Parsha Perspectives for Today (Acharei Mos)

Thank you for joining us as we continue to learn virtually together taking advantage of the incredible technology the gift of technology that we have so glad that we are together and hope that you can hear clearly this morning so many of the privilege of studying parshas acharei mos to give me a try to incorporate some thoughts of the theme of Yom Hazikaron today is a day that we join Jews around the world in thinking about commemorating memorializing those who gave their lives for founding of the state of Israel and for the continuity the protection of the state of Israel victims of terror who died al Kiddush Hashem and we join Jews around the world and thinking about them our parsha series this year is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of Becky's father David Grossman leilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Mendel thank you so much for your generous sponsorship and your leadership in so many different ways acharei mos is found in the Artscroll Stone Chumash on page 636 as always it's best to have a Chumash with you to be able to follow along preferably even a Mikraos Gedolos as we'll see some of the Meforshim inside together today if not it's no problem you can listen carefully and we'll try to explain so our parsha begins by the Moshe acharei mos because of some of the musar the parsha begins by referencing what had happened recently the tragic premature death of Nadav and Avihu Aaron had suffered a horrific loss on which in the happiest day of his life the inauguration of the Mishkan opening day of his serving as the Kohen Gadol instead he tragically lost his two sons inexplicably so much so the text is absent and our commentaries debate exactly what they did wrong and here we introduce our new parsha and the story of Aaron's role in leading the Yom Kippur service with this reference to acharei mos shnei benei Aaron after the death of the two sons of Aaron we're not going to get into but I leave it to you or I challenge you to think about why does our parsha not mention their name why are their names not deserved to be acknowledged they're simply known here as acharei mos shnei benei Aaron after the death of Aaron's two sons why not mention them by name but moving on to the next pasuk vayomer Hashem el Moshe daber el Aaron achicha speak to your brother the ayavo el hakodesh mi beis la paroches you cannot come casually you cannot come whenever you crave to the kodesh al pnei hakapores asher al haaron v'lo yamus ki b'anan era'eh al hakapores you're not allowed to just approach whenever you want you can't approach the bench without being summoned similarly here it's only when there is a cloud that will appear that Aaron will know he is eligible to approach otherwise he cannot come close he cannot come close why bazos ya'avo Rashi says v'av lo b'chol eis k'vei Yom HaKippurim and even this is not talking about all throughout the year we're talking about the holiest person the holiest place and the holiest day of the year only then can he approach it's a very interest interesting instruction we're going to examine it more closely in one moment but I want to first ask a simple question God speaks to Moshe and he says daber el Aaron speak to your brother Aaron only here he doesn't just say speak to your brother Aaron he says speak to your brother Aaron achicha speak to Aaron your brother the text could have simply said speak to Aaron if by acharei mos you don't know that Aaron and Moshe are brothers you have not been paying careful attention we all know that Aaron and Moshe are brothers so why not simply say hey Moshe speak to Aaron and tell him this rule you can't approach at will at whim you can't approach casually you have to be invited why is it introduced specifically as Aaron achicha here this question is asked by Rabbi Meir Druck in his wonderful sefer Eish Tamid on the parsha I've been sharing insights with you from it recently I was kind enough to give me a set with a beautiful description great yeshiva in Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh and he asks this question why Aaron achicha here and he asks it not just here he points to several places throughout Torah and he says sometimes Aaron is simply identified as Aaron other times Aaron is identified as Aaron achicha for example for example when Aaron hesitates and refuses to go Hashem tells him Aaron achicha halevi daber hu v'gam hinei hu yotzei likrascha b'rucha u'v'simcha b'libo he's going out with you don't have to worry Aaron your brother we have similarly v'eina elokim v'Aaron achicha v'yanvuacha v'ashto achicha kach matah v'achas v'Aaron achicha the story of the main reva when Moshe hits the rock instead of speaking the instruction is to take his staff you and Aaron your brother u'mos parasha el Hashem v'aseifa el amacha k'asher meis Aaron achicha you will ascend the mountain and you will die there just like your Aaron your brother so Rabbi Meir Druck wonders why sometimes is Aaron identified simply as Aaron and by now we all know who he is his pedigree and other times he is identified specifically as Aaron achicha so he gives a very interesting answer first he references the Or HaChaim HaKadosh and the Or HaChaim HaKadosh says the following says the following the Or HaChaim quotes a Midrash here the pasuk says daber el Aaron speak to your brother shamati l'cha I told you halo Aaron achicha halevi b'rucha u'v'simcha b'libo the pasuk says that your Aaron your brother is the Levi yada'ati ki daber daber gam hu there is your brother Aaron the Levite he I know speaks readily v'gam hinei hu yotzei likrascha b'rucha u'v'simcha b'libo go and meet him and he'll be happy to see you when Moshe demurs when he hesitates when he feels in when he feels inadequate to be able to go be the leader to redeem the Jewish people Hashem reassures him and says don't worry you got Aaron so what's going on why is the Midrash saying that here u'viur Or HaChaim sh'lamadnu ki achicha u'l'zeh daber achicha shamati l'cha lo Aaron achicha halevi v'hakavana ki af kidush Hashem k'Moshe yelbonav v'hatzad shemimenu yiskav amar lo ki zehu l'tzad yeshuas achicha ach v'nachon u'v'ne'emanah why is why is Moshe has to instruct Aaron go and you're going to the Kodesh HaKodashim it's a very risky proposition as the Kohen Gadol you may not walk out alive Aaron may worry look what happened to Aaron's sons my two nephews they acted they entered inappropriately without being invited and what was the consequence what was the result they they died tragically what about my brother so what drove Moshe's concern and worry was the notion it was his brother and therefore he has to give this instruction lo ya'avo el hakodesh he's speaking at Aaron achicha as a brother with brotherly love with brotherly concern with a brotherly focus that's achicha the fact that Aaron is his brother is what is offering that concern and that's what the Torah is telling us Moshe is giving Aaron that warning you can't simply enter whenever you want but Rabbi Druck gives a alternative shita a very fascinating shita and it's at length I'm just going to summarize it for you Rabbi Druck basically says the following not only in this pasuk in this circumstance but applies it every time Aaron is identified not simply as Aaron applies it every time Aaron is identified as Aaron achicha and he basically says the following Aaron and Moshe had an extraordinary quality and that quality has a Yiddish term today and that term is the capacity to fargin another fargin means to be able to share in the joy to make room for the success the triumph the happiness the accomplishment the achievement the prominence the esteem the admiration of another we live in a time that struggle to fargin another to be able to share in the happiness of the joy of another you know the sefer Orchos Musar points out that the quality of nosei b'ol chavero one of the ways in which Torah is acquired the Mishnah Pirkei Avos tells us is that a Torah personality has to cultivate within themselves the ability to be nosei b'ol to feel for another we've spoken about this at length in other contexts and normally we think about nosei b'ol to feel for another in the sense of feeling the pain of another seeking to relieve the pain to carry the burden so it's lighter for the other and we've given classes on practical examples of being nosei b'ol in the time of need in the time of struggle how can we help those but the sefer Orchos Musar and many others point out that we're mistaken if we think nosei b'ol the capacity to feel for another is limited to feeling pain it's a very Jewish and a very Torah concept to also be able to feel the success the happiness the joy of another to a degree it's easier to feel the pain of another than the happiness of another the Alter of Kelm points out why because when you're going through suffering or pain when you're going through an acute crisis of course I'm so grateful I'm not going through it I'm so happy that that's not affecting me that's not me so I channel my happiness that it's not me into reaching out to help you but when you're having joy happiness success when you're still getting a paycheck when you're getting nachas from your children when they show them in your bias when everything's going well so then it's hard because I say why them not me I deserve that happiness I deserve that joy I deserve that simcha I deserve that windfall why them and not me it's harder to be nosey but simcha in chavero. It's harder to feel for another when it means to participate or partake in their joy than it does even in their in their hardship. Nosey but in chavero. That is Moshe Rabbeinu's wonderful quality. He exhibits it as a shepherd with the sheep. It's why Moshe it's why God recruits him to be the quintessential paradigmatic leader of the Jewish people in perpetuity. But it's also something very special that Moshe and Aaron share with one another. The ability to be nosey but in simcha chavero. Aaron is older than Moshe. And Moshe is deemed greater. One of the 13 principles of our faith is to subscribe to the uniqueness of Moshe as the av navi'im. He's categorically different than all other prophets. He ultimately succeeds, exceeds Aaron in his greatness. And yet, Aaron has no feelings of jealousy or envy. Aaron has no ego or arrogance. He's able to share in the joy and the success of his younger brother Moshe. And Moshe too. Moshe, as much as he is successful, he's limited. And says Rav Druck, that's what's going on in our parsha. Because after all, Moshe says, "One second. Aaron's the kohen gadol but I'm greater than Aaron. And I'm not allowed to go into the kodesh hakodashim. Only Aaron is." So in this moment when Moshe's reminding Aaron about what it takes to enter the holy of holies, it is specifically as Aaron achicha. Because Moshe had no jealousy. Moshe Moshe had no competitiveness. Moshe didn't look and say, "Why is Aaron allowed to enter and I'm not? Doesn't Aaron know the 13 principles of faith of the Rambam? Doesn't he know I'm av navi'im? Why is he allowed to enter and I'm not? I should be allowed to enter." Moshe had no such thought, no such feeling. He simply experienced the joy of the success of Aaron, his position of prominence and distinction that Aaron was the kohen gadol who was allowed to enter the kodesh hakodashim. We don't have time to develop this fully now, but this is replete in midrashim. The pasuk in Tehillim tells us that "Kashemen hatov al rosh yored al hazakan, zakan Aaron." Like the fine oil on the head runs down on the beard, the beard of Aaron. The midrash wonders in Shir Hashirim Rabbah, "Why do I have to be told it runs down the beard, the beard of Aaron? If it runs down the beard, whose other beard is it running down?" This is the anointing oil that's elevating Aaron to that position of distinction. And the midrash tells us, "Kacha amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe, Moshe, k'shem she morai yelach, kach yimorach al achicha." "V'hu lo asa kein." "V'ahavta l'rei'acha kamocha." "V'ahavta l'rei'acha kamocha" is "Israel." And so on. Says the midrash, "She'hadain yasameach zeh bigdulah shel zeh, v'zeh bigdulah shel shel zeh." The beard, when it went down Aaron's when the oil went down Aaron's beard, it was it was as if it was on Moshe's beard. Moshe took such joy. He shared in the happiness, the success of Aaron. Aaron shared in the happiness and the success of Moshe. We see it similarly in the midrash on this pasuk that we alluded to earlier when Hashem tells him, "Aharon achicha haLevi." Your brother Aaron. "V'ra'acha v'samach b'libo." He's going to see you and he's going to go out so happy to see you. The midrash says, "Amar Rav Shmuel bar Nachmani, yavo v'yismach v'yilbash urim v'tumim." It's in the merit that Aaron shared in the success of his younger brother Moshe that earned him the position of kohen gadol and that enabled him to wear the urim v'tumim. That's the word, the capacity to forgive another, to share in the joy, the happiness, to not be competitive, to not ask, "Why not me? I deserve more. I deserve better." But rather to see what someone else is having, not only to share in nosey but all in the pain and suffering and struggle of the other and seek to relieve it and make it lighter, but to share in the success and the joy and the happiness and the achievement of the other and to be able to simply be happy for another person. And that's why I suggest Rav Yisrael Meir Druck over here that specifically the instruction to Aaron to enter the holy was preceded by Aaron achicha. Moshe, there was no competitiveness. It didn't matter that Moshe was greater for this just simply happy for Aaron. "B'zos yavo Aaron." B'zos. What does it mean b'zos? There are several interpretations that we know are famous. One, um of course our parsha, the majority of our parsha is dealing with the laws of Yom Kippur. The service of Yom Kippur. Today we experience Yom Kippur differently. None of us know how we're going to experience Yom Kippur this year. We hope that we'll be back together, led by a chazan, hearing Moshe's moved, elevated, enriched together. We and we pray, please God, by then and much sooner. But in the time of the Beit Hamikdash, Yom Kippur was essentially and primarily led by the kohen gadol, rendering the rest of Klal Yisrael essentially spectators to Yom Kippur. And the kohen gadol was the main protagonist. He was the centerpiece of the Yom Kippur service. That is the majority of our parsha. So b'zos, which Unesaneh Tokef, which is arguably the most moving moving and stirring part of our liturgy both on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. In Unesaneh Tokef we culminate, we declare, "U'teshuva, u'tefila, u'tzedaka ma'avirin es ra' hagzeirah." If we want to emerge from Yom Kippur successful and destined for a year of blessing and goodness, then what we need to do, the behavior that will yield that is teshuvah, introspection, tefilah, heartfelt davening, tzedakah, generosity with our resources. On top of those words in the machzor, teshuvah, tefilah, and tzedakah, what do you see on top of those words? Tzom, kol, umamon. Fasting, the sound, the voice of tefilah, of prayer, and money. What we do with our money, our capacity to share our money shows everything about how where we know that money comes from. Sitters snippets, we're learning about "Vayevarech David" right now. And the Arizal had a minhag the Mishna Berurah quotes, when we get up to the words "Ha'osher v'hakavod mil'fanecha" in "Vayevarech David" at the end of P'sukei D'Zimra, there is a minhag to give tzedakah. Why do we give tzedakah specifically there? So we're up to that in Sitters Snippets today or tomorrow. We'll give several reasons, but one of which, the one that resonates deeply for me is the whole paragraph "Vayevarech David" is David Hamelech saying, "All the wealth and all the success in the battles I fought, the material possessions I've accumulated and amassed, l'cha Hashem hagdulah, it all comes from you. Ha'osher v'hakavod mil'fanecha, the wealth and the honor, they're from you." So you know that's lip service. To look at your house and your car and your portfolio and your health and your success and say, "Hashem, that's all you." It's lip service until you demonstrate that you really believe it's from Hashem. So when you stop and you give tzedakah, when you say "Ha'osher v'hakavod mil'fanecha, Hashem, you know my wallet, the money in my pocket, whatever I I have, really it's from you. It's all from you. I'm demonstrating it's from you by my willingness to share it right now with others. Ha'osher v'hakavod mil'fanecha." So teshuvah, tefilah, and tzedakah, tzom, kol, umamon. And many point out, I'm not a huge gematria guy, but this one's a famous one. Tzom, kol, umamon are each 100 and 86 136. Times three is 408, the same gematria as zos. And therefore what the pasuk is telling us is, "B'zos yavo Aaron el hakodesh." If you want to come into the kodesh, you want to come into Yom Kippur, you want to succeed in Yom Kippur, it has to be b'zos, the gematria of 408, three times tzom, kol, and umamon. You have to come in with that attitude, you have to come in with that mentality, you have to come in with that behavior in order to succeed, in order to be able to emerge. The Imrei Chaim, you knew we'd get to an Imrei Chaim. The Hilchos Avodah Zarah, the Imrei Chaim says differently. "V'lo yavo b'chol eis el hakodesh." Don't worry, he quotes that one too. But then he offers another. "V'lo yavo b'chol eis el hakodesh." "Lo yavo b'chol eis." You cannot enter at any time is gematria b'atzvus. You cannot enter holiness with sadness. You cannot enter holiness. The gematria of "Lo yavo b'chol eis" is b'atzvus. You can't in holiness if you're sad. The prerequisite to being holy, to being elevated, to being enriched, to being spiritual is to be happy. The sad, somber, depressed, despondent person can't find holiness. In order to strive to reach, in order to find holiness, it has to be based and founded and built on happiness. That's what the pasuk says, "Ki b'simcha tzeitzei'un." You know how you get out of whatever predicament you're in? You know how you get out of the tzar, where it's a narrow place, where we're restricted to our homes, where we're fearful of what will be? And how do you emerge? How do you escape? How do you elevate and transcend above that hardship, that challenging time? It's b'simcha tzeitzei'un, with a sense of simcha. So "Lo yavo b'chol eis el hakodesh." "Lo yavo b'chol eis" atzvus. B'atzvus. You cannot enter with sadness into kodesh. If you're trying to get to a place of holiness, trying to have more kavana in davening, you're trying to be elevated in your personal behavior and conduct and your speech and your thought and your and your interactions with others, then you need to first happy. Put a smile on your face. Smile. Smiling is contagious. Smiling releases dopamine. Smiling is what Hashem wants. "V'avdo b'simcha u'v'tuv lev." The pasuk the tochacha, the horrific consequence the Jewish people face is a result of "Tachas asher lo avadeta b'simcha." Because we don't have simcha. "Ki b'simcha tzeitzei'un." You don't feel like it? Don't wait to be happy to smile. Smile and it will make you happy. "Lo yavo b'chol eis b'atzvus." You enter any relationship in your life, you cannot enter kodesh, holiness in your life with a sense of atzvus, with a sense of with a sense of sadness. He then offers another p'shat. He says the gematria of b'zos is ga'avah, which is arrogance. You cannot enter holiness, you cannot enter meaningful relationships with arrogance, with ego. You have to put your ego aside. You have to be able to submit to the other make space and room for the other. That is a prerequisite to a meaningful to a happy relationship. But I want to end our study of the first passuk. Aren't you impressed so far? 20 minutes on the opening passuk with um the beautiful insight of Shmuel Evitz. Shmuel Evitz wonders, "What do you mean? I have a Is that a kodesh?" Frankly, Shmuel Evitz, the great mashgiach of the Mir, the shivah of the Mir, he wonders, "Why? Why is it that I can enter anytime that he wants?" And Rashi tells us, "The reason I don't care enter at will is because the shchinah, the divine presence, dwells there." Okay, good. But Aaron is the holy. Aaron is the kohen gadol. If anyone is eligible, if anyone is positioned to be able to enter, it's Aaron. So, why can't he enter? What is the What is the meaning behind this mitzvah, behind this instruction or this warning that Aaron, even after he purifies himself for 7 days, cannot enter without being summoned, without being invited? And listen to what he writes, Shmuel Evitz. Lamentations Zion. He says the following. You know what the enemy of holiness is? Familiarity. Familiarity, comfort, casualness is enemy, the gadol of any of any feeling of holiness or his aroma of being elevated. You know, the first time you visit the Kotel, the Kotel overwhelming, the sight of Har Habayit. But what happens when you live opposite and you wake up to see it every day? It's a challenge. It's hard. Familiarity robs us of excitement, the joy, the passion, the enthusiasm. Familiarity breeds contempt, we know. Mixing things up and interspersing and keeping things fresh is what allows us to be able to bring a certain level of enthusiasm. And that's what he says. Before he can even enter. What's going on here? And he quotes many other sources in a really beautiful insight by Shmuel Evitz. I don't want to dwell too much. I want to move on. What's going on? This is instruction for all of us that familiarity breeds contempt and that the antidote to familiarity is to keep things fresh, to keep things real, to introduce novelty and newness and innovation, to take a break and come back. That is the source of holiness. Without it, you can't have holiness. And this is a message for us. It's a message about our davening and keeping it fresh, about our learning and keeping it fresh. I spoke the other night about I gave a talk on shalom bayit when you can't leave the bayit. And we talked about this insight of Shmuel Evitz because that's a danger. We're living on top of one another 24/7. Newlyweds to empty nesters, we're on top of one another 24/7. This is the ultimate incubator of familiarity. And God forbid it should breed a contempt that there is no space, that we can't ever retreat, that there are no bounds, that there is too much familiarity. Shmuel Evitz is right. If we want kedusha to our kedushin, holiness within our marriage, then we need to be able to navigate and negotiate how to have a sense of closeness without breeding a familiarity which would undermine that sense of closeness. Okay, let's move on. Here we have the introduction to the story of Yom Kippur. How does he approach? How does he enter? He enters the He comes with a bull for a sin offering and And then And then the Torah goes on tells us passuk Zion, skip ahead. He takes two goats. And these two goats, how are they identified? When Aaron goes, he does a lottery on them. One is for Hashem and the other is for God. And he goes through this very peculiar ceremony. He draws lots, distinguishes which of these goats are exactly identical. One of them is dedicated to Hashem, will be offered sacrifice, and the other will be be pushed off a cliff. And again, we feel for animals. We have love and our sensitivity and love of animals, but the role of animals within our service and personal growth, they serve as the leather of our couch and our shoes and our belt and the steak that we eat and the carbonos that we offer in this in this service serve. So, it would be a waste and it would be cruel if we didn't understand what it's about and what we're meant to get out of it. So, what's really going on over here? You're pushing an animal off a cliff and who is Azazel? Azazel, what is this name Azazel? So, the kohen gadol takes these two goats and stands them before Hashem and places these lots upon them. One will be offered and one will be pushed off the cliff. One is called Azazel. The goat to God, I get. Hashem, we understand. We know Hashem. We're not too familiar with Hashem. We don't have a familiarity or a casual relationship. We have a sense of awe of Hashem, but we've heard of Hashem. We know Hashem. What is this Azazel that the Torah here is referring to, which is so critical to understand this whole section of our parsha? And frankly, it's critical to be able to experience Yom Kippur So, make notes for Yom Kippur. Why is it called Azazel? So, the Ibn Ezra and the Ramban on our parsha both reference the Gemara in Yoma on daf samech zayin amud bet. Azazel is a combination of two names. Azazel is machaper, pushing this goat cliff atones for the act of the fallen angels, Uzza and Azael. That makes it much better. That clears it up for us. Only it does. Who are Uzza and Azael? What masa? What is the episode they went through? Why do they need atonement? And how does this atone for their mistake? Again, many of you, many of us have lived many Yom Kippurs and we read the avodah in our machzor and we read parshas Acharei Mos. But we don't begin to understand what the significance or symbolism is here. And it's so critical to understand. Who are these angels? What happened to them? So, where both the parsha and even the Gemara in Yoma leave off, the Zohar parshas Balak picks up. And the Zohar on parshas Balak tells us that when the Ribono shel Olam, when the Almighty created the world, nobody objected to the introduction of the trees and the clouds and the ocean and the sun and the moon. No angels no objected to any of the creations in nature. Beautiful. What a great background. What a great backdrop. But when man was created, when proposed man, and remember he consulted the angels. Nasa in the plural, the angels took that invitation to an opinion and they staunchly objected. And they said, "What is man that you're mindful of him? Who ben Adam, and the son of man that you visit?" Passuk in Tehillim perek ches passuk aleph. Man is frail and fallible and imperfect. Why is he worthy of your creation and attention? The angel looked at God and he said, "You know, the rivers and the streams, the Grand Canyon, the Swiss Alps, psh, they're magnificent. We got it. Thanks for creating them. But this pathetic reject nebach is worth man. He's filled with mistakes and temptation. He's inadequate and unworthy. He's frail. He's fallible. Why in the world are you creating man?" Hashem said, "Thanks for the input, but it's not really a committee." And he went forward and created man nonetheless. And when man made that mistake, when Adam and Chava made the mistake in Gan Eden and got them expelled, and yet they obtained a pardon, two angels objected. They came to God and they said, "What do you mean you're giving them a pardon? What do you mean you've expelled them and you're giving them a second chance at a continuity of this experiment called humanity?" Uzza and Azael approached Hashem and said, "We were right. Man is frail and fallible and wrong." And Hashem looked at the two of them and he said to these angels, "Had you been with them, you would have sinned equally." And he cast them down from their high estate in heaven onto the earth. He looked at Uzza and Azael and he said, "Had you been tempted, had you been Had you been solicited, had you been recruited, you would have made the same mistake." And with that, he took these two angels and he threw them down from the heavenly abode down here to earth. Where did they go? Where did they go when he threw them down? Ad kan, the Zohar. The Zohar gives us the greater background. Azazel machaper for the masa of Uzza. Now, who were Uzza and Azael? These two angels who were the prosecutors against us, who objected to our creation and then threw it in Hashem's face and said, "Told you so." When we made our mistake, Hashem says, "You would have done worse." And he threw them down to earth. Where did they go? Ad kan, here the Zohar leaves off. Says the Ishbitzer Rebbe in his Beit Yaakov, the Mashgiach of the great Ishbitzer Rebbe in his Beit Yaakov, he says, "You know where they went? Uzza and Azael, my dearest friends, they went into each one of us. Their voice of of prosecution, their voice of indictment, their voice of objection, "Man is pathetic and unworthy and incapable and inferior and inadequate and frail and infirm and fallible. Man is insignificant and inconsequential." Those voices are in us and they continue to haunt us. And says the Ishbitzer Rebbe on Yom Kippur, on the holiest day of the year, on the time designated for a fresh start and a new beginning, you know what we do with that voice of Azazel, of Uzza and Azael that are inside us? We thrust them and throw them off a cliff. And we say, "Voices of negativity, voice of unworthiness, voices of being incapable, we're throwing you off a cliff. We're getting rid of you." You see the philosophy of angel Azazel has crept into our psyche. It rings in our ears. It tells us we are impo- and we have shortcomings and deficiencies. We're not the strongest, the most best looking, the most creative, most capable. And therefore, we underachieve. So, we take that voice that causes us to underachieve, and what do we do with it? We throw it off a cliff. Listen to the words of the Halacha Yishbitzer. This voice is makatreg. It tries to bring us down. You know, this is particularly true. I've been reading articles of people who have been acting out, and I've been talking to chaverim who were benei aliya, who in outside of the quarantine, before this all struck, were striving and reaching and aspiring. And then, all of a sudden, we've been knocked out of our routine and our sense of normalcy, cast into roles that we're uncomfortable with, that are difficult, that are are inconvenient. We have been broken out of the platform that helps propel us forward, and therefore, people are acting out on the internet with what they're looking and what they're doing. They're not davening the way they could, learning the way they could, behaving the way they could. They've stopped exercising. They're overeating. You've seen the countless memes and gifs supporting that. And that voice inside us that says, "I can't and I give up, and I'm not capable, and I can't grow in this environment." Comes along the avoda of Yom Kippur. We take Aza and Azael. Take this Azazel, the combination of these two angels represented by this goat, and we throw it off a cliff. We are capable. We can We can strive. We can reach. We should not give up on ourselves. We should not feel we can't do it. Push that voice off a cliff. Get rid of it. Says the Beis HaMikdash and says the Ishbitzer, "Why don't we move on?" Because, you know, when you say the vidui on Yom Kippur, you clap the al cheit, what is not in our parsha, but our modern day observance of Yom Kippur, you might say, "What do you mean? Vidui testifies to the Uzza and Azael are right. I did this wrong and that wrong and the other thing wrong. I'm pathetic. I'm a nebach. I'm a reject." No, it's saying the opposite. The reason I clap al cheit and say the vidui is I'm saying, "Look how much what I does matters. Look how what I do has impact. It has cosmic implications, and therefore, I have to apologize. I have to atone. I have to stand up and be accountable." Why? Not because I'm insignificant, but specifically the opposite, because of just how significant That voice that says you're insignificant, you're inconsequential, inferior, that's the voice of these angels that Hashem threw down to earth. He put them in us, and we are supposed to purge them and cast them from us. We throw those voices off of a cliff. That is what is going on here in this entire avoda. So, critically important. Let's keep going. Oh, page 642 if you're in the ArtScroll Stone Chumash. We're continuing in this entire episode of the The inside service, the lots, the confession, the ego What happens now? Aaron Cohen Gadol, who succeeded him, immersed themselves in the water. Where? Bemakom Kadosh, in a holy place. Vilavash bigadav, and changed their clothing. We know that this is the ultimate fashion show of the year. The Cohen Gadol is constantly immersing, coming out, washing, changing, and he's wearing not his ordinary garments and vestments, but rather the ones specifically designated for Yom Kippur. He goes out, viatza, viasa olaso, he performs the korban ola, ola sa'am, and hichiper he achieves atonement ba'ado uva'ad ha'am, on his own and on behalf of his people. Elsewhere earlier, it said ba'ado uva'ad beiso. And in fact, we have this in our liturgy. In the avoda we read in Mussaf on Yom Kippur, ba'ado uva'ad so uva'ad ha'am. And I also spoke about this in the shalom bayit shiur the other night. He is included in his family, and they are included in the people. Why does the pasuk waste space and time to tell us he achieves atonement on behalf of himself and on behalf of his family and on behalf of the people? Just say he achieves atonement on behalf of the people. On behalf of the people includes the family, includes him. We see from here a critically important lesson. That the greatest way to change your family, the greatest way to change the people, is ba'ado, to begin by changing yourself. It's easy to point a finger. It's easy to blame others. It's easy to see ourselves and cast ourselves as victims. But if we want to change the energy in our home, if we want to change the atmosphere in our home, the answer is not to blame, and the answer is not to change others. The answer is to model. Ba'ado, uva'ad beiso, uva'ad ha'am. It begins by changing ourselves, and then we will see the result is our family will be inspired and changed, and then we'll see hopefully an even broader sense of change that comes from that. But it has to start ba'ado. It has to begin with ourselves. We have to take extreme ownership and say, "What could I do differently? What positive energy can I contribute? What smile can I put on my face? What words could I be using? What actions could I be modeling? Ba'ado, ba'ad ha'am, uva'ad beiso, ba'ad beiso, uva'ad ha'am." It begins and it must begin with us. But in this pasuk it is described Cohen Gadol is changing first vilachatz bisaro. He He washes his his flesh. Essentially, he immerses. Where? Bamayim, in a mikvah. Bemakom Kadosh, in a holy place. What happens when you don't have a makom kadosh? I believe the men The men's mikvah is closed. COVID-19 coronavirus. It would be unwise. It's unnecessary. A men's mikvah is something which is extra. So, what do you do and what happens? Oh, comes along the Halacha Imrei Chaim. Says the Vishna Tzur Rebbe, "Mikvah Yisrael Hashem." You know, the mikvah of the Jewish people, we can immerse ourselves, we can transform ourselves, we can cleanse ourselves, we can purify ourselves. Mikvah Yisrael, the mikvah of the Jewish people is Hashem. Ishbitzer. Bay anarochetz. You say baruch shemei the same way again. Bay anarochetz. He teaches. He translates Bay anarochetz, Bay, in you, anarochetz, I I cleanse myself. I clean myself. Going back to our pasuk, "Vilachatz bisaro bamayim bemakom kadosh." I cleanse myself in a makom kadosh means I can go to the mikvah. But what happens when I'm denied the pride of the mikvah? Then, bay anarochetz. I can immerse in a mikvah and I can immerse in you, Hashem. I can immerse in feeling your presence, your warmth, your guiding hand. I can immerse in my davening. I can I can immerse I do this with you. I can immerse in meditation and mindfulness with you. I can immerse by singing, having a kumzitz with you. Bay anarochetz. Bay, in you, anarochetz. Bizov vilachatz bisaro bamayim bemakom kadosh. Bamakom Kadosh Baruch Hu. Kishaim Havaya baruch Hu ola makom. So, that makom, like "Hamakom yinacheim eschem," and like "Baruch Hamakom baruch Hu," we just said at the seder, that term makom is a name for Hashem. So, therefore, says the Vishna Tzur, when the pasuk tells us, "Vilachatz bisaro bamayim bemakom kadosh," even when you don't have a mikvah, you can immerse where? Hashem Kadosh, who is holy. Mikvah Yisrael Hashem. Even when we don't have the physical mikvah, we can immerse bay anarochetz. In you, we can be rochetz. We can immerse ourselves and cleanse ourselves in you, Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Okay. We continue. Conclusion of the service, and we have the continuation of the the korbanos that were offered on Yom Kippur. And the Torah continues, and it tells us the prohibition against eating blood. Blood is the definition of the soul. This is one of the key sources in the big debate, how you define death in Judaism. Is it the cessation of spontaneous respiration? Is it the heartbeat and the ability for the blood to flow? "Ki nefesh habasar badam hi." There's a correlation between the blood and blood flow and life and the soul. This pasuk is one of the sources why not eat blood, because blood is the source of the source of life. Okay, continuing, we have a mitzvah to cover the blood. What is the nature of this mitzvah to cover the blood? There's a whole story Not for Not for now. Okay, perek Yichus, the next perek. Now that we finished the story of Yom Kippur, Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, God speaks to Moshe. "Daber el benei Yisrael ve'amarta aleihem, speak to the Jewish people and tell them 'Ani Hashem Elokeichem.' Remind them who I they are. Remind them of the categorical difference between I am the omnipotent being who has created the world, who's designed the world and designed them. And here's what I'm telling them. You ready? I want to spend time on these next three pesukim, probably the remainder of our time together on this beautiful morning. Torah tells us, Hashem says, "Listen I'm God, and I programmed you and I designed you and I created this world, and I know what's best for you, and I know how you'll get the best and the most and the greatest pleasure in life. And are you ready? Listen carefully. Here's the deal. Kemasa Eretz Mitzrayim, Mitzrayim that you lived in, lo sa'asu. Don't repeat and don't emulate and don't imitate. Kemasa Eretz Kena'an, don't do what they do in Canaan. I shouldn't maybe this is from Shammah that I'm bringing you there losatsu. So both the place you're leaving don't imitate, don't emulate. And the place that you're going to pick up their habits. We will have to go same loss of don't follow their decrees and their traditions. We have a specific commandment to be a Jew and to live like a Jew, to have Jewish lifestyle, Jewish hats, Jewish routine, Jewish behaviors. We cannot emulate and emulate the other nations of the world. Of course we have much in common with them. And of course we derive the beauty of what they have to offer and we contribute to but on the whole we are informed and inspired by distinctly and uniquely Torah values, Torah ideals, and Torah behaviors. What is this talking about? Can my say it's the time? What is it specifically talking about? Can my say it's the time that we are not supposed to imitate? So open your microscope let's go to the microscope and look first let's see. Can my say it's the time Dr. Lottie These are the most degraded decadent and the most morally corrupt of all the nations of the world. The also market share and that place you were living in they had lost their moral compass. They were morally corrupt. Don't be defined by the morals and the ethics and the ethos and the values of where you're living. My dear friends we too have to be careful where we are living is incredibly kind and it has offered us beautiful religious freedom and prosperity. And it's inviting us to be able to integrate and assimilate and that in here is the danger. We have Jewish values and perspectives on all areas of life and we do not follow it's the time we have to not follow that which is deemed corrupt. I shouldn't maybe this is from Shammah and when they get to Canaan the nations that they will conquer who call me cool and they too are the most corrupt. Same loss of you cannot follow their I am their their their their stadium their their their um their entertainment sources. It's not who we are. Their styles and fashions that is not who we are. We have to elevate. We have to elevate above it says Rashi. The clear cut expands here and I want to bring your attention to this beautiful clear cut. Clear cut says can I say it's the time what does this mean? Why does it say I should be shocked and bow? We don't know we from there. When God tells motion motion is telling the people that the people of Egypt that you came from. What did that we came from? They don't know where they came from it's stamped in their passport. They know exactly where they just came from they suffered there for 210 years. And so on. And and the the clear cut therefore comes to the final conclusion. You know what the problem was? Don't emulate what you did in the time and you know what the horrific thing you did in the time was? I share you shaft in bow. You settled there. What happens? Where's the clear cut getting this from? When they left Egypt and they're in the desert this incorrigible people continue to complain to motion and one of the things they say is take us back to the time. They had an unbelievable buffet. The salad bar there was fantastic. The lifestyle there we miss it. Why did you take us out in the desert to die here? We miss it and we want to go back to the time. Craved settling in Egypt. They wanted to identify and walk like Egyptians. They wanted to assimilate into the Egyptian way. So the clear cut understands what's going on here in the and here we come to a good message. And he says you know what the problem I share you shaft in bow. It's not extraneous to say that you dwell there. It is exactly the root and the core of the mistake and the problem of what we are being enjoined to avoid. Can my say it's the time I share you shaft in bow low satsu. What's the low satsu? What is it you're not supposed to do? I share you shaft in bow. There are reasons to live outside of Israel. There are legitimate reasons not yet to make out there. People have financial, family, health serving the community there are legitimate reasons. But there are no legitimate reasons not to be struggling with when we'll make out there. Not if when and how we can fulfill this dream. We are guests we are here temporarily. The only place a Jew has permanence is in Israel it's where we belong. And as tonight and tomorrow we'll celebrate the religious significance of a performing miracles that were literally as great as the splitting of the sea and plagues to give us back our home land and to give us back a sense of sovereignty and the ability to protect ourselves. Look at what's going on in the statistics. There are roughly the same number of people who live in Israel as who live in New York and New York City and yet look at the difference of the casualties. Look at the difference of the of the behavior of the social distancing that's led to not to suggest that we're better or deserve better but the behavior and that's because we have that ability to govern and to rule ourselves. It's a miracle for which we have to express gratitude and whatever we do. No whatever you do the pause and take a moment say thank you for this gift. Thank you for this we should just be able to fly and visit and ultimately move there again. So says the clear cut can my say it's the time you know what it is that you did in the time that low satsu you shouldn't repeat I share you shaft in bow that you settled that you thought you were there permanently that you want to be just like them that you didn't move and make a move to be able to come to because that's where we belong and that's what the clear cut continues can my say it's the time I wish you all the best they wish you all the best they love they crave they were magnetically drawn to the land of Israel. But here says the clear cut the Jewish people they were fine living in Egypt. They were perfectly happy living in Egypt. So much to orchestrate events to be able to bring them and drag them to Israel. So what's the master Canaan I shall I need low satsu. What we should not do that's like master Canaan the low satsu there is I shall I need that God says I have to drag you. I have to drag you there by by increasing the anti-semitism in where you are. I have to drag you there by making things so inconvenient or uncomfortable that you realize it's time to go. We're not supposed to redeem these repeat these patterns of history. So you hear this of clear cut fantastic. The that we is I share you shaft in bow. That we settled there. And the Canaan that we're not supposed to repeat low satsu is that I share I need that we have to be dragged there. Says the clear cut of shits writing a long time ago not with Zionistic underpinnings that these two this which is telling us about how we're to behave and what we're to not emulate is essentially our our mission statement as a nation of a people of how we're supposed to see ourselves when we're in and that we should be driven not if but when there's legitimate reasons not to make out there there are no legitimate reasons not to be struggling with when we will be able to make that out there. Another understanding of it's the time is and the more says all the time he said it in our school several times in fact that time was known as a place of of superstition. It was governed by superstition and horoscopes and magic. And says can my say it's the time I took you out of there. You're not supposed to look at or worship or subscribe to horoscopes and superstition and magic. You have me to be telling with means it's prohibited to turn to or to look for answers elsewhere. In fact says Rashi you're not allowed to go the says you know what is? A red band. Tying a red string around your wrist the right is you think you're going to misbehave you're going to speak you're going to you're going to cheat in business you're going to oh but I tied a red string around my wrist I'm good to go nobody can harm me nobody can touch me. That's that's not a Jewish mentality that's not that's going back to Egypt that's my I took you out of Egypt why are you going back? Tying a red string. We just ate a delicious color. Those who subscribe to I'm not going through the history of it right now I'm not railing on it. Someone made me and I ate a delicious it's a school of when everyone bites into the metal key. But the is if you think that you know what I don't have to have virtue or merits I can act out behave I put a key in my or I shaped my like a key the is going to flow this year. Then you've gone back to then you're simply walking like an Egyptian then you're subscribing to silly nourish superstitions. But if you say when I put a key in my it reminds me that the is reminiscent of the man. And just like the man descended from heaven is the one who's responsible for my this man or not man legitimate or illegitimate reminds me that the man descends from heaven my also descends from heaven. It therefore reinforces and promotes the in me okay then it's beautiful. So we have to measure and we have to evaluate each of these behaviors. Is it silly superstition then can my say it's the time it's taking me back to Egypt. Does that have greater meaning? Then it's something which is okay. Says the Sfas Emes, kamasa eretz mitzrayim Says the Sfas Emes, what is this talking about kamasa eretz mitzrayim? Which behave Which behaviors? Listen to the Sfas Emes, the Ger Rebbe, Reb Yehuda Leib of Ger. When the Torah says don't be like an Egyptian, it's not talking about things that are prohibited, eating non- kosher, violating Shabbos, wearing shatnez. That's not what it's talking about when it says don't be like an Egyptian. And how does he know that, the Sfas Emes? Because the Torah explicitly tells us those prohibitions. So, obviously that's not what it's talking about. So, then what is it talking about? It's not talking about things that are already prohibited, it's talking about even that which is permissible. The style, the fashion, the ethos, the mentality, the attitude, the behavior. Don't be like the host country in which we're living, but rather fashion specifically a Jewish way of life and the Jewish value. And thirdly, I want to share with you on this pasuk kamasa eretz mitzrayim one more upshat, and this is a beautiful from an article from one of my rebbeim, Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger, shlita, and he says the following beautiful insight, quotes from the Rebbe. Kamasa eretz mitzrayim, what is this ma'aseh? The practice of the Egyptians. So, according to many of our meforshim, to the nature of social interaction, that we're supposed to study, learn, and deplore, and distance ourselves from. We don't hang out in bars, and we don't follow certain behaviors. When it comes to social behaviors, we have a Jewish standard, a Torah standard. Rebbe explains that the word ma'aseh in Torah indicates social conduct, and ultimately the attitude of a people toward justice and civic life. It's certainly reasonable to claim masters could state start out as individuals whose entire world consisted of themselves and their needs. Perhaps that's why we are reminded in that pasuk that we must not emulate the Egyptians among whom we lived. Apparently, it's precisely because we felt the awful sting of a society built on self-focus that we should seek to protect ourselves from the behaviors that could have contributed to the development of that culture. In other words, we are who we live with. We are affected, nature and nurture. So, we've been nurtured in Egypt, we might behave like them. That's what we're being warned. Kamasa eretz mitzrayim, when it comes to our interactions with others, don't be like them. It's not okay to gossip, or to judge, or to negate, or to ostracize. It's not okay to marginalize. It's not okay to extort or exploit the most vulnerable in society. Kamasa eretz mitzrayim, just because we so long did that in Egypt doesn't mean it's okay for us. And here, Rabbi Neuburger quotes a beautiful insight. Reb Baruch Halevi Epstein, the author of the Torah Temimah, has a beautiful sefer, we use it in Seder Snippets, Baruch Sheamar, and there he says the following. What is the pshat when we say in Hallel, we said it, when we left Mitzrayim we describe it now as beit Yaakov me'am lo'ez. The house left me'am, a people lo'ez, who had a strange language. That was the big miracle, God took us out. He took us out from an oppressive people, persecuting, torturing us, people who were killing us. He took us out, they had a different language. Why is that significant? Why is that important? Why does David Hamelech choose to describe our oppressive, our oppressors in this non-descriptive term? You know, even people who treated us well could have had a foreign language. Why is he describing them me'am lo'ez, a nation with this foreign language? And listen to what the Torah Temimah says. The Torah Temimah suggests that the Egyptians are being referred to as an evil tongue nation, not a foreign tongue the nation, but evil, as perpetrators of la'az. La'az is lashon hara. The Egyptians, even their moral code, had absolutely no problem with gossip, with negativity, with slander. They had no problem with being verbally abusive. Me'am lo'ez, that was the vernacular, the vocabulary, the language of the Egyptians was la'az, was lashon hara, was negative. It was a tool the Egyptian leadership used against us to try to marginalize, and to torture, and to abuse us. And that's what we're being warned, and that's what we're being told. David Hamelech is saying beit Yaakov, we have the ability to come out and elevate me'am lo'ez, to use our power of language so differently, and to rise above. And that's what the pasuk is teaching us, says Rabbi Neuburger. Kamasa eretz mitzrayim, what is the behavior in Mitzrayim that we're supposed to elevate above? Don't talk gossip, and don't negate others, and don't judge, and don't be verbally abusive, and don't slander. We are me- beit Yaakov me'am lo'ez. Kamasa eretz mitzrayim, we are not supposed to imitate or emulate that behavior. But what I want to spend our last few minutes on is really contrasting the last two, the next two pesukim, which is all we'll have time for. The next two pesukim seem utterly redundant and repetitive, and even so out of order. What's going on? Perek has chapter 18, verse dalet. Carry out my laws and guard my decrees, and follow them. side of mishpatim and chukim. just said mishpatim and chukim, now we switch the order, chukim and mishpatim. Asher ya'aseh osam adam v'chai bahem. And if you do this, if you safeguard them, v'chai bahem, you will earn life. And how do I know that? Ani Hashem. So, he tells us in two successive pesukim, he tells us he's God, we already knew that. He tells us to observe the chukim and mishpatim, he just told us that. He switches the order of it for some reason, and he throws in, by the way, if you do this, then v'chai bahem. What in the world is going on over here? So, the Or Hachaim Hakadosh, Or Hachaim ben Attar, tells us that here we have a formula or a prescription for personal growth. Again, if we had time, I would walk you through Rashi. Rashi has what to say on each of these. And the Ramban has a beautiful insight. But the Or Hachaim Hakadosh, I want to draw your attention to, says the following. Ushmartem, asks the Or Hachaim our question. Why are we repeating what we just said? So, these are repeated again. Shamru v'chai bahem ushimartem. Shim tzu lav v'halachas Hashem ya'aveh v'ya'aroch. Here we have something that we are all fulfilling right now. What does it mean v'chai bahem? We have a mandate to live by them. To live by them means that Torah, all the laws and rules of Torah are there to enhance our life, to enrich our life. And if they would cost us our very life, then what is the point of them if they were not here to enjoy and benefit from them? And therefore, outside of the three cardinal sins, murder, promiscuity, and idolatry, we are supposed to violate Torah law rather than sacrifice or give our life. And sadly in our time, we are fulfilling this mandate, this mission of v'chai bahem, regularly. In fact, Rabbi Soloveitchik comments and talks about his grandfather, who is being referenced a lot these days, Reb Chaim of Brisk, who was very, very strict on v'chai bahem, that pikuach nefesh, that saving a life And therefore, we are forfeiting minyanim, the rules of Shabbos, and people being able to drive, to donate plasma. Left and right, v'chai bahem, we are fulfilling chaim bahem all around us. He tells a story that his grandfather, Reb Chaim, disagreed with the legal view that on the day of Yom Kippur one can't feed a sick person small amounts at a time, each amount less than the forbidden measure. He instructed those who were taking care of a sick individual to serve a regular meal just as they would on other days. When my father was about to travel to a town close to Kovno to take up a rabbinical post, Reb Chaim turned to him and said, "I command you to follow my view if a sick person is in danger on Yom Kippur, for it is an absolute halachic truth." Reb Chaim was very strict. He said, "I'm not being lenient on Yom Kippur, I'm being strict in v'chai bahem and pikuach nefesh. This is our mission, our mandate. And those who play with it have the status of a rodef. This is not a time to play with it, or to be lenient, or flexible. We are strict like Reb Chaim Brisker on v'chai bahem." So, says the Or Hachaim, coming back to the Or Hachaim, Ashlosha varim sh'adam chayav leharog v'al ya'avor. There are three areas that you have to give your life So, the first pasuk is referring back to arayos. We have the whole section of acharei mot that tells us about the laws of promiscuity, of licentiousness, of immorality, of all the relationships that are out of bounds. So, the pasuk that is adjacent to that section doesn't include v'chai bahem, because you have to lose your life rather than violate And therefore, we repeat the pasuk again when it's adjacent now to the next section. When it comes to the rest of mitzvos, now v'chai bahem, one should forfeit the mitzvah in order to ensure their life, because the whole mitzvos are there in order to enhance our life. That is their purpose, that is the reason, that is why they are, that is why they are here. Rabbi Soloveitchik says something very interesting. On es mishpatay tasuvu es chukotai. He says this word chok, really chukim seem to be irrational. If not for the divine imperative, never observe them. We assume a divine purpose and value, but we cannot fathom them. Mishpatim, on the other hand, reflect cultural humanistic considerations. Yet the force of the divine command applies to both, demanding observance and unqualified commitment. In other words, what's the difference between mishpatim and chukim? And we repeated and we changed the order of it. The mishpatim, we understand, they serve humanistic considerations, they're intuitive, they're rational. The chukim seem to be a divine imperative beyond our understanding. Rashi cites a ben a comment on parah adumah. It's a decree ordained by me, you have no right to question it. This suggests that chok can be defined as an absolute norm and an ultimate command demanding total submission without reservation. It is to be affirmed even if the sudden in the nations of the world taunt Israel ridiculing its irrationality. The observant Jew accepts the Torah as a patient follows the prescription of a doctor, taking complex medications, submitting to required super surgical procedures. The chok has two characteristics, universal immutability and the fact that a chok is independent of situational factors. Etymologically, the root chok, ches, kuf, kuf, signifies the act of carving, engraving, making incisions in a hard surface like stone or metal. And that's the idea of a chok. It is it is engraved onto our heart. It is within us. And what the Rebbe suggests here, I wish I had the time to go through it entirely. And in fact, if you look on the bottom of the Artscroll Stone Chumash, this is one of the places that it quotes Rabbi Soloveitchik in the Artscroll Chumash. The Rav says, "Even a chok comes from the pintel Yid inside us. We think that the mishpatim are the result of our rational thinking and a chok is beyond us. It's not beyond us. The word chok, chakak, engraved in us means Hakadosh Baruch Hu put up within the pintel Yid. He put it within our Jewish soul that we don't arrive at it intellectually, and yet we can sense we have a familiarity, we have a comfort with us with it because Hakadosh Baruch Hu engraves it within our hearts and within our and within our soul. V'chai bahem. I'll just end off with the Kotzker Rebbe. I bahem. Says the Kotzker Rebbe, "V'chai bahem, v'lo she'yamus bahem." V'chai bahem means V'chai bahem means the way in which we're supposed to do the mitzvahs. "Shmartem es mishpatai, mishpatai, observe Torah, v'chai bahem." How do you earn life? Do you earn If you're have a pulse, but you're not connected to Hashem, to his world, to his prescription for how to find meaning, purpose, and happiness, you're not really alive. And how are we supposed to do it? With a sense of v'chai, with a sense of hislahavus, with a passion, with an energy, with an enthusiasm, with a with a zeal, with a sense of with a sense of joy. So, we should merit v'chai bahem to be healthy and to be able to live without having to sacrifice mitzvahs, and we should merit v'chai bahem to do those mitzvahs with a sense of joy, a sense of fervor, a sense of a great Thank you so much. Have a wonderful and a meaningful day.