’t- טוחן is only for breaking something down into different units. Can one break down a banana for a small child?
1. חזון איש- yes, but with a שנוי.
2. רב משה- yes, but we should do like the חזון איש.
There are four exemptions to טוחן, and you only need one:
1. אין טוחן אא בגדולי קרקע- food that doesn’t grow from the ground, טוחן doesn’t apply to it:
a. Eggs
b. Liver
c. Meat
d. Fish
e. Cheese
2. סמוך לסועדה- even something that’s גדולי קרקע, the מיד from בורר applies here. Not all פוסקים agree on this, so we try to combine it with another exemption. A salad is hard to find another exemption for, so we use a שנוי, such as cutting bigger pieces.
3. אין טחינה אחר טחינה- when the original טוחן is totally obliterated, there is no more טוחן. If you got mud on your clothing, you can’t scrape it off because there’s a cycle and you’re bringing it back to its original form. Instead, you should wash it off. If there is a lot of mud, be careful because it may be לש.
4. שנוי- do it in an awkward way. This is usually used with another condition when you need a היתר.
עובדא דחול- you can’t use a device used for mashing or grinding on שבת even if you have the exemptions.
It doesn’t discuss taking medicine in the תורה, so how could חז''ל make it אסור? חז''ל were given permission to make certain barriers so that we shouldn’t be עובר on the תורה- ''עשו משמרת למשמרתי''.
In the old days, they used herbs for medication. They used to crush them, so the איסור of taking medicine on שבת was instituted. Any kind of therapy is included. רפואה is that which rectifies a malady of any kind.
רפואה isn’t restricted on everyone:
1. מיחוש בעלמה- a common place malady, that doesn’t make you very sick. Included in this would be aches and pains. It’s אסור to take medicine.
2. חולה כל גופו- not to bad, but confines someone in bed and affects his whole body, like a flu. One can take medicine.
3. פקוח נפש- not necessarily life threatening, but even something that could be life threatening, like diabetes. Not only should one take medicine, you’re מחוייב to be מחלל שבת for it.
For all children under the age of five or six or that are very frail, any of their needs are considered חולה כל גופו.
Two questions about the איסור of רפואה:
1. Who is included in this איסור? Only a מיחוש בעלמה would be included in this איסור. If someone isn’t sure if they’re considered a מיחוש בעלמה or חולה כל גופו, they can be מקיל and take the medicine.
2. What exactly is אסור? Any kinds of therapy, not just substance therapy. If a doctor tells someone to do physical therapy, he can do it even on שבת.
One can’t take vitamins on שבת, but there is an exemption for רפואה:
1. מאכל בריאים- food for healthy people. An example would be tea. Even if one is taking it for their sore throat, and wouldn’t usually drink it, they can still drink it, because it’s food.
2. דרך בריאים- since during the winter people put cream on even before their hands get chapped, if someone has chapped hands, he can put on cream as long as he doesn’t smear it.
You can’t mix רפואה into food on שבת, but you can do it before שבת and use it on שבת.
A person is allowed to take medicine to prevent himself from becoming a חולה כל גופו. An example of this would be to take Tums so you don’t get heartburn.
מרקד means sifting. Why would one sift? In order to separate the good in the flour from the bad. What would be considered bad in flour? Bran, pebbles or other matter that got mixed in must be separated from the finer flour. The idea of מרקד is separating the good from the bad in a mixture by passing the mixture through a screen.
The אב מלאכה is sifting flour.
When it comes to sifting confectioner sugar over a cake, the lumps in the sugar can be crushed because אין טוחן אחר הטוחן, and the sugar can be sifted over the cake.
If there are clumps in the salt or sugar shakers, it would be considered מרקד to put rice in the shaker and use it.
Sand in a sand box- if it rained, and the sand is clumpy, there could be problems. If the sand is dry, and someone is playing with a sand sifter, they can’t use it.
מצה meal also can’t be sifted because there might be parts in it that shouldn’t be there.
A תולדה of מרקד is משמר מסמנן- filtering sediment in a fluid. In the city, many people have water filters because there are undesired objects in the water. This water that has been filtered is אסור to drink, even though some פוסקים hold otherwise. This water can be used to wash your hands with or do the dishes with.
There are three levels of mixtures:
1. צלולים- clear, clean. This is what we drink
2. עכורים קצת. Most of the שאלות are on this.
3. עכורים- muddy and dirty- liquids that are turbid and undrinkable. You probably won’t run into this on שבת.
Passing עכורים through a filter turns it into צלולים.
עכורים: מלאכה מדאוריתא
The water in New York looks clear but it’s not. It’s עכורים only for drinking. Let’s say someone does an oil change- the oil may go into the ground and will eventually reach water. Now there are toxins (=עכורים) in the water, so they filter it. Sometimes bubbles are bugs. It’s עכורים and can’t be filtered on שבת.
צלולים:
Clear enough that people don’t mind drinking. Our water would fall into this category. It’s not אסור to filter it- you can use a filter on your tap. If someone is sensitive to the water, it makes it more עכורים or עכורים קצת, so they shouldn’t use a filter. A mild preference, however, doesn’t make it a problem.
עכורים קצת:
Let’s say water is a drop yellow- it is still drinkable, but we might not want to. It’s אסור to filter it on שבת.
After מרקד, we have flour that’s ready for baking.
Steps of the מלאכה:
1. נתינת מים- when water makes contact with the flour, and the particles of flour cling together.
2. גיבול- this involves mixing the flour with liquid to blend them together.
The תכלית of לש (kneading) is to combine particles of solid into a thick mass with a liquid medium. This can include:
1. Pastes
2. Sand with water→ mud or cement.
There are four kinds of mixtures:
1. בלילה עבה- a thick mixture. This is אסור מדאוריתא.
2. בלילה רכה- a thin, pourable, battler-like mix.
3. דברים נוזלים- a very thin mix that has no density such as coffee. It is permissible to make this on שבת.
4. חתיכות- not an even consistency, like coleslaw. This can be done on שבת.
Pure, ground liver is equivalent in הלכה to flour. If you add liquid to flour, you did לש. If you mix liver with oil, you’re doing גיבול. Liver is already moist, so why are you doing גיבול? Because the natural moisture of the food is considered like it’s dry. There are some התירים for making liver on שבת, such as אין לש אלא בגדולי קרקע.
Chopped liver or chopped eggs that aren’t finely ground- not לש because it’s חתיכות. Because of this, it’s permissible to make cole slaw.
If you want to mix ketchup and mayonnaise, it wouldn’t be אסור because it’s דברים נוזלים.
You can’t make בלילה. In order for something to be considered בלילה, it must have three properties:
1. A combination of solids and liquids mixed together. Mixing honey and mayonnaise wouldn’t be considered בלילה. Mashing a banana also wouldn’t be considered בלילה because the moisture is natural and the natural moisture of the food is considered like it’s dry.
2. Viscosity- it must be thick enough to have the density of viscosity.
3. It has to be an even consistency- particles have blended perfectly with each other. To make a new consistency would be בלילה.
It’s אסור to make baby cereal on שבת unless it’s done with a שנוי.
A שנוי is אסור by a דאוריתא, but not by a דרבנן. Since בלילה רכה is דרבנן, it can be done with a שנוי. A שנוי has to be done in every aspect of the לש:
1. נתינת מים- whatever you normally add first, add it second.
2. גיבול- either mix with the handle of the spoon or finger in a criss-cross motion. You can also put everything in one bowl and then move it from one bowl to another.
A שנוי can be to reverse the normal way- now a days, people usually first put in the liquid then add the powder. If one isn’t sure how he usually does it, he should use he standard שנוי- add the solid first and the liquid second.
Potato flakes start off as a בלילה רכה then thicken and turn into a בלילה עבה.
There are four sections to thisמלאכה :
1. Basic premises.
2. דין of אש and תולדת אש- fire and second hand fire.
3. בישול אחר הבישול- there is no בישול after בישול.
4. גזרות חכמים of בישול.
There’s a מחלוקת over what the אב מלאכה is. If you go according to סדורי דפת, the אב מלאכה is אופה. Most of the ראשונים hold that סדורי דפת is symbolic- there was no מלאכה of אופה, it’s really בישול. But didn’t they bake in the משכן? Yes, but they did many actions that aren’t considered אב מלאכות. Really, מלאכות were functions they did to build the משכן. They did בישול when they boiled the dyes for the יריאות.
Examples of איסורים דרבנן:
1. Blech
2. Not to put cold foods on the blech because of חזרה.
3. Wrapping something hot with a towel.
Definition of the מלאכה: 1. Causing a 2. change in a 3. food or substance by the use of 4. heat.
Basic premises of the מלאכה:
1. בישול
2. צליי'- roasting
3. אופה
4. טיגון- frying
1. בישול- immersed in a hot liquid.
2. צליי'- without liquid or dry heat.
3. אופה- dry heat.
4. טיגון- pan frying or sautéing.
צליי' and בישול is hardening something soft. אופה is softening something hard.
Deep frying something is בישול. When there’s only a little oil, is it בישול or אופה?
We don’t blow the שופר this year. It says that somewhere where they don’t blow the שופר, they should expect a tragedy to come because they don’t have the protection that blowing it brings upon us. By taking away this took, we are showing that we are being מוסר נפש for שבת.
These 10 days between ראש השנה and יו''כ are known as the עשרת ימי תשובה. חז''ל discuss the עשי''ת in the גמרא- gives it authority.
These days are specially designated for תשובה. These days start at ראש השנה and culminate at יו''כ- ''בין כסה לעשר''. תשובה isn’t so easy to accomplish most of the time, but it’s easier during the עשי''ת.
דינים on מחילה:
יו''כ has so much קדושה because ה' is מוחל us. ה' is so happy- it’s a big חסד.
We have to think about תשובה on יו''כ:
1. חרטה
2. קבלה על העתיד
3. עזיבת החטא
4. ודוי- it is said ten times. You only have to say it one time to be יוצא, but you must be standing. One should stand with a bowed heart.
There are התירים to take medicine on יו''כ, but you should ask a doctor and רב before using them. Medicine can’t be taken with water and you shouldn’t take chewables.
חמישת עינוים:
1. You shouldn’t wear leather shoes.
2. Fasting- at the end of the fast, even if your father isn’t home, you can say ברוך המבדיל and drink water. If you’re really hungry, you can make your own הבדלה- make sure to take fire from the נר שבת.
3. Washing- only up to the knuckles.
Saying מוריד הטל isn’t as eloquent- it’s a substitute, and when we talk to ה', we want to talk in the most eloquent manner.
If you didn’t say משיב הרוח:
1. If you finished the whole ש''ע, you have to repeat. Take three steps back (putting the שכינה in front of you) and say ה' שפתי.
2. If you caught yourself in the middle of ש''ע, you go back to ה' שפתי, but you don’t take the three steps back. If you were in the middle of שם ה', say ''למדני חוקיך''.
3. If you caught yourself before ''ברוך אתה'' of that ברכה, even if you said מוריד הטל, you go back. If you said the שם ה', you only go back if you didn’t say anything. IF you got up to ''מחיה'', finish the ברכה and say משיב הרוח over there.
יעלה ויבא is in the ברכה of הודאה.
If you forgot יעלה ויבא:
1. If you finished the whole ש''ע, you have to repeat.
2. If you didn’t yet finish ש''ע, you go back to the beginning of the ברכה of רצה because you have ruined that ברכה.
3. If you said ''ותחזנה...אתה'', you go back. Once you said the שם ה', you finish the ברכה and say it then.
The תורה warns us about שבת 12 times. Why so many?
The תורה doesn’t tell what the מלאכות are, so how do we know? It’s מסורה from משהand חז''ל knew it from קבלה and they found a רמז in the תורה- in ויקהל and פקודי it talks about the מלאכת המשכן.
What’s an אב and what’s a תולדה? An אב is how the מלאכה was done it the משכן. The תולדה is just as important as the אב. Why are they called by these names? Because the אב is the concept. Each of the אב מלאכות have a purpose, and this is how we derive the תולדה. An activity that has the same תכלית as the אב is a תולדה.
What’s the definition of בורר- what’s the תכלית? Sorting from a mixture of types.
In order for something to be בורר, it has to have things:
1. It has to be a mixture.
2. In the mixture, there have to be types.
If you have lemon and lime candies, it would be considered a mixture because the two different flavors mean there are two types.
What isn’t an assortment? If you have a pot of soup with chicken and vegetables, in this pot there are different types, but they aren’t mixed. If you wanted to remove the chicken and vegetables from the soup to make it clear, you would be allowed to because there’s no mixture. If there were noodles in the soup, that would be a mixture.
You can have a mixture but not have two types, like if you have a plate of cookies, and some are bigger than others. This wouldn’t be בורר.
What’s a mixture? You wash silverware on Friday night, and it’s all mixed together after you wash it. Now you want to set the table and you want to take out the knives. Every time you remove something from the mixture, you’re sorting types. This is an act of בורר. If the silverware was divided into compartments, you would be allowed to remove items from the compartments and set the table.
If you have different types that are a mixture, there is a התיר to separate when you follow the following conditions:
1. אוכל מן פסולת- take the good from the bad.
2. יד- separate by hand.
3. מיד- do it before you eat, in the time frame of סמוך לסעודה.
If you’re going somewhere and want to set the table before you leave, what do you do? If אי''ם doesn’t work for you, you could spread the silverware out, so that it isn’t a mixture anymore.
Two other methods of getting out of בורר:
1. You can take some of the good with the bad that you want to remove.
2. פסולת that blocks access to the food is considered part of the food, like by a peel or wrapper. (Questionable התיר)
How can you remove bones from fish or seeds from watermelon?
1. Remove the פסולת for immediate use. This is called דרך אכילה- remove the bones while it’s still in your mouth.
2. מיד לפה- since it’s on my plate in front of me, it’s considered דרך אכילה, so I can remove the bones from the fish. This applies when feeding children who can’t remove the bones the first way.
טוחן= grinding.
1. אב- crushing grain.
2. תכלית- breaking down a large particle into smaller particles for a different kind of use. The purpose can’t be achieved in its original form.
Included in the תכלית is breaking down everything else, not just grain. For example, gravel for laying down a sidewalk- big rocks wouldn’t do the job, but smaller pebbles can.
The fact that you’re making something smaller isn’t טוחן. There is no standard of smallness with the מלאכה of טוחן. The תכלית is to achieve something significant. By giving it a new use or purpose, that defines it as טוחן.
When you chop vegetables for a salad, you’re giving them a new use. Mashing a banana would also be giving it a new use. The חזון איש says that mashing is טוחן and רב משה says that it isn’t- טוחן is only for breaking something down into different units. Can one break down a banana for a small child?
1. חזון איש- yes, but with a שנוי.
2. רב משה- yes, but we should do like the חזון איש.
There are four exemptions to טוחן, and you only need one:
1. אין טוחן אא בגדולי קרקע- food that doesn’t grow from the ground, טוחן doesn’t apply to it:
a. Eggs
b. Liver
c. Meat
d. Fish
e. Cheese
2. סמוך לסועדה- even something that’s גדולי קרקע, the מיד from בורר applies here. Not all פוסקים agree on this, so we try to combine it with another exemption. A salad is hard to find another exemption for, so we use a שנוי, such as cutting bigger pieces.
3. אין טחינה אחר טחינה- when the original טוחן is totally obliterated, there is no more טוחן. If you got mud on your clothing, you can’t scrape it off because there’s a cycle and you’re bringing it back to its original form. Instead, you should wash it off. If there is a lot of mud, be careful because it may be לש.
4. שנוי- do it in an awkward way. This is usually used with another condition when you need a היתר.
עובדא דחול- you can’t use a device used for mashing or grinding on שבת even if you have the exemptions.
It doesn’t discuss taking medicine in the תורה, so how could חז''ל make it אסור? חז''ל were given permission to make certain barriers so that we shouldn’t be עובר on the תורה- ''עשו משמרת למשמרתי''.
In the old days, they used herbs for medication. They used to crush them, so the איסור of taking medicine on שבת was instituted. Any kind of therapy is included. רפואה is that which rectifies a malady of any kind.
רפואה isn’t restricted on everyone:
1. מיחוש בעלמה- a common place malady, that doesn’t make you very sick. Included in this would be aches and pains. It’s אסור to take medicine.
2. חולה כל גופו- not to bad, but confines someone in bed and affects his whole body, like a flu. One can take medicine.
3. פקוח נפש- not necessarily life threatening, but even something that could be life threatening, like diabetes. Not only should one take medicine, you’re מחוייב to be מחלל שבת for it.
For all children under the age of five or six or that are very frail, any of their needs are considered חולה כל גופו.
Two questions about the איסור of רפואה:
1. Who is included in this איסור? Only a מיחוש בעלמה would be included in this איסור. If someone isn’t sure if they’re considered a מיחוש בעלמה or חולה כל גופו, they can be מקיל and take the medicine.
2. What exactly is אסור? Any kinds of therapy, not just substance therapy. If a doctor tells someone to do physical therapy, he can do it even on שבת.
One can’t take vitamins on שבת, but there is an exemption for רפואה:
1. מאכל בריאים- food for healthy people. An example would be tea. Even if one is taking it for their sore throat, and wouldn’t usually drink it, they can still drink it, because it’s food.
2. דרך בריאים- since during the winter people put cream on even before their hands get chapped, if someone has chapped hands, he can put on cream as long as he doesn’t smear it.
You can’t mix רפואה into food on שבת, but you can do it before שבת and use it on שבת.
A person is allowed to take medicine to prevent himself from becoming a חולה כל גופו. An example of this would be to take Tums so you don’t get heartburn.
מרקד means sifting. Why would one sift? In order to separate the good in the flour from the bad. What would be considered bad in flour? Bran, pebbles or other matter that got mixed in must be separated from the finer flour. The idea of מרקד is separating the good from the bad in a mixture by passing the mixture through a screen.
The אב מלאכה is sifting flour.
When it comes to sifting confectioner sugar over a cake, the lumps in the sugar can be crushed because אין טוחן אחר הטוחן, and the sugar can be sifted over the cake.
If there are clumps in the salt or sugar shakers, it would be considered מרקד to put rice in the shaker and use it.
Sand in a sand box- if it rained, and the sand is clumpy, there could be problems. If the sand is dry, and someone is playing with a sand sifter, they can’t use it.
מצה meal also can’t be sifted because there might be parts in it that shouldn’t be there.
A תולדה of מרקד is משמר מסמנן- filtering sediment in a fluid. In the city, many people have water filters because there are undesired objects in the water. This water that has been filtered is אסור to drink, even though some פוסקים hold otherwise. This water can be used to wash your hands with or do the dishes with.
There are three levels of mixtures:
1. צלולים- clear, clean. This is what we drink
2. עכורים קצת. Most of the שאלות are on this.
3. עכורים- muddy and dirty- liquids that are turbid and undrinkable. You probably won’t run into this on שבת.
Passing עכורים through a filter turns it into צלולים.
עכורים: מלאכה מדאוריתא
The water in New York looks clear but it’s not. It’s עכורים only for drinking. Let’s say someone does an oil change- the oil may go into the ground and will eventually reach water. Now there are toxins (=עכורים) in the water, so they filter it. Sometimes bubbles are bugs. It’s עכורים and can’t be filtered on שבת.
צלולים:
Clear enough that people don’t mind drinking. Our water would fall into this category. It’s not אסור to filter it- you can use a filter on your tap. If someone is sensitive to the water, it makes it more עכורים or עכורים קצת, so they shouldn’t use a filter. A mild preference, however, doesn’t make it a problem.
עכורים קצת:
Let’s say water is a drop yellow- it is still drinkable, but we might not want to. It’s אסור to filter it on שבת.
After מרקד, we have flour that’s ready for baking.
Steps of the מלאכה:
1. נתינת מים- when water makes contact with the flour, and the particles of flour cling together.
2. גיבול- this involves mixing the flour with liquid to blend them together.
The תכלית of לש (kneading) is to combine particles of solid into a thick mass with a liquid medium. This can include:
1. Pastes
2. Sand with water→ mud or cement.
There are four kinds of mixtures:
1. בלילה עבה- a thick mixture. This is אסור מדאוריתא.
2. בלילה רכה- a thin, pourable, battler-like mix.
3. דברים נוזלים- a very thin mix that has no density such as coffee. It is permissible to make this on שבת.
4. חתיכות- not an even consistency, like coleslaw. This can be done on שבת.
Pure, ground liver is equivalent in הלכה to flour. If you add liquid to flour, you did לש. If you mix liver with oil, you’re doing גיבול. Liver is already moist, so why are you doing גיבול? Because the natural moisture of the food is considered like it’s dry. There are some התירים for making liver on שבת, such as אין לש אלא בגדולי קרקע.
Chopped liver or chopped eggs that aren’t finely ground- not לש because it’s חתיכות. Because of this, it’s permissible to make cole slaw.
If you want to mix ketchup and mayonnaise, it wouldn’t be אסור because it’s דברים נוזלים.
You can’t make בלילה. In order for something to be considered בלילה, it must have three properties:
1. A combination of solids and liquids mixed together. Mixing honey and mayonnaise wouldn’t be considered בלילה. Mashing a banana also wouldn’t be considered בלילה because the moisture is natural and the natural moisture of the food is considered like it’s dry.
2. Viscosity- it must be thick enough to have the density of viscosity.
3. It has to be an even consistency- particles have blended perfectly with each other. To make a new consistency would be בלילה.
It’s אסור to make baby cereal on שבת unless it’s done with a שנוי.
A שנוי is אסור by a דאוריתא, but not by a דרבנן. Since בלילה רכה is דרבנן, it can be done with a שנוי. A שנוי has to be done in every aspect of the לש:
1. נתינת מים- whatever you normally add first, add it second.
2. גיבול- either mix with the handle of the spoon or finger in a criss-cross motion. You can also put everything in one bowl and then move it from one bowl to another.
A שנוי can be to reverse the normal way- now a days, people usually first put in the liquid then add the powder. If one isn’t sure how he usually does it, he should use he standard שנוי- add the solid first and the liquid second.
Potato flakes start off as a בלילה רכה then thicken and turn into a בלילה עבה.
There are four sections to thisמלאכה :
1. Basic premises.
2. דין of אש and תולדת אש- fire and second hand fire.
3. בישול אחר הבישול- there is no בישול after בישול.
4. גזרות חכמים of בישול.
There’s a מחלוקת over what the אב מלאכה is. If you go according to סדורי דפת, the אב מלאכה is אופה. Most of the ראשונים hold that סדורי דפת is symbolic- there was no מלאכה of אופה, it’s really בישול. But didn’t they bake in the משכן? Yes, but they did many actions that aren’t considered אב מלאכות. Really, מלאכות were functions they did to build the משכן. They did בישול when they boiled the dyes for the יריאות.
Examples of איסורים דרבנן:
1. Blech
2. Not to put cold foods on the blech because of חזרה.
3. Wrapping something hot with a towel.
Definition of the מלאכה: 1. Causing a 2. change in a 3. food or substance by the use of 4. heat.
Basic premises of the מלאכה:
1. בישול
2. צליי'- roasting
3. אופה
4. טיגון- frying
1. בישול- immersed in a hot liquid.
2. צליי'- without liquid or dry heat.
3. אופה- dry heat.
4. טיגון- pan frying or sautéing.
צליי' and בישול is hardening something soft. אופה is softening something hard.
Deep frying something is בישול. When there’s only a little oil, is it בישול or אופה?
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Pirkei Avos- Mishna Daled
רבי לויטס איש יבנה was from the third generation of תנאים. He learned in יבנה and was a
תלמיד חשוב there.
מאד מאד הוי שפל רוח- על האדם להיות ענו ביותר
שתקות אנוש- שתקות גופו במותו
רמה- תולעים יאכלו את גופו
The משנה is coming to teach us to have ענוה ביותר. We learn this from the words ''מאד מאד''.
Story- the ח''ח didn’t take a donation because he felt that he didn’t fit the title in the letter. It’s not enough to be humble. A person has to be exceedingly humble- ''יפה ענותנותא לישראל''.
רע''ב -מאד מאד הוי שפל רוח in all other מידות we’re supposed to take the middle road- the שביל
הזהב, the דרך האמצעי/ הממוצא. When it comes to ענוה, there’s no such thing as being a little humble or having a little bit of גאוה. We have to be totally humble and have absolutely no גאוה. A person should turn to the opposite extreme of גאוה because:
1. גאוה is exceedingly disgusting.
2. The majority of mankind stumble in גאוה and don’t separate themselves from it, therefore we have to distance ourselves.
ר' יונה How can a person feel a גאוה when at the end the worms will be greater than him?
When it comes to מידות, a person should choose the קו האמצעי, for example in נדיבות and כילות and in אכזריות and רחמנות- we know that ''כל המרחם על האכזר, סופו להיות אכזר על הרחמנים''.
There is no מידה that is worse than גאוה:
1. Most עבירות are enrooted in גאוה. Often, if a person feels too high or mighty, he may be חוטא.
2. גאוה causes שכחת ה'- ''ורם לבבך ושכחת את ה' אלוקיך''.
Sheet There are some מידות that one shouldn’t take the middle road with, but rather go from one
I side to the opposite extreme. One of these מידות is גאוה. A person can’t just be a big ענו, he
has to be שפל רוח. By משה it doesn’t just say that he was an ענו because that’s a level, not a
שבח. It says that he was an ענו מאד. It’s the way of צדיקים:
1. When insulted not to insult back- people would insult back because they’re worried about their כבוד, which shows גאוה.
2. When they hear people embarrass them, they don’t say anything in return.
3. Do it from אהבה.
4. They’re happy with their יסורים.
Someone who does the above four things, he’s like the sun when it comes out. What’s the connection? The moon came before ה' and said, ''איו שני מלכים משתמשים בכתר אחד''. The words of the לבנה were an עלבון to the sun, and ה' made the moon smaller. Those who insult, ''וחרפה תשוב אל חקם''- reflect the בושה on them, and become smaller. The sun, ה' מגדיל כבודו and it became bigger.
ר' זאב Why is there a double לשון of מאד מאד? A person has a נפש הבהמי and a נפש הרוחני. A person
מבאסקאוויץ is able to have גאוה- מצד מעלות נפשו הרוחני. The טענה is giving him a warning- מאד. A person can also feel גאוה- הגשמי מצד מעלות נפשו (pretty hair, big eyes…) so the טענה is giving him a warning- מאד.
פסקי With most מידות, the best דרך is the דרך האמצעית. By ענוה, a person has to be שפל רוח. תלמדי
השל''ה חכמים are considered like ספר תורה חי. We have to have כבוד התורה, therefore we have to have כבוד toward חכמים תלמדי. A תלמיד חכם has to have ענוה, but shouldn’t be שפל רוח because the ציבור has to have כבוד towards him. Story- כתב סופר at his son’s wedding.
רמב''ם What’s a גזירת שוה? When you have one word in the תורה and the same word somewhere
Sheet II else, they become equal. A גזירת שוה is the rule of equality.
1. An עובד ע''ז and a בעל גאווה are equal. Proofs:
a. ''תועבת ה' כל גבה לב''
b. ''ולא חביא תועבה אל ביתך''
From here we can learn that someone who has גסות הרוח, it’s like he serves ע''ז. Story-
ר' אליהו לופיאן repeated the פסוק of ''ולא חביא תועבה אל ביתך'' so that he shouldn’t have גאוה.
2. Someone who has גאוה, it’s like he’s עובר on ג''ע
a. ''תועבת ה' כל גבה לב''
b. ''כי את כל הטועבות אל'', and after it’s מפרט all the אסורים of עריות.
3. Someone who’s a בעל גאווה, it’s as if he’s the idol itself- ''חדלו לכם מן האדם אשר נשמה באפו כי במה נחשב הוא''- withhold from yourself גאוה, that today you’re living but tomorrow you could be gone, because if you don’t, you’re considered like the בָמָה itself.
4. A מתגאה is worthy to be killed, he abuses his right to live- ''אין אני והוא יכול לדור בדירה אחת''.
a. ''ורמי הקומה גדועים''- those that are of elevated status, they have to be destroyed.
b. ''ואשריהם תגדעון''- you have to remove the בעל גאווה just like you have to remove the trees that are used for ע''ז.
5. Haughty people won’t awake by תחית המתים. We learn this פסוק from ישעיהו- ''הקיצו ורננו כל שכני עפר''- only those that wereשכני עפר in their lifetime will awaken.
רש''י We always have to keep in mind that we were created from earth and we end up back in the earth. If a person frames his mind with this reasoning, which is the מסובב, he’ll acquire the effect- ''מאד מאד...''.
נודע ''יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו''- the גמרא tells us that when משיח comes, ה' will שחט the יצה''ר. The צדיקים will rejoice because the יצה''ר will appear to them like a huge mountain and they’ll rejoice that they were able to scale it. The רשעים will cry from frustration because the יצה''ר will appear to them as a hair strand and they’ll be upset that even that they couldn’t conquer. Man’s hope is to conquer his יצה''ר and withstand the temptation of being חוטא. The means of doing so is reminding one’s self about the יום המיתה that it strengthens his ענוה- who am I to be mean to someone else or be חוטא before ה'.
תוספות תקוה= קו מדה. Throughout our lives, a person can do great things and take credit. We can allow גאוה to seep into the realm of our accomplishments. The measuring rod throughout the course of our lives is our מעשים, but a person has to measure his מעשים against the רמה. The earthworm is מחי' us- it loosens up the soil so nutrients can permeate the ground. Also in the fall, the earthworm decomposes leaves, which makes fertilizer, which we need to sustain us. When a person does a מעשה נורא, you should condition your mind and say ''תקות אנוש רימה''.
כנסת רמה is from the לשון of ''למה רמיתני''- it’s a לשון of deceit. It says in משלי, ''רבות מחשבות...''. ה' carries out all the plans of man. All man’s hopes are שקר and only what ה' wants will happen. How humbling to man that no matter how hard you plan, only what ה' wants will happen.
חתם When a person goes up after 120, he’ll be asked questions. The סניגרs and קטיגרs will be standing there- ''אוי לנו מיום הדן ואוי לנו מיום התוכחה''. The person may try to come up with a פתחון פה- my יצה''ר attacked me with renewed vigor every day, like a strong lion. I was like a נמלה compared to him. Man’s whole hope to come out victorious on the יום הדין will only be fulfilled if he led his life like a רמה- conducted himself with ענוה.
יכהן פאר The גמרא in ברכות tells us ''קשה רמה למת כמחט בבשר החי''- just like a needle pricks live flesh, similarly the רמה that eats his flesh will prick. A person has a גוף and a נשמה, and a רוח is מיחד the two so that the רמה somehow pricks. To the degree that during your lifetime you prick your friend, the רמה will prick you in your קבר- ''במדה שאדם מודד מודדין לו''. In order not to have the prick of the רמה, we have to be ''מאד מאד הוי שפל רוח''- someone that’s an ענו won’t be a בעל גאוה and prick his friend.
ר' בונים A person has to lead his life with the imagination that before him are to pockets. In one of them is a paper that says ''ואנכי עפר ועפר'' and in the other is a note that says ''בשבילי נברא העולם''. How can we maintain a balance of the two? One of the בעלי מוסר said that if you don’t know your shortcomings, it’s a פחד but if you don’t know your values, it’s a פחד שבפחד. A person has to realize that his מעלות are from ה' and that you have them in order to serve Him.
אור יהל When משה came to be מנחם אבל to אהרן when נדב and אביהו died, he said, “there’s a פסוק that says that ה'’s משכן will be sanctified by His honor”. This can be understood to mean by His honorable ones. משה said, “I thought it would be either of us but now I see that it’s through נדב and אביהו so they’re greater than us”.
Why would משה, who was the ענו מכל אדם, say that he thought that it would be him who was chosen- isn’t this גאוה? משל- a king says to one of his servants that he wants to honor one of his קרובים and the servant assumes it’s him. If you don’t know the values that ה' gave you, you’re not an ענו, but a fool. So what is an ענו? You know what you have but you know that it’s not yours. It’s ה'’s and He’s given you the ability.
So it’s not that משה said, “I’m so great,” rather that ה' gave him this כח to be his קרוב. He recognized his מעלות and חסרונות and that they were from ה'.
So why are we still מתגאה and think that we are superior? There’s a פסוק, ''וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך''. The source of דעת is ה'. It’s the חלק אלוקים ממעל. The נשמה is the דעת as it says, ''ויפח באפו נשמת חיים ויהי לנפש חיה''- ה' made אדם alive with the נשמה and made him into a נפש חיה- a רוח ממללא (because our דעות are expressed through speech). So our נשמה contains our דעת and it’s up in שמים because the נשמות come from under the כסא הכבוד, so that’s ''וידעת היום''. What’s your לב? It’s the חלק הנפש בגוף האדם- a physical housing for the נפש. The גוף comes from the ארץ. So to transfer between ''וידעת היום'' and ''והשבות אל לבבך'', the דעת has to travel from שמים to ארץ. You have to work very hard to do this- you have to do it ברגילות to make it really travel the distance.
Don’t have גאוה- you have a כח, but don’t be מתגאה over it because it’s not yours. A ת''ח also can’t have גאוה because everything he has is from ה'- ''והחכמה מאין תמצא''. A ת''ח without מידות is worse off than a carcass.
משה knew that he had כוחות, but he recognized that they were from ה'.
Now, ר' יוחנן בן ברוקא discusses the ענין of חלול ה'. He was the תלמיד of ר' יהושע בן חנני' (say about his mother ''אשרי יולדתו''). He lived in the third generation of תנאים. He said that one who is מחלל ש''ש privately will get punished in public and ה' is מתיחס with the מזיד and the שוגג the same way when it comes to the עון חלול ה', therefore it’s a very severe עון.
The מצוה of קידוש ה' as an עשה is ''ונקדשת בתוך ב''י'' and the עבירה of חלול ה' as a לאו is ''לא
תחללו את שם קדשי''
There are three עבירות that are יהרג ועל יעבור:
1. ע''ז
2. ג''ע
3. ש''ד
People were created for one reason- to serve ה'. If we’re not ready to give up our lives for Him then we’re not totally given over to Him. We have to be ready to be מוסר נפש for ה' completely. When there’s a time of שמד, you must give up your life for any מצוה in the תורה. If the מעביר (one who’s forcing someone to transgress) is doing it for his הנאה, it’s more lenient then if he would be doing it just to show ה'. It’s also more lenient if it’s in private than public. What are the דינים?
1. ג' עבירות חמורות-יהרג ועל יעבור
2. בשעת השמד- יהרג ועל יעבור
3. Not בשעת השמד, in private, solely for the הנאה of the מעביר- יעבר ואל יהרג
4. Not בשעת השמד, in private, למען ההעברה- יעבר ואל יהרג
5. Not בשעת השמד, in public, solely for the הנאה of the מעביר- יעבר ואל יהרג
6. Not בשעת השמד, in front of at least ten men, למען ההעברה- יהרג ועל יעבור
יהרג ועל יעבור is upholding a קדיש ה'. A קדיש ה' is required for everyone to do. The only thing to be מכפר on a חלול ה' is:
1. תשובה
2. יו''כ
3. יסורים
4. Only after all that, מיתה.
רמב''ם Someone who is known to be a גדול בתורה andמפורסם בחסידות who does something this is not anעבירה but something that’s inappropriate for him to do, it’ll cause a חלול ה'. For example:
1. Not paying up immediately
2. Joining theעמי הארץ inקלות ראש
3. Speaking in a way that’s notבנחת
4. Acting withכעס andמחלוקת
All this is worse and worse according to yourמדרגה . Instead, we have to do good things that will make people be impressed with you and people will want to be like you. That’s a.קדוש ה' Story- theח''ח wanted to make a birthday party when he turned eighty in order to make a קדוש ה'. Story- ר' נחום הרודנה fell in gutter while collectingצדקה and didn’t want to die so as not to make a חלול ה'.
ת''י -כה Not everyone is included in this in נפרעין ממנו בגלוי. For example, there is a person that תקפו יצרו- he gave intoתאוה but wasn’t חוטא להכעיס. He can’t beעומד the נסיון but he has בושה, so he does it in private. He gets paid back in private. If this person sins in public, he gets paid back in public. Who is theמשנה talking about? Someone who is פושט טלפיו כחזיר– pretends that he’sכשר when he really isn’t. He is aחונף and hypocritical. He isאחד בפה ואחד בלב. He isחוטא andמחלל ש''ש in private intentionally to trick people- he’s מחכיש ה'. But in public, he acts like aצדיק because he’sחס on his כבד. He will get paid back in public even though he wasחוטא in private. They everyone will know that he’s really not a צדיק.
תוספת יו''ט What does it mean that ''ואחד שוגג אחד מזיד בחלול ה' ''? The שוגג is more lenient than the מזיד so it can’t be the same punishment for both. Where it says ''אחד'', id doesn’t mean the same punishment but that it’s both punished in public.
''חלול'' is from the ל' of חול, חולין- regular, a חסרון in קדושה. Someone who makes a חלול ה' acts in a חול way to ה'.
רוח חיים חלולים means hollow, so that’s what חלול means here.
A person who says that in a certain aspect of his life ה' isn’t there is מחלל ש''ש במחשבה because ''מלא כל הארץ כבודו''. Even every footstep we take is a דבר רוחני.
Sheet II Make ה'’s name beloved onto others- וְאִהַבְתָּ, so that ש''ש should become beloved through your life. A person should learn תשבע''פ and תשבכת''ב. He should serve a ת''ח so that he can see him live. You should also act nicely to others so that they’ll say, ''אשרי... אתפאר''. Someone who learns תורה and serves a ת''ח but doesn’t conduct himself honestly and act like a mensch, people will say on him, ''אוי...יצאו''.
תלמיד חשוב there.
מאד מאד הוי שפל רוח- על האדם להיות ענו ביותר
שתקות אנוש- שתקות גופו במותו
רמה- תולעים יאכלו את גופו
The משנה is coming to teach us to have ענוה ביותר. We learn this from the words ''מאד מאד''.
Story- the ח''ח didn’t take a donation because he felt that he didn’t fit the title in the letter. It’s not enough to be humble. A person has to be exceedingly humble- ''יפה ענותנותא לישראל''.
רע''ב -מאד מאד הוי שפל רוח in all other מידות we’re supposed to take the middle road- the שביל
הזהב, the דרך האמצעי/ הממוצא. When it comes to ענוה, there’s no such thing as being a little humble or having a little bit of גאוה. We have to be totally humble and have absolutely no גאוה. A person should turn to the opposite extreme of גאוה because:
1. גאוה is exceedingly disgusting.
2. The majority of mankind stumble in גאוה and don’t separate themselves from it, therefore we have to distance ourselves.
ר' יונה How can a person feel a גאוה when at the end the worms will be greater than him?
When it comes to מידות, a person should choose the קו האמצעי, for example in נדיבות and כילות and in אכזריות and רחמנות- we know that ''כל המרחם על האכזר, סופו להיות אכזר על הרחמנים''.
There is no מידה that is worse than גאוה:
1. Most עבירות are enrooted in גאוה. Often, if a person feels too high or mighty, he may be חוטא.
2. גאוה causes שכחת ה'- ''ורם לבבך ושכחת את ה' אלוקיך''.
Sheet There are some מידות that one shouldn’t take the middle road with, but rather go from one
I side to the opposite extreme. One of these מידות is גאוה. A person can’t just be a big ענו, he
has to be שפל רוח. By משה it doesn’t just say that he was an ענו because that’s a level, not a
שבח. It says that he was an ענו מאד. It’s the way of צדיקים:
1. When insulted not to insult back- people would insult back because they’re worried about their כבוד, which shows גאוה.
2. When they hear people embarrass them, they don’t say anything in return.
3. Do it from אהבה.
4. They’re happy with their יסורים.
Someone who does the above four things, he’s like the sun when it comes out. What’s the connection? The moon came before ה' and said, ''איו שני מלכים משתמשים בכתר אחד''. The words of the לבנה were an עלבון to the sun, and ה' made the moon smaller. Those who insult, ''וחרפה תשוב אל חקם''- reflect the בושה on them, and become smaller. The sun, ה' מגדיל כבודו and it became bigger.
ר' זאב Why is there a double לשון of מאד מאד? A person has a נפש הבהמי and a נפש הרוחני. A person
מבאסקאוויץ is able to have גאוה- מצד מעלות נפשו הרוחני. The טענה is giving him a warning- מאד. A person can also feel גאוה- הגשמי מצד מעלות נפשו (pretty hair, big eyes…) so the טענה is giving him a warning- מאד.
פסקי With most מידות, the best דרך is the דרך האמצעית. By ענוה, a person has to be שפל רוח. תלמדי
השל''ה חכמים are considered like ספר תורה חי. We have to have כבוד התורה, therefore we have to have כבוד toward חכמים תלמדי. A תלמיד חכם has to have ענוה, but shouldn’t be שפל רוח because the ציבור has to have כבוד towards him. Story- כתב סופר at his son’s wedding.
רמב''ם What’s a גזירת שוה? When you have one word in the תורה and the same word somewhere
Sheet II else, they become equal. A גזירת שוה is the rule of equality.
1. An עובד ע''ז and a בעל גאווה are equal. Proofs:
a. ''תועבת ה' כל גבה לב''
b. ''ולא חביא תועבה אל ביתך''
From here we can learn that someone who has גסות הרוח, it’s like he serves ע''ז. Story-
ר' אליהו לופיאן repeated the פסוק of ''ולא חביא תועבה אל ביתך'' so that he shouldn’t have גאוה.
2. Someone who has גאוה, it’s like he’s עובר on ג''ע
a. ''תועבת ה' כל גבה לב''
b. ''כי את כל הטועבות אל'', and after it’s מפרט all the אסורים of עריות.
3. Someone who’s a בעל גאווה, it’s as if he’s the idol itself- ''חדלו לכם מן האדם אשר נשמה באפו כי במה נחשב הוא''- withhold from yourself גאוה, that today you’re living but tomorrow you could be gone, because if you don’t, you’re considered like the בָמָה itself.
4. A מתגאה is worthy to be killed, he abuses his right to live- ''אין אני והוא יכול לדור בדירה אחת''.
a. ''ורמי הקומה גדועים''- those that are of elevated status, they have to be destroyed.
b. ''ואשריהם תגדעון''- you have to remove the בעל גאווה just like you have to remove the trees that are used for ע''ז.
5. Haughty people won’t awake by תחית המתים. We learn this פסוק from ישעיהו- ''הקיצו ורננו כל שכני עפר''- only those that wereשכני עפר in their lifetime will awaken.
רש''י We always have to keep in mind that we were created from earth and we end up back in the earth. If a person frames his mind with this reasoning, which is the מסובב, he’ll acquire the effect- ''מאד מאד...''.
נודע ''יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו''- the גמרא tells us that when משיח comes, ה' will שחט the יצה''ר. The צדיקים will rejoice because the יצה''ר will appear to them like a huge mountain and they’ll rejoice that they were able to scale it. The רשעים will cry from frustration because the יצה''ר will appear to them as a hair strand and they’ll be upset that even that they couldn’t conquer. Man’s hope is to conquer his יצה''ר and withstand the temptation of being חוטא. The means of doing so is reminding one’s self about the יום המיתה that it strengthens his ענוה- who am I to be mean to someone else or be חוטא before ה'.
תוספות תקוה= קו מדה. Throughout our lives, a person can do great things and take credit. We can allow גאוה to seep into the realm of our accomplishments. The measuring rod throughout the course of our lives is our מעשים, but a person has to measure his מעשים against the רמה. The earthworm is מחי' us- it loosens up the soil so nutrients can permeate the ground. Also in the fall, the earthworm decomposes leaves, which makes fertilizer, which we need to sustain us. When a person does a מעשה נורא, you should condition your mind and say ''תקות אנוש רימה''.
כנסת רמה is from the לשון of ''למה רמיתני''- it’s a לשון of deceit. It says in משלי, ''רבות מחשבות...''. ה' carries out all the plans of man. All man’s hopes are שקר and only what ה' wants will happen. How humbling to man that no matter how hard you plan, only what ה' wants will happen.
חתם When a person goes up after 120, he’ll be asked questions. The סניגרs and קטיגרs will be standing there- ''אוי לנו מיום הדן ואוי לנו מיום התוכחה''. The person may try to come up with a פתחון פה- my יצה''ר attacked me with renewed vigor every day, like a strong lion. I was like a נמלה compared to him. Man’s whole hope to come out victorious on the יום הדין will only be fulfilled if he led his life like a רמה- conducted himself with ענוה.
יכהן פאר The גמרא in ברכות tells us ''קשה רמה למת כמחט בבשר החי''- just like a needle pricks live flesh, similarly the רמה that eats his flesh will prick. A person has a גוף and a נשמה, and a רוח is מיחד the two so that the רמה somehow pricks. To the degree that during your lifetime you prick your friend, the רמה will prick you in your קבר- ''במדה שאדם מודד מודדין לו''. In order not to have the prick of the רמה, we have to be ''מאד מאד הוי שפל רוח''- someone that’s an ענו won’t be a בעל גאוה and prick his friend.
ר' בונים A person has to lead his life with the imagination that before him are to pockets. In one of them is a paper that says ''ואנכי עפר ועפר'' and in the other is a note that says ''בשבילי נברא העולם''. How can we maintain a balance of the two? One of the בעלי מוסר said that if you don’t know your shortcomings, it’s a פחד but if you don’t know your values, it’s a פחד שבפחד. A person has to realize that his מעלות are from ה' and that you have them in order to serve Him.
אור יהל When משה came to be מנחם אבל to אהרן when נדב and אביהו died, he said, “there’s a פסוק that says that ה'’s משכן will be sanctified by His honor”. This can be understood to mean by His honorable ones. משה said, “I thought it would be either of us but now I see that it’s through נדב and אביהו so they’re greater than us”.
Why would משה, who was the ענו מכל אדם, say that he thought that it would be him who was chosen- isn’t this גאוה? משל- a king says to one of his servants that he wants to honor one of his קרובים and the servant assumes it’s him. If you don’t know the values that ה' gave you, you’re not an ענו, but a fool. So what is an ענו? You know what you have but you know that it’s not yours. It’s ה'’s and He’s given you the ability.
So it’s not that משה said, “I’m so great,” rather that ה' gave him this כח to be his קרוב. He recognized his מעלות and חסרונות and that they were from ה'.
So why are we still מתגאה and think that we are superior? There’s a פסוק, ''וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך''. The source of דעת is ה'. It’s the חלק אלוקים ממעל. The נשמה is the דעת as it says, ''ויפח באפו נשמת חיים ויהי לנפש חיה''- ה' made אדם alive with the נשמה and made him into a נפש חיה- a רוח ממללא (because our דעות are expressed through speech). So our נשמה contains our דעת and it’s up in שמים because the נשמות come from under the כסא הכבוד, so that’s ''וידעת היום''. What’s your לב? It’s the חלק הנפש בגוף האדם- a physical housing for the נפש. The גוף comes from the ארץ. So to transfer between ''וידעת היום'' and ''והשבות אל לבבך'', the דעת has to travel from שמים to ארץ. You have to work very hard to do this- you have to do it ברגילות to make it really travel the distance.
Don’t have גאוה- you have a כח, but don’t be מתגאה over it because it’s not yours. A ת''ח also can’t have גאוה because everything he has is from ה'- ''והחכמה מאין תמצא''. A ת''ח without מידות is worse off than a carcass.
משה knew that he had כוחות, but he recognized that they were from ה'.
Now, ר' יוחנן בן ברוקא discusses the ענין of חלול ה'. He was the תלמיד of ר' יהושע בן חנני' (say about his mother ''אשרי יולדתו''). He lived in the third generation of תנאים. He said that one who is מחלל ש''ש privately will get punished in public and ה' is מתיחס with the מזיד and the שוגג the same way when it comes to the עון חלול ה', therefore it’s a very severe עון.
The מצוה of קידוש ה' as an עשה is ''ונקדשת בתוך ב''י'' and the עבירה of חלול ה' as a לאו is ''לא
תחללו את שם קדשי''
There are three עבירות that are יהרג ועל יעבור:
1. ע''ז
2. ג''ע
3. ש''ד
People were created for one reason- to serve ה'. If we’re not ready to give up our lives for Him then we’re not totally given over to Him. We have to be ready to be מוסר נפש for ה' completely. When there’s a time of שמד, you must give up your life for any מצוה in the תורה. If the מעביר (one who’s forcing someone to transgress) is doing it for his הנאה, it’s more lenient then if he would be doing it just to show ה'. It’s also more lenient if it’s in private than public. What are the דינים?
1. ג' עבירות חמורות-יהרג ועל יעבור
2. בשעת השמד- יהרג ועל יעבור
3. Not בשעת השמד, in private, solely for the הנאה of the מעביר- יעבר ואל יהרג
4. Not בשעת השמד, in private, למען ההעברה- יעבר ואל יהרג
5. Not בשעת השמד, in public, solely for the הנאה of the מעביר- יעבר ואל יהרג
6. Not בשעת השמד, in front of at least ten men, למען ההעברה- יהרג ועל יעבור
יהרג ועל יעבור is upholding a קדיש ה'. A קדיש ה' is required for everyone to do. The only thing to be מכפר on a חלול ה' is:
1. תשובה
2. יו''כ
3. יסורים
4. Only after all that, מיתה.
רמב''ם Someone who is known to be a גדול בתורה andמפורסם בחסידות who does something this is not anעבירה but something that’s inappropriate for him to do, it’ll cause a חלול ה'. For example:
1. Not paying up immediately
2. Joining theעמי הארץ inקלות ראש
3. Speaking in a way that’s notבנחת
4. Acting withכעס andמחלוקת
All this is worse and worse according to yourמדרגה . Instead, we have to do good things that will make people be impressed with you and people will want to be like you. That’s a.קדוש ה' Story- theח''ח wanted to make a birthday party when he turned eighty in order to make a קדוש ה'. Story- ר' נחום הרודנה fell in gutter while collectingצדקה and didn’t want to die so as not to make a חלול ה'.
ת''י -כה Not everyone is included in this in נפרעין ממנו בגלוי. For example, there is a person that תקפו יצרו- he gave intoתאוה but wasn’t חוטא להכעיס. He can’t beעומד the נסיון but he has בושה, so he does it in private. He gets paid back in private. If this person sins in public, he gets paid back in public. Who is theמשנה talking about? Someone who is פושט טלפיו כחזיר– pretends that he’sכשר when he really isn’t. He is aחונף and hypocritical. He isאחד בפה ואחד בלב. He isחוטא andמחלל ש''ש in private intentionally to trick people- he’s מחכיש ה'. But in public, he acts like aצדיק because he’sחס on his כבד. He will get paid back in public even though he wasחוטא in private. They everyone will know that he’s really not a צדיק.
תוספת יו''ט What does it mean that ''ואחד שוגג אחד מזיד בחלול ה' ''? The שוגג is more lenient than the מזיד so it can’t be the same punishment for both. Where it says ''אחד'', id doesn’t mean the same punishment but that it’s both punished in public.
''חלול'' is from the ל' of חול, חולין- regular, a חסרון in קדושה. Someone who makes a חלול ה' acts in a חול way to ה'.
רוח חיים חלולים means hollow, so that’s what חלול means here.
A person who says that in a certain aspect of his life ה' isn’t there is מחלל ש''ש במחשבה because ''מלא כל הארץ כבודו''. Even every footstep we take is a דבר רוחני.
Sheet II Make ה'’s name beloved onto others- וְאִהַבְתָּ, so that ש''ש should become beloved through your life. A person should learn תשבע''פ and תשבכת''ב. He should serve a ת''ח so that he can see him live. You should also act nicely to others so that they’ll say, ''אשרי... אתפאר''. Someone who learns תורה and serves a ת''ח but doesn’t conduct himself honestly and act like a mensch, people will say on him, ''אוי...יצאו''.
Pirkei Avos- Mishna Gimmel
What’s the connection between what בן עזאי said before and what he says here? In משנה ב', he’s warning about קיום המצוות, even the easy ones. Here, he’s telling us:
1. Not to degrade anyone, even a lowly person.
2. To give every person and creation כבוד no matter how small.
תומר Everything that’s created, from the lowest blade of grass to the largest cedar tree, they are
דבורה all דברים מכובדים because they are all created by ה'. Someone who’s מבזה one of ה'’s sheet creations is in essence being מבזה ה'’s חכמה. It says ''מה רבו מעשיך ה' ''- רבו doesn’t mean גדלות, rather כמה חשובים הם.
A person has to have רחמנות on all the בריות- he can’t disgrace them and he has to have רחמנות on them. ה'’s חכמה is spread out on all creations, from the most insignificant to the most significant. Because of this, we are careful of בזוי אוכלים. A person gets פרטית הנאה from food, so he should be extra careful not to be מבזה it for nothing. Story- The ח''ח had black bread, said that you can’t say ל''ה on it. Story- Cow that was being led to שחיטה. רבי said to it ''זיל לכך נוצרת''. Because of this, he got terrible צרות. Why? Because he acted with דין towards the cow. Once, there was a weasel in רבי’s house and his maid wanted to get rid of it, and he had רחמנות on it. Immediately after, the יסורים were removed. They weren’t an עונש, rather a תוצאה.
ג אל תהי בז לכל אדם- אל תתנהג בבזיון לשום אדםאפילו השפל והנקלה ביותר
אל תהי מפליג- אל תחיקאת עצמך
דבר-נברא- דומם,צומח,חי
שעה- תועלת
מקום- חשיבותו בעולם
רע''ב -אל תהי בז לכל אדם to say that פלוני is so vulnerable and he can’t get me back.
-ואל תהי מפליג to distance yourself because of גאוה from everything because every person
has to care for every creation, because every creation has a תועלת.
ר' יונה ר' יונה divides the משנה differently:
1. אל...שעה- don’t disgrace anyone and don’t distance yourself (by dismissing the responsibility) with דבר of disgrace- never say something mean to someone because you think you’ll never see him again, because there will be a time when you’ll be repaid.
2. ואין לך דבר שאין לו מקום- there is no creation that isn’t important, so one has to give כבוד to everything and everyone.
I sheet ''נוח...ברבים''- obviously, it’s not easier in this world, but in the long run, next to ה', it’s easier
than the burning decree of someone who embarrasses his friend in public. Story- מר עוקבא
thrust himself into a hot oven. This story teaches us that even as a תוצאה of a מצוה, you
can’t cause someone embarrassment.
Why is this אסור so חמור?
1. Because it’s like you’re being מבזה ה', since every person is created בצלם אלוקים, and we know ''ובזי יקלו''.
2. Because the embarrassment is so strong, it could take someone years to recuperate. Story- the בית הלוי and the butcher. Story- ר' שמואל מגיד kept his face in the furnace and let the flames rise towards his face until the man who slapped him left. Story- ר' יוסף חיים קפלן was crying because he saw someone embarrassing someone else publicly- it was like he stabbed someone to death.
חסיד יעב''ץ -אל תהי בז לכל אדם ''לכל'' is coming to include even a רשע. The תורה tells us about a רשע,
''כבדהו וחשדהו''. There is never any excuse to humiliate another human being. This applies to a child, or someone with limited דעת.
ספר מוסר -אל תהי בז לכל אדם the אזהרה is קשורה to a יחיד. Sometimes, someone does something and
אבות and you may think that if he could do something so terrible, then you want to cut ties with him. Don’t be מבזה the person in their entirety because of one bad מעשה, one הנהגה that is questionable, or one פגם. Judge them favorable, because you don’t know the whole picture.
ר' שלמה -אל תהי בז לכל אדם אל תבזה עצמך בפני שום אדם. Don’t cheapen yourself by doing or saying
קפלן things that lessen your dignity. It says in דברי הימים, ''ויגבה לבו בדרכי ה'''- we have to have dignity in דרכי ה'. This אזהרה is for a תלמיד חכם because he’s a ספר תורה חי.
It’s a tactic on how a person should relate to his יצה''ר. The יצה''ר makes דרכי ה' look like such a big thing that a person may come to a state of despair. When we have a fall in our רוחניות, we should tell ourselves, ''אלמלא נפלתי לא קמתי''- I fell, but I’ll get back up and put the pieces back together. It says about a צדיק- ''שבע יפול וקם'', but he’s still called a צדיק because he gets back up.
ר' בונים When the תורה uses the word ענו, רש''י is מסביר in two ways- שפל וסבלן. A person has to be
מפשיסחא humble with himself. When someone slips in רוחניות, he has to be an ענו with himself. He has
to be סובל את שפלתו- tolerate his lowliness, and סבלן אם עצמו- patient with himself. If he’s סובל את שפלתוand סבלן אם עצמו, then he can get back up.
ת''י -יט Even a דומם,צומח,חי that is disgusting, harmful, hurtful, hateful and poisonous, such as a
fly, snake or scorpion, one should not dismiss. ה' created them for the good of the world.
-כ At this moment, this person may seem purposeless- he may be totally empty of חכמה or he may be the persecutor of good people. But it’s not for nothing that ה' lets him live. Either he’s necessary now and you just can’t see it, or the time will come when his contribution to the world will come forth- ''קל דעות ה'''.
עבודת There’s no person that doesn’t have his שעה in רוחניות, where he can turn around his whole ישראל course in life. We learn this from אלעזר בן דורדיא. He was so שטוך בחטא that his תשובה
wouldn’t be accepted. As soon as he heard this, he ran and asked the mountains, valleys, sky, sun and moon to daven for him but they all said that first they had to daven for themselves. אלעזר בן דורדיא then realized III sheet- ''אין הדבר תלןי אלא בי''. He put his head between his knees and cried out until his נשמה left him. A בת קול came out and said, ''ר' אלעזר בן דורדדיא מזומן לחיי עוה''ב''. רש''י says on the words ''זה קלי ואנבהו''- ''ראתה שפחה בים מה שלא ראוי יחזאקל בן בוזי'' - by קריעת ים סוף there was an amazing revelation, higher than the revelation of יחזאקל. But they remained שפחות because they didn’t translate it into reality. You have to integrate it otherwise you won’t grow. A התעוררות is worthless if you don’t act upon it. You must do something immediately to trap it so that it doesn’t fizzle out.
''יפה שעה אחת של תשובה ומעים טובים בעוה''ז מכל חיי עוה''ב'', because in this world, the עולם המעשה, we can take action.
רש''י -אין לך דבר... There’s never a דבר חכמה that isn’t used in our life because all חכמה comes from the תורה- ''הפך בה הפך בה דכולה בה''.
מדרש ''בז לדבר יחבל לו''- someone who is מבזה something that ה' created will be punished through it. דוד questioned ה'’s creations, among them insanity, and ה' said, ''חייך סוף שצטרך לשדות''.
1. Insanity- דוד was running from שאול and came to גת. The king at that time was אכיש, the brother of גליות. When he heard that דוד was in גת, he wanted to take revenge on him. דוד-שמואל א, כא, יג-טז came before him and started to garble his speech, draw on the doorposts and drool on his beard. He portrayed himself as a משוגעה, so אכיש chased him out. It says ''בשנותו את טעמן לפני אבימלך''- at that time, all the kings of גת were called אבימלך, so it’s really referring to אכיש.
2. Spider-when דוד was running from שאול, he hid in a cave. ה' put a spider web on the outside of the cave so it looked like it had been sealed for a long time.
3. Wasp- שאול knew where דוד was hiding and he was going to go kill him with a special spear. דוד snuck into שאול’s camp in the middle of the night to get the spear, but it was under שאול’s head. ה' put שאול in a תרדמה and a wasp bit him. He moved his head a little, and דוד took the spear. When שאול woke up, he was very confused, and he cancelled his plans.
נוצר חסד -ואין לך ךבר שאין לן מקום מקום is referring to ה'- ''ברוך המקום''. There is nothing in this world that isn’t touched by the hand of ה'. Fools call it Mother Nature. הטבע= 86= אלקים. It’s an עבודת עבד ה' to search out the יד ה' because it can be found in everything- ''על כל נשימה ונשימה תהלל קה''.
V sheet What is the שרש העמוק when one humiliates another person or being? לצנות- mockery, scoffing, laughing at, poking fun at… This מידה is so strict that חז''ל say that ליצנים are included in the four groups of people who won’t be מקבל פני השכינה.
The five חלקים of ליצנים:
1. הנותן דופי בבני אדם ללא סיבה- finds fault without a reason. This stems from גאוה and a רוע לב. He wants to make light a person’s reputation before others.
2. מי שלועג בלבו לבני אדם- scoffs others in the inner chambers of his heart. Why? מפני קוצר השגתם במעלה- because you feel that they aren’t up to par. Who designated this job for you? R’ Ephraim Wachsman said that there used to be individual mockers in a generation, but now there is a דור of ליצנים- people who feel that they are above humanity. ''יושב במים ישחק''.
3. מי שקובע עצמו תמיד ללעוג על דברים ופעולות- someone who is addicted to ליצנות, someone who feels that they are a cut above humanity, people look down on him. Someone who mocks events, undertakings, efforts… by saying that they’re hopeless falls into this category. שלמה said on these people, ''ראיתי איש חכם בעיניו? תקוה לכסיל ממנו''- there’s more hope for a כסיל and he’s better off in life than someone like this. Someone like this can come to אפיקרסות because he could be לועג על המצוות.
4. הקובע עצמו תמיד לשיחה בטלה ודברים בטלים בדרך יושבי קרנות- watch out for too much overindulgence in empty talk because it will come to be that you’ll indulge in דברי לצנות.
5. המתלוצץ על מעשים ודברים על דרך מקרה ועראי- many people sin through him. At times, he randomly knocks. Be cautious!
אור יהל
sheet ``
Here, תוכחה means הוכחה, which means שכל. If a person mocks, he doesn’t use his שכל. What caused קרח to get into the mood of מרידה? ה' told משה to appoint אליצפן as the נשיא of קהת. When קרח heard about אליצפן’s appointment, he was upset. He went to משה and said that קהת had four sons. The oldest received to מנות of גדולה (משה → מנהיג, אהרן → כהונה) and the next מנה should go to the next son of קהת. His argument was illegitimate, because in the face of ה', there is no reasoning. קרח was a פקח- wise and he knew that his words had no footing. He knew that משה was just speaking the words of ה'- we know that the שכינה spoke from משה’s throat. קרח’s מרידה was doomed before it even started. Because of his קנאה, קרח aroused the עם for מרידה against משה and אהרן. קרח gathered 250 people and they came before משה. קרח began to mock him-
1. Does a room full of ספרים need a מזוזה? משה said yes.
2. Does a בגד of תכלת need a חוט of תכלת? משה said yes.
קרח mocked, and all 250 of his followers were brought under the spell of לצנות.
ה' brought three groups of punishment on the מורדים:
1. בלועי דקרח- the land opened up its mouth and swallowed קרח, his wife- ''חכמת נשים...'', possessions, עבדים and שפחות alive. (This פי הארץ was created בין השמשות along with the פי הבאר and פי האתון.) קרח jumps up and down and says, ''משה אמת ותורתו אמת''.
2. שרופי דקרח- קרח’s followers were burnt alive by a heavenly fire.
3. הנגף בעם- 14,700 people were killed by a מגפה because they began to question דינו של הקב''ה.
After these punishments, משה told all the נשיאים to bring their מטות and from שבט לוי he took the מטה of אהרן. משה put them before the ארון and said that whoever’s blossoms first, it’ll show that he’s the כהן נאמן. אהרן’s grew almonds and now everyone knew that he was the כהן נאמן.
Why did ה' wait to bring the אות? Why didn’t He do it first so that the מרידה would be quieted? If someone falls under the spell of לצנות, he doesn’t have שכל so no matter how great of an event happened, it wouldn’t be absorbed.
A לץ is like an animal because an animal has no שכל. A human being is a combination of two נפשות:
1. נפש הבהמי- eat, drink, תאבות
2. נפש הרוחני- the control we have over our actions and תאבות.
When someone is a לץ, he’s using his נפש הבהמי.
First, ה' had to remove the לצנות and only afterwards could he show them and they would accept.
A לץ can’t have logic so he ends up having יסוריםand then death because he never does תשובה. Why? A person who’s moved into action and change because he’s התבונן, he doesn’t need יסורים. But a לץ that didn’t feel moved from תוכחה because of כח הלצנות, you have to treat him with יסורים. When a person mocks, he’s now like an animal and what would rebuke help? It says in משלי that ה' prepares יסורים for a לץ. The purpose of the יסורים is to break the לצנות, remove the נפש הבהמי, and only after that will he have the שכל to listen.
קרח turned his followers into ליצנים. With this כח of mockery, a person tramples on everything and nothing makes an impression on him. לצנות shatters מוסר. יסורים break and humble a person. The three sets of יסורים broke them.
1. Not to degrade anyone, even a lowly person.
2. To give every person and creation כבוד no matter how small.
תומר Everything that’s created, from the lowest blade of grass to the largest cedar tree, they are
דבורה all דברים מכובדים because they are all created by ה'. Someone who’s מבזה one of ה'’s sheet creations is in essence being מבזה ה'’s חכמה. It says ''מה רבו מעשיך ה' ''- רבו doesn’t mean גדלות, rather כמה חשובים הם.
A person has to have רחמנות on all the בריות- he can’t disgrace them and he has to have רחמנות on them. ה'’s חכמה is spread out on all creations, from the most insignificant to the most significant. Because of this, we are careful of בזוי אוכלים. A person gets פרטית הנאה from food, so he should be extra careful not to be מבזה it for nothing. Story- The ח''ח had black bread, said that you can’t say ל''ה on it. Story- Cow that was being led to שחיטה. רבי said to it ''זיל לכך נוצרת''. Because of this, he got terrible צרות. Why? Because he acted with דין towards the cow. Once, there was a weasel in רבי’s house and his maid wanted to get rid of it, and he had רחמנות on it. Immediately after, the יסורים were removed. They weren’t an עונש, rather a תוצאה.
ג אל תהי בז לכל אדם- אל תתנהג בבזיון לשום אדםאפילו השפל והנקלה ביותר
אל תהי מפליג- אל תחיקאת עצמך
דבר-נברא- דומם,צומח,חי
שעה- תועלת
מקום- חשיבותו בעולם
רע''ב -אל תהי בז לכל אדם to say that פלוני is so vulnerable and he can’t get me back.
-ואל תהי מפליג to distance yourself because of גאוה from everything because every person
has to care for every creation, because every creation has a תועלת.
ר' יונה ר' יונה divides the משנה differently:
1. אל...שעה- don’t disgrace anyone and don’t distance yourself (by dismissing the responsibility) with דבר of disgrace- never say something mean to someone because you think you’ll never see him again, because there will be a time when you’ll be repaid.
2. ואין לך דבר שאין לו מקום- there is no creation that isn’t important, so one has to give כבוד to everything and everyone.
I sheet ''נוח...ברבים''- obviously, it’s not easier in this world, but in the long run, next to ה', it’s easier
than the burning decree of someone who embarrasses his friend in public. Story- מר עוקבא
thrust himself into a hot oven. This story teaches us that even as a תוצאה of a מצוה, you
can’t cause someone embarrassment.
Why is this אסור so חמור?
1. Because it’s like you’re being מבזה ה', since every person is created בצלם אלוקים, and we know ''ובזי יקלו''.
2. Because the embarrassment is so strong, it could take someone years to recuperate. Story- the בית הלוי and the butcher. Story- ר' שמואל מגיד kept his face in the furnace and let the flames rise towards his face until the man who slapped him left. Story- ר' יוסף חיים קפלן was crying because he saw someone embarrassing someone else publicly- it was like he stabbed someone to death.
חסיד יעב''ץ -אל תהי בז לכל אדם ''לכל'' is coming to include even a רשע. The תורה tells us about a רשע,
''כבדהו וחשדהו''. There is never any excuse to humiliate another human being. This applies to a child, or someone with limited דעת.
ספר מוסר -אל תהי בז לכל אדם the אזהרה is קשורה to a יחיד. Sometimes, someone does something and
אבות and you may think that if he could do something so terrible, then you want to cut ties with him. Don’t be מבזה the person in their entirety because of one bad מעשה, one הנהגה that is questionable, or one פגם. Judge them favorable, because you don’t know the whole picture.
ר' שלמה -אל תהי בז לכל אדם אל תבזה עצמך בפני שום אדם. Don’t cheapen yourself by doing or saying
קפלן things that lessen your dignity. It says in דברי הימים, ''ויגבה לבו בדרכי ה'''- we have to have dignity in דרכי ה'. This אזהרה is for a תלמיד חכם because he’s a ספר תורה חי.
It’s a tactic on how a person should relate to his יצה''ר. The יצה''ר makes דרכי ה' look like such a big thing that a person may come to a state of despair. When we have a fall in our רוחניות, we should tell ourselves, ''אלמלא נפלתי לא קמתי''- I fell, but I’ll get back up and put the pieces back together. It says about a צדיק- ''שבע יפול וקם'', but he’s still called a צדיק because he gets back up.
ר' בונים When the תורה uses the word ענו, רש''י is מסביר in two ways- שפל וסבלן. A person has to be
מפשיסחא humble with himself. When someone slips in רוחניות, he has to be an ענו with himself. He has
to be סובל את שפלתו- tolerate his lowliness, and סבלן אם עצמו- patient with himself. If he’s סובל את שפלתוand סבלן אם עצמו, then he can get back up.
ת''י -יט Even a דומם,צומח,חי that is disgusting, harmful, hurtful, hateful and poisonous, such as a
fly, snake or scorpion, one should not dismiss. ה' created them for the good of the world.
-כ At this moment, this person may seem purposeless- he may be totally empty of חכמה or he may be the persecutor of good people. But it’s not for nothing that ה' lets him live. Either he’s necessary now and you just can’t see it, or the time will come when his contribution to the world will come forth- ''קל דעות ה'''.
עבודת There’s no person that doesn’t have his שעה in רוחניות, where he can turn around his whole ישראל course in life. We learn this from אלעזר בן דורדיא. He was so שטוך בחטא that his תשובה
wouldn’t be accepted. As soon as he heard this, he ran and asked the mountains, valleys, sky, sun and moon to daven for him but they all said that first they had to daven for themselves. אלעזר בן דורדיא then realized III sheet- ''אין הדבר תלןי אלא בי''. He put his head between his knees and cried out until his נשמה left him. A בת קול came out and said, ''ר' אלעזר בן דורדדיא מזומן לחיי עוה''ב''. רש''י says on the words ''זה קלי ואנבהו''- ''ראתה שפחה בים מה שלא ראוי יחזאקל בן בוזי'' - by קריעת ים סוף there was an amazing revelation, higher than the revelation of יחזאקל. But they remained שפחות because they didn’t translate it into reality. You have to integrate it otherwise you won’t grow. A התעוררות is worthless if you don’t act upon it. You must do something immediately to trap it so that it doesn’t fizzle out.
''יפה שעה אחת של תשובה ומעים טובים בעוה''ז מכל חיי עוה''ב'', because in this world, the עולם המעשה, we can take action.
רש''י -אין לך דבר... There’s never a דבר חכמה that isn’t used in our life because all חכמה comes from the תורה- ''הפך בה הפך בה דכולה בה''.
מדרש ''בז לדבר יחבל לו''- someone who is מבזה something that ה' created will be punished through it. דוד questioned ה'’s creations, among them insanity, and ה' said, ''חייך סוף שצטרך לשדות''.
1. Insanity- דוד was running from שאול and came to גת. The king at that time was אכיש, the brother of גליות. When he heard that דוד was in גת, he wanted to take revenge on him. דוד-שמואל א, כא, יג-טז came before him and started to garble his speech, draw on the doorposts and drool on his beard. He portrayed himself as a משוגעה, so אכיש chased him out. It says ''בשנותו את טעמן לפני אבימלך''- at that time, all the kings of גת were called אבימלך, so it’s really referring to אכיש.
2. Spider-when דוד was running from שאול, he hid in a cave. ה' put a spider web on the outside of the cave so it looked like it had been sealed for a long time.
3. Wasp- שאול knew where דוד was hiding and he was going to go kill him with a special spear. דוד snuck into שאול’s camp in the middle of the night to get the spear, but it was under שאול’s head. ה' put שאול in a תרדמה and a wasp bit him. He moved his head a little, and דוד took the spear. When שאול woke up, he was very confused, and he cancelled his plans.
נוצר חסד -ואין לך ךבר שאין לן מקום מקום is referring to ה'- ''ברוך המקום''. There is nothing in this world that isn’t touched by the hand of ה'. Fools call it Mother Nature. הטבע= 86= אלקים. It’s an עבודת עבד ה' to search out the יד ה' because it can be found in everything- ''על כל נשימה ונשימה תהלל קה''.
V sheet What is the שרש העמוק when one humiliates another person or being? לצנות- mockery, scoffing, laughing at, poking fun at… This מידה is so strict that חז''ל say that ליצנים are included in the four groups of people who won’t be מקבל פני השכינה.
The five חלקים of ליצנים:
1. הנותן דופי בבני אדם ללא סיבה- finds fault without a reason. This stems from גאוה and a רוע לב. He wants to make light a person’s reputation before others.
2. מי שלועג בלבו לבני אדם- scoffs others in the inner chambers of his heart. Why? מפני קוצר השגתם במעלה- because you feel that they aren’t up to par. Who designated this job for you? R’ Ephraim Wachsman said that there used to be individual mockers in a generation, but now there is a דור of ליצנים- people who feel that they are above humanity. ''יושב במים ישחק''.
3. מי שקובע עצמו תמיד ללעוג על דברים ופעולות- someone who is addicted to ליצנות, someone who feels that they are a cut above humanity, people look down on him. Someone who mocks events, undertakings, efforts… by saying that they’re hopeless falls into this category. שלמה said on these people, ''ראיתי איש חכם בעיניו? תקוה לכסיל ממנו''- there’s more hope for a כסיל and he’s better off in life than someone like this. Someone like this can come to אפיקרסות because he could be לועג על המצוות.
4. הקובע עצמו תמיד לשיחה בטלה ודברים בטלים בדרך יושבי קרנות- watch out for too much overindulgence in empty talk because it will come to be that you’ll indulge in דברי לצנות.
5. המתלוצץ על מעשים ודברים על דרך מקרה ועראי- many people sin through him. At times, he randomly knocks. Be cautious!
אור יהל
sheet ``
Here, תוכחה means הוכחה, which means שכל. If a person mocks, he doesn’t use his שכל. What caused קרח to get into the mood of מרידה? ה' told משה to appoint אליצפן as the נשיא of קהת. When קרח heard about אליצפן’s appointment, he was upset. He went to משה and said that קהת had four sons. The oldest received to מנות of גדולה (משה → מנהיג, אהרן → כהונה) and the next מנה should go to the next son of קהת. His argument was illegitimate, because in the face of ה', there is no reasoning. קרח was a פקח- wise and he knew that his words had no footing. He knew that משה was just speaking the words of ה'- we know that the שכינה spoke from משה’s throat. קרח’s מרידה was doomed before it even started. Because of his קנאה, קרח aroused the עם for מרידה against משה and אהרן. קרח gathered 250 people and they came before משה. קרח began to mock him-
1. Does a room full of ספרים need a מזוזה? משה said yes.
2. Does a בגד of תכלת need a חוט of תכלת? משה said yes.
קרח mocked, and all 250 of his followers were brought under the spell of לצנות.
ה' brought three groups of punishment on the מורדים:
1. בלועי דקרח- the land opened up its mouth and swallowed קרח, his wife- ''חכמת נשים...'', possessions, עבדים and שפחות alive. (This פי הארץ was created בין השמשות along with the פי הבאר and פי האתון.) קרח jumps up and down and says, ''משה אמת ותורתו אמת''.
2. שרופי דקרח- קרח’s followers were burnt alive by a heavenly fire.
3. הנגף בעם- 14,700 people were killed by a מגפה because they began to question דינו של הקב''ה.
After these punishments, משה told all the נשיאים to bring their מטות and from שבט לוי he took the מטה of אהרן. משה put them before the ארון and said that whoever’s blossoms first, it’ll show that he’s the כהן נאמן. אהרן’s grew almonds and now everyone knew that he was the כהן נאמן.
Why did ה' wait to bring the אות? Why didn’t He do it first so that the מרידה would be quieted? If someone falls under the spell of לצנות, he doesn’t have שכל so no matter how great of an event happened, it wouldn’t be absorbed.
A לץ is like an animal because an animal has no שכל. A human being is a combination of two נפשות:
1. נפש הבהמי- eat, drink, תאבות
2. נפש הרוחני- the control we have over our actions and תאבות.
When someone is a לץ, he’s using his נפש הבהמי.
First, ה' had to remove the לצנות and only afterwards could he show them and they would accept.
A לץ can’t have logic so he ends up having יסוריםand then death because he never does תשובה. Why? A person who’s moved into action and change because he’s התבונן, he doesn’t need יסורים. But a לץ that didn’t feel moved from תוכחה because of כח הלצנות, you have to treat him with יסורים. When a person mocks, he’s now like an animal and what would rebuke help? It says in משלי that ה' prepares יסורים for a לץ. The purpose of the יסורים is to break the לצנות, remove the נפש הבהמי, and only after that will he have the שכל to listen.
קרח turned his followers into ליצנים. With this כח of mockery, a person tramples on everything and nothing makes an impression on him. לצנות shatters מוסר. יסורים break and humble a person. The three sets of יסורים broke them.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Dinim: Rabbi Frankel
Someone who is involved in קרוב רחוקים work may be dealing with people not dressedבצניעות :
1. Hair- the ארוך השלחן says that hair being a totalערבה depends on society. Long ago, even unmarried girls covered their hair, so hair was considered anערבה . Today, most woman don’t cover their hair, so a married woman’s hair isn’t a totalערבה . All the other פוסקים don’t hold like this butבשעת הדחק , people do fall back on theשיטה of theארוך השלחן .
2. Collarbone, knees and elbows- the ארוך השלחן says these areas are considered anערבה no matter what the style is. The מאירי says that only byתלמוד תורה , a man may speak in front of an exposed woman. If someone is makingקדוש and someone is inappropriately dressed, the man should turn to the side. Story- Patty Park.
רוח רע- bad smells:
What type of bad odors do we have to be careful of?
1. Smells that come from rotting food- if we have a dirty garbage can, we have to be concerned about this.
2. Carcasses
3. Bodily wastes, such as a baby’s dirty diaper.
What do we do in terms of making davening near rotting material:
1. In order to daven near rotting material that has no smell, we must move 4 אמות away.
2. In order to daven near rotting material that does have a bad smell:
a. רוח רע שיש בו עיקר- a bad smell that the source of it is in the same room where we want to daven. We have to estimate where the bad smell ends and distance ourselves 4 אמות. When it comes to davening ש''ע, we can’t see the rotting material.
b. רוח רע שאין בו עיקר- rotting material that isn’t in the same room as us, but the bad smell still comes to us. We just have to get out of the smelly area.
Something that you personally think smells bad, or a pregnant woman whose hormones are messed up isn’t included in רוח רע.
If we put a כסוי on a something that has rotting materials in it, (such as a garbage pail) but there’s still a bad smell coming out of it, it falls into the category of רוח רע שאין בו עיקר. Today’s diapers are considered like a כסוי because everything is contained in it, but if someone uses cloth diapers, they should ask a שאילת חכם because it isn’t contained.
If someone wants to make a ברכה, they don’t have to check a little child to see if they’re dirty before making it, but if they smell that the child is dirty, they should change them.
If someone’s in middle of davening ש''ע and a child with a dirty diaper with a bad smell walks in:
1. Try to motion to someone to move the child.
2. Stop ש''ע and move to a different room and continue. It’s not considered a הפסק because you can’t daven while smelling a bad odor. If you would stop and change the child, that would be considered a הפסק.
What is the status of a bathroom?
1. Bathroom of old- didn’t have any type of plumbing system. A portable bathroom would fall into this category. The walls of these old bathrooms have the דין as if it’s the dirt itself.
a. We have to distance ourselves from the walls.
b. If there is a bad odor, it’s considered a רוח רע שיש בו עיקר so we have to move four אמות.
c. If it’s in the מזרח, you have to make sure you don't see it when davening.
2. Bathrooms of today- the חזון איש is מחמיר but other אחרונים are מקיל as to whether or not bathrooms of today (where everything is washed away) are the same as the bathrooms of old. A bathroom with plumbing isn’t considered the same:
a. We don’t have to distance ourselves from the walls.
b. You could see it when you are davening.
Can you wash your hands in today’s bathrooms? Yes, because רוח רע doesn’t apply.
IF you’re on a trip, and you don’t have any fresh water:
1. One can wash their hands in a bathroom, but should say the ברכה outside.
2. You could be יוצא נטילת ידים, but you should bring the water outside.
3. At a rest stop, since the sinks are separate from the bathroom, you could make a ברכה in the sink area.
ידים נקיות:
When it comes to the cleanliness of hands, when you want to make a ברכה, you have to be aware of two kinds of טומא:
1. Spiritual uncleanliness- if a person scratches a sweaty area of the body, his scalp, or an area that is usually covered, he must wash his hands. If he can’t wash his hands, he should rub them on a rough surface.
2. Physical dirt- if we wouldn’t want to walk out in public with that amount of dirt on us, we can’t recite a ברכה or מילתא דקדושא. There is no חיוב to wash your hands. You just remove the dirt.
Interruptions:
There are two categories:
1. After reciting the ברכה, but before doing the action that the ברכה pertains to.
a. If he’s מפסיק with דברי חול, it invalidates the ברכה.
b. If he said something on a level of קדושה, like ''אמן'':
i. Some hold that it isn’t considered an interruption because it’s on the same level
ii. Others hold that one shouldn’t say anything- even though it’s on the same level, it’s different areas, so it’s considered an interruption and he has to repeat.
iii. כף החיים- לחתכילה one shouldn’t interrupt, but if he already did, ספק ברכות להקל because it’s a דרבנן.
c. Non- word verbalization- one shouldn’t make sounds to begin with, but it doesn’t create a הפסק because they aren’t real words.
d. Humming, participating in other activities- it shouldn’t be done but doesn’t constitute as a הפסק.
2. Within the ברכה itself.
עצות on how to minimize interruptions:
1. Hot food or drink- put some on a spoon, blow on it and only when it’s cool enough should he make a ברכה.
2. When making a ברכה on a full roll, cut two-thirds of the way down, but enough that the roll should still be שלם. Make a ברכה, break off a piece, and eat.
3. Tangerine- peel it, loosen up one clove (still has the מעלה of שלם), recite a ברכה and break off the clove.
4. Packaging- take the food out of the packaging, or at least expose enough that you could eat it immediately after reciting a ברכה.
a. Commercial packaging- open it to the extent that it could be eaten right away.
b. Soda- prepare first (open, straw…), then make a ברכה.
5. Seeds- open up at least one and make a ברכה only after it’s shelled.
Even without these הכנות, the ברכה is still valid.
There’s a כלל that a ברכה should be stated עובר לעשיתם- before the action is done.
צרכי סעודה:
It’s a general rule which is necessary for the meal we’re partaking in at that moment. It doesn’t necessarily have to mean the סעודה ממש; it could be anything else necessary for the סעודה.
Things that you need at the table:
1. Salt- it’s a מצוה מדרבנן to dip our חלה in salt. If someone made the ברכה and sees that they need the salt, they can לחתכילה say, “please pass the salt”.
2. There’s a חיוב on a person to feed his animals before himself. If he made a ברכה and it was time to feed the animals, he can ask someone to go feed the animals. If there is no one else to feed the animals, he should eat a כזית and go feed the animals.
3. If someone is approaching the table, but did not yet wash their hands, and the ראש סעודה is making המוציא, he can listen, answer אמן, go wash his hands and then eat.
4. If someone washed their hands, made a ברכה and is about to make המוציא and someone says that he touched his hands, since it’s a ספק, he should go wash again to remove the ספק and then he can eat.
Even though צרכי סעודה doesn’t constitute as a הפסק, we should still minimize it.
In cases where the person already said נטילת ידים and is waiting to say המוציא, even if one has to speak out it isn’t considered a הפסק. It doesn’t invalidate anything because the goal of נטילת ידים was already fulfilled. A person can do so as long as he doesn’t have הסך הדעת.
When is it permitted to speak? Everyone holds that the ברכת הנהנין are on eating-
1. Some hold that one isn’t יוצא with the ברכה until you swallow something of that food.
2. Others hold that you’re יוצא with טעימה.
If you follow the first שיטה, once you swallow a little bit you can talk out. If go according to the second שיטה, the ברכה is חל when you taste the food. We פסקין that לחתכילה you shouldn’t talk until you swallow a little, but בדיעבד since ספק ברכות להקל, you can talk after the טעימה.
הפסק באמצע הברכה:
1. If we are מפסיק between ברוך and the שם ה', we have to repeat the ברכה.
2. If we are מפסיק between the שם ה' and מלכות, we have to repeat the ברכה.
3. If we are מפסיק between the פתיחת הברכה and the נושאי, we have to repeat the ברכה.
4. If we are מפסיק between the נושאי and the חתימה in a ברכה ארוכה, we have to repeat the ברכה.
5. By a ברכה ארוכה there’s an exception- once a person gets into the נושאי, if they interrupt so long as they don’t have הסך הדעת, it doesn’t invalidate the ברכה.
This has tremendous implications in הלכה because there are many אופנים of ברכות ארוכות. If someone comes late to shul and is behind, when can they answer?
1. If they’re in middle of פסוקי דזמרה or ברכות קריעת שמע, they can answer to ברכו.
2. If someone is saying קדיש, we can reply ''אמן. יהא שמי רבה...''.
3. By קדושה, we only say the sentence of ''קדוש קדוש קדוש'' and we’ll say ''ברוך כבוד ה' ממקומו''.
4. שמונה עשרה- we answer ''אמן'' to ''הקל הקדוש'' and ''שומע תפילה''. When the חזן says ''המחזיר שכינתו לציון'', we don’t answer ''אמן'', but we do bow down and say the words ''מודים אנחנו לך''.
While we are in the middle of ש''ע, we aren’t מפסיק for anything. If we’re in the middle of ש''ע and the ש''ץ is saying קדושה, we should stop and listen because of the כלל that שומע כעונה.
שנוי מקום: בנוגע לברכה ראשונה וברכה אחרונה
When are we מחויב to say a ברכה ראשונה on food? If you eat a משהו of food, even a small amount, you have to make a ברכה.
The only time you’ll find an exception is if you’re drinking a small amount for the sake of swallowing a pill. If you know that it takes you a lot of liquid to get the pill down, or you know that you’re going to drink more, then you do make a ברכה.
If we eat less than a כזית to taste food, like on ערב שבת, we don’t make a ברכה ראשונה on food. We should just taste the food and spit it out.
If a person knows that they’re going to eat less than a כזית of bread, do they have to wash? The משנה ברורה says that you wash, but you don’t recite the ברכה of ''על נטילת ידים''.
When it comes to a ברכה אחרונה, we don’t recite one on:
1. Solid- until we had a כזית.
2. Liquid- until we had a רביעית (approximately 3.3 oz.)
Some say that the שיעור has to be eaten תוך אכילת פרס- anywhere from two to nine minuets.
What foods will combine for a שיעור כזית?
1. אוכל ואוכל- all solids can combine to form a כזית, for example a fruit cup- all together, they make a כזית.
2. The ז' מינים are unique because you have to make an ''על העץ'' on them:
a. If we have a fruit bar where there’s a חצי זית of the ז' מינים and חצי זית of other foods, we make a בורא נפשות.
b. If we have a חצי זית of bread or a מזונות and a חצי זית of ז' מינים or other fruits, like a Fig Newton, you make a בורא נפשות.
c. If we have a חצי זית of bread and a חצי זית of other מזונות foods, you make a המוציא and על המחי'.
If someone drinks one or two ounces of wine and some other liquids- normally we would say a בורא נפשות, but the משנה ברורה is in doubt if you can even say a בורא נפשות. The משנה ברורה says that if you have a ספק on the על הגפן, you have a ספק on the בורא נפשות because the על הגפן makes the בורא נפשות פטור. ר' משה says that you should say a בורא נפשות.
Three ways to get around this:
1. Drink a משהו.
2. Drink a רביעית of wine.
3. Eat a כזית of solid food that demands a בורא נפשות.
1. Hair- the ארוך השלחן says that hair being a totalערבה depends on society. Long ago, even unmarried girls covered their hair, so hair was considered anערבה . Today, most woman don’t cover their hair, so a married woman’s hair isn’t a totalערבה . All the other פוסקים don’t hold like this butבשעת הדחק , people do fall back on theשיטה of theארוך השלחן .
2. Collarbone, knees and elbows- the ארוך השלחן says these areas are considered anערבה no matter what the style is. The מאירי says that only byתלמוד תורה , a man may speak in front of an exposed woman. If someone is makingקדוש and someone is inappropriately dressed, the man should turn to the side. Story- Patty Park.
רוח רע- bad smells:
What type of bad odors do we have to be careful of?
1. Smells that come from rotting food- if we have a dirty garbage can, we have to be concerned about this.
2. Carcasses
3. Bodily wastes, such as a baby’s dirty diaper.
What do we do in terms of making davening near rotting material:
1. In order to daven near rotting material that has no smell, we must move 4 אמות away.
2. In order to daven near rotting material that does have a bad smell:
a. רוח רע שיש בו עיקר- a bad smell that the source of it is in the same room where we want to daven. We have to estimate where the bad smell ends and distance ourselves 4 אמות. When it comes to davening ש''ע, we can’t see the rotting material.
b. רוח רע שאין בו עיקר- rotting material that isn’t in the same room as us, but the bad smell still comes to us. We just have to get out of the smelly area.
Something that you personally think smells bad, or a pregnant woman whose hormones are messed up isn’t included in רוח רע.
If we put a כסוי on a something that has rotting materials in it, (such as a garbage pail) but there’s still a bad smell coming out of it, it falls into the category of רוח רע שאין בו עיקר. Today’s diapers are considered like a כסוי because everything is contained in it, but if someone uses cloth diapers, they should ask a שאילת חכם because it isn’t contained.
If someone wants to make a ברכה, they don’t have to check a little child to see if they’re dirty before making it, but if they smell that the child is dirty, they should change them.
If someone’s in middle of davening ש''ע and a child with a dirty diaper with a bad smell walks in:
1. Try to motion to someone to move the child.
2. Stop ש''ע and move to a different room and continue. It’s not considered a הפסק because you can’t daven while smelling a bad odor. If you would stop and change the child, that would be considered a הפסק.
What is the status of a bathroom?
1. Bathroom of old- didn’t have any type of plumbing system. A portable bathroom would fall into this category. The walls of these old bathrooms have the דין as if it’s the dirt itself.
a. We have to distance ourselves from the walls.
b. If there is a bad odor, it’s considered a רוח רע שיש בו עיקר so we have to move four אמות.
c. If it’s in the מזרח, you have to make sure you don't see it when davening.
2. Bathrooms of today- the חזון איש is מחמיר but other אחרונים are מקיל as to whether or not bathrooms of today (where everything is washed away) are the same as the bathrooms of old. A bathroom with plumbing isn’t considered the same:
a. We don’t have to distance ourselves from the walls.
b. You could see it when you are davening.
Can you wash your hands in today’s bathrooms? Yes, because רוח רע doesn’t apply.
IF you’re on a trip, and you don’t have any fresh water:
1. One can wash their hands in a bathroom, but should say the ברכה outside.
2. You could be יוצא נטילת ידים, but you should bring the water outside.
3. At a rest stop, since the sinks are separate from the bathroom, you could make a ברכה in the sink area.
ידים נקיות:
When it comes to the cleanliness of hands, when you want to make a ברכה, you have to be aware of two kinds of טומא:
1. Spiritual uncleanliness- if a person scratches a sweaty area of the body, his scalp, or an area that is usually covered, he must wash his hands. If he can’t wash his hands, he should rub them on a rough surface.
2. Physical dirt- if we wouldn’t want to walk out in public with that amount of dirt on us, we can’t recite a ברכה or מילתא דקדושא. There is no חיוב to wash your hands. You just remove the dirt.
Interruptions:
There are two categories:
1. After reciting the ברכה, but before doing the action that the ברכה pertains to.
a. If he’s מפסיק with דברי חול, it invalidates the ברכה.
b. If he said something on a level of קדושה, like ''אמן'':
i. Some hold that it isn’t considered an interruption because it’s on the same level
ii. Others hold that one shouldn’t say anything- even though it’s on the same level, it’s different areas, so it’s considered an interruption and he has to repeat.
iii. כף החיים- לחתכילה one shouldn’t interrupt, but if he already did, ספק ברכות להקל because it’s a דרבנן.
c. Non- word verbalization- one shouldn’t make sounds to begin with, but it doesn’t create a הפסק because they aren’t real words.
d. Humming, participating in other activities- it shouldn’t be done but doesn’t constitute as a הפסק.
2. Within the ברכה itself.
עצות on how to minimize interruptions:
1. Hot food or drink- put some on a spoon, blow on it and only when it’s cool enough should he make a ברכה.
2. When making a ברכה on a full roll, cut two-thirds of the way down, but enough that the roll should still be שלם. Make a ברכה, break off a piece, and eat.
3. Tangerine- peel it, loosen up one clove (still has the מעלה of שלם), recite a ברכה and break off the clove.
4. Packaging- take the food out of the packaging, or at least expose enough that you could eat it immediately after reciting a ברכה.
a. Commercial packaging- open it to the extent that it could be eaten right away.
b. Soda- prepare first (open, straw…), then make a ברכה.
5. Seeds- open up at least one and make a ברכה only after it’s shelled.
Even without these הכנות, the ברכה is still valid.
There’s a כלל that a ברכה should be stated עובר לעשיתם- before the action is done.
צרכי סעודה:
It’s a general rule which is necessary for the meal we’re partaking in at that moment. It doesn’t necessarily have to mean the סעודה ממש; it could be anything else necessary for the סעודה.
Things that you need at the table:
1. Salt- it’s a מצוה מדרבנן to dip our חלה in salt. If someone made the ברכה and sees that they need the salt, they can לחתכילה say, “please pass the salt”.
2. There’s a חיוב on a person to feed his animals before himself. If he made a ברכה and it was time to feed the animals, he can ask someone to go feed the animals. If there is no one else to feed the animals, he should eat a כזית and go feed the animals.
3. If someone is approaching the table, but did not yet wash their hands, and the ראש סעודה is making המוציא, he can listen, answer אמן, go wash his hands and then eat.
4. If someone washed their hands, made a ברכה and is about to make המוציא and someone says that he touched his hands, since it’s a ספק, he should go wash again to remove the ספק and then he can eat.
Even though צרכי סעודה doesn’t constitute as a הפסק, we should still minimize it.
In cases where the person already said נטילת ידים and is waiting to say המוציא, even if one has to speak out it isn’t considered a הפסק. It doesn’t invalidate anything because the goal of נטילת ידים was already fulfilled. A person can do so as long as he doesn’t have הסך הדעת.
When is it permitted to speak? Everyone holds that the ברכת הנהנין are on eating-
1. Some hold that one isn’t יוצא with the ברכה until you swallow something of that food.
2. Others hold that you’re יוצא with טעימה.
If you follow the first שיטה, once you swallow a little bit you can talk out. If go according to the second שיטה, the ברכה is חל when you taste the food. We פסקין that לחתכילה you shouldn’t talk until you swallow a little, but בדיעבד since ספק ברכות להקל, you can talk after the טעימה.
הפסק באמצע הברכה:
1. If we are מפסיק between ברוך and the שם ה', we have to repeat the ברכה.
2. If we are מפסיק between the שם ה' and מלכות, we have to repeat the ברכה.
3. If we are מפסיק between the פתיחת הברכה and the נושאי, we have to repeat the ברכה.
4. If we are מפסיק between the נושאי and the חתימה in a ברכה ארוכה, we have to repeat the ברכה.
5. By a ברכה ארוכה there’s an exception- once a person gets into the נושאי, if they interrupt so long as they don’t have הסך הדעת, it doesn’t invalidate the ברכה.
This has tremendous implications in הלכה because there are many אופנים of ברכות ארוכות. If someone comes late to shul and is behind, when can they answer?
1. If they’re in middle of פסוקי דזמרה or ברכות קריעת שמע, they can answer to ברכו.
2. If someone is saying קדיש, we can reply ''אמן. יהא שמי רבה...''.
3. By קדושה, we only say the sentence of ''קדוש קדוש קדוש'' and we’ll say ''ברוך כבוד ה' ממקומו''.
4. שמונה עשרה- we answer ''אמן'' to ''הקל הקדוש'' and ''שומע תפילה''. When the חזן says ''המחזיר שכינתו לציון'', we don’t answer ''אמן'', but we do bow down and say the words ''מודים אנחנו לך''.
While we are in the middle of ש''ע, we aren’t מפסיק for anything. If we’re in the middle of ש''ע and the ש''ץ is saying קדושה, we should stop and listen because of the כלל that שומע כעונה.
שנוי מקום: בנוגע לברכה ראשונה וברכה אחרונה
When are we מחויב to say a ברכה ראשונה on food? If you eat a משהו of food, even a small amount, you have to make a ברכה.
The only time you’ll find an exception is if you’re drinking a small amount for the sake of swallowing a pill. If you know that it takes you a lot of liquid to get the pill down, or you know that you’re going to drink more, then you do make a ברכה.
If we eat less than a כזית to taste food, like on ערב שבת, we don’t make a ברכה ראשונה on food. We should just taste the food and spit it out.
If a person knows that they’re going to eat less than a כזית of bread, do they have to wash? The משנה ברורה says that you wash, but you don’t recite the ברכה of ''על נטילת ידים''.
When it comes to a ברכה אחרונה, we don’t recite one on:
1. Solid- until we had a כזית.
2. Liquid- until we had a רביעית (approximately 3.3 oz.)
Some say that the שיעור has to be eaten תוך אכילת פרס- anywhere from two to nine minuets.
What foods will combine for a שיעור כזית?
1. אוכל ואוכל- all solids can combine to form a כזית, for example a fruit cup- all together, they make a כזית.
2. The ז' מינים are unique because you have to make an ''על העץ'' on them:
a. If we have a fruit bar where there’s a חצי זית of the ז' מינים and חצי זית of other foods, we make a בורא נפשות.
b. If we have a חצי זית of bread or a מזונות and a חצי זית of ז' מינים or other fruits, like a Fig Newton, you make a בורא נפשות.
c. If we have a חצי זית of bread and a חצי זית of other מזונות foods, you make a המוציא and על המחי'.
If someone drinks one or two ounces of wine and some other liquids- normally we would say a בורא נפשות, but the משנה ברורה is in doubt if you can even say a בורא נפשות. The משנה ברורה says that if you have a ספק on the על הגפן, you have a ספק on the בורא נפשות because the על הגפן makes the בורא נפשות פטור. ר' משה says that you should say a בורא נפשות.
Three ways to get around this:
1. Drink a משהו.
2. Drink a רביעית of wine.
3. Eat a כזית of solid food that demands a בורא נפשות.
Chumash: Perek Tes
א דבר came to prove השגחת ה'. It did have a התראה because it came as an עד. The warning came in the palace in the middle of the day- ''בא אל פרעה''. It was said in front of all the servants in order to publicize it.
ודברת- ואתה תְּדַבֵּר
אור החיים -בא אל פרעה Why does it say ''בא'' instead of ''לך''? Surrounding פרעה’s palace were guards. He also put lions and dogs. משה was scared that he would be killed. ה' is now commanding him to go without permission and not to be scared. ה' watched over him that nothing should happen to him. From where do we know that משה did indeed go without רשות? After מכת חשך, פרעה told משה- ''אל תוסיף לראות את פני''. פרעה should’ve told his servants to tell משה, but they didn’t have the כח to do so therefore פרעה had to tell משה himself. By the מכות at the water (דם, ערוב, ברד), it says ''לך''. There was no need to say ''בא'' because there were no guards or animals. So what’s the meaning of ''לך''? He should go now, even though it’s not דרך ארץ because פרעה is doing his צרכים.
שערי אהרן By the other מכות is says ''ואמרת'' and here it says ''ודברת''. Why does משה have to speak in a harsher way than usual?
1. מלבי''ם- it’s a לשון of וויכוח- arguing. By all the other מכות, פרעה had a choice even after the מכה started that if he would have regret it would help, therefore it says ''ואמרת''. But here, all the animals died in a split second. משה is speaking in a harsh manner now to get the message across to פרעה that regret would only help before.
2. שפתי כהן- by all the other מכות, פרעה had some measure of צער, for example by כינים, ''מחככים זב''. Here, it wasn’t directly applicable to him. ה' told משה to exaggerate the מכה and specify every detail. ה' told משה to cause him צער with his words until פרעה felt that it was applicable to him. משה was very specific so that it would cause פרעה pain:
a. ''בסוסים''- horses symbolize a king. If all the horses would die, then פרעה wouldn’t have a horse.
b. ''בחמרים''- most of the animals that were found in מצרים were donkeys.
c. ''בגמלים''- used to carry loads.
d. ''בבקר''- all their food was dependant on בקר because they plow.
e. ''צאן''- they got their milk, and that was how they made a living. They were also their ע''ז.
ב מאן- מסרב
ועודך- ואתה עדיין
רש''י -מחזיק בם means to grab, like ''והחזיקה במבושיו''.
אונקלוס מחזיק= מתקף. It’s a לשון of holding on strong.
רש''י ג -הנה יד ה' הוי' it’s הווה.
הווה עתיד עבר
( like עוֹשָה, רוֹצָה, רוֹעָה) הויָ' תהי' היתה
(העומד- הווה)
רמב''ן By ברד it says ''שלח העז את מקנך... הירא את דבר ה' הניס את מקנהו''. There were also animals by קריעת ים סוף. But didn’t all the animals die by מכת דבר? It says ''במקניך אשר בשדה''. It’s not an exclusive statement, just where מקנה are usually found, but he was also including the animals that were elsewhere- ''וימת כל מקנה''.
אוה''ח Only the מקנה that was in the field died- ''במקניך אשר בשדה''. When it says ''וימת כל מקנה'', it means all the animals that were in the field died.
ישוב סתירה ראי' שיטה מפרש
התרה אותם בהווה ''במקניך אשר בשדה'' ''וימת כל מקנה' כל- שדה, בית רמב''ן
כל= שנאמר בפסוק ''וימת כל מקנה' ''במקניך אשר בשדה'' רק בשדה אוה''ח
אבן עזרה Not everything died- ''במקניך אשר בשדה'', it’s just generally referring to מקנה. It says ''וימת כל מקנה', so how could it be that some was left during ברד? רובו ככלו. Proof: it says by ברד, ''את כל עשב השדה'' but we know that it couldn’t be everything, because by ארבה it says ''ואכל את יתר הפליטה''.
רמב''ן Why specifically here does it say a לשון of הבדלה?
1. The מצריים hated shepherds because they didn’t think that their gods needed to be watched. They put all the sheep and all the other מקנה together on the boundaries of the city to separate them. The animals from גושן were also right nearby and according to nature since all the animals were together they all should’ve died.
2. There was a contamination in the air and all should’ve died, but only the מצריים’s animals did.
ד והפלה- וה' יַפְלֶה- וה' יבדיל
ה וישם- ה' שָם
מועד- זמן קבוע
רשב''ם Why did ה' put a מועד? So that the מצריים shouldn’t have a פתחון פה and say that it was a plague.
מלבי''ם Since they could only do תשובה before the מכה, he let them know that they had till the next day.
אוה''ח -וישם ה' מועד לאמר since only the מקנה in the field died, he was giving them time to bring their animals inside. By ברד it said, ''שלח העז את מקניך'', but from where in the פסוק do we see a רמז here? ''לאמר''- but no one’s speaking! Tell the מצריים the מועד so that they’ll have time to bring their animals in.
מלבי''ם Why did he say ''ממחרת'' and not ''היום''? To them a chance to do תשובה. That day he gave the warning and the next day the מכה started.
אוה''ח ב''י were slaves, so from where did they have animals?
1. When יעקב and his sons came down to מצרים, they brought מקנה.
2. By דם, they:
a. Bartered water for animals.
b. Used the money they got from selling water and bought מקנה.
Which part of the פסוק does ''וממקנה ב''י...'' connect to? There were some מצריים who tried to be smart and sold the animals ''על שם'', but not in their hearts. These animals died- ''וימת...וממקנה ב''י'', but those that were really ב''י’s, ''וממקנה ב''י לא מת אחד''.
ז וישלח- והוא שָלַח
ויכבד- והוא כָּבַד
ספורנו You can’t say that anyone else did this נס besides for ה' because no one else can be מחיה or ממית. פרעה saw, but he didn’t want to be מתבונן, therefore he hardened his heart.
Why didn’t פרעה call to them?
1. שפתי כהן- it wasn’t applicable to him.
2. אור החיים- there was no פחד מות.
חזקוני Why was there no רושם? Because it was too late.
שערי אהרן It says ''עד אחד''- but one. By קריעת ים סוף it says that everyone was killed ''עד אחד''- but פרעה. We learn from here that one of the Jew’s animals died. Who’s animal died? The animal of the son of שלומית בת דברי. Now, פרעה had a פתחון פה- he thought that this son was a Jew because his mother was Jewish, but before the תורה was givin, it went according to the father. Really the פתחון פה had no validity.
מכ''מ-
1. כל יקר, ז- יז- when the שבטים came down, they were shepherds. The מצריים switched their jobs, making them into builders. ב''י’s animals now died because they had no one to care for them, therefore all the מצריים’s animals died.
2. -שערי אהרןThe מצריים forced ב''י to be their shepherds, therefore their animals died.
3. When the מצריים wanted to plow the field, they used people instead of animals because they didn’t want to wear out their animals. This is referred to in –תהלים ''על גבי חרשו חורשים האריכו למעניתם''.
4. ילקוט שמוני- ''אמר הקב''ה יבא דבר שממית ויפרע מצרים שירצו לאבד עומה המוסרת עצמה על יחוד שמי כמו שכתוב 'כי עליך הורגנו כל היום' '' .
עד''ש comes to prove השגחת ה':
1. ערוב- the animals only went to מצרים.
2. דבר- only the מצריים’s died.
3. שחין- was an עונש therefore there was no warning.
ח חפניכם- חפנים שלכם- קמץ יד
soot of furnace פיח כבשן-
לעיני- לעינים של, לפני
רש''י -פיח כבשן the thing that is blown from burnt coals from the furnace . פיח is a לשון of blowing- the wind blows and spreads it. (burning embers עוממים- .coalsגחלים- )
-וזרקו משה everything that is thrown with force is thrown with one hand. There were many נסים:
1. Had four fistfuls in one hand.
2. The dust went on the whole ארץ מצרים.
3. מלבי''ם- it went up to the sky. This was a נס because it’s something light.
ט ( אבק פיח ) dust אבק-
רש''י -לשחין פורח אבעבעות אונקלוס says לשחין סגי אבעבועין- the שחין sprouted blisters.
-שחין from the לשון of hot.
רמב''ן - והי'... מצרים how did everyone get שחין?
1. The שחין fell from the sky and everyone it touched got שחין. Those that were in the houses got it from the dust that was moved by the air. This caused blisters and boils on them because it was hot. There was a sandstorm- happened frequently in times of drought. ב''י have a קללה that if they don’t keep the תורה, it won’t rain water- there’ll be sandstorms which ruin the crops.
2. The little bit of אבק that was thrown up in the air contaminated the air and the מכה traveled by air.
י ''השמימה'' teaches us a נס- it went up to the sky.
רש''י -באדם ובבהמה how could it be that they had animals if everything died in מכת דבר? Only
the animals that were in the field died. פרעה had taken in his animals so none of them
died- ''ויקח שש מאות רחב בחור''.
יא מלבי''ם They couldn’t stand because of the pain of the מכה. The חרטמים couldn’t do it because there was no one to do it on.
רמב''ן -ולא... משה they were embarrassed when they got the שחין, and they never returned to פרעה’s palace. They only stayed in their houses because they were embarrassed to meet משה on the street.
רביינו בחיי In the beginning, they were considered great- חרטמי מצרים. As time went on, they went down in חשיבות. Now, they were so low that they didn’t return to the palace.
אור החיים פרעה didn’t get שחין. He didn’t send ב''י out because there was no פחד מות.
יב רמב''ן -ויחזק ה' את לב פרעה in the beginning, the magicians encouraged him. Now, they left him so he had no support.
Missing!!!
מכ''מ-
1. The מצרים made ב''י make hot things cold and cold things hot, so they got שחין which was both hot and cold.
2. ב''י got terribly sun burnt from working out in the field. The מצרים pushed them to work, so they got even more burnt.
3. ''אמר הקב''ה יבא דבר העולה מן הכבשן ויפרע ממצרים שבקשו לאבד עומה שמסרו את עצמם על יחוד שמי''
יג השכם- קום מוקדם
והתיצב- ואתה תְּנַצֵב
By מכת דם, it didn’t say a לשון of השכם. By ערוב it did say a לשון of השכם.
אוה''ח There are three commandments in this פסוק:
1. השכם- get up early.
2. והתיצב- you should stand strong and proud. משה was an ענו so ה' is telling him to stand straight and not with הכנעה because משה is the אלקים. It says ''התיצב לפני פרעה''. He should stand strong, but his heart should be lowered before ה'.
3. ואמרת
מדרש He didn’t go to the יאור because he didn’t want משה to meet him. He went somewhere else. ה' told משה, ''השכם בבוקר'', but it doesn’t say to the יאור.
יד רש''י -את כל מגפתי going to send one that’s equal to all of them in strength= בכורות.
ש''ח ו- you have to read it as בַּכּוּרוֹת- ripe. The ברד cracked the ripe things- hard hit by hard will crack. The unripe things didn’t crack because they were soft and just bent over then popped back up. Later on, by ברד, it says, ''והפשתה והשערה נכתה כי השערה אביב והפשתה גבעול'', therefore ברד is also known as בַּכּוּרוֹת.
How could ברד be the worst מכה- it says in שמות that בכורות was the worst?
1. בכורות was the worst in the eyes of פרעה , but by the מצריים, ברד was the worst because they didn’t have any food to eat and one dies when they have no food.
2. ברד is the worst of all up until now, but בכורות is worse than all the other מכות. ברד is שקולה כנגד כל המכות- שעברו.
מהרש''ל בכורות has to be the worst מכה because פרעה sent out ב''י after בכורות. He only sent them out when he couldn’t handle it anymore.
בכורות is שקולה כנגד כל המכות, so why is it here? What’s the connection? After דבר, when all the animals died, פרעה thought that he was going to be next. By שחין, he saw that he didn’t die so he thought that he was getting away scot free, without punishment, and that ה' couldn’t kill him. ה' said that he could punish him, and that he could’ve killed him by דבר. The time will come that ה' will kill him but it just didn’t happen yet because ה' is waiting for an opportunity to show him his יד.
ספורנו -כי בפעם הזאת for the first six מכות there was no רושם. Here, there was an impression- ''אל לבך''. It caused harm because it ruined all the land, so there was no food for the animals to eat. This messed up the whole food chain. The impression was permanent because this מכה ruined the weather and the air. Now, they should’ve done תשובה because משה’s warning them. (הצמחים- טבועה, מזג אויר- ).
כלי יקר -כי בפעם... מגפתי It’s talking about בכורות. פרעה didn’t realize the greatness of בכורות because ''אינו דומה שמעי' לראי' '', so ה' brought ברד- destroyed all the first foods. This was a משל so that פרעה should understand the severity of בכורות. The צער was so great by ברד that פרעה said, ''חטאתי הפעם''. This shows that the first fruits are so חביב. The first-born are also so beloved. If you don’t pay attention to ברד, בכורות will come and it’ll go ''אל לבך''. If the צער of בכורים of the fruits was so great, קו''ח the בכורים of people.
אוה''ח -כל מגפתי through ברד, he’s going to pay attention to every other מכה and realize that it was from ה'. How so? פרעה thought that דם and צפרדע were through magic. By כינים, פרעה said, ''אצבע אלוקים היא''. They were granted an extra dosage of magic from ה'. By עד''ש, they didn’t really think it was from ה'- they thought it was natural. By ברד, fire came down from the sky, which is impossible. פרעה knew this and knew that it was from ה'. If ברד is from ה', then all the other מכות were also from ה'- אז לראשונות תתבונן.
פרעה believed this in his heart, but only for a second.
טו ותכחד- ואתה נְכְחַדְתָּ- נחרבת
רש''י כי עתה שלחתי את ידי- It says that ה' killed people by דבר, but He didn’t, so how could it be? He didn’t kill them, but He could have. ה' didn’t kill them because he wanted to show them how strong He was.
טז ואולם- אבל
Two reasons that ה' didn’t kill them:
1. ''בעבור הראתך את כחי''
2. ''ולמען ספר שמי בכל הארץ''
1. In שמות, it said that he didn’t know ה', so now ה' is letting him know who He is.
2. Everyone will see that if you don’t listen to ה', you’ll get an עונש- this will bring about a קדוש ה'.
ספורנו ה' didn’t kill פרעה so that:
1. He could do תשובה.
2. The rest of the world will do תשובה.
יז trampling - מםתולל- ל' מסילה, רומס
רש''י -עודך מסתולל בעמי אונקלוס says that it means כבישת. A מסילה is an אורח כבישא- a well trodden path. The words of the פסוק mean that you’re still trampling My nation.
It’s התפעל- when the פ הפועל is a ש,ש,ס, it gets switched with the ת of התפעל. Examples:
1. ''ויסתבל החגב''- from קוהלת. When a person is old, his legs will become so weary that it’s as if he’s carrying a heavy burden.
2. ''כי תשתרר עלינו''- דתן and אבירם said this to משה
ודברת- ואתה תְּדַבֵּר
אור החיים -בא אל פרעה Why does it say ''בא'' instead of ''לך''? Surrounding פרעה’s palace were guards. He also put lions and dogs. משה was scared that he would be killed. ה' is now commanding him to go without permission and not to be scared. ה' watched over him that nothing should happen to him. From where do we know that משה did indeed go without רשות? After מכת חשך, פרעה told משה- ''אל תוסיף לראות את פני''. פרעה should’ve told his servants to tell משה, but they didn’t have the כח to do so therefore פרעה had to tell משה himself. By the מכות at the water (דם, ערוב, ברד), it says ''לך''. There was no need to say ''בא'' because there were no guards or animals. So what’s the meaning of ''לך''? He should go now, even though it’s not דרך ארץ because פרעה is doing his צרכים.
שערי אהרן By the other מכות is says ''ואמרת'' and here it says ''ודברת''. Why does משה have to speak in a harsher way than usual?
1. מלבי''ם- it’s a לשון of וויכוח- arguing. By all the other מכות, פרעה had a choice even after the מכה started that if he would have regret it would help, therefore it says ''ואמרת''. But here, all the animals died in a split second. משה is speaking in a harsh manner now to get the message across to פרעה that regret would only help before.
2. שפתי כהן- by all the other מכות, פרעה had some measure of צער, for example by כינים, ''מחככים זב''. Here, it wasn’t directly applicable to him. ה' told משה to exaggerate the מכה and specify every detail. ה' told משה to cause him צער with his words until פרעה felt that it was applicable to him. משה was very specific so that it would cause פרעה pain:
a. ''בסוסים''- horses symbolize a king. If all the horses would die, then פרעה wouldn’t have a horse.
b. ''בחמרים''- most of the animals that were found in מצרים were donkeys.
c. ''בגמלים''- used to carry loads.
d. ''בבקר''- all their food was dependant on בקר because they plow.
e. ''צאן''- they got their milk, and that was how they made a living. They were also their ע''ז.
ב מאן- מסרב
ועודך- ואתה עדיין
רש''י -מחזיק בם means to grab, like ''והחזיקה במבושיו''.
אונקלוס מחזיק= מתקף. It’s a לשון of holding on strong.
רש''י ג -הנה יד ה' הוי' it’s הווה.
הווה עתיד עבר
( like עוֹשָה, רוֹצָה, רוֹעָה) הויָ' תהי' היתה
(העומד- הווה)
רמב''ן By ברד it says ''שלח העז את מקנך... הירא את דבר ה' הניס את מקנהו''. There were also animals by קריעת ים סוף. But didn’t all the animals die by מכת דבר? It says ''במקניך אשר בשדה''. It’s not an exclusive statement, just where מקנה are usually found, but he was also including the animals that were elsewhere- ''וימת כל מקנה''.
אוה''ח Only the מקנה that was in the field died- ''במקניך אשר בשדה''. When it says ''וימת כל מקנה'', it means all the animals that were in the field died.
ישוב סתירה ראי' שיטה מפרש
התרה אותם בהווה ''במקניך אשר בשדה'' ''וימת כל מקנה' כל- שדה, בית רמב''ן
כל= שנאמר בפסוק ''וימת כל מקנה' ''במקניך אשר בשדה'' רק בשדה אוה''ח
אבן עזרה Not everything died- ''במקניך אשר בשדה'', it’s just generally referring to מקנה. It says ''וימת כל מקנה', so how could it be that some was left during ברד? רובו ככלו. Proof: it says by ברד, ''את כל עשב השדה'' but we know that it couldn’t be everything, because by ארבה it says ''ואכל את יתר הפליטה''.
רמב''ן Why specifically here does it say a לשון of הבדלה?
1. The מצריים hated shepherds because they didn’t think that their gods needed to be watched. They put all the sheep and all the other מקנה together on the boundaries of the city to separate them. The animals from גושן were also right nearby and according to nature since all the animals were together they all should’ve died.
2. There was a contamination in the air and all should’ve died, but only the מצריים’s animals did.
ד והפלה- וה' יַפְלֶה- וה' יבדיל
ה וישם- ה' שָם
מועד- זמן קבוע
רשב''ם Why did ה' put a מועד? So that the מצריים shouldn’t have a פתחון פה and say that it was a plague.
מלבי''ם Since they could only do תשובה before the מכה, he let them know that they had till the next day.
אוה''ח -וישם ה' מועד לאמר since only the מקנה in the field died, he was giving them time to bring their animals inside. By ברד it said, ''שלח העז את מקניך'', but from where in the פסוק do we see a רמז here? ''לאמר''- but no one’s speaking! Tell the מצריים the מועד so that they’ll have time to bring their animals in.
מלבי''ם Why did he say ''ממחרת'' and not ''היום''? To them a chance to do תשובה. That day he gave the warning and the next day the מכה started.
אוה''ח ב''י were slaves, so from where did they have animals?
1. When יעקב and his sons came down to מצרים, they brought מקנה.
2. By דם, they:
a. Bartered water for animals.
b. Used the money they got from selling water and bought מקנה.
Which part of the פסוק does ''וממקנה ב''י...'' connect to? There were some מצריים who tried to be smart and sold the animals ''על שם'', but not in their hearts. These animals died- ''וימת...וממקנה ב''י'', but those that were really ב''י’s, ''וממקנה ב''י לא מת אחד''.
ז וישלח- והוא שָלַח
ויכבד- והוא כָּבַד
ספורנו You can’t say that anyone else did this נס besides for ה' because no one else can be מחיה or ממית. פרעה saw, but he didn’t want to be מתבונן, therefore he hardened his heart.
Why didn’t פרעה call to them?
1. שפתי כהן- it wasn’t applicable to him.
2. אור החיים- there was no פחד מות.
חזקוני Why was there no רושם? Because it was too late.
שערי אהרן It says ''עד אחד''- but one. By קריעת ים סוף it says that everyone was killed ''עד אחד''- but פרעה. We learn from here that one of the Jew’s animals died. Who’s animal died? The animal of the son of שלומית בת דברי. Now, פרעה had a פתחון פה- he thought that this son was a Jew because his mother was Jewish, but before the תורה was givin, it went according to the father. Really the פתחון פה had no validity.
מכ''מ-
1. כל יקר, ז- יז- when the שבטים came down, they were shepherds. The מצריים switched their jobs, making them into builders. ב''י’s animals now died because they had no one to care for them, therefore all the מצריים’s animals died.
2. -שערי אהרןThe מצריים forced ב''י to be their shepherds, therefore their animals died.
3. When the מצריים wanted to plow the field, they used people instead of animals because they didn’t want to wear out their animals. This is referred to in –תהלים ''על גבי חרשו חורשים האריכו למעניתם''.
4. ילקוט שמוני- ''אמר הקב''ה יבא דבר שממית ויפרע מצרים שירצו לאבד עומה המוסרת עצמה על יחוד שמי כמו שכתוב 'כי עליך הורגנו כל היום' '' .
עד''ש comes to prove השגחת ה':
1. ערוב- the animals only went to מצרים.
2. דבר- only the מצריים’s died.
3. שחין- was an עונש therefore there was no warning.
ח חפניכם- חפנים שלכם- קמץ יד
soot of furnace פיח כבשן-
לעיני- לעינים של, לפני
רש''י -פיח כבשן the thing that is blown from burnt coals from the furnace . פיח is a לשון of blowing- the wind blows and spreads it. (burning embers עוממים- .coalsגחלים- )
-וזרקו משה everything that is thrown with force is thrown with one hand. There were many נסים:
1. Had four fistfuls in one hand.
2. The dust went on the whole ארץ מצרים.
3. מלבי''ם- it went up to the sky. This was a נס because it’s something light.
ט ( אבק פיח ) dust אבק-
רש''י -לשחין פורח אבעבעות אונקלוס says לשחין סגי אבעבועין- the שחין sprouted blisters.
-שחין from the לשון of hot.
רמב''ן - והי'... מצרים how did everyone get שחין?
1. The שחין fell from the sky and everyone it touched got שחין. Those that were in the houses got it from the dust that was moved by the air. This caused blisters and boils on them because it was hot. There was a sandstorm- happened frequently in times of drought. ב''י have a קללה that if they don’t keep the תורה, it won’t rain water- there’ll be sandstorms which ruin the crops.
2. The little bit of אבק that was thrown up in the air contaminated the air and the מכה traveled by air.
י ''השמימה'' teaches us a נס- it went up to the sky.
רש''י -באדם ובבהמה how could it be that they had animals if everything died in מכת דבר? Only
the animals that were in the field died. פרעה had taken in his animals so none of them
died- ''ויקח שש מאות רחב בחור''.
יא מלבי''ם They couldn’t stand because of the pain of the מכה. The חרטמים couldn’t do it because there was no one to do it on.
רמב''ן -ולא... משה they were embarrassed when they got the שחין, and they never returned to פרעה’s palace. They only stayed in their houses because they were embarrassed to meet משה on the street.
רביינו בחיי In the beginning, they were considered great- חרטמי מצרים. As time went on, they went down in חשיבות. Now, they were so low that they didn’t return to the palace.
אור החיים פרעה didn’t get שחין. He didn’t send ב''י out because there was no פחד מות.
יב רמב''ן -ויחזק ה' את לב פרעה in the beginning, the magicians encouraged him. Now, they left him so he had no support.
Missing!!!
מכ''מ-
1. The מצרים made ב''י make hot things cold and cold things hot, so they got שחין which was both hot and cold.
2. ב''י got terribly sun burnt from working out in the field. The מצרים pushed them to work, so they got even more burnt.
3. ''אמר הקב''ה יבא דבר העולה מן הכבשן ויפרע ממצרים שבקשו לאבד עומה שמסרו את עצמם על יחוד שמי''
יג השכם- קום מוקדם
והתיצב- ואתה תְּנַצֵב
By מכת דם, it didn’t say a לשון of השכם. By ערוב it did say a לשון of השכם.
אוה''ח There are three commandments in this פסוק:
1. השכם- get up early.
2. והתיצב- you should stand strong and proud. משה was an ענו so ה' is telling him to stand straight and not with הכנעה because משה is the אלקים. It says ''התיצב לפני פרעה''. He should stand strong, but his heart should be lowered before ה'.
3. ואמרת
מדרש He didn’t go to the יאור because he didn’t want משה to meet him. He went somewhere else. ה' told משה, ''השכם בבוקר'', but it doesn’t say to the יאור.
יד רש''י -את כל מגפתי going to send one that’s equal to all of them in strength= בכורות.
ש''ח ו- you have to read it as בַּכּוּרוֹת- ripe. The ברד cracked the ripe things- hard hit by hard will crack. The unripe things didn’t crack because they were soft and just bent over then popped back up. Later on, by ברד, it says, ''והפשתה והשערה נכתה כי השערה אביב והפשתה גבעול'', therefore ברד is also known as בַּכּוּרוֹת.
How could ברד be the worst מכה- it says in שמות that בכורות was the worst?
1. בכורות was the worst in the eyes of פרעה , but by the מצריים, ברד was the worst because they didn’t have any food to eat and one dies when they have no food.
2. ברד is the worst of all up until now, but בכורות is worse than all the other מכות. ברד is שקולה כנגד כל המכות- שעברו.
מהרש''ל בכורות has to be the worst מכה because פרעה sent out ב''י after בכורות. He only sent them out when he couldn’t handle it anymore.
בכורות is שקולה כנגד כל המכות, so why is it here? What’s the connection? After דבר, when all the animals died, פרעה thought that he was going to be next. By שחין, he saw that he didn’t die so he thought that he was getting away scot free, without punishment, and that ה' couldn’t kill him. ה' said that he could punish him, and that he could’ve killed him by דבר. The time will come that ה' will kill him but it just didn’t happen yet because ה' is waiting for an opportunity to show him his יד.
ספורנו -כי בפעם הזאת for the first six מכות there was no רושם. Here, there was an impression- ''אל לבך''. It caused harm because it ruined all the land, so there was no food for the animals to eat. This messed up the whole food chain. The impression was permanent because this מכה ruined the weather and the air. Now, they should’ve done תשובה because משה’s warning them. (הצמחים- טבועה, מזג אויר- ).
כלי יקר -כי בפעם... מגפתי It’s talking about בכורות. פרעה didn’t realize the greatness of בכורות because ''אינו דומה שמעי' לראי' '', so ה' brought ברד- destroyed all the first foods. This was a משל so that פרעה should understand the severity of בכורות. The צער was so great by ברד that פרעה said, ''חטאתי הפעם''. This shows that the first fruits are so חביב. The first-born are also so beloved. If you don’t pay attention to ברד, בכורות will come and it’ll go ''אל לבך''. If the צער of בכורים of the fruits was so great, קו''ח the בכורים of people.
אוה''ח -כל מגפתי through ברד, he’s going to pay attention to every other מכה and realize that it was from ה'. How so? פרעה thought that דם and צפרדע were through magic. By כינים, פרעה said, ''אצבע אלוקים היא''. They were granted an extra dosage of magic from ה'. By עד''ש, they didn’t really think it was from ה'- they thought it was natural. By ברד, fire came down from the sky, which is impossible. פרעה knew this and knew that it was from ה'. If ברד is from ה', then all the other מכות were also from ה'- אז לראשונות תתבונן.
פרעה believed this in his heart, but only for a second.
טו ותכחד- ואתה נְכְחַדְתָּ- נחרבת
רש''י כי עתה שלחתי את ידי- It says that ה' killed people by דבר, but He didn’t, so how could it be? He didn’t kill them, but He could have. ה' didn’t kill them because he wanted to show them how strong He was.
טז ואולם- אבל
Two reasons that ה' didn’t kill them:
1. ''בעבור הראתך את כחי''
2. ''ולמען ספר שמי בכל הארץ''
1. In שמות, it said that he didn’t know ה', so now ה' is letting him know who He is.
2. Everyone will see that if you don’t listen to ה', you’ll get an עונש- this will bring about a קדוש ה'.
ספורנו ה' didn’t kill פרעה so that:
1. He could do תשובה.
2. The rest of the world will do תשובה.
יז trampling - מםתולל- ל' מסילה, רומס
רש''י -עודך מסתולל בעמי אונקלוס says that it means כבישת. A מסילה is an אורח כבישא- a well trodden path. The words of the פסוק mean that you’re still trampling My nation.
It’s התפעל- when the פ הפועל is a ש,ש,ס, it gets switched with the ת of התפעל. Examples:
1. ''ויסתבל החגב''- from קוהלת. When a person is old, his legs will become so weary that it’s as if he’s carrying a heavy burden.
2. ''כי תשתרר עלינו''- דתן and אבירם said this to משה
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