תרי עשר- יונה ג

ג מהלך שלשת ימים- was a three day walk from end to end.

אבן עזרא עיר גדולה לאלקים- ראי' that they were once upon a time יראי ה'.

רד''ק לאלקים- like הררי קל. When you put the name "קל" next to something, it means that it’s big.

ד עוד ארבעים יום...- this is the קריאה, "אשר אנכי דובר אליך".

How could a נביא ה' say something that won’t come true?
1. נבואה רעה could always be turned to good if you do תשובה.
2. רש''י- נהפכת- these words aren’t שקר. He didn’t say "נחרבת", he said "נהפכת"- has a dual meaning- if you do bad, there will be a physical overturn- "נחרבת". But if they do תשובה, then "נהפכת" is referring to אנשי ננוה- turn from bad to good.
3. מלבי''ם- עוד= 40,ארבעים= 80. 40+80= 120. יום can either mean a day or a year. In another 120 years after this ננוה was destroyed.

ה They believed יונה immediately.

רד''ק ויאמינו- the sailors testified about what happened and the people believed them and did תשובה.

ו מלך ננוה- was פרעה.

ז מטעם המלך- בעצת המלך

At that time, cattle were money. People were watching their פרנסה go down the drain. This was an incentive to do תשובה, because as long as they don’t do תשובה, they didn’t have פרנסה.

מ''צ בחזקה- with their whole heart.

ט מי יודע- any other עבירות that are on their hands.

מלבי''ם את מעשיהם- they did תשובה on חמס, but didn’t change their beliefs. This is a חלוקי דעות- some say that they did real תשובה.

י וינחם- this is חרטה.

תרי עשר- יונה ב

א designatedוימן-

רד''ק This fish was designated from ששת ימי בראשית to swallow יונה.

רש''י דג גדול- it was a male. יונה was standing very speciously in it and he didn’t daven. ה' hinted to the fish and it spit him into the mouth of an expecting fish. The מלבי''ם says that some fish have tens of thousands of eggs in them when expecting. He was oppressed there and he davened- we see in פסוק ב' that יונה is davening from a דגה.

"ואני אמרתי בשלוי בל אמוט לעולם"- when things were tranquil in my life, I felt that I will never move from this position. This is the same idea as what רש''י says- עמד בריוח ולא נתן לב להתפלל. We must be careful that when things are peaceful and ריוחדיק that we don’t forget about ה'.

"בצר לך ומצאןך... ושבת עד ה'"- the nature of a person is that when things are pressured and he has all kinds of צרות, he turns to ה'.

מלבי''ם וימן ה' דג גדול- why did ה' specifically choose this נס? ה' designated a very big fish to swallow יונה and it didn’t break his bones. It’s known that it is impossible to live in a fish for even one hour because a person needs fresh air from the outside. But since death was already decreed on יונה, it was considered like he was now born again and he was given the nature of an unborn fetus, that it can last for nine months without fresh air. This specific נס symbolized יונה’s rebirth.

רד''ק ממעי הדגה- the לשון of מ means מתוך. מתוך צרה he davened from deep within the fish. Other times where we see this:
1. ממעמקים
2. מן המצר

ויתפלל יונה- it was a tremendous נס that he was in the fish for three days and nights and he didn’t die. Another נס was that he wasn’t overcome with fright, but he remained with his דעת intact and he was able to daven. The רד''ק says that these two נסים were equally great, but the אברבנל says that the second נס was greater than the first.

מלבי'ם ויאמר קראתי- organizes the פסוקים in a beautiful way in order of the events that transpired.

הישועה הצרה
הדג בלע אותו
השליכוהו אל הים
הדגה בלעה אותו הדג פלט אותו לים
הדג(ה) פלט(ה) אותו ליבשה ממעי הדגה







אבן עזרא It is written in עבר, but some of it didn’t happen yet- any תפילה or ברכה of a נביא are considered like נבואה. Even though it’s not real נבואה, it’s as if it was נגזר להיות and is similar to נבואה, so it was written in עבר.

יונה was thrown into the water. He despaired that he was going to die. He was saved by a fish and he saw that ה' did a נס for him. He was then spit out of the fish, and he despaired again. He was in a צרה and he davened to ה'. He accepted upon himself to do what ה' said, and he was spit out. He then went to ננוה.

ד מצולה- עומק המים

מ''צ בלבב- means בחוזק because the heart is the strength of any human being.

מלבי''ם ונהר יסבבנו- why is it called a river? ים is water that stands still. נהר is מים המושכים. It was like a נהר- it was moving water. It went round and round like a whirlpool.

ותשליכני- You, ה', cast me over.

Waves are called:
1. משבריך- they break.
2. גליך- like a גלגל, they go round and round.

עלו עברו- at this point, he was sinking- he was under the waves.

נגרשתי- thought that he was being cast away physically and spiritually.

אך- but when the fish swallowed him, he realized that he would still be able to look at the היכל קדשיך.

ו His second צרה.

אפפוני- ל' אף. Went around him and threatened to choke him by coming into his nose.

תהום יסבבנו- physically, he was so deep down.

סוף חבוש לראשי- he had seaweed tied around his neck. We see from here that he was all the way at the bottom because seaweed is found at the bottom of the sea.

מלבי''ם ז לקצבי הרים- there are mountains so deep down below the water, and the water goes under them.

ברחי' בעדי לעולם- he thought that he was going to be locked out of the world forever.

"ותעלי" begins the second ישועה- the דגה swallowed him and he was raised up.

שחת- this can mean two things:
1. Grave, from dying.
2. גיהנום.

ח This is the third צרה.

בהתעטף- comes from ל' עטיפה- to wrap.

רד''ק אל היכל קדשיך- שמים.

מלבי''ם אל היכל קדשיך- בהמ''ק.

את ה' זכרתי-
1. I remembered to daven.
2. Do תשובה.
3. Promised that I will keep what ה' wants- going to ננוה.

ותבא אליך תפילתי אל היכל קדשיך- חז''ל say that יונה was in the water underneath הר ציון, which the בהמ''ק stands upon. "לקצבי הרים ירדתי''- referring to the בהמ''ק.

מלבי''ם ט משמרים- now that he accepted to go to ננוה and rebuke them like ה' wanted, he was comforting himself.
1. משמרים הבלי שוא...- talking about אנשי ננוה. They believe in ע''ז. Is it possible that they are going to leave חסדים- their ע''ז? ע''ז is called חסד because you do חסד with them- bring them all kinds of goodies. For sure they aren’t going to return from their ע''ז.
2. Even though they are going to do תשובה at this time, but at the end "חסדם יעזבו"- they are going to leave their good ways.

רש''י חסדם יעזבו- talking about the sailors. They left their bad ways and were נתגייר.

מלבי''ם י אזבחה לך בקול תודה- they must bring a קרבן תודה because this is one of the four reasons that you would have to:
1. ירדי ים
2. הולכי מדברות
3. Someone freed from jail.
4. Someone who was sick and was cured
I am going to do what I promised- go to ננוה. I was scared about what they were going to do to ב''י, that’s why I held myself back from going. I am still worried and I hope that ה' will save כ''י from their צרות.

מ''ד יא ויאמר- ה' made the fish’s heart want.

פרקי דרבי From when he did תשובה until he was spit out, the fish carried him 965 פרסעות. This פסוק- "לה' ויאמר... יונה"= 965.

ילקוט He went into the mouth of the fish like a person goes into the בה''כ. A בה''כ has very big doors- he was able to go into the fish’s mouth standing up. It is also compared to a בה''כ because יונה was going to end up davening in the fish. The two eyes were like windows- were like bright flashlights for יונה. ר' מאיר says that there was a gem in the stomach of the fish and it was like the sun at its fullest for יונה and he was able to see everything in the ים and תהומות. The fish told יונה, today is the day that I am supposed to be eaten by the לויתן. יונה said, bring me to the לויתן and I’ll save both of us. יונה went to the לויתן and said, I came to see where you live. Eventually, I’m going to come down, fish you out and make you into a סעודה for צדיקים. I am a part of כ''י and ברית of א''א. When the לויתן saw, he ran away two day worth. יונה said to the fish, I did you a favor- I saved you. Pay me back by showing me everything in the ים and תהומות. First he showed him a tremendous נחל of the ocean- "ונהר יסבבני" and the paths of the ים סוף- "סוף תבוש לראשי". He showed him where the waves come out of- "כל משבריך וגליך עלי עברו". He showed him the pillars of the world- "הארץ בריחיה בעדי לעולם" and he showed him שאול תחתית- "מבטן שאול שועתי". He showed him גיהנום- "ותעל משחת חיי" and he showed him היכל ה'- "לקצבי הרים". He showed him the אבן שתי' and בני קרח standing on it and davening. He was in the fish for three days and nights and he didn’t daven. ה' said, I expanded the fish so that he wouldn’t be in pain, but he didn’t daven. I’m going to put him into a pregnant fish with 365,000 x 10,000 fish in her. The גדה said to the דג that the נביא that’s inside of you is supposed to be inside of me now and if you don’t, I’ll swallow you. The דג said, how knows if what you’re saying is true? The דגה said that it’s true. He asked the לויתן and he said that it’s true. The דג said, when did this happen and the לויתן said within the last three hours.

אברבנל Nothing stands before תשובה- we see this from the fact that when יונה did תשובה, the fish carried him 965 פרסעות. When he decided to do תשובה, nothing stopped him- he took him back to ננוה.

הסטורי' 2

א''י-

א''י was conquered by the Ottomans in 1517. After the גאנים (1038), we don’t hear about a ישוב in א''י until about 200 years later- the רש משאנץ (aka איש ירושלים) came up to א''י with about 300 תלמידים. They ran there to escape the צרות of the Crusades.

Later on in the 1200s, the רמב''ן went up to א''י and found no מנין in ירושלים. The local Arabs used to bother the Jews. If the Ottomans were there to protect them, it was good for the Jews. Otherwise, they bothered them.

In the 1500s, many Jews flocked to א''י to places where there were settlements. They mainly settled in two places:
1. ירושלים- it was small. Why?
a. In the 1400s, there was an earthquake, therefore it was built up, but it was small.
b. ארבה
c. The Arabs lived there. They weren’t happy that the Jews moved it. The Turks liked the Jews, but they didn’t live there at that time. The Arabs oppressed them terribly.
d. There was tremendous poverty.
2. צפת- why did it thrive?
a. No earthquakes.
b. No locust.
c. They had a pasha watching over them, so the Arabs didn’t oppress them.
d. Weren’t poor-
i. It was a port city. It was the capital of the גליל because it was the crossroad of the port cities. There was a lot of business and they were able to make money.
ii. There were lush fields there:
1. Sheep
a. Wool→ yarn→ fabrics
b. Milk and by products
2. Olives→ oil→ soap and cosmetics.
e. It was a מקום קדוש- תנאים and אמוראים were buried there.

ירושלים-
1. רע''ב- ר' עובדי' מברטנורה (1440- 1516)- he was there to prepare א''י when the Ottomans would capture it. He came from Italy in 1488. What he found was a desert with only 4,000 families. In ירושלים there were only seventy. Things were terrible- they had to pay very high taxes and they had no ספרי תורה. He established a קהילה-
a. Shul
b. תקנות
c. Yeshiva
d. Collected money- he had connections with people in Italy so he had them send money.
At the time that he died, ירושלים was a thriving city.
The רע''ב wrote a פירוש on משניות. The רע''ב to משניות is like רש''י to תנ''ך. By the time he died, ירושלים was ready to be lived in- החזירה עטרה ליושנה.
2. רלב''ח- ר' לוי אבן חביב (1485- 1545)- as a little child in Portugal, he was forced to convert and his father saved him. He moved to Salonika. He finished his father’s ספר, the עין יעקב. When his father died, he moved to ירושלים. He devoted himself to building all of the aspects of the ישוב, financially, physically and spiritually. He became famous in the area of הלכה.
צפת-
1. ר' יעקב בירב (1475-1546)- he was from גולי ספרד, but he didn’t immediately come to צפת. First he went to Fez. At that time he was only eighteen, but they chose him to be the רב. At that time, Fez was one of the most distinguished ישובים. He went to other places until he finally came to צפת. Out of all of the great ת''ח that were there, he was chosen to be the רב.
He was most famous for חידוש הסמיכה- סמיכה started from משה ר'. He gave it to his תלמיד, יהושע- he ordained him as the next leader. In order for one to have סמיכה, he has to:
a. Be in א''י.
b. Has to be רבי to תלמיד.
This was up until the time of the Romans- 100 CE. Then, they made it אסור to give סמיכה. They said that if they were caught, the people and the whole city where the סמיכה was taking place would be punished. Story- ר' יהודה בן בבא saw that to form a ב''ד, people need סמיכה. He took five of his students to a mountain between two cities and gave them סמיכה. He was caught and killed, but his students safely got away. סמיכה continued on for 359 years, until כ''י spread out too much and it was lost. There was no longer a סנהדרין. Right before, הלל השני made the לוח so that we could know when ר''ח and יו''ט is.
ר' יעקב בירב wanted to renew סמיכה. He had an understanding that this was possible to do based on what the רמב''ם says:
a. If all of the ת''ח in א''י agree to it.
b. They give it to only one person. This person can then give it out to other people.
But he says that this needs more clarification. ר' יעקב בירב gathered all of the ת''ח in צפת and they all agreed, and decided that he should be the one to get the סמיכה. He wrote to the רלב''ח, who said that he doesn’t agree. The רלב''ח wrote to the רדב''ז- ר' דוד בן זמרי in מצרים. He agreed with the רלב''ח because:
a. Everyone in א''י had to agree, and the רלב''ח didn’t. Why not? Because the רמב''ם isn’t clear.
b. A decision like this must come out of ירושלים- "כי מציון תצא תורה ודבר ה' ירושלים".
This caused a terrible מחלוקת, and eventually ר' יעקב בירב had to leave צפת. However, he was buried there.
Three reasons that he wanted to renew סמיכה:
a. He felt that as the generations went on and spread out, there was a splintering in halachik decisions by different רבנים. He wanted one central ב''ד that could פסקין very important שאלות.
b. He wanted to prepare כ''י for משיח, because "ואשיבה שופטיך כבראשונה יועציך כבתחילה אחרי כן יקרא לך עיר הצדק קרי' נאמנה ציון במשפט תפדה ושבי' בצדקה"- by judging כ''י properly, they would be ready for משיח.
c. He was from גולי ספרד and so he knew their situation. He saw many אנוסים who came to settle in צפת but they were חייב כרת. The only way for them to do תשובה was with מלקות, which can only be done if there’s a סנהדרין. He had mercy on his brothers- he wanted them to have a complete כפרה.
In צפת, they felt that סמיכה was ok. There were about four rounds given over, and then it died out. A סנהדרין was never set up and they never gave מלקות. ר' יעקב בירב was forced to leave, and he went to דמשק.
סמיכה today is someone who becomes an expert in הלכה. He is tested by his רבי and gets סמיכה. If someone has a שאילה, they can ask him.
2. ר' יוסף קארו (1488- 1575)- he was known as:
a. מחבר
b. בית יוסף
c. מרן
His father was ר' אפרים קארו. He was born in Toledo, Spain. At the age of four, he had to leave Spain and he went to Portugal. Four year later, he had to leave and he went to Istanbul. He stayed in Istanbul until his father died. He was about thirty at that time. He then moved to Adrianople, which was on the Greek- Turkish border. He got married- his wife died, and he got remarried. He was a great ת''ח and learnt with ר' שלמה אלקביץ. Story- one שבועות night, they stayed up learning on תקון ליל שבועות. Suddenly, a בת קול came out and started telling them of the זכות of their learning and that they were מחזיר the crown ליושנה. It said that their learning is בית ה' and you shouldn’t stop. Also said that if they would have been a מנין, it would have been so much greater. The בת קול ended off by saying that it’s a good time to settle in א''י. This made a tremendous impact on ר' יוסף קארו and he ended up moving to צפת. He had a private מלאך that taught him תורה. He wrote the ספר מגיד מישרים- all that he learnt with the מלאך. The מלאך taught him תורה and מוסר. He wrote the בית יוסף and the שלחן ערוך. Why?

ג' עמודי הוראה- people that we lean on for הלכה. We פסקין like them.
a. רי''ף- ר' יצחק אלפסי- he had מנהגי ספרד. He was in the year 1000, which was 500 years after חתיחת הגמרא. He wrote a סכום הגמרא, in the order of the גמרא. He wrote the פסקי הלכה that are נוגע for today. He didn’t include the שקלא וטריא.
b. רמב''ם- ר' משה בן ממון- he was also from ספרד. He wrote משנה תורה יד חזקה- he put the גמרא into fourteen topics and also included הלכות that aren’t נוגע לזמן הזה.
c. רא''ש- ר' אשר בן יחיאל- he was a תלמיד of the מהר''ם. He was from אשכנז, but because of the terrible צרות he ran to Toledo, Spain. He was מסדר the הלכות of the גמרא from the ריף’s time up until himself 200 years later. He also brought in דברי ראשונים.
d. ר' יעקב בעל הטורים- he wrote the ארבע טורים- called the טור for short. He also codified the גמרא into four:
i. אורח חיים- day to day living.
ii. יורה דעה- אסור and היתר.
iii. חושן משפט- דיני ממנות.
iv. אבן העזר- marriage, woman…
But, he didn’t include the מקורות of where in the גמרא he found the הלכות. Also, he didn’t come to one פסק הלכה.
e. ר' יוסף קארו- he wrote:
i. בית יוסף- he both wrote this, and was called this. It’s a פירוש on the טור. He included the מקורות and came to a clear פסק הלכה. How? Generally, he would follow the majority. But sometimes he only followed the רמב''ם.
ii. שלחן ערוך- a shortened version of the בית יוסף. He only writes the פסק הלכה, he leaves out the שקלא וטריא.
כ''י had spread out and there was a split in מנהגים- אשכנז and ספרד. Two-thirds were in ספרד so most of the פסקי הלכה are ספרד. But they couldn’t be used for everything, because in some places אשכנז is different.
f. רמ''א- ר' משה איסרליש-
i. דרכי משה- anywhere in the בית יוסף that the הלכה is different for אשכנז, he wrote it.
ii. מפה- aka הגה- it’s the glosses on the side. This is written based on the שלחן ערוך. Now, all of כ''י is united and there is one ספר ofהלכה.
The מהר''א אבן לב had a ישיבה of sixty students and every student knew a different מסכתא by heart. So, whenever they had to find a מקור, that תלמיד would give it. They didn’t allow the בית יוסף into the ישיבה because that was a shortcut, an easy way out. One day, they were learning and couldn’t find the מקור. So they got the בית יוסף and they looked it up. They took it as a sign to allow the בית יוסף into their ישיבה.

There were three ר' יוסף s:
1. ר' יוסף קארו
2. מהר''א אבן לב
3. ר' יוסף טייטאצק
All three could have been the מחבר of the בית יוסף, but ר' יוסף קארו was chosen because of his extreme ענוה.

Why was he called the בית יוסף?
1. Just like the whole world was sustained from theבית of יוסף because he had food, so too everyone should be sustained from this ספר.
2. This ספר was his עמל so he hoped that it would be his בית in עוה''ב. The מלאך told him this, therefore he called it the בית יוסף.

This ספר was accepted by everyone. Even the רמ''א held ר' יוסף in high esteem and referred to him as "נשיא אלוקים אתה בתוכנו אשר מימיו אנו שותים" and it’s אסור to be ממרה the words of his mouth. Many גדולים held him in high esteem.

ר' יחזקאל אברמסקי was the chief rabbi in London and was once invited to a conference of “Jewish Scholars” but they weren’t of the same השקפה. He went and spoke about the שלחן ערוך. Another rabbi got up and said it’s obsolete and old fashioned, so how could you quote it? There was an uproar, so ר' יחזקאל tried to calm them down. He told them to take out papers and they should every detail that he says. He said a story of judgment and everyone wrote down the story, and it covered a lot. Then he showed them how concise it is in the בית יוסף- in three lines he was able to get everything down. So this shows the חכמה and תורה of specificallyר' יוסף – the fact that this was years ago show his greatness because he was able to consolidate it so much. They accepted his argument.

He spent twenty years writing the בית יוסף and seventeen years reviewing.

He took over as רב in צפת after ר' יעקב בירב.

The שלחן ערוך is divided into thirty sections so that you could finish it in a month. ר' יוסף was able to unite כ''י with one ספר. He died at about the age of eighty-seven.

3. ר' שלמה הלוי אלקביץ (1505- 1584)- he was born in Salonika and before he ended up in צפת he lived in Adrianople. Eventually, he moved to א''י and came up to צפת. He was one of the greatest מקובלים. He is most famous for his פיוט, "לכה דודי". He lived to an old age and learnt תורה בטהרה ובקדושה. He had many תלמידום. He was very beloved by כ''י.
There were local Arabs in צפת who were jealous of the Jews for having such a special leader. They plotted to do away with ר' שלמה הלוי. When he went for a walk in the hills of צפת, Achmad followed him and killed him. He buried him in his yard. The Yidden had no clue where ר' שלמה הלוי was. One day, when it wasn’t in season for trees to grow, a fig tree grew in Achmad’s yard- it was a sensation. The פשתן heard about it and came to check it out. He pressured Achmad to tell him the secret and he told him how ר' שלמה הלוי was buried under there. The Jews found out and reburied him and Achmad was hanged.
4. רמ''ק- ר' משה קורדובו (1522- 1570)- he learnt גמרא and הלכה from the בית יוסף. He learnt קבלה from his brother in law, ר' שלמה הלוי. He became one of the greatest מקובלים in צפת. He wrote two ספרים:
a. פרדס רמונים- it’s a ספר קבלה.
b. תומר דבורה- it’s a ספר מוסר and it’s arranged according to the י''ג מידות הרחמים.
He knew that he was going to die soon. He called in his תלמידים together and told them that he was going to die. He said that he has been told from שמים that one of them will open up his eyes to the light of קבלה. His way of learning will be different, but doesn’t conflict with his own. When I started teaching you תורת חן- חכמה נסתרת, the channels through which it comes down to the world were closed. People before this had a hard time understanding. They had to exert themselves very hard to understand the secrets of קבלה. When I die, these channels will open up and חכמים will understand much more easily. The man who I hinted to already grasp hidden secrets and he’ll teach them to you. His teaching will be greater than mine- accept what he says as the truth. Now, all of the תלמידים were confused- the person who they thought was going to be the רמ''ק’s successor didn’t fit the qualifications because he was not in the room at that time. They begged the רמ''ק to say, but he wouldn’t. The רמ''ק gave a sign- the person who will see an עמוד ענן on the top of the רמ''ק’s ארון, he’ll be the successor. He said goodbye to his תלמידים and died. Everyone came to his לוי', even the Arabs. By the הספד, they called up ר' יצחק מזרחי to speak. Everyone was wondering why him. After the לוי', the person who called up ר' יצחק explained why he did so- as I was burying him, ר' יצחק said that he’s not supposed to be buried there because there is an עמוד ענן and it didn’t stop there. The man understood that if he saw the עמוד ענן, he’s the successor and he should let him give a הספד. This man was the אריז''ל.
5. אריז''ל- ר' יצחק לורי' אשכנזי (1534- 1572)- he was called the ארי. Why?
a. אשכנזי ר' יצחק
b. אדונינו ר' יצחק
c. אמר ר' יצחק
d. He was an ארי- he was head and shoulders above the greatest people of his generation. The children of lions are called גור. His תלמידים were called גורי האריה.
He was born in ירושלים. His father was from אשכנז. His family came from Lorrain- that’s why they are called לורי'. His father died at a young age. His mother was not able to support the family, so she moved them to מצרים because she had a rich brother there- מרדכי פרנסיס. He recognized the ארי’s כוחות and gave him over to learn by the רדב''ז- he was the אב בית דין in אלכסנדרי'. He saw his כשרונות and יראת ה' so he assigned him a special רב- ר' בצלאל אשכנזי (a תלמיד of the רדב''ז). He wrote the ספר, שיטה מקובצת- a compilation of ראשונים on the גמרא in one ספר. The אריז''ל got married at the young age of fifteen- he married his own cousin. Eventually, the רדב''ז left מצרים and ר' בצלאל אשכנזי took over. He learnt with ר' בצלאל for a while until ר' בצלאל left to ירושלים.
The אריז''ל realized that to become the best person he could be, he must separate himself from הבלי עוה''ב. His uncle prepared a hut for him by the נילוס. ר' מרדכי brought him food and he learned intensely, only coming home for שבת. He had גלוי אליהו when he learnt there and he taught him זוהר (written by ר' שמעון בר יוחאי). At night, his נשמה went up to מתיבתא דרקיע. At the gates, they would ask him who he wanted to learn with. He told his תלמידים that he couldn’t record in eighty years what he learnt in one night.
One night, אליהו told him that it’s time for him to go to צפת and make his knowledge known. He was to teach it to ר' חיים ויטאל, and he would write it down and spread it to the world. There were those in צפת who didn’t accept him:
a. רדב''ז- he was living in ירושלים. He felt that the אריז''ל was much too young to be teaching the תלמידים of the רמ''ק. He sent the אריז''ל messages to wait, but he didn’t because the people wanted him and because אליהו said to. The רדב''ז decided to challenge the אריז''ל- he sent ר' בצלאל אשכנזי to “shlug him up” by asking very hard questions. ר' בצלאל came to the shiur and saw the רדב''ז sitting there in amazement. ר' בצלאל was also amazed. When the shiur was over, he went to go find the רדב''ז, but he wasn’t there. He went back to the רדב''ז and the רדב''ז said that he wasn’t at the shiur- realized that it was אליהו. The Villna Gaon says on this story "אשרי" three times:
i. אריז''ל- אליהו came to his shiur.
ii. רדב''ז- רדב''ז assumed his form.
iii. ר' בצלאל - he saw אליהו.
b. ר' חיים ויטאל- everyone thought that he was going to be the רמ''ק’s successor. He didn’t not hear the words of the רמ''ק because he wasn’t there when he died. He couldn’t accept that his friends were learning from the אריז''ל since he taught differently than the רמ''ק. So he didn’t seek the ארי out and the ארי didn’t seek him out. He knew that somehow he’d end up by him, but he wasn’t ready yet.
ר' חיים started having dreams to seek out the אריז''ל. One day he couldn’t resolve some difficulties in קבלה, so he fasted and davened to help him understand. Finally, his dream said that he should go to the אריז''ל and he will teach you. He decided to go see if he could help, then he would truly see his greatness. He came to צפת, and the אריז''ל was in the store he owned, bent over the accounting books. ר' חיים felt disgusted- how could someone involved in such גשמיות be such a great רבי? I should seek him out? So he turned to leave. The אריז''ל realized what was going on, so he said, what did you come to buy? ר' חיים said, I want the goods of עוה''ב and not עוה''ז. The אריז''ל said, I know what you want, and he told him his difficulty and solved it. The אריז''ל’s teachings were so great that he had to daven hard to be זוכה to understand. He became the תלמיד מובהק of the אריז''ל and his job was to write down the אריז''ל’s teachings in the ספר עץ חיים.
Someone went from Istanbul to צפת, and when he came back to Istanbul, he said that the אריז''ל knows everything about everyone. A רשע said, it’s not true, I’ll prove it. He traveled to צפת and on the way he stole horses, wasn’t מקפיד on כשרות, etc. One night, he was sitting with his wine and saying, l’chaim to the אריז''ל. At that moment, the אריז''ל was learning with his students and he smiled. When they asked why he said because he sees that a רשע is on his way to challenge him and he’s not going to succeed- when he comes bring him straight to me. The רשע came and told the אריז''ל that if he can tell him all of his חטאים, he’ll leave his bad ways and do תשובה. The אריז''ל sent everyone out of the room because he didn’t want to embarrass the man (just like יוסף) and he told him every עבירה he ever did. He broke down and begged for a כפרה and the אריז''ל helped him do תשובה. He came back to Istanbul a changed man.
The אריז''ל was able to see new גזירות that would happen. Story- he saw that צפת is going to have ארבה that are going to eat everything because there is a ת''ח who has no food, and no one is helping him. They sent him money. The אריז''ל said that ב''ד של מעלה annulled the decree. He saw the ארבה coming and then stop at the border of צפת. One time, the אריז''ל saw a plague coming because of a politician who exhorted people and took advantage. He decided to learn in order to annul the decree, but it didn’t help. The אריז''ל also got sick from this plague and he died at the age of thirty- eight. We only have two years of teaching from him. He was buried in צפת.
6. ר' חיים ויטאל- he was a תלמיד of the רמ''ק and everyone assumed that he would take over for him. He became the תלמיד מובהק of the אריז''ל. He wrote עץ חיים- קבלה. When he started learning with the אריז''ל, he didn’t understand and he had to fast. The אריז''ל took ר' חיים to the כנרת because they say that the באר מרים is there. He put a flask in and took some water out. He figured that since מרים lived in the דור דעה, the water would help. ר' חיים would write down what the אריז''ל said.
7. ר' ישראל נאגארה- he was one of the greatest מקובלים in צפת. He was a פיטן and put many of his פיוטים to music. Many became זמירות and songs which we have- much based on קבלה, for example "קה רבון...". He reminded the אריז''ל of דוד.
8. האלשיך הקדוש- ר' משה אלשיך- he was a תלמיד of ר' יוסף קארו and became a דין in צפת’s ב''ד. He gave a דרשה every שבת and wrote it into a ספר, "תורת משה"- because people can’t take notes on שבת and they might miss something. He wrote a פירוש on נ''ך called האלשיך הקדוש.
9. ר' אלעזר אזכר- he was a big ת''ח and מקובל. He is famous for composing the זמרה, ידיד נפש- speaks about דבקות to ה'. He also wrote ספר חרדים- about מצות. He set it up according to which מצוה is כנגד which אבר in the גוף.
10. ר' שמואל דיאוזידה- he was the תלמיד of the אריז''ל and ר' חיים ויטאל. He was a מקובל. He wrote a פירוש called מדרש שמואל on פרקי אבות. He was a great ת''ח and had great צדקות.

Up until the 1600s, צפת was having a golden age, thought it wasn’t officially a טור הזהב. But it came to an end. How? By the end of the 1500s, גולי ספרד were not coming in anymore. The population dwindled. Also, the sheep business dwindled and פרנסה decreased. Also, the sultans weren’t as strong in protecting the Jews at this point.

פולין-

This became a haven for Yidden, but primarily אזכנזים escaping the crusades.

For many years, there was no civilization in Poland. Even though they had people, they didn’t rise to greatness- because they had a cold climate and it was hard to get food. Then they discovered that potatoes grow in America, in cold, frozen soil. So they started to grow potatoes in Poland.

Germany was on its west and Russia was on its east. They were constantly fighting over it. At one point there was no Poland because Germany and Russia took it. They had the Carpathian Mountains on their south so the Ottoman Empire couldn’t take over. They had a lot of forests and transported lumber in water. The middle of Poland is flat land and is easy to take over. They had salt and coal mines.

Poland began with tribes and no civilization until the year 1000, when they had a king who accepted Christianity. So they remained Catholic. In the 12 and 1300s, they had feudalism and פריץ- landowners. They had people working for them- serfs. They were slaves who worked and had no life. At that point, Poland was the most advanced country. But it didn’t maintain this status- it didn’t continue to advance so it ended up backwards- they did not get rid of feudalism.

Poland became a center of תורה from the time of גזירות ת''ח and ת''ט, up until Nazism. Because they had a backwards existence, they were shielded from the גויים so they had an easy time learning תורה. The noblemen didn’t want to modernize the country because they like to have wealth and money, so they kept it that way. This allowed תורה to grow greatly. There were Yidden living in Poland from the 1100s- we know from קברים which have dates. Between the 13 and 1400s, the קהילה started growing. By the 1500s, there were 20-30,000 Yidden spread out between the different ישובים.

The peasants hated the Yidden because they didn’t work as serfs, they did their own thing. Some פריצים also hated them. Also the clergy hated them. But in the 1300s, the kings recognized the value of Yidden and protected them.
What type of jobs did they have?
1. Woodcutting- supervise chopping, transporting.
2. Innkeepers- also sold whiskey. The drunk גויים would bother them after they got drunk.
3. Tax collectors for noblemen- noblemen got mad if they didn’t get money and the peasants were mad to pay.
4. Money lending- this is a bad position to be in.
5. Small businesses
a. Peddlers
b. Farmers
c. Collected money- if had no money.
d. מגידים- some ת''ח gave דרשות.

The Yidden flourished in תורה, but in פרנסה it wasn’t so good. פולין - פה לין- the תורה came from אשכנז to be לן here in פולין. The Yidden were very sheltered from the גויים. They dressed like Yidden. They approached business only as a means for פרנסה, then came לימוד התורה. Yiddish began at this time. All שאלות were starting to be brought here to be answered.

The king protected them and invited them. When the Yidden were killed because of a false libel, the king found out and was horrified. So he wrote a letter that if a Jew is accused of killing a גויש'ע child, you need three Christian witnesses and three Jewish witnesses. And until then, the Jew is safe. If the prosecutor can’t bring witnesses, he’ll be punished.

The Jews had self government- they were in shtetels, where were קהילות, and they were in charge of everything. There was no גויש'ע government. The קהילה was even in charge of taxes. In charge of each קהילה was an organization, the ועד קהילה. On the ועד were:
1. עסקנים- many were businessmen who had time to give to the כלל.
2. רבנים

The head of the ועד was the ראש קהילה. The קהילה did the following:
1. Made ב''ד.
2. Supervised חנוך.
3. Organized גמ''חs- lending things without interest.
4. הכנסת אורחים
5. Medical matters
6. Ensuring that everyone had living quarters.
7. Regulated the marketplace.

Poland was divided into four parts. Each part had a ועד הארץ. The different קהילות were in the different parts. For any issue affecting the entire Poland, all the ועד הארץs made a ועד ארבע הארצות, and they met twice a year, in spring and fall in Lublin and Yaraslov (traded between the two). The ועד ארבע הארצות kept a diary of everything that was going on. They:
1. Were in charge of the tax collecting and distributing- this system lasted about 200 years.
2. Made תקנות for חזוק התורה.
3. They serves as ב''ד גדול.
4. They were עוסק in shidduchim.
5. שתדלנים- mediators between the Yidden and the king. Oneשתדלן was ר' שאול וואהל from the city of Brisk. He took no money for his work and taught his children to do the same.

1. ר' יעקב פולק (d. 1530)- he set up a מרכז התורה in Poland. He was responsible for making it a place of תורה from the 1500s until the Holocaust. He set up ישיבות in Poland with a method of פלפול. Some גדולים didn’t accept it. He had many תלמידים. His תלמיד מובהק was ר' שלום שכנא.
2. ר' שלום שכנא- he took over in Lublin. He also פסקיןed as ר' יעקב did, but since he had ענוה, they didn’t leave over their פסק הלכה in writing.
3. רמ''א- ר' משה איסרליש (1530-1572)- he was from the greatest פוסקים of his generation. He is compared by some to the רמב''ם. He wrote מפה on שלחן ערוך and also דרכי משה on the בית יוסף. He had a lot of צרות in his life. His father built a shul and it is still standing today- called the רמ''א shul. He died in ל''ג בעומר and people come to his קבר on ל''ג בעומר. It says on it "ממשה עד משה לא קם כמשה".

משלי- רעות

In order to acquire a friend who listens to you and cares for you, you must be that kind of friend.

What is the source of רעות? "ואהבת לרעיך כמוך אני ה'". What is the connection between the two halves of the פסוק? There were two friends who lived in the same city. ראובן was suspected of being a spy and they were going to kill him for his crime. ראובן asked the judge for permission to go home and tell his wife what was happening. שמעון agreed to stay in his place and receive the punishment if ראובן was not to return. On the day of the trial, ראובן had still not returned. שמעון was about to be killed in ראובן’s place and ראובן came back. שמעון said, kill me because I have no family. ראובן said, no kill me. They were arguing back and forth and the king said, no one will die, but I want to be a part of your friendship. ה' says, if you have a real friendship, I am a part.

מכתב מאליהו How can you become a friend? It is based on the ability to acquire and give. The word אהבה comes from the לשון of הב- giving. You must have the כח הנתינה- the ability to give. A person’s whole focus in this world must be to give to others. This מידה comes from ה'- הוא הכח העליון ממידות הקב''ה שהוא מרחם ומטיב ונותן בלי קבל דבר תמורה"- ה' is the ultimate נותן. He wanted to give, so He went through the whole trouble of making the world so that there could be people to be מטיב to. He wanted to give us the greatest opportunity to attain עוה''ב, so he created עוה''ז in a way where we can receive the greatest pleasure in עוה''ב. However, this is all a one-sided affair. We can’t give ה' anything because he is שלם- "אם צדקה מה תתן לו". ה' put in every person the desire to give. Our job is to fan it and escalate it so that it becomes a part of us and we are functioning with כח הנתינה.

We also have כח הנתילה- הוא אשר יתאוה האדם למשך עליו את כל הבא בתחומו כח אשר יקראוהו אהבת עצמו והוא שרש כל הרעות. אהבת עצמו is self interest and caring only for yourself. Most human beings have parts of us that give and parts of us that take. But our goal must be to escalate the הנתינה.

Examples of people who don’t do this:
1. Robber.
2. Dictators- the whole country is under his foot and they all do what is good for him.
3. Wanting something for nothing or finding subtle ways to get what you want for less.

People used to be much more altruistic. In the 80’s there was a big turn. We became the “me generation”. There was a רוח of people looking at things with an attitude of “what’s in it for me?” They did a study of New Year’s resolutions of young girls:
1980s- I’ll be more kind and giving.
1990s- I’ll stick to my diet.

Is it actually possible to give something, but it’s actually stemming from כח הנתילה? Yes. Story- a man became part of the zoological society so people would see how caring he is and want to do business with him. Is it possible to take, but it’s actually coming from כח הנתינה? Yes, for example eating someone’s cookies even though you don’t want to so that they aren’t insulted. What establishes if something is הנתינה or הנתילה? Your inner intentions.
Is there room in business for a person to a נותן or is it all הנתילה? This too, depends on the intentions. If you give a bonus to someone, is it to show appreciation or is it to get them to work harder?

מכתב מאליהו Gives an example of someone in a pure business situation that had כח הנתינה: חנוך. חז''ל tell us that people who lived in those days lived for two or three hundred years. It says, "ויתהלך חנוך את האלקים ואנני"- he lived in such a corrupt generation. What did he do to become such a great צדיק? He was a shoemaker and with every stitch, הי' מיחד יחודים לקונו. ר' סלנתר- how could it be that someone is serving ה' if he is doing his work? With every stitch he thought- I’ll be careful to make the shoes so that they will be good and there will be no problems. He was with ה' because he was a נותן- he wanted that everyone should benefit and have הנאה from his work.

Sheet Do you love and then give, or give and then love? A חסידה is listed as an עוף טמאה. She’s called a חסידה because she does חסד for her friends. What is the חסרון? She does חסד with her friends. It is very important to do חסד with your friends, but you must realize that there’s a מקום for חסד even with those who aren’t your friends. You must have the ability to go beyond your group of friends. How do you get there? A person must pay attention- when you give to someone, you love him- you have a connection with him. Someone you feel like a stranger towards, it’s because you don’t give to him. When you give, you’ll feel a connection.

Ultimate friendship- with your husband. Your entire עוה''ב is built on this friendship. This love is a special kind of love and it needs analysis- if you have the source, you can build on it better. People say that this love comes from הכרת הטוב- you are both helping each other and you have הכרת הטוב for each other and this is the יסוד of this רעות. But this is not the יסוד- there are many people who don’t have הכרת הטוב and are still happily married.

The יסוד is: this love comes from the fact that they are משלים each other. A man can never reach his שלמות without a woman. As long as a man is not married, he is חסר because he is not fulfilling his תפקיד. By being married, a couple is giving the other partner an opportunity to be שלם. When you give, you love and when you love you give more, and then you love more… שלמות= to be ממעלה תפקידו. A man needs a wife at his side to accomplish specific תפקידים. A woman’s שלמות comes from being an עזר כנגדו. She’ll get satisfaction from staying in her home because she is doing her תפקיד- taking care of her husband.

Part of השלמה: sometimes, people are so different, but they help each other work on their differences. When we see these opportunities, we must have certain tolerance. ר' פרדה used to teach his student the material 400 times. One time, the student still didn’t understand, so he taught him another 400 times. A בת קול came out and he got a big שכר. Why didn’t he just get a new תלמיד? This was his מוסר. It taught him to be a סבלן. It’s crucial in life to be patient and accept people for both their good and their bad. This is נתינה. Our עבודה is to stretch ourselves further and see the מעלות in other people.

Many times in the world out there, we see things fall apart. Why? By nature, most people are takers, unless they have worked on themselves. When a person first gets married, the first step is נתינה and then אהבה. But after a while, it dies down and they revert back to their natural mode of being נוטלים, and they don’t even notice this change. In place of both giving to each other, they now expect things from each other. We see this blatantly in the secular world, but we must know that it exists in our world too. An עצה to all married couples: the way you were when you started out- wanting to give to each other, is the way you must be. But when you start demanding things from each other, that’s when it gets rocky. Asking from each other doesn’t mean asking for help. It means demanding, like “you owe me”. ר' חיים שמולוויץ- חז''ל define roles:
1. Husband- "...ולכבדה יותר מגופו".
2. Wife- "איזה אשה כשרה העושה רצון בעלו".
Each one should remember their role on their own. But when they start reminding each other of their roles, it won’t be good.

What is the biggest preventer of being a good friend? Being self centered.

יח:א לתאוה יבקש- מי יבקש תאוותיו
נפרד- יהי' מובדל מאחרים
will be revealedיתגלע= יתגלה-

גר''א יתגלע- when this word is written with an ע, it means to have a stronger clarity.

ר' יונה Someone who is self centered won’t be מותר for his friends. People won’t like him and he’ll find himself alone. תושי' is a לשון of תורה. He’ll speak about his תאוות even to אנשי תושי'-
1. ת''ח- he’s not embarrassed to show his true colors in front of them. Usually, people behave on their best behavior before a ת''ח. But this person is blinded by his wants and doesn’t see past himself, so he acts inappropriately.
2. A person who wants to be the head, in every ענין of חכמה, even if he doesn’t know, he has to be the head.

אבן המלך תושי'-
3. With the whole תורה his בושה will be revealed, because in some way he is negating the תורה, as it says, "ואהבת לרעיך כמוך זה כלל גדול בתורה". So, if you don’t keep באל''ח, you’re not completely being מקיים the תורה. Why?








Sheet 1 If a person lacks באל''ח, he also lacks באל''מ. Why? Because if you don’t feel love for someone with a צלם אלוקים, you don’t feel love for the creator of the צלם אלוקים. משל- someone says that paintings aren’t good. Really, what he is saying is that the artist isn’t good. He lacks an appreciation for art. נמשל- by lacking appreciation for ה'’s בריאה, you are really saying that you don’t like ה'. If a person isn’t used to being מותר, he’s fooling himself if he thinks that he is going to be מותר for ה'. By putting others before yourself, you will be successful when the choice is your רצון vs. the רצון ה'.

What does it mean to be a good friend?

כז:ט שמן- שמן שיש לו ריח טוב
קטרת- עוד ענין של ריחות טובות
ישמח לב- ישמח לב של כל אחד

רש''י שמן קטורת- a king uses this oil because it smells good.
Good smells give a person a good feeling. We know this from בשמים- we want that out נשמה יתרה should to up with a good smell.

מכתב מאליהו There is a big ענין to go out on מצש''ק because the נשמה is looking for something to hold onto.

מ''ד ישמח- שמן and קטרת are משמחים the לב.

ומתק- the good feeling that you get from the smell is like the good feeling of when a good friend gives you an עצת נפש.

רש''י ומתק רעה מעצת נפש- מתק= להתיעץ. It’s sometimes better to get an עצה from another, objective party.







ר' דיתקינד There was a שחט and people didn’t like his כשרות standards. They went to ר' דיתקינד - he suggested they get him an invite from a different city and he’ll move. They did exactly this. The שחט didn’t know if he should move, so he went to ר' דיתקינד. ר' דיתקינד told him so stay. The people were very confused. ר' דיתקינד said, I have to give every person the best עצה for them.

רעהו can be referring to ה' because he is the רעה הכי טוב.

רש''י ומתק רעה מעצת נפש- a person whose מעשים are מתוקים before ה' because he does the right things in the right way. This is better than going after his own רצונות. A person sometimes things that by doing the right thing he benefits in עוה''ב. This is true. But, he also feels good in this world.

יב:כה מ''ד דאגה- when a person worries, he should try and find a way to minimize how it looms. How could he do this? Put it into perspective. But it’s even better to be happy and say "גם זו לטובה".

גר''א "מחר תבכה מאשר היום תשחק"- sometimes, it seems to be dire now. But maybe later on down the line it’ll be a ישועה. Even if he doesn’t have the זכות to see it, it is really for the good.

מלבי''ם דאגה בלב איש ישחנה- different kinds of thoughts are hidden deep within a person until the person’s spirit brings into his heart and mind these thoughts. A person has the כח to allow or suppress these thoughts into his mind. One of these thought modes is the worry mode. He can worry about what is going to happen in the future and it’ll consume him. A rich man can be consumed with worry that maybe his house will be destroyed, maybe he’ll lose all of his money, his children will die… This person can always be worried, for nothing. When a person finds himself consumed with anxiety:
1. He must suppress it by הסך הדעת- distraction, often by doing something for others. So, ישיחנה= יורידנה. How? Through הסך הדעת.
2. Change the picture in his mind to a positive picture. This is a good idea because it usually works out ok. So ישמחנה- put a positive ציור in your mind.

Worry can be good because it makes you move. But only up until there. It shouldn’t consume him.

רש''י דאגה בלב איש ישחנה- ישחנה can also be written as יסחנה because of אותיות מתחלפות. It means to have הסך הדעת.

ישמחנה- be busy with תורה, be happy and not worried because "לולי תורתך...".

Sheet 4 When you have דברי תורה on your mind, it removes thoughts of חרב, רעב, שדות, זנות and יצה''ר. Whoever doesn’t have דברי תורה on their mind will have thoughts of חרב, רעב, שדות, זנות and יצה''ר. ח''ח says that woman should learn- it’s a מצוה to fill their minds with תורהדיק thoughts in order to combat other thoughts.

רש''י ישמחנה- he should speak about this with other people and his friends will give him נחמה and relieve him of his worry.


ישמחנה ישחנה
ע''י גם זו לטובה ימעיטנה מ''ד
ע''י ציור טוב לעומת ציור הרע יורידנה ע''י הסך הדעת מלבי''ם
ע''י דברי תורה יסיחנה מדעתו רש''י
וחברו ינחמנו- ישמח את לבו ישחנה לאחרים









מכתב מאליהו People were created in such a way that the mechanism of talking things out minimizes the worry even before he gets a נחמה. Story- ר' שמחה זייתל זיו felt a רגש of קדושה and didn’t speak about it for twenty-five years because speaking lessens the intensity.

כז:יז ברזל בברזל- ברזל ע''י ברזל שני
יחד- ל' יחדד- יתחדד
איש יחד- איש אחד יתחדד

מ''ד ברזל-like one ברזל used to sharpen the other ברזל, so too when two ת''ח learn together, one sharpens the other.

ר' הירש Can also be referring to two friends discussing השקפה and deep מחשבות- they sharpen each other’s minds. Good friends can help each other grow if they about the right things.

יד:י לב יודע- לב האדם בעצמו יודע
מרת נפשו- צרות נפשו
ובשמחתו- ובשעת השמחה שלו
לא יתערב זר- איש זר לא יקח חלק

מ''ד לב יודע- the heart of a person who learns תורה, only he can feel the צער of learning. And at the time that he gets his שכר, no one else gets a חלק.

לימוד תורה is meant to be a געשמעק experience. Sometimes it is hard, and one must fight laziness or difficulty in understanding. As a woman, we must encourage our sons and husbands to learn.

רש''י לב יודע מרת נפשו- this is talking about כ''י in גלות. They suffer greatly. But the שמחה they will get לעתיד לבא, the גויים won’t have a share.

מדרש This is referring to חנה. She suffered greatly, but when she got her ישועה, she had such a great feeling of שמחה that no one else was able to sense. She was even able to sing שירה, "עלץ לבי בה'...".

ר' הירש No matter how close you are to a friend, you don’t feel his pain. So if he doesn’t pull out of it, you must be patient because you don’t know how he feels. You might think you know what they’re going through, but there’s a place you don’t touch- you don’t have a right to tell someone that they shouldn’t feel what they’re feeling. A good friend stands with him through his pain and does whatever he could to help.

מאירי sheet This is an עצה for a person who’s in pain- he should prepare himself and strengthen himself against the pain. He should hide his צרה and not be מפרסם it all over his face. Why not? So he isn’t the “nebach”, the object of everyone’s pity. He should keep his dignity. But there seems to be a contradiction- it says in the פסוק, "ישחנה". He can talk about it to close people. But speaking about it too much isn’t good. "לב יודע..."- only your heart should know about your צער.

When a person is in a good מצב where things are good for him, he should also keep it low key. He shouldn’t flaunt it to everyone. Why? Because when it’s so public, there could be a reason for damage to happen- "אין הברכה מצוי'...".









ר' מילר A person should be like a miser who secretly counts his money. You should think about all of your ברכות, but keep it hidden. When we have a ברכה, we must use it as a tool to serve ה' in a positive way. When a person flaunts it and pains other people, it’s reevaluated in שמים if he’s using it the right way.

מכתב מאליהו The תקון for someone being jealous and causing עין הרע is to share with others.

יח:כד איש רעים- אדם שמקריב חברים
להתרועע- להתחבר עם חברים
ויש אהב- ויש חבר
דבק- יותר קרוב

מ''ד איש רעים- a person should be a friendly person. Why? Among those friends he’ll find a real friend who’ll be closer than a brother.

מלבי''ם איש רעים- a person who has a whole group of friends really has none. Because a real friendship is a relationship between two people. When there is a whole group of people, it isn’t an אהבה אמיתית. להתרועע- when it’s written in התפעל it comes to show מה שהוא מדמה- it’s as if he has a lot of friends. When there is a group together, it’s not real friends. But when it’s a one on one, together they can share an אהבה closer than brothers.

ר' הירש A person should be a חברותי. He should have a lot of friendlies. But you have to accept the idea that those that are on your wave length will be fewer.

Why do people sometimes feel that friends are closer than your sibling?
1. You live with them, so you have much more opportunity for conflict.
2. You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your relatives. "הנה מה טוב ומה נעים שבת אחים גם יחד"- the most beautiful thing is when your brother is close to you like a brother.

כ:ו רב אדם- רוב בני אדם
יקרא איש חסדו- איש קורא על החסד שלו
מי ימצא- איפו מוצאים את האיש כזה

מ''ד רב אדם- most people talk about all of the חסד they do, but don’t really do it. "ואיש אמונים מי ימצא"- rarely found. Most people don’t keep their word.

רש''י רב אדם יקרא איש חסדו- people promise friends that they will help them. But בשעת הצער, when they call for help from their friend, "ואיש אמונים מי ימצא"- they don’t come to help.

ר' יונה This פסוק speaks about גאוה- that a person announces the חסדים he does. What is wrong with this? מיכה boils down the מצוות into three parts:
1. עשות משפט
2. אהבת חסד
3. והצנע לכת עם ה' אלקיך- מ''ד says on these word that you should do מצוות in a quiet way, without publicity and not to glorify yourself through them. By doing it quietly, you show that you are only doing it למען ה'.

ר' יונה ואיש אמונים מי ימצא- a person who covers up his חסדים and צדקות, does it quietly.

A חסד that is done בצנעה, it’s לשמה. A מצוה is done so that you’ll so the רצון ה'. But when we do things for others, it defeats the purpose of the חסד.

Two points that are חסרונות in עניני חסד:
1. If you speak about the חסד, the recipient will be embarrassed.
2. מצוות that are done בצנעה are done למען ה'. This is much harder by a חסד though, because someone already saw it.

When you do a חסד for someone else, you must make sure that it’s about them and not about you. If you’re really doing it למען ה' and as a מצוה, you’ll want to do it like this. It shouldn’t be that you make the recipient lower and you raise yourself up. Doing a חסד shouldn’t be to feed into your גאוה.

טו:יז טוב- יותר טוב
ארחת ירק- סעודה של ירקות
ואהבה שם- יש שם אהבה
משר אבוס- שור מפוטם שהשמינו על האבוס
ושנאה בו- ויש שם חסר אהבה

מ''ד ארוחת- a סעודה of vegetables served in a place where they love him is better than eating a good piece of meat in a place where he is hated.

מדרש When שלמה was in גלות, a man recognized him and brought him home. He gave him a nice meal, but he spoke to שלמה in a way that made him sad. Then a poor man saw him and invited him in. He didn’t have much, but he gave him חזוק.

Sheet 3 ר' יוסף בן נחמאש connects this פסוק to a famous גמרא on כבוד אב ואם- a man can give his father פסיוני to eat and it’ll cause him to lose his share in עוה''ב. Another man can make his father work very hard on the grinding stones and he’ll be זוכה לחיי עוה''ב. רש''י says on this, a man will feed his father expensive meat. His father will ask how he can afford it and he’ll answer, “It’s none of your business. Chew and eat”. This not nice way of speaking will cause him to lose his share in עוה''ב. There was once an old miller who was drafted to go serve the king. The son said, “I’ll go in your place because the work is brutal. You continue your hard work and support the family”. This will bring him to עוה''ב. It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. This also applies to doing חסד- you must do it in the proper way.

כז:יט כמים פנים- מים שמראים פנים

מ''ד כמים- it’s the way of water that it reflects you face back at you. So to, this is the way of a person’s heart- if his heart is pleasant towards his friend, the feelings will be reflected back to him.

ר' חיים If a person has an enemy, he should try and feel real, true אהבה for this enemy and the enemy will turn to his אוהב.

מ''ד יא:יג מגלה סוד- you must reverse the words of the פסוק- a person who told over someone’s secret is likely going to be עובר on רכילות. And even if he himself doesn’t go back to the person, your friend has another friend… until it eventually gets back to the person.

ונאמן רוח- a person who is נאמן to ה' won’t repeat what was told to him, even when it wasn’t told as a secret.

ר' חיים צבי קץ “Don’t mention mentschen”- you should not speak about other people.

מלבי''ם הולך רכיל מגלה סוד- a בעל רכילות’s nature is going to be to reveal secrets. When you tell someone a secret, it’s like you’re giving him a פקדון. And just like a person doesn’t give a פקדון to someone non- trustworthy, also a secret. Also, someone who’s always repeating things, it’s the same nature that will reveal secrets. There’s another פסוק which says, "מגלה סוד הולך רכיל"- someone who reveals a secret, it’s his nature to be a בעל רכילות. Someone who is loyal to ה' hides things.

יז:ט מכסה פשע- מי שהוא מוחל על חטאים
מבקש אהבה- הוא מחפש שאהבה תמשיך כאן
ושונה בדבר- מי שחוזר על דבר
מפריד- מפריש
אלוף- אדם שר וחשוב

מ''ד מכסה- if a person hurts someone else and the person forgives, this is a reason for people to love him- because he is a forgiving person.

ושונה בדבר- but if you bear a grudge, you’re being עובר on "לא תקום ולא תטור". You must forgive and not bear a grudge. If you do have hard feelings in your heart, you can’t get rid of them, but you must try. Never act out because of this.

מאירי if your friend is loyal and a good friend, what do you do? מכסה פשע. But if ושונה בדבר- he repeatedly tries to hurt you, you must break off the friendship. This plays itself out in two ways:
1. Sometimes a friend is bringing you down ברוחניות- this is not ok. Ask for help.
2. Emotionally- sometimes, friends manipulate you or are emotionally taxing in a different way.

כה:טז דבש מצאת- אם מצאתך דבר מתוק
דיך- בשעור מוגבל
פן תשבענה- שמא תהי' שבע ממנה
והקאתו- אתה תתן את זה בחזרה

מ''ד דבש- if you find honey, eat just a little, just enough to satisfy you and restore your spirits. If you eat enough to satiation point, you will throw up everything, including the little good from the beginning.

יז הקר- תעשה קרי
מבית רעך- מהבית של החבר שלך
פן ישבעך- שמא יהי' שבע ממך
ושנאך- והוא ישנא אותך

מ''ד הוקר- make yourself rare in your friends house so that he doesn’t become “satisfied” from you. He’ll love you more if he sees you less frequently. Do not hold on too tight.

But what about between spouses? There is a special ברכה in marriage that this idea doesn’t apply. But sometimes, for example, a husband may need space- you must give it to him. Woman are usually more talkative than men so we must be careful not to crowd them. This ברכה doesn’t apply until marriage though. During the engagement period, there must be separation.

מאירי "ובדרך נסתר אמרו במדרשות רעך הוא אלוקיך ובדרש עוד אל תחטא תמיד שוגג להביא תמיד עולות..."- do not make yourself a frequent visitor of the בהמ''ק to bring a קרבן חטאת because you keep doing שגגות. Why does it matter if it’s a שוגג? It is a level of חטא because you didn’t think of הלכה. If you are someone who is a שגגת תמיד, it becomes like a זדון- "שגגת תמיד דומה לזדון". If you see that you are making mistakes, you must stop yourself "כי אין התנצלות בשגגה עד שיתמיד בה". It’s not just no big deal.

ר' סלומין ענין הולך רכיל- so many of us have tried to correct the area of לשון הרע. But with all of the efforts put into learning the הלכות, it seems to be out of proportion with the amount of הצלחה resulting. Because משיח didn’t come yet!

When one learns מוסר ספרים, he doesn’t usually come across the מידה of סקרנות- curiosity. It seems that so much damage has been done by people who are nosy. Why isn’t this dealt with in the ספרים? These are people who have to know what is going on everywhere and are busy giving unsolicited advice. They do lots of damage. So why don’t the ספרים speak about it?

We have a terrible problem which is more prevalent today- lack of confidentiality. People are so unreliable and don’t have the נאמנות to keep a secret. Those you could tell a secret to are few and far between. The ספרים also don’t deal with this, besides for the ספר ארחות חיים לרא''ש, which says "אל תהי להוט לדעת את הסתרים בין אדם לחבירו". But that’s it. Shouldn’t there be more stress on it?

Until I saw the רש''י on "לא תלך רכיל"- רש''י says that a רכיל are the people who go to their friend’s houses so that they could see what’s bad and publicize it. So mind your own business! It’s a לאו. Why do you need to know about other people and institutions? And don’t say, “I know but I won’t talk about it”. That’s impossible, and why do u want to know?

ח''ח if someone would go to a speech in order to criticize it, he is עובר on the לאו from the moment he walks in, as the של''ה says, "לא תלך" is the ענין of going to find out what’s happening. הולך רכיל מגלה סוד- such a person is very unreliable and you can’t trust him with a secret. The irresponsibility to keep a secret comes together with the יצה''ר to find out about everyone.

קנטרס הספקת If someone was given the opportunity to go to שמים and experience the קדושה and see what goes on and be taken from one place to another, he would have no pleasure unless he knew that he could come down and tell his friends. We do not enjoy any new thought unless we are able to tell it over. That’s how ה' made people because the תורה was given to us ללמד וללמד because any new idea that you reach about ה' or the תורה, He wants us to share it. So we have a great urge to tell it over to people. Every השגה that a mother has in עבודת ה' only comes to fruition when she transmits it to the next generation.
So we are inquisitive and we want to pass the results and findings of our inquisitiveness onward. If we use it correctly, ב''י will be built to perfection. But if we don’t use it correctly, we cause great damage.

So what is the עצה? We have to go back to our root. We need to reeducate ourselves. Our educator should be בלעם הרשע who understood the secret of our survival and how to destroy us. "וישא בלעם את עיניו וירא את ישראל שוכן בשכנו..." and he said the ברכה, "מה טובו אהליך יעקב". רש''י says that he saw every tribe separated from each other and that the openings of the tents didn’t face each other so that they could not see in. בלעם saw it that they did not want to look into the other’s tent, not that they didn’t want anyone to see into their own tent. They were חושד themselves, not others. They didn’t want to tempt themselves, they weren’t interested in knowing. This is the tactic that we must use. We must train ourselves not to look so that we won’t want to look or speak about others. It’s much harder to hold onto it after you already know. There’s also another benefit- not allowing outside influences into homes, not feeling like you must keep up with your neighbors, not being עובר on צניעות.

ה' made us this way for the sake of תורה.

CHEMISTRY

if you want notes, either leave a comment on this post with ur email address, or email me @ chumieller@optonline.net

Thanks!

Political Science- Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Federalism

Federalism- the division of power between the federal government (national) and the state government (regional).

The word federalism is not mentioned in the constitution, but the idea is clearly defined. The constitution discusses all different powers:
1. Delegated powers- expressed or enumerated powers- powers specifically given to the federal government in Article 1, Section 5 of the constitution:
a. Coin and print money.
b. Regulate trade- foreign and interstate.
c. Provide for army and navy
d. Declare war.
e. Establish courts- federal courts under the Supreme Court.
f. Conducts foreign relations.
g. Acquires land and admits new states.
h. Regulates immigration and naturalization.
i. Necessary and proper clause- they can make all laws that they feel are necessary and proper to fulfill their duties= elastic clause.
2. Implied powers- powers which you assume can be done because of the necessary and proper clause.
Inherent powers are powers that exist for the national government because they rule, for example deporting aliens.
3. Concurrent powers- powers that belong to both the state and federal government:
a. Levy taxes.
b. Borrow money.
c. Spend money for general welfare.
d. Protect the people’s safety and welfare.
e. Make and enforce laws.
f. Regulate and charter banks.
g. Establish courts.
4. Reserved powers- belong to the state. They aren’t denied to the state or obligated to the federal government.
a. Regulate intrastate trade- within the state.
b. Establish local government.
c. Establish public schools.
d. Administer state elections.
e. Regulate corporations.
f. Protect health and morals.
g. Licensing for professionals.

Advantages of federalism:
1. Encourages diversity- very good for a large area because it allows for different ideas to be heard.
2. Protects against tyranny- multiple layers of government protect against tyranny.
3. Increases participation- more involved in the government. There are about 86,000 government workers.
4. Improved efficiency- you now have decentralization and the many governments can work better.
5. Increases government responsiveness- competing governments are more aware and responsible of your needs.
6. Encourages policy innovation- encourages experimentation. It also inspires competition.
7. Manages conflict well- because it allows for diversity.

Disadvantages of federalism:
1. Obstructs national policy- every state is into their state and doesn’t focus on the federal government.
2. Allows for inequalities- every state can spend their money as they wish.
3. It’s very complex- there are many governments to deal with.
4. Duplication of functions.
5. Conflict of authority- it is hard to discern who to listen to.

Interstate relations-
1. Every state must sign the full faith and credit clause- will recognize laws and legal documents such as:
a. Driver’s license
b. Wills
c. Marriage license
2. Privileges and immunities- every state may not discriminate against the resident of another state. He can:
a. Drive through
b. Buy land
c. Enter into contracts
This does not apply to voting and regulating professions.
3. Extradition- must return a fugitive to the state which they ran from.
4. Interstate compacts- agreements between states.

Article 4 of the constitution lists guarantees to the states:
1. Representative form of government.
2. Protection from foreign invasion.
3. Protection against domestic violence within the country.
4. Boundaries will be protected.

Establishment of natural supremacy of the government-

Article 6 of the constitution has in it the supremacy clause- states that the constitution is supreme. This helps any conflict between the national and state governments.
1. McCulloch vs. Maryland- the supremacy of the federal government was pronounced. There was a federal bank in Maryland. The state of Maryland taxed the bank heavily. McCulloch, the head of the bank, didn’t want to pay the tax. In the state court, they ruled in favor of Maryland. But the federal government said that although nowhere in the constitution does it say that the federal government could have a bank, they were granted permission to tax, and under the elastic clause they’re allowed to make a place to store that money- banks. The state of Maryland may not tax this bank out of existence.
2. Gibbons vs. Ogden- the crux of the issue was whether the federal government controls interstate trade and if it has exclusive rights over interstate trade. New York State gave Aron Ogden the right to operate a ferry between New York and New Jersey. Meanwhile, Thomas Gibbons got a national government license to operate on these same waters. Ogden sued in the state court and won. But when it went to the Supreme Court, Marshall ruled that all commerce is business and the federal government has the right to regulate all interstate business. Today, the government uses the commerce clause very broadly- they regulate all kinds of economic activity.

Federalism today-

Since the founding of the USA, society has evolved and along with it federalism:
1. Dual federalism- the earliest federalism, from 1789- New Deal. Dual federalism is the idea that each part of federalism is supreme in their domain. This is nicknamed the layer cake.
2. Cooperative federalism- it started with the New Deal, when the federal government got much more involved. The state and the federal government worked together and they called it marble cake. The roles are intertwined and they work together to solve problems.
3. New federalism- during Nixon, Reagan and Bush they came up with the idea of backing up from cooperative federalism and giving the state more power. This is called devolution- transfer of power to political subunits. The national government under Obama specifically dictated how the stimulus money should be spent.
4. Fiscal federalism- the government’s method of controlling the states through money. There are many ways how the federal government influences the state through grants of money:
a. Grants-in-aid- money given to the states and local governments for specific projects.
b. Categorical grants- grants defined by law, such as school lunch programs. A lot of categorical grants demand matching funds- state has to pay as much as the federal government.
c. Block grants- a lump of money used for a broad topic. Block grants offer more freedom- it’s money without strong attached.
d. Revenue sharing grants- began under Johnson and continued under Nixon. This was real freedom- a lump of money that could be used for anything. It never exceeded two percent of revenue. It was eliminated under Reagan.
e. Mandates- requirements that are imposed by the federal government. Sometimes they’re funded and sometimes, they’re non-funded. In 1994, the federal government passed a law limiting the number of non-funded mandates.

Political Science- Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The National Judiciary

Jurisdiction- the authority of the court to hear a case. Under the constitution, federal courts have jurisdiction in cases that involve federal laws, treaties and the deep interpretation of the constitution. They also hear cases involving two states and the federal government versus a state.
1. Appellate jurisdiction- hearing cases on an appeal.
2. Original jurisdiction- cases that are heard the first time. Usually, the lower courts have original jurisdiction.
3. Concurrent jurisdiction- when certain types of cases can be heard in state courts or in federal courts.

Structure of courts-

The federal court system has two types of courts:
1. Constitutional courts- federal courts set up by the constitution in Article III- Supreme court and lower, federal courts.
2. Legislative courts- sometimes called special courts. They hear cases that come from the power given to the legislative branch in Article I- war, taxing… Legislative courts have a narrower range of authority.

Underneath the constitutional courts are:
1. District courts- created by the Judiciary act of 1789. They are trial courts on a federal level. Every state has at least one district court. Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico also have one. There are ninety-four district courts in total. District courts hear all cases involving the constitution and federal laws. Eighty percent of federal cases are heard in district courts.
2. Courts of appeal- Congress created courts of appeal in 1891 to help the Supreme Court. Up until 1891, the Supreme Court was hearing all appealed cases, therefore they created lower courts- courts of appeal. They hear appeals from the district courts. They also review decisions made by federal agencies. There are thirteen courts of appeal, so the entire nation is divided into thirteen circuits. The courts of appeal only have appellate jurisdiction. A panel of judges only decided the cases in a court of appeal.
3. Supreme Court- the only court created directly by the constitution. It’s the highest court in the federal judiciary system. It’s the final authority in dealing with all questions regarding the constitution, federal laws, treaties… The Supreme Court has both original and appellate jurisdiction. Most of the cases that the Supreme Court has are coming from district or appellate courts. There are also cases coming from state courts if the constitution or federal law is in debate. The Supreme Court also has original jurisdiction in cases involving foreign governments and representatives of foreign governments. In some cases where the state is a party, the Supreme Court can have original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court has a strong impact on political, economic and social forces in this country. Congress decides the side of the Supreme Court. The current size is nine members (it has been like this since 1869) - eight justices and one chief justice.

Judicial selection-

The president appoints federal judges with confirmation by the Senate. Under the constitution there are no formal qualifications for a judge. They serve during good behavior- if they behave, they serve for life. This allows them to be free of political pressure. They can be removed if they don’t behave by impeachment and conviction.

In the lower courts, the department of justice and the White House staff deal with most of the nominations. Senators of a particular state that is nominating the judge have senatorial courtesy- the Senator who represents his state is given courtesy to approve or disapprove the nominee. In courts of appeal, there is no senatorial courtesy because there are only thirteen circuits, so there would be too many senators to offer this courtesy to.

With regard to courts of appeal, when Senate has to approve justices, they scrutinize with a more critical eye.

Judicial selection for the Supreme Court-

Due to the importance of the Supreme Court, the president gives a lot of time and attention to nominating the judges. The president can only nominate someone to the Supreme Court if there is a vacancy. When considering a nomination, he takes many things into consideration:
1. Party affiliation.
2. Judicial philosophy.
3. Race, gender and religion.
4. Judicial experience.
5. Litmus test- tests your ideology- want to test your stand on hot issues.
6. Test acceptability- how you’ll be accepted by the Senate.
7. Contacts the American Bar Association- national organization of attorneys. Does this to help him understand the nominee.
8. Consults interest groups to see if they support or don’t support a nominee, and he can use their power to pressure the Senate.
9. Consults with other judges on the Supreme Court because it’s important that they get along with the nominee.

Almost all federal judges have some legal experience- lawyer, judge…

African Americans, Hispanics and woman were never heavily represented in the Supreme Court. LBJ appointed the first black judge to the Supreme Court- Thurgood Marshall. Ronald Reagan appointed the first woman in the 80’s- Sandra Day O’Connor.

How the Supreme Court works-

The term of the Supreme Court begins the first Monday in October and generally goes until June of the following year.

Thousands of cases are presented to the Supreme Court every year. Only a few hundred are actually heard. Most are denied- either because the Supreme Court agrees with the ruling or because they believe that it doesn’t discuss a significant point of law.

A case is represented to the Supreme Court in two ways:
1. Certificate- lower courts ask the Supreme Court about a specific procedure or law.
2. Writ of certiorari- when the Supreme Court directs the lower courts to send up the files of a lower case.

For a case to be accepted it must pass the rule of four- four of the nine judges must agree to hear the case. Many of the cases accepted are either ignored or disposed of in brief order because there was already a previous case that dealt with this specific situation. The justices must spend time researching the case. They have clerks that help them out. Then, they confer, research, confer, research… Throughout this whole process there is an informal vote going on.

Once the Supreme Court reaches a decision, they hand down their ruling in a written statement known as an opinion. Who writes up the opinion?
1. If the chief justice is part of the majority party, he either writes up the opinion or chooses who is going to do it.
2. If the chief justice is part of the minority party, the most senior member of the majority party either writes it or chooses someone to do it.

There are different kinds of opinions:
1. Majority opinion- there is a majority of justices who agree with the ruling and the reasons for the ruling.
2. Concurring opinion- agree with the ruling, but not with the reasons.
3. Dissenting opinion- judge who disagrees with the majority opinion.
The opinions of the Supreme Court are important because they set a precedent for the future.

Judicial philosophy:
1. Judicial activism- also called judicial intervention. This is heavy involvement. The courts are very involved in policy. Judicial activists believe in applying the constitution in all areas- social, political and economic, in particular where human rights have been violated or some condition exists.
2. Judicial restraint- feels the court doesn’t take the initiative on social and political issues. They should act strictly within the confines of the constitution. They feel that they should go along with what Congress does so long as it doesn’t violate a clear provision of the constitution.

Generally, judicial activists have a more liberal philosophy. Judicial restraint demands limited usage of judicial powers- they feel that they should allow the other branches of Congress to be stronger.

There have been many different types of courts:
1. Roger Taney- he was the chief justice during the Civil War era. He passed down certain rulings which helped bring about the Civil War, such as the Dred Scott decision. Also, during the war he approved of the broad powers that Lincoln took.
2. FDR- when FDR was president during the New Deal era, the courts were full of controversy. Congress passed New Deal laws and when the Supreme Court nixed some of them, Roosevelt wanted to change the court because they weren’t running along with him. He wanted to add judges to the court- Court Packing. Congress never agreed with Roosevelt on this. But, in his favor, chief justice Charles Evans Hughes and associate justice Owen Roberts switched how they were voting. It was a “switch in time to save nine”.
3. Warren court (1953- 1969)- considered the most activist court ever. Chief justice Earl Warren passed many civil rights rulings such as:
a. Brown vs. Board of Education
b. Gideon vs. Wainwright
c. Miranda vs. Arizona
4. Burger court (from 1969)- Warren Burger’s court was a drop more conservative than the Warren court with regard to the rights of the defendant:
a. Roe vs. Wade- permitted abortion.
b. USA vs. Richard Nixon- ruled that the president doesn’t have executive privileges over his tapes and he must hand them over.
c. Board of Regents of California vs. Allan Bakkey- ruled against the use of quotas, but they were for affirmative action- giving underprivileged children a head start.
5. William Rhenquist (1986- 2005)- from the most restrained of courts. This was the most conservative court in American history. They didn’t overturn any rulings, but they limited further liberal rulings. In another abortion case, Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, they didn’t overturn Roe vs. Wade.
6. Roberts court- John Roberts is the chief justice today and he continues the conservative movements.

Judicial activism vs. judicial restraint is argued until today. Some feel that it’s not in the court’s rights to get involved, but others feel that it is the court’s right to protect the people.