Behar: Vehechezakta Bo, The Power of Chizuk and a Kind Word

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. In the parsha, Parshas Behar, we have a mitzvah in the Torah: when your friend is slipping, when your friend is in decline, he has no parnassah, there's a mitzvah to help him. There's a mitzvah to lend a hand and help him from falling. The Torah, the pasuk, Parshas Behar, perek chaf-hei, pasuk lamed-hei: V'chi yamuch achicha — he's slipping — u'mata yado imach, v'hechzakta bo, ger v'toshav v'chai imach. Pashut, it means v'hechzakta bo financially. You need to make sure, and as Rashi explains, before he falls completely, catch him, grab him and support him so he shouldn't fall completely, because it's much harder to help once the person fell completely, and therefore when it's mata yadoi, then v'hechzakta bo. Al tanicheihu sheyered v'yipol v'yekashel hakima, ela tachzikeihu misha'as mot hayad. Pashut, simply the pasuk v'hechzakta bo is in relevance to money. You have to give him financial support. But in the mefarshim, as we see in sefarim, v'hechzakta bo isn't only about financial, but v'hechzakta bo also means emotional support, chizuk. V'hechzakta bo, that if a person is in a situation where he's fallen, you need to what? Give him chizuk. You need to strengthen him. You need to uplift him. Let us talk a little bit of the importance and the inyan of giving chizuk. V'hechzakta bo. The Imrei Chaim of Vizhnitz has an interesting gematria in his sefer. V'hechzakta bo is gematria, aser mimenu yagon anacha. Even if you're machzik and you give financial support, it's possible that really what are you doing? You're also, and maybe even more so, and maybe even more importantly, taking away his daaga, his anguish, his sleepless nights, which not necessarily needs to be if the person is lacking money, and not necessarily if you're able to help him financially. A person is able to be mekayem the v'hechzakta bo. The has to manyugam anacha, the chizuk, top lift, even if he can't help him financially. The Gemara in Bava Basra, daf tes amud beis, the Gemara says that if a person gives an ani money, he's misbarech b'sheish brachos. He gets six brachos. Ma ididai, if you give him chizuk, if you uplift him, you get eleven brachos. Pashut, the simple pshat in the Gemara is because, like we are explaining, maybe you're doing more for the ani by giving him the chizuk than actually giving him the money. What the ani needs is to be strengthened emotionally. By being mechazek him, you're doing that. Reb Yitzchok Sher zecher tzaddik livrachah said a very tiefe deher: not only mitzad the ani are you giving more by giving chizuk, but even mitzad you. You are doing and giving more than the person who is just giving the money, because you're giving time. Time is expensive, a person's time, and the fact that you're giving the ani from your time to listen and—

And to talk to him and to give him uplifting words is even more of a chesed. It's more of a nesinah than if you just gave the money. And the truth is, there's an amkus here. There's something deeper here. It's very easy to take care of someone else's problem by writing out a check. It's the quickest way how to deal with it. Okay, hey, you know, you have trouble. Okay, here's a check. To take time and to devote time and to donate time is even a greater chesed. It means maybe that you care more than just to simply write out the check. I'm not minimizing, v'shteit zach, the importance of giving the money. That's not what I'm trying to do. But I'm trying to analyze the dynamic of v'hizaktaboi. Maybe the chizuk you're giving him is even more than the temicha, the support you're giving him. It's maybe more than the financial backing that you're giving him. In the financial backing, there is the chizuk part, that the Gemara says you're mizbarech b'chad esrei brachos, that you get eleven brachos for, because you're giving. You're giving time. You're taking the effort. You're showing the concern that you're taking from your precious time to deal and to help this person. And possibly that not only now it's mitzad you, the nosein, the giver that you gave your time, but even the mekabel, the oni, sees that. And to him now, it's more important because he sees that you gave of your time, that you really care. The fact that you took from your time, and you're giving from your precious time, now the ani feels important, that he is worth your time. So here we have a deeper understanding in the mitzvah of v'hechzakta boi, the depth, the amkus, the mechanics of the mitzvah of v'hechzakta boi. Yeah, of course, the literal pashut pshat, the pasuk is v'hechzakta boi, support him. And avadi, you can't pat yourself by saying, Okay, I won't do the supporting, I'll just do the chizuk part. But part of the supporting, and maybe even the greater part, is the chizuk part, the v'hechzakta boi. Torah doesn't say v'tamachta. The Torah doesn't say financial support. Torah says more, v'hechzakta boi. You got to take hold, and you got to grab him, and you got to be mechazek him, because the chizuk for the ani is what's really more important than anything else. And for you to give that chizuk shows the ani that he's important, that you took the time to do it. You know, chesed could be done just the act of chesed. But if you think, and you're me'ayein, and you take the time. To analyze what does the person who I'm doing the chesed for really needs, then the chesed would look different, and maybe it would be a whole different thing. It takes iyun, just like in a sugya. You could read words, it's simple, but then you me'ayin in the sugya, you'll see that it's a different sugya. There's different halachas. There's different points to the sugya than what meets the eye. Rabosai, vehechzakta boi. There's so much in the vehechzakta boi. If you're me'ayin in the needs of the person you're being mechazek. Rav Shach, zicher tzaddik livracha, said a muyerdike, muyerdike deher. It says by Avraham Avinu, Avraham Avinu is doch geven, the amud hachesed, the symbol of chesed. When he did the chesed with the malachim and he took them in, hachnasas orchim, the pasuk says, Vayar. He saw. V'hinei shlosha anashim. And then again, Vayar. He saw, Vayaratz likrasam. He ran to them. Rashi and all the mefarshim ask, it's Vayar. It's a double lashon. It's redundant. It says Vayar, he saw them. What is Vayar? Vayar.

Says Rashi, the first is to see, lashon re'iyah, and the second is re'iyah, lashon havanah, understanding. Says Rashi, he understood Avram that they don't want to bother him, and that's why they're not coming, so he ran towards them to bring them. Rav Shach, ... tzaddik livrachah, shiva of Ponevezh, said a mayridike tehir: in chesed, you need two things. You need vayar, re'iyah. The first is you got to see. A lot of times, we don't even see that the other guy needs help. We're so blinded by our own daily lives and all the things that we're busy with for ourselves that we can't see past what's in front of us, past what's our needs, that the other person has a need. There's a need to help that person. But then after the seeing, that the eyes are already open, you need havanah to understand how to do the chesed, to understand what the person really needs. What's he missing? And like I said before, maybe he's not missing the check, even though I'm sure he'd be glad to get it, but maybe there's something more. Maybe he's reaching out, and he is longing for something maybe even bigger or more important than the check, and that is the concern, the feelings, the caring, that you care for him. Atidas is chesed in the Torah, rabosai. Atidas is chesed in the Torah. Torah doesn't only want us to do acts of kindness. The Torah wants us to follow our eyes and our minds, to figure out what exactly is the chesed that needs to be done that this person really needs. Atidas is called ton chesed. Vechzakta boi. You read the pasuk, okay, I'll support him. It doesn't say that. It says, vechzakta boi. Lift him up. Vechzakta boi. Give him chizuk. And that's what the Gemara is trying to say. You did the ma'aseh of giving the tzedakah. Okay, you got six brachos, mehedik. But on top of that, you mechazek the person, because dos ligt, this is also vechzakta boi. You're getting eleven brachos. You have to not only deal with his pocket, but you need to deal with his broken heart and his yagon and his anochah, his sleepless nights, his concerns, his pain, his fears. That's also part of the mitzvah of chesed, of vechzakta boi. And it takes, like we said, vayar vayar. First you got to see. People are blind to the other's tzarachim, the other's tzaros. And the second thing is havanah, dafashteyn yeder. Mit af zen yanim Sarah, un darf farshteyn yanim Sarah. Vayar, vayar, shtei pe'amim. Az dos vil Torah HaKedoshah. For nuns, that's what the Torah wants of us, v'hechzakta boi, that we should be mechazek. There's an interesting pasuk in Tehillim. In Tehillim, perek aleph, beis: Ashrei maskil el dal, maskil el dal. Maskil, it's loshon seichel. It's a loshon of thinking, understanding, maskil. The Rambam tells us that there are nine levels of chesed, and the greatest level of chesed, the highest level of chesed, according to the Rambam in Hilchos Matnos Aniyim, is to give the person a job. Because if you give him a job, then he's able to what? Make it on his own and feel like a mensch, and you put the guy back on his feet. Medrash on this pasuk, in this parsha, on v'hechzakta boi, says, Ashrei maskil el dal. Sagt a heilige Medrash, maskil, there are five levels of chesed. The highest level is mechazek the choleh, chizuk, and that's...

Maskil, you see, maskil means you understood that he doesn't just need, so to speak, the food that you're bringing him, the bikkur cholim. Meir dike zach, Klal Yisrael, Ashrei am shekachah lo, that they have something called bikkur cholim. It's unbelievable. Ashrei am shekachah lo. Bnei Yisrael, kol kavod. You have a nation that has a mitzvah of bikkur cholim, that they go from hospital to hospital and they give food. Unbelievable. But together with the food, rabosai, together with the food, maskil, what does he need? Maybe he needs to—you should talk to him a little bit. Maybe he needs you should give him a little simcha, a little courage. You should give him a little bit strength emotionally, and that's the highest madreigah of chesed. And efshar, the way we explained above, we can fataysh the pasuk, Ashrei maskil el dal. That's what you're giving him. You know what you're giving him? Your seichel, your understanding, the fact that you thought about him, that itself is what you're giving him, and that itself is the nesinah that you're giving that maybe is worth more than the actual check, money, or the food that you bring him. You're giving maskil. You're giving your fahshtand that you understand the person, that you understand his fears and you understand his pain. El dal, that's what you give, an Ashrei for that. You are praised. And as we explained, the ani might be looking for understanding. The ani might be looking for empathy. The ani, or the choleh for that matter, or for anybody. You know, we think that only because if a guy is in the hospital, he needs chizuk. Everyone needs chizuk. As we soon will talk later in the shiur, everybody walking around needs a good word of chizuk. Everybody. And what is the greatest thing you can give to someone who's missing attention? He has concerns, he has daagas, and the answer is maskil, that you understand and that you think about him. El dal, that's what you're giving him. And ashrei for that you are praised. Alts vos mir redt iz vechzakta boi. It's all included in the vechzakta boi. It's all part of the vechzakta boi. Shifrah and Puah, they saved the Jewish babies, beginning of Shmos and the start of Galus Mitzrayim. They did a tremendous act of heroism. They saved all the babies, and they were moser nefesh to save the life of all those babies. Yet they were given names, Shifrah and Puah. Chazal tell us, quote in Rashi, Shifrah shemeshaperes es havlad, Puah that she would make sounds, noises to comfort, to calm the baby down. Their name should have been Hatzalah. Their name should have been Yeshua. I know Yeshua is a boy's name, but they could have turned it into a girl's name. It's interesting, we have Shifra, but we don't have Puah. Maybe, I don't know if the name, maybe someone out there's name is Puah. But either way, what they did, something which was heroic, was to save the life of the babies. Yet it's not for that act of heroism that they were called by their names. It's what they did after they saved the babies, that they took care, and they changed the baby, and they lullabied the baby. Why? Why is the act of mesiras nefesh to save the baby not celebrated by giving them a special name, yet what they did to comfort the babies, that is an efsher kemanzogin, according to the way we explained above the mitzvah of vehechzakta boi, and what entails vehechzakta.

The Toyrah sees as the greatest ultimate chesed, v'hechzakta, to save a baby, not to kill a baby. I mean, this is what Pari wanted, that they should go and kill a baby. Everyone understands not to do that. We could discuss, yemosa nefesh, nisma... it's understandable. It's something which the human mind, fashteit alein, that you shouldn't be killing babies. The chiddush was that they went the extra mile. They were yosomim, so to speak, these children. They didn't have parents now, and they became the parents. So Tallah bying comfort them, to be mechazek them. That is the ultimate in chesed of v'hechzakta boi. Saving the life, das fashteit aleh, shifrua puah, das fashtein noshim tzidkaniyos. Mechazek, to be mechazek, to comfort, to support the pain, to quiet the pain of a Yiddishe kind. Das is the mailes from noshim tzidkaniyos, and because of that they were called Shifrah and Puah, hatzalah. Again, it was a big thing. I'm not trying to minimize their mesiras nefesh to save Yidden, but that's something. Which is not maskil el dol. ... It's a no-brainer, so to speak. Where it takes the brain, the maskil, the mind, is to be able to understand the child's cry and pacify it, pacify the cry, lullaby the cry, unburden the pain. That's called maaseh tzedkanius, shifrah uPuah. There's a meyridike Sfas Emes. The Sfas Emes says the word v'hechzakto, and as we pointed out already, isn't temicha necessarily. Hechzakto means to hold on to, grab him. So the Sfas Emes, v'hechzakto is taka to grab hold of the person, maybe to give him a hand, maybe to give him a hug. Hold on to the person. That is v'hechzakto boi. We don't only mean, and as we explained above, to just write out a check. It means v'hechzakto boi. So the meyridike Sfas Emes, rabosai, it doesn't say v'hechzakto oisoi. It says v'hechzakto boi. Machzik is to hold on, and boi is in him, the lashon of the Sfas Emes, b'gufoi. Hold on to his guf. Hold him. Pick him up. Hug him. Hold his hand. What it does is, Torah is v'hechzakto boi. You can't do that by an email. Or sending a check on a telephone. That's not what it is. V'zakteh boi means, v'davtak nem in demen shalein, and hold on to the person. There's a meiredike vort from the Alter Zeide, the Beis Aharon zich tzaddik livrachah. There's a word in the pasuk that needs to be addressed: Vechi yomar lechachochmah, mah ta'aseh? Imach. What's imach? Mah ta'aseh? V'zakteh boi, what's imach? Zogt der Zeide al pi a goyen. There's a very famous goyen that there are two words which seemingly mean the same thing: 'Al telech itam' — itam — and 'al telech imahem.' You ever see one person tells the other person, Ani eilech itcha. Oh, you're going to — you're taking a car? Ani eilech itcha. And then there's another way of saying it: Ani eilech imcha. What's the difference between itcha and imcha? Seems like it's the same, the same meaning to two words. Which is the correct dikduk? Which is the correct vernacular? Zogt the goyen that actually they mean two different things.

Two people sit on a train. They have nothing to do with each other. That's ita. I'm going, itcha, with you, because the train happens to be going and we're sitting on the same train. Imach is when we go together in one, as one. For example, if we both go to the same wedding, and we both know the chasan, kallah, so when we went on the train or the bus, ani elech imcha. I will go with you, with you. Ani elech itcha is when two people have nothing to do with each other and they're both traveling on the same bus or train. The Gaon says that's the pshat by Bilam. At night, Bilam has a dream. The Ribono Shel Olam tells him, Lech imahem. The next day, the Ribono Shel Olam tells him, Telech itam. And then the third day, Bilam goes, Vayichar af Hashem ki holech imahem. But you told him to go. And what happened? One day I tell you to go, the next day I tell you not to go. Go or not go. And then when I go after you told me to go, Vayichar... You told me to go. So the Gaon, you weren't paying attention to the wording of the pasuk. The Ribono Shel Olam told him, Lech imahem. Don't go with them, with them. Go. You're traveling together. That's about it. You're not doing the same thing. You're not going with the same goals. Bilam still wants to go. So Ribono Shel Olam tells him, Teilech itam. Then the next day when he goes, Vayichar af Hashem, the Ribono Shel Olam's angry because ki holeich imohem. I didn't tell you to be teilech imohem. I told you, Teilech itam. So imach is literally together as one, and itach is together but not as one, united. Zogt the Alter zei, dos is the pshat in the pasuk, U'mah ta yad imach. He needs to feel that you're with him literally, imach. You know, you can write out a check, you're the ashir, he's the ani. You're not really on the same... You're right, you addressed his problem, but you didn't make it that he's imach. And I'd like to add, you need to make him feel that his problem is your problem. You're as one. You're in this together. The journey of the problem is you and him imach. You're going through it together. Teilech imohem, don't be teilech itoi. Teilech imoi, don't be teilech itoi. Help him go through it, you with him. His problem is your problem. I think that's what the... the zeidah meant to say was, don't make him feel that he's distant. You're the ashir and he's the ani. I'm just adding this point. You need to make him feel... Imach, that his and you is all the same. It's the same problem. Your problem is my problem. Oto daas vilde Torah, v'echzakta boi. That's the greatest chizuk you can give somebody, to have empathy, that I understand your problem and your problem becomes my problem. It becomes our problem. Das is v'echzakta boi, when it's mata yado imach. Das is the chizuk that you can give somebody. The Alshich points out something very interesting. Till this pasuk, all the pesukim talk plural, or they talk third person. All the pesukim till here is third person. Here, u'macham achuzasoi v'galas mimkarav, ish lo yihyeh lo go'el, it's all third person. All of a sudden, it talks singular, straight to the person. V'chiyamocha achicha... v'echzakta boi. It should have said v'echzaktem boi, to Klal Yisroel, v'echzaktem boi, Klal Yisroel. So the Alshich, it says v'echzak...

All of a sudden, the pasuk switches language directly to the individual. Says the Alshich HaKadosh, why? Because we find that whenever there's a need to help, you know what people say? All right, let's get the oilam into it. Let's nizrok mevavtza charumah min tzibur. Mevavtza min tzibur — you throw it onto the crowd, the people. Says the Torah, don't throw it onto others. It's your responsibility, ve'ezakta boi. Ve'ezakta boi. Ve'ezakta boi — you take charge, take achrayus, and take care to be mechazek financially and emotionally. And don't say, okay, we'll get the oilam together. I'd like to add, that could be that's part of the chizuk. A person needs someone else, one person, like a brother to him, that he cares about him. It's not only that the problem will be taken care of. He needs the one person, ve'ezakta boi. He needs the go-to, so to speak, that there's a person out there that's involved with him and that personally took interest. It's the personal, the personally took interest. And even if you could somehow arrange that the tzibur will take care of the problem, but he's still missing that personal, the personal, that somebody personally cares for him, ve'ezakta boi. I'd love to tell you a beautiful story. Many years ago, there was a Yid, Rabbi Reicher. He was in charge of Agudah. He was a tremendous Agudist, dealt—he did a lot for the Agudah from Australia. And as so, he would come to say to America. I met him, and he tells me that being, you know, he's involved with the Agudah and he's one of the heads of the Agudah, he frequents the Holocaust Museum in Washington. And on the walls in the Holocaust Museum hangs a picture of my great-grandfather, the Beis Aaron, zecher tzaddik livracha. Hangs a picture. The picture is the Beis Aaron coming out of the Knessia Gedolah. To his left, which is to our right, would be Remeish Shapiro, Remeish Shapiro, zecher tzaddik livracha. And to his right was Rabbi Spitzer, Hamburger rov from Germany. It's a historic picture, gorgeous picture, coming out of the Knessia Gedolah, and this hangs in Holocaust Museum in Washington. Now, I knew of this picture because my grandfather, Reb Shmuel David Walkin, had a copy of this from the newspapers of Vienna. Which they put like a plastic to restore, to keep the picture. It was a picture from a newspaper. So I saw more or less the picture. I saw what it looked like, but it wasn't original. It was a newspaper cutout from that time. And here we're finally getting to see the original picture, or a copy, direct copy from the original picture. Rabbi Reich arranged it for us, that the family, as his family, we were able to have rights to have a copy of the picture. He brought me the picture in a frame. Beautiful, beautiful picture. Beis Aaron, Ramei Shapiro, Hamburgerov. Each was dressed royally. It's a k'sigedoylo. It's a tremendous historic event. The Beis Aaron, the Alter zeide, wasn't dressed. He was dressed, you know, not, so to speak, in the greatest luxurious bigdei Shabbos. But as he gives me the picture, he says, I can't understand the hat that the Beis Aaron wore. It's crushed, the brim on both sides. It's like crushed. He couldn't, he didn't...

Special hat for the Knessiah Gedolah? The Knessiah Gedolah? I mean, why would he wear a hat like that by such an historic big event? So I told him, Rav Reicher, olov hashalom zichrono livrachah, he's not alive anymore, I said to him, I got to tell you the story behind this hat. And this is a printed story. I saw it printed in more than one place. As the zayde, the beis din, was speaking from the podium by the Knessiah Gedolah, all of a sudden there was an outburst of screaming. There was a Yid who pushed his way into the middle of the auditorium, of where the speeches were, and he began to shout, I'm in a tzarah! I don't have parnassah! Help me! I need parnassah! I need money! He was disturbing, so they were ready to take him out, respectfully, but to carry him out. He was disturbing the proceedings. The beis din from the podium saw this, and he said, Excuse me, what are you doing? You're taking him out? What are we doing here? We're here to discuss how to help Klal Yisrael, how to do things to better Klal Yisrael. What better way is to care about this individual and his problem? That is Klal Yisrael. What is Klal Yisrael? You know, people have this thing that they involve in big organizations. The individual, they fall through the cracks. Yeah, the kesiah gedolah was about takanos in Klal Yisroel, but this is Klal Yisroel. This individual, his needs is Klal Yisroel. How could you push him out? What are you pushing him away for? What are you carrying him out for? Let's address it now. Me, in front of everybody, he took off his hat. He put money into the hat, and he said, I want it to go around the entire auditorium, and everyone should put money and give it to this Yid. Ve'chsakta boi. And that's why the hat was crushed by the brim, because when you carry the hat, when you carry the hat on both sides, the weight of the coins, it made the brim crushed. I remember telling Rabbi Reicher, Tell me, you still think the hat wasn't beautiful? And he said to me, You're right. The most beautiful hat I ever saw. You're right. It was the most beautiful hat I ever saw. It wasn't only Shabbos, it was Shabbos Shabbosoi. This was the most beautiful Shabbos hat. This, rabosai, ve'chsakta boi. A lot of times we throw it on big organizations to help. You know what the ani needs? You. He needs individual. He needs personal. He needs you to jump on it, like the Alter is saying here. Don't throw it on the tzibur. He maybe needs you personal to take care of his problem. But rabboisai, we have this misconception that chizuk is only for those that are downtrodden, sick, poor. The truth is, rabboisai, everyone needs chizuk. Everyone. Everyone needs chizuk. There isn't a person that doesn't have his worries. There isn't a person that doesn't have his things that bother him. Everyone needs chizuk. Everyone. The Gemara says, Levenchinayim meichalav, gadol hamalbin shinayim l'chaveiro yoser mi'machilehu chalav. Chalav is very healthy, it's nutritious, but the one who gives white teeth, which means he gives a smile, he opens his mouth and he shows his white teeth, that's greater than feeding. The smile, the hello, the chizuk you give somebody by telling him hello and acknowledging him that he exists.

Might be greater than anything you could do. וְלָבֶן שִׁנַּיִם מֵחָלָב, גָּדוֹל מִמַּלְבִּין שִׁנַּיִם לַחֲבֵרוֹ יוֹתֵר מִמַּשְׁקֵהוּ. What did I do? I just opened my mouth and gave a smile. Yes, this is possible more to the person than anything else you could do for him. We pass by people as if they don't exist, as if they're furniture. Show him that he exists. You thought about him. You put maskil el dal. You paid a little attention to him. Rabboisai, let me share with you a Gemara in Shabbos, pei tes. The Gemara says, and this is a very perplexing Gemara. אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי, פ״ט עמוד א׳ בשבת, אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: בשעה שעלה משה למרום, מצאו להקדוש ברוך הוא שיושב וקושר כתרים לאותיות. He was writing the crowns of the osiyos. You know what the crowns of the osiyos are in the Sefer Torah? How much soyd, how much kedusha, shpitz heilig sheb’heilig. אמר ליה משה. So when Moshe comes, he tells Moshe Rabbeinu, אין שלום בעירך? What, you come from a place that they don't say hello? Wow. Yeah, you come from a place where people don't say hello to each other? אמר לפניו. So Moshe Rabbeinu says, I'm sorry, but how was I supposed to say hello? Klum yesh eved shenoisen shalom l’rabo? I am the master. I’m saying I’m the slave and you’re the master. So how could I say hello? It’s not respectful. Amar loi, hoyah lecha lazreini. You should have gave me chizuk. You should have helped me. What do you mean? You should have given me a positive word, lazreini, to help me. I’m sitting writing a sefer Torah. I’m preparing Kabbalas HaTorah. You don’t give me a good positive word, lazreini, to help me. Miyad amar loi. Right away Moshe Rabbeinu says to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Okay, okay, I have what to say. Chizuk. V’atah yigdal na koach Hashem ka’asher dibarta, like you speak. Yesh koach. He gives HaKadosh Baruch Hu a yasher koach. Rabosai, Kabbalas HaTorah, Moshe Rabbeinu needs to say hello today, and he has to give Him a yasher koach? And this is called lazreini, to help the Ribono Shel Olam? It’s a perplexing Gemara, rabosai. The Ben Yehoyada explains that if Hashteitzachteibishter doesn’t need your yasher koach, nor does He need your chizuk, but He was teaching Moshe Rabbeinu this is what’s needed, and the way I understand it, this is really part of Kabbalas HaTorah. Avad elyonim sasu, v’tachtonim olzu. Unbelievable. Mayim Rasinai, kolois u’vrakim. In Yiddish, akh bin himmel un erd. It's an expression in Yiddish, himmel un erd, pilei ployim, elyonim sasu. Who's the menshlichkeit? The Ribono Shel Olam is maaning him by Kabbalas HaTorah. How do you not say hello? How do you not give a yasher koach, give chizuk? This is echad, a chelek from Torah and Kabbalas HaTorah. The Ribono Shel Olam was giving over Torah to Moshe. This was part of the Torah that he was giving over. Az me dav zogen, sholem. Az me dav geben chizuk, me dav zogen a yasher koach. When the Gemara zogt, Ashmeichel, this is all Torah, the Ribono Shel Olam's Torah. There's an interesting Gemara in Taanis. The Gemara says that Eliyahu Navi pointed to two people, and he said, These two people are bnei Olam Haba. They're bnei Olam Haba, these two people. What did they do? So they went over and asked, What do you do? So he said two things: Bedichi atzivi. We make people who are depressed, who are broken, happy. That's what we do. Bedichi atzivi. Badchonus, badichi, atzivi, those that are unhappy. We also try...

Trying to make shalom, peace, bein adam l'chaveiro. Mefarshim question: so if a person's a comedian, he goes to Olam Haba? Dasht eiten di Gemara? Badichi atzivei. If you make a guy, a guy is broken, you give him a positive, a good joke, a good ichveizmas. Medem alei geit men in Olam Haba. So I saw in Shitas Kadmonim, from the Kadmonim, it's a likut of all the Kadmonim, says an interesting chiddush. It can't mean literally that they make jokes and they make broken people happy, but it's—they do the mitzvah of nichum aveilim. That's pshat. People who are broken, they're aveilim, we do this mitzvah, we're busy with this mitzvah. And then it says an interesting lashon which needs to be addressed. Shitas Kadmonim says, And also, u'mesameach chasan v'kallah sheheim aveilim. I don't know what they mean by that. But the chasan, kallah—unless it means sheheim aveilim, that there's a mitzvah to be mesameach them, that's all it means. Chor wasn't mean. We do the mitzvah of nichum aveilim, and also mesameach chasan v'kallah sheheim aveilim. What's sheheim aveilim? It either means sheheim aveilim, there's a mitzvah to do it, or maybe sheheim aveilim—they need chizuk. Pashut, it's a time, you see clearly that it's a time that u'mesameach chasan, there's a reason for it. Maybe it has to do with al kein yaazov ish es aviv v'es imo. It's a transition, he's losing his parents. Maybe that's what it means. It's an interesting Shitas Kadmonim. Either way, it's mitzvah that they do. It's about a mitzvah. Shevet Mussar says a different pshat. Shevet Mussar says that it's not stam they make jokes, but they give chizuk of emunah and bitachon to those that are broken, to those that are going through nisyonos. That's pshat, badichi atzivi. They talk about emunah and bitachon, all right? You talk about emunah and bitachon, and you help people have emunah and bitachon, so mimeila, ir b'nei olam haba. These are the two terutzim to the pshat in the Gemara: why if they were badichi atzivi, are they bnei olam haba? Either they were doing the mitzvahs that need to be mesameach, those mitzvahs that are to be mesameach others, or it means that they gave mussar for chizuk, for emunah and bitachon. There's a ma'arehdike marsha. Marsha on that Gemara in Taanis chof beis amud aleph says, You know what they did, the badichi atzivi? They took away the tzaar of broken people. Chazal tell us that when a person is broken and he's b'tzaar, the Ribono Shel Olam is b'tzaar. So by taking away the tzaar of another Yid, they were taking away the Ribono Shel Olam's tzaar. And that's what's so unique and special about what badichi atzivi. They were unburdening the tzaar haShechinah. They were unburdening the tzaar haShechinah. Gives us an insight what it means to be mechazek another person. You're actually being mechazek the Ribono Shel Olam. That's what, l'choira, the pshat in the Gemara, dachtzach. Hoyah lecha la'azreini. Moshe was being taught that by giving shalom to others, by giving chizuk to others, it's actually giving chizuk to who? It's giving chizuk to the Ribono Shel Olam. Alef fregin. Like we mentioned, Ribono Shel Olam needs your chizuk. And the answer is, tzaar haShechinah. Tzaar haShechinah, when He sees people, people lack. They lack security. They're in pain. They don't feel good about themselves. Give shalom. Give chizuk. I want to add something very interesting. Rabosai, there's a lashon of a Rambam which is so eye-opening. There's a lashon of a Rambam which, if I may say, talks straight to the neshama, what it means to be a Yid, and what it means to do chesed, and what it means to be mechazek and care about another Yid. The Rambam in Hilchos Megillah, perek beis, halacha yud-zayin: Mutav la'adam lharbos b'matanos evyonim. It's better for a person to give...

Matanos la'evyonim, than to be busy with all other mitzvos of Purim. She'ein shem simcha gedolah mefo'arah, because what is the greatest simcha? Purim, you need to be b'simcha. What is simcha? The greatest simcha is, l'sameach lev aniyim v'yeshomim, to make happy the heart of the aniyim, the yeshomim, v'almanos v'geirim, shehamesameach levavum lalim ha'eilu, because someone who is mesameach these broken people, domeh l'Shechinah. He is compared to the Ribono Shel Olam Himself, domeh l'Shechinah. Shene'emar, l'hachayos ruach shefalim, ul'hachayos lev nidkaim. Domeh l'Shechinah. So you want to have a question, you still have a question: why, b'dichi atzivi, go to Olam Haba? It's domeh l'Shechinah. If you take a broken person and you're mechazek his heart, you lift his heart, you lift his spirits, you're domeh l'Shechinah. The Rambam, perek beis, halachah yud-zayin, Hilchos Megillah, klorer Rambam, you're doing what the Eibishter. This is v'halachta bidrachav. You can't do more v'halachta bidrachav than this. You're domeh l'Shechinah. And dos efsher is the pshat, he's a ben, ben Olam Haba. The Gemara says that they were b'dichi atzivi, so they were called ben Olam Haba. What's ben Olam Haba? Kol Yisrael yesh lahem chelek l'Olam Haba. Mefarshim fregen the kasha: everyone has Olam Haba. Yeah, when you get there, you'll have Olam Haba. But who is a ben Olam Haba now in this world? Who's living in this world, af yana velt, in Olam Haba? This is living Olam Haba-dik. The farshim explain, ben Olam Haba means not that he will have Olam Haba. Ben Olam Haba means he's now here, in this world, that's living in Olam Haba, living in Olam Haba. And how is that when a person is doimeh l'Shechinah, alepeter boirenishl Olam. He's mekayem v'halachta bidrachav. This is the Ribono Shel Olam's orbit. You know, rabosai, many ask, when you mechazek a Yid, how long is what you do? How long is it? It's a few minutes, right? You give him a good word, yecheis, you give him chizuk, ten minutes, twenty minutes. So what does the person have from it after those twenty minutes, right? After those twenty minutes, he's back to in his own problem. You see clearly that those twenty minutes that you mesameach or mechazek another Yid is a ma'aseh dike schus. What is it? What's so special? I saw a sefer, Be'er Moshe, the Oshover zecher tzaddik livrachah deals with this issue. Mikunt m'mevakech cholim, yeah, you stay for ten minutes, so that's all it was, ten minutes. A person is sick 24/7. What does he have from the five minutes he came to visit him? I want to tell you over a mayridike chiddah. My zeide, zatzal, used to say over a chiddah, mayridike. My zeide, Reb Shmuel Dov Walkin, used to say over a chiddah. By Egla Arufa, we find that the beis din from the city closest to where they found the person has to bring a korban, and they say, Yadeinu lo shafchu es hadam hazeh, v'ein eineinu lo ra'u, kaper l'amcha, that we aren't responsible for this person's death. Chazal point out, how would they be responsible? What did the beis din do? Someone got shot on a highway somewhere, so then it's the local beis din's problem that someone shot this person on the highway? Ela shelo patrenu b'lo mazon, that we should have fed him. We did feed him. Therefore it's not our problem that he got shot. We were supposed to give him food, and we, Baruch Hashem, shelo patrenu, that we came, we fed him. Fragt the chiddah, and if you did feed him, see, he wouldn't have gotten shot on the highway. What does one have to do with the other? See, you could come and explain that if we feed him, then he wouldn't be traveling, he wouldn't have to roam from city to city.

Chidah says a different pshat. Chidah says that if you would have fed him, he would have been b'simcha. He would have been happy. Once he's happy, his mazal would have changed completely, that this terrible thing wouldn't have happened to him. Here, rabosai, it's a meidige kasha. Somehow we're blaming the beis din for what happened, to the point that they have to bring a korban. So how are we blaming? We should have fed him. And if you would have fed him, let's say you would have taken care and give him a lunch and a supper, so when he travels he wouldn't have got shot between the two cities. So maybe the pshat is he wouldn't have to travel. If he would have food in this city, he wouldn't have to go traveling. The Chidah says a different pshat. The Chidah says that if you would have fed him, he would have been b'simcha. And if he would have been b'simcha, he would have had shinui hamazal, and this tragedy and this calamity would have never befallen him. So ultimately, by you not being mesameach him, you have responsibility. You need to answer. Here, rabosai, it's a meidige Chazal and a meidige taych from the Chidah. You let a person be broken, and you're not mesameach him. Maybe ultimately you're responsible for the difficulties that he's going through, because if you were mesameach him, it could have changed the whole dynamics. It could have changed the whole situation. Here, rabosai, it's a meidige Chidah, a half a gevald. Yeah, you hear? It's a half a gevald, the Chidah. Somehow the beis din is responsible for this person's death. How? What did they do? And the answer is they didn't feed him. And if they would have fed him, he would have been b'simcha. So ultimately, the outcome of what's going on in this person's life is somehow the responsibility of the beis din that wasn't able to be mesameach him. When you come to a person who needs chizuk, a chayla, maybe if you're mesameach him, even a few minutes, it changes the events. It changes the course, that now maybe good things could happen to him. Maybe he can get better. So you're right, the chizuk is moments, but those moments could change everything. That from here on in, b'simcha seitzeiu, ki b'simcha, that he can get out of his situation maybe. I once heard a tremendous story, and I heard it from the person that it happened to. And to me, it's an unbelievable story. I knew a person years ago that had a lot of difficulties in life. So he told me that he would go constantly to Reb Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zecher tzaddik livracha. It's a zachah pred in the hearts. He would go to Reb Shlomo Zalman for chizuk. One time Reb Shlomo Zalman sees that whatever he's telling him, it's not working. He's still broken and he's still meyuash. So Reb Shlomo Zalman looks at him and says, If you don't right now change your mindset and you don't jump into simcha, I'm going to get up on the table. And I'm gonna dance in front of you. Guy told me he looked at Reb Shlomo Zalman. What? What are you saying? Reb Shlomo Zalman got up on the table, and he danced in front of the guy. And the guy broke out in laughter, couldn't stop laughing to see the gadol hador dancing on a table. Reb Shlomo Zalman said, Good, that's all I wanted. I wanted to break that atzvus. Now, ki b'simcha teitzeiu. Okay, now get out of the situation. You can get out of it now that we broke the moment of atzvus. And he told me it helped him for many, many, many months after that, that every time he was a little bit slipping back into his mindset, he would remember how Reb Shlomo Zalman made him laugh by dancing on the table. It takes a minute. Well, it takes maybe one good shalom aleichem, one good smile, one good word. You think to yourself, So I smiled at him. What's gonna change his day? Maybe. Maybe. That's what we're learning. We're learning a moirdige yesoid. Maybe a minute of simcha changes the course of the day of this person, that from here on in, he's in simcha, some good things will happen to him. This, rabosai, is ki b'simcha teitzeiu, Chassidishe sefarim say, with simcha you can get out of every matzav.

A kind word, a smile, a chizuk, a yasher koach. Do we want to be from those that on us it said, Ein shalom be'ircha? HaKadosh Baruch Hu is telling Moshe, We don't see hello in your place. You don't give chizuk, a yasher koach, a kind word to people. This is Kabbalas HaTorah. As we prepare ourselves for Kabbalas HaTorah, let us not overlook a Gemara about Kabbalas HaTorah. Yeah, we learn about all the great naaseh v'nishma Gemaras. What about this? This is also an event that took place by Kabbalas HaTorah. And I would like to finish with the following ha'arah, diyuk in Rashi. These two people, Eliyahu said, were bnei Olam Haba. Why? Because they were beduchi atzivi. They made happy those that were broken. Says Rashi, quote, Beduchi, smeichim u'mesamchim bnei adam. Smeichim. It doesn't say they were mesameach others. They were happy, and they were mesameach others. Smeichim u'mesamchim acheirim. You wonder how you make others happy? Around you, if you're happy, they'll be happy. Make your svivah around you positive, happy, upbeat, and that's how you're beduchi atzivi. It doesn't say they walked around making the other guy happy. It says smeichim. They were happy themselves. U'mesamchim acheirim. Maybe by being happy, they were mesameach others. Happy, a smile, a good word, a positive word. Around you should be a positive svivah. And with this, you could be in this world, in this world, a ben Olam Haba. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.