Parah Adumah and Kiruv Rechokim

Topics

• Parah Adumah as a Chok
• The Siforno’s Explanation
• A Practical Lesson
• Kol Hamzakkeh Es Harabim
• The Chok in Parah Adumah
• A Svara Behind It
• What the Eibershter Wants
• Rabbi Chaim Meuser and His Achiezer
• Giving Up Time for Another’s Ruchniyus
• The Chofetz Chaim and Honor in This World
• Giving Up Olam Haba for Klal Yisrael
• A Chassidic Version
• The Yesod of the Story
• Tom Nafshi and the Meaning of Nafshi
• Inakma Me’einai and Shimshon
• A Lesson from the Kohen Who Becomes Tamei
• How Can a Person Be Mezakeh Es HaRabim?
• Lilmaid U’lelameid
• A Story About Rav Ya’akubi
• A Bus Ride and a Boy Learning Gemara
• Hamazakeh Es Harabim
• Every Jew as an Olam Malei
• Prat Yisrael and Klal Yisrael
• Mazik Harabim and the Meaning of "Kol"
• Mei Merivah and the Question of Zechus
• Blaming Others Instead of Admitting the Chet
• Hitting the Stone
• Another Peshat: Moshe and Eretz Yisrael
• A Third Peshat: The Stone
• Shimshon and Self-Sacrifice
• Shimshon, Chilul Hashem, and the Question of Suicide
• Esther and the Heter of B'ratzon
• Love, Asking, and Doing
• Shimshon and Mezakeh Es HaRabim
• The Me'iri on Chasidus
• Caring for Another Person's Needs
• Mezakeh Es Harabim and the Unity of Nefesh
• Moshe Rabbeinu and Zacha U’mezakeh
• A Ma’aseh to Conclude
• Thinking Beyond One’s Own Benefit
• A Small Example of Helping Another Person

Transcript

# Parah Adumah as a Chok

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.

There is a haik. In fact, it is the haik that all the goyim question: Klal Yisroel, the wisdom, the understanding behind this haik — “Zos chukas haTorah” — and that is parah adumah.

Which part of the parah adumah is the haik? Pashut, and as the Rishonim imply, it is the contradiction: the tamei becomes tahor, while the person who sprinkles, the one who takes care of the eifer ha-parah, becomes tamei. A contradiction — and this is a haik.

The truth is, people make a small mistake when they say that the one who sprinkles becomes tamei. Because the truth is, the one who sprinkles, the one who actually does the haza’ah, does not become tamei. Everyone up until the haza’ah — everyone who takes care of the parah adumah until the step of sprinkling — becomes tamei. But the one who actually sprinkles the mei eifer parah adumah on the tamei does not become tamei.

# The Siforno’s Explanation

Why? You will say it is a haik. It is not our place to sit here and explain it, maybe. But the Siforno explains it. The Siforno seems to say that the reason the one who does the sprinkling remains tahor is because it is only right — it is only min ha-yashrus, so to speak — that someone who takes care of another person’s taharah can become tamei. If someone is involved in helping someone else become tahor, it cannot be that he himself becomes tamei.

So the actual mazah — this is not the Siforno, it is a remez in the Siforno. Again, if you are patient, you will learn; if you are not patient, you will not know anything. You have to be slow. You know what? We will read it inside. Zot to Siforno: why is it that the person who is... It is a long Siforno here. You have to find that last line where he says clearly that the reason is because if you are oisek in the taharah of others, you cannot become tamei.

# A Practical Lesson

Supposedly, this is what I heard: the Chazon Ish sent out many bnei Torah to go to these cities to start yeshivas, to be marbeh Torah. They always had a concern: what will be with the children? We are going to be marbeh Torah, but we are going to places where the kids are going to suffer.

The Chazon Ish used to guarantee them with this yesod, that one who goes out to bring Yiddishkeit, one who goes out to be marbeh Torah for others, has a guarantee that he will not become tamei. He has a guarantee that he remains tahor. So we have a big yesod: someone who is oisek in this has a guarantee.

# Kol Hamzakkeh Es Harabim

You know, there is an interesting Mishnah. The Mishnah says: kol hamzakkeh es harabim, ein chet ba al yado. The Ribbono Shel Olam guarantees the mezakeh es harabim that a chet will not come through his hand. And maybe this is a chet.

# The Chok in Parah Adumah

What this means is that you are here to help the person become tahor. You are concerned for the taharah ruchniyus of the other. Yet we find, on the other hand, that those who were osek until that point become tamei. Why?

The kashya is: if you are telling me that someone who is osek b’taharah does not become tamei, then why should it be that until then he does become tamei? The Torah says it is a chok.

So why explain even the first part? That is what a chok is. Once you explain one side, and that side seems to contradict the other side, that is a chok. A chok does not have to mean that the whole matter is a chok on both sides. The chok is that you explain one side, and the other side remains a chok.

Here, too, the fact that the one who sprinkles remains tahor because he is osek makes the other side into the chok: why do those who work until that point become tamei? That is good. Yes. It could be that this is the chok. It could be that in every chok, it does not mean the whole thing has to be a chok. You can explain one part of it, and that explanation itself becomes the contradiction, which forces us to say that it is a chok.

Here, too, the fact that the metaher remains tahor because he is osek—so what about all the people who burned the parah and mixed the water? They were osek in all the steps until then; why do they become tamei? That is the chok.

# A Svara Behind It

Yet Baalei Mussar tell us that there is also a svara behind that. It is to teach a lesson that a person has to be ready to be metamei himself for the taharah of another. A person has to be ready that part of the job of the Klal, so to speak, is to go down and do what has to be done, even if it means to metamei yourself in order to be metaher your fellow.

A person thinks to himself: I am osek in ruchniyus, I am concerned about my ruchniyus. I have to give up for my ruchniyus for someone else’s ruchniyus? So there is an interesting Chasam Sofer. In the hakdamah to the teshuvos of Yoreh Deah, he writes that we know we had Avraham Avinu, who became Av HaMamon, and later became the father of Klal Yisrael. Then we have Chanokh. Who was Chanokh? The pasuk tells us clearly that the Eibershter took him.

The Chasam Sofer says that Chanokh was greater than Avraham Avinu. Chanokh was a malach, mamash a malach. He was secluded; the Eibershter took him away. The Chasam Sofer says that there is no one who can be mefateh the malachim. That does not mean malachim. He has thousands of malachim—what does he want? Avraham Avinu. Why? The pasuk says clearly: he does for Klal Yisrael. He does for Klal Yisrael. And because he does for Klal Yisrael, and because he is osek in helping that others should be ruchniyus, that is what the Eibershter wants.

# What the Eibershter Wants

It is brought down that Rav Chaim Ozer was once asked where all the sefarim were. He was such a great man, and Rav Chaim Ozer was able to write two teshuvos at the same time on two different dinim. That is how brilliant Rav Chaim Ozer was. He was able to write on two different topics at the same time. That is what the Eibershter wants.

# Rabbi Chaim Meuser and His Achiezer

They said about the brilliance of Rabbi Chaim Meuser. Yet how many sefarim do we have from Rabbi Chaim Meuser? Come, come — a two-volume, a three-volume *Achiezer*. The truth is that when you read the *Achiezer*, there is a great deal in it. Every line is full of depth; it is not simple.

And yet, for Rabbi Chaim Meuser, we would have expected a twenty-volume set of sefarim. Rabbi Chaim Meuser said, “You want to know my *Achiezer*?” When asked, he responded: “You want to know where my *Achiezer* is? My *Achiezer* is to go out into the streets of Vilna. There you see the almanos, you see the yesomim, you see the tzevrachim, the broken people. There used to be people lying on the floor there, broken. And Chaim Meuser’s waiting room was filled with people who just needed to speak to him. They needed someone to listen to them. That is my *Achiezer*. Those are my sefarim.”

So you see that there is an ענין of giving up from yours for others.

# Giving Up Time for Another’s Ruchniyus

It is interesting. Rav Moshe has a teshuvah. Yeshiva’s Atzar has an interesting teshuvah: a person is in yeshiva, and he is a good bachur, a *ken gut lernen*, and then there is a schwacher bachur. Should the good bachur say, “I have to help out the schwacher bachur,” if it means that he will learn less? Yeshiva’s Atzar goes back and forth on this topic: must one leave off from his ruchniyus for another’s ruchniyus? Right?

Yeshiva’s Atzar comes out with a ma’aser: a tenth. Just as from your money you must give a tenth, so too the ben Torah is supposed to give up a tenth of his time, as it is fixed, to help others — but not more than that. So does that mean that you have to give up your ruchniyus at some point? How much? And what about Olam Haba? How much Olam Haba is one supposed to give up for another person? How much Olam Haba is one supposed to give up for another person?

I want you to know: someone might say, “I’m not going to give up any of my Olam Haba.” Or maybe, “I’m going to give up all of my Olam Haba.” So I will tell you two beautiful stories about this ma’aser.

# The Chofetz Chaim and Honor in This World

There is a story from the Chofetz Chaim. The Chofetz Chaim was traveling on a train, and the mayor, Don Plotzker, who had been going to Europe, was traveling with him. When they came to a stop, there was a big crowd of people waiting to greet the Chofetz Chaim. The Chofetz Chaim said, “I can’t go out. I just can’t do it. Kavod — too much honor.” They quoted to him from Sefer Chasidim, which says that if you receive honor in this world, it takes away from your Olam Haba. It takes away from your Olam Haba.

Why? Honor is a ta’avah ruchnis, the Gaon says. A car is a ta’avah gashmis. A house, money — these are ta’avos gashmiyos. Kavod is a ta’avah ruchnis. The Gaon says that is why you notice that when people get older, they start having a problem with kavod. Why? Because as their life begins to slip away, the guf is slipping away. The gashmiyus of the person is beginning to disintegrate, and all of a sudden another ta’avah takes over. It is called a ta’avah ruchnis.

You know, there are two things you do not start up with. You do not start up with a woman when she is angry — that is a famous thing. And you do not start up with an old person in shul over his chair. Try to take away a chair from an old person in shul, and you think to yourself, what is the big deal? But when a person reaches that age, this becomes a big thing for him: the kavod. The Gaon, shlishi, shishi — this is what we find in all the shuls. And what is the reason for this? Because as the person is getting more and more ready to go to Olam Haba and is starting to lose Olam Hazeh, the ta’avah ruchnis takes over.

This is a Gaon like this, without the mashal, of course — with the chair, and then the shlishi and shishi. The point is that it is one of the examples of the Gaon’s mashalim. You see it every time. The older people get — a grandfather, so angry, while a young guy did not care, he was easygoing, he was not a kid. Okay.

# Giving Up Olam Haba for Klal Yisrael

Says the Chavetz Chaim, the Sefer Chassidim writes that it can be paid for by taking away Olam Haba. For example, if a person gives somebody a car, Olam Haba has no sheichus to that, so it does not take away from your Olam Haba. But if you get covered, it takes away from your Olam Haba. “I don’t want to go out and get greeted and get this covered.”

So the Meir Don Platzker tells him: Chavetz Chaim, you should go out for two reasons. First of all, it is k’dai to give up from your Olam Haba for the sake of Klal Yisrael. You are worried what you take away from Olam Haba, but there is a whole group of Yidden waiting to come upon you and receive ruchniyus by greeting you. So you give up a little from your Olam Haba for this. And second of all, says the Chavetz Chaim—stop, I don’t need to hear a second reason. I heard enough. That is a good enough reason. The fact that Yidden are going to have chizuk because I come to see them, even if it means they take away from my Olam Haba.

That is a Litvish way of saying it.

# A Chassidic Version

Now let me tell you a Chassidic way. Chassidim talk a lot about this Rebbe. He was a tremendous oheiv Yisrael, a tremendous Chofetz Yisrael. So the way my grandfather said it, I heard it—maybe it is a Litvish way of saying it. Chassidim say the story a little differently, if I am not mistaken. So I will tell you both versions.

David told me that the Varka told his Chassidim before he was niftar: “I don’t believe I will be going to Olam Haba in the near future. I am not so sure I am going to Olam Haba so fast.” “Rebbe, what?” He said, “Because when I come to Shamayim, I am going to stay with the Ribbono Shel Olam in the Beis Shemala. I am not moving. I am not moving from here. I am not going anywhere until you are paid, until you are redeemed, until you do for Klal Yisrael to bring them yeshuah, to bring them salvations. If that means I have to be there until who knows when, I am waiting.”

Chassidim say it a little differently about a friend. He had a friend, the Rebbe, and he told the friend that he would come to him in a dream after he passed away. Whoever died first should come to the other one in a dream. So Rav Meir of Varka was niftar first, but he never came to his friend in the dream. So the friend went up in she’eilas chalom. As far as it was brought down, a person could go up to Shamayim and ask questions through a dream. Chassidim had this power. So he went up in she’eilas chalom and asked some people, “Did you see Rabbi Varka? Did you see my friend?” And nobody knew where he was. Nobody there. He looked in Gan Eden, he looked in Gehenom, he couldn’t find him anywhere.

One malach tells him, “I think there is a forest over there, somewhere past it. You will find him over there.” He goes past the forest and sees Rav Varka standing on top of a river, standing on a riverbank. He tells him, “You promised me you would come to me. You promised you would come in a dream.” He says, “I know I promised, but I also made a promise to the Eibershter. I am not leaving this river, because this river is the tears, the tears of Klal Yisrael. I am not moving until you dry up the river. And I am stuck here. I am stuck. I can’t move.”

# The Yesod of the Story

Now this, you see, this way of saying it, it is a mashal, it is a nimshal—I don’t know. The yesod is the same: tzaddikim were ready to give up from their Olam Haba for the sake of Klal Yisrael.

I want to tell you, this is actually in Tanakh; this is brought. Shimshon HaGibor committed suicide. He pushed himself, he brought the walls down, he committed suicide. You know what happens when someone commits suicide: there is no good Olam Haba. There is no Olam Haba for someone who goes there. It is an avodah of the nefesh.

Rami Pano says, if you notice, he uses a lashon...

# Tom Nafshi and the Meaning of *Nafshi*

Tom Nafshi. Why does he say *Nafshi*? He should have said, Tom my *guf*. Why *Nafshi*? He knew that even his *nefesh* was going to be cut off, meaning from Olam Haba, because he committed suicide for Klal Yisrael’s sake. We are going to discuss that a little later in the shiur. Moshe Rabbeinu—we are going to get to that in a few minutes. Exactly, that is where this shiur is going: to Moshe Rabbeinu and Mei Merivah. That is exactly where I am going.

So what is the pshat, Rabbeinu? He said, Tom Nafshi, and he was ready to give it all up, all his Olam Haba, for the sake of Klal Yisrael. And if you look in the mefarshim, that is what he wanted.

# *Inakma Me’einai* and Shimshon

*Inakma me’einai.* People think it means, take the revenge from my eyes. The Yifei Toar has a peirush called Yifei Mar on the Yerushalmi, and he has a kasha: Shimshon asked nekamah for his eyes, but his eyes did not aveir; that is why they poked out his eyes. It says clearly that it was his eyes that caused him to fall, and because of that he was punished, that his eyes were taken out. So how can he ask the Ribbono Shel Olam, *zachreini na, v’chazkeini na, v’inakma me’shtei einai*? The eyes did not aveir. What are you asking? You want the Ribbono Shel Olam to give you the zechus to take the nekamah? It was given to you for a reason.

The truth is, it is not such a big kasha. Why? Just because he deserves an onesh does not mean that the people who did it do not deserve to give it to him. That is a pshat. The pirate tells the Ribbono Shel Olam, “But you want Klal Yisrael to be in galus, so what are you blaming me for?” The pshat is: yes, but it happened through you, so you have to pay for it. You have to receive an onesh, you, the one, the shaliach who was chosen to do it.

So too here: *inakma me’shtei einai.* Even though he deserved the onesh that his eyes should be poked out, sof kol sof these Plishtim did it. Give me to take the nekamah. He says, I do not want to take the nekamah from me; I want to take the nekamah *me’shtei einai*, because those eyes belong to Klal Yisrael. It was these eyes that were the *einei ha’edah* to protect Klal Yisrael, and why did they poke out these eyes? To get at Klal Yisrael. Who is Shimshon? Shimshon is just a puppet, so to speak. Shimshon is just a middleman, representing Klal Yisrael, the Eibishter. So who do I want to take the nekamah for? For Klal Yisrael.

And the same with Tom Nafshi: he was ready to commit suicide for the sake of Klal Yisrael.

# A Lesson from the Kohen Who Becomes Tamei

This, Rabosai, is a lesson of the Kohen who becomes tamei. The Kohen who is metamei himself becomes tamei. Yes, it is true, we have yesodos like *Lama Nigara*, Pesach Sheni. Fine—you can always come after the fact and say, Ribbono Shel Olam, please give me that I should be able to keep up in the schus of the mitzvah, that I should not lose out in ruchniyus because I was helping with the tumah, to bury the meisim, Pesach Sheni. You are right: they lost out, they became tamei, and then they complained, *Lama Nigara*. The Ribbono Shel Olam gives them the mitzvah as well.

So we learn a big yesod from here, Rabosai: that a *mezakeh es haRabim* means that you live for the Rabbim, that you do not think only, “I care only about me and my Yiddishkeit.” That is important; that is part of Yiddishkeit. The *mezakeh es haRabim* means that even if it comes at the expense of your own shleimus, you give up a little of your own growth for the sake of others.

# How Can a Person Be *Mezakeh Es HaRabim*?

How do you do that? How is a person a *mezakeh es haRabim*? The words *mezakeh es haRabim* sound like a very big thing. Can every Chaim, Yankel, and David, so to speak, be *mezakeh es haRabim*? How do you? *Mezakeh es haRabim* sounds like something that, hey, if you put together a big organization, you call them a *mezakeh es haRabim*.

So the emes is, there is a gevaldige vort from the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Moshe.

# Lilmaid U’lelameid

You notice that every day we make a bracha and a tefillah: “Lilmaid u’lelameid, lishmor v’la’asos v’lekayem, es kol divrei talmud Torasecha.”

“Lilmaid u’lelameid”? If I am a Rosh Yeshiva, a Rebbe in the yeshiva, a Rav, I can understand “l’kayem,” “lilmaid u’lelameid,” to teach. But how does the average person teach? Where? How? Where is he teaching?

You want to know something? Even a little child makes this bracha. Unless you say that “l’lamed” means in the future—maybe that is what it means, “lilmaid” now, “l’lamed” twenty years from now, when I become a Rosh Yeshiva. Otherwise, what is “l’lamed”? How does a little boy make a bracha, “lilmaid u’lelameid”?

We think that you can only be a mashpia if you are a Rav and if you are a Rosh Yeshiva. But any person can be “lilmaid u’lelameid.” Any person. You hear? Any person can be “lilmaid u’lelameid.” You do an act of Torah, tefillah, chesed—anything like that is called being mashpia. People learn from you. You sit at a table, people are talking, and you do not speak lashon hara. You know the chizuk that brings? You know how many people walk away? That, Rabbi, is “lilmaid u’lelameid,” that anybody can be melamed. And anybody can be a mazkeh es harabim. Anyone can have this inyan, and he is mekayem the inyan of zechus rabim.

# A Story About Rav Ya’akubi

I want to tell you a beautiful story I read over Shabbos. There was a rosh yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael called Rav Ya’akubi. I did not know who he was, but they write beautifully. He was a big talmid chacham and a gaon in learning, and he was a rosh yeshiva in some yeshiva, I think.

One day this rosh yeshiva walks into the yeshiva and says, “I have to go to Haifa in an emergency, nichum aveilim. Somebody, maybe someone could drive me there. If not, I’ll go by bus. I’ll miss the seder, I’m sorry, but I have to go today.” It was a little out of character to ask the bachurim to drive him, and if not, he would not come to learn in the yeshiva that day. He was taking off a day to go. “I have to, I must. It is a very important nichum aveilim.”

There was no driver, so he went by bus, and all the talmidim went with him. The question becomes: what was the big nichum aveilim? The talmidim said they were going, and they followed the rebbe to Haifa.

He comes into the house there, and they see a write-up about the person who passed away, a young person, thirty-six years old. A young man. A tragedy, a tragedy, a young man. Maybe that is why the rosh yeshiva felt it so important to come for nichum aveilim.

They sit down, and all of a sudden the father of the young man turns to this rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Ya’akubi, and says to him, “Did you know my Shmulik?” His name was Shmul, the young man. “Did you know my Shmulik?”

He says, “Did I know your Shmulik?” He gets up from his chair and says, “Shaylah, all my Torah, and all the talmidim here, my talmidim—their Torah—is all the Torah of your son. He deserves credit, like Rabbi Akiva said about his wife: ‘Sheli v’shelachem, shelah.’”

“What? How did you come to this young man? What happened? First of all, you are much older than him. What happened?”

He says, “I was a young man in Cairo. I was thirty years old. I was not serious about my learning.”

# A Bus Ride and a Boy Learning Gemara

I was in Kailua. I used to come and go. I was on a bus in Eretz Yisrael; I lived in Eretz Yisrael and would travel by bus. I had with me all those newspapers, you know, the day’s papers. People who are half in and half out of yeshiva are busy reading newspapers all day, all the politics and then the yeshivish politics. I was reading from one newspaper to the next.

On the bus, your son came and sat down next to me. How old was he? A twelve-year-old boy. He was twelve; I was thirty, and he was twelve. He sat down next to me, took out a Gemara, Yevamos, and started learning. It did not take one second; his eyes were out of the sefer. I was impressed. So I turned to him and said, “How old are you, yingele? How old are you?”

He said, “I’m twelve.”

“Wow, I see you’re learning.”

He said, “Yes, I joined a group called Shinun, Mishnah Shinunim, a certain group of chazarah. They repeat it over and over, and like this they know all the mesechtos. Because of that, I’m learning Yevamos, and I’d rather finish two other mesechtos.”

I was so moved by the sincerity of this little boy. And I thought to myself, what am I doing? I’ve been reading newspapers about shtuyos v’halom, things that change every day. They used to say that there was no reason to read the Jewish newspapers in Russia. You know why? Because it was the same news as the Russian newspaper from the day before; they just changed the date. They used to take the news from the day before in the Russian newspaper, and that became the Jewish newspaper.

In Israel, one day Netanyahu says yes, the next day he says no, the next day maybe, and the next day he says he never said anything. So how can you read this every day, the same thing over and over again? Yes, no, maybe, and I never said it. They thought kemal aynon does.

So I said, you know what? I’m going to join this chevrah shinunim, this group that does chazarah, and I’m going to start chazering, learning, and becoming serious. And it turned into this big rosh yeshiva. Meila, everything—me and all my talmidim here, yes. All this is called, yes, shaliva shelchem shalom, give a cook, yes. How one act can turn around an entire world.

# Hamazakeh Es Harabim

The Mishnah says: What is hamazakeh es harabim? How many people does it have to be to be rabim? Rabim means many, but how many—twenty, thirty? Ten? You think it’s ten people. There is an interesting Chida, an interesting Tosefes Yom Kippurim, and later on the Sfas Emes speaks about the same shaylah. What is the Mishnah? Hamazakeh es harabim, eizehu baal yaday?

The Rav says, in the name of the Roshonim, what is the reason for eizehu baal yaday? Kedei shelo yehu b’Gehenom v’talmidav b’Gan Eden. It is not fair. If the rebbi taught, his talmidim will be in Gan Eden, and he is sitting in Gehenom? Hamayli eizehu baal yaday.

And the Tosefes Yom Kippurim says that this is even by one person. Why does it have to be rabim—many? Why does it have to be many people? Even if I take one person, it is not fair. So why does the Tosefes Yom Kippurim say that? But it says rabim. So maybe it means two, not one, but two. It does not have to be more than two. So if one is mezakeh a rabim and it is two people, it is good.

Hashem says, I don’t see why you even need two—one is enough. As long as the talmid is going to be in Gan Eden, it is not right for the rebbi to be in Gehenom. So why does it say rabim? If, l’chaira, it means even one or two, why does it use the lashon of mezakeh es harabim?

I’ll tell you what I think the pshat is. A person should know that what he does for one person is never only one person. It is always mezakeh es harabim. You sat on a bus, and one rosh yeshiva got moved, and because of that he went further and was mashpia deiros. When you help one person, who knows whether that does not mean his brothers and sisters and his children.

# Every Jew as an Olam Malei

Say, *kol ha-kaim nefesh achas miYisrael, ke’ilu kiyyem olam malei*. How? *Olam malei*? A whole world? So either the peshat is that every Jew is a whole world in himself. You think that a ben nishum looks at the ankles, one, two? We spoke about this in the past in the G’saf Saif. Every person is hundreds, *olam malei*. Every yid is an *olam malei*.

Could you imagine a person? His wife wants a present, she comes home and buys her a diamond, yes? Only one? Only one? What do you mean, only one? You know what a diamond is? There’s no such thing as one diamond. A diamond is a diamond. A yid is a diamond. There’s no such thing as one. It’s an *olam malei*. Of course, one. This one costs millions of dollars. Well, I’ve added one.

# Hamazakeh Es Harabim

Or we can come and say, *kol ha-kaim nefesh achas miYisrael*, so I’ll give you my *olam malei*, because he has brothers and sisters and children and descendants come from him. So this Rabbi says, *hamazakeh es harabim*. It doesn’t have to be *rabim*, many, many people. It could even be *rabim* individual. *Hamazakeh es harabim*, because by doing this, this is called *rabim*, you hear? Yeah, yeah, you hear? This is called *rabim*? Okay, it’s called *rabim*, you hear? You hear what I’m saying?

There’s no such thing as doing, I’m a mechazek one person. It has a ripple effect through the generations, ripple effect, a ripple effect. *Hamazakeh es harabim*, you hear? Who knows what? Well, I’ll make you haste me, Rabbi, what you could do. Why? The guy next to you, he gets, wow, you know, look how nice, maybe I’ll start davening in good, and who knows how much good comes from that, and how many people in the future will be touched by this. And this is all you, this is all you, this is all you, this is all you. It’s all you.

# Prat Yisrael and Klal Yisrael

So what do we have? We have a big yesod, *hamazakeh es harabim*, you hear? And even if it’s one. I remember when my zayde was niftar, Rav Yitzchak Osband, zikhrono livrachah, said at the hesped for my grandfather at the airport, that many people are busy with Klal Yisrael, Klal Yisrael, yes? But the truth is, the real big people are with Yisrael and prat Yisrael, the individual.

He gave an example. There was once a poor person who knocked on the door of the rav. He needed to speak to the rav; he was broken, whatever it is. So a message came back: the rav is busy now with Klal things, he’s very busy, you can’t bother him. Rabbi Yitzchak said, I don’t understand. Who is Klal Yisrael? This, this is the Klal. The protim make up the Klal.

So he said that Rav Shmuel Walkin, the zayde, was oisek in prat Yisrael, and he didn’t have to look at Klal, the big Klal Yisrael. He understood that prat Yisrael makes Klal Yisrael. So I went over to Rabbi Yitzchak after the levayah, and I said, hashashivah yumechavin, that the zayda used to live the way the elta zayda already said this vort. This is a yesod that the elta zayda, b’sarim, it’s brought down in the sefarim, the mesorah, and I know this from the family as well, that the Bessarim was at a convention of rabbanim, and the biggest rabbanim were there, the biggest rabbanim were there, yes.

A kid of one guy, an older person, a little bit distraught, a little bit disheveled, he broke through and started to yell and scream that he needs parnassah, he’s having a hard time. So, like every asifah, when a guy comes in the middle and screams, you chuck him out, right? So they started picking him up and taking him out. So my elta zayda was speaking; he was the speaker at the time, and he said, What is the asifah about? It’s not about this person? That’s what it’s about. We’re sitting here trying to make takanos, things for Klal Yisrael. It’s for this. This is what it’s meant to be.

And he took off his hat, put money inside, and made everybody in the room put money into his hat. The zayda took off his hat, then gave it to the poor person, and he said, The asifah worked. It worked. It had a purpose.

# Mazik Harabim and the Meaning of "Kol"

People think that *mazik harabim* means they have to arrange a big convention, or have a large organization, in order to be *mazik harabim*. But *mazik harabim* can be an individual helping the most simple individual.

What level of *chutz* is it that I do? Does it have to be something major? There is a Chida who says, "*kol hamazik*." Do not say, "*hamazik harabim*"; it says, "*kol hamazik*." The Chida, in *Rashi Avis*, says: anything, even something small. It does not have to be a big thing. Even one person is called *hamazik harabim*. If I help him, that is *hamazik*. Anything. That is why he says the word "*kol*."

The only thing is, he is *mechadesh* that *hamazik*, says the Chida, has to be on a constant basis. It has to be *birgilus*. There are people who feel, yes, I did a big thing, I gave in the office, and they think they are *patur* because they already gave. It cannot be a one-time or two-time thing. Today they make a dinner for every guy who can give a *cheshbon*. It is a one-time thing. It has to be more *birgilus*. So, *kol hamazik harabim*.

*Ain ched, bal yod, legabei* the end of the parashah. I think this is a good introduction.

# Mei Merivah and the Question of Zechus

If you notice, we have the *mei merivah*, the chet of hitting the stone. In the piyutim that we say for *tefillas geshem*, we say, in the *zechus* that Moshe hit the stone, give us rain. *Zechus*? Moshe? There is no *zechus*. As a matter of fact, according to most Rishonim, that is the reason he did not go to Eretz Yisrael, because of the chet of hitting the stone: "*ya'an lo he'emantem bi, l'hakdisheini l'einei Bnei Yisrael*." This was the problem.

So how can we bring this up as the *zechus*? This is the reason we ask for rain.

# Blaming Others Instead of Admitting the Chet

The peshat is simple. In Devarim, Moshe Rabbeinu gives mussar to Klal Yisrael. He tells them, "*Gam bi nis'anef Hashem biglalkhem*." It was because of you. Because of you? Can you imagine, you do a chet and blame the other guy? That is what every person who does not do teshuvah does. He does not say, "I made the mistake"; he blames the other person.

I told you many times: Chazal bring that when the Ribbono Shel Olam came to Adam HaRishon and asked him, "*Mah zot asisa?*" he ate from the *Eitz HaDaas*. So what does he say? "*Ha'ishah asher nasatah imadi hi natnah li min ha'etz va'ochal*." If you notice, the word "*va'ochal*" means what? It is not "*achalti*." He could have said, "*hi natnah li min ha'etz; achalti*." But "*va'ochal*" means the past. "*Ochel*" means I ate; "*ochel*" can also mean I will eat. So Chazal darshen "*va'ochal*"—he is saying, I am going to do it again.

What was he thinking? As a matter of fact, in *Vayera* it says he was terrified. He was hiding. The Brisker Rav learns that the hiding was more of a *din*, because he was *lifnei HaMelech* and he was not dressed. That is a halachic fear. But there has to be peshat as well, that he was scared. If a person is scared, why would he say, "I will do it again"? What do you say? Just say, "I did it." That is all. Just say, "I did it again"—it sounds like, *chas v'shalom*, you think he said he did it again. I have to be crazy to say that. He never said, "I will do it again." He said, "*va'ochal*"—I ate in the past. But because he said, "*hi natnah li*," and I ate, he blamed her for it. That means you are going to do it again.

The first step in teshuvah is to admit that you are wrong. To start blaming other people means you are not there yet. You can imagine giving a mussar shmuess about something you did and blaming the other guy.

We can say many different terutzim. Terutz number one, we can say, and if you look at the parashah of...

# Hitting the Stone

There are so many peshatim in the Rishonim. What exactly was the chet? What exactly was he thinking? Where was the mistake? It is impossible to go through all of it in one shiur. There is so much Torah in the Rishonim.

But according to many Rishonim, the problem was that he said, "Shimon ha-amayrim." "Ha-min ha-sela ha-zeh notzei lachem mayim?" — to Shimon ha-amayrim. Do not talk like that about Klal Yisrael.

He is saying something good. The apostate is meduyak. "Gam bi yisaneh et Hashem, biglalkhem," because of the way I spoke against you. And what is he trying to tell Klal Yisrael? Mussar.

How do you give a person mussar? Let me tell you how you tell a person. Instead of telling a person, "You are a nobody, you are nothing," look how the Eibershter loves you. Look how the Eibershter got angry at me because of the way I spoke about you. Appreciate the love that the Eibershter has for you. That is a way of giving mussar. A way to give mussar is, "Gam bi yisaneh et Hashem, biglalkhem." And the "biglalkhem" is because he said, "Shimon ha-amayrim," because of the way he spoke.

# Another Peshat: Moshe and Eretz Yisrael

Moshe Rabbeinu did not go into Eretz Yisrael. Chazal were shaming him. Had Moshe gone into Eretz Yisrael, there would never have been a Klal Yisrael left. There would be nothing, finished. Why? Because the Beis HaMikdash, built by the one who could never be destroyed, like the Mishkan never got destroyed. The Mishkan did not get destroyed; it sank into the ground.

So when Moshe got angry at Klal Yisrael, "shafach chamaso aleihem v'alah" — he destroyed the Beis HaMikdash. Had he not been able to destroy the Beis HaMikdash, he would have destroyed Klal Yisrael. So Moshe could not go into Eretz Yisrael.

Therefore, "Gam bi yisaneh et Hashem, biglalkhem" — it is for you. Hashem got angry at me, which means that theoretically I could have found my way into Eretz Yisrael. I would have been able to, as they say, find an eitzah to protect you, to get in. Because if I would go in, I would build the Beis HaMikdash. If I build the Beis HaMikdash, it could not be destroyed. You did the aveirah. I would not be able to destroy the Beis HaMikdash; I would destroy you. I would not have the "shafach chamaso aleihem v'alah."

# A Third Peshat: The Stone

There is a third peshat, rabosai. You can see this in the Torah; it is beautiful to have. It would have been a tremendous kittug on Klal Yisrael. I think they bring from the Chazal: look at a stone. A stone has no heart. The Ribbono Shel Olam does not do so much, so to speak, chesed with the stone, and yet it listens. How could Klal Yisrael not listen?

So in order to show that the stone is not better than the lev even of Klal Yisrael, it does not listen either. I have to give a patch to their act. It is a famous work, a famous Chassidishe Torah. The peshat is that he did it; it is almost like an aveirah lishmah, which is a yesod we have to discuss at a different time. But he went and did it to protect the honor of Klal Yisrael. "Gam bi yisaneh et Hashem, biglalkhem" — I want you to know it is all because of you.

So Moshe Rabbeinu is ready to give it all up, ready to give it all up for the sake of Eretz Yisrael, his dream to go into Eretz Yisrael, his dream to what? In order to protect Klal Yisrael.

So we say to the Ribbono Shel Olam, in this zechus, that Moshe Rabbeinu — and that is what the Mishnah brings as a raya — who is the quintessential mezakeh es ha-rabim? Moshe Rabbeinu. The Mishnah says it clearly: "Moshe zachah umezakeh es ha-rabim." He was a mezakeh, he gave himself up completely, completely for the sake of Klal Yisrael.

# Shimshon and Self-Sacrifice

You know I mentioned to you before Shimshon, yes? The mefarshim ask: what right did Shimshon have to commit suicide? What right? You are not allowed to commit suicide. According to most Rishonim, it is a halachah of the issur of retzichah. Retzichah is one of the three aveiros chamurot. So why? What was the heter? Not to say he did not think he was going to die. He said clearly, "Tamot nafshi." The pasuk says clearly.

So there is a tzuur from the Rashi b'Ramosh, it says it is a rasha. He says, and he brings a raya: Shaul also killed himself. Shaul told the person, when Shaul was at the end of the war, he was nifka, he killed himself. He told the guy, he told the person to kill me.

# Shimshon, Chilul Hashem, and the Question of Suicide

Which is like a suicide—how do you talk about it? The terrorist is a rasha, and it is clear that Shimshon was not punished for what he did. In fact, the pasuk even says that he killed more policemen at that incident than he had killed throughout the twenty years of his life. So it is clear that they say he was right, and if he was right, then it had to have been a rasha.

Aziz Akdushim is not telling. He had a nevuah; he felt whatever he felt, and he was allowed to do it. The Chazon Ish in Perach HaDargah gives a different approach. He says it was a shaas l'chilul Hashem, and when there is chilul Hashem, there is no gimel aveiros chamuros. They all go out the window. Even the gimel aveiros chamuros can be violated to protect chilul Hashem.

What chilul Hashem is he referring to is not clear. Either he meant the chilul Hashem of their trying to show, look at Klal Yisrael, or the chilul Hashem could be something else as well. If you notice, they tried to make him do aveiros, to be over ha-das. They wanted him to do it. In fact, it says clearly that the husbands brought their wives to the jail to make Shimshon live with them. So Shimshon understood that it was not kedai; it would be over ha-das. Can you imagine Shimshon going, and then they force him to do all these horrible aveiros? It would be a chilul Hashem.

There is a Yom Shosholin in Bava Kamma, in daf nun tes, that says there are two reasons why Shaul killed himself. One is because he was caught, and he knew that if they caught him and took him, they would give him tremendous yissurim and then kill him anyway. So what is the point of going through all the yissurim? They say maybe that is peshat by Shimshon, like this Yom Shosholin.

Then there is another Yom Shosholin a little further in Bava Kamma that says the peshat in Shaul was chilul Hashem. He was the king. Could you imagine taking the king? You know what they would do? They would make a whole thing out of his hanging, a whole chagigah, a whole party. They would hang him. That would be a chilul Hashem for the Melech Yisrael to be hung that way. So that could also be peshat in Shimshon. They brought him; that is what happened. They took him, brought him in front of the whole church over there of Dagon, right? And then they made a spectacle out of him. So it was a chilul Hashem.

There is a lot of Torah to be explained, all right?

# Esther and the Heter of B'ratzon

There is an interesting Ritva in Yehudah that discusses Esther. Esther also did one of the three aveiros chamuros, and she did it b'ratzon, right? That is what it says. The first time she was b'ones: kasher avadati, avadati. Now she is doing it b'ratzon. What was the heter for Esther to do it b'ratzon? What was the heter?

Most mefarshim discuss it. It is a discussion, great land, back and forth. The Ritva has a whole arichus on it. But it seems the bottom line, and we spoke about this in many different cases, including by Yoel also. Yoel lived with Sisra. When it comes to Klal Yisrael, a person has to say: I give up everything for Klal Yisrael. Everything. There is no me.

Esther says, "Nafshi b'she'eilosi, v'ami b'vakashosi." What does it mean, "Nafshi b'she'eilosi"? Why does it change the lashon? She'eilah and bakashah. The Alter Zaidah, the Beis Aharon, asks this question. He says there are a million different things. She'eilah means I ask; if I get it, good, and if I do not get it, all right, but I ask. As they say in English, it does not hurt to ask. Bakashah means I do not just ask; until I get it, I keep asking.

"Im tivakshenu k'kesef u'k'matmonim." If you search the Torah with bakashah, then you will find Torah. The Torah is not just like some people who daven, "v'ha'arev na," they ask, but then they close the siddur, go to business, forget about it, and then come back the next day and ask again. Yine zakhmin, suzakhinu libhavim kashish kegelt. You know what that means? To promise.

# Love, Asking, and Doing

To love does not cost money. It is not enough just to talk. You have to walk the walk, as they say. Some people talk the talk. They want Bnei Torah. We want Torah. Of course you want. But what are you doing for that? Everybody walks around saying, Torah, Torah, Shas, I want to look. Fine, so what is the ma'aseh? It is not enough to want. I always say: it is the promise. To love is the love.

To ask does not cost anything. You have nothing to lose. What do you have to lose? If you ask, then you lose? That is the problem.

Achas sho'alti me'es Hashem, osah avakesh. It is not enough just to ask for Torah. I ask; osah avakesh, until I get it. Nafshi v'she'eilasi. For myself, I ask. For Klal Yisrael, I do not stop until I get it. You hear? I demand it. I demand it.

This, Rabbeinu Yisrael, is what Esther felt for herself: geit es, geit es; geit es nisht, geit es nisht. But for Klal Yisrael, nothing stands in the way. I have to keep going until I get it. I have to keep going until I get it.

# Shimshon and Mezakeh Es HaRabim

This, Rabbeinu Yisrael, is what Shimshon made of Hashem. The covenant for Klal Yisrael was dependent on him taking down the house and taking the covenant. Otherwise, they would have made Klal Yisrael into a joke and gotten rid of Klal Yisrael. He had to make a machal. He had to come and, right? And he did this even on the cheshbon. Like I told you before, he was ready to give up his Olam Haba for it. This is called mezakeh es ha-rabim. He was mezakeh the rabim.

So here we have me'iri yedike Yisrael. You hear? Me'iri yedike Yisrael, that this is a zechus.

# The Me'iri on Chasidus

I saw something interesting. How do we know that it is ein chet ba'al yadecha? How do we know mezakeh sharam is ein chet ba'al yadecha? They bring a pasuk here: Tzidkas Hashem asah u'mishpatav im Yisrael. Im Yisrael, ki ilu asan. Lema'aseh, the Gemara in Yuma, peh zayin, brings a different pasuk: Ki lo yisite chasidecha shachas. Which means that the Ribbono shel Olam does not take the righteous one and give him shachas, that he should fall to the depths.

Frek de Me'iri: where do you know it is mezakeh sharam? Chasidecha. How do you know it means mezakeh sharam? Chasidecha. So he says, in the Me'iri, in the Gemara in Yuma, peh zayin, that the greatest chasidus in the world that is possible is mezakeh sharam. The ultimate chasidus is mezakeh sharam.

I was thinking of a Me'iri dig vort on the way in today. Aharon was called a chasid. Do you want to tell me what Aharon's whole life was about? Mezakeh sharam. And that is the kohen. The kohen is about zikui harabim. That is how the beginning of the parashah begins: that he has to be ready to entomb himself for the other person. To entomb himself for the other person.

# Caring for Another Person's Needs

K'sidua, ba'alei mussar say that a person has to feel that his ruchniyus is the other person's gashmiyus, which means that to care about the other person's gashmiyus is his ruchniyus. As a matter of fact, mezakeh sharam even includes gashmiyus. It does not have to be only ruchniyus. If you care about it, you give them to eat, to drink, you do their favors. That is called mezakeh sharam. You hear? It is a Me'iri dig vort. Mezakeh sharam is the taich, even in gashmiyus. Mezakeh brings this Me'iri dig vort.

# Mezakeh Es Harabim and the Unity of Nefesh

You give a fellow a ride, you help a fellow. That is called *mezakeh es harabim*. So there is a greater side to this: besides the fact that a Jew’s gashmiyus is certainly ruchniyus, because you are *mezakeh es harabim*, you also have to know that a Jew’s ruchniyus is ruchniyus as well.

I think, rabosai, that is why the lashon of *nefesh* is used. Why does Esther use, “*Nafshi b’she’eilasi*,” and why does the Ramak, so to speak, explain it in Shimshon? *Nefesh.* Do you know what *nefesh* is, rabosai? I will tell you what *nefesh* is. What connects every Jew in the *nefesh*? The old sefarim bring that the *nefesh* is what connects. We are all one *nefesh*; we all come from one *nefesh*.

So Esther is saying, I am going to take a thing now—*nafshi*. “*Mah chaylecha b’nefesh b’she’eilasi.*” “*V’ami*,” but the *nefesh* mitzad ami. That is what gashmiyus is. “*Tomos nafshi*,” but not “*tomos hanefesh*” in Plishtim. “*Mah nafshi*,” I am ready, but I want that the *nefesh*, because Klal Yisrael is *nafashos*.

It is interesting. How many *nefashos* are there in Klal Yisrael? Does anybody know the number? *Shishim ribo.* How many *osiyos* are there in the Torah? *Shishim ribo.* Let us say it is meant to be called *shishim ribo*. It is not really *shishim ribo*, but it is officially called *shishim ribo*. What is the *pshat*? It is brought down because parallel to the *nefesh*, you have the *osiyos* in Torah. If one letter is missing in the Torah, what happens? A whole Sefer Torah is invalid.

If one *nefesh* is missing, “*Kol hamekayem nefesh achas miYisrael ki’ilu kiyyem olam malei.*” Now we have a whole new *pshat* in “*olam malei*.” Why? Because it is either all or nothing. You cannot have a middle *derech*. “*Ki’ilu kiyyem olam malei.*” The world is all the *nefashos*. It is not just, okay, we lost a few *nefashos*. There is no such thing. Even one is already *churban haTorah*.

So that is what she is saying: “*Nafshi.*” When it comes to me, I lost it. *Nefesh.* “*Ami.*” *Ha’mizakeh es harabim.* *Ein chelek al yodah yeh.* That is the lesson.

# Moshe Rabbeinu and Zacha U’mezakeh

What does “*Moshe zacha u’mezakeh es harabim*” mean? You know what Moshe was? He was a *baal aliyah*. He was a *baal madreigah*. That means *mezakeh es harabim*. It is a chelek of it. “*Zacha u’mezakeh.*” A person thinks his ruchniyus is mine, and another Jew’s ruchniyus is his. Therefore I have to... You do not understand: another Jew’s ruchniyus is your ruchniyus. To care about somebody else, that he should learn and he should daven—“*zacha u’mezakeh*.” It is all one thing. It is not two separate things. It is not mine.

“*Zacha u’mezakeh*” means *lilmod u’lelamed*. Now you understand what *lilmod u’lelamed* is. *Lilmod u’lelamed* is one mitzvah point to Moshe Rabbeinu. *Lilmod u’lelamed* is all one. *Zacha u’mezakeh* is all one. A *zacha* is part of the *mezakeh*. Part of the *lilmod* is *lelamed*. And that is Moshe Rabbeinu, who was ready to give up himself completely. Am I in? That is now.

And in this zechus we ask the Ribbono Shel Olam that He should give rain, He should give rain, He should give rain. The fact that he knocked on the cellar...

# A Ma’aseh to Conclude

I want to end with a ma’aseh. Certainly, certainly, a person understands: he answers, he is in the zechus of the rabim, he does chesed. But how about worrying, thinking how he could get the other...

# Thinking Beyond One’s Own Benefit

When it comes to somebody else’s parnassah, you never think, “How can I figure out a way to get into his parnassah?” You never do that. Either you give him tzedakah if you are a good person, or if he comes and asks you, maybe you can make a phone call for him. You do that too, possibly. But do you sit there thinking, “Wait a second, if I go and speak to this guy, this guy will happen to benefit”? Nobody does that. Nobody does that. Who does that? Nobody. The nicest guy in the world—what is he going to think? “I’ll either give you money for tzedakah,” yes, fine, or if you come to me, maybe I’ll make a phone call. But is there any guy who sits there and makes his own business into a plan for somebody else’s benefit?

I want to tell you what it means, mazik serafim, to sit there and figure out: if I do this, how many people will have from it, will gain from it? I don’t mean only if I answer on the phone and you hate me, but I want to give you a ride to come, and what this will end up meaning. It means constantly thinking not only me, me, me, my, but the other person. What can I do to help him also?

# A Small Example of Helping Another Person

They say that after Shabbos he would go home from yeshiva, wherever he was. He would take a taxi or an autobus. He was very much against people driving him. And when he went on the autobus, he would turn to the nahag and say, “Shavua tov, shavua tov.”

So the talmidim asked him: is it because of the nimus, you know, you’re just friendly? And then he said no. He said this nahag is not making $1.50, right? He’s not making $1.50 before he’s driving on Motzaei Shabbos, right? So it’s tza’ar Shabbos for him. If I say “Good Shabbos,” it’s like kiddush. He says if you say “Good Shabbos,” it will show you. So if you say “Shavua tov,” it will be havdalah. So in order to make sure that the nahag wasn’t a Shabbos, he would make sure that the guy would answer him, “Shavua tov.”

This, the rabbi says, is when you start thinking: how can I help another person keep Shabbos? Even small things. He is anyway being mechallel Shabbos; at least this, at least this I’ll help him, at least a little more, a little this. The Chida tells us that even little things matter. It doesn’t have to be major organizations and earth-shattering changes. He makes even small things to help another person. That is what the Ribono Shel Olam loves. The Ribono Shel Olam says, what does He chofetz? And this is the lesson.