Yetzias Mitzrayim: The Four Cups, Divine Providence, and Emunah Beyond Knowledge

Transcript

Vaitai, when you learn the parshiyot of Shemot, Vaeira, Bo, Beshalach, it's all about Galut Mitzrayim and Yetziat Mitzrayim. Galut Mitzrayim, Yetziat Mitzrayim. Thank you so much. Galut Mitzrayim, Yetziat Mitzrayim is not just an event. Galut Mitzrayim, Yetziat Mitzrayim, Galut Mitzrayim, Yetziat Mitzrayim, Rabotai, what? Okay, okay. Galut Mitzrayim, Yetziat Mitzrayim, Rabotai, is the yesod of our emunah. Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeiticha me'eretz Mitzrayim. You understand what we're saying? Our whole mahut, our whole metziut is that we are, Anachnu ma'aminim bnei ma'aminim, emunah. What is a Jew? A Jew is ma'amin baKadosh Baruch Hu, right? The Yud-Gimel Ikrim is all about emunah, emunah, emunah, and emunah, right? All the different types, not types, but the different inyanim that we have to have emunah in. Yud-Gimel Ikrei Emunah. So our whole mahut, our whole kiyum... Our whole existence is Anachnu Ma'aminim. And what is emunah? Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeiticha me'eretz Mitzrayim. This is not a chidush, rabosai. This is not my pshat. This is peshuto k'mashmao. And anybody who doesn't understand it is missing ha'ikar vhayesod shebeyesodot. This is it. He doesn't understand. So what is emunah? What is it? If emunah is about Yetziat Mitzrayim, and Yetziat Mitzrayim is the yesod ha'emunah, so then we have to learn Yetziat Mitzrayim in light of emunah. We have to look at Yetziat Mitzrayim and say we have to take out from Yetziat Mitzrayim all the emunah that we could take. This is emunah. In the sefarim it's written that Pesach night is Rosh Hashanah la'emunah. Just like Rosh Hashanah is Rosh Hashanah l'chayim u'lemetim, and different times of the year we're nidon for different things. For example, Shavuot, it says in the Shelah HaKadosh, is Rosh Hashanah for Torah. How much Torah and how much hatzlachah you have in Torah is judged on Shavuot. Well, down in the sefarim haKadoshim, Pesach by night is Rosh Hashanah la'emunah. We talk about the Pesach, the Yetziat Mitzrayim. That becomes the basis for how much emunah we will have. This is clear, brought down in all the sefarim. Pesach by night is Rosh Hashanah la'emunah. Kol hamarbeh lesaper b'yetzias Mitzrayim, harei zeh meshubach. Brought down in the mefarshim. Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, Kovner Rav, speaks about it. It becomes, harei zeh meshubach, the person is meshubach because he's more ma'amin. Not harei zeh meshubach, he'll get more reward, but harei zeh, meaning the person is meshubach because the person is a bigger baal emunah. So the more you talk about yetzias Mitzrayim, the more emunah. It goes hand in hand. So our chiyuv is to learn Shemot va'eira, Bo, Beshalach, and to take out from it emunah, emunah, emunah, emunah, emunah. It's clear. And like I say, this is not my chiddush. This is peshuto k'mashmao, devarim peshutan k'mashmautan. This is exactly what it says here, that you must learn yetzias Mitzrayim about emunah. As a matter of fact, HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells this to us clearly. How many times in the pesukim...

It says, L'maan teidu ki Ani Hashem b'kerev ha'aretz. L'maan yeidu that I am Hashem. L'maan tesaper b'aznei bincha u'ven bincha, me, me, I, I, et asher ani asiti b'Mitzrayim. So many pesukim. L'maan yeidu. It's that we should know Hashem is Hashem. So a person could ask, why is Yetzias Mitzrayim the basis? Why is that the yesod of emunah? What about the fact that Hashem created the world? Why is that not a siman and an ot? And from there we take the lesson: Hashem is Borei Olam, that Hashem is HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Baruch Hu u'varuch Shemo. Why does it have to be through Yetzias Mitzrayim? So it's brought down from the Chinuch and other Rishonim that Hashem created the world. That's what. That's brias ha'olam. That we learn out from brias ha'olam, and Shabbos is ot for that. Ki sheishes yamim asah Hashem es hashamayim v'es ha'aretz, u'vayom hashvii shavat vayinafash. Hashem created the world. But the goyim, many believe that Hashem created the world, but He went to sleep afterwards. Okay, very tired. He went vayinafash. He went to sleep, very tired. Shabbos, what do people do? Cholent and bolnus pakoisnus, right? Quiet, sleep, shlofen. So Shabbos, we went to sleep. So Yetzias Mitzrayim teaches us, He's not only Borei Olam, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, manhig, manhig et haolam, that He's involved, mamash on every step and every level, everything that ever happens, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is there. So Brias haolam on Shabbat is borei, and Yetzias Mitzrayim is manhig. And Jews, Yehudim have to believe not only that HaKadosh Baruch Hu bara et haolam, but also what? SheHaKadosh Baruch Hu, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is manhig. That's Hanochi Hashem Elokecha, asher hotzeiticha me'eretz Mitzrayim, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is manhig, manhig, manhig et haolam. Lo maspik la'amin sheHaKadosh Baruch Hu bara et haolam. You have to believe sheHaKadosh Baruch Hu manhig. Yetzias Mitzrayim is Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeiticha, I. And like the Haggadah's braita, it's from the Tannaim: Ani v'lo shaliach, v'kol bachor, v'kol... ani v'lo shliach. Hashem is there. He doesn't send a secretary. In America, you send secretary, fax and secretary. The guy might not even be there. It might not be such a person even, the boss. It might be an unknown. Someone told me that there's a whole story like that in the theater, that they had a whole business, a whole empire based on a person that doesn't exist. Phantom. There was no such—there was no boss. And all the people around were setting it up for the boss, but there was no boss. Therefore, Hashem says, Aniva lo shaliach. It's not Moshe, it's not Aaron. If you take a look in the Haggadah, there is no mention Moshe Rabbeinu. No mention Aaron. What happened? Moshe Rabbeinu. We once spoke that the Rambam says you should tell your son the nissim that happened to Klal Yisrael al yedei Moshe Rabbeinu. The Rambam stresses it in the halacha, so you see that you should mention Moshe Rabbeinu. We spoke about it a long time ago. But kipshuto, kipshuto simply, ein zecher shel Moshe baHaggadah. You know why? Aniva lo shaliach. You shouldn't think Moshe, Aaron, and Hashem just was, you know, sitting there in His office dozing off and giving just the, you know, Eh, go, while He didn't really take an interest and part, and He wasn't mamash yad, with His own hands doing it. Aniva lo shaliach. And therefore in the Haggadah, no mention, lo al yedei malach, lo al yedei saraf, right? Hashem bichvodo b'atzmo. This is l'maan yeidu that Hashem is not only boreh, Hashem is manhig, manhig et ha'olam.

This rabotai seems to be pashut, but the truth is it's much, much deeper and could be not even true what I'm saying. I'll explain to you what I mean. I'll explain to you what I mean. You know, it's interesting. Even on Shabbat, what do we say? Zecher l'maaseh Bereishit, right? But we also say zecher in the Kiddush, zecher. What? I thought Shabbos is about Hashem created the world. So how did it become a zecher l'yetziat Mitzrayim? You ever thought about that? What do you mean, again? Every Friday night, we make Kiddush, and in the Kiddush, what do we mention, rabotai? We mention zecher l'yetziat Mitzrayim. What? How is Shabbat zecher l'yetziat Mitzrayim? What are you talking about? What are you talking about? Zecher l'yetziat Mitzrayim? That makes sense. The whole inyan—what? Okay, so this is a medrash. Originally, they were working on Shabbat. Moshe Rabbeinu was po'el by Paro that they shouldn't work on Shabbat. But so what? What does one put the other? How did Shabbat become zecher l'yetziat Mitzrayim? Because they stopped working on Shabbat, man. Ma sheyichut, ma hakesher? What is the kesher between Shabbat, which is borei u'manhig, shebara et haolam, to the story and the zecher of yetziat Mitzrayim? Today, rabotai, you're going to get the answer, not an answer, but the answer. Behei hayediah, and then you'll start to understand what Emunas Mitzrayim is really all about. Avotai, any person who walks around thinking that he has emunah, and thinking that emunah is just, I believe in Hashem, that He's Borei u'manhig et ha'olam, he is nothing more than a child who's being foolish, who's being shallow, who's being na'ar. He's being foolish, real, plain and pashut, okay? I like to quote to you the lashon of the Alter from Slabodka, ha-saba mi-Slabodka, zechut tzaddik livrachah. It says an unbelievable thing. I found that Reb Yerucham also says it. Femer, yafemer, rabotai. Emet la'amito. He says, Hakarat Hashem hu yesod kol haTorah. This is in chelek aleph of Or HaTzafon, page kuf lamed hei. Hakarat Hashem yesod kol haTorah, v'yesh lo madregot l'ein shiur. Emunah is not just, I have emunah. Yirat Hashem hi chokhmah, hen chokhmah. The Gemara says, the wisdom, hen. Yirat Hashem hi, not hi but hen. It's one. It's the only chokhmah. It's not easy. Yirat Hashem and emunah is difficult. We're going to learn this, l'ein shiur. There's many levels to emunah. V'kama sheyachtiru v'yit'amku bah, the more you go into it, and you're masig elyonim yoter, the highest levels of it. You haven't even touched the corner. You could go and go in the emunah, and the higher you get, you can reach unbelievable heights. This is still efes katzeh, just a little bit. You're just maybe touching the corner, touching the lowest levels. Ba'she'ein sof le'mesugel l'hamkeh, there is no end to the depth that there is in emunah. So a person walks around saying, Good, ... mamin, ... mamin sheHaKadosh Baruch Hu bara et haolam, ... HaKadosh Baruch Hu manhig et haolam. Nothing. That's called emunah? Please. Adayin zekukim le'emunah. As much as you think that you reached, you still have to work on emunah. And this is a line which I love, I just love, I love to hear it again and again. Ein ha'emunah nachlat hahamonim. It's not the yerushah of the simple hamon am. Doesn't belong to the simple people, emunah. And remember the lashon: Ein ha'emunah nachlat hahamonim. Kefi hada'ah shetchit hamekubelet. Of course, the way people have shallow understanding of...

Hamona. Hamonim means the hamonam, the most, the folk, most people, hamon. It's only special people that get emunah, yeah? El kol adam, every person, af hagadol yoter, ein b'kocho l'hagia l'sof hasagot. Even the greatest of people will have difficulty reaching, reaching. So he'll come and say, Who told you this? Who told you? Is that true? Could you say a thing like that? He brings a tremendous proof. Who was Av ha'emunah? Who was the one who brought emunah to the world? Avraham Avinu, Avraham, right? Avraham Avinu was choker v'doresh, and he finally recognized Borei Olam. HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells him that his children will be yoreish Eretz Yisrael, right? What does it say in the pasuk? V'he'emin baShem, vayachsheveha lo l'tzedakah. He believed, and Hashem looked at it, says Rashi, in the name of the Chazal, as a tzedakah, a good thing, Avraham, you did a good—it's a tzedek, favor. You did a good thing. You believed in HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Asks the Alter from Slabodka, and Reb Yerucham says the same pshat, I saw this in dvarim. Avraham Avinu, you saw the emunah. What are you talking about? He has to get yashrus koach. Could you imagine a person says, Baruch Hashem—whoa! Wow, Atah baruch Hashem, tremendous. And yehudi ba'olam shelo omer את זה. Avraham Avinu, vayachshveha lo litzdakah. HaKadosh Baruch Hu chishev itzeh litzdakah. HaKadosh Baruch Hu, what Avraham Avinu mamin bo is a big thing. After all the years, he jumped into a fire for HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Uvkasdim. He jumped into a fire. What more could you want? HaKadosh Baruch Hu talks to him. Imagine Hashem talks to you, and He tells you, and you say, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, ani ma'amin becha. Oh, Avraham, איזה מאמין אתה, נפלא, נורא, מעולם לא חשבתי שאתה מאמין ככה. I couldn't believe that you're such a ma'amin. Tzedakah, tzedakah chesed. It's a big thing what you do, big thing. What are you talking about? Kushya atzumah. Baalei mussar, their libam amok. They have a very deep understanding of the Chumash. You hear what the ... Slabodka and the Rabbi Yerucham are asking? How does this become chesed, tzedakah? You know when a person gives a good few thousand dollars for a poor person, what do we call that? Tzedakah. What do we give him, make a dinner for him. This guy's a good guy. Look, ... and whatever, ... whatever you say for a guy like that, okay? To give him recognition for the thousands of dollars he gave, that's tzedakah. Hashem looks at Avraham and He tells him, Tzedakah. Wow, wow, אתה מאמין. Of course I'm a ma'amin. He was the one who founded you. He found you, HaKadosh Baruch Hu. He was the one who ran all over... of the world, telling the whole world that you exist. Why is v'echsavela l'tzedakah? And the answer is: dargot, v'dargot, v'dargot, v'dargot b'emunah. A person goes further and further. A person can be the biggest baal ma'amin. If he goes one step further in emunah, it's a big thing. It's deep. Emunah is deep, deep, deep, עמוק. The sicha of the Alter is called Imkei HaEmunah, from the depth. Mar rabu ma'asecha... No, that's not the pasuk. Od amku machshevotecha. Yishbar lo yeda, hachsil lo yavin et zo. Not everybody can understand. Omek, omek. There's a lot of omek. So what is emunah? So what is emunah? How can we talk? I'll tell you over the Brisker Rav, beautiful, beautiful. Rav Shach in his sefer brings down that he once asked the Brisker Rav a question. People talk about emunah. It's not emunah, it's yediah. You know. You don't know that this is Borei Olam. You ma'amin that this is Borei Olam. Now, of course, by us we're lucky if we're even ma'amin. But to people like...

Going to Nefshach and the Brisker Rav, to them was yediah, what do you mean? And the truth is, you look at the Rambam. The Rambam, the first Rambam in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah says mitzvah l'ha'amin and leida. There's two leshonos there in the Rambam. And they all ask this question: is it l'ha'amin or is it leida? Tell me, you're holding a pen. Do you believe that? You know it, right? So for the Rambam, it seems that emunah has to be yediah, that you know there's a Borei Olam. So why is it called emunah? That's the question Rav Shach asked the Brisker Rav. Now, I'm simplifying it. There's a big piece of Torah over there with Kriat Shema, a whole famous pshat from the Brisker Rav. But in simple, just for a sichas mussar, we can take out the Brisker Rav's answer was, You're right, that Hashem is Borei u'manhig is yediah. That's not chiddush. You don't got to believe that. Anybody with half a brain in his head looks around and says, Yesh Borei v'yesh manhig. You look at Haiti, unbelievable earthquake. In one second, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people. Nifla v'nora, yeah? One second. One second. Sdom va'Amora. Now, is it Sdom va'Amora? I don't want to get involved. Why should you say that? Who knows? There's a vort from the Alter of Slabodka that he says that even Paro, when he got his makot, you know what the problem was? He looked at it as an onesh, and he should have looked at it as rachmei Hashem, that Hashem loved people so much to be madrich them al haderech to do teshuvah. And he brings a sefer, the sefer says, Why was HaKadosh Baruch Hu machbid lev Paro? Because lo echpotz b'mos hamet, ki im b'shuvo midarko v'chayah. It's a fascinating seforno. Tes tes in Shemot. Look it up, very interesting Seforno. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He says the problem with Paro was he took it as an onesh, and he didn't see the rachmei shamayim. Teshuva can only be done if a person takes it as rachmei shamayim. You're not supposed to do teshuva because Hashem smacks you, because eventually you'll come back and not want to do it again. You're not going to do the teshuva. As soon as the threat, you feel a little bit comfortable, and that's what happened. Vatiar vachar. The minute he got it a little bit calmed down, the makkah calmed down, he went back to doing the aveirah. Says the Alter of Slabodka, you know why? Because of this. Because the truth was, his reason for doing teshuva was because he was scared, because he had pain, he had yisurim. That's not the reason to do teshuva. The reason to do teshuva is, and even though you're getting yisurim, is to say that Hashem is doing it because He's going to change the whole briah and turn the world upside down, shinui hateva, just so I should do teshuva. And he says that that's why, vayechbed lev Paro. What was the kaved lev Paro? Kaved lev Paro, and this is the way I explain what he means, kaved lev Paro wasn't that he couldn't do teshuva. Kaved lev Paro means he didn't see that rachmei Hashem became rough and tough, and he looked at it as Hashem is hurting me and He's fighting me. You look at Hashem as hurting and fighting you. This is what I added to the pshat of the Alter of Slabodka. Kaved lev Paro means Hashem made his heart hard that he shouldn't see that Hashem is doing kindness with him. He shouldn't see the rachmei shamayim in it, and when you don't see the rachmei shamayim, you can't do teshuva. This is a very famous sicha. So when you hear, hey, thousands of people... The hundreds of thousands were killed. Whatever it is, there's no reason to come and say onshim, and there's no reason to talk like that. It's rachmei Shamayim, and it doesn't mean only for them; maybe it's for us. Re'ei ami tikhumusar. We're supposed to take the musar from it. So Baruch Hashem that we didn't get it. Could have been that we could have gotten this lesson. Seventy, eighty years ago, we got the lesson. Baruch Hashem, in the Holocaust, Baruch Hashem, someone else. You know, there has to be a lesson. Chasdei Hashem, it wasn't in Israel. It's for us to look and say, Ah, Hashem wants us to do teshuva, and the rachmei Shamayim is that Hashem makes people, al kein yoreh chataim b'derech. Hashem puts people on the way to do teshuva. Okay, this was agav, getting back to the sicha that we just are discussing. Emunah is not that Hashem is borei u'manhig, because that's yediah. That's so...

Simple, that that's not what we can even call emunah. So what is emunah? Says the Brisker Rav, what we don't see and what we can't understand is olamot v'olamot, worlds and worlds which are beyond our re'iyah hapshutah, what we see. That's where emunah. The way he said it was, where yediah ends, that's where emunah begins. HaKadosh Baruch Hu bara haolam. HaKadosh Baruch Hu manhig haolam. Zeh b'shvil yeladim ketanim, who doesn't know that? Every child—excuse me—Hashem, you know Hashem? You ever heard of Hashem? Hashem created the world? They say, yeah. Little girls from school, little children from school, yeah, Hashem created the world. That's for children. What about the grown-ups? For the grown-ups, where yediah ends, that's just where emunah begins. And there's so many levels, says the Alter of Slabodka and Rabbi Yerucham, levels and levels and levels. This is yetziat Mitzrayim, yetziat Mitzrayim, and the chiyuv to learn the parashiyot of yetziat Mitzrayim, and Pesach by night lesaper b'yetziat Mitzrayim, and every day, l'maan tizkor et yom tzeitcha me'eretz Mitzrayim kol yemei chayecha, every day is to unravel, is to take out, is to peel away from the simple story, the simple part of it, and to be choder. Into the emunah, Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeisicha me'eretz Mitzrayim. It's supposed to teach us real emunah, not Borei u'manhig. That's simple. We don't need that. Hashem's Borei u'manhig. You walk in the street, you realize He's Borei u'manhig. So then how are we supposed to learn yetzias Mitzrayim to teach us emunah? This is today's shiur. All this was hakdamah. You want me some water or some coffee or something? I'm very, very tired. So, rabosai, let me begin by discussing with you eser makos, the ten makos. What were the ten makos? That was the basis of the geulah. Yetzias Mitzrayim was based on the eser makos. Why did He get eser makos? What are the eser makos supposed to resemble and teach us? So there are two derachim in the Midrashim. One derech in the Midrashim is midah keneged midah. Every time Paro did a sin, so he got a makah which was perfectly formulaed, that it should be keneged the sin he did. Midah keneged midah. And I'll read to you the Midrash. The Midrash says, midah keneged midah. He was gozer gezeiros, he got makos. Dam! Why did he get dam? Mishum shelo hayu מניחין לבנות ישראל לטבול מדם נדתן. Because he didn't let the Jewish women go to the mikvah, because he didn't want them to have children. He was afraid of the children overtaking his country. So he stopped them from going to mikvah. Am nida? Oh, you're gonna get punished with dam. Hashem brought makah dam. Another reason, the dam was by Yaor, because he threw the children into the Yaor. So therefore he got dam by Yaor. Midah k'neged midah. Everything is precise. It's not like in America, you get a parking ticket, you could sit in jail for a year. You kill somebody, a small little fine, not a big deal. Hashem is takkeh midah k'neged midah. So when you... Nah, now, there's so much, I can't. I will talk afterwards. Come to my Pesach Seder and we can talk all these questions. Today we have to just go further. Tzfardea. Mishum shehayu machilin l'Yisrael shekatzim u'remasim. They forced the Jews to eat frogs, like in France, frog legs, Chinese worms, echvesvas. So mimeila, what happened? They got punished with tzfardea. All right. Or, don't forget that tzfardea made a lot of noise. Ooh. You know the noise that tzfardea made? You're able to make a hole in a guy's head. So another reason for the tzfardea, besides to the fact that they forced Jews to eat shekatzim u'remasim, is because of the noise.

Vayitz'akat b'not Yisrael, shehayu mashlichim b'neihem ליאור. The women were screaming as the children were thrown into the ocean. So to punish the scream, Hashem gave them tzaraas. It's a beautiful midrashim, Rabosai. What's the kinim? Mishum shehayu omrim l'Yisrael, lenakot shvakim urchovot. They made them clean the streets. Janitors. I once told this to you, the Kapishnitzer Rebbe, zicher tzaddik livracha, was forced to clean the streets by the Nazis. The Nazis took a page out of the playbook of Paro. Paro did the same shtick. You know what it's done? It's done to degrade the person. It's to make you clean a street, and then I walk on top of it like nothing happened, you know, like, you know, it's like piece of a ramah. You build and I destroy. It's to degrade the person. So they say over the Kapishnitzer Rebbe was cleaning the streets in Germany, and he was laughing and singing like a Chassidishe Rebbe, you know, happy and singing nigunim. So the Nazi got angry and he said, What are you singing? What are you— He says, You think I'm cleaning the streets of Berlin. I'm cleaning the Ribono Shel Olam's beautiful world. I look at it completely different. I menakeh olam, hayafah shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the beautiful world of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. This is Paro's shtick. Same thing. He made them clean the floors, shvakim urchovot. So therefore, what does HaKadosh Baruch Hu give? Kinim. You know when kinim come? Everybody knows that the minute when you're not clean, you get kinim. When it's sanitary, it's not sanitary, you get kinim. So very good. You want clean streets here, go have a good dosage of kinim. Oy kneged, chaymer u'leveinim v'afar. They made them work with earth. Kinim come from the earth. So therefore, you make them work with earth, you're gonna get kinim. Okay. What about orov? Why did they have the orov, the wild animals? Yeah? That's it, that's the reason. Glady, how'd you know? The Medrash says they used to make them bring dubim v'arayot l'schok, to play with. Yeah, sure. You know, they used to put you in an arena with a lion and see who wins, right? So they used to tell the Jews, come on, make circus for us, and bring dubim v'arayot and play with them. Okay, so therefore they got back orov, wild animals. Dever. Why did they get dever? Mishum shehayu samim Yisrael mechamemei merchatzaot. They used to use the Jews to heat up the bathhouses. And that was a way of degrading, like, you're my shamash, you know, you'll clean, you'll give me a bath, and you'll warm up my bath for me. Lachen hevi makah shemechamemet otam. That's why He brought them a makah that warmed them up. What was dever? Dever was? Who? Shechin is boils. Dever is this plague, no? Plague. Plague. More, more. Plague. Medrash says, לכן הביא מכה שמחממת אותם. I guess maybe from the plague of the animals, they got fever maybe. Huh? Ah, maybe that's what it means. Maybe, הפרוות שמחממת, so how did it... But it says they ran away, all the animals ran away. Okay, this is what the Medrash says. או משום, or another reason. What's the other reason for dever? משום שגזלו מקנה ישראל. Because they were stealing from the Klal Yisrael, their mikneh, their cattle. So therefore, Hashem gave them dever. What about shechin? כדי שלא יוכלו להיזקק לנשותיהם. When they got the shechin, they couldn't be with their wives, and this was a punishment because they were garam prishut derech eretz. The Haggadah tells us that the women, the Jewish women, were not with the husbands because they were afraid, prishut derech eretz. So therefore they got shechin. What about barad? What's barad? מפני שהיו משימים לישראל נוטעי גינות. They used to embarrass them by making them shomrim for gardens, ginot. לכן...

Bar habarad et ha'eitzim. That's why He sent them barad that destroyed their, their, their ginot, their beautiful gardens. O mipnei shehayu makim l'Yisrael bavanim, or because they used to use stones. HaKadosh Baruch Hu sent barad like stone. Barad was hail, like stones. So you play with stones? Okay, you like stones, huh? You like to play with stones? I'll show you stones, all right? I'll give you a stone that you won't be able, that you can play with. It's called stone with fire inside. Have a good time with it. Arbeh. What about the locust, arbeh? Mipnei shehayu omrim l'Yisrael, 'Natu pardesim, vezaru chitim useorim.' They used to tell them, 'Plant for us, be farmers,' like by the shchorim, they made them plantation farmers, right? That's a way of making an eved. So you want farmer? Okay, no problem. I'll give you arbeh that's eat up all the chitim and all the seorim. Everything that's planted. O mipnei shegazlu tevuah miBnei Yisrael, or also because they used to steal. They used to steal the tevuah from the Bnei Yisrael, so the arbeh came and ate it up. What about choshech? Mipnei shesamud Bnei Yisrael bchoshech hagalut. You made dark for Klal Yisrael, you'll get dark. Hichshich, you made it dark. You made dark, so you're gonna get dark also. O lefi shehayu posh'im bYisrael. This is a very famous midrash, that they had to die. Okay. What about makat bechorot? Kemo shechrivu haMitzrim es banav shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu, just like they destroyed the bechor of Hashem, which is Klal Yisrael, kach hu yisbarach horag bechoreihem. So everything was midah. So this Shabbos is pashut, you did, you got back. But there's more midrashim. There's another medrash, which the Netivot in Ma'aseh Nisim brings, the peirush of the Netivot on Haggadah's Ma'aseh Nisim. He says, he brings another medrash that since Paro was machrich in Brias HaOlam, because he was machrich, Mi Hashem, who is Hashem, what do we know Hashem? And Hashem created the world ba'asarah ma'amarot. HaKadosh Baruch Hu created the world with ten ma'amarot, right? Famous Mishnah in Avot, Ba'asarah ma'amarot bara HaKadosh Baruch Hu es ha'olam. So therefore you got a set of makot. Avotai, didn't I begin by asking you, what does Yetzias Mitzrayim have to do with Brias HaOlam? It does have to do, eh? There is some connection. Paro was machrich in HaKadosh Baruch Hu's asarah ma'amarot bara es ha'olam, so therefore hu ka'eser makot keneged asarah ma'amarot shekichish. And if you want to go through, we'll try to go through it quickly. Maamar echad, Bereishit bara. Bo nivru shamayim va'aretz vahamayim. The first maamar was the water and the earth, so therefore he got makas dam. Dever came from the shamayim, right? And then there was vayehi or, he got choshech. Yehi rakia, he got barad. Yikavu hamayim, is he got kinim in the afar. Tadshe haaretz, he got makas arbeh. Me'orot, he got choshech. Yishretzu hamayim, he got tzfardea. Totza haaretz nefesh chayah, he got arov. Adam, Brias Adam, he got makas shechin. Pru urvu, na'asar koach hamolid, and therefore he got makas bechoros, right? So each one of the maamarot, which is another part of the briah. So if you notice that the makot came from the briah, right? One came from the ocean, and the other one came from the shamayim, and the other one was in the person, right? So it comes out that you were makish in asarah maamarot, you're going to get asarah makot. Okay. What? We discussed this, we discussed. So what do we have? That it wasn't only a local event, that Mitzrayim, he suffered, he made the Jew suffer, he did terrible things, and he got punished. No, no, no. It's deeper, a lot deeper. It goes back to briat haaretz. Okay. Now let me show you something very interesting. You know, we have daled kosot. Why do we have daled kosot? Everybody knows, keneged arba leshonot shel geulah, and one of them is in this week's parasha: V'hotzeiti, v'hitzalti, v'ga'alti, v'lakachti. If you look, the Rashi and the Rambam, Rashbam, in the beginning of Arvei Pesachim bring this medrash down, that it's keneged the arba leshonei geulah. Lemaaseh.

If you look, the Sefer HaMichtam says it's not as simple as you're making it. Don't think it's hotzeiti, hitzalti, ga'alti. Ha'inyanim shel hageulah, he says, Sefer HaMichtam is a rishon, are inyanim gedolim b'geulah. These are deep things. Thank Hashem, just saved you. You look at the matnot kehunah, this medrash, he says, yeah, because there were four gezeirot. There was avodas perach. They made them work hard. They threw the children into the river. That's the second thing. They slaughtered the children. That's the third thing. They made them collect and build pieces of aramseis. They made them collect kash. That's the fourth thing. So there was four. So hotzeiti, v'hitzalti, v'ga'alti, v'lakachti. Says Sefer HaMichtam, what? That's all it's about? That you did this and therefore you made avodas perach? He says, inyanim gedolim in geulah. It's very deep. You know what Rabbeinu Bechaye says? When Mashiach comes, we're going to have the same hotzeiti, v'hitzalti, v'ga'alti, v'lakachti. This is Rabbeinu Bechaye, Shemot 6:6. Kemo b'yetziat Mitzrayim, hayu arba leshonot geulah, says Rabbeinu Bechaye. Gam la'atid lavo, when Mashiach comes, there's hotzeiti, v'hitzalti, v'ga'alti, v'lakachti. So you can't just say it's about avodat perach, banim la'yor, shechitat banim, l'koshes kash. It's obviously, like the Michtam says, what? Inyanim gedolim shel geulah. Do you hear what I'm telling you? When you read the story of Mitzrayim, So you read it, yeah, they did, they worked him. It's very deep things, rabosai, very deep. It's not just an event that happened, but through it, we're going to read what will happen. Through it, we're going to learn things that are going to happen when Mashiach comes. That's what... Az yashir Moshe, right? This is very interesting, very good diyuk. Az yashir Moshe. It's not only Az yashar, it's yashir, it's nogea for the future as well. So right away it takes away the childish understanding of Yetzias Mitzrayim. If you sit there and you start looking at Yetzias Mitzrayim as a thing, yeah, they made us work and they made us suffer and Hashem came and you missed the boat, rabosai. This is a very interesting story that in it has many, many, many stories. There's many themes. There's many screenplays within the play of Mitzrayim. You hear? Daled leshonos geulah, yeah, the kos yesh kaas, avodah, perech, the pirushim on the Medrash bring this down, and that's the four leshonos of geulah. But you start looking a little deeper in the Rishonim, you see that it's inyanim gedolim. And you see Rabbeinu Bechaye says that this is actually in the la'atid, daled leshonos shel geulah. Let me tell you a little more, which is going to fascinate you. Medrashim, I know the olam likes Medrashim, Medrashim, Medrashim. Who said Kabbalah? You said— I said Medrash, you said Kabbalah. Wishful thinking. You'll get Kabbalah here also. What's your question? How can I help you? Tell me how I can help you. What's your question? What's your— let me ask how I can help you. What's your question? Tell me, tell me, yeah. ... Avodat perech, banim layeor, shchitat habanim, ein lekoshesh kash. That they had to collect. That's what happened in Mitzrayim, but it's more, it says Sefer HaMichtam. And if you take a look, Rabbeinu Bechaye says it's l'atid. The four leshonot is not leshonot of avar. Okay, now I'm going to even show you more. The Gemara in Pesachim, daf kuf ches amud aleph, as well as the Yerushalmi in Arvei Pesachim says that the four cups is not only about v'hotzeiti, v'hitzalti, v'ga'alti. There's more. You know how many times it says kos Paro in the dreams of Yosef? Yosef, he had to speak to the sar hamashkeh. It says, I took the kos Paro, and I gave the kos Paro, and I put the kos Paro, four times it says the kos. So keneged, in remez, it's a mefurash Gemara. What's the connection? That's why you're sitting here today. And that's why I'm drinking more coffee than I'm allowed to drink, so I can teach this to you. You hear? It's a Gemara.

This is not just blah, blah, blah. You remember the Gemara? Take out the Gemara. It's Kuf Ches. Rashi brings it down, and the Yerushalmi says it before. It's keneged the daled kosos of Paro. Ah, the Pesachim, Kuf Ches. I'll tell you the Gemara. Gemara says, Nashim chayavos b'daled kosos. Says Rashi, the daled kosos are keneged what? I don't know, Rashi says. The daled kosos is keneged the daled kosos that—actually, Rashi in Pesachim says it's only keneged three of the kos, and the fourth one is birchas hamazon. That's what actually Rashi says. The fourth kos is anyway needed, because we have to bench, we have to make birchas hamazon on a kos. But the Yerushalmi that he's quoting, it's coming from a Yerushalmi. There it says clearly that it says four times the word kos, Paro, in the story of Yosef. Go ahead, read it. Amud beis, Rashi, Nashim chayavos, says Rashi. And the meforshim even ask, how come in the beginning of the perek Rashi says it's because of the four leshonot of geulah? And then Rashi at the end of the perek, when he explains the four kosot, he says it's because of kos Paro. It's a Rashi. Nashim chayavos b'daled... Here it is. Maybe it's right here. Arba kosos. The last one, the last Rashi on the page. Lo shekeneged gimel kosos. Read it, read it, read it. Pushkin Rashi, go ahead, yeah. Three times it says the word kos over there, by Paro, by the dreams. You know, it's a פלא. A guy could sit with all the mefarshim on that aggadah, and he misses the main part. I mean, this is a mefurash Rashi. He needs Rabbi Wolk on Sunday morning to teach him an open Rashi, that the arba kosos is because of kos Paro. This is a mefurash, and it's Yerushalmi. It's open Gemara. So what should I do? So maybe you should start over kindergarten. What should I do? Bring home that. You should redo your kindergarten aggadah. What should I do? Be like, like, nobody knows this. It's scary. I'm saying, Mara, I didn't make it up. It's a peshur Gemara. Because without, we make it three kosos? No, so the fourth was birchas hamazon. But the Yerushalmi says four times. Actually, it says it four times in the pasuk, kos Paro, because when he repeats it, it's not in that pasuk; it's in the pasuk after he repeats. So four times it says the word kos Paro by the sar hamashkim. So the question is, why does Rashi contradict himself? In the beginning he says, arba leshonos shel geulah, and later... And the main question: what's the connection? So the Meiri explains that the story of Yosef is connected to the geulah. Oh. Siba, siba ligeulah Mitzrayim. Yosef, they went to galut in the first place because of Yosef. So kos Paro. But isn't kos Paro like a detail in the story with the dream of Yosef? So what are you saying? It's a... zeh sipur shel Yosef, ha-kos Paro, mashu amar kos Paro, kos Paro, ma shayach po l'kos Paro? Ma... what are you saying? Okay. I saw it. There's a rishon called Orchot... You probably don't know, and that's why I'm stalling you. I would, in yeshiva, the olam says Orchos Chaim; they'll know what I'm talking about. It's one of the פירושים of the Rishonim, like a Shibolei HaLeket. It's called Orchos Chaim. There he says more: שבאה הגאולה ליוסף על ידי החלום. Oh. So it's not even that the story of Yosef, which was gorem shibud Mitzrayim, but Yosef's geulah—Yosef was redeemed. Yosef became the melech; how did he become? Because of the story with the kos. Yeah, but I thought this was about yetzias Mitzrayim this night. Bishlama according to the Meiri, okay, this somehow is tied into the beginning of the story of Mitzrayim. But the way the Orchos Chaim learns, that he got a geulah, he got a redemption in his own private life with the story of the kos, what does that have to do with yetzias Mitzrayim? Tell me something. When you got married, you were redeemed. You felt like a— You're supposed to say yes.

When you got patur from your old boss, did you feel nig'al? So maybe the night of Pesach you should sit there and say, Ah, shebchu ge'ulim, I'm free from my boss. How did ge'ulat Yosef come into the picture? If you say that he's connected to Mitzrayim and shibud, good. That's the story of Yosef is the beginning of the shibud. The brothers, okay, so that's good, which still doesn't really make sense, because how did the kos Paroh have to do with that? All right. But if you say that Yosef himself had geulah from the jail, what does that have to do with Mitzrayim? I think maybe I'll tell you the Torah now and then show you more, because I feel that if I start giving you more and more, you're going to get lost. Geulat Mitzrayim, rabotai, is not a one-time event. The entire world and everything that happened in this world till Mitzrayim and after Mitzrayim is all tied, woven into the story of Mitzrayim. Everything is סיבה ומסובב to the event of Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeiticha me'eretz Mitzrayim. You know why the reason for creation? For this moment of Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeiticha me'eretz Mitzrayim. It's all linked together. Pay attention. I gave you a little bit, and then we'll go further. And then you'll see how everything ties together, and then you'll understand what true emunah is. Emunah is not just, Hashem, you put me in Mitzrayim, you took me out of Mitzrayim. It's an understanding of the whole world and the master plan of the world. It's very deep. Emunah is deep, and like the Alter from Slabodka says, Im ke'emunah. It's not just emunah. There are levels and levels. There's so much in emunah. The Yerushalmi brings another pshat, b'shem Rabbi Levi, that the reason why we have Arba Kosot, keneged daled malchuyot, the four kingdoms that are going to come against us, Edom, Yavan. So, in zecher, in commemoration, in zikhron to that, daled kosot. You mean Mitzrayim? Daled galuyot, the four malchuyot that are going to come against us? What is the connection? I've spoken to you about this, that actually in the galut Mitzrayim was nichlal already, all the galut. It comes from this Yerushalmi, that keneged daled malchuyot, keneged the four kings, kingdoms that are going to come and persecute us, we have daled kosot. There's another Yerushalmi. Daled kosot, when Mashiach comes, the goyim are going to get daled kosot shel poraniyut. You probably have come across this nusach. It comes from Yerushalmi. Four cuploads. There'll be four cuploads of punishment, poraniyut, to the goyim. Cups! Kosot! Shal Paro niut. This is now — it's Yerushalmi. You can take out the same Yerushalmi. The Yerushalmi continues: Daled kosos keneged kos Paro, daled kosos keneged daled malchiyos, daled kosos keneged daled kosos shel proniut. Vegam, says the Yerushalmi, it's also keneged the daled kosos of nechamot that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is going to give Klal Yisrael. Hashem is going to give us four cups of nechamah. Why? It's a good question. What does it mean? Now, what is she saying? Daled kosos shel nechamah — nichum, nechamah, consolation. The goyim are going to get proniut, and we're going to get nechamot, nechamot. Nichum aveilim, nichum. Nechamot. Hashem will console us with daled kosos. You ever see the lashon of the pasuk, kos yeshuot esa. What is kos yeshuot? What does it mean? Ever think about it? Kos of salvation. What does it mean? These are the two kos yeshuot, two. Those are the two of the salvation, says the Medrash. When is that going to be? One in limot haMashiach, and one lyamot Gog uMagog.

Im otam kos, yesh shuat, two. And that's the daled kosot deChamot. This is it. Those are the four, two of the four. One of the other two, I didn't come across any midrashim about it, but throughout the years maybe, maybe after the Holocaust we got one, I don't know. But the point is that there are four kosot of the Chamot. Midrash. It's not big things, it's open. You just have to learn. Over the years I learned. I spent my days learning instead of doing stock market and other shtuyot that the whole world is busy with, and therefore I can tell you midrash after midrash after midrash, things that nobody ever heard of before. And it's not that no one heard of it because it's somewhere obscure. It's right in front of your face. You just got to open the midrash and find it, that's all. You got to learn the Yerushalmi. Who learns Yerushalmi today? You got to learn the Yerushalmi, and then you'll know it, that's all. Okay. The Raavad, the Raavad says that, you know, daled kosot, I think that the daled kosot too are from Mitzrayim. One is for the time of nevuchat nezar, and one is la'atid lavo when Mashiach comes. The Raavad says, Makat Bechorot, that's one kos. So when you pick up the kos, the first one, Kiddush, according to the Raavad you have to say, L'zecher makat bechorot. You pick up the second one, Zecher likriat Yam Suf. You pick up the third one, Zecher l'yemei Nevuchadnetzar. You pick up the fourth one, Zecher l'ymot haMashiach. And then we take you and say, You're crazy. What are you talking about? Imagine you come to the Pesach Seder and you start talking about ... Are you mixed up a little bit? ... I know you're completely something ... something's wrong over there, right? They say over a cute story. I say it over all the time. Those that heard it, good. If not, you get a good story. There was once a kid in day school—in, sorry, Sunday school. Sunday school, once a week he's Jewish; the rest of the time he's like everybody else. He used to go to Sunday school, and they too taught about Pesach. The father was not a religious Jew, obviously, because he wouldn't send his kid to Sunday school; he sent him to yeshiva. The grandfather was a religious Jew. Unfortunately, went off a little bit, the son. So he figures he has a very weak Pesach Seder. What's his Pesach Seder? He's going to eat matzos from Manischewitz, and he's going to drink the wine from ... from Manischewitz with macaroons over there, and, right, with a little Gold's herring, and then he goes to watch the football game. So he figured it's not kedai for his son; it's not kedai ... he sent him to the religious grandfather for Pesach. All right, the grandfather comes and says, David, tell me, what did you learn in school? He says, I learned about the story of Egypt. Good, good. What did you learn? says the grandfather. He says, I learned that there was an evil dictator called Paro. This evil dictator ... Evil dictator, he was torturing the Jews, v'chulei v'chulei. Comes a very strong general, Moshe Rabbeinu, and he was a tremendous warrior. And he had a tremendous cabinet of people around him, and he came up with tremendous plans, and v'chulei. He was winning, but then all of a sudden, they came after him with a tremendous army of tanks. They didn't know what to do, so they came to the ocean and they figured, what should we do? So they went, took a atomic bomb, and they dropped it in the ocean, and it killed out all the Egyptians. The grandfather was horrified. He goes, What? Tanks and bombs? That's what they taught you in Sunday school? He says, Grandpa, if I told you the way they taught it to me in school, you'd think I'm crazy and my teacher's crazy. What, with kinah, with Torah, with Hashem? So I had to tell it to you in a way I don't want you to think I'm completely off my rocker, you know what I mean? If I told it to you the way I was taught, you'd think that my father sends me to a loony house, all right? Guess what? Pesach Seder is supposed to sound very bizarre. You're supposed to get up there.

And talk about Nevuchadnetzar and talk about Paro and Sancheriv and Yosef and then Gog uMagog and Mashiach, and oy vey, vos, what's going on over here? What do we see from here, rabosai? The gezeiros, the gezeiros that Paro made for Klal Yisrael, and the makot, and the ge'ulot, past and present and future, and the malchiyot, and the nations that come against us, and Yemot HaMashiach, and Gog uMagog, they're all intertwined, ulan mikusharim in the story, weaved into the story, including Nevuchadnetzar, yes. It's all in the story of what? It's all in the story of Pesach. Let me tell you more, rabosai. There's a beautiful, beautiful Mishnas Rabbi Eliezer, and Mishnas Rabbi Eliezer, and some of it is quoted in Medrash HaChefetz, other remazim in the daled kosot. Daled kosot keneged daled yesodot, that the daled kosot is keneged the four yesodot of the briah: domem, tzomeach, chai, medaber. You knew that? Kos rishon keneged domem. Let's drink kos rishon. Domem is a rock; it's the four yesodot, domem. This is a Medrash, Mishnas Rabbi Eliezer, it's a braita, it's open Midrashim, it's not a big—yeah, you knew this. Keneged domem, keneged tzomeach, keneged chai. He's medaber. What are you talking about? Not finished yet. Daled kosos keneged daled kanfos ha'aretz. There's four corners to the world. And now we're going to list all the things which we're shayach to four. We have lulav and esrog. How many do we have? Daled minim, man. So actually, the Meses Reb Eliezer is really about the daled minim. That's the truth. The Meses Reb Eliezer says the reason for daled minim, because we find daled is a very important number in the Torah, okay? Because everything revolves around daled, daled, daled. One of them is chad meichai medaber. One of them is daled kanfos ha'aretz. Wait a minute. How many tekufos ha'shanah do we have? Arba tekufos ha'shanah. There's four seasons. Four seasons. Four seasons, right? Four corners, four seasons, four types of things in the briah. Oh, excuse me, I'm sorry, I made a small little error. This fakert, the Medrash hachevetz, excuse me, is by daled kosos. I apologize. These things is by daled kosos. Excuse me, excuse me, I'm sorry, a little tired, because I need another sip of coffee, I'll get better. Hold on. Tired, a little tired. The daled kosos, I'm sorry, excuse me, remember this: it is keneged chai, tzomeach, domem, u'medaber. The daled kosos is keneged daled kanfos ha'aretz. Pesach connecting the four seasons. In Mishas Reb Eliezer, perek kei amud kuf, he says, daled minim, four. You see, four is a big number, and he brings all the things that have to do with four. How many dorot were we in Mitzrayim? Four. Dor revii, yeshuvei... oh, four. Once again, we see four. You like it? Four. Daled minim after Mitzrayim, daled kosos. How many flags did Klal Yisrael have in the Midbar? Arba degalim. Very good, the four degalim. How many, on the Choshen, were there rows? Four turim, arba turim, and that's why we have the daled turim, the tur. How many turim are there? Or Chaim, Re'eh, Choshen Mishpat, right? You're there, right? Why? Because daled turim, four, four rows. How many avot do we have? And please don't say three, because otherwise you missed the game, like a little child, you're forgetting the game. You need things that rhyme with four. Yosef nikra av, says the Mishas Reb Eliezer. Yosef is called an av. So we have actually four avot. We spoke about this. Yosef, because he made shevatim, he had a din av. How many imahot do we have? How many malchiyot came against us? How many tzaddikim in every dor? Not in yeshiva, yeshiva, everybody's a tzaddik.

But in the door, how many tzaddikim do we have that are matzil the door to try to save them to do teshuva? No? How many? What? Four. Daled. Daled tzaddikim mechol galut lo shihan. You know it's four. If you're going to say anything but four, you obviously don't belong in nursery. Everything is four, remember. Four, four, four, four. So if I ask you a question, don't say twelve. Say four. Okay. How many types of Kochavim are there? Good. You know this, you don't know this. I just— that's what it says there. Okay. How many malchiyot— how many kings HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave in the hands of Avraham Avinu? Four. How many middot beisdin are there? What is middot beisdin? That's what it says there. There are four middot beisdin: sekilah, sereifah, hereg, and chenek. Oh! That looks kosher. So when you pick up the first card, say, oh-ho-ho, the first card is keneged sekilah. The second card is keneged chenek. We had sekilah. What's going on here? You read this, you say four. Four was a... If you can find me all the things— it's like a computer search— find me all the things that have to do with the number four. Come, Gan. It's for the Gan. Gan Yeladim, come, everybody come, and the Mishnah of Reb Eliezer is going to give us everything like that rhymes with four. Chenek, hereg. And you threw on her four kosot in return. What happened over there? ... between sekilah, sereifah, hereg, chenek. Tell you more. להזכיר זכות אבות שהן בקיריית ארבע. We have to remember, ki ata arba, so four. How many tzitzis do we have? Four. So therefore, you have to have four kosos, four minim, four. You want more? Give me more. Arba avot nizakin. There's four avot nizakin. There's mishas ha... השור, הבור, המבעה וההבער. There's four. Fire, the four types of mazik in the Briah. What is... Come, come. What is... ... You sit and I read, I'm... ... Okay. How about k'neged daled ge'ulim? We're going to have four people to redeem us: Eliyahu, Mashiach ben David, Mashiach ben Yosef, and the Kohen Gadol. He's counted. Kohen Gadol is going to be the fourth one. So you have a team of four that will be go'el. So four, four, four. Yeah, four. Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay. Nice niggun. What did the Jews do in Mitzrayim that brought the geulah? So the Medrash says, one, lo gilu sod. That's why when Moshe Rabbeinu saw Datanim, he saw people who were giving out information. He said it's impossible they're go'el. Says the Medrash, because most of Klal Yisrael were not Datanim; they didn't snitch one on another. They didn't go to the government right away and say, Oh, that guy looked at me and therefore we have to arrest him. They didn't do that. We’re not dal turim, dal turim. Lo bitlu brit milah. They kept brit milah. Lo shinu leshonam, and lo shinu shmotam. So four things, as it matters. So I look at it and I say, Ma Busham is a shaila, because it doesn’t say it anywhere. You know, by Chassidim they have that Ma Busham. That’s what they found the medrash like that. But really it’s lo shinu leshonam, lo shinu shmotam, lo gilu sod, v’lo bitlu brit milah. So the question is, eizeh mischak anachnu mischakim po? What’s this game, arba kosot, mezakim, mita, krisus, bezin? Let me teach you, rabosai. Let me teach you. Do you know why we eat matzah? Does anybody know why we eat matzah? What? Doesn’t know why we eat matzah? Even a little kid knows why we eat matzah. You know what the teretz is? Like I started the shiur. The way little kids understand is far, far from the way grown-ups have to understand. You know why we eat matzah, says Rav Chaim Brisker, and it’s a big yesod. It’s not because we left Mitzrayim. We eat matzah because in the Torah it says we should eat matzah on this...

Today, HaKadosh Baruch Hu created the world from the Torah, so He made the whole story of Yetzias Mitzrayim so the outcome should be that we should eat matzah. People think we eat matzah because we were Mitzrayim and we were redeemed. No, no, no, the other way around. We were redeemed from Mitzrayim because we had to eat matzah. The mitzvah was there. The mitzvah was there before Brias HaOlam. He histakel b'oraisa u'vara alma. HaKadosh Baruch Hu wanted us to keep taryag mitzvot, so He made a story around the taryag mitzvot that the outcome should be. You listening? Pshat says that we were Mitzrayim and we eat matzah. No, we're not. You're gonna read it now. If you look at the Haggadah, matzah zu she'anu ochlin, what's the lashon? Al... Shumah. Do you know there's two girsa'ot in the Rishonim? There's another girsa in the Rishonim: matzah zu she'anu ochlin al shem mah. You know what the difference between shum and shem is? Shem is a name and shum is garlic. That's what you're gonna tell me? If you tell me that, you can stay home next week. Shem and shum. Shum means why. Says Reb Chaim, the Rishonim are bothered, it's not why we eat matzah. Al shem mah, what it commemorates. We're supposed to eat matzah anyway, because Hashem... Put in the Torah to eat matzah. The scenarios are just around to bring out that we should eat the matzah. Haboysai, we're becoming from children to grown-ups. Children think, Emunah, emunah, yeah, Hashem. It's very deep. Me'od amku machshevotecha, very deep. All the scenarios of Brias ha'olam, mi sheishes yemei bereishis ad sof hadorot, it's to fit into the master plan to bring out hayag mitzvos and emunah in HaKadosh Baruch Hu. I'm going to explain you a little bit more. Avraham Avinu and Yisrael, they did mitzvah. That's right. You see, they ate matzah. That's the answer, because that's the answer. That's the answer. You see Avraham Avinu ate matzah, but the story wasn't there yet, and that's very good proof. You don't need the story for the matzah. The matzah is there before the story. Good proof, good proof. Stop being mevatel what he's saying. He's saying beautiful. What you're saying is not good. He's saying good. He's saying good. Did you hear what this talmid chacham just said? He's getting smicha from me today, especially here. He gets smicha for that. For that itself, enough to get smicha around. Okay? Beautiful. All right, listen. Now we understand how it's possible in the sipur yetzias Mitzrayim. We can begin with sheishes yemei bereishis, and we can begin here with Kos Paro, and we can tie in Nevuchadnetzar, and we can tie in Gog uMagog, and Arba Galuyos, and Zikin, and tzome'ach, chai, medaber. Because all the things that are in this world is to bring out, Anochi Hashem Elokecha, asher hotzeiticha me'eretz Mitzrayim. You have to close it. You have to close it. One time it's a mistake, two times, all right, three times it's too much. Okay. Now, let me show you what real emunah is. You know, in Nishmat, we say, Elokei harishonim v'achronim, Eloka kol beriot. What's the chiddush that He's Elokei harishonim v'achronim? What, we thought maybe that He has a partner and divides it? What are we saying? He's Elokei rishonim and not acharonim? Who are the rishonim and who are the acharonim? So there's a pshat from Rav Chaim Vital, hafla v'fele. He says when a person does something, he can only know and take achrayut for the act that he's doing in front of him. Does he know what the outcome is going to be? He cannot take any achrayut. He has no clue the תוצאות of his ma'asim in 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now.

He could come now and make sure that it's done as best, least possible. You know, I once told this to you. Shmuel was called back by Shaul. Ov yedoni. He went to a sorcerer, and she brought back, with the bone of that person, she brought back Shmuel. Says the pasuk, Vayechrad, charada gedolah. Shmuel was terrified. He started to shake. Says the Gemara Chagigah, what was he afraid of? What was he afraid of? He was afraid that they're calling him liyom hadin, says the Gemara Chagigah. That they're coming and they're telling him, listen, you did this, you did that, you're going to get judged. Asks the Mabit, his day of judgment was long over. He died many years before that. Twelve months, we know, right, is the mishpat. Eleven, we say Kaddish because we don't even want to say that a person's a rasha for twelve months; it's only eleven months. That's why we say only Kaddish for eleven months, right? So after twelve months, for sure it's over. So what's he afraid of, Shmuel? Says the Mabit, a person can never know the תוצאות of his actions. So he was afraid that they're rejudging him. The Gemara says, Rosh Hashanah, ספרי חיים וספרי מתים פתוחים לפניו. One of the sifrei meitim. Bishlama the sifrei chayim, so we know they're going to get judged. But why are the sifrei meitim פתוחים לפניו? Because it's possible to rejudge. It's possible to say, you did this. Fifty, sixty years later, look at the outcome. You know, they're still rejudging the heads of Zionism. Every time a Yiddishe kind in Eretz Yisrael, which is taken away from Yiddishkeit, they're gonna come and get rejudged. ... in the neighborhood here too. Be careful, rabosai, we have to be careful not to lose any Jewish children. Stay away from conservatives and reforms, because even if you mean well now, the תוצאות, years and years later. I remember when the Bucharian Jews came. No one's gonna tell me. They came, and by the hundreds, ready to be shomer Torah u'mitzvos. They were misled and misguided, because—and it was l'shem Shamayim, there were cheshbonos—but the end result is we lost a lot. And those that led are gonna have to give a din v'cheshbon for it. Those that led, I don't care. I'm not afraid to say it. I'm not afraid to say it. Those that led are gonna have to give a din v'cheshbon, because it's not only what you do now; the תוצאות is also your blame, okay? But it's difficult. True, it's very hard to take cheshbon. Hashem says, ... אלוקיו הראשונים והאחרונים, that when He does something, He's Elokai, He's Ribono Shel Olam, and the rishonim... As well as the acharonim, everything is shaveh. Everything, what's the right word? Harmony. There's harmony. Elokei harishonim v'haAcharonim. Shmuel was afraid. Maybe he did something that years later, years later, made a bad תוצאה. So he calls Moshe v'Aharon l'eidut, it says in the Gemara. Say that I did everything me'achuz yashar, and there's nothing that I did which was not kehalacha that could cause later on that the תוצאות were no good. True, the original mishpat was over a long time ago, like the Mabit says. But there's constant retrial for the תוצאות, and the תוצאות said, Shmuel, I'll prove for Moshe v'Aharon my witnesses, my star witnesses, that I did good. This, rabosai, is the pshat in the asarah harugei malchut with the malachim. You know, the asarah harugei malchut was a tremendous tragedy, and the malachim couldn't take it. And they screamed to Hashem, Zu Torah v'zu secharah? This is the way it's supposed to be? It doesn't make sense. So Hashem says, Shtok. Be quiet. And sharper—the word shtok is actually more than just be quiet. I'm using a lashon nekiyah, so to speak. Shtok, keep quiet, yeah? If I hear one more word, I'll turn the world upside...

Ask the Gra. That's the way you answer somebody. He asks a good question, give him an answer. What is it, the Christian theology theologians, that if you ask them a question, they tell you, Shut up or we'll burn you? Ask a good question. What is that, shtok, keep quiet? Give him an answer. Says the Gra, you didn't understand. That was the answer. What was the answer? You don't understand. You know why you don't understand? Because you see the story in front of you the way it is. If you would realize the link of events from the beginning all the way to the end, and how it ties into each other, maybe you'll have a little of an understanding. Yeah? So shtok, be quiet. I'll turn the world upside down and we'll start over again. And I'll make you pay attention to step one, which led to step two, from Maaseh Bereishit to Yetziat Mitzrayim to v'chulei, till the story of ... Malchut. And then maybe you'll understand, because you're a malach. But a person still wouldn't understand. We say in the zmirot, Lo ye'ol gevurtech bechushb'naya. If a person would live two thousand years, or years, alfin, thousands, thousands of years, lo ye'ol gevurtech bechushb'naya. He wouldn't fathom Hashem's cheshbon, cheshbon. Lo ye'ol. He couldn't understand the cheshbon. So you would say he doesn't have enough time. Not enough time. There's not enough time. Like we say in Nishmat, if all the waters would be ink and all the trees parchment, so maybe if I had all the time in the world, I still couldn't make the cheshbon. No. I think it means this: even if I lived thousands of years. And I saw the beginning, and I saw the end, and I would sit there and try to draw like a puzzle from A to B, to B to C, and C to D. Still, noyea ol gevurtei. A person would not fathom bechush b'nai. It's so complicated, still, so complicated to shlavim, to tie them together. Only the Rabbeinu Shel Olam. The Chofetz Chaim used to give a beautiful mashal. The Chofetz Chaim would say, you know, a person walks into a shul, and he sees, mizrach, all the people with the white beards, and then he sees a few bachurim in the back and a few talkers on the side over there. And when they come to the aliyah, who do they give the aliyah? One bachur, one talker, right? One guy who just is a new guy, came for Shabbos, he put on a kippah and they gave him an aliyah, right? And he asks the question, I don't understand. Why don't you give the rabbanim, the talmidei chachamim? So the gabbai calls him over and says, You're a tipesh. Were you here last week? Were you here the week before? Were you here the week before that? They got aliyot. They always get aliyot. You come one Shabbat in the middle to look at how you're supposed to understand. There's cheshbon, beautiful mashal. Same thing in life. How could you understand? You know the past, the present, the future. Rabotai, this is Yetziat Mitzrayim. Everything, everything is nichlal here in the Yetziat Mitzrayim. And that's the pshat, I believe, I believe that that's the pshat. Kol hamarbeh lesaper b'Yetziat Mitzrayim harei ze meshubach. So we brought down from Reb Yitzchok Chanan, but it's actually many that say this. It's meshubach in the emunah, which means he has greater emunah, kol hamarbeh. What do you mean, Marbeles Saper? So many mefarshim say all you have to do is say over the words of the Haggadah. Can I ask you a question? How could the Tannaim sit all night, the greatest Tannaim sit all night and be marbel l'saper b'yetzias Mitzrayim? How much—wait, wait—how much? Let's say they said over all the Midrashim. Okay, so you said over a little Midrashim. You know, they say over that the Noda B'Yehuda used to be chozer on all of Shas. Every time he got an aliyah from his seat, he would walk to the bimah to say the bracha, he would be chozer on Shas, or half of Shas. What's so—everybody doesn't like this story. Every time I say, What does it mean? Every time I say this story, I have three, four people, What does it mean? What does it mean? Tell me. And I'm going to say, I always bring a raya from Rav Moshe Feinstein, but it's the same from Rav Ovadia Yosef. I heard Rav Ovadia had a search engine on the computer for finding mareh mekomos. Someone told that to me. The search engine—they say that Rav Ovadia had a search engine on Yediah. That's what someone told to me recently. And that's here in today's times. That's now. So you have a question what the Gra was and what the Noda B'Yehuda was and what Ben Ish Chai was.

And what's before that, the Rishonim, the Rishonim, I don't think you get it. Maybe just... you're talking... what are you talking about? No, we're talking about people. What are you talking about? The Gemara says that when Yonason ben Uziel would learn, a bird flew over his head and burnt. But you have a musag of what... you don't get it. So what could they be doing all night? When they came to Moshe first... You're saying everything went fast by them. Yeah. Why it's all night then? Well, it's all night, and it says that they could have stayed more. Why is it ein sof? Because of what we're speaking about. Everything in the Briah is connected to this. It's all connected. That's the pshat, Rabosai. The pshat is that everything that happens in the world is connected to the Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher... Everything that was created in this world was created for that purpose. And now I'll tell you a meiradik pshat, and then I'll let you go, because I see the... whoever has to go could go. I see the... you could go. Two more minutes. This could... you'll be worth it. It's worth it. Listen to me. I said over in Lakewood a meiradik vort, a meiradik vort, yeah. If you take a look, Moshe Rabbeinu didn't hit the water. Moshe Rabbeinu didn't hit the ground. Karat ha-tov. So all the baalei mussar ask, to what? Karat tov to a chair? What do you have, karat tov to a table? I mean, it's a domem. Hey, you're not supposed to make kiddush in front of the challah; it might get insulted. So, you know, I think you should take it out for dinner and apologize to the challah. Take it out, sit it down next to you, and say, My challah, challah, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. And then you would not need mental institution lockup, and we would call the Hatzalah and we'd put the yellow jacket on you and take you away. So what are you talking about? What are you embarrassing a challah? You ever see a guy say, Don't embarrass the table. Please don't embarrass the hat. What's it? One second. You say over this every year, no? Moshe Rabbeinu did what he did because he had to have hakaras hatov to the hat. Are you okay? Is everything—are you 100% normal? What are you talking about? Hat, hat. Sorry about that. I apologize. That's a normal conversation. So baalei mussar always say that it's not so much the hat; it's you. It's not mitzad to be kabel; it's mitzad you, that you have to learn to be makir tov, v'chulei v'chulei. A bissel shvach. Over the years, I got to realize that even that's a shvachdige teretz. What are you saying? Epes nisht. Maybe it's, I don't know, to learn to appreciate things. All right, I can hear it. I'll let you get away with it. Rav Shach in his sefer, MiRosh Amanah, goes so far to say that it can't even be that you should have hakaras hatov to a hat; it's kefirah. What do you have, derech eretz for a hat? Yeah, so he didn't learn it that way. He learned that it was more, obviously. Okay. I once told this to you, that I was zocheh—or not zocheh, I don't know how you want to call it. I held I wasn't zocheh; my wife held I was zocheh. To go to the Louvre in France, why from France? So she slapped me to the Louvre. The Louvre is the museum over there, which is where the Mona Lisa is, the Alamishugan is. Okay. Kids, I was so bored I thought I was going to hang myself over there. I couldn't take it. I thought another ten minutes. I couldn't take it. I'll tell you, you don't know how much I couldn't take it. Till the last twenty minutes, I had unbelievable hanah. Och, it was worth the whole trip. Actually, not worth the whole trip, but it made the last twenty minutes of it good. As we're leaving, there's a whole section about the pyramids, the mummies, yeah, and the matzeivos from India. In India, they worship cows, and snakes and reptiles, whatever they worship. So when a cow dies, they bury him b'kavod and they give him a matzeivah for him. Yeah, it was very geshmak. The people they get rid of, yeah, the people they chop up and eat for supper. The cows get a kevurah. You should know the nusach, Holy cow, comes from them. Where do you think it comes from? They say that there was once—no, this is a real thing, I heard this once in my own ears from the BBC—that there was once a traffic jam in India because there was a snake on the road, and it's holy. That was the month of the year the snake... you cannot touch a snake. Okay.

Then the guy came to take away the snake, and they ran him over. That was fine. That was no problem whatsoever. The kitza. I'm sitting there, yeah, my wife starts reading for me on the matzeivah for the cow. There's a holy cow, and then it had lived with kedushah and taharah. To me, this was unbelievable. I couldn't. I wanted to hear everyone. I made her read me every matzeivah that was there. Okay, check. Point. What's the point? The point is like this. A doimem is a doimem. If you have any respect, that it does pashta inya, it comes from kefirah. Says Rav Shach, it's kefirah. What are you talking about? He says the teretz is pashut. There's no such thing as a doimem. Everything is briah of the Ribono Shel Olam, birtzono, so it represents Ratzon Hashem. Everything in the briah. So the respect that you have for it and the harachah that you have for it comes from the fact that it's Hashem, Ratzon Hashem. Hashem wanted it. Wait. I once went over to Rav Asher Arieli, one of my rosh yeshivas in the Mir, a very, very big chacham, Rav Asher Arieli. I asked him a question: Is it pshat because it's Hashem's, so it's chashuv that it belongs to Hashem? Or the pshat is that it's not being marich makir tov to the domem, but since Hashem put it there and I had from it, so I'm being makir tov to Hashem. For example, if I lend you a car, what are you going to say? You're makir tov to the car? You're makir tov to me who lent you. It's my car, right? Who did you the favor, the car? The magic guy goes over to the car, says, Yasher koach, the car. Tell you balabos also, thank you. It's the balabos, me, right? So if Moshe Rabbeinu had from the yor a chesed, so the actual hakaras hatov is to the Hashem. Or dilma, even the thing itself, just the fact that it's Hashem's briah, a person has to be makir tov u'marich, and I proved it to him. Yaakov Avinu went back for pachim ketanim. Why does he go back for pachim ketanim? Melamed shetzaddikim, that chaviv memonam yoser mi'gufam. Tell me, is that a tzaddik? If someone came and told you that his money is more important to him than his life, would you call him a tzaddik, or would you call him a businessman from 47th Street? Only on 47th Street. What is it, 47? Only on 47, their mammon is worth more than their lives, right? And a malach mentions... and here we go, a tzaddik, a tzaddik, that's a tzaddik. So all the 47 guys walk around, listen, I have a first Shas Gemara, a tzaddik. I don't care about my neshama, I don't care about my ruchniyus, I care about my mamon. I'm a tzaddik. Look, look, look, the Gemara says, yoser mi'gufam. Okay, so what's the answer? Pasuk says, V'ahavta es Hashem Elokecha b'chol levavcha u'vchol nafshecha u'vchol me'odecha. Yesh lecha adam shemamono chaviv alav mi'gufo. You have a person that his mamon is more important to him than his guf. So that's why it has to say even b'chol me'odecha after b'chol levavcha u'vchol nafshecha, because if you give up your life, of course you give up your money. And the Torah says, our people, our people... They'll put themselves in danger. Don't take my purse. Yeah, but you're gonna get killed for it. The Torah says, I can't part with my money. Aser b'Yosef Engel, v'chi b'meshugai askinan? Are we talking about crazy people? The pasuk has to go out of its way and say a pasuk about a crazy man? Only a crazy man, his mamon is more. Says Rabbi Yosef Engel, what do we see from here? There is such a thing. There's such a thing, and it's not crazy. Is that pshat in this Gemara that tzaddikim is yoter chaviv? Obviously more, a tzaddik, because that's not talking about a regular person. And the answer is, say the Baal HaMusar, when you're makir everything is from Hashem, so even mamon, it's Hashem. Hashem gave it to you. Tell me something. Yaakov was very rich, extremely rich, rich, very rich. Yosef looked at him and he went crazy how rich he was, right? So the pachim ketanim, you think he had hakarat hatov that he had from it? Shvach. Imagine a rich man says, I have so much from this paper cup. I have to... tremendous... ... They should make a dinner for it. Here, the star, the guest of the dinner tonight, I'm making a dinner in honor of my paper cup. And the Torah, it's not hakarat hatov. What is it? Hakarah, d'chelek it's Hashem. It's Hashem. Hashem, this all, Hashem gave it to me.

I see Hashem. Wait. You notice that Paro got negaim. When? By Avimelech, by Sarah. What's negaim? Got physical negaim. Got cancer, with AIDS, with all the good machlos. Paro got himself every debilitating disease, negaim gedolim, it says. Vayinaga Hashem et Paro negaim. He was laying there, he couldn't move. The second Paro, here in Mitzrayim, he doesn't get negaim. What does he get? From Briah, the Jurassic Park, right? They bring the dragons and flying grasshoppers and kinim. Sardea, one big frog that comes, you hit it and thousands of frogs come out. Why? You want him to do teshuva? Give him a good cancer in his stomach, or a cancer on his brain, and he's done. What do you mean? Let him suffer, he's דאף to die for 12 months, and then he'll do teshuva. No? What do you... You know what the teretz is? The first Paro didn't have aveirah. Aveirah, Hashem does a machlah to make you hurt that you should do teshuva. The second Paro was makchish miHashem. The whole Briah was created to bring out ein od milvado. That's what the Briah is here for, ein od milvado. And when Mashiach comes, it's the same thing. Now you understand why he got asarah makot from the Briah, because as the Medrash says, he was makchish asarah maamarot shebahem bara HaOlam. That's why in Kiddush of Shabbos we say Zecher l'Maaseh Bereishit. It's all connected, rabosai. It's to bring out one, l'maan teidu ki Ani Hashem. This is emunah. Emunah is not, eh, Hashem created the world and He's manhig et haolam. That's for children. To understand the depth of emunah, that everything, everything is all ratzon Hashem. The rock was there so Moshe could bury the Mitzri. What's that all about? Also, the geulah could come from it, like Kos Paroh, like Kos Paroh, like Kos Paroh. It's all that this, the Kos Paroh, that's why we have the daled kosot. It all led to the geulah. Everything leads into the geulah because everything is for Hashem's master plan. Everything is for Hashem's master plan. This, rabosai, is the emunah, and that's what the chachamim were up all night, and they could have sat even longer, tying together the Marah, ... Hashem, kulam, d'lo ye'ol gevurtech b'chush b'naya. Ye'ol gevurtech b'chush b'naya. That's what this story of Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim is meant for the grown-ups, okay? Now you understand Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim. Now you understand makot? Not really. The kids can learn about the tzfardea, the big one that made the thousand others. It's a good story. The Rastic Park is perfect for them. You have to understand the yesod, ... everything is for Hashem. Everything was for Anochi Hashem Elokecha. These are the levels of emunah that we take out of Yetzias Mitzrayim. ... We should learn and work on emunah. Ein od milvado. Everything we see, we should see like grown-ups, what emunah. Everything is tied into HaKadosh Baruch Hu. This will taka be zocheh to be a tagr. Where then we'll have Vayashem Echad u'shmo Echad, we'll have true emunah. Meheira b'yameinu, amen.