Beshalach: Sweetening the Bitter Waters of Marah Through Torah and Tefillah

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Shalom Aleichem, bruchim habaim. In the parsha, Parshas Beshalach, right after Klal Yisrael experiences Kriyas Yam Suf, and they reach the high madreigah of shira, az yashir, the pasuk tells us, Vayasa Moshe es Yisrael miYam Suf. They're traveling now away from Yam Suf. And Vayeitzu midbar Shur, they go to the desert of Shur. Vayelchu shloshes yamim bamidbar, v'lo matzu mayim. They're stuck in water. Vayavo'u Marah. They came to a place, l'choira called Marah, we'll soon see in the Rishonim if there is such a place and if there is actually a real name Marah. They come to Marah, v'lo yachlu lishtos mayim miMarah ki marim heim. They couldn't drink the water; the water was bitter. Al kein kara shmah Marah. So the name of the place becomes Marah. Vayilonu ha'am al Moshe, they complain to Moshe. Vayitz'ak el Hashem Moshe screams out to the Ribono Shel Olam. Vayoreihu Hashem eitz. Hashem shows him a wood, eitz, a piece of wood. Soon we'll see in the Rishonim what this wood was, what this piece of eitz was. Vayashlech el hamayim, he throws it into the water. Vayimtaku hamayim, the water becomes sweet. Sham sam lo chok u'mishpat, v'sham nisahu. There the Ribono Shel Olam puts chok u'mishpat, chukim, mishpatim, the laws, and there they were tested. Later on, they travel from Marah, they come to Elimah. That's by Chamishi. V'sham, there, there's plenty of water, shteim esrei einos mayim, v'shivim tmarim, seventy palm trees that are taking water sustenance from these einos. Vayachanu sham al hamayim, and there they're camping with plenty of water. Mei Marah, the waters of Marah. This parsha, rabosai, of Marah is a limud. It can be taken and utilized as a limud about bitterness in life. Marah, we could talk about, l'choira it's like a machlah, it's a disease. A person has bitterness. In order to deal with bitterness, we need to understand the root of it, the root cause of bitterness, and it's mevuar in this parsha. It's mevuar in this story when they come to Marah. What is the root, the cause of bitterness? And then we could properly deal with healing. We could deal with dealing with bitterness. Some people are always bitter, and some people are bitter about particular things in their life. Either way, the Torah here is giving us a limud, a model lesson on how to deal with bitterness. Vayavo'u Marah also, v'lo yachlu lishtos mayim miMarah ki marim heim. Pashtus, we learn that the water was bitter, marim heim. Teduah from the Kotzker, zecher tzaddik, zechuso yagen aleinu. Marim heim means that the people were bitter. They couldn't drink the water. The problem wasn't so much the water. The problem was marim heim. Maybe dikduk, because if it was going on the water, water is plural, mikolos mayim rabim, and then it should have been ki marim heimah, heimah plural. Maybe marim heim is going back on the peoples who are drinking, lashon yachid. Either way, the pshat of marim heim is not on the waters; marim heim is on the people. They were bitter. The emes is, rabosai, it's rooted in a Medrash Tanchuma. The Medrash Tanchuma Yashan already says marim heim is referring not to the waters but to the people. Marim shehayu hador marim b'ma'aseihem. Their actions were bitter. Their ma'asim were marim. So marim heim already in Chazal, we find, is not referring to the water, but it's something about the people, either their actions or their state of mind. They were bitter. The Chofetz Chaim, zecher tzaddik livrachah, zechuso yagen aleinu.

Of its chayim, says a meyridike deher, part of the limud of the parsha of Marah. Here they don't have water. In Marah they don't have; it's marim heim. Then they go to Elimah, and there, there's shteim esrei einos mayim, plenty of water. Vayachanu sham al hamayim, plenty of water. How long were they in Marah? One day. A travel of one day away was Elimah, and there there was plenty of water. Yet here they're bitter. The solution sometimes is next door. The solution is just a travel away, a few moments away, a few hours away, but it's there, it's around you, but you don't see it. You're now in Marah, ilmisfarbitet. K'tzei haru areius, the Chofetz Chaim calls it, short vision. People can't see past the moment. If they would be able to see past the moment, tomorrow will be better. And in this particular case, there was abundance of bracha and water. The solution was right there in Elimah, and here now today, ah, meveintu meklokt, Marah, they're bitter. It's a tremendous insight into the lack of vision that the bitter person has. He doesn't see past the moment. A mensch is zet, he looks a little ahead, a little to the right, gets chaneitz, and it's going to be good. There's a meyridike pshat from the Netziv in the taich of the pesukim, meyridike chiddush. Pashut we learn that when they came to Marah, they were thirsty and they were looking for water. And the water was bitter, and then they were, so to speak, dying of thirst. Zogt der Netziv, that's not the pshat in the story of Marah. That's not what happened. And if you read the psukim, it's pretty clear. Zogt der Netziv, in the pasuk it doesn't say that they were thirsty and they complained. When did they complain that they were thirsty? When they came to Marah, v'lo yachlu lishtos mayim miMarah, and then, vayilonu al Moshe leimor, mah nishteh. So when they came, they weren't, so to speak, starved for water. They weren't in a matzav where they had to drink. Zogt der Netziv, it was a nes. They were fully with water. They had plenty of— they didn't need to drink. Once they went and they drank, they were looking for something more than to quench their thirst. Ah, Marah, it was bitter, so then it wasn't gishmak, and then they started to complain. You learn the parshah of Marah, you think they were dying of thirst, and that's where the complaining came from. No, zogt der Netziv, learn the psukim. The psukim is clear that they came to Marah not thirsty, because the Ribono Shel Olam made they shouldn't need water. They were fine. They came from Kriyas Yam Suf. They were on a level, on a ruchniyusdike level. They were perfect. They had all they needed to sustain themselves. Then they looking— Vayavo'u Marah, so they were looking to drink water. They didn't need it. And why? A bissel vasser, a bissel gishmak, a bissel a zise vasser, it looks so sweet. Ah, it's marah. And then, al kein kara shmah Marah. It's interesting, even the context of the pasuk. The waters were bitter, al kein kara shmah Marah, כאילו it wasn't even marah before. When they came, they were good. Everything was good. Mitgezucht, they were searching. Ah, then it became bitter. It's tremendous limud, rabosai. You know, people think bitterness is from what you don't have. You're missing something. You see from the parashah of Marah, which I would say is the textbook of hashkafah, of how to deal with merirus, with bitterness, you see it's not what they were lacking that caused the bitterness. It's what they had, which they didn't need, caused them the bitterness. They didn't need the water, but they were looking to have something from this water which they didn't need, and that causes bitterness. And, rabosai.

The psychology behind it is very true. You know, when a person sometimes doesn't need something, I'm not telling you that he's dying of thirst. Of course, he's not going to be happy. But if you're not dying, and then you're searching for more, and the problem with that more is it doesn't do it for you. It doesn't fulfill the inner need that made you search for this extra, for this moisris. And because it doesn't give you the happiness, because that's not what you're really missing, then you become bitter. Bitterness is a state of mind where a person lives in a frame of mind that he needs something, and this something is going to cause him happiness. And when it doesn't, that's when the merirus, the bitterness, sets in. So, mevurdik pshat from the Netziv. You learn pashut, they came, they were dying of thirst, and they started to complain, and the water nebach was so bitter for them. Ah! And what did the Ribono Shel Olam want? That chaveizei shev emunah, bitachon, v'sham nisahu. That was their test. That's not the pshat according to the Netziv. They were fine. They didn't need anything to quench their thirst, but they were searching for more. They were searching for something more. They saw the water. The water looked very sweet. Water is, right? You know, rabosai, when we grew up, we were always told, Biz darshtik, drink water. You're thirsty, drink water. So what do we say is, but we're not thirsty for water, we're thirsty for soda. That means you're not thirsty. That means you're looking for something sweet. Guess what happens when you eat something sweet? It doesn't necessarily make you happy, because you're looking for something to make you happy, and it is not going to be happy with a soda. That's the point of marah and mei marah, l'choirah, in the Netziv's mahalach of the pesukim. The Mechilta says a meridike yesod. Pashut we learn that they went three days b'lo mayim, right? They went, Vayelchu shloshes yamim bamidbar v'lo matzu mayim. They didn't find water. Means physical water. That's the Mechilta's name, v'lo matzu mayim. They didn't learn. We all know that Torah is nimshal l'mayim, so that's the pshat. They didn't find water. They weren't learning for three days. It is because of this the Chachamim stood up and made a takanah, Krias HaTorah, that we shouldn't go three days without Torah. Monday, Thursday, Shabbos, you're set that there's no three days that pass without learning Torah. Kumtais that really it wasn't even the water that they were lacking; it was Torah. You know, a lot of times we say, Why are we unhappy? It's because we're missing this. It's maybe because we're not learning properly. Maybe the avodas Hashem is not going properly. Maybe our davening is not going the way it's supposed to go, and we think it's because of this we're unhappy. The Mechilta's pshat, Chazal's pshat, is like the Netziv. It's not about water. This is not a water—this is not a drought issue. This was a Torah drought issue. This was that the neshama wasn't getting the mayim that it needs, and mimeila that causes merirus. Something important to learn and to focus on when a person's unhappy. You're blaming maybe other things. It might be your neshama is not happy because you're not learning, you're not davening. Something is not ruchniyus in your life missing. Something's missing. Something's not going right. Our das is the pshat in Mei Marah. What caused the Mei Marah is they didn't have the water. And maybe the taich is they looked for the water, like the Netziv, meaning they were looking for the gishmak in the water to compensate the lack of gishmak in the learning. A lot of times, people, they have a certain— they want this, right? They're looking for this, and it's to fulfill a need that really...

You're not happy because you're not learning. And we think, and the person unfortunately, mistakenly thinks that this will compensate, and this will alleviate the unhappiness. What's missing, and what's really missing is the Lat Gemara, rabosai. What's really missing is the Yid with the Ribono Shel Olam. That's what's missing. There's an unbelievable Rabbeinu Bechaye, so interesting. Rabbeinu Bechaye brings from the Sefer HaBahir. Sefer HaBahir is almost what we would call a Kabbalah sefer. Says Rabbeinu Bechaye that it's interesting, this place Morrow, something unique about it. Says the Rabbeinu Bechaye, b'shem the Bahir, that the eitz hachayim—we know there's an eitz hadaas and an eitz hachayim. The eitz hadaas, we weren't allowed to touch, or, al kol panim, we weren't allowed to eat. Sorry, made a mistake. It's supposed to be you're not allowed to eat it, right? Chava added that you're not allowed to touch, you're not allowed to eat it. But the eitz hachayim, the other tree, was supposed to be mamish where—eitz chayim hi, this is the life, the Torah, right? There was an eitz chayim there. So says Rabbeinu Bechaye from the Bahir, and the Satan came a little earlier than Klal Yisrael's arrival and cut away, chopped down the eitz hachayim. Nu, this is this pshat, rabosai. We come to a place, and the eitz hachayim is chopped down. The eitz hachayim is not growing there. It's not going to cause you happiness. People go on vacations to places. Ah, it's going to be— Unbelievable. Wow, it's going to fulfill every dream and gishmak that you... There's no etza chaim in the area, rabosai. The day will go through, but deep down, you're going to look, you're going to search for mayim, you're going to search for something. The gishmak is not necessarily going to be there. This is what happened in Marah. And the more we learn, and the more we fataych the pesukim, the Chazal and the Rishonim, you'll see that it mamish is the pill. It's the trufah, the medicine to combat all merirus, all bitterness that we have in our lives in today's times. The lack of learning, that should be the first place to check. You know, when you go to a doctor and you complain about certain symptoms, so he first checks. He'll give you an MRI if it's a certain type, or if he'll take a blood test. The first blood test, rabosai, when a person's broken and bitter, check the blood alcohol, so to speak, of Torah. Check the blood. Vifel vasser, all right? How much water, how much Torah is in the person? Asidus Torah, he's happy. If he's deficient, you know, sometimes you're deficient in certain vitamins, and right away it comes up, this is what you're deficient in if you're bitter. Check the Torah level. Check the ruchniyus level. The Rabbeinu Bechaye says another interesting part of the story of Marah from the bair, something very interesting. He says that when Klal Yisrael actually did come to Marah... The Satan came to them to talk to them. And the Satan was convincing them, Oh, why? You need water. You're going to a midbar. Who knows how many years you're going to be there. There's no water. Save up. Go drink. You need water. It's very much like the Netziv's mahalach. They weren't really thirsty. There was a voice in their head, the Satan. You know, today, you know, it's usually the voices in our heads that we think is us talking to ourselves, right? Our minds are working. Chazal already called that the Satan talking to us. You know, the Satan, when the Satan is there convincing us, the Satan is coming and he's putting ideas in our head. Now you're good. What about tomorrow? Now you're okay. Now you're not lacking. Avavas, ein margin, and tzvei vachen, and amanat, and ayar. What's going to be? Oh, and then you become bitter because of that. Fear sets in. Worry sets in. Lack of security, right? And then you have to start working to fulfill that chalom, that illusion.

That you're going to be lacking in a year from now. You don't know that you're lacking in a year from now, but there's a voice in the head that's telling you, Got to save for a rainy day. Who knows? And because of that, you go to work to fulfill something that's not even there, which is what we said from the Netziv, you see. And this is really the Satan, and this is what the Rabbeinu Bechaye is telling us. The Satan, the Satan, plays mind games with you, plays mind games with you. He's talking to you. Drink that cup. And we, for some reason, the Satan has our ear. You know, if we were smart, we would say, Don't got time for you. I don't have time for you. ... Yeah, he finds an ear in us. He finds a listener in us. And what does he tell us? Now you're good. What's with tomorrow? Now you have water. You're not thirsty. But you need to what? Save up. Drink. Oh, and then they go and they drink, and it's bitter, and then ... How things have never changed. Things don't change. Yeah, how the story of Mei Marah is our daily lives. It happens all the time. I would like to add, it's interesting, in Eilim we had, in Eilim we were okay. We had plenty of water, right? Water galore in Eilim. Shteim esrei einos, and there was water. It was sweet. It was delicious. Let's put into the equation the Mechilta, right? Because the Mechilta says that what caused the unhappiness? Vayelchu shloshes yamim bloi mayim, mayim Torah. In Eilim, the had toir. That's the story, because Chazal tell us that in Marah the Ribono Shel Olam gave us many mitzvahs: Shabbos, parah adumah. Ah, zey hobn gehat vos tzu lernen, zey hobn gehat vos tzu lernen. They had what to learn. Vayachanu sham al hamayim, mistama that's the pshat in the pasuk. They took a seat al hamayim in Eilim. Oh, then everything is easy. Mensch, vos iztn lernen? Altz iz gut, altz iz zis. Everything that comes his way, he's not bitter. These are the lessons of Marah. Un Torah, shloshes yamim bloi mayim, ki marim heim. People are going to be bitter. Vayachanu sham al hamayim, Eilim. The haflah in Panim Yafos brings from the Meshech Chochmah. It's also brought in the Toldos Yaakov Yosef, that just like we're learning every time it says mayim, it means Torah, so then it has to follow through that the water bitter was also Torah, that the Torah was bitter to them. It has to follow, right? If Vayelchu shloshes yamim bloi mayim is Torah, vayachanu al hamayim, Torah, גילוי תורה, תורה, תורה. Says the haflah, sheim the Maggid miMezritch, so then when it says the waters were bitter, also it means the waters are Torah, because the Torah became bitter to them. Nishkat geshmake lernen. Sometimes the bitterness is outside. When you're sitting inside, you're not learning, so the outside, you're missing it. And then sometimes in the beis medrash alein, the lernen. Ta'iriz ziskeit. It's not sweet. Torah is supposed to be something very sweet. A harifn, chazisa zachtair. Zeide zatzal used to tell me that the Chofetz Chaim, when he said a geshmake chiddush, he would make with his mouth that it's so sweet, it's so delicious. It's masik mi'dvash. It's so delicious, so sweet to the mouth, to the palate. Torah is zis. Torah is very sweet. U'noivsida merirus in the Torah alein. Where does that come from? And the answer is, ki marim heim. When the person's bitter, it's not the Torah. Don't blame the Torah. A lot of times, we blame the limud, ah, it's hashveh limud. It's not right, not in the right place. I'm not learning in the right yeshiva. It's not—it's you. It's not the learning sometimes. It's your state of mind. It's your ruchniyusdike lacking. Something is lacking within you. So, s'nit di Torah, ki marim heim. Lo yachol lishtos mayim. Sometimes you can't drink the water, ki marim heim, because you're bitter. There's a meiridike pshat.

From Maril Diskin, p'sak, drush, a sheine drush. The Maril Diskin says, why were we given here Parah Adumah, and Marah we were given Shabbos? Good, Shabbos. The Shabbos, dafnuch lernen hilchos Shabbos. Shabbos was negeiah; they were keeping Shabbos. Parah Adumah was not negeiah till the next year when they built the Mishkan, and they had to be metaher the tameiim, so they needed the Parah Adumah. Right now there was no need for Parah Adumah, so why to give Parah Adumah here now in advance? Azoi fregt the Maril Diskin. Why was Marah the location of where Parah Adumah was taught to Klal Yisroel? Zogt the Maril Diskin a meyridige pshat. He says like this: Halachah is that water that changes is not kosher for Parah Adumah. The water has to be in its original state; it has to be בלי שינוי. Yet, if you look at the Mishnah at the end of the eighth perek in Parah, mayim shenishtanu machmas atzman, that they changed inherently from themselves, which means nothing caused them to change. It was one, and then from itself it was nishtaneh. That's called its original state, and that's not called shinui, and it's still kosher for mei chatos Parah Adumah. They took the wood here in Marah and they threw it into the water, so it was bitter. Now it changed and it became sweet. Is that kosher for Parah Adumah water? Zogt the Mariel Diskin that that's what the Ribono Shel Olam was trying to tell them. The water didn't change because of the eitz that we threw in. The water was always good, because then it wouldn't be kosher if it changed for Parah Adumah. And we're learning Hilchos Parah Adumah, and mistama you went out into the backyard to get to the water, to see the halachos, to take the halacha l'maaseh. This wouldn't be kosher. The Ribono Shel Olam wouldn't create a nes and teach you Parah Adumah if the waters wouldn't be kosher for Parah Adumah. So the lesson was the water was always sweet. Nothing changed in the water. But it did change. It changed from sweet—from, sorry, from bitter to sweet. And the answer is, it didn't change; you changed. To teach us the water was always good. It's you. It's you. It's the person that was nishtaneh, this chiddush. Parah Adumah and the waters of Parah Adumah and the halachos of the water of Parah Adumah was a subliminal message, or maybe it was an open message. You don't even say subliminal; it was a message. The water was not nishtaneh. It's how you looked at the water. It's how you drank the water. The water was always the same. The ta'am, ta'am bleibt azelbe. The mensch fluctuates: happy, not happy, geshmak, not geshmak. Aber the ta'am is geshmak. So I'm meyredik, the Mariel Diskin, rabosai. It's meyredik. The reason why we were taught and given the halachos of parah adumah here, now, in Marah, is to teach us a lesson from the halachos of the water. Parah adumah needs water. Oh, we're having an issue with the water, huh? There's an issue, the water issue today. What's the water issue today? Oh yeah, it was bitter and now it turned sweet. Ooh, wait a minute, is that kosher for parah adumah? Wait, we're learning in yeshiva parah adumah. Nishtaneh? Not kosher for mei chatas. Yeah, but the Eibishter wouldn't give us today, in yeshiva, a problem where it's not kosher in halacha for the... It's like a meiredige zach. It's almost like the Ribono Shel Olam puts the world around the person according to the learning that he learns that day. Not again now. Parah adumah is not again a year from now. It's again שנה שנייה, the second year, not the first year. But you're learning the sugyas, so the water that's nogea to the sugyas you're learning is directly connected to the learning. It's an unbelievable zach. I have to tell you a story. Reb Chaim Kreisworth, zicher tzaddik livrachah, has a son that lives here in Lakewood, chashuv talmid chacham.

Chocham. And in the summers, we used to go together, the same vacation place, and he told me a ma'aseh. He said that his father once went—his father, Reb Chaim Kreiswirth, zichrono tzaddik livrachah, adam gadol ad me'od—he once went to see Reb Chaim Kanievsky, shlita, l'orech yamim v'shanim. And he tells Reb Chaim Kanievsky, Mizogt a hiber. They say a story that you were learning and writing on the sugyas of sheratzim, grasshoppers, chagavim, the kosher, the simanim, and you had a question about a certain grasshopper and the simanei kashrus. You didn't know the metzius. And pum, you looked at the window of your house, and in flew an interesting type of a grasshopper, and you looked and you said, Ah! The Ribono Shel Olam sent me this grasshopper to learn what the kashrus or not kashrus, and it's nogeia to what I was writing and what I was learning. Okay. Reb Chaim, azoi dertzeilt men in gas. This is what they say. It's an unbelievable story. You hear? This is what Reb Chaim cries, where it tells Reb Chaim Kanievsky. What an unbelievable story, how you were learning the halachos and writing on the halachos of chagavim, and in through the window, out of nowhere, comes a chagav nogeia to your learning. Reb Chaim Kanievsky tells Reb Chaim Kreiswirth, Reb Chaim... Ich bin in kaas of, I'm angry at you. I'm angry at you. What did I say wrong? It's a beautiful story. Azeiz opgen, b'sheim Reb Chaim, it's a ma'aseh. He says, yes, in the world they say over this story. The hamon am, they say over this story, and they are extremely taken, they're moved. Wow, what an unbelievable story. You, Reb Chaim, du bist a chaben Torah. You sit and learn. To you it's a chiddush, it's something new to you that the Ribono Shel Olam sends to the person everything around him, what he needs for his learning. To you this is a big story. To you this is a nes, like a miracle, a story of note. Doch a davar pashut. Bist a chaben Torah. You don't see how the Ribono Shel Olam, everything sends your way, puts in your daled amos, is all about your learning. It's connected and affiliated with your learning. You should know, it's a davar pashut. The Ribono Shel Olam shickt, vos der mensch darf in lernen. What's nogea to his sugyos on the Gemara is going to be around him in his life. This is the mei parah, the Ribono Shel Olam gave them the dinim of parah adumah, and then there's a story outside about mei marah, water turning from bitter to sweet, since nogea to the learning. How is it nogea to the daf that we're learning? How is it nogea to the Mishnayos and the halachos that we're learning today in yeshiva? Oh, mayim shenishtanu is not good. Also, how could this be good? How could the Eibishter give us water that's mayim shenishtanu, and the teretz is they did not change. They were supposed to ask the kasha and come to the teretz, it's muchach that the waters were always sweet. They were nishtanu, efshar machmas atzman, and maybe not even nishtanu; it's that we changed. It's the way you look at things. It's us. We were becoming happier. Mimeila the waters, the Torah was happier. Reb Chatzkel Abramsky, zichrono tzaddik livracha, chazon Yechezkel, used to say over, frequently used to say over, that when he was in Europe he bought a sefer. The mechaber pushed him to buy the sefer, or the moicher pushed him to buy a certain sefer, so he bought it. He had a good heart. Maybe he also had a shvachkeit to sefarim, ich veis. Takes one to know one. I also have this shvachkeit of sefarim. Al kol panim, he bought the sefer, and the sefer, stam, didn't interest him, but the hakdamah interested him very much. He caught his eye. The hakdamah was a pshat that this mechaber...

They were bitter. Marim heim. The waters were bitter. Makim memareres. So what do you do? Vayatzak laShem. The answer, the solution to the bitterness. Vayitzak el Hashem. Daven to the Eibishter. Vayoreihu Hashem eitz. Hashem showed him a tree. We also know eitz. We're holding now by Tu B'Shvat. Ki adam eitz hasadeh. Eitz is the person. So what's the answer? Vayoreihu, Hashem guided him. Eitz. Vayashleich el hamayim. Throw yourself into the waters. Varvah chayin and lernen. Vayimtaku hamayim, and then the waters will be sweet. You're going through difficult times, either you in your life, in your situation, or the Torah that you're learning is becoming efsher shver, it's a bissel, you're having a yeridah. What's the solution? What's the solution to this unhappiness, to this, so to speak, down, that the person is down? What's the solution? Vayashleich el hamayim. Throw yourself into learning. Unde der is, the das is the solution. People searching for answers, how to solve their unhappiness. The solution is right here. Vayashleich el hamayim. Varvah chayin. Throw yourself into learning. Throw yourself into davening. If you're doing chesed, throw yourself into chesed. Throw yourself into something positive. Become involved in your learning instead of your machshavos that are racing. Person's mind races with all types of fears and unhappy thoughts, varvse charain, and learning vayimtiku hamayim, and the waters become sweet. Reb Chatzkel Abramsky says he brought the pshat to Reb Chaim Brisk. And Reb Chaim Brisk said, The jargon is gevaldik. Jargon means the language, the shprach, the jargon. He used the word jargon. Reb Chatzkel Abramsky said Reb Chaim said the jargon is good. The pshat? Chveishesus emes. He doesn't know if that's the emes pshat, the pasuk. Abis a geshmake pshat. It's emes la'amito. I don't know if this is exactly the taich in the pasuk, but this is the lesson, rabosai, of the parsha. Varvse charain, varfin and learning. You know, the Maril Diskin is learning that the water was always sweet, and Parah Adumah was supposed to teach me that the change took place in the person. Many midrashim are mashma, literally, that the water changed from bitter to sweet. That's also a mahalach in many of the midrashim and many of the Rishonim. It l'tacha did change, and I think we can use that also as one of the lessons of the Vayareihu Hashem eitz. We think that if we throw ourselves into learning— So we are alluding the problem. What we're doing is we're—we are, that's the right word I'm trying to get—the word, we're not paying attention to the problem. We're focusing on the learning and taking away our focus from the problem, and that itself is a solution. According to these midrashim, it's more than that. When I throw myself into learning and I take the waters, it changes the matzav. There's taka a shinui. A bad situation, if you learn, will turn into a good situation. According to the mahalach of the Maharil Diskin, the yesod is, you learn, it will be sweet for you. Then the pshat is there's no real change more than the person. You know, in the goyisha velt, rabosai, the solution to all problems and the solution to unhappiness is to take your focus off the problem and focus on something else. The truth is that's somewhat of a Band-Aid, right? What you're doing is instead of healing the problem.

Instead of correcting the problem, what you're doing is you're taking your thoughts away from the problem, and maybe you'll be happier, which is a mahalach in psychology, right? A person gets a hobby. What's the point of a hobby? Your hobby is not going to change the fact that you're in a total mess in your life. It's not going to change that. What it's going to do is it's going to change your focus. Instead of focusing on everything terrible in your life, you focus on something you enjoy. When you learn Torah, rabboisai, I think there's two parts. One is the person himself will become happier. Mimeila, he's able to not pay attention to all the problems. And maybe the lesson of ma'amar is also this: the taka, the bitter turns into sweet, b'schus haTorah. A person goes through difficulties. How do you change? So we think that if you deal with your problem day in and day out, day in and day out, and you come up with this solution and that solution, that's going to solve the problem. You know, I once said a mayridike vort we have in the parsha, Mun. The mun fell, and they turned each one to his friend and they said, Mun who? They don't know what it is. They have no idea. So can you please explain to me, rabboisai, how did that become the name of the mun? I don't know. For example, give you a good example. Discuss: What should I name my child? I don't know. Oh, that's a great name, I don't know. Perfect. That's the name I'd like. It's not a name. I don't know, is that a name? They don't know what it was. Ah, Mun. That's it. Perfect name. Let's call it Mun. So I always thought could be the pshat, Rabosai, is Mun is not by default its name. Mun is, by design, the name of parnassah. You don't know. You never know when it comes and how it comes and why it comes. Lo lachachamim lechem. The smartest of people not necessarily make the money. It's all in the siyata dishmaya from Shamayim. Mun. Mun means, I don't know. Then you do know. If you say that you don't know in parnassah, and it's all in the hands of the Eibishter, it's coming motzi lechem min hashamayim, that means you do know. Perfect. Mun wasn't a name given by not knowing what to call it. Not knowing is what it's really called. It's what it really is. Rabosai, dealing with a problem, people spend all day long trying to figure out the answer. Lo lachachamim lechem. All the wisdom in the world will not solve the problem that the Ribono Shel Olam sends a person. I'm not saying you shouldn't do hishtadlus. It's a shiur for itself. It's a topic for itself. But a person, a Yid has to know the solution is in the Ribono Shel Olam's ratzon to change the matzav. And the greatest way to be zoche, and the greatest hishtadlus sometimes I could do is to not— Badger the problem with my ideas, but rather chavakzatz and learn and undaven, and that will change the matzav. So we have two mahalchim, how to deal with unhappiness in difficult situations, to deal with bitterness in daily, daily frustrations. The first thing is, you sit and learn, you'll be happier. Happy person sees problems, deals with problems differently. And that's what the Maharil Diskin's mahalach. The Menches bitter, the matzav is probably not as bitter as the mensch, and the way to deal with it is by correcting the deeper unhappiness that a person has. The tzveita mahalach, lefi the Midrashim, is, taka change the bitter situation, and the best way to do it is, it's through sitting and learning Torah. I always wondered, bothers me, after Oz Yashir, Moshe Shvii shel Pesach, we don't stop the Kriyas HaTorah on a high note of Oz Yashir. We continue Vayasa Moshe es ha'am, and then they go to Mei Marah and they complain. It's a whole—why do we continue with Mei Marah after Kriyas Yam Suf, and then comes Chamishi.

And then we stop the kriyas haTorah of Oz Yashir. Shvii shel Pesach, we should stop the aliyah by the end of Oz Yashir. It's a high note. Why are we from Oz Yashir directly going into the story of Mei Marah? The Sfas Emes takke ties the two parshiyos together. The Sfas Emes says this is the pshat in the tefillah of Geshem: Zechor shnei mosar shvatim shehe'avarta b'gizras mayim, sheheim takdu lamo merirus mayim. Zechor shnei mosar shvatim shehe'avarta b'gizras mayim. You see that the Ribono Shel Olam took the twelve shevatim—pay attention, the twelve shevatim. Soon we'll see how the shtei me'esrei einos and eilim are really the twelve shevatim; it's a targum Yonason and a targum Yerushalmi. Zechor shnei mosar shvatim shehe'avarta b'gizras mayim, sheheim takdu lamo. The same twelve shevatim that went through Kriyas Yam Suf, you made for them sweet. Taldosam nishbach dam, melech hamayim, teifen kinaf sheinafu mayim. The Sfas Emes has a whole mahalach—maybe because of time constraints we'll speak the Sfas Emes maybe closer to Sukkos. I want to say a me'orei dike taich: Why are we connecting Oz Yashir, the high, to Marah, which is back down again? Klal Yisrael is back in a complaining state of mind. And I think the pshat, rabosai, is—aliyahs and yeridos. You know, happiness and unhappiness. It's a day-by-day milchamah. It's a day-by-day. So a person can be on a high a few days, and then all of a sudden, a day or two later, he's back down. Torah is teaching us this. A person knows, Yosher is a keli. He lives with the Ribono Shel Olam. Zeh keli, Ribono Shel Olam, I see You. I see how You take care of me. Kriyas Yam Suf. And then three days later, I'm back. I don't see the Eibishter. I start complaining: Where's my food? Where's my money? Where's my water? That's life. Life isn't smooth sailing, happy, happy. It's up and down. There's days of happy and there's days of down. And what is the answer? Check the learning. A yelchu b'lo shloshes yom b'lo mayim. Find out what's changing, the ups and the downs, the aliyas and yeridos, the highs of happy and the lows. Today they have a medical term for those ups and downs: bipolar. Sometimes it's a ruchniyusdike issue. Sometimes you're up, zeh keli, with the Ribono Shel Olam. Sometimes you're not learning, and therefore every time marah the waters, the parnassah, ah, tzatumel! You become tzatumel. And I think that's the beautiful pshat, Rabosai, the beautiful taich in the words of geshem, the words that we say: Zechor shnei mosar shvatim, Klal Yisrael she'avarta b'gizras mayim. You took us through the waters. We saw nissim geluyim. We saw an unbelievable yad Hashem who's taking care of us. And then, three days later, we were down, and You took care of us again. Shimtakta lom limerirus mayim. You took away the bitterness. Three days later, we became bitter. Hashem, You took care of that. So you would say, I don't understand, the same Klal Yisrael that went through Oz Yashir, three days later? Three days? You couldn't be on a high. You couldn't be happy more than three days from an Oz Yashir, Moshe, from a Kriyas Yam Suf. It was an earth-changing event. It was a world-changing event. Could you imagine if someone was by Kriyas Yam Suf? You would say, of course he'd be happy for years. Someone goes through a nes. Someone has a tremendous thing that was given to him. You expect that for some time he'll be happy, right? Three days? That's it? That's all it took was three days to make them unhappy? Imagine a person has a choleh in his house, lo aleichem, and Baruch Hashem, nisei nisim, after so much difficulty, יציאת מצרים and then Kriyas Yam Suf, the guy couldn't be happier. Three days later, he couldn't keep—

He couldn't contain that level of happiness for more than three days. You look at the guy and say, What's wrong with you? I say, Hey, you figure, okay, a year passes, all right, you start to forget. But three days later! And the answer is yes, that's what happens. And why does that happen? Because the Satan starts draining the guy a cup, like we spoke in the beginning of the shiur. The nature of a person is bitterness, fear, emptiness, not learning. So many things come together to make the person down again. So what do we tell the Rabbeinu Shalom? Toldosam nishpach damam kamayim. Maybe we're bitter sometimes, but in our essence, we still are very close to you, Rabbeinu Shalom. We still have tremendous emunah. Look at our mesiras nefesh. Our children also, their blood gets spilled like water. So we're moser nefesh, and we complain from time to time. We get down, we get bitter, but it's not who we are. We're not marim heim. We might be in a situation that we're mar, but we're not marim heim. It's not deep. We complain, but it's not deep. Look, Shem takta lama, you had to make the water sweet. Three days after Kriyas Yam Suf, you had to come in there and deal with our unhappiness. But deep down, the Yid has chedvah. He's close to the Eibishter. He loves the Torah. Look, in times of push comes to shove, in times where he has to show his true essence, toldosam nishpach damam kamayim. And therefore, teifin ki nafsheinu afufu. So when we are in a state of mind that we're not on a high level, it's only nafsheinu afufu. We are tired. We're looking, we're searching for mayim, for water. Bnei Shlom, the reason why we have merirus doesn't define us. It's when we lack mayim, when we lack our Torah, when we lack the ruchniyus. And the biggest proof is, at a drop of a hat, every Yid is ready to jump into a fire for the Ribono Shel Olam, for Torah, for avodah. This, rabosai, is an understanding of merirus and the heart of a Jew. It's not like the rest of the world. Merirus in the rest of the world comes from an emptiness that can never be really completely healed. That's why there's so much unhappiness, and the more the world has, the more unhappy they are. The merirus of a Yid is mayim. It's his ruchniyus, it's his Torah. And this is the parsha that we're going to learn here in Marah. What happened by Vayereihu Hashem eitz? Hashem showed him. What's the lashon Vayereihu? Vayereihu means like a psak. The Ramban learns Vayereihu, Hashem guided him. What was he guided? Eitz. What is eitz? Ibn Ezra says, I don't know what this eitz is. Maybe this eitz is rfuli, maybe it's some kind of a segulah, maybe it's refuing, maybe there's something natural, or maybe there's something supernatural. And the eitz says the Ibn Ezra, I don't know what it is. Hashem said, This tree, take it and put it into the water. The Medrash points out, and the Medrash tries to teach us that it might have been one of five different types of tree that was taken and thrown in. Maybe it's rimon, maybe it's te'einah, it's different, says the Chazal, the Medrash. Whatever it is, it's definitely eitz mar. It's a bitter, zayis, a bitter. All the other, right, rimon, it's bitter. Whatever it is, it's an eitz that's bitter. So according to the Medrash, Vayoreihu Hashem eitz, the eitz was a bitter tree. The sap was bitter. The Ramban goes with this mahalach, and the Ramban says, Marah, what is Marah? Now the truth is, Marah, raz with an ayin. Marah here is with a hei. Ramban is busy with the word marah really means morah. Hashem was teaching them something. Marah, he says, I don't find the word marah. It's ra, it's with an ayin. Marah, marah is hora'ah, it's teaching, Vayoreihu. Says the Ramban, HaKadosh Baruch Hu taught him the ways of the world, the laws of...

Nature, and that is that bitter could make sweet. And he goes with this mahalach that it was a bitter tree. So we're trying to identify what is this eitz, this tremendous eitz. Vayoreihu Hashem, said, take this eitz, throw it into the water, and water is not going to become sweet. You're going to become better people, not bitter. What is this eitz? What is it? What is this supernatural, natural, what is it? Ibn Ezra says, I don't know. Maybe it's something supernatural. Maybe it was something unique about this eitz. Or maybe it was refu'i, which means it was a natural—it was a herb that was able to make sweet. The tree had in it the powers that we have in the herbs of the briyah. Some of them are bitter. Some of them are able to make sweet. Medrash, Medrash says clearly it was a bitter sap. The tree was a bitter tree. It was a bitter piece of wood. Ramban goes with this mahalach, and that's the pshat. He says that Vayoreihu, and he says that's the pshat, sham sam lo chok u'mishpat. He was telling him the chok and the mishpat, the rules of the world, of briyah, of creation, that bitter makes sweet. It's a lot of chok u'mishpat. It's very—it sounds like Torah to me, which really the Mechilta learns chok u'mishpat. It's referring Hashem gave us chukim u'mishpatim. He gave us the parashah of Parah, and He gave us Shabbos. Ramban uses those terms, chok u'mishpat, the laws of nature. was of nature, and there was a bitter that made sweet, rabosai. I think there's a mussar lesson, as is in everything in nature. In everything in nature, we could utilize it to learn lessons in ruchniyus and avodas Hashem, because that's the briah around us, especially with the shiur, what we said in the shiur previously, in the beginning of the shiur, that everything around the person is there to teach him, to guide him in his avodas Hashem. So what is the lesson? The Ramban is telling there's a lesson here that bitter makes sweet. What is the lesson? The teretz, rabosai, is chok u'mishpat. This is the nature, the laws of nature, that bitter is really not bitter. From bitter comes sweet, and then you wouldn't be bitter. If you understand that every matzav, it looks bitter, it feels bitter, to the palate and to the mind it's bitter. The truth is every bitter, and soon if we add eitz Torah to it, oof, you'll find sweet. It was given to make sweet. Bitter is never really bitter. Bitter is there to teach, to make the person better. Maybe that's a good line. Bitter is to make better, not to remain bitter. Bitter is meant to utilize to become better. That's a good line. Bitter was meant to make the person better, not bitter. You got to deal with it. You got to deal with it right, rabosai, you hear? There's a ... pshat. In Chassidish sefarim, beautiful pshat. Lo yachlu lishtos mayim miMarah. Mayim is ruchniyus, mayim is Torah. They couldn't learn the mayim from the Marah. They couldn't take out the ruchniyus, the lessons from the bitter situation. You know why? They couldn't learn from the lesson that Hashem was trying to teach them in their situation? Ki marim heim, because they were bitter. When you're bitter, the situation is not going to teach you anything. You're going to push it aside. You're not going to live in the matzav. You'll try to overlook and try to push it aside, push it away from you, and then you don't learn the lesson that it was meant to give you. Lo yachlu lishtos. Beautiful, beautiful sheina daher. Lo yachlu lishtos mayim. They weren't able to drink the mayim from the Marah. They weren't able to take the Torah that was supposed to be learned, the ruchniyus that was supposed to be taught to them from the situation. And why does that happen to the person? Ki marim heim, because they're bitter. And when you're bitter, you're not going to focus on what the lesson of the situation is there to teach you.

Rabbeinu Ephraim learns that this tree was something very special. This tree came right out of Gan Eden. Vayereihu Hashem eitz. He told him, take this tree; it's from Gan Eden. Many Rishonim say, like we learned from before, Rabbeinu, it was the eitz hachayim. Remember, the Satan took away the eitz hachayim. So Hashem said, take back the eitz hachayim. Vayereihu Hashem eitz. Hashem showed him the eitz. I guess He showed him where the Satan was hiding it, uncovered. This eitz hachayim was here before the Satan maybe putting all the Rishonim together, all the Midrashim together. The eitz, it was gone. Bring back the eitz. Bring back the eitz hachayim. There are other Midrashim that learn that this eitz was the stick of Moshe, was the mateh Moshe. Vayereihu Hashem eitz. Hashem said, you have the eitz. It's in your hand. It's your stick. Take it and throw it into the water. Many Rishonim, based on Midrashim, Targum learned that that was gufa the eitz of Moshe. Some say it was the eitz hadaas. Some say it was the eitz hachayim. Moshe walked around with a piece of the eitz hachayim. You know, Cain's—where did he make a Cain? ... was one of the stores, right, where they sell all the medical supplies. Moshe's cane didn't come from there. You know where Moshe's cane came from? Moshe's cane came from Gan Eden. It was the eitz hachayim. I saw Midrashim that say, you know, it's interesting, you know, you picture Moshe Rabbeinu, and when those that— Drew for the children, I guess, pictures of Moshe Rabbeinu in the Haggadahs. He's walking with a stick, right? And we know the stick turned into a snake and so on and so forth. Okay, maybe that's the concept of the eitz hadaas. His stick is a chelek of the eitz hadaas, and the snake is there. Okay, maybe one day we can venture into the drush of Moshe's cane. But if you look at many midrashim, Moshe's cane had 52 branches. It was an entire tree. Moshe Rabbeinu, his cane, his mateh, mateh Moshe, was 52 branches, magi'im ad kisei hakavod. It was an entire tree. It was an entire tree. Why? It was the eitz hachayim, right? This is the pshat in the midrashim. It's not wild Torah, rabosai; it's rishonim in midrashim. Why 52? So one of the midrashim say we have 52 parshiyos in the Torah. 52 is 52, 52 branches, and they go up to the kisei hakavod. Now why do we not draw Moshe Rabbeinu walking around with an entire beautiful eitz hachayim with a beautiful tree? Maybe not everybody saw the 52 branches. Maybe you had to be on a certain level. When you draw the picture, it looked like a cane. The yodei davar, those that saw with ruchniyusdike eyes, with teirahdike eyes, they were able to see the 52 branches that go up to the shamayim, the beautiful big huge eitz hachayim that was the mateh Moshe. Either way, rabboisai, there was no question that the solution, according to the Ramban, was a bitter herb tree making sweet. But according to the other Midrashim, it was about Torah. It was about eitz hachayim, Torah, the Torah, the eitz, the eitz, the eitz made. There's a beautiful Chasam Sofer, rabboisai. Chasam Sofer says, the Medrash says, Eitz, eitz chayim hi l'machazikim bah. Vayar'eihu Hashem eitz. Hashem showed him an eitz, says the Medrash, eitz. Oh, eitz chayim hi l'machazikim bah. So according to these Midrashim, it means literally eitz hachayim. It means literally the tree from Gan Eden called the eitz hachayim. But according, says the Chasam Sofer, from the pasuk, the way the Medrash brings it, he brings the end of the pasuk, eitz chayim hi l'machazikim bah. So, the Chasam Sofer, what do Chazal, what does the Medrash mean? You know, people can be bitter for one of two reasons. There's two camps in the world. There are those that sit and learn. They can be bitter, like we spoke. They don't have parnassah. They lack to put food on the table.

That could make someone really have daigus and bitterness. Then you have the people who work. They're also bitter. People think, Ah, there, he's working. People who work are also bitter. They wake up early and they go to sleep, if they go to sleep, way late at night, and they're busy with worries and redifes. People are running after them. There's plenty of unhappiness in the work field also. Sagt the Chasam Sofer, you have two camps in Klal Yisrael. You have the Bnei Torah, the Bnei Yeshiva, the lomdei Torah. They're unhappy sometimes because they're having rough, rough. There's no gashmiyus, there's nothing. Then you have the people in the workforce. They're unhappy because it ain't easy out there. It ain't pretty out there. Zogt der Chasam Sofer, this is the vayeira'u. Hashem is teaching how to alleviate all this bitterness and unhappiness. Eitz chaim hi lamachazikim bah, b'machzik Torah. So the ben Torah will have parnassah on the table because you're machzik, you do the yissachar-Zevulun, he'll have food, and you in the workforce will have simcha, will have happiness. The greatest segulah to take away all the fear and all the pressure and all the unhappiness during the workday: be machzik the ben Torah. Eitz chaim hi lamachazikim bah, v'somcheha me'ushar. What a beautiful Chasam Sofer. Beautiful, beautiful, ... This is what we're learning. The parsha is the parsha which the next parsha will be Parshas Hamon. After Marah comes mon. It's this point, beloi mayim on Torah, the Ben Torah, he's bitter, mon, the people are unhappy. This parsha, Parshas Beshalach, maybe it has to connect it with the shirah. Shirah, you say shirah only mitoch simcha. So they said shirah and they were b'simcha, but then life sets in. Oz yashir. You can't be a kriyas Yam Suf every moment, and there's life that sets in. Vayaasam Moshe miYam Suf. The Ben Torah, beloi mayim, is unhappy. The person who's looking for parnassah, mon, is unhappy, he's complaining. And the answer is, Vayar'u Hashem etz Chayim hi, u'machazikim bah, v'somcheha me'ushar. Somcheha, me'ushar, you'll be happy. Tzaddik, Reb Tzadok Levrachah used to say, look at the words of the pasuk of Yisachar's zvulun: Smach Zvulun b'tzeisecha, v'Yissachar b'ohalecha. Simcha, happiness. Yissachar's zvulun is not a deal that you will be unhappy from. Fakert, it brings happiness, and maybe even right away. Smach Zvulun, right away b'tzeisecha, you're happy. Smach. The minute you're machzik, the minute you make Yissachar's zvulun, you make this agreement, the Ben Torah is happy. Yissachar b'ohalecha, in your ohel, on your table, on your bank account, b'ohalecha, he'll be happy, you'll be happy. This is how you deal with merirus, with unhappiness. You don't do this. Life has its way of pulling you down. Life has its way of making you unhappy. This is the way to deal with unhappiness. With this we could say, I'moiridik a pshat, some chayku mishpat. What is the chayku mishpat? It's the way of the world. It's the laws of nature of this world. Part of it is learning Torah that brings simcha. Chazakas haTorah, that brings simcha. Marumasik, the Ramban, from bitter, if you utilize it properly and you taka throw it into Torah, vayashleich el hamayim, it becomes sweet. When we came to Elim, there was yud-beis einos mayim. Targum Yerushalmi in Parshas Massei also, it says they went to Elim, and there too it stresses, and there was yud-beis. Again, the pasuk in Parshas Massei, in the travelings, when we list the travelings, there too it emphasizes yud-beis, twelve, twelve einos.

And Shivim Tamarim. What do the Yud-Beis Eynes says, the Targum Yerushalmi says, the Targum Yonason? Both say it means the Yud-Beis shivtei Kah. What is the Shivim Tamarim? I saw the Targum Yerushalmi there says, Shivim Tamarim, Shivim, Shivim Skenim. It's a parallel to the Shivim Skenim. But yet I see in the Zohar another pshat. The Zohar says, I quote you the lashon, Ha'ayin anfin sheb'eitz hachayim. It's the seventy branches. It's interesting, Moshe's stick, eitz hachayim, had fifty-two, but in the Zohar it says there's ayin, there's seventy branches, anfin, that come from the eitz hachayim. Nu, rabosai, what's the seventy? Nu, nu? Shivim panim laTorah, of course, the Shivim panim laTorah. Seventy branches is the seventy ways on how to interpret Torah. So this is the Shivim. So we have the Yud-Beis, the Shivim, the seventy anfin. And I grabbed the source, the drashos of Ben Ish Chai, in the beginning of Parshas Masai, he says that the seventy is a parallel, is a remez to the Shivim panim laTorah. What do we do with the Tamarim, rabosai? Good, we have a pshat, nu, geshmak, the Yud-Beis, Targum Yerushalmi, Yonason, Yud-Beis shevat. We have the Shivim, the seventy, because the seventy is Shivim panim laTorah, right? They were sitting and learning there, huh? What's the Tamarim? For years I was trying to find a pshat, to come up with a hesber, to come up with some kind of understanding, the kesher of the tamarim in Elim. And Baruch Hashem, I saw a Yerushalmi that opened up my eyes. Shalmi, Taanis, perek hei, halacha daled, amar Reb Chanina. Reb Chanina says, 40 years before the Yidden came to Bavel, the Bavloyim had this idea that they're going to plant palm trees. Bavel is full of palm trees, says the Yerushalmi. Why? What made them think of it? Remember, we said everything in the Briah—remember, rabosai, everything in the Briah revolves around Klal Yisrael and their learning and their ruchniyus. It was there to serve Klal Yisrael. What was it? What was the reason for the palm trees of Bavel, that Bavel, 40 years? No. Zogt the Yerushalmi, tamarim is sweet, sweet to the palate, gives cheshek and sweetness to wanting to learn Torah. Says the Yerushalmi, sweeten the appetite for Torah. Zis, sweet on the tongue creates an appetite, Torah, sweet of Torah. Little children, when they come, haircut, aleph-beis, what do we do? We take a little honey and we put it on their tongue. Tvash v'chalav tachas leshoneich. It's supposed to be a segulah to arouse the sweetness of Torah. To be me'orer the sweetness of Torah, shivim tmarim. The tmarim, Chazal already tell us tmarim is mesikus haTorah. It represents mesikus haTorah. No? So we have the Yud-Beis einos, we have the shivim, and we have the tmarim, and the water was sweet in Eilim. I end with the following maaser, rabosai. Bitterness—it's a tremendous, as we started this shiur, it's a tremendous machlah. It's a makas medinah. It's the machlah of our time, and everyone is searching on how to deal with all the unhappiness and the bitterness. A bitter person is not a person, rabosai. It's a shivrei keilim. It's a shivrei keilim. We tried in the shiur to give the solution and ideas of how to combat merirus through the parshah of Marah, which, as we explained, is a blueprint. It's a mussar shmues on how to deal with merirus. Let me culminate everything we spoke with this following maaseh. I heard from an ...

that told me that when Mereinu, Meran Reb Chaim Kanievsky shlita, l'orech yamim v'shanim, b'sara Torah, he lost his great rebbetzin, the Rebbetzin Kanievsky. She was the real eishes chayil, eishes chaver, a heilige, a ein b'Yisrael. She was such a wonderful, unbelievable person. She was a mother to so many, and a role model to all the women, and to plenty of men who saw in her tzidkus and seeked her counsel as well, and learned from her beautiful middos tovos. When she passed away, it was a hole in Reb Chaim's life, a hole in Reb Chaim's heart. And even the sar haTorah, he was broken. He was unhappy. He was shavur, l'matzav ruach. I'm being careful with the terms I use about the gadol hador, the sar haTorah. He needed chizuk. Everyone needs chizuk at times. Life, life could be, could be difficult, for lack of a better term, can weigh us down. So he turns to Meran Rav Shteinman zechut tzaddik livrachah, and k'darko, he writes a letter in a few words. You know, Reb Chaim is not going to write big words. He's not going to write a lot. Atzuv ani. And maybe he found some kind of a new tricken. Like, booah, atzar, like atzuv ani, you know, some kind of a... And he sends this to Meran Rav Shteiman. Atzuv ani. I'm not happy, broken. Again, I'm being careful not to use the word depressed. Rav Shteiman writes him back, Lulei seirascha sha'ashuai, az avadti be'onyi. And he sends this message to Reb Chaim. Reb Chaim looks at it, he reads it, and he goes, Ah, I got the chizuk. Tzricht tsum lernen? Good. I became a chizuk. The words of chizuk you gave me, it worked. Tell me, what did he write? He wrote, Lulei seirascha... It's a pasuk. We could be pretty sure that Reb Chaim Kanievsky knew this pasuk. This is nothing new. Every child k'mat knows this pasuk. And Rav Shteiman said it. What, I mean, Dovid HaMelech. What's wrong if Dovid HaMelech says it? What was nischadesh? What was it that became new, something different, that Rav Shteiman wrote him, that this, ah, das is the chizuk that he was looking for? That Rav Shteiman cared maybe, that he was with him, and therefore he sent... It's, there's some subliminal message here. What is in this? It's chap azik. And I'm sure Reb Chaim Kanievsky used this pasuk in many previous situations in his life. I thought a lot about it, and I thought maybe the zechus of a gadol hador writing to another gadol hador, there's something about the actual words that has some kind of power, a koach. And then I came up with the pshat, which I think is emes. Rav Shteiman is telling him that there is no other answer. You're looking for chizuk, I can't give you chizuk, because there is no other answer. The only answer is Vayashlech el hamayim, vayimtaku. As mevuar in Chareinim learning, that's the answer. And if you're going to search for a different answer, you'll never be happy because there is no other answer. That's the pshat. Rav Shteiman was telling Reb Chaim, Reb Chaim, the only thing I could tell you is, and that's the chizuk, because when you do what really does work, you solve the problem. You gave the refuah to the makah. Instead of searching for other side solutions, that's band-aids, rabosai, like we spoke in the shiur. Those are band-aids.

That's gonna work maybe for a day or two, and then again the unhappiness comes back because you didn't go to the root, and you didn't find the refuah that's guaranteed to go to the root of the problem and heal it. Rav Shteiman is saying it's very simple. There is one answer for a Yid, one answer, rabboisai. I can't even tell you how much I wish I could show it to you as a fact of life. People search and search and search and put so much effort into solving problems which are not in their hands to solve. And they're gonna search for different ways on how to deal with the situation. And the real reality of a Yid, that the situation is really about his learning and his davening, and if that's dealt with properly and that's corrected, then either A, the problem won't bother him, or it'll probably go away on its own. Rabboinoi shel olam, iz im takteh lamai. Rabboinoi shel olam sweetens for you the marirus of mayim. Rabboinoi shel olam takes care of the person. Rabboinoi shel olam is there. Connect to the right answer, the Eibishter. Connect to His Torah. Searching in the outside world with all the chachmos hachaim, with all the psychologies—and again, I'm not knocking psychology, I'm not—but all of it is around the problem. For the Yid, the greatest solution is in the im takteh lamai, the marirus of mayim, teifen ki nafsheinu afefu. What are we really tired? What are we really missing? We're missing mayim. We're missing your heilige Torah, Rabboinoi shel olam. And when we connect, we find the lulei sorascha sha'ashuai. We find the simcha. Etz chaim hi lamachazikim bah, v'somcheha me'ushar. I wish all of you simche, happiness, happiness in life, in your avodah, in everything that you do, hatzlacha and bracha. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.