Toldos: Esav’s Cry, Mordechai’s Zeakah, and the Hidden Pain of Hurting Another

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Shalom Aleichem and beruchim haba'im. In the parsha, at the end of the parsha, the Torah tells us how Yaakov took the brachos from Esav. The pasuk, perek chof-zayin, pasuk lamed-daled, tells us that when Esav heard that Yaakov took the brachos, kishmoa Esav es divrei aviv, he hears from his father that Yaakov took the brachos, va'yitzak tzeakah gedolah u'marah ad me'od. He let out a big scream, a bitter scream. Va'yomer l'aviv, barcheni gam ani, avi. Va'yitzak tzeakah gedolah u'marah, that Esav let out a big scream. There's an interesting medrash, Medrash Rabbah, samech-zayin, daled. Amar Reb Chanina, kol ha'omer HaKadosh Baruch Hu vatran hu, whoever says that HaKadosh Baruch Hu overlooks and doesn't keep cheshbon record, yevateru b'nei me'ohi. It's a klalah. His children should also become yevateru. Elomarich apei vigovi dilei. The Ribono Shel Olam prolongs His anger, but eventually takes the cheshbon; He pays. There's a payment that has to be made. So where is the payment that Yaakov had to pay for Vayitzak tzaakah gedolah u'marah that he caused Esav? Says the Medrash, Veheichan nifra loi? Beshushan habirah, shene'emar, Vayitzak ze'akah gedolah u'marah. That in the story of Purim, after Mordechai hears the gezeirah, after he hears the decree that Haman was able to take from Achashverosh to lehashmid, leharog, ul'abed es kol haYehudim, he went out into the street, Vayitzak ze'akah gedolah u'marah. Vayitzak tzaakah gedolah u'marah, Esav. Mordechai, many, many years later, Vayitzak ze'akah gedolah u'marah — payback. Pirayon. The Ribono Shel Olam took the cheshbon from Yaakov that he owes, and he has to pay a Vayitzak ze'akah gedolah u'marah. The question, the she'eilah is: why Mordechai? Why in the times of Mordechai and Esther was the payback for the tzaakah gedolah u'marah of Esav? So there's an interesting peledige chiddah. The Chiddah, Kisei David, drush beis, the Ramazcher reish chodesh, says that Mordechai was a gilgul of Yaakov Avinu, and Haman is a gilgul of Esav. And he says that's pshat in the Chazal. You notice it says by Esav, VaYivez Es Esav es habechorah, and we find the same lashon by Haman, VaYivez be'einav lishloach yad bMordechai levado. VaYivez, vaYivez. And Chazal darshen the vaYivez is bazui ben bazui, Abileka, a person who's an ish bazui, mevuzeh dike mensch, the son of Haman, the son of Esav. VaYivez, vaYivez, bazui ben bazui. And he explains that whenever it says ben and it doesn't mean directly a son, then it's al pi the mekubalim, it means a gilgul. So Esav is the bazui, Haman is the ben bazui.

A gilgul of Esav. And vayivez Esav es habechorah, vayivez lishloach yad b'Mordechai levad, because Haman wanted to kill Mordechai and all of Klal Yisrael, so he should, in return, get the brachos back from Yaakov Avinu. So the story of Purim is a story based back many years, when Yaakov took the brachos from Esav. And the story of Purim is Esav and his lineage trying to take back the brachos from Yaakov. It's possible, possible, that that's why there's an inyan on Purim to be mesaken, to fix the inyan of achvah, brotherhood between one Yid and another, as we find that Esav was vayitzak tzaakah gedolah because of what his brother did to him. Yaakov, so to speak, at the upgitan, Yaakov made him tzaakah gedolah u'marah, so there was somewhat of a fracture in the achvah. So years and years later, Klal Yisrael, in the times of Mordechai and Haman, they had to fix the achvah, and therefore we find on Purim a hadgashah, an emphasis on fixing. In Yanei Achva, as we find the inyan of Mishloach Manos ish l're'eihu, matanos la'evyonim, like the mefarshim explain, this is to be mamid, to reestablish, to fix achva in Klal Yisroel. And could be that's all in the theme of Purim and the story of the gezeirah of the shmad of Klal Yisroel in the time of Purim, which was based on the tza'aka, Gedolah umarah, that Yaakov caused to Esav, Esav his brother. The Imrei Emes, not quoting this Chiddush, says an interesting pshat. It says in the pasuk that when Esav complains to Yitzchak that the brachos were taken from him through Yaakov, Yaakov took the brachos, Yitzchak responds, Gam baruch yihyeh. Says the Imrei Emes, also this is a remez of the asidus, that in the times of Mordechai and Haman, we will say, Gam baruch yihyeh, Baruch Mordechai. Yaakov, gam baruch, he will also be benched in the future. Where? Through his gilgul, so to speak, through his lineage, that Mordechai HaTzadik will be gam baruch yihyeh, Baruch Mordechai. L'choira, we have to ask a question on this Chazal. The loshon by Esav is, Vayitz'ak tza'aka gedolah umarah, with a tzaddik, Vayitz'ak tza'aka gedolah umarah, a tzaddik. While by Mordechai, when he pays back this tzedakah gedolah l'marah, it says, Vayizak, with a zayin. Vayitzak, Vayizak, which one is it? If he's paying back, and we know paying back is always midah keneged midah, so why here it's Vayitzak? In the Torah by Esav, in our parsha, Vayitzak tzaakah gedolah u'marah, while later Mordechai paying back the Vayitzak is Vayizak ze'aka gedolah u'marah. I found an interesting Malbim on the kapitel in Tehillim, perek kuf zayin, pasuk vav, by the daled tzrichim l'hodos. One of them is a person who goes through the midbar. He has to praise HaKadosh Baruch Hu. And there the pasuk says, Vayitzaku bamidbar b'yeshimon derech. Another one of the daled shetzrichim l'hodos is a choleh shenisrapei, the person who was sick, and now he got healed. He needs to be modeh, to praise the Ribono Shel Olam. And there the pasuk uses the language Vayizak.

Vayitzaku el Hashem batzar lahem, vayoshieim. So it's a zayin. So here, by the Midbar, it uses a lashon, someone who travels through the Midbar, it uses the lashon vayitzaku. And the choleh shenisrapei, by the choleh it says, Vayizaku el Hashem batzar lahem, with a zayin. Explains the Malbim that Vayitzaku is greater than Vayizaku. It's a bigger cry. It's not the same thing. Vayitzaku and Vayizaku is not the same thing. Now why is it that someone who goes through the Midbar is Vayitzaku, a greater scream, while someone who is sick is Vayizaku? Why is less of a cry, less of a scream? In halacha, it's brought down that the person who goes through the Midbar needs to be in a matzav of sakana. And the person in the Midbar, since he was in a sakana and he got saved, he is tzrichim l'hodos. The choleh shenisrapei doesn't have to be a choleh sheyesh bo sakana. If he's noifel l'mishkav, it's already enough for him to be a chayav l'hodos. So it could be the choleh, since he is not in a sakana as much as the person who goes through the Midbar, so it's Vayitzaku, less of a scream, and maybe that's the pshat according to the Malbim. The question is, so then here we have a problem, because Esav was Vayitzaku. And Mordechai, in paying back, was only vayizaku. In the Haggadah, and the truth is, it's very hard to work out all the different times it says vayitzaku and vayizaku, but in the Haggadah it says clearly, Pesach night we say in the Haggadah, Vanitzak el Hashem Elokei avoseinu, like it says, Vayaanchu Bnei Yisrael min ha'avodah vayizaku, vataal shavasam el haElokim. So the Haggadah starts, Vanitzak el Hashem, and the pasuk that he brings is vayizaku vataal shavasam. So you see, tzaakah and zeakah is the same, and mimeila it wouldn't be a kasha why by Esav is vayitzak, tzaakah gedolah u'marah, while by Mordechai is vayizak. But according to the Malbim, it's a good kasha. Why is it that by Esav is vayitzaku, and Mordechai, who was paying back that vayitzaku, vayizak, zeakah gedolah u'marah? Im yirtzeh Hashem, we will get back to this kasha. But the truth is, we need to deal with a very serious question, a very strong shailah on the entire topic, on the entire medrash. We find that Esav actually cried three tears. The Medrash says— One tear went to the right, one tear went to the left, and one tear stayed in his eye. There's another medrash that says the loshon vayitzak. So we have tzaakah, gedolah u'marah. So that's three: tzaakah, gedolah u'marah. The other medrash, three tears. And because of this, we have the three galuyos. Klal Yisrael had to go through Galus Yavan, Galus Paras, and Galus Edom. And Edom is the last one that we're still stuck in because the tear of Esav, which he cried because Yaakov hurt him, is still stuck in his eye, so we're stuck in Galus Edom for a much longer period of time till Moshiach comes. Rabosai, all the galusin, all the suffering of galus is because Yaakov made Esav cry when he took the brachos. Many mefarshim actually learn that when it says, Vayitzak tzaakah gedolah u'marah, and that was a payback for the vayitzaku, vayitzak tzaakah gedolah u'marah.

The farshim learn that it's not only the cry was a payback, but the entire gezeirah and all the pain and suffering that the gezeirah of the shemad in the times of Mordechai was all nichlal in the Vayitzak tzaakah gedolah u'marah, and the Vayitzak tzaakah gedolah u'marah to pay it back. Which is really this medrash, that because he made him cry, three tears, three golusim. So Klal Yisroel's in golus, and Klal Yisroel had to suffer in the times of Mordechai because we pained Yaakov Avinu, pained Esav. First of all, Yaakov Avinu did right; he was the bechor. He bought it. It's kumt dem brachos l'choirah. Esav didn't deserve the brachos. Esav was Esav. And to add to this, it was b'tzivui of his mother. His mother told him, Kiboraim. Now we have to discuss Kibud Av and Kibud Eim. Cher the father wanted something different, so maybe the mother knew that that's really what the father wanted. Yesh l'tareitz a little falpel, not for now, but al kol panim, it was definitely done b'tzivui eim. And on top of that, like the Brisker Rav explains, that it was listening to a neviah, Shema b'koli, ruach hakodesh, so he was mechuyav to listen. So why is Yaakov, shuldik? What did Yaakov do that his taking the brachos caused Esav to cry? To scream a tzaakah gedolah u'marah because of that we're in golus, one after another, three golusin. All the sovereign of golus is because of something that Yaakov did, which l'choiri was right for doing. Why are we paying? Why are we paying for Yaakov's taking the brachos? There's an interesting medrash, rabboisai, that Yaakov actually didn't even by himself take the brachos. The medrash says that Yaakov actually fainted when he was ready to go to the father, he was terrified. Ulay yemusheni avi v'hayisi b'einav k'mis'ateh. He fainted, and two malachim came and carried him to take the brachos. Could you get more ones than that? Could Yaakov be more ones than that? And still yet, there's a payback for causing pain to Esav. What's the pshat? There's a famous Reb Chaim, the first Reb Chaim al haRambam. Reb Chaim explains that if you didn't kill, but rather you're the gun, the bullet, or the stone in the hands of the person that did the killing, you're not even a rotzeach. You did nothing. You didn't do anything. It's not even a ma'aseh retzichah. So over here you were carried to get the brachos. He almost didn't, mamash nishki maaseh, you didn't do anything. How do you explain that Yaakov is geshuldigt for shooting Esav, so to speak? He didn't shoot Esav. He did what was probably right 100% lahalacha. It was right for mitzad kibud eim, and it was right mitzad hilchos nevius. And he didn't even maybe do it. He was dragged to it. He was an ones. Why is such a so much, so much tashlum, galusin, a payback for this act that Yaakov took the brachos? There's many terutzim to this kasha. One of the terutzim that the mefarshim ponder is maybe, maybe, yes, it was his, rightfully, and Esav didn't deserve it, and yes, it was kibud eim, and yes, a navi—she was a neviah, his mother, the neviah told him to do it, and malachim dragged him. Af al pi kein, he shouldn't have done it. I mean, nevius, navi, a navi tells you to go do something.

Parshas Vaeschanan al pi kein. He was hurting his brother Esav, Esav, but he was hurting his brother Esav, and therefore he shouldn't have listened. This is a yesod, baalei mussar speak. It's very possible a navi could tell you something, but it's going to hurt another person. You need to work out the bein adam l'chaveiro. You need to work out the bein adam l'chaveiro. The Medrash says, the Medrash says that the Ribono Shel Olam tells Moshe Rabbeinu to go to Mitzrayim to be goel Klal Yisrael. Moshe Rabbeinu doesn't go. Moshe Rabbeinu goes to Yisro, his father-in-law, and he asks permission to go on the shlichus that the Ribono Shel Olam sends him. Wait a minute. The Ribono Shel Olam tells you to go, so you go. Why you need to go ask Yisro if you're allowed to go? Say baalei mussar, yes, because if the Ribono Shel Olam told you to go, you go, but you still have to work it out in hilchos bein adam l'chaveiro. Just because you're right, and just because the chiyuv tzivui of the mother and a navi, and here in this case we have the Ribono Shel Olam bichvodo b'atzmo told him to go to Mitzrayim. L'maaseh, he owes Yisro. There's a derech eretz to Yisro. There's a kavod habriyos to Yisro. There's a bein adam l'chaveiro to Yisro. He needs to first take care of that bein adam l'chaveiro, and then the tzivui could be listened to, and the tzivui then could be fulfilled. The mother, the neviah. Yeah, but it's a problem of bein adam l'chaveiro. You're hurting Esav. Rabosai, I want to tell you an unbelievable pshat from Rav Chaim Volozhin. In history, there was tremendous between the Misnagdim and the Chassidim, and there was a cherem that was going around, a written cherem against the Baal Shem and his talmidim, the Baal HaTanya. And the Misnagdim all signed. Why? The Gaon, the Gra, the Gra was leading the pact to sign this cherem. Yet when they came to the talmid, the talmid, the great talmid, the number one talmid, Rav Chaim Volozhin, Rabbeinu Chaim Volozhin, zecher tzaddik livracha, he refused to sign. They asked Rav Chaim Volozhin, but the Rebbe, the Rebbe, the heilige Gra, the Rebbe, the heilige Gra said that they should write this cherem and all should sign it. How could you refuse it? Rav Chaim Volozhin said a meiredike yesod. By the akeidah, we find that the Ribono Shel Olam bichvodo uve'atzmo tells Avraham to shecht Yitzchak. Yet after, when he was told not to shecht, who came to tell him that? It was a malach. It was an angel. Says Reb Chaim Volozhin, why isn't the Ribono Shel Olam, who tells him, the Ribono Shel Olam should have came to him, told him not to do it, or vice versa. The malach, just like the malach told not to do it, it should have been al yedei malach to tell him to shecht Yitzchak. Says Reb Chaim Volozhin, to shecht? Yenem shechten? No, the Ribono Shel Olam. That has to come directly from the Ribono Shel Olam. Nicht shechten. That could be al yedei malach. A malach zoch shechten folk menisht. You don't listen. Ribono Shel Olam could tell Avraham, shecht. To not shecht, that's enough of malach also. Rabbeinu HaGra, the Rebbe, the Gra, he's a malach. Yes, it's true, he's a malach. But a malach can't tell me to shecht.

To sign this cherem is shechting. To sign a cherem against someone is shechting that person. I can't shecht just because the malach tells me to do it. It has to be from the Ribono Shel Olam b'atzmei. This is the yesod that many mefarshim are taking. This is the mahalach that many mefarshim are taking. A navi, Rivka was a neviah. She tells him to go take the brachos. So what did he do wrong that we're paying for this through all the galusim? And the teretz is, bein adam l'chaveiro, Esav. The pain of Esav. A navi can't tell you. A navi can't tell you to hurt somebody. There's another teretz in the mefarshim to the kasha of what did Yaakov do wrong? He was right for taking the brachos. It was his. He was the bechor. He bought it. And we could even discuss he was actually the bechor anyway. Possibly he was the bechor anyway. He was notzar rishon. Maybe he came out second, but he was created first. A lot of talk about that as well. Esav didn't deserve it. The mother, Kibud Eim, tells you to do it. The neviah, Rivka the neviah, tells you to do it. There's an interesting pshat from the Maanos Halevi. Maanos Halevi is the author of the Lecha Dodi. So the Maanos Halevi has a beautiful pshat. Says the Maanos Halevi, Esav was in the middle of Kibud Eim. When someone is in the middle of a mitzvah, he's considered a tzaddik gamur in the eyes of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, that nothing could touch him, and no koach has the right to catch him, to be toifes him. And since Esav was in the middle of a kibud av, Yaakov's chapping him, Yaakov's hurting him, there's a payback for that. There's an interesting pasuk. He doesn't quote the pasuk, but it's a big lesson in life. Shomer mitzvah lo yeida davar ra. When someone does a mitzvah, nothing bad—he's protected. He has a special shmirah. The Ribono Shel Olam doesn't want anything to happen. And pshat mistama, when a person does a mitzvah, he is connected to the HaKadosh Baruch Hu. The Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim writes that nothing bad and no koach in this world can harm a man when he's davuk in the Ribono Shel Olam. When a person is completely attached to the Ribono Shel Olam, he's connected. Nothing bad, nothing from the world around him could be toifes, could catch him, no koiches. There's a very famous segulah in the yeshivas, they call it the segulah of the Gra, and that is ein od milvado. When a person believes and he contemplates that there's nothing in this world— Just their ... shloylam, nothing could hurt him. Ein od milvado, nothing could happen to him. So this is somewhat of what the Monas Halevi is saying, is at that moment he was involved in a mitzvah, he had a special halacha of shmirah. Now the question is, l'maaseh, l'maaseh, l'maaseh, it did hurt him. L'maaseh, his brachos were taken from him. L'maaseh, he was gechapped from Yaakov. And the answer is, mistama, mistama, Yaakov Avinu had the right to do it, no question about it. But since it was during a time when he was doing a mitzvah, there has to be a cheshbon, because at that moment he's a tzaddik. The kashya is a good one: shomer mitzvah lo yeda davar ra, and the Monas Halevi is learning that this shomer mitzvah means that even a rasha like Esav becomes a tzaddik, that you can't chap him, you can't touch him. L'maaseh, Yaakov Avinu, he had to take the brachos, but there had to be a payback for chapping a person who's a tzaddik.

So it's not Eisav the rasha. It's Eisav the tzaddik at that moment. And therefore Yaakov Avinu has to pay back for hurting Eisav at that moment. The Rosh Yeshiva, Reb Aharon Kotler, zecher tzaddik livracha, in Mishnas Reb Aharon, maamarim, v'sichos, chelek gimmel, amud tzaddik daled, has another mahalach of why Yaakov has to pay back for hurting Eisav by taking the brachos. What did he do wrong, like we've asked? Says the Rosh Yeshiva an interesting tiefa mahalach. At that moment he did nothing wrong. But why did the brachos have to come to him in such a way? Why couldn't he get the brachos glatt, straight? It had to be with such a complicated... and that it hurts his brother and the teretz is because there was some chisaron there in the achvah. Therefore it came through in such a way that he hurt his brother and he had to be mesaken it. Many, many years later there was a tikkun for that pirud, that crack in the achvah. He says that the world in its shleimusdike form is perfect, and it doesn't need to be in a way that kilkulim, things break. Here something broke. Something broke. There was a pirud in the achvah. There was a pirud. There was somebody that got hurt. So obviously there was some reason that it had to come in such a way, and doros later we need to fix that that brought about the taking of the brachos on the cheshbon and pain of another person. I saw the mashgiach, Rav Meir Chodosh, zecher tzaddik livracha, in sefer Or HaMeir, and I think other baalei mussar also speak the same pshat, that the ta'ina on Yaakov was in his approach to getting the brachos. Chazal tell us, Ulay yimusheni avi, v'hayisi b'einav k'misatea. He was afraid. He was afraid that maybe his father will catch him and he'll look like a liar. Famous from the Gra, ulai — there's two words that mean the same thing, pen and ulai. Pen means maybe, and ulai means maybe. Pen yeshuruni u'vachasem. The difference, says the Gra, pen: I hope it doesn't happen. We don't want yeshuruni u'vachasem, kol yemecha yechacha yom asher madta lifnei Hashem Elokecha b'Chorev. Ulai means maybe, maybe I hope it does happen. So ulai, he was hoping that he would get caught. Ulai yimusheni avi and I'll get caught. And why did he want to get caught? Because he didn't want to be a liar. Says Rav Meir Chodosh, and what about the fact that you're hurting another person? Why was that not part of what you were worried about and hoped that it wouldn't go through? So you shouldn't have to hurt the other person. That's where the ta'ina is. You didn't do anything wrong. You had to do what you did. But why were you more concerned about the lying? And also, as the pasuk says, the curse that might come to you from the lying. You weren't afraid, and you weren't scared and nervous about the fact that you're hurting. That didn't come into your cheshbon. You know, we do things, and we might be right. Does it ever come into our cheshbon? Maybe, maybe, maybe it's not kedai because I'm hurting another person. Not everything that you're right, not everything that a person is right to do, is something that you should want to happen, because maybe you should be afraid. Efsher tut es vei tzen? Maybe it's a... chepping another person. I saw an interesting pshat, teretz, another teretz to the kasha, from a very chashuve Yid, Rav Mordechai Kookus, shlita. He has a sefer, Sichas Mordechai, and he says an interesting pshat. He says the pasuk says, Lashon rakah tishabeh garm. It's a pasuk in Mishlei, perek chof-hei.

Bracha means a soft word. In Yiddish there was an expression, A veiche vort beigt ayzn. A soft word is able to bend, can bend a lot. You're able to take something very strong, like a metal, and bend it. Maybe after he took the brachos, he should have sat down and talked to Esav. Maybe he should have said a nice word to Esav, maybe a kind word. You know, in the pasuk, and this I think we could add, it's an interesting ha'arah. Esav wants the adashim, and he's willing to give up the bechorah for it. Haliteni na min ha'adom ha'adom hazeh. So he just wanted the lentils. He was starving. In the pasuk it says that not only did Yaakov give him lentils, he gave him lechem u'neזid adashim. He gave him bread, and it also says vayeisht. It says clearly that he drinks. He must have given him something to drink too. So he gave him bread, the lentils, the drink, an entire seudah. Vayochal vayeisht, vayakom vayelech. But that's not what he asked for. He asked to just gulp it down, a Slurpee. Give me a Slurpee, that's all. That's all I'm asking for, a red Slurpee. Yet Yaakov Avinu gives him more. What's the pshat? Efsher the taich is, Yaakov Avinu, because of his kavod habriyos, he understood that Esav is doing something which is going to hurt him. So he tried to buffer the pain, and he gave him a full meal, like a mensh, gave him to eat, to drink. Could you imagine if it was for just a slurpee that he gave away the entire, the entire bechorah? There was an adinus of, I have to do what I'm doing. I got to take away the bechorah from you. It's a disaster for you to have the bechorah. Yet how do I take it? I understand the sensitivities of what I'm doing, and I treat you like a mensch. Maybe, maybe, and this is possibly the pshat, and this is what Rav Kook is trying to say, maybe, maybe, maybe the way it was done, tricked, and then he ran away. You got to do something. There's a way to do something also, even when you have to do something, even when things have to be done. Sometimes things have to be said, and sometimes things have to be done. But there's a way of how to do it that maybe could buffer the pain or the embarrassment that the other person has. There's another teretz in the mahalach of Acharonim that actually Esav's tzaakah gedolah u'marah wasn't just a scream from pain, but it was a tefillah. We know that there's many leshonos of tefillah. One medrash says there's just ten, there's one medrash says there's thirteen, but tzaakah is one of them. So maybe it wasn't just a scream, but rather what was it? It was a tefillah. It was a davening, a prayer. He cried out to the Ribono Shel Olam in tefillah. Oh. So if it was just a pain and he was hurt, maybe we wouldn't have to deal with that, and we wouldn't have to counter that. But if it's a tefillah that he tried out in prayer, the tefillah needs to be countered. There needs to be something that counters that tefillah: Zeakah gedolah u'marah, a tefillah, which is clear in the mefarshim that the zeakah gedolah u'marah was, of Mordechai in times of Haman, in Shushan Habirah, was a form of tefillah. Many mefarshim don't learn that the zeakah of Esav was a tefillah. It was just screaming. He was angry, he was hurt, he was yelling. If you notice, it says, Zeakah gedolah u'marah ad me'od. So here you're back to another kasha. If it's supposed to be a payment for what Esav— but Esav was zeakah gedolah u'marah ad me'od. Yet by Mordechai, it's zeakah gedolah u'marah without the ad me'od. What happened to the ad me'od? So I always say the pshat is that Esav was a little bit of a theatrical, you know, everything was—

Could be that was the exaggerated part of his yelling. You know, he was, Tza'aka gedolah u'marah, yes. I know there's a Chasam Sofer that deals with the word marah. What exactly does marah mean? But al kol panim, tza'aka gedolah u'marah, and Adonoy already, already, that's already eis of overdoing it. So when Mordechai has to pay back, how does he pay back? He pays back only, Tza'aka gedolah u'marah. So he's yelling. Mordechai is davening, Tza'aka gedolah u'marah, and could be that's why one is tza'aka and the other one is z'aka. Tza'aka is a yell; he was screaming. Z'aka is tefillah. How does a Yid yell? A Yid yells out in tefillah. Goyim, shrien. Yidden daven. Goyim shrien, scream. You hurt them. They're yelling and screaming at you. A Yid, when he's in pain, someone hurts him, how does he express himself? Z'aka with tefillah. In the past I've asked by Sdom, it says, Za'akas Sdom va'Amorah ki rabah. You see z'aka by Sdom. I thought z'aka was saying a strictly tefillah. So maybe it's not such a kasha. The people who were pained in Sdom, they called out b'z'aka with tefillah to the Ribono Shel Olam, and the Ribono Shel Olam heard their prayer, their tefillah. But al kol panim, this would answer the kasha that we started with: if the tza'aka gedolah u'marah... Esav is paid back through the zchus gedolah of Mordechai. Why is this tzaakah and this is a tzaakah with a zayin? Now, l'choira, rabosai, medaf oplernen a yesod in this whole parsha here. It seems like there's so much galus, so much galus based on a scream, on a second of pain that he had, a tzaakah gedolah u'marah. There is a yesod in mefarshim that even if Yaakov was 100% right about the bracha nekli, it became, it's broken now. There is a cheshbon when something happens and it's a chisaron, it's a kilkul. You can be 100% right for being mekalkel, you have to be 100% right for breaking. But broken means tikkun in shleimus. And you have to understand, rabosai, when the avos, when they did something, that became Klal Yisroel. And in a greater sense, it became the whole world. The whole world was through the maasim of the avos, became established through their behavior, through their emunah, through the middos. They were ma'amid a velt and they were ma'amid a Klal Yisroel. So the smallest kilkul, even if it's not an avelah, but it's a kilkul, needs tikkun many years later. It's not the act of an individual. Possibly as an individual, he's not chayiv; he didn't do anything wrong. But l'maaseh, in the DNA of Klal Yisroel, in the fabric of Klal Yisroel, likder problem, their kilkul, that the achvah was getshepet. It was touched to the point that Esav had to cry out in pain. Now that kilkul, many years later, needs to be fixed, even if no one is schuldig for that. It's a middikel dakus in what Klal Yisroel, and it's talich of Klal Yisroel. Klal Yisroel has to be shleimus, shleimus in middos. And when there's something, a crack, even if it's rightfully cracked, it needs to be patched. Kilkulim don't have to be that someone was responsible, that he did something wrong, but it's responsible to fix it anyway. You still become responsible to fix it because that's Klal Yisroel in its shleimus, and the avos and their actions is Klal Yisroel. And in a greater sense, it's the entire world.

Everything that they did had an effect on the briah around them. Chazal tell us that Adam Harishon was commanded, first command. People think it's the eitz hadaas. Medrash says he was told, Re'eh shelo tekalkelu es olami. Don't break my world. Acts have an effect, and that effect is in the fabric of the world and in Klal Yisroel. It's in the fabric of Klal Yisroel. Years later it has tozaos. We never understand galus. Galus is an inuyish, or galus is a tikkun. It's a big conversation, rabosai. But in the galusin, there's definitely tikkunim. You need to see things in the proper vein. Many events that take place, people have questions. They're not sure how to view those situations. Past situations that we had recently, there was different controversies on how to see it. There were two sides to the discussion of what happened in Pittsburgh. I'm humble to know that I don't know, and I'm not big enough to have an opinion. It's Gedolei Yisroel, whose einayim, their eyes, their einei ha'eidah on how to view events which are complicated, which are controversial. But I think les man d'palig, both sides of the debate will be modeh. That it's galus. Either way, it's galus that this is unfortunately what happens, and this is galus that unfortunately Yidden are killed. Whatever it is, it's galus. And galus is something that we need to daven because it's tikkunim in the galus that we need to correct. And the cheshbonos of why are so complex. But this is all part of the shleimus of Klal Yisroel till the end of times of Mashiach. Ki yad al כס קם, מלחמה לה' בעמלק, שאין הכסא שלם. It's not complete. It's not complete, and it needs tikkun. Galus is not complicated to understand the shoresh of every thing that happens in galus. The baalei mussar, Reb Chaim Shmulevitz, zicher tzaddik livrachah, used to say a big yesod, rabosai. You know, a person could do what's right, and a person could actually even do a mitzvah. But if it means hurting another person, it's fire. And when you touch fire, you get burnt. It's cause and effect. It doesn't have to be that you did something wrong. It doesn't have to be that you didn't do it because of a mitzvah. Either way, when you touch a fire, your finger is going to get burnt. ... Reb Chaim Shmulevitz zatzal, and why Yaakov had to pay back. Remember there was once a darshan that got up, and he said, Imagine you fix the Havdalah candle with your finger. You're fixing the fire. What are you going to say? It shouldn't burn you because it's a Havdalah candle. It's going to burn you. It is what it is. I want to tell you something interesting, rabboisai, and this to me was a tremendous eye-opening Chazal. Chazal say that Moshe Rabbeinu asked mechilah from Klal Yisrael before he was niftar. I want to read you the words of the Chazal. אמר להם, Moshe Rabbeinu said to them, הרבה צערתי אתכם בתורה ובמצוות. Maybe I caused you anguish by giving you too much shiurim. Maybe I caused you anguish. I see everyone is smiling. Okay, I'll ask you mechilah, all right. הרבה צערתי אתכם במצוות, מחולי, please forgive me, please. Moshe Rabbeinu is asking forgiveness. אמר לו, רבינו, אדונינו, מחול לך. Okay, so now I don't know if the Olam is still telling me machol, but Monday maybe you'll tell me macholach, machol.

Okay. The point being, rabosai, the point being, that even teaching Torah and giving the mitzvahs, which was Hashem, Ribono Shel Olam gave the mitzvahs. Rabosai, you're listening to a Chazal. When Moshe teaches Torah, who is it, for him or for them? It's for them. When he gives them mitzvahs, it's Hashem gave. He didn't make up his own mitzvahs. And yet he still asks mechilah, and he still asks mechilah. Maybe I was metzayer you. What it means to be metzayer, what it means to be metzayer. Sometimes a small act of tzaar is deep, and the effect of it is doiri doiros, rabosai. Torah is so heilig. I don't believe that anyone, if it wasn't from the Torah, would even think that this was correct. That an Esav, who was pained, and that tzaar is something that we're paying through the galus for. Because a tzaar, what it means to be metzayer, what it means to cause another person anguish, pain, hurt. I want to tell you over a meyridike Chazal. Kol hamanah viyasom leisan. It's a pasuk. Kol hamanah viyasom leisan, ki im ani, ani oisoi. Rabosai, if you do pain the yasom, I'm going to take action. I'm going to take action. Im ani sani. I'm going to take—if you cause him pain, Chazal say that actually doesn't mean only an almana v'yasom; it's anybody. Ela diber hakasuv b'hoveh, because they happen to be more sensitive. There is Torah that an almana, a yasom, that you have to be extremely careful, because the Torah says, Kol almana v'yasom lo sa'anun, says the Kotzker Rebbe, the double lashon, ani sani. What's the double lashon? Says the Kotzker Rebbe, seichel tzaddik livracha, zechuso yagen aleinu, that when you hurt a yasom or an almana, you're actually going to be punished for two things. One is for the actual being metza'er, and one is because when you're metza'er them, it brings back old memories of pain. The almana and the yasom start thinking, Nobody's there to help me. I'm an easy target because I don't have a husband, I don't have a father. So you're reawakening the old pains. You're getting punished for that too. Im ani sani. The Torah is saying not only you're going to get punished for hurting, but the hidden hurt that reawakens when you hurt them, for that too. HaRak yeschem b'charev. Rabosai, I'm so makpid on the hidden tzaar, on the hidden tzaar of people. Sometimes we think, Well, I don't look like it bothered. Who knows what he carries in his heart? And if we're, chas v'shalom, not the one that's shuldig, responsible for that pain, I'm going to tell you a meydike pshat, rabosai. The Mechilta, Kuf Peh Aleph, Chav Beis, on the pasuk of Ani Hashem. The Mechilta says that two of the Asarah Harugei Malchus, Rabbi Shmuel and Rabbi Shimon—we know the Asarah Harugei Malchus from Mechiras Yosef—so two of the ten were yotzim lehareg. Amar lei Rabbi Shimon l'Rabbi Shmuel, Rebbe, libi yotzi she'eini yodea al mah ani neherag. I don't know why I'm getting killed. Amar lei Rabbi Yishmael. So Rabbi Yishmael says back to him, Miyamecha ba'adam etzelcha l'din, o l'she'elah v'kvosa ad shetehei shoshek koischa? Did you ever prolong the din moments by drinking whatever you had to finish, say, a coffee? Did you say, Well, give me a few minutes to finish my coffee, or maybe give me a few minutes to put on my shoes, or to put on my tallis? Before they went l'din, they would put on a tallis. Is it possible that you transgressed, that you were over on a saneh, that you—even the smallest, says the Chazal, aneh, saneh mikol makom—even the smallest inui.

Is it possible, as a dayan, that you cause someone anguish? You cause someone tzaar by being me'aneh the din? Moments. Not a long, not overnight, not weeks, but moments, enough time to drink what you finished drinking, says the Medrash, the Mechilta. אמר לו. So Reb Shimon tells Rabbi Yishmael, I hear. רבי ניחמתני, ניחמתני. Now I know why I'm dying. You hear? So Reb Shimon turns to Rabbi Yishmael, and he says, Give me an explanation. Why am I getting killed? And the answer is because maybe you were me'aneh. Maybe you caused someone anguish prolonging his din for a few seconds longer than you should have. And with this he says, I hear. Yes, ניחמתני. Now I understand why I'm dying. Rabosai, I don't understand this Chazal. We know that they died for the asarah harugei malchus because of mechiras Yosef. So why are they finding that they were me'aneh the din? They died because of mechiras Yosef. The Ribono Shel Olam told them clearly. They went up to Shamayim and they asked, Ribono Shel Olam, what is this gezeirah about? And the answer is, mechiras Yosef. So what are they questioning? So I always thought, pashut, you could say, Yeah, but why them? They were asking. Good, it has to be asarah harugei malchus. It has to be ten tzaddikim. But why us? So we have to find some reason why we, anyway, were chayav misa. But I think there's a deeper pshat here in the Chazal, rabosai. They wanted to know what shaychus, what connection did they have with mechiras Yosef? What did they do that was something in the realm of mechiras Yosef that they should be chosen to die for mechiras Yosef? What was mechiras Yosef? Mechiras Yosef was a din that they were right. The shevatim were right. They made a judgment. They made a din Torah, and the Ribbono Shel Olam was on that din. So then what was the chisaron? What did they do wrong? The pasuk says clearly that what they did wrong was, Al asher ra'inu b'tzaras nafsho, b'hischaneno eileinu v'lo shamanu. The shevatim realized that even though in halacha they were right, but there was tzaras nafsho. We caused anguish, and we saw him crying and being in pain. Oh, you were right in din, so we have to find something in din with judgment that you caused someone pain, which is not—you're not responsible. You didn't do anything wrong. The din was right. And the answer is, they were me'aneh the din. That small tzaar. It's considered a big, a big offense, enough to say it's a tikun for mechiras Yosef. Which means, rabboisai, if there's a mechiras Yosef, years and years later there's an inuy hadin. There's some connection in the Klal Yisroel. Now we understand how the golusin are so connected. We all know, Chofetz Chaim brings it, that the golus is mechiras Yosef. Yeah, but I don't understand. If the golus is mechiras Yosef, we went down to Mitzrayim, and all the golusin, says the Chofetz Chaim, are all from mechiras Yosef. Yeah, but here we have from Esav, so which one is it? Is it Esav, like the Medrash says, because of the tears and because of the crying and the pain, or is it what? Or is it because of mechiras Yosef, and the Torah says it's all the same thing? You were right in din, yet at the same time you caused pain to Esav. The brothers, you were right in din, but you caused pain to Yosef. Reb Shimon, you're right, you paskened, you didn't do anything wrong.

But you're causing pain. This is maybe what the Rosh Yeshiva meant, tikkun. There's previous scenarios and stories and events that go into the fabric of Klal Yisroel that they have to be misaken through the galus. Then you have Achva. Then you're not causing people tzaar, not to be metza'er, not to hurt other people. Manoira, how strong and how deep is the oimek hadin, rabosai, especially when it comes to metza'er another person. That's the lesson that needs to be taken. Yaakov Avinu probably walked away from the brachos. Yaakov Avinu walked away from the brachos. He must have thought, Baruch Hashem, wow, I was zoche, I got the bechorah and the brachos. Little did he realize at that moment how much tikkunim would have to come. Maybe, maybe, I'm thinking, efshar, Esav is running after Yaakov all the years because he hates him. He hates Yaakov Avinu because of the brachos. Why? Why did the Eibishter make that Yaakov Avinu should be genirdeft? He should be persecuted because of the brachos. And the answer maybe is that's all a chelek of the galus, that the tikkunim already started there. The tikkun of the pirud, the achva, already started, and that because of that, it wasn't delivered to him. It wasn't given to him in a way that it shouldn't be appear to the achva. So already the redifah of Esav throughout the doros, through the galus, this is what it means, afilu biskerecht, and afilu the halacha is like you, and afilu you're doing something that's right, nicely, you have to be careful not to be metza'er others. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.