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The pasuk in this week's parsha states: " ויקרא אל משה וידבר ה' אליו מאהל מועד לאמר " - Hashem called to Moshe, and then Moshe entered to speak with Him. At the end of Parashat Pekudei, it says that Moshe was unable to enter the Ohel Mo'ed because the cloud of Hashem had descended upon it. However, in Parashat Mishpatim, it states that Moshe entered the cloud of Hashem at Har Sinai, which seems to indicate that he was able to enter. The Ohr HaChaim explains that in that instance, it first says " ויקרא אל משה " , meaning Hashem called Moshe in first. A person cannot simply enter a place where the Shechina resides. However, if Hashem calls the person in, then it becomes possible. That is why Parashat Vayikra begins with Hashem calling Moshe to enter the Ohel Mo'ed. What did Moshe do to merit this calling? The Shevet Mussar explains that Moshe did not contribute any donations toward the Mishkan, even though he was in charge of its construction. Specifically because he did not contribute, Moshe was chosen for this role—so that no one could ever claim personal credit for building Hashem's house. The Midrash states that the phrase " כאשר צוה ה' את משה " appears 18 times regarding the Mishkan. It gives a parable of a king who commanded his servant to build him a palace. On each part that the servant built, he wrote the name of the king—on the walls, on the pillars, on every detail of the palace. When the king entered and saw his name everywhere, he said: "My servant has honored me so much, and yet I am inside while he remains outside." Immediately, the king called his servant to enter the palace. Similarly, when Hashem instructed Moshe to construct the Mishkan, Moshe "wrote" on everything " כאשר צוה ה' את משה " . Hashem saw that Moshe had given Him all the honor, while he himself remained outside. In response, Hashem called Moshe inside. The phrase " כאשר צוה ה' את משה " reflects Moshe's complete self-nullification. He did not take any credit for his role; rather, he attributed everything to Hashem. Even though Moshe did not physically build the Mishkan, he stood by the workers, reminding them that their strength and talent came from Hashem. He even reminded Betzalel, despite his wisdom, not to lose focus and to recognize that all his abilities were granted by Hashem. The one who did not physically labor was the one invited in—because he gave Hashem the most honor. Humility, in which a person attributes everything to Hashem, brings Hashem honor. In turn, Hashem honors that person. The letter Aleph in Vayikra is small. The Gemara explains that in Moshe's humility, he wanted it to appear as Vayikar (without the Aleph ), implying that Hashem " ויקר -happened" to appear to him, rather than explicitly calling him. He wrote the Aleph small so it would not seem as though he was exceptionally deserving. In the end, Hashem used the extra ink from the small Aleph to make Moshe's face shine. Moshe's name is absent from the Haggadah because Yetziat Mitzrayim was meant to teach for all generations that Hashem alone controls the world. One of the reasons Moshe was chosen as the leader was because he was willing to remove himself from the story and give all credit to Hashem. His humility allowed him to gain immeasurably. Each day, we have the opportunity to serve Hashem in this way. The more we attribute everything we have and do to HaKadosh Baruch Hu , the more He rests His presence upon us. If we internalize that all success comes solely from Him, we truly honor Hashem—and in that merit, may He call us closer to Him. We all desire closeness with Hashem. The path to achieving it is through humility—by recognizing that everything we have and everything we accomplish is entirely from Him. Shabbat Shalom.

Ever wondered why the Torah begins discussing voluntary sacrifices before mandatory ones? Why sacrifice animals which symbolize extreme materialism—would it not make more sense to give Hashem something more spiritual? In this week's exploration of Parshas Vayikra, we uncover the mechanics behind korbanos and their deeper significance in our spiritual journey. Discover how every voluntary action creates a stronger bond with Hashem than obligatory deeds, and why this lesson is relevant even today when we unfortunately don't have the privilege of bringing korbanos. What can we do to make this world a better place? Join us as we reveal the spiritual buttons you're already pressing to bring the Shechina down to earth, and why the effects of your actions might be the most astonishing revelation awaiting you in Olam Haba.

Welcome to our Daily Bitachon class. Today's piece is about figuring out the right date and the right time for the seder. One might think it's from Rosh Hodesh because that was the first Mitzvah the Jewish people were told. החדש הזה לכם. This month is the month of the Jewish people, ראש חודש Rosh Hodesh Nissan. ראשון הוא לכל חודש השנה, the first interaction with God. And there is also the message of the moon, which is a powerful and important lesson of Bitachon. There is a famous story about Rav Chaim Shmulevitz. He once met a Holocaust survivor and asked, " How did you survive in the camps? What kept you connected to God? You had no siddur, you had no Tefilin….What did you have? " The survivor said, " There was one religious item that the Germans could not take away from us- the moon. We kept count of the days so knew when Rosh Hodesh was coming and we were able to say the blessing on the moon every single month. We looked up to the moon and we saw the moon get larger and smaller, but the moon remained. " That symbolizes the Jewish people, it waxes and wanes, but never disappears. We count to the moon, we don't count to the sun. The moon is all about Hodesh , which is Hadash/new and renewal . The Jewish people are resilient. They constantly renew themselves, just like some businesses that are successful for generations because they know how to renew themselves. Kodak didn't renew. Blackberry, Research in Motion, didn't renew. It seems that Apple is renewing itself. Samsung is having some struggles with AI. But the bottom line is, you need to have that ability called התחדשות and that's the Jewish ability. We are constantly renewing ourselves. We're still here. The goyim count to the sun. The sun's year is called שנה /Shana/year which is לשון שונה , which means to repeat something. ראשון, שני, the second time- it's just repetitious. The sun goes up, the sun goes down. You don't see any changes in the sun. It's the same basic cycle, whereas the moon renews itself. It gets bigger, and smaller, but it's always there. I once heard from Rav Moshe Shapiro that if you got up in the morning and the sun wasn't there, you'd know the world is over because the sun isn't there. If it's not there, it's over, because it doesn't have the ability to go up and go down. It's the same with the nations of the world that count by the sun. When they drop out, the Greeks, the Aztecs, the Romans, they don't come back again. But the Jewish people are like the moon. When the moon disappears, you don't say, " Oh no, the moon is gone!" No, it's coming back. It might have a little bit of a dip, or a little low, but it's going to come back strong. We saw that post Holocaust. People wondered what was going to be with the Jewish people. But we came back with a vengeance. The same thing happened with the Sephardic world in Israel. When they originally came, due to various challenges and struggles a lot of them lost their religion, but they came back with a vengeance. There are dozens or hundreds of Sephardic Yeshivot and Kollelim. They came back. Like the famous line of Hacham Ovadia, who wanted to Return the crown to its old ways. And they came back. The Jewish people don't disappear. And the power of Rosh Hodesh is such an important lesson that one might have thought the right time to say the whole Seder is not on the 15th of Nissan, but on Rosh Hodesh Nissan. Interestingly, it says, HaHodesh Ha zeh Lachem/ this month is yours. And in the Haggadah, it says Baavur Zeh / because of this, (which actually refers to Matzah and Maror something we can point to). Furthermore, the Mekubalim say that זה/this indicating something to point to, refers to the Shechina. Like it says, זה אלי ואנוהו, This is my God, and I will beautify Him. בעבור זה So when we point to the Matzah and Marror, at the Seder, the Shechina is there. And the same thing is true on Rosh Hodesh. We say in our blessing of the moon, that if the Jewish people only received the Shechina once a month, it would be enough. We say the blessing on the moon standing, because when you bless the moon, you see the Shechina. You see God's hand in nature. The moon gets bigger, and the moon gets smaller and that's the power of זה . החדש ה זה לכם, זה אלי ואנוהו . So one might have thought that this is the זה we're trying to get to- the revelation of the Shechina, the זה , that happens on Rosh Hodesh. But we're going to see from the pesukim that no. We are talking about the revelation of the זה / zeh / this that happens with the Matzah and the Marror, that the Shechina revealed itself on the night of Yetziat Mitzrayim , like the Hagaddah says, that God revealed Himself. It says, ובמורא גדול , we're going to say later on, with the great revelatio n, זו גילוי שכינה , We say in the piece of Matzah Zu לא הספיק בצקם של אבותינו להחמיץ, Their dough did not have the chance to rise, עד שנגלה עליהם, until it was revealed upon them, מלך מלכי המלכים, the great King Hashem . So there's a revelation on the night of the Seder. There's a revelation at Keriat Yam Suf, and there's a revelation that happens every single Rosh Hodesh. There is also a זה revelation in Shir HaShirim 2,8, where it says, הנה זה עומד אחר כתלנו, Behold this stands behind our walls, משגיח מן החלונות , supervising from the windows, מציץ , squinting , looking through, מנחרכים, the cracks . In the Midrash Raba Shir Hashirim 2,26, it says, What does it mean Hashem is standing behind the wall? Behind the Kotel HaMaravo of the Bet Hamikdash, that God swore would never be destroyed. The Midrash continues with an interesting line. The next pasuk says, ענה דודי ואמר לי, My beloved responded to me and said somethin g. And the same Midrash says, מה אמר לי, What did God say to me? החדש הזה לכם ראש/He said to me HaHodesh Ha zeh . It's quite clear from this midrash, there's a connection between הנה זה , the Shechina is still standing by the Kotel Hamaaravi , and HaHodesh Hazeh Lachem the month is still yours . Even in the Galut, even in the darkness, we still have the moon, that is telling us the Shechina is with us. And that's why we would have thought that יכול מראש חדש the Seder might have been on Rosh Hodesh

After the people in charge of building the Mishkan completed their work, they brought it to Moshe. The Torah relates: וירא משה את כל המלאכה והנה עשו אתה כאשר צוה ה' כן עשו ויברך אתם משה. Moshe saw all the work – and behold, they had done it as Hashem had commanded, so did they do it. Moshe blessed them . Rashi tells us what blessing Moshe gave the people. He said: יהי רצון שתשרה שכינה במעשה ידיכם – "May it be the will that the Shechinah shall reside in your handiwork." At first glance, this means that Moshe prayed that the Shechinah , the divine presence, should dwell in the Mishkan . This prayer seems very puzzling. After all, Hashem had stated very clearly when He first commanded the people to construct a Mishkan that He would dwell within it – ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם ("They shall make for Me a sanctuary, and I will then reside among them" – Shemot 25:8). Once Moshe saw that the people constructed the Mishkan properly, he should have known that the Shechinah would come to reside within it, because this is precisely what Hashem had promised. He did not need to pray for this to happen. Rashi's comments seem difficult also for another reason. Normally, when we offer a prayer that begins with the words יהי רצון ("May it be the will"), we explain that we are talking about Hashem's will. We add, יהי רצון מלפניך ה' אלוקינו ואלוקי אבותינו – "May it be the will before You, Hashem our G-d, and G-d of our forefathers," or something to this effect. In Moshe's prayer, however, as Rashi writes it, he simply said, יהי רצון , without specifying whose "will" this should be. The Ketav Sofer answers these two questions by presenting an entirely new reading of Rashi's comment. Moshe was not praying to Hashem, but was rather guiding and instructing the people. He was telling them that their will should be that the Shechina should reside among them. He was blessing them that מעשה ידיכם , everything they do, should be done with the hope of bringing Hashem into their lives. In everything they do, even their ordinary, mundane affairs, their primary goal and aspiration should be connecting to Hashem. If we would ask people what they think about Rabbis, and the role of a Rabbi, we would receive many different responses. At one extreme, some people think that Rabbis are perfect, infallible figures who speak absolute truth all the time, and cannot ever make mistakes or be challenged. On the opposite extreme, people dismiss Rabbis as charlatans, driven solely by personal agendas and politics. In the middle, we find people who view Rabbis as formal functionaries, whom they call when their child is getting married to perform the ceremony. Others think that a Rabbi's job is to provide halachic guidance, and no more. I believe that the insight of the Ketav Sofer shows us what a Rabbi is supposed to be, and why we all need a Rabbi to look up to and learn from. A real Rabbi is someone whose primary ambition is שתשרה שכינה במעשה ידיכם – to bring Hashem in their lives. A real Rabbi is someone who works very hard, and makes considerable personal sacrifices, to achieve this goal, to immerse himself in Torah study, to selflessly help other people, and to serve Hashem and the His beloved nation. This is what being a Rabbi means. It doesn't mean that he is perfect, that he never makes a mistake, that he never says the wrong thing, that he doesn't have an ego, that he does not struggle with the vices and temptations that all human beings struggle with. It just means that his primary goal, for which he invests a great deal of time and effort, and for which he makes a great deal of personal sacrifices, is to bring the Shechinah into his life, to connect with Hashem. He might occasionally err, but he is constantly striving for spiritual greatness, and this is his main ambition in life. And this is why we all need a Rabbi – to help us redirect our focus and attention. It is so easy in our world to lose sight of our purpose, to get distracted by materialism, to pursue vanity instead of what really matters. We all need someone who will set an example of the רצון שתשרה שכינה , the desire to connect with Hashem, to strive for something far greater than the ordinary, mundane things that we get bogged down with. This is the role model we should be looking for, and the role model that we need, so that in all מעשה ידיכם , in everything we do, we have our priorities straight and understand the purpose for which we were brought into the world.

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics:27 Adar What lessons do we learn from this day? Did the Rebbe say anything prior to this day preparing us for events to come? The chronology of this week's Torah portion and the following books of the Torah What is the central theme of this week's Torah chapter? Why is accountability so vital? What personal and global lessons does it offer us for our times? Why was a cloud descending on the Mishkan a sign of the Shechina's presence? How does Chassidus explain why the Parah Adumah purifies the impurity of death? And why does it impurify the pure? What is the source of your explanation on the progression of the four chapters? How do we apply Parshas HaChodesh to our lives today? Why is the period around Purim and Pesach connected to the obliteration of Amalek? Do we commemorate the erection of the Mishkan on Rosh Chodesh Nissan? Why are we not told to increase in joy in the month of Nissan? How do we prepare for Pesach thirty days before the holiday? Do our sages guarantee that the redemption will come in Nissan? How do we understand the statement that Moshe was the first redeemer and will be the last redeemer? Pekudei Parshas Parah/Four Parshios HaChodesh/Nissan/Pesach Would the Rebbe oppose the dismantling of the Department of Education? Is it appropriate for Rabbis to post political click-bait videos just to increase their views? Should we participate and vote in the upcoming World Zionist Congress election? Thank you for your programs 

In the beginning of Parashat Vayakhel, we read that Moshe assembled Beneh Yisrael and conveyed to them Hashem's command to observe the Shabbat. He singled out in particular the prohibition against kindling a fire on Shabbat: "Lo Teba'aru Esh Be'chol Moshebotechem Be'yom Ha'Shabbat" – "Do not kindle fire in all your residences on the day of Shabbat" (35:3). Different explanations have been given for why Moshe singled out this prohibition, which is but one of numerous restrictions by which we are bound on Shabbat. Rav Moshe Alshich (Sefat, 1508-1593) offers a unique interpretation of this verse, explaining that it speaks of kindling fire as part of the process of building the Mishkan. Moshe reiterated the command of Shabbat observance here as an introduction to the command to build the Mishkan, which appears immediately following this brief section regarding Shabbat. He was telling the people that although Hashem required them to build the Mishkan, the site of His residence among them, a project that was of paramount importance to the nation, nevertheless, this undertaking did not override the Shabbat prohibitions. Meaning, the work to build the Mishkan was to be suspended during Shabbat. Now the people might have wondered why this was the case. After all, once the Mishkan was built, sacrifices were offered there seven days a week, even on Shabbat, despite the fact that this entailed the suspension of several Shabbat prohibitions, such as slaughtering animals, and burning the various parts of the animal on the altar. We would have thus reasoned that if the service in the Mishkan was important enough to override the Shabbat restrictions, then the construction of the Mishkan, too, should warrant suspending these prohibitions, due to the singular importance of the service of Hashem in this site. Moshe responded to this question in this verse, by commanding, "Do not kindle fire in all your residences on the day of Shabbat." He emphasized that burning is forbidden on Shabbat in "your residences," and is allowed on Shabbat only in Hashem's "residence." Once the Mishkan was erected, it was considered the Almighty's residence, where the Shabbat laws were not binding. During the process of the Mishkan's construction, however, the Mishkan was not yet Hashem's residence. Until its completion, it was still considered the people's residence. As such, kindling fire was not allowed, even for the sake of building G-d's residence. It was only in the completed structure, once the Shechina (divine presence) descended and dwelled within it, that burning was permitted in the service of Hashem. Before that point, however, when the building site was still the people's residence, and not G-d's, burning was forbidden.

Tanya 20 Adar Cap 35 Parte 5 A shechina revela através das Mitsvot mesmo que alma animal não elevou

Tanya 15 Adar Cap 34 Parte 2 -Hospedar a Shechina através de Tzedaka.

**This week's essay is dedicated in memory of Rosa bat Shafia** Parashat Ki-Tisa begins by completing the Torah's discussion of the construction of the Mishkan. In the previous Parashiyot, we read of the building and its furnishings, as well as the special garments worn by the Kohanim and the procedure required for their consecration. The Torah now completes its discussion by presenting a number of additional laws, such as the mandatory annual half-shekel tax ("Mahasit Ha'shekel"), the washing basin at the entrance of the Mishkan (Kiyor), the Ketoret (incense), the anointing oil (Shemen Ha'mish'ha), and the designation of Besalel as the chief artisan who would oversee the project. Having concluded its discussion of the Mishkan, the Torah then speaks of Shabbat, and the strict prohibition against its desecration. Rashi (31:13) explains that the command of Shabbat appears here to indicate that the construction of the Mishkan did not override the Shabbat prohibitions. Hashem was telling the people that as important as it was to build the Mishkan, the place where the Shechina (divine presence) would reside, this project did not supersede the laws of Shabbat, and so the work was to be discontinued on Shabbat. The Klausenberger Rebbe (Rav Yekutiel Yehuda Halberstam, 1905-1994) finds specific significance in the juxtaposition between the command of Shabbat and the immediately preceding verses. Just before the command of Shabbat in our Parasha, Hashem instructs that Besalel should lead the project to construct the Mishkan, and He lists all the various items which Besalel and his team were responsible for making. Near the end this list we find "Bigdeh Ha'kodesh Le'Aharon Ahicha, Ve'et Bigdeh Banav Le'chahen" – the priestly garments (31:10). The juxtaposition between these verses, the Rebbe explained, alludes to the importance of Bigdeh Shabbat – the special garments to be worn on Shabbat. Just as the Kohanim were required to wear special garments when they served in the holiest place – the Mishkan – so must we all wear special garments on the holiest day, Shabbat. Our special Shabbat clothes are our "Bigdeh Kehuna," our "priestly garments," that we are obligated to wear in order to properly respect the sacred day of Shabbat. The Klausenberger Rebbe notes in this context the famous tradition (Talmud Yerushalmi, Ta'anit 1:1) that if the Jewish People would properly observe one Shabbat, we would then be worthy of Mashiah's arrival. The reason, the Rebbe explains, is based on a passage in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabba 65:16) in which Rabban Shimon Ben Gamliel extols the extraordinary lengths that Esav went to for the sake of honoring his father, Yishak Abinu. While Esav was, in general, sinful, he excelled in the area of Kibbud Ab (honoring his father). Rabban Shimon mentions that Esav would prepare food for his father, and would then change into his fine garments before serving him, so he would look respectable. He ensured to wear special clothing when serving his father in order to show honor and respect. By the same token, the Klausenberger Rebbe writes, on Shabbat, Hashem comes into our homes, and we are spending the day with Him. It is only fitting, then, that we wear special, fine clothing in His honor. The merit through which Esav's descendants have been able to succeed and prosper, and keep us in exile, is his outstanding devotion to Kibbud Ab, his showing great honor to his father. The way we end this exile, then, is by showing this same level of honor to Hashem – and we do this through our Bigdeh Shabbat, by dressing in honor of Shabbat the way Esav dressed in honor of his father. "Dressing down" has become the norm in our society. People are no longer encouraged to dress formally for work, or for other events. While this policy may have merit in the context of the workplace, we must ensure not to embrace it with regard to Shabbat. On Shabbat, we become like Kohanim, as we are in the Shechina's presence, like the Kohanim in the Bet Ha'mikdash. Thus, like the Kohanim, we are obliged to wear our "Bigdeh Kehuna," our special garments through which we show our honor and reverence for the Almighty.

Welcome to our Perek Shira class. Today's song is the song of אֵלִים שֶׁבַּשְּׁרָצִים ,the powerful strong rodents. And they say . אֶשְׁתְּךָ כְּגֶפֶן פֹּרִיָּה בְּיַרְכְּתֵי בֵיתֶךָ בָּנֶיךָ כִּשְׁתִלֵי זֵיתִים סָבִיב לְשֻׁלְחָנֶךָ: (תהילים קכח ג) Your wife is like a fruitful vine, on the side of your house. Your sons are like olive saplings around your table. (Tehilim 128,3) What do these rodents have to do with this healthy pregnancies and children? So to say? We go back to the Gemara in Masechet Sotah that tells us that in the merit of the righteous woman we left Mitzrayim. What did the righteous women do? They convinced their husbands to have children even in extenuating circumstances with all the challenges that went with being in Mitzrayim with all the back breaking labor. The sefer Kol Rina says that the husbands told their wives, I'm working hard. You are working hard. Who says that your pregnancy will be successful? What, are we doing here?" And the ladies told their husbands, אֶשְׁתְּךָ כְּגֶפֶן פֹּרִיָּה : Your wife is like a vineyard . The Midrash Raba in Shemot Raba perek 16 tells us that one who that sees grapes in a dream, his wife will not miscarry, as the Gemara in Berachot 47A says. So the wife was telling her husband, Don't worry, I'm like a vineyard where the grapes are attached to the cluster very strongly and they don't fall down. And when the husband said, How am I going to support them , his wife said, Don't worry, your sons are going to be like olive saps, as it says, one who sees an olive in his dream will have many children and these many children, סָבִיב לְשֻׁלְחָנֶךָ they will be like olive saplings around your large table. You'll have money to support them. Additionally , the term Sheratzim also refers to the Jewish wives in Mitzrayim (although rodent is a negative term), as it says וּבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל פָּר֧וּ וַֽיִּשְׁרְצ֛וּ וַיִּרְבּ֥וּ they multiplied like rodents, six at a time. So –although it doesn't sound nice to us , we're referring to the Jewish woman who had the strength to give birth to six at a time, like these rodents do, with very healthy offspring. Furthermore, the Midrash Raba says on the pasuk Shemot 31 וּבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל פָּר֧וּ וַֽיִּשְׁרְצ֛וּ וַיִּרְבּ֥וּ that there is a machloket among the Amoraim. One says, we're compared to the strong Sheratzim, which gives birth to six at a time. Others say it's to the smallest Sheratzim , that give birth to 60 at a time. Regardless, the point is that like little scorpions that come out as teeny little things, but yet strong and healthy, so too we're being told that even though they were six at one time, they were healthy. It wasn't like modern times, where if someone had sextuplets, they'd be weak. פָּר֧וּ וַֽיִּשְׁרְצ֛וּ וַיִּרְבּ֥וּ וַיַּֽעַצְמ֖וּ ׃ They were very strong. They're very powerful. The sefer Kenaf Rananim asks why it says אֶשְׁתְּךָ כְּגֶפֶן פֹּרִיָּה בְּיַרְכְּתֵי בֵיתֶךָ /she's all over the different sides of your house? Because sometimes when a lady many children, she's tired, she's in bed, she's too weak to take care of the household. But here, we're saying, No, she's all over the house. She's taking care of everything. Rabbenu Bachye adds beautiful thought on Bereshit 34,1 from Midrash Tanhuma on Vayishlach chapter six that says that when a lady is , אֶשְׁתְּךָ כְּגֶפֶן פֹּרִיָּה בְּיַרְכְּתֵי בֵיתֶךָ which means she's on the side of her house, she's inside, she's modest, she's sanua . She brings kapara because it uses the term yerech which is the side, and it says in Vayikra 1,11 yerech Hamizbe'ach-, so the lady who's a modest lady is like an altar that brings kapara and she will have children. The next term talks about the olive sprouts because the children will be fit to be anointed with the holy anointing oil, which is made out of olive oil. He continues on, to tell us that Masechet Yoma daf 47 describes the lady called the Kimchit who had seven sons that all became Kohanim Gedolim because of her tremendous modesty. And again, this goes back to the modest woman of Mitzrayim . It says none of them did anything improper. There was only one lady Shlomit bat Divri that was called out. All the other ladies were modest. And that's adds to the, the, the tremendous beracha that came upon the ladies of Mitzrayim and allowed them to raise these wonderful families. In their merit, we were saved from Mitzrayim. So again, this pasuk captures the greatness and the righteousness of the Jewish women at that time. And that is the strength of the rodents. The Chatam Sofer, in his commentary on Tehilim on this pasuk, adds something beautiful. And he says that a lady is compared to a vine because wine is easy. You put the wine in the barrel and you sit it and it develops. SO she'll have children easily, but raising children is not as easy. If you want to turn an olive into olive oil, you have to crush it and smash it and push it. It's not as easy to make olive oil from olives as it is to get wine from grapes (a little hinuch hint) And finally, a beautiful thought from the Midrash Shemuel in his commentary on Pirkei Avot 3,1 He's bothered by the word אֶשְׁתְּךָ which has a segol with three dots rather than the typical spelling of wife which is Ishtecha - with a hirik - which has one dot . He says that there are three partners in a person- a husband, wife and God. And so we put the three dots there to tell you that if you want to have a successful marriage, we need the Shechina to come down. He says, that's why it says כְּגֶפֶן פֹּרִיָּה It could have said porah. Why is there an extra Yud there? Because then פרעה jas a Yud and Heh and as we know, it says that when the Jewish people left Mitzrayim, God Himself testified on the kashrut of the Jewish people. If one would say, " Oh you Jewish people were in Egypt all those years, and you think your lineage is pure?" God testified, הַפָּלוֹי , all the names have a ה in the beginning and a י at the end , and they're called Shivteh Yah tribes of God , עדות לישראל the tribes of God. God came down and testified that, that they all proper couples. And that's why this pasuk specifically referring to those ladies, is Ishtecha not Eshtecha and Gefen Poriah, not Porah . Rashi brings down this point that Hashem testified to the fidelity of the Jewish people. (See Rashi in Bamidbar 26,5 and Tehilim 122,4)

Welcome to our humility series. I want to share a beautiful piece from the sefer Amud Avoda/Pillar of Service to Hashem, written by Rav Baruch of Kosov, a great Hasidic Rabbi, in his essay on Anava . He brings up a question based on the Gemara in Nedarim in 38A which says, Hashem only rests His Shechina on someone who is strong, smart, wealthy, and humble. The Rambam, in his commentary Shemonah Perakim , explains that smart means obviously someone wise in knowledge, and strong doesn't mean he has muscles, it means he overcomes his Yetzer Hara. And he says wealthy means that he's happy with less. The Rambam is obviously coming to answer the question that's asked by the Alshich, which is, " I understand why I need wisdom and humility. But why do I need wealth and strength (for the Shechina to dwell on me) ? He quotes this question from Maram Alshech in Vayikra 21,9 and his answer is, If a person is very weak and very poor and doesn't have any great speaking skills, am I going to say that this person is humble?? What does he have to be proud of? Conversely, if somebody is powerful, influential, wealthy and can do whatever he wants, and still he doesn't respond when he's insulted, that person can be referred to as humble. You need to first have the ability to stand up for yourself. Therefore, he says, in truth, humility is enough to bring Hashem's Shechina down on a person. As we've seen in the past, Moshe Rabbenu had the highest level of Nevuah because he was humble. But if a person is not smart, powerful and wealthy, there's no way for that humility to be expressed. True humility is when the person that has all of those qualities and realizes that the qualities that he has, he received from Hashem. As we know in all Middot, we emulate Hashem. The Gemara in Megila 31A says that Rav Yochanan says, Wherever you find God's greatness, there, you find His humility . The Gemara says this is said in the Torah, repeated in the Navi, and tripled in the Ketuvim . For example, the pasuk says, God is all powerful and He takes care of the widow and the orphan. So we talk about His greatness, and with that always comes His humility. Why is that the package? He explains that it's because that's the point. Humility is only humility when we first see the greatness. And only because God is so great and so powerful, is His humility that much greater. The greatest thing it says about Hashem, says the Tomar Devorah, is Mi El Kamocha/who is a God like You? Which means, Who is like God that is so powerful and yet holds back from letting out His anger . God should stop the world based on what's going on. But God tolerates, and the Tomar Devorah quotes that God has referred to as the God that takes insult. So God is so humble because He's so great. With this, the Noda B'Yehuda, in his second volume of Or HaChaim (siman כ )says, that's why we read in the Shacharit of YomKippurim , the Haftara of Yeshaya 57:15 that talks about God as כֹ֨ה אָמַ֜ר רָ֣ם וְנִשָּׂ֗א so says the High and the Lofty. And then it says, What do I look at? I look at the humble person. He says we read this on Yom Kippur because we want to say how great and powerful God is. And yet we ask Hashem, Please have that trait of humility. Yes, You can destroy and wipe us out, but have mercy. Take a little bit more insult (as if to say) and give us another good year. The Amud Avoda quotes a song called HaAderet V'Emuna, which goes through different qualities of God. One of the lines says, Strength and humility is to the God Who is the life of all worlds . Why the strength and humility packaged together? And again, it's the same point. The Amud Avoda goes on to explain another beautiful point: We say about Moshe Rabbenu two interesting things: first in Devarim 34 10, וְלֹא־קָ֨ם נָבִ֥יא ע֛וֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל כְּמֹשֶׁ֑ה There is no prophet that is like Moshe Rabbenu Then, in Bamidbar 12,3, it says וְהָאִ֥ישׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה עָנָ֣ו מְאֹ֑ד מִכֹּל֙ הָֽאָדָ֔ם Moshe was the most humble of people He says the two hinge on each other. Because Moshe Rabbenu was such a great prophet, his humility was true humility because he has so much to be proud of. And it goes both ways. Not only was he a great prophet because he was humble, but he was also the ultimate humble person because he was the greatest of prophets. He says it's a constant cycle. Moshe Rabbenu, because he recognized how great Hashem was, further humbled himself. The greater that he realized God was, the more humble he became himself. The more a person understands God, the more humble he becomes. So it ends up that something very counterintuitive is going on here. The people that have so many qualities- he's a hacham/wise he's gibbor/strong he's an ashir / wealthy- Yet he could be an Anav . Why? Because he realizes at the end of the day, these are all gifts from God. Beautiful. On the other hand, a person could be a Baal Ga'ava without having any qualities. What a paradox- the person that has all the qualities is humble, and the person without any qualities can be arrogant! There's a beautiful story told of the Chatam Sofer. A young man once came to him for advice, " How do I deal with my arrogance? How do I deal with my Ga'ava?" The Chatam Sofer replied, " Good question, please sit in my my room for a few minutes and I'll think of an answer for you." So the young man sat there watching, as people came to the Chatam Sofer with their questions. The first fellow said, " Rabbi, I need help. My daughter is of age. She needs to get married. I don't have any money for the wedding. I need a hundred thousand dollars ." The Chatam Sofer said, " Go ask that young man over there at the other end of the room. " So the man asked, and the young man answered, " I don't have any money. How can I help you?" The next man walked in with a very difficult, intricate halachic question. The Chatam Sofer again told him to go ask that young man at the other end of the room. So the man started asking the question and the boy said, " This is way too complex. I can't answer that question. " A third man walked in, looking for advice on a certain business challenge from the Chatam Sofer, who was brilliant, and had help from above. Again he said, " Ask that young boy at the other end of the room." And again, the boy said, " I don't know anything about business." After they left, the Chatam Sofer called the boy over and said, " Young man, you don't have money. You couldn't help that fellow. You don't really know that much Gemara, because you couldn't answer the question. You don't have much business acumen because you couldn't help that man either. What are you arrogant about?" And the answer is, like we've quoted from the Steipler, Arrogance doesn't make any sense. Middot don't necessarily make sense. It's just built into the person-whoever you are and whatever you have, you can become a Baal Ga'ava. Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz once said he was watching a garbage truck go by with a driver, and a guy standing on the back- to put the trash in. He heard the driver say, " Ha! I'm not the guy in the back putting the garbage in. I'm driving the garbage truck! " The Rabbi said to himself, That's what you're arrogant about? You're the driver of the garbage truck! He says, that's all you need. Arrogance can grab onto anything. So you can be arrogant with nothing and you could be humble with having everything in the world. It's an interesting way of looking at it.

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Welcome to our humility series. What was the reason Moshe Rabbenu was the greatest of prophets? What made him so special? The Nefesh HaChaim (gate 1, chapter 15) says that only Moshe Rabbenu merited that his full Neshama entered his body with all of its power and influence. That's why in Devarim 33:1, Moshe Rabbenu was called Ish HaElohim /a man of God. Rav Yaakov Hillel, in his commentary Nishmat HaYam on Nefesh HaChaim, connects this to what the Nefesh HaChaim writes in his third gate (chapters 13& 14), that Moshe Rabbenu stood out in the area of humility. It says in Bamidbar 12,3 וְהָאִ֥ישׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה עָנָ֣ו מְאֹ֑ד מִכֹּל֙ הָֽאָדָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ Moshe Rabbenu was the most humble of men. Furthermore, in Shemot 16,7 Moshe Rabbenu said about himself, ונחנו מה / What are we? Avraham Avinu said, I am dirt and dust , but even dirt and dust are something . It's not a lot, but it's something. However, Moshe Rabbenu said I am nothing . That's why, says Rav Yaakov Hillel, he was able to connect to Hashem on such a high level and reach such a high level of Holiness to the extent that the Shechina spoke through Moshe Rabbenu's throat, as it says, Moshe Rabbenu was different than all of the prophets . All other the prophets said Zeh Davar Hashem / this is the word of God. But Moshe Rabbenu said Ko Amar Hashem/ this is exactly what God says. It came from his throat as if God was talking through him. Why was this? Because he humbled himself to the extreme, and that humility purified his physicality to a point that no other person ever reached. Rav Chaim Volozhin, in his sefer Ruach Chaim Pirkei Avot (chapter 1, mishna 1) uses this to explain the Mishna that Moshe Kibel Torah M'Sinai/ Moshe accepted the Torah from Sinai in the zechut of his humility, more than any other prophet. That's why he was able to see with what's called a shiny window. Windows have different levels of clarity. Certain windows are tinted and you can't see through them well. The better or clearer the window, the better you can see through it. Since what separates us from God is our physicality, our holding of ourselves as a something (what's what we mean by physicality) interferes. But because Moshe's humility was so high, there was nothing to interfere with his connection to Hashem. The Baal Shem Tov has an interesting commentary on, אנכי עומד בין ה׳ וביניכם I am standing between you and your God. The simple meaning is that Moshe Rabbenu is the intermediary, but the Hasidim read it as, a person's Anochi , his egoism is what stands between him and God . Thus the interference between us and God is our egos. Since Moshe Rabbenu had no ego, there was no separation between him and God. This is a very interesting chiddush because the Rambam, in his Shmonei Perakim , where he talks about this concept of the clear glass and the unclear glass, says that every Middah creates an interference. And we see from here that the all/ powerful Middah that, so to say, cleans away all the dirt and grime from a person's soul, is the trait of humility. That was Moshe Rabbenu's greatness. The same Ruach HaChaim says that when it says, "Avraham, Avraham" in the Torah, there's a break between the two, like a line between the two Avrahams. But when is says Moshe Moshe , it doesn't have that. Why is that? Because one of the Avrahams is the Avraham down here, and the other Avraham is the Avraham above- the soul, or the source. His body and Neshama had some kind of separation, so there wasn't an exact connection (of course we talking about Avraham Avinu, so it was only the slightest little bit, but there was still some difference). Moshe Rabbenu reached even higher level. I saw in Rav Yisrael Eliyahu Weintraub's commentary on Nefesh HaChaim that he askshow we can make it sound like Moshe was greater than the Avot ? He explains that this is a concept we talked about before, of the Nanas/ the dwarf, Al Gaveh Anak standing on top of giants, which means Moshe (who, of course was not a dwarf) was building on what the Avot saw. The Avot were able to see Hashem. They used the term Elohim for Hashem. Rashi says, in the beginning of Vaera , that God appeared to the Avot with the name Elohim . But when He appeared to Moshe, it was with Hashem's Divine name of Yud and Heh and Vav and Heh . What's the difference? Elohim means God is in control of all forces. God's able to change nature. Avraham Avinu went into fire and the fire didn't burn him. That's changing nature. But Moshe Rabbenu was on a higher level. It was not like just changing the fire that it wouldn't burn. When he made the miracle of turning water into blood, and blood into water, that was a new creation. When God opened up the earth for Korach, it was a new creation. That higher level of there is no existence but God, which we call En Od Milevado, happened when Rabbenu gave us the Torah. Moshe Rabbenu reached that level and that connection, and his humility caused him to have that high level of understanding of God (Nefesh HaChaim Shaar 3,perek 13 where he discusses this difference between the two names of Hashem and how that impacted Moshe Rabbenu versus the Avot). Going back to our story of ego and I separating us from God, let's get more practical. We're not talking about levels of prophecy between us and Moshe and the Avot. Many political critics keep track of how many times a president or presidential candidate say I in their speeches. I did this and I did that. And I and I and I. That's the feeling of I am doing. That's the Anochi , the I , the ego . There's a beautiful to story told of Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi who eventually became the famous Baal HaTanya. He was studying under the Hasidish Rebbe Rav Dov Ber, who's known as the Maggid of Mezerich. Late one night, young Zalman knocked on his Rebbe's door to ask him a question. The Rebbe called out, " Who's there ?" And the young boy responded, " It's me ," confident that he would be recognized. The Rabbi repeated, " Who's there ?" and again, he said, " It's me." After the third time that the Rebbe asked Who's there ? the young student finally said, " It's Zalman." The Rebbe then opened the door and said, " My dear Zalman, the time has come for you to have a self-imposed exile. When you return, we will analyze your experience together." In those days, great people went into exile and for some reason, at this point, it was his time. So he went to a certain inn and that very night, thieves broke in and stole the silverware of the innkeeper. The next morning, the innkeeper was suspicious of this young stranger, Zalman, accused him of stealing the the silver and demanded that he confess. Zalman cried, "It was not me! It was not me!" The innkeeper grabbed him by the neck and accused him again. And again he cried, " It's not me, it's not me!" He then pulled himself out of the innkeeper's grip and fled back to Mezerich. He told the Maggid the story and the Maggid said, " This, my dear Zaman, is a lesson which you should never forget. Do you see how many times you were forced to shout, "Not me, not me?"That was in order to undo the effect of calling out proudly, "It's me!" Yes, of course this is the high level training of a great Hasidic Rebbe who eventually started a great dynasty. But the point for us is that the greater the person is, the less the I is there. Moshe Rabbenu did not possess an I and therefore he reached the greatest of levels. And the opposite, the greater the I, the bigger the interference between the person and God.

We continue with our series on humility. Rav Wolbe, his sefer Aleh Shor (vol 1 page 134) talks about the concept of ladders of self-improvement. We find this, he says, in sefer Mesilat Yesharim , where Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzato cites a Gemara in Avoda Zara 20B that says, Torah brings to one being careful and being careful brings you to alacrity and so on. The Hovot Halevavot has ten gates which are also a ladder of sorts. Another of the ladders Rav Wolbe cites is the letter of the Ramban, the famous Igeret HaRamban , which is also a ladder. He tells us that the ladder starts with talking softly. Talking softly brings you to staying away from anger, staying away from anger brings you to humility, humility brings you to fear of God. And Fear of God brings you to be happy in your lot. From there, you come to the Shechina dwelling on a person. Wonderful ladder of the Igeret HaRamban. Many might not appreciate Rav Wolbe's outlook of this as ladder of the Ramban. As we said, the ladder really starts from humility. So this is a beautiful concept, how humility is the first step. And of course, you can't jump right into humility, so we'll go through it more in depth. The first thing the Ramban says, in beautiful words, is to תִּתְנַהֵג תָּמִיד לְדַבֵּר כָּל דְּבָרֶיךָ בְּנַחַת, לְכָל אָדָם וּבְכָל עֵת Accustom yourself to speak gently. All your words, to all people, and at all times. There are lot of alls in there. I once learned that the Ramban is trying to tell us, There are no exceptions here. All your words means every single word you say, to all people, even that nudgy guy, at all times. So even if I'm on my way to my daughter's wedding and I'm a little hassled, or I'm on the way to the airplane, slow it down. All people, all time, all your words. What is that going to do for you? וּבַזֶּה תִּנָּצֵל מִן הַכַּעַס, And this will protect you from anger, which is a most serious character flaw, which causes one to sin. Ok so let's say you got there. You spoke softly. Then, if you speak softly, you don't get angry. Rabbi Ades says, We see from here that your outside impacts your inside. Look how simple this. You're not angry yet, and you got yourself to use that low tone, which in itself is soothing and will protect you from getting angry. And once we are protected from getting angry, what happens next ? He uses beautiful words: Once you've distanced yourself from anger, תַּעֲלֶה עַל לִבְּךָ מִדַּת הָעֲנָוָה, The quality of humility will enter your heart. He says, humility is the best possible trait there is. The Ramban is telling us something very, very powerful: Anger, which stems from arrogance ( you only get angry because things don't go your way) is the antithesis of humility. Anger and humility can not coexist. It's like fire and water. When you take away the water, the fire will burn. When you take away the fire, the water will move. It's interesting that anger is compared to fire . The Zohar says, don't burn any fire in any of your dwellings on Shabbat - and the first fire is the fire of anger. And Humility is compared to water. It says, just like water travels downwards, humility is about going down. Fascinating! Fire and Water, anger and humility. Another interesting point is that the numerical value of מקוה Mikveh is one more than כעס /anger, because going to the mikveh absolves one of the trait of anger; it purifies. That means it's almost a natural reaction. He doesn't say, Remove the anger and then work on you're anava. His words are, וְכַאֲשֶׁר תִּנָּצֵל מִן הַכַּעַס, תַּעֲלֶה עַל לִבְּךָ מִדַּת הָעֲנָוָה When you distance (or save ) yourself from anger, humility will go up on your heart. Naturally , humility will into your heart. And now that you're humble, תַּעֲלֶה עַל לִבְּךָ מִדַּת הַיִּרְאָה, The Middah of Fear of Hashem will come into your heart. What was stopping you from fearing Hashem was Ga'ava ( Hey I'm in charge) which is the opposite of Yirat Hashem. Taaleh , you are elevated . This is not a regular ladder. This is an escalator . You put your foot on one step, and it moves you up to the next one. So your humility will cause your fear to go up. Why? Because now that you're no longer arrogant, you start paying attention. Where'd I come from? Where am I going? I am רִמָּה וְתוֹלֵעָה as frail as a maggot or a worm when alive, even more so in death. He continues, And who's going to judge you? When you start thinking about all these things, you'll be afraid of your Creator. You'll protect yourself from sin, and you'll be always happy with your lot because somebody who is arrogant always wants more. And then he says, When you continue to act with this trait of Anava, and you stand meekly in front of men and you're fearful from Hashem and from sin, אָז תִּשְׁרֶה עָלֶיךָ רוּחַ הַשְּׁכִינָה, וְזִיו כְּבוֹדָהּ, וְחַיֵּי עוֹלָם הַבָּא. The spirit of Hashem's presence will rest upon you and you'll live the life of the World to Come (I'll add in this world ) Unbelievable. The man that has humility is living in Gan Eden on earth. It's fascinating that the Ramban ends with the words, Read this letter once a week and neglect none of it. He says , Every day that you read this letter, Hashem will answer your heart's desires . People think this is some kind of magical segula : Read the letter of the Ramban and Hashem will answer your prayers. No. It says, as we've mentioned many times, that when a person is humble, Hashem answers his prayers. When a person is arrogant, Hashem doesn't answer his prayers. More than that, when the Shechina is in front of you, your prayers are answered easily. When you go to the Kotel, Hashem's Shechina is there. One that becomes humble, says the Ramban, the Shechina is on top of him, so of course his prayers are answered. This is not some kind of magical segula . This is the reality of becoming humble. That's the beautiful ladder of the Ramban, that starts from humility and ends with God's Shechina dwelling on you. What a powerful, powerful concept, to understand and appreciate what we're doing in our work on Anava .

King David proclaims in Tehillim (17:15), "Ani Be'sedek Eheze Fanecha" – "I shall behold Your countenance in righteousness." The Gemara in Masechet Baba Batra (10) explains this verse as revealing a fundamental precept relevant to Sedaka (charity) – that whoever involves himself in charity earns the privilege of beholding the Divine Presence. King David here teaches us that "Be'sedek," through the great merit of Sedaka, "Eheze Fanecha" – one is rewarded with the privilege of beholding a revelation of Hashem. This concept is seen in other sources, as well. Parashat Vayera begins by telling us that Hashem revealed Himself to Abraham Abinu: "Vayera Elav Hashem." The Sages explain that G-d came to Abraham to perform "Bikur Holim" (visiting the sick), as Abraham was recovering from the painful procedure of circumcision. Of course, Hashem does not visit every ailing righteous person. Why, then, did He appear to Abraham Abinu at this time? The answer is provided in the continuation of the verse, which tells us that Abraham was sitting outside his tent, in the heat of the day, looking for wayfarers in need of hospitality. As Abraham made a special effort to involve himself in Hesed (kindness), he was worthy of beholding a revelation of G-d. This can be seen also in the Misva of Aliya Le'regel, which requires making a pilgrimage to the Bet Ha'mikdash every Pesah, Shabuot and Sukkot with special sacrifices. The Torah commands that on these three occasions, "Year'eh Kol Zechurcha" ("all your males shall be seen" by G-d), and the Gemara interprets the word "Yera'eh" to mean not only that we are seen by Hashem on these occasions, but also that we see Him. (The word "Yera'eh" can be read as "Yir'eh" – "will see.") However, the Torah adds, "Lo Yera'u Fanai Rekam" – we cannot come to the Bet Ha'mikdash on the festivals "emptyhanded." In order to behold the Shechina (Divine Presence), we must offer sacrifices. We earn the great privilege of seeing G-d's presence only by giving. For this reason, the Arizal (Rav Yishak Luria of Safed, 1534-1572) taught that nowadays, when we do not have the Bet Ha'mikdash, we must give charity before every Yom Tob. Just as we needed to bring sacrifices in the Bet Ha'mikdash to behold the Shechina on the holidays, nowadays we must give charity in order to have this special privilege. The Ba'al Shem Tob (1698-1760) taught that the Shechina descends upon a person when he gives charity because the Divine Name is symbolically formed through the act of giving. The small coin, or bill, which one gives represents the first letter of Hashem's Name, the letter "Yod." One takes the coin or bill in his hand, which has five fingers, and thus corresponds to the letter "Heh" (which has the numerical value of 5). The outstretched arm as one gives the money represents the tall, straight letter "Vav," and the needy person's hand which receives the charity symbolizes the final letter "Heh," thus spelling the Name of "Havaya" ("Yod"-"Heh"-"Vav"-"Heh"'). Therefore, by giving charity, we bring Hashem's presence. In light of this teaching, the Kabbalists instruct that if one is placing Sedaka money in a charity box, instead of giving it directly to a needy individual, he should first transfer the money from one hand to the other. If one is placing the money into a box, there is no final "Heh," as the recipient does not receive the money directly from the donor. Therefore, in order to form the final letter, one should move the money from one hand to the other and then place it in a box. This practice is alluded to in the verse which commands giving charity, "Naton Titen" ("you shall surely give" – Debarim 15:10). The phrase "Naton Titen" alludes to two acts of giving – moving the charity money from hand to the next, and then placing it in the Sedaka box. Moreover, the Kabbalists teach that in order to create the Name, one must initiate the process of giving. If one waits for the needy individual to come and outstretch his arm, requesting assistance, then the sequence of the letters is distorted. The Name must begin with the letter "Yod," which, as mentioned, corresponds to the money which one gives. Therefore, one must not wait for the person in need to come and ask for help, and should instead approach the poor person and outstretch his arm with the donation, in order to spell the Name the right way. This is alluded to in the aforementioned verse in Tehillim, in which David says, "Ani Be'sedek" – "I, through charity," referring to his initiating the donation of charity. The verse continues, "Esbe'a Be'hakitz Temunatecha" (literally, "I shall be satiated by Your image when I awaken"), which can be understood to mean that if we must be "awakened" by a needy person asking for help, rather than initiating the donation, then we see only "Temunatecha" – a vague image. If we give only after we are approached, then we form the Name, but the letters are jumbled, so we do not behold Hashem clearly. It is only when "Ani Be'sedek," when we initiate the giving of charity, that "Ehezeh Panecha," we see Hashem's countenance clearly. This verse also teaches us another vitally important concept relevant to charity. The Gemara tells that Rabbi Eliezer would make a point of giving charity before prayer, based on this verse in Tehillim – "Ani Be'sedek Eheze Fanecha," which could be read to mean that David came to "see G-d" in prayer after fulfilling the Misva of charity ("Be'sedek"). The great merit of this special Misva helps ensure the prayer's acceptance. Indeed, the Pele Yoetz (Rav Eliezer Papo, 1785-1828) writes that synagogues should place a charity box near the entrance so that everyone can give money to charity immediately upon entering. Even if not, one should try to at least set money aside for charity before each prayer, and this will help the prayer achieve the desired result. This concept may be explained in light of the Arizal's teaching that before one prays, he should declare that he accepts upon himself the Misva of "Ve'ahabta Le're'acha Kamocha" ("You shall love your fellow as yourself"), and proclaim his love for all his fellow Jews. This has been explained based on a parable of two brothers who lived in different countries, one of whom was very wealthy, and the other underprivileged. One day, the underprivileged brother decided to sell the little he had to fund a trip to his wealthy brother, certain that his brother would generously assist him. After the long, grueling journey, the impoverished man came to his brother's home and knocked on the door. "Who are you?" the brother asked. "What do you mean? I'm your brother." "Sorry, I have nothing for you. Good luck." He slammed the door. Sometime later, the wealthy brother went to visit his aging father, whom he had not seen in quite a while. When he arrived, he knocked on the door. The father opened the door and asked, "Who are you?" "Who am I?! I'm your son!" "If you don't recognize your brother as your brother," the father said, "then why should I consider you my son? If you're not his brother, then you're not my son." If we want a loving relationship with our father, then we need to treat our brothers like our brothers. When we pray, we come to G-d as a child coming before his loving father, asking for what we need. In order to do this, we must first affirm our commitment to fulfill the command of "Ve'ahabta Le're'acha Kamocha," to regard all our fellow Jews as our brothers – for only then can we come before G-d and say that we are His children. This is why it is important to give charity before prayer, too. By giving charity, we are showing that we care about our fellow Jews like our brothers. And once we have made it clear that they are all our brothers, we can then stand before Hashem and ask Him to care for us like a loving father.

After Moshe was placed in a basket in the Nile River, the pasuk states: ותתצב אחתו מרחק לדעה מה־יעשה לו "His sister stood from afar to see what would happen to him." The Midrash explains that the entire pasuk uses language referring to the Shechina , as if to say that it was Hashem Himself who was standing from afar, watching over Moshe. What is the lesson here? Rabbi Menashe Reizman, based on the mefarshim , explained that what Miriam did—standing and watching—seemed irrational. Naturally, a baby left in a basket on a river would not survive. People usually cannot bear to witness suffering, especially when it involves a relative. So, what was Miriam watching for? The answer is that Miriam was a neviah . She had received a prophecy that the Jewish savior would be born into her family. She stood there with unwavering emunah , waiting to see how Hashem would bring about the salvation. Even though it seemed as though her prophecy would be nullified—since Moshe was abandoned in the river—she trusted that Hashem would fulfill His word. This teaches us that Hashem's ways are far beyond our comprehension. What appeared as abandonment was, in fact, the very act that enabled Moshe to rise to leadership. Being raised in the king's palace gave Moshe the stature and respect necessary to lead the Jewish people. The word אחותו (his sister) in the pasuk also signifies connection. Although Hashem appeared רחוק -distant, He was always present, providing exactly what was needed. The suffering endured by the Jewish people in Mitzrayim was immense, yet the Torah dedicates only a handful of pesukim to describing it. The majority of these parshiyot focus on the geula and Hashem's wondrous salvations. The mefarshim explain that dwelling too much on hardships can distort our perception and harm our emunah . For example, Chazal tell us that Pharaoh killed 300 Jewish babies every day—150 in the morning and 150 in the afternoon—and bathed in their blood. When Moshe witnessed this unimaginable suffering, he asked Hashem how such atrocities could happen. Hashem explained that it was all being done with chesed , to provide the necessary tikkunim for those souls. Moshe pleaded with Hashem to save at least one child, and Hashem permitted it. That child, however, later caused great destruction to Klal Yisrael . His name was Michah. Michah used the inscription "Aleh Shor" , which Moshe had used to retrieve Yosef's coffin, to bring forth the egel from the fire—a sin that continues to impact us today. Michah brought avoda zara into Eretz Yisrael and was the father of Yeravam ben Nevat(Nevat was another name for Micha), who led the ten tribes into exile and set events into motion that ultimately led to the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash . We cannot fully comprehend Hashem's ways. The children killed in Mitzrayim were undergoing tikkunim to achieve eternal life in the World to Come. Many were gilgulim (reincarnated souls) from earlier generations—the generations of Enosh, the Dor Hamabul , the Dor Hapelaga , and the people of Sodom. The Mishna in Pirkeh Avot teaches: אל תסתכל בקנקן אלא במה שיש בו - "Don't look at the vessel but at its contents." The Lev Aryeh explains that this can also refer to the atrocities in Mitzrayim. The letters קן in the word קנקן have a numerical value of 150(written 2x), hinting at the 150 babies killed every morning and every afternoon. The mishna reminds us not to focus solely on the apparent suffering but to consider the greater purpose—those souls were spared from bringing even greater harm to Klal Yisrael . Even the worst suffering can be Hashem's way of providing tikkunim for each creation, ensuring its eternal life in the World to Come. Our role is to trust that the Shechina is always with us, working for our ultimate benefit. The Chatam Sofer writes that every Jew has a mitzva, as they age, to reflect on their life and see how Hashem guided them. We are to recognize how events that once seemed terrible were, in hindsight, truly good. One of our main missions in this world is to develop complete faith in Hashem's constant and boundless chesed . One day, everything will be revealed. Until then, we have the opportunity to demonstrate our belief.

In today's episode we discuss how the Shechina is likened to the heart which transmits its vitality all of the created worlds via the souls of the Jewish people, which are likened to the limbs in relation to the Shechina. Iggeres HaKodesh, Epistle 31.Music by Shoshannah.   Follow us on:  Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, InstagramTo sponsor an episode or for any other inquiries, email: itistaught@gmail.comSupport the show

The Gemara says in Masechet Sotah that we have a mitzvah to emulate Hashem. And one of the ways in which we do this is by visiting a person who is sick, just like Hashem did in this week's parasha Vayerah when Avraham was home, healing from his brit milah . Our greatest Rabbis would take away time from their Torah study to go visit sick people. When we do bikur cholim , we are connecting to Hashem. The Gemara says in Masechet Nedarim that when a person visits the sick, he brings life to that person and part of the mitzvah entails praying for the person to be healed. The Gemara says the Shechina rests right above the bed of a sick person and therefore, we are able to pray for the person there without even mentioning their name. If the visitor can give the sick person any words to lift his spirits, it makes the mitzvah infinitely greater. When Hashem came to visit Avraham, He gave him the ultimate chizuk , as explained by the Maharshak. The Rabbi asked, why did Hashem send all three angels to Avraham's house? One of them was just there to go overturn Sedom. Furthermore, why did Hashem leave Avraham in pain for three days? Once He was going to heal him anyway, why didn't he heal him right away? The Rabbi answered,לפום צערא אגרא – according to the pain is the reward. If Avraham would have become healed immediately from the brit milah , it would have detracted from the value of that mitzvah. Moreover, every day that a person serves Hashem the way he is supposed to, he creates an angel. The three angels who came to visit Avraham, said the Rabbi, were the three angels that Avraham created by doing the avodah that was expected of him during those three days. By Avraham accepting the pain he was going through, yearning to perform mitzvot despite that pain, he accomplished world changing events. On the first day, Avraham created an angel that was going to save Lot, who was going to be the father of the Mashiach . On the second day, Avraham created an angel that was going to inform him about the birth of Yitzchak Avinu. And on the third day, he created an angel that was going to rid the world of the evil of Sedom and, some say, the angel who came to heal Avraham. When Hashem came to visit Avraham, He gave him the ultimate chizuk. He revealed to him what he was accomplishing by going through the pain of that brit milah and how great it was that he was accepting it with love. Every sick person endures a great deal of yissurin . They have no idea how much they are accomplishing with their suffering. If they are able to do what they can spiritually, while they are sick, and they accept what they are going through with love, they will also be creating angels and those angels may be changing the entire course of history. We don't know how valuable accepting yissurin is, but one day everyone will be able to see how much they accomplished by doing their jobs despite being in a state of affliction. Sometimes all the job entails is not complaining. Everyone has a mitzvah to visit the sick and thereby emulate Hashem. Each visit will add more life to the patient. May Hashem bring רפואה שלמה לכל חולי ישראל. אמן.. Shabbat Shalom.

How could anything exist if it opposes its essential life force? This is the secret of the exile of the Shechina—the Divine Presence—which vivifies forces that oppose it. Looking at this physical world and understanding the nature of kelipah—the obscuring husk—we can understand why darkness seems so prevalent here. And still, the infinite light of G-d fills this entire world through its investiture in the ten holy Sefirot.

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics: What do we learn from Parshas Vayeira? What is the central theme of this Torah portion? Why did G-d reveal Himself to Abraham? How can we gain Divine revelation? How could Abraham turn away from G-d to greet guests? If greeting guests is greater than greeting the Shechina, why was G-d offended by Malki-Zedek first blessing Abraham and then blessing G-d? What can we learn about today's hostages from Abraham freeing Lot and his family who were taken hostage? What do we learn from Abraham praying for the wicked people of Sodom? Can we apply this to praying for Gazans and other criminals? Are there parallels between today's events in the Middle East and the story with Sodom? Does the pillar of salt still exist? What can we learn from Lot's wife? Why didn't Lot learn from Noah's mistake in getting drunk? How can you possibly explain G-d asking Abraham to kill his son? Why did Abraham not refuse this request? Cheshvan What is the meaning of Mar Cheshvan? Why did King Shlomo wait a year until dedicating and opening up the First Temple? The song to the words kesiva v'chasima tova – follow-up What comforting words can you share for the untimely passing of a good friend? Lech Lecha How does one get out of their comfort zone? Is the Promised Land about the physical land or its spiritual power? Noach Isn't it ironic that while we read this parsha, Spain is suffering a devastating flood after they voted to boycott and divest from Israel? How should we react to President-Elect Trump's victory? Should we be celebrating? Are we allowed to say she'hechiyanu to celebrate his victory? Can and should we say that he won because he visited the Ohel? How do you explain the inability of so many Harris supporters to accept that they may be wrong? What should we say to the Democrats devastated by their loss? How should I deal with friends and family who refuse to speak to me because I voted for Trump? Can we say that President Trump has a divine mandate?

Shechina!

Chazal have taught us a wondrous segula to have our tefillot accepted faster. Namely, if someone is in need of a yeshua and knows of someone else with that same need and prays for that person to be helped. With this statement, the chazal are also teaching us how important it is to pray for others. The Be'er Mayim Chayim explains, when we pray for others, we are showing that we care about the pain of the Shechina, kaviyachol. The pasuk says, when a Jew is in pain, Hashem is in pain, and Hashem's pain is equal for every single Jew that is hurting. So when we pray for others to be relieved from their suffering, we are also praying for some of the pain of the Shechina to be relieved. Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l writes in the Igerot Moshe (YD 4:51), about how much every single person's tefila makes an impact, even if the person has done many averot. Then he writes, if someone was asked to pray for someone else, he should feel the responsibility of that request. Nobody knows whose prayers will have the most impact. By praying for someone else, the person is doing the ultimate chesed and also fulfilling the great mitzvah of ואהבת לרעך כמוך . Then he concludes by saying, since it's an absolute obligation to pray for our friends and give them berachot, even if we're not asked to pray for someone, if we know they're in need, we should pray for them anyway. The Chida writes in his Sefer Nachal Kedumim, when praying for others, we must really have pure intentions that they should be helped and not just pray as a ploy to get the help that we are looking for. If we are able to pray with pure intentions for others, then the segula works. If someone has been doing it and hasn't been answered yet, he should not cast doubt upon the segula of the chazal, but rather attribute it to his own shortcomings. The Shulchan Aruch writes that washing netilat yadayim for bread with a lot of water is a segula to become wealthy. The Mishna Berura writes there, if someone is careful to always wash with a lot of water but hasn't been blessed with wealth yet, it's because he has a deed which is blocking the parnasa from coming at the moment. Chazal's words are emmet. Sometimes Hashem shows us clearly how segulot do work. A rabbi told me he knows of a couple that was married for nearly eight years without children. They became friendly with another couple who was married for a few years without children. They accepted upon themselves to truly pray for one another to be helped. This past year, Baruch Hashem, one of those couples had a baby. And then, on the very same day, the woman from the other couple went into labor more than six weeks early and had a baby on the same calendar date. They were in awe of the hashgacha of Hashem, both for blessing them with children and also for showing them how their prayers for each other is what brought about their yeshua. Tefila is always special. When we have a true desire for other people to be helped and we pray with that kavana, it makes the tefila even more special.

O mistério do revestimento da Shechina nas Klipot

Os 10 poderes impuros e o exílio da Shechina

In this shiur, delivered in Yerushalayim at the Ba'er Miriam Simchas Beis HaShoeva, Rav Burg explains (based on a Sicha from the Shvilei Pinchas) the inner meaning of Succos and how we return the Shechina to this world.

In today's episode we discuss how the Shechina that is drawn down when ten Jews gather together hovers above them, as it is too intense and infinite a radiance to be vested within their souls while the souls are limited by physical bodies. Iggeres HaKodesh, Middle of Epistle 23. Music by Shoshannah.   Follow us on:  Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, InstagramTo sponsor an episode or for any other inquiries, email: itistaught@gmail.com Support the show

Audio, eng_t_rav_2024-10-11_lesson_rb-0890-tzaar-schina-2_n2_p1. Lesson_part :: Daily_lesson 2

Video, eng_t_rav_2024-10-11_lesson_rb-0890-tzaar-schina-2_n2_p1. Lesson_part :: Daily_lesson 2

There are many lessons that our Rabbis learn from the case of the בן סורר ומורה -the rebellious wicked son, which apply to Rosh Hashanah. One of them is that Hashem judges a person based on the direction that he's headed in more than on what he has done in the past year. Another one is that the בן סורר ומורה can only be sentenced to his harsh punishment if he committed the crimes in the first three months since he turned thirteen. And that is precisely why the Torah deals with him so harshly. He just turned Bar Mitzvah. Here he is just starting a new beginning and the first things he does are totally against the Torah. There is something special about a new beginning. We are supposed to feel like we have an opportunity to do everything right from the start. These are the feelings we are supposed to have now with Rosh Hashanah upon us. Even if we haven't been the best we could be, now we have a new chance to do things right from the start. One of the best places to begin with is right in our own homes. There is so much pain that people are experiencing all over the world. At least let us do what we can to make our homes places of happiness. We can resolve to give our spouses the attention and warmth that they need to be happy in marriage. We can go out of our way to be sweeter and more patient. A home with shalom bayit is a place where the Shechina dwells. Every little improvement goes a long way. I read a story that a man from Bnei B'rak told about himself. It was late one Erev Rosh Hashanah and he was planning to walk with his family to the other side of Bnei Brak to eat the meal with his wife's family. He told his family how important it was for them to be on time so that he wouldn't be late to the first Arbit of the new year. However, as it often happens, his wife needed extra time to get ready and he was watching the clock and getting more anxious by the minute. Eventually, he saw that he was definitely going to be late to Arbit . Inside, he was so angry. His wife knew it was Rosh Hashanah and how important it was for him to be on time for shul. His patience had reached its limit. And then, finally they were off. As they were walking, he found himself debating whether or not to express his disappointment and frustration to his wife. He said to himself, "Would Hashem want me to vent to my wife now? Or would He rather me treat her with respect, patience and empathy? Was she really trying to make me late or did she just get caught up in things that were important to her?" With that, he decided the best thing he could do to serve Hashem at that moment would be to stay quiet. So he took a deep breath and spoke to his wife as if everything was completely fine. They walked at a nice pace, without her feeling pressured, and had a nice conversation along the way. Indeed, he arrived to shul late and prayed the best he could under the circumstances. While that incident eventually receded to the back of his mind, he noticed something interesting as the year began to unfold. He was enjoying success in all areas on a level that he never experienced. It was so out of the ordinary that it struck him. He was waiting for his mazal to run out, but it continued throughout the year. He thought long and hard why he may have been zocheh to success on such a profound level, but he really didn't have a good answer. He had a typical year before, spiritually, with basically the same strong points and imperfections as usual. The only thing that he could think of was the self-control and patience that he displayed towards his wife on the night of Rosh Hashanah. We can never know for sure, but we do know how valuable it is to perfect our middot and overcome our inclinations to get angry, especially when it comes to our spouses. May Hashem help us start off the new year the right way and help us become the people that we are capable of becoming.

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded in front of a live audience. God, so to speak, “joining the Jewish People in Exile”, is a radical Rabbinic concept that in the words of Rabbi Akiva would have been blasphemous had it not been supported by Scripture. We explore the source of “God in Exile” (Shechinta B'Galuta - שְׁכִינְתָּא בְּגָלוּתָא) in Rabbinic texts and ponder its ramifications for modern-day Jewish Thought. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/592663  Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2024/09/25/god-in-exile/