Bechukosai and Shavuos: Ameilus BaTorah as the Ultimate Expression of Ahavas Hashem

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Shalom aleichem, bruchim haba'im. This week's parsha, Parshas Bechukosai. Im bechukosai teileichu. If you go in the chukei haTorah, the Torah guarantees, the Torah is mavtiach, all the brachos. And if not, chas v'shalom, all the klalos. Yadua, it's famous, Rashi. Rashi brings from Chazal, what is bechukosai teileichu? What are we referring to? Which chukim is the pasuk referring to that brings us all the brachos, and chas v'shalom, if you don't keep those chukim, it brings us all the klalos. Zogt Rashi that when it says bechukosai teileichu, shetiyu ameilim baTorah. It's referring to the choik, ameilus baTorah, toiling in Torah. Toiling in Torah brings all the brachos. Chas v'shalom, im bechukosai lo teileichu, you don't toil, you're not amel baTorah, it brings all the klalos. There's an interesting Torahs Kohanim on im bechukosai teileichu, shetiyu ameilim baTorah. Shteit in Toras Kohanim. Toras Kohanim writes, melamed sheHaKadosh Baruch Hu mis'aveh sheyihyu Yisrael ameilim baTorah. Ribono shel olam desires, mis'aveh, Ribono shel olam desires we should be amel baTorah. So not only do we find here in the Torah, haftachos guarantees for hatzlacha and bracha if you're amel baTorah, Chazal also tell us the Ribono Shel Olam desires, mis'aveh — very strong lashon, very strong language — the Ribono Shel Olam is mis'aveh sheyihyu Yisrael ameilim baTorah. Interesting. Im, im, im b'chukosai — if. It should say, b'chukosai teileichu and I'll give you bracha. Im seems like a question. Im, if, stated as a fact, b'chukosai teileichu, and then you will get bracha. The Gemara in Avodah Zarah, takke darshens, the Gemara says a pshat in the im b'chukosai teileichu. Zogt the Gemara, Avodah Zarah daf hei amud aleph, the Gemara says, Ein im ela lashon tachnunim. It's a lashon, it's a language of begging. Im b'chukosai teileichu, the Ribono Shel Olam is begging. Betzach rachamim, He's begging. Please, Yisrael, shetihu ameilim baTorah. So the Ribono Shel Olam desires, and He begs. That's how important ameilus baTorah. Shtell zach for if someone comes to you and he begs you, and he begs you that he wants something, you give it to him. If it's your father, a shteitzach, you should surely respond to the begging. Taten himmeld the Ribono Shel Olam is begging. Betzach tachnunim. He's begging that we should be misamel baTorah. This is how important ameilus baTorah is. All the brachos come from it. It's the Ribono Shel Olam's desire, and the Rebbetzin rachamim, the tatte, Taten himmel bet rachamim. I want you to be ameil baTorah. And could be, could be, part of why the Ribono Shel Olam is misaveh, and part of why the Ribono Shel Olam begs is not only because it's such an important thing, but because takah all the brachos come from it. And the Ribono Shel Olam, taten himmel, he wants to give us the brachos. He wants to give us good. So that's also probably nichlal. It's also included in why the Ribono Shel Olam is misaveh and why the Ribono Shel Olam begs. As later on in the shiur, Mitz Hashem, we'll explain a passage in Hakdamas, and it's pretty clear that that's the yesod of the Ribono Shel Olam's ratzon. It's not only ameilus baTorah because of the chashivus of what Torah and ameilus baTorah is, but that the Ribono Shel Olam wants to give us.

The Ribbeinu Shalom wants to be meitiv, and He knows, and He's telling us that all the hatovos, it's not limud but ameilus. Not only limud; you need ameilus. And then you get all the brachos. He's mis'aveh, the Ribbeinu Shel Olam desires and begs. The question is why. Why is it ameilus, all the brachos? No ameilus, all the klalos. Vas a shlecht a mensch, without no ameilus. He's learning, he's spending all day long learning, vadem krigt men klalos? For that alone a person deserves to get punished. He's mekayem all mitzvos. He is learning. Why is it ameilus? If he doesn't have it, it's a make it or break it, so to speak. Ameilus, brachos; not ameilus, klalos. Efsher k'min zogen that it's not possible to keep all the mitzvos on ameilus? Maybe. Maybe the yesod of everything is ameilus, because if not ameilus, then it's a lo sishmu. A person is not omel, a person is not dwelled, doesn't dwell into Torah, puts his whole self into the Torah, it's going to be very hard to keep all the mitzvos. There's so many nisyonos. There's so many tests. There's so many distractions from the outside world. The only remedy to stand strong and to remain an adherent Yid, to be shomer Torah u'mitzvos, is ameilus baTorah. Efsher. But rabosai. Seems that ha'meilos is the ikur. Even in the mitzvah of Talmud Torah, there is a mitzvah of Talmud Torah, but the hisgader, the tzurah, the way Torah has to be learned, it needs to be bameilus. It's not a maila. It's not an attribute on how Torah is learned, but that's how the essence of Talmud Torah really is. Yesod of Talmud Torah is ameilus. It has to be with toiling in Torah. Every morning we make a bracha, birchas haTorah, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvosav v'tzivanu la'asok b'divrei Torah. The Taz and Aruch HaShulchan siman mem-zayin explains, la'asok connotates, it's mashma that it's not just that you learn. La'asok means to dwell, to be completely involved, both with time and with the person; he involves himself completely in it. It's not just to lilmod, it's la'asok. Asher kid'shanu b'mitzvosav v'tzivanu la'asok, mashma that it's not enough just to learn the mitzvah of Talmud Torah. The actual basic mitzvah of Talmud Torah is la'asok. Sefardim make a bracha al divrei Torah needs to be explained maybe in a different time, in a different shiur, maybe in a more of a halacha shiur, why they don't make the bracha la'asok, but they make the bracha... Al divrei Torah, but it's clear from this Taz that we don't make lilmod, but rather la'asok. The mitzvah is la'asok. It's not enough just to sit and learn. I want to share with you, I learned an interesting Medrash. The Medrash says in Koheles, Aleph-Daled, the Medrash Koheles: Bikshu lignoz Sefer Koheles. The Chachamim wanted to put away, to hide, to bury the Sefer of Koheles. What's wrong with Koheles? Why do we have to rid of Koheles? Listen to a lashon of Chazal: Sheyesh bo minus. Minus is apikorsus. It has apikorsus in it. What kind of apikorsus does Koheles have? Let's listen to what Chazal call apikorsus. Terrible. There's a terrible apikorsus in Koheles that we had to be gonez. We had to bury and rid of the sefer. Why? Because Shlomo HaMelech says, Mah yisron la'adam b'chol amalo. What gain does a person have from all his toiling?

In this world. And the implication is that there's no gain from toiling in this world, even if you're toiling about Torah, even if you're toiling in learning. Ma yisron. This Chazal said is kefirah. It's minus. Chazal said we're not going to bury it because we could fataitch, and we could explain what Shlomo HaMelech meant. Ma yisron la'adam b'chol amalo sheya'amol tachas hashemesh. Anything which is worldly, no point of being amel. There's no reason, there's no gain to toil. But what's Torah? It's not tachas hashemesh. It's greater than that. Yesh yisron. And of course, Yidden always sing the famous song, Ma yisron la'adam, aval b'amalah shel Torah yesh yisron. There is a yisron. My question to you, rabosai, how is this apikorsus? By saying ameilus, ameilus of Torah, there's no yisron. He's not koifer in a mitzvah. He doesn't say there's no reason not to learn. He's not koifer in Talmud Torah. Why is the kefirah in ameilus haTorah already called minus that we had to hide Kehillas, and you see from here that that's ki'ilu you're kofer the whole mitzvah of Talmud Torah. It's muchach from Chazal that if a person will come and say, Ma yisron b'amal haTorah... It's kofar in one of the mitzvos haTorah, one of the main mitzvos haTorah of Talmud Torah. The Gemara tells us in Sanhedrin daf tzadik tes amud beis, Adam le'amal yulad. We are brought to this world; we are created to toil. Says the Gemara, which toiling are we talking about? Which ameilus are we referring to? The Gemara says, do we mean ameilus, business, life, difficulties of day-to-day living? No, we mean ameilus peh, of the mouth, ameilus of the mouth. Where is ameilus of the mouth? Now, of course, when you're in business, you know there's an ameilus hapeh throughout the day. Every two seconds you jump to your phone, you have an ameilus hapeh. But the Gemara says we're referring to Torah. There's a halacha that Torah has to be b'peh. That's a whole machlokes in Rishonim. If there's a din peh, that you have to speak out the divrei Torah to mekayem the mitzvah Talmud Torah. Beis Yosef, the Gaon. Either there's halacha of higayon, which means that you could think Torah in your heart and you're already mekayem the mitzvah, or maybe there's halacha of peh, that you need to speak out to mekayem the halacha of Talmud Torah. The Gaon paskens, the Gaon, as long as you think Torah, you're already yotzei. Beis Yosef seems to say that you need peh, that you need to speak it out. Many Acharonim say that if a person is saying chidushim, he's mekayem. What happens if he's writing chidushei Torah? What happens if he's thinking chidushei Torah, writing, you have ksiva kedibur. What about thinking? Is hirhur kedibur? That you should try to speak out as you're learning, because there is clearly, according to all shitos, definitely an inyan of peh in Talmud Torah. True, pashut we hold that you could be even me'ayin in Torah, you're still mekayem Talmud Torah, but there is a din, there is halacha of peh in Talmud Torah. And the Gemara explains that that's the ameil that we were created for, amal peh. Amal peh means amal peh of Torah, ameilus in learning. Moshe Rabbeinu was a kvad peh. Moshe Rabbeinu, they call it a stutter, but it was difficult for him, whatever it was, it was some speech impediment. Kvad peh, it was difficult for him to talk. The Ran asks an interesting question. The Ran in drush shlishi, the drashos haRan, we know that a navi needs to be a shalem b'gufo. A navi needs to be complete. He can't have any mum, any flaw. The Rambam...

The reason for this, because the Rabbeinu Shlolem can only be masher Shechinasoi al davar shalem. It would be a pegam that the Shechinah would dwell, the Shechinah would talk through the mouth of someone who is not complete. He had to be a adam hashalem, a complete person. The question is, if a navi needs to be shalem b'gufoi, the biggest contradiction to this is Aharon Avinu. Moshe Rabbeinu, he was a kvad peh. Moshe Rabbeinu had a speech impediment. Moshe Rabbeinu had a mum. How could there be a halacha that a navi can't have a mum when Aharon Avinu had a mum? And why would it be that way, that Moshe Rabbeinu, who his whole avodah was with his peh, with his mouth, he should have a problem, kvad peh, that he can't talk? Zagt the Ran, says the Ran, this was done by design. There was a reason for this. The Rabbeinu Shlolem wanted that Moshe should be a kvad peh, that people later shouldn't come and say that he was an orator, he was a tremendous speaker, and he was able to convince the masses to believe in the Rabbeinu Shlolem and in Torah, even though there was nothing really there. It was the koach hadibur. It was Moshe's speech, his power of convincing, that made everyone believe. So the Rabbeinu Shlolem made him a kvad peh. And we can't attribute it to Moshe's ability to convince the masses, and it had to be that Teiras Emes and Teiras min HaShamayim. The Malbim al derech zeh, along these lines, but a little with a little different twist. The Malbim says, we know that the Rabbeinu Shloilam gave us the Torah through Moshe, Shechinah medaberes mitoch grono. Maybe Moshe embellished? You know, every os in the Torah has meaning. Every os in the Torah is miSinai, and there's drashos and drashos, tilli tilim of halachos that are learned from every os, from every letter. Maybe Moshe just added a word here, like every speaker. They polish it up; it should sound good. Meila, Moshe was a kvat peh. He wasn't a speaker, and therefore it proved, and it gave us reassurance that everything that Moshe said was Shechinah medaberes mitoch grono. I've always wanted to say a pshat, and I've shared this with many roshei yeshiva, and I've always brought a smile to their face when I told them this pshat. I think it's a meyudik pshat. Maybe, maybe, maybe, efshar, efshar keman d'amar, that Moshe was a kvat peh, because since Moshe's avodah was to teach Torah with his mouth, un Chazal tell us, the way we just read from the Gemara in Sanhedrin, tzadik tes amud beis, adam le'amal yulad, amal peh, that there's a din of ameilus to speak it out. A person sits back and he thinks. Much more ameilus if he talks and he says and he says. So Moshe Rabbeinu needed to have the ultimate ameilus b'peh, that it was taka difficult for him to give over. It was taka difficult for him to say the Torah, to say the shiurim that he gave. And with this he was mekayem, Amal ameilus b'peh, adam l'amal yulad. The question is, we know Chazal tell us that all mumim, all the blemishes, were healed by Matan Torah, l'choirah Moshe included. So how are we saying a pshat that Moshe, when he taught the Torah, he had to have a kvad peh, he had a mum? L'choirah all the mumim healed. Bnei Yissaschar in Iggeres Pirka, os kuf samach vav, addresses this question, and he says, how do we understand the Ran that Moshe had to have a mum in his speech in order to say that he wasn't a good speaker, but all the mumim got healed by Matan Torah? Says the Bnei Yissaschar, ken zayn, the Ran doesn't hold that Moshe was healed. Maybe the other mumim got healed, but Moshe not included.

The Ibn Ezra then quotes a Zohar. Zohar says, Moshe yedaber, v'Elokim ya'anenu b'kol bahir, which implies that Moshe, when he said Anochi Hashem, when he gave over the Aseres HaDibros, it was with clarity, and he didn't have this impediment. Sof davar depirka, we have to say the Ran and the Zohar, they can't go together. It's a takah machlokes, the Ran and the Zohar. Efsher kemen zogen maybe that b'shaas Matan Torah, meaning Kabbalas HaTorah, b'shaas the giving of the Aseres HaDibros, it was kol bahir. But then again, later, right after Matan Torah, for years Moshe Rabbeinu was teaching the Torah, for forty years he was teaching the Torah, then the impediment re-ramped itself; it came back. Maybe it's possible we find even the mumim of Klal Yisrael came back by the eigel. It was just that moment of Kabbalas HaTorah by Har Sinai where all the mumim were healed. Either way, it's clear that there's a sugya called ameilus, and the ameilus is mechayev that even the talking of Torah, it has to be amel peh. Everything in Torah, every part of it, the thinking, even the speaking, everything is ameilus, ameilus, ameilus, ameilus, ameilus, every detail of the mitzvah. Requires ameilus. Azoi farshteicht de sugya, rabosai, charif from the way we're bringing. Ameilus is not only to toil to understand the pshat. Amel peh is even in the way you give it over and the way you say it over. Oich, daf zayn b'ameilus baTorah. Musag in ameilus. Torah meint ameilus; dos iz Torah. Torah, it's not a condition, a tenai. It's not a maila. It's not an attribute. That's Talmud Torah. Talmud Torah means Torah b'ameilus. And therefore every part of the Talmud Torah, every chelek of the mitzvah, higayon, working hard to understand, and then the dibur, the speaking, even that needs ameilus, v'al daas heis Torah. Torah is b'ameilus. The question is why and where do we know this from? Why is there no pasuk, rabosai? The Torah has to be learned b'ameilus. Pasuk says, veshinantam. It doesn't say to learn; it says veshinantam levanecha. It doesn't say tilmedu; it says veshinantam. What does the word shinun mean? Sharp. Chazal farteitch: sheyehei divrei Torah mechudadin beficha. Needs to be sharp, which means you got to be clear. It's got to be sharp in your mind, which means if someone asks you al tagam game, hey, you shouldn't— Be... veisiv. I'm not sure. No, klar. But you still don't hear the word ameilus. Veshinantam levanecha. Good. I'll be sharp, I'll get it right, but who says I have to have ameilus? I have to have a very smart, I have a great head and a great memory. Where do you see the word ameilus? People will tell you it's from v'hagisa bo yom v'layla. The word hegyon just really means mind, thought, goyon. We just learned this. It also means to be diligent, constantly. The Gemara in Menachos, daf tzadi tes amud beis, says that how do we know you have to learn day and night? V'hagisa bo yom v'layla. Still, the word ameilus, the magic word of ameilus that we're searching for, don't find it in the Torah. And all of a sudden it comes up here in bechukosai. If you're in the chukim, ah, it's ameilus baTorah, and if you don't do that, you get all the klalos. Can you tell me where it says I have to have ameilus? That now all of a sudden, when it says if you don't do the chukei haTorah, it must mean ameilus baTorah. Vu shteit?

As mitafhamen, where does it say it? And why doesn't it say it if it's true? Yes, Adam la'amol yulad. It's not a pasuk in the Torah. Chazal tell us, la'amol, ameilus baTorah. Good, but why is it not in the Torah? There should be a tzivui, a pasuk in the Torah. Instead of the word veshinantam, which means Talmud Torah, to be sharp, it should say v'amaltem. It should say that we have to be amel baTorah. Give us the mitzvah of Talmud Torah, and the way we're learning that this is the ikar in its ikar form. Teach it to us in its ultimate chiyuv, and that is ameilus. It's not in the Torah. Why? Bothered me this kasha. I've asked many Gedolei Yisrael, hayitachen? Why? If ameilus is the shpitz of Talmud Torah, if ameilus is the ultimate in Talmud Torah, if ameilus is the structure of the mitzvah, this is what the mitzvah of Talmud Torah is, it's through ameilus. It's not just learning. It should say it. The pasuk should have clearly, when teaching us and delivering to us the mitzvah, and stating to us the mitzvah, it should have been with the language that connotates, that's mashma, ameilus. Efshar, rabosai, and maybe as we continue. Working on the sugya of ameilus of Torah to become clearer and clearer, maybe there's no other heichi timtza of being able to be koneh Torah. There's no other way to achieve in Torah without ameilus, and ameilus, the chiyuv is ameilus. Since veshinantam levanecha means that you should be mishnen, it should be clear in Torah, and you should know Torah. On ameilus it's not possible. And therefore, inherently in the chiyuv to know, and the mitzvah Talmud Torah, which is to know Torah, means ameilus. Let's talk about this a little bit more. There's an interesting pshat from the great Rosh Yeshiva, Reb Shmuel Rozovsky, zecher tzaddik livracha, Bechukosai teileichu. Why does it say teileichu when it's referring to ameilus baTorah? We all know the pshatim from the Chorachayim, the famous 42 pshatim. Reb Shmuel said another pshat in why teileichu is the lashon that the Torah uses for ameilus. Bechukosai, ameilus, teileichu. Teileichu means to go, means to move, to be on the move, so to speak. Why does it say teileichu? Zakah Reb Shmuel, an adam is called a holeich, ונשאתי לכם מהלכים בין העומדים. Min is a person that goes. A malach is an omeid. Stands in its place. It can't shteig, it can't go up. It is what it is. Teleichu. If you want to go, to grow, if you want to move upwards, if you want to travel, so to speak, upwards, in aliyes, in madreges, it's only through hameilus baTorah. Im bechukosai, if you ameil, then you'll be a teleichu v'shteigen. You'll keep on going higher and higher. Od nish v'shtein. You'll stand in your place. V'shleiben azoi. Ameilus baTorah is the only way to shteig. Ameilus baTorah is the only way to grow. The Boruch Ber, great Rosh Yeshiva, the Birchas Shmuel, was a goyen, famous. He was very, very smart, very sharp head. When he talked with people in learning, or he talked to his talmidim in learning, and he asked a kasha.

And the person would give him a teretz off the cuff, klach a yad, quickly. The barber would tell him, I don't want to hear it. I don't want the teretz. It could have been a charifus. It could have been a very smart teretz. The barber said, Ona me'ilus is nisht oreich vilus nisht. Listen to the pshat. Maybe it's a nice pshat. There's an expression, a blik came into his head, a blitz of a teretz. The barber said, Dos heist a Torah. Torah means ameilus. And if it's not ameilus, then it's not Torah, and if it's not Torah, I don't want it. I don't want a nice teretz. I don't want a geshmake answer. I want Torah. I want an answer of Torah. Torah means b'ameilus. When we make a siyum, the famous tefillah that we say at the siyum, אנו עמלים ומקבלים שכר, והם עמלים ואינם מקבלים שכר, אנו רצים והם רצים וכו' וכו'. We all know the lashon of the tefillah, the nusach that we say when we make a siyum. אנו עמלים והם עמלים, it's yadua from the Chofetz Chaim a pshat. What does it mean, אנו עמלים ומקבלים שכר, והם עמלים ואינם מקבלים שכר? They don't get reward when they're amal, when they work hard. Is that true? They only get paid if they don't work? If it wasn't hard labor, because it's ameilus, it's hard, it was difficult, so they don't get schar? Of course they get schar. Usually, the harder the job, the more you get paid for it. What do we mean, anu ameilim, we Yidden in Torah, we're ameil, and we get schar? Malachei, the rest of the world, the outside world, they don't have this tremendous gift that when they're ameil, they get reward. But it's not so. What does it mean? So the Chofetz Chaim said, with a beautiful mashal, imagine you walk into a shoe store, and you gave the guy the shoes, and you tell him, Please fix my shoes. Come back two, three days later with your ticket, Here, I came to pick up my shoes. I'm sorry, I couldn't fix it, but your bill is... and he gives him the bill for the shoes. So you tell him, What are you talking about? You didn't fix it, so that's it. You're not going to get reward just for the labor if you can't fix the thing. Now, of course, we know the mechanic is not that way. I don't know, we have to got to work that out. But al kol panim, pashut in most jobs, you don't get paid for labor if you can't fix the object. So that's the pshat, heim ameilim, and they don't achieve the result, einam mekablim schar. Ma she'ein kein a Yid, in his ameilus baTorah... In his ameilus baTorah, even if he doesn't achieve the ultimate goal, he didn't get the job done, so to speak, but for the ameilus alone, for the fact that he was amel, that he toiled in Torah, he gets schar, he gets reward for that. Famous pshat from the Chofetz Chaim, aleveis. Everyone knows this pshat. I long questioned this pshat. Vos meint es? For two questions I have. The first question I have is, how could it be, anu ameilim means we toil, but we didn't achieve the result? Shteit doch in the Gemara nit azoi. The Gemara says in Megillah that if a person comes and says, Yagati v'lo matzasi, al ta'amin. There could be no such thing. Yagata u'matzasa. You're meyagea in learning and you didn't achieve the result? Can't be. Yagata u'matzasa. It has to be that way. You're meyagea, you'll achieve. You'll be matzliach. You'll shteig. What did the Chofetz Chaim mean when he says it's possible to be amel, yet not to come to the result and still get schar? Vos meint es bichlal? Vos tut men di Gemara?

Maseches Megillah, vav amud beis, what do you do with that Gemara? Inherently, in the l'cheira, there's a Mishnah. It also has to be addressed. The Mishnah says, Lo alecha ligmor hamelachah. It's not your job to finish; your job is to do. And it's referring to Torah. Not everybody's able to accomplish, to reach the final, the final hatzlachah, but you tried, and for that you get reward, Lo alecha ligmor hamelachah. So you see clearly that it's possible to learn and not be matzliach, and not come to the final result. Efshar. We can answer that there's two things: there's understanding the sugya, and then there's retaining the knowledge. The Gemara actually in Megillah, daf vav amud beis, on that Gemara says, Aval asukei shmaitsa, siyata d'Shmaya, to be able to contain all the knowledge, that's a gift from Shamayim. That's not your yegiah. Yagata u'matzasa, which means you toil, you'll understand the pshat. But to be able to come and say, I retain everything, not always does everybody zocheh to that gift. And maybe that's what the pshat of anu ameilim u'mekablim sachar, for the ameilus. It doesn't mean that you're not going to achieve understanding. You're not going to achieve— Retaining, and still yet you get the schar. Rabosai, what bothers me is a different question. Why are we בכלל talking about schar? Are we so prone and driven by schar? Have we not learned in the Mishnah in Avos? We're not supposed to be kavodim hameshamshim es harav, perek aleph, mishnah gimmel: Al tihyu k'avadim hameshamshim es harav al menas l'kabel pras. You're not supposed to talk about reward. You're not supposed to be driven by reward. So why are we being meshabeach the fact we're praising, we're happy, we're thanking that Ribono Shel Olam, that what? Anu ameilim u'mekablim schar. What schar? Why are we talking about schar בכלל? Reward. It does hakdakah. The Mishnah in Avos, in the end of perek hei: Lefum tza'ara agra. According to the toil and the difficulties that are in the learning, agra you get reward. The Rambam says, Lefi mah shetitzta'er yesh scharecha, you'll get reward. Again, Al tihyu k'avadim hameshamshim es harav. What reward? Why are we talking about reward? Mechalcha reward? Why? Why is that such a big issue? A Yid learns Torah to get reward. We all know there's an inyan, kol Torah lishmah. Lishmah means for reward. You ask me a kasha. The whole parshas tells us reward, that if you amal baTorah... You'll get all the brachos, so that's reward. So bichlal, the kasha is on the pasuk, on the parsha, on the whole parsha here, we could ask this kasha: Why are we so driven by the brachos if you're not supposed to want reward? Choses teleichu, you ameil baTorah. You know what the Torah should say? Bchoses teleichu. Great. Oh, you want reward? You shouldn't want reward. So the Rambam says, the Rambam alein, the Rambam himself asks this kasha in Hilchos Teshuva, perek tes, halacha aleph. He says, Ah, you'll ask me that bchoses teleichu means that if you keep, and if you learn bameilus, you'll get reward. Eischa baha'olam haba leka. Zogt the Rambam, there's two types of schar. There's schar reward for what I've done that you're not going to get in this world, because there's no way to repay that. Nothing that we can get in this world could pay up for this. There's no currency in this world that could be shaveh, equal to what the schar of the mitzvah. But reward that you should be able to have a situation where it's easy for you to learn, where it's easy for you to keep the mitzvahs, that you'll get. The Ribono Shel Olam sees your efforts.

And he comes to help to make it conducive for you to learn and to daven, azei lernen daven, that these are all not brachos reward, but brachos, Hashem's there siyata d'shmaya to help you. Right? I don't understand. Is not ameilus baTorah that you should toil not only in the learning, but whatever's around you, and all the difficulties, the lack of parnassah, and all the strife and struggles of the day, that's all part of the ameilus baTorah. The Mishnah, very famous Mishnah, the Mishnah says, the Mishnah tells us, ... u'mayim b'msurah tishteh, ... v'chaiyei tzaar tichyeh, uvaTorah atah amel. Meseches Avos learns because of all the difficulties, the rum and the rum, all the surrounding difficulties in your situation, and you still learn, atah dases baTorah atah amel. What do you do with the parshah? The parshah is up nit azoi. The parshah is up that the Ribbono Shel Olam, if you're amel baTorah, takes away your ameilus. He makes it easy, gives you all the brachos. Rambam, okay, it's not the schar of the mitzvah, good, but it's definitely trying to make it easier for you to learn. But that means you're undoing the whole ameilus. The whole point was to be amel and have the difficulties and learn af al pi kein. V'kidashtem punk farkert, im yecholim to reach a madreigah that you're amel baTorah. I'll make it even more harder for you, like there shall be ameilus more. You reach a certain madrega of ameilus baTorah, I'll tighten the nuts, I'll tighten the bolts and make it even more hard and more hard. Pas bamelach, I'll give you a piece of bread, v'chayei tzaar tichyeh. You'll have more difficulty. Torah ta'amel, and then it's hashkacha b'olam hazeh. Now you got a reward, hashkacha b'olam hazeh, v'toilach l'olam haba. The reward is that you don't have it, not that you have it. Me'amelis, rabosai, we need to understand what ameilus is. We think ameilus means mind, concentration. No, ameilus is with the difficulties of the day, with all the nisyonos hachayim, to be able to lock it all out, to block it all out, and sit and learn and concentrate. Ameilus, as we say, is the ikar of yadus, the ikar of Talmud Torah. But what is ameilus? It's important for every Yid knowing how important ameilus is, knowing that this is b'chukosai teleichu, knowing that the Ribbono Shel Olam is mitzaveh, knowing the Ribbono Shel Olam is mischaneh, knowing that that's the ikar of Talmud Torah. You have to stop and chavek zeitz, we have to sit down. What is ameilus? What is our chiyuv? The basics. Ameilus, yes, to work hard in the Gemara, in the sugya, to understand. But there's also an ameilus of blocking the whole world out. The phone is a stirah to the whole ameilus baTorah. The ameilus b'Teirah is to block the chayei tzaar tichyeh. It's to not pay attention to what's around you and be osuk, completely dwelled into the Torah, amuk baTorah. The yetzer hara found a way how to bring the tirdas into the Gemara, how to bring all the bilbul and all the distractions right into the Gemara. There was a time and a place where a Yid knew out of the beis medrash was chayei tzaar tichyeh and all the difficulties and all the problems, and he had a place to run into the beis medrash. Today, the yetzer hara figured a smart way how to bring all those tirdas right into the beis medrash, right into the guy's Gemara that he's learning. Ameilus is to block that all out, not to check the phone to see, oh, someone's calling, maybe it's that. That's also ameilus. It's difficult. It's difficult to lock everything and focus. Zechit, ameilus. But we're still left with the kasha then: what schar are we talking about? Anu ameilim u'mekablim schar. What schar? Why are we—

Talking about schar. Why is that such an ultimate gift that we get schar? That's something we shouldn't even focus on. Vas meint, anu ameilim u'mekablim schar? Baisai, mir dacht zach, the pshat in anu ameilim u'mekablim schar. And I believe that this is what the Chofetz Chaim actually meant. Dos alein is the schar, that itself is the reward, the ameilus. We're not talking about to be given a reward for ameilus. The ameilus itself inherently is the greatest reward. But to dos digreste schar, the biggest reward that a Yid has, he has something so special, something so meguchtazagen delicious, baharavna. Zis vitzuka. Zis, zis vitzuka. He has the greatest reward in the world is the ameilus itself. Don't have to be given anything for the ameilus. The Mishnah: schar mitzvah, mitzvah. The schar, the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah. Farshteyt in sefarim, that itself is the biggest schar, the greatest reward that you can have is that you have the mitzvah. Hast a mitzvah, the mitzvah is the greatest taanug, the greatest... Pleasure to eat is a mitzvah. The Torah is the same thing. Anu memeilim, u'mekabel schar. The Gra and Even Shleima tells us, mesikus haTorah, the taste, the sweetness of Torah. That's why we work hard for it. We work very hard for it. Avodah shever, me'amel. Torah doesn't come easy. Life is difficult. Learning Torah is difficult. Ava, the ziskeit kumt, the harder it is, Ashrecha v'tov lach, l'olam hazeh, v'tov lach l'olam haba. Anu memeilim, we get schar, weelches schar. Greatest gift that the Ribbono Shel Olam gave us. The fact that we have this taanug, this very special gift that brings us such enjoyment. But the more difficult, the more harder it is for them, by us, the more difficult, the sweeter it is. And that's the schar we're talking about. You know, rabosai, people learning yeshiva, it's a big part of the goal of a ben Torah in yeshiva is ameilus baTorah. From this week's parsha, we see... That it's universal. It's every Yid. V'chukosai teileichu is not particular. It's not targeted for those that are sitting in yeshiva all day. How does the balabos, how does the average person who works, where is his ameilus baTorah? How does it—Yiddish sagt מען שטעלט זיך חלק אין עמלות in it. How does it come out, his ameilus baTorah? Let me share with you a me'odig Kliyakar. Kliyakar says, V'chukosai teileichu is ameilus baTorah. Why? Why chukosai? Why is the word chukosai the word used to define and describe ameilus baTorah? So the Acharonim, you do ask pshatim on it. The Kliyakar says an interesting pshat. Chukosai, chok. Chok means it's set. Kovea itim laTorah. Chok v'lo yaavor. Chok l'Yisrael. What was the whole idea of chok l'Yisrael? K'sidran, every day he had his allotted portion of Torah that he had to read.

It was a chok. It was the rule, and you couldn't pass. You had to do it. Chok v'lo ya'avor. Zogt the Kli Yakar, b'chukosai, chok v'lo ya'avor, kedei yitzim is also an ameilus baTorah. Every day, not to miss, not to come late. Dos heist b'chukosai, ameilus, and that's universal even for those that are not in yeshiva. If they have a seder, make a seder if you don't have one, and if you have one, keep it every night. And if you do keep it every night, come on time every night. Don't miss a minute. Chok v'lo ya'avor, and then that's called ameilus baTorah. Zogt the Kli Yakar, now we understand why the schar is, v'nasati gishmeichem b'itam. I will give the rains that you need b'itam, in their proper time. Zogt the Kli Yakar, why is this the reward of b'chukosai, kovei'a itim laTorah? Pashut, because you're kovea itim. So the Ribbono Shel Olam is, v'nasati gishmeichem b'itam. You keep your times, the time's allotted. You're makpid on it, I will give you your rains in its proper time. There's a lashon of a Sifri: Atah oseh shelcha, you do yours, ani e'eseh sheli, I have to give you rain. A lot of times people come to business in the morning, and they're waiting for the business deal, and they're thinking, why is it not coming? Why is it coming later in the day or later in the week, and it's not on time? And the answer is, you'll be on time when it comes to your zdarim. You don't miss. You are like a soldier. The Ribbono Shel Olam will also return in the same vein. Maybe with this we can say that's why it says, Teleichu. Why Teleichu? Because we're referring not in the beis medrash, but Teleichu to the person who is traveling out. He's on the road. Kovea itim laTorah, that's called an ameilus. That might even be harder. Sometimes when a person's in the beis medrash, it's easier. You're there. When you're on the road, you're traveling, and who knows where you are, sit down, be kovea itim laTorah. Don't miss your zdarim. Teleichu, bichu kaisai, ameilus, v'nasati gishmeichem b'itam. You know, rabosai, there's an interesting yesod in the Olam HaTorah called Torah lishmah. It's based on a Mishnah, Kol halomeid Torah lishmah zocheh lidvarim harbeh. The ultimate goal is to learn Torah lishmah. Nefesh HaChaim says, what does Torah lishmah mean? Torah l'shem haTorah, which means it's not for reward. That's why we're talking about it tonight. It's the opposite, not for reward. People say, איכלל עולם הבא, נישט עולם הבא. Al ti kavod demamsham shezeh rav l'kabel pras. Torah daf nun lernen? You have to learn because Torah is special. But there's an interesting nefesh hachayim in his Pirkei Avos, Ruach Chayim. Kol halomeid Torah lishmah, l'shem ahavas haTorah. Lishmah means, l'shem haTorah, l'shem ahavas haTorah. It's a very key word hosafah that he adds to Torah lishmah. Lishmah, yes, for its sake, its sake, l'shem ahavas haTorah. Medrash Tanchuma says, Parshas Noach, V'ahavta es Hashem Elokecha, that's Torah. How is V'ahavta es Hashem Elokecha Torah? Only one who loves the Ribono Shel Olam could really learn Torah shebaal peh because it's difficult, very hard to learn Torah. It requires a lot of ameilus. Ameilus is a proof that a Yid loves the Ribono Shel Olam. When you see someone ameil baTorah, there's a love deep in this person's neshama. He loves the Ribono Shel Olam.

And he loves the Rabbeinu Sholeilam's word, which is the Torah, and because of that, he is driven. He is driven, regardless of all the difficulties that it entails. He is driven to learn Torah. Maybe this is the mekor, rabosai, of ameilus baTorah. Ameilus is inherently the only way to learn Torah. Chazal tell us that the luchos rishonos were given in a way that if you learned it, you're fully accomplished. You learned it, you got it. It didn't require any ameilus. Luchos shniyos came with shikchas haTorah. You had to forget, and once you forget, you had to relearn it, forget and relearn it. It came with ameilus baTorah. The second luchos were given that the only way to learn it is with ameilus. Luchos rishonos, before eigel, Chazal tell us clearly, a person was able to quickly. The second luchos require v'gisah bo yomam valaylah, to toil and to work. If not, there's no other way to achieve it. There had to be with your gata u'matzasa. It had to be that way. There's a beautiful pshat from Rav Shimon Shkop, shiver Rav Shimon Shkop, shehaYoish nakdama. Moshe Rabbeinu got rich from the second luchos, psol lecha from the sawdust. That he carved the second luchos. Why? Why was Moshe Rabbeinu given riches by the second luchos? Zogt Reb Shimon Shkop, by the first luchos you were able to learn. You finished, you got it, you knew it, you were able to go to work for the rest of the time. There's plenty of time to do both. But by the second luchos, it came with shichchas haTorah. There was no time. You had to constantly learn and learn and learn and learn. So a person could come and say, So where is the parnassah? What do I do and the teretz is, the Ribbono Shel Olam will take care of you. With the second luchos came parnassah, that you should be able to have parnassah, you should be able to have what you need to feed and sustain yourself. Mimeila, a meiles could be Rabbeinu. The Ribbono Shel Olam wants to see this avodah. The Ribbono Shel Olam wants... looking to see if you taka love, if you love the Ribbono Shel Olam, if you love His Torah. Ameilus is the test. The first luchos, the Ribbono Shel Olam gave it to us. The second came with a test, came with a nisayon. Do you really love the Ribbono Shel Olam? Do you really want the Torah? We did the egel. We have to prove ourselves. After the egel, the Ribbono Shel Olam wants us to prove ourselves. Do you really, really want? Want means ameilus. Do you really want this? Life is going to test you. Do you really want? Those that really want to learn withstand all the difficulties. Those that don't, they'll find excuses and they'll fall away. It takes, and that's what the Tanchuma is saying, Torah requires ahavas Hashem. You have to have ahavas Hashem. And maybe that's why inherently in the eigel, our ahavas Hashem was tested. It came to question. There was a question: why did you do the eigel? A luva kallah shezinsa. A lot of love and ... Torah, chas v'kallah. You did something with the eigel that contradicted that love, that contradicted that ahavah, that chasen-kallah of the chasen, the Ribbono Shel Olam, and kallah, Klal Yisrael. You brought into question the ahavah. The Ribbono Shel Olam gave you the Torah on a second time. The luchos shniyos needed to be with a proof, constantly proving that ahavah. And the way to prove it is, it'll be hard and you'll do it anyway. There's a lashon of a Medrash. Medrash says that the Torah itself comes and begs the Ribbono Shel Olam, I want to...

be by this person. Why? He shows ameilus. He shows he loves me. I only want to be by someone who loves me. Ameilus baTorah, rabosai. Ameilus baTorah. Ameilus baTorah is the ultimate proof of ahavas Hashem and ahavas haTorah. And the Torah wants to be, V'gadlu umatzaso. Why? Because the Torah wants to be by the person that shows how much he really loves the Torah, the Ribono Shel Olam and His Torah. If you look in the hakdamah, he says something interesting: Tzvi chamid d'ragig, d'le'eilah b'le'usa, tzlaisa mechein mekabel v'hanya b'yusa. What does it mean? Tzvi v'chamid d'ragig, d'le'eilah b'le'usa, tzlaisa mechein mekabel v'hanya b'yusa. The Ribono Shel Olam, tzavi v'chamid, He desires, like we spoke from the Torahs Kohanim. The Ribono Shel Olam desires, Tzvi chamid d'ragig, d'le'eilah, that we should dwell deep, to be oimek, to be omel in His Torah, to put ourselves completely into His Torah. In response to if we do that, what is the Ribono Shel Olam going to do? Tzlusain b'chein mekabel v'hanya b'yusa. The Ribono Shel Olam will accept our tefillos and answer our tefillos. We started this year that b'chukosai teileichu means your ameil baTorah, the Ribono Shel Olam is mesaveh for this. He desires it. And if you do it, you get all the brachos. And maybe that's why the Ribono Shel Olam desires it, because He wants to give you all the brachos. The Ribono Shel Olam wants to give you all the good in this world. He created you. He brought you to this world so He should give you the good. Batei l'rachamim. He begs of you. It's His s'viva chamid. It's His desire to give you the good, and therefore He desires that you should learn His Torah b'ameilus. There's a very famous Mishnah: 'Asei retzono k'dei sheya'aseh retzonecha.' You do His will, He'll do your will. Many learn that that's what it means here. You do the will of Hashem to learn Torah b'ameilus, He'll do your will by answering your tefillos. But באמת that's much deeper than that. And that is that if you learn Torah b'ameilus, you will get all the good. So the Ribono Shel Olam, s'viv chamid. The Ribono Shel Olam desires that you should be me'ayein in Torah and ameil baTorah, so you should be able to get the good. And the Ribono Shel Olam should answer your tefillos because the Ribono Shel Olam created this world to be meitiv. But after everything we've said, I'd like to go one step further. Naaseh v'nishma is the ultimate of ameilus baTorah. Naaseh v'nishma means, 'I'll do it.' I won't ask any questions. I will be chok l'Yisrael. This is what I do. I don't ask any questions. I could do it. I can't do it. I'm doing it. Naaseh v'nishma. The way we explain, that's love. Naaseh v'nishma is the ultimate, the ultimate expression of ahavah, like the Tanchuma says. That's pshat, l'choira, in the Gemara, that the Ribono Shel Olam says, Mi gilah raz zeh l'bonai? You're my son. Hashiveinu Avinu l'sor. There's a lot of love in Torah. Av harachaman, Avinu Av harachaman, we beg the Ribono Shel Olam as a father because there's so much love in the fact that He gave us the Torah. Mi gilah raz zeh l'bonai. This is a raz, the secret of ben. The ultimate in ahavah is Torah b'ameilus, that a person learns Torah b'ameilus.

V'ahavta es Hashem Elokecha. Only one that loves is able to learn Torah b'ameilus. Reb Moshe says, there's a ahavah. Kabbalas haTorah is ahavah. It's all about love, tremendous ahavah. I give you, I answer a child who comes to ask, and there's love. He gets whatever he asks for. Could be it's not about ratzon; you do the Ribono Shel Olam's will, He'll do your will. If you're close to the Ribono Shel Olam, Ribono Shel Olam looks at you and says, You're my child. Bas, du betst, mein kind, elech tirgeben, I'll give it to you. It's mi'uchad. The ultimate love, the Yid to the Ribono Shel Olam, and the Ribono Shel Olam to the Yid, expresses itself in the ameilus haTorah. And in that moment of ultimate love, you can ask for whatever you want. Mitoch ahavah, haben, the child, gets what he asks for. V'chukosai teileichu. If you ameil baTorah, you can ask for whatever you want. Choni HaMa'agel, he tells the Ribono Shel Olam when it should rain. He tells Him, for Choni HaMa'agel, he's dictating to the Eibishter: rain, not rain, yeah rain, not rain. V'nasati gishmeichem b'itam, and with this I'll end, rabosai. Tzrichah, what do you mean gishmeichem, your rain? Your rain? V'nasati geshamim ba'aretz. If you're ameil baTorah, I'll give. Rain in the land. What's gishmeichen be'itam? So the Sifri actually says, Gishmeichen, Eretz Yisrael v'lo chutz la'aretz. You could somehow get rain in Israel, and the rest of the world might have famine if you're omel baTorah. Gishmeichen, Eretz Yisrael. The Chofetz Chaim says a gevaldige pshat: Gishmeichen, you own the waters, you own the rain. It's all yours. Gishmeichen. And he says, what's the pshat? Torah is water, and Torah elamayim. You learn Torah, the waters are yours. It's all yours. V'nasati gishmeichem be'itam. HaTatah, and he loves his child, he gives it all over to the son. He's the boss. He can say what he wants and do what he wants, and he gets what he wants. Tzlusan b'chein mekabel, v'hanya b'yusa. I wish you all Shavuos chag kosher v'sameach, shemekabel Torah b'ahavah, the love of the Ribono Shel Olam. You should feel in your learning of Torah. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.