Vayishlach: Dinah’s Departure, the Dangers of Outside Influence, and Yaakov’s Holy Home

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Be'ezras Hashem yisbarach. Maaseh Dinah. Story of Dinah. The story of Dinah is pelei pla'im. It's wonders of wonders. I mean, what happened? On one hand, why did it happen? Why did it happen? Chazal tell us that you know why it happened? It happened because Esav. Okay? Yaakov was afraid that Esav would want Dinah, so he took Dinah and he locked her in a box. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, You think you're protecting Dinah? You locked her in a box. Look. Look what's going to happen to Dinah. So right after the story of Esav, when Esav comes, the story of Dinah follows. Now, what exactly did Yaakov do wrong? I mean, it's a normal thing. Esav was a gangster. Esav was known to be a rapist. Chazal tell us that the day that Avraham Avinu died, avar al chamisha aveiros. He did five aveiros he did. Esav ba min hasadeh v'hu ayef. Five of the most chamudik aveiros, and one of them was baal נערה מאורסה. He was a rapist. It says clearly in the Chazal that Esav was a molester. He was a person who would definitely be put on a list of people that you wouldn't want to move into your neighborhood. So what did Yaakov do so wrong if he protects Dinah? So the truth is, I would say, two pshatim. One is already said by the Baal HaMusar, and it needs to be explained because it's a very difficult teretz. He put her in the box and he locked it. Chazal point out, Chazal are madgish, they stress, they emphasize, they emphasize that he locked the box. You hide, okay, you put away, okay. The locking of the box—what's the locking of the box? So the Baal HaMusar explained it was done with too much vigor. It was done with too much, Oh, no way he's going to get my Dinah. He should have locked her in the box. You have no choice, Chaval. I wish, I wish, I wish. Maybe she could have married Dinah, and he would have been chozer b'tshuvah. I can't take the chance. It's true, I can't take the chance. But it should have been with a little more—oy, oy—it should have been with a little more, in Yiddish we say, a krechtz. A krechtz is anacha. Ah, I have to do it. I'm sorry. And you do it when you don't want to do something, and you're forced to do it, you do it slower. You don't do it the same zrizus, you know, I should have done it. This is the words of the great Baal HaMusar. It's hard to understand that because of such a small, because of such a small point, such a terrible effect, that Dina should be taken by Shechem and be ne'enas, to be raped by Shechem. It's hard to understand. Baal HaMusar say it, but it's something which needs to be explained deeper, because on the surface it's me'od kasheh l'kabel. It's difficult to understand. You know, you could come and say ta'ana, there's a ta'ina, but the consequence doesn't fit the chet, doesn't really fit the chet. It's so... There's another pshat that we could say. There's another pshat that we could say. You know, there's hishtadlus. There's hishtadlus. And then there's over-hishtadlus, too much hishtadlus. You lock, you put her in a box, you have to mishtadel. You lock her in the box, have bitachon, have bitachon.

runs the world. The locking in the box, this could be a little too much lack of bitachon. You know, I'll tell you a beautiful story. The world is used to saying over how Reb Elchanan Wasserman, zichrono livracha, was neherag al kiddush Hashem. He was killed. How was he killed? So the story is in the beginning of the sefer. The story goes that he was giving a shiur, and the talmidim was sitting and learning, and then the Nazis came. So he told the talmidim, I want to give you a sichat musar before. And what is a sichat musar? That we should be mechaven l'shma, mekayem mitzvat kiddush Hashem without any bad machshavot of hirhur of safek or being upset, safek in emunah and complain. Why? Because then it'll pasul. It's going to ruin the kiddush Hashem, the machshavah and the kiddush Hashem. And being that we are for korban, being that we're going to be a korban for the Jews of America. The Jews of America, their lifestyle is such that they'll need kaparah, especially in order for the Torah to be rebuilt in America, they're going to need kaparah. So we're the korban now to be mechaper on the American Jews. That's what Reb Elchanan said, and then they took him out and they killed him. This is what's brought in the sefer. I was zoche to learn with a talmid chacham who lived in the neighborhood here in Queens, who was a talmid of Reb Elchanan, who was there at the time. And he, as well as another person who was there, he used to say, Go speak to that person too, and he would say that the story is not true. It never happened. Even though everybody brings it and everybody speaks about it, this story never happened. What did happen? He was in the home of Rebbetzin Cutler's father. Rebbetzin Cutler had a father, I think his name was Pinchas, and he used to bring talmidei chachamim to be in his house. And Reb Elchanan was there, and there was a pogrom in the street. So they said, Let's go hide. So Reb Elchanan was a very tall man. Reb Elchanan was very, very tall. So they told Reb Elchanan to go hide in the closet, in a certain corner. It wasn't enough space for him, so he really had to cram in to get in there. So he said, I'm mechuyiv to be mishtadel, but I'm not mechuyiv that much hishtadlus. A person is mishtadel, but normal hishtadlus. For me to go and squeeze into a corner where it's so not comfortable, that's already too much hishtadlus. So this bachur, who later was a talmid chacham I learned with, he went there instead. He went underneath over there in that corner, because it was only meant for a small boy, the space. And they took Reb Elchanan. What happened was they went into the house, they took Reb Elchanan. A day later... After the program was over, they started asking the Poles, the Polakim, the Polex of this town, where is all the people that were from the kah? So they said they were taken to the forest and they were shot. So they asked, was there a tall person with the... and they went and they found Reb Elchanan. So they find his body. Yeah, so they claimed that the story never happened. It just, the way it's brought in the sefer never happened. But I think that even the way it did happen, it's also tremendous limud. You see how the emunah of Reb Elchanan, the emunah was such, mishtadlim, but you don't make over-hishtadlus. Too much hishtadlus you don't do. And this is maybe pshat here too. You want to hide dina? You have to lock. You have to lock the box. The locking of the box is a siman of over-overdrive hishtadlus. Dangerous person is a rotzeach, anas. HaKadosh Baruch Hu, emunah, emunah. Hashem, Hashem, Hashem protects a person. Hashem protects a person. So you mechuyav l'hishtadel, l'doron, l'tefillah, u'l'milchamah. How much? How much? So maybe the box, yeah, but the locking of the box, that's too much. The box, yeah.

Hiding, yeah. But to have to hide and lock the box, that's already something more. That's already extra hishtadlus, maybe yachol lihyot. And, im yirtzeh Hashem, as the shiur progresses and we understand more the maaseh of Dinah, we'll have a different answer, maybe more of understanding in the original answers that we gave. But I just want to finish the point that when you're overmishtadel, so you know what Hashem says? You want to see? You made hishtadlut? Okay, look what happened. Did it help you? Atei tzei Dinah, Aharon, and look what happened. You were overmishtadel to protect Dinah. Look what happened. You know where I got this from? There's an interesting Rashbam that explains, Vayehi acharei hadvarim ha'eileh veha'akeidah. What is vayehi acharei? It was after these things. So most of the Rishonim learn vayehi acharei, meaning after all the original nisyonot, Hashem tested him one more time. That's the vayehi acharei, vayehi achar hadvarim ha'eileh. What's hadvarim ha'eileh? The original. Rashbam learns after the treaty that he made with Avimelech, the previous parshah is the treaty with Avimelech. After the treaty of Avimelech, what happened? Akeidah. Says the Rashbam, Hashem had a ta'anah: Why are you making a treaty with Avimelech? I told you not to make treaties with the goyim of Canaan. Lo techayeh kol neshamah. What are you making treaties with Avimelech for? And the answer is because you had rachmanut. And you want to protect your son, that he shouldn't have problems with Avimelech. I'll show you that you see anyway. I'll tell you to take your son and shecht him. Too much hishtadlus. Again, I'm going to show you, look what happens. I'll tell you to go and take this child that you overprotected, and look, that's what the Rashbam says, Rashbam on the pasuk, Vayehi achar hadvarim ha'eileh, and it's possible that this is what it means here too. He overprotected Dinah. Too much hishtadlus. Vateitzei Dinah, look what happens. Okay, we're going to get back to all this. I want to discuss, bichlal, how could such a story happen? Not why Hashem let it happen, and how such a thing happened to Yaakov. I would like to discuss, how did such a story happen to Dinah? What happened? So we have to discuss this. We have to discuss this. Chazal tell us, Vateitzei Dinah, Dinah went out. And it seems from the Chazal that the vateitzei Dinah is the root of the problem. That's where the problem begins. Chazal say, Yatzianis haysa. She was a woman who went out. Yatzanit. She's a person who goes out. Where did she get this from? Bat Leah. She picked it up from Leah, because Leah also went out. The story of the dudaim, she sold the dudaim to Rachel, so she went out. She went out to tell Yaakov that you're supposed to come to me. The Baalei Mussar all ask, it doesn't make sense. This that she went out to her husband, it was a good thing. It was a good thing. She was trying hard to have Yaakov come to her to be molid shevatim. As a matter of fact, in this zchut, that night she had Yissachar. Yissachar, Torah. So how can we compare the yetziah, the leaving of Leah, to the leaving of Dinah? What happened? What happened? What happened? So Baalei Mussar say that not always does an act have full, full, full l'shem Shamayim. You can take a good act and find in it one string, one hair, where it's not good, and that is molid peirot later to be a problem. You're right. All in all, wonderful. Leah did the right thing. Leah did a maaseh tzidkut. But because she betoch hamaaseh הזה is yetziahnit, there's something about going out.

Chazal zumen in tzei batleya. This is producing dina from going out, to go out b'bnos ha'aretz. I think we need to say more. I think we have to explain, what's the pshat? Leah goes out is a good thing, and what happens? Dinah goes out. Terrible. And we tell her that because of this, just look what happened to you. What's the connection to bat Leah? What's the connection to bat Leah? Why did she go out, Dinah? Why did she go out, Dinah? What'd she go out for? You know, there's two ways how we could do avodas Hashem. One way a person could do avodas Hashem, he goes out to do the avodas Hashem. Aggressively. He aggressively goes to do and to achieve, livnot v'la'asot. That's one way. And then there's another way how we could do avodas Hashem. You stay in your daled amot, and in your daled amot, in your four amot, avodas Hashem comes to you. What HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants for you to do, He sends to you. He wants you to make a yeshiva, the talmidim will show up at your doorstep. How does one— Work in avodas Hashem. Leah was aggressive in her avodas Hashem. I'll prove it to you. The whole way how Leah got Yaakov. How did Leah get Yaakov? Leah got Yaakov by taking it from Rachel. Leah got Yaakov. She was misorer, that even though it was meant for somebody else, she'll aggressively— She gave the sign. She didn't know. It says in the Gemara that Leah cried and cried and cried, shenaflah b'chelko shel Eisav. So what do you see? That she aggressively ran away from Eisav. She aggressively ran away from Eisav. Rachel, Rachel was mekabel, even to be part of Eisav. Why? Because if that's what Hashem sends, if that's what Hashem wants, I accept it. You see clearly. Here's—let's go back to the original story. The original, original story. Leah was supposed to be with Eisav. Rachel is supposed to be with Yaakov. Leah aggressively goes to get Yaakov, and Rachel is maskim to be, if this is what it is. You know, there's a lashon of a Chazal. Chazal say, the simanim—it's a Medrash—when the simanim were given over, you know what Rachel said? Siman shehi, my sister, is ra'ui l'Yaakov v'lo anochi. It's not for me. Heaven is showing us. If heaven shows us and heaven is guiding us that it should be for Leah, it's a medrash, it's an open medrash, Rabosai. Leah aggressively doesn't accept, and she changes what was supposed to be. She goes out to make sure that she gets Yaakov, while Rachel accepts to be with Esav. Let's take a look now and understand the locking of Din in the box, that they shouldn't be ta'eisaf. But isn't Rachel's shita, isn't Rachel's shita that if it's supposed to be and if it's meant to be, that means that that's the way Hashem wants it to be? The locking in the box and the Leah going out to get Yaakov is the same thing, really. It's really the same thing. Vateitzei Dinah. Dinah went out. Where did she go out for? Why was she going out? So it's very difficult to say that she went out for the wrong reasons, and I'll explain to you.

The Altefus Slabodka, the Chofetz Chaim makes a diyuk. B'vnos ha'aretz, she went out to see bnos ha'aretz, friends, friends. V'lo bnei ha'aretz, she didn't go out to see boys. The Altefus Slabodka says this. So you can't say it was tznius. You can't say it was a chisaron in arayot. So where was it? Yetzi'anit, the fact that she left the house. So since kol kevudah bas melech פנימה, she went keneged nimus, she went keneged what the normal behavior of a bas Yisrael is supposed to be. So it's more of a chisaron in middot, says the Altefus Slabodka, not a chisaron in what? In tznius. It wasn't that she left looking for tzniut. I'm sorry, for immodesty. She left, it was a chisaron in middot. The middot should have said, you know what, you don't go out. But what she went out for wasn't bad. She went out b'vnos ha'aretz. You know, there's a perek that Reb Eliezer, that the Or HaChaim brings down, that actually that's how Shechem got her. What's b'vnos ha'aretz? He made a production of women, a play. He made a production, music, women, you know, like they have these plays in the paper, you know, before Chanukah, before a women's production, a play. So she saw this, she said, you know, let me see what it's all about. It's very interesting. That's b'vnos ha'aretz. Curiosity. He got her curiosity. Chassidish sefarim say differently. You know what the Chassidish sefarim say b'vnos ha'aretz means? She went to do kiruv rechokim, b'vnos ha'aretz. She went looking for the good girls of Eretz Yisrael. Vateitzei Dinah. Dinah left. You know where she left? She went outside to the world, b'vnos ha'aretz, to be mekarev, to find friends, to make good friends, to help other girls. Chassidish sefarim are busy, very busy with this pshat. I like it. It's an interesting way of looking at what happened to Dinah. Vateitzei Dinah. So now we have a connection to Dinah and the mother. Yetziah nit doesn't mean that she did something chisaron, tznius. That's not what it is. Leah did something wrong in tznius. Nah. But Leah was aggressive in her avodas hakodesh. Leah was aggressive. Leah was aggressive. Dinah was aggressive, right? Dinah was vateitzei Dinah. She went out also, l'karev. She was in the house of Yaakov. She went out. Now I'm going to explain that. The punishment. I'll explain the punishment, right? Now I want to explain this to you a little bit more. The Meshech Chochma says a very interesting thing, the Mei HaSimcha. He says we find a very big difference between the avodah of Avraham Avinu and the avodah of Yaakov. The avodah of Avraham Avinu was to open his house and let everybody come in, and with this to be mekarev rechokim. Says Meshech Chachma, Yaakov Avinu never did that. Yaakov Avinu was Yaakov uvanav. It's always Yaakov with his house, locked in his house with his children. Says Meshech Chachma, why? Avraham Avinu was l'karev, is to bring people close to Hashem. Yaakov, which was Torah, it was about inclusive or exclusive, which means only to be involved with building his home. Yeah? You're listening? It's an unbelievable piece of Meshech Chachma. Avraham Avinu's house was open. Yaakov Avinu's house was closed, closed to the public. My house.

And I want to tell you something very interesting. You hear? I want to hear something very interesting. Something interesting. A lot of people are osek in kiruv, rechokim, and they take all different types of people on different levels, kids at risk and so on and so forth. I always tell them, not at your Shabbos table. Not at your Shabbos table. You want to do kiruv rechokim out of your house. Don't bring the rechokim into the house, because it's mashpia, leaves an effect on your children. If the children constantly see this, they're not going to turn out right. You have to have your house separate, your house enclosed, pure. You want to take and work with people outside. Once in a while you can invite somebody. I'm not telling you that you can't make exceptions. But if your house becomes kiruv rechokim, you should know you'll be merachek your kerovim. That's a fact of life. Avraham Avinu wasn't afraid to let every tom, dick and Harry come in. Okay, so let's discuss this point. Avraham Avinu, I don't know if you realize, Avraham Avinu had two children. One was Yitzchak, which was an olah temimah, and the other one was Yishmael. Yitzchak, he had a nesef. Yaakov was mitaso sheleimah. Every one of his children turned out right. Every one of his children was mitato, his bed, which means his children were complete, was pure. Yaakov was creating Klal Yisrael, a different avodah. It was a different point. Avram was l'karev, to bring people tachat kanfei haShechinah, and Yitzchok was avodah. Yaakov was Yaakov Avinu, and I'm going to prove this to you over and over again from the tefillah. We say this many times in the davening. We can talk about this, okay? Vateitzei Dinah. The going out of Dinah was a mistake. The going out of Dinah, because the point of Yaakov's home was not to be influenced by the outside at all. Yaakov Avinu's home had to be Yaakov, and that he cultivated it from the shoresh. He cultivated it from the shoresh, from the root, and it had to be avad tichach. What does it say in the pasuk? Sheva shanim he worked for seven years, and then another seven years. It was worked on by Yaakov Avinu, that he should have mitato shleimah. Avram Avinu's home was open. Yitzchok's home was open. Yaakov, his home was not open. Vateitzei Dinah, she went out, and I want to tell you something interesting. I saw an interesting Alshich. The Alshich says, you know why she went out? Yaakov only had boys. Yaakov only had boys. So one medrash seems to say she had girls. Also, the Alshich takes on that he only had boys. So as a girl in a house where there was only boys, she had no idea how she was supposed to behave. She was missing something in the house. She looked at what she's supposed to play with, Torah, with Gemara. What do you want from her? She needed the dolls to play with. She needed the dolls to play with. It's an Alshich. The Alshich says she needed lirad bivno taaretz. She needed to be able to communicate with other girls, which is a tremendous lesson, which I believe. Even if you're going to make your home inclusive, locked in, no influence from the outside, but you have to make sure that every child has what he needs. If you lock him up completely and he's missing something, the child is missing, he's going to go where? To the outside to get it. Vateitzei Dinah. Dinah went out, according to the Alshich, because the house was too closed. That's the way the Alshich learns. You read the Alshich and you translate it into modern-day words and terms, this is what it means. She was missing. She was looking around, look at my brothers learning Gemara, and this brother is busy with...

The matzis, and what should I do? So, vateitzei Dinah. She went out, liros bivnos haaretz, to see from them, what do girls do? It's important that if you make the home enclosed, lack of influence from the outside. But that's what we see, though. You see from this Alshich that there was no outer influence, only from within the brothers. So she didn't know what girls are supposed to do. You see from this Alshich how he kept the home locked up, locked up, no outer influence. So vateitzei Dinah. Dinah went out because she was missing. From within, something was missing. She didn't have what she needed. And why is this the way the Meshech Chochmah learns? It's beautiful, because Yaakov's avodah was with his home, to work with his home, not to work with the public. Avraham was different. So vateitzei Dinah. Where is the problem? So we could say a meiridige vort now: Dinah went out. Maybe she wasn't prepared to go out. Vateitzei Dinah. Dinah went out. Maybe she wasn't ready to go out. Maybe it wasn't good for her to go out. She needed to go out because she was missing, but at the same time, the problem is yetziah. She went out, and that wasn't what she was supposed to do. So true, Leah was a yetzianit. And maybe Leah, the actual point of why she went out wasn't bad. But this went into dina to be yetzianit, to look, to search. So she searched, but she wasn't ready to search. You know, you have to protect the children, that when they go out and they start searching for something, if you're not mechanech them properly, they can find anything out there. Children search. Good luck. Children search. So on one hand, you have to be careful, you hear, to keep them in, but give them what they need, and train them that if they go out, they should be ready for it. Otherwise they become מבולבל. You never know what you can get messed up with. Later on we're going to learn that Leah—I'm sorry, that Dinah didn't even want to leave Shechem afterwards. The Medrash says, גיררום גרר בה. Shimon had to scream at her, We're getting out of here. We're getting out of here. Says Reb Yerucham, why? Why would she not leave? Reb Yerucham Levovitz, the mashgiach, zichrono livracha, asked this question: why would she not? You don't realize what happened? He took you, he was menaseh you. Why would you even think of being here? So Reb Yerucham explains, פיתוי היצר. You see from here that once you get—in English we call it suckered in—to the yetzer hara, once you get caught up by the yetzer hara, he can make you think the craziest things, crazy stuff. Any normal person would say, Run away from there. What are you doing? I'm here to save you. Bilbul, bilbul, bilbul. You know, there was once a play. They made a book out of it also, of a person, a girl that was abducted by terrorists. Abducted by terrorists. And they did terrible things to her. L'maaseh, by the time they came to save her, she became so convinced with the terrorists that they were right, that she killed the people who came to save her. Almost like Patty Hearst. Remember Patty Hearst? It's a story. It's a real story, isn't it? A real story. Patty Hearst. She was kidnapped, and then she was, like, brainwashed. Brainwashed. I don't know, you see, I don't know the details because I'm not part of the outside world, but I know that there's such a story out there, and that's the story. Yeah. And they did terrible things to her. They did terrible things to her. And what? When they finally reached to save her, she shot the people who came to save her. Is that the end of the story? Well, I don't know if she shot, but she was like one of them. She became one of them. Eventually she got back. Point being, point being, pitui hayetzer. Once you get caught up...

In Tietzehara, there's no end, okay? The way we're explaining, it's very clear, because she wasn't prepared for all this. You know, Rashi brings down, Vatidaber al lev hanaarah. What does it mean, Vatidaber al lev hanaarah? Says Rashi, he tried to convince her, Hey, look at the piece of field your father has. Nothing. Tiny little piece of junk he bought over there. Me, I'll buy you already houses. Pitui. The pitui of the yetzer. The pitui of the yetzer. What was she thinking? She thinks the guy was a ma'anes. He was a rapist. And the answer is, the answer is pitui hayetzer. Pitui hayetzer means that once you get caught up into it, black becomes white and white becomes black. You can't think straight. You can't think straight. This is Vateitzei Dinah. Vateitzei Dinah, Dinah left. Where did she leave? She left from her environment. She left from the house where she was protected, and she went out, Mibnos haaretz. Look what happened. She was nenas enough, and instead of being able to run away from it, she got caught up into it. That's the chiddush. The chiddush of the parsha, the lesson of the parsha is that she was protected in the house of Yaakov Avinu, but she was missing. She was missing something. So you have to be careful to make sure, like the way the Alshich explains, she was missing, she had to look for it somewhere. And when she went to look for it, when she went to look for it, she wasn't ready to find, to see what she saw. She wasn't trained properly, and she got lost. Vateitzei Dinah, she got lost. She got lost that she was neneh by somebody, and instead of running away from that person, she got caught up with that person. Now, Rabosai, I want to give you a little bit more understanding to the entire parsha. I want to give you more understanding. What? Deeper. Now, you know, before we get to Shechem, there's a small little parsha right before, a small little introduction to the story of Vateitzei Dinah, and that is that Yaakov comes to Shechem, the border, Vayiken es chelkas hasadeh. He buys a piece of sadeh, a piece of land. What's the land? A field. Why does he buy this field? It's not clear. It doesn't say anything. It just says he bought a piece of land, okay? And he's there, and he's... okay. Interesting. According to the Rashbam, the Vateitzei Dinah—what's the Vateitzei Dinah? Vateitzei Dinah means Dinah left. So Rashi learns from the house. Yetzianit, she left the home. The Rashbam says she left the sadeh that Yaakov bought. The significance of the sadeh is starting to become more apparent. There's something here with this piece of sadeh, something very interesting. Vateitzei Dina, she left. Where did she leave? So we always understood she left the house into the street, right? And that was no good. You're supposed to be home. As Ramban learns, vateitzei, she left from the sadeh to the ir. What's the sadeh? What's the sadeh? What is it? I want to tell you something very interesting. You know who was buried in this sadeh? Pasuk in Yehoshua says clearly that the bones of Yosef, Yosef, when they brought the bones, they buried him in this sadeh. Shechem. Shechem. The sadeh in the province of Shechem, that little parcel. That little parcel, yes. Yes. The pasuk says clearly, and as a matter of fact, the pasuk even stresses the parcel of land that Yaakov bought b'me'ah kesitah. It says clearly, that parcel of land, it says in Yehoshua, they buried Yosef in the land, in the parcel of sadeh, in the sadeh, that he bought b'me'ah kesitah. What's the difference? He bought it b'me'ah kesitah. What is this? So the Medrash explains here that the Torah wants to show you and clarify, clear—

Really, that it was bought. The goyim shouldn't come later and say, It belongs to us, like they do today. Maris HaMachpeilah, they say is theirs. Yosef, they write, Kever Yosef, they say is theirs. The Beis HaMikdash, they say they put the mosque is theirs. Those are the three things we bought. Dovid bought that from Goren Arona. He bought it. It was bought. The Medrash says three places we bought with money that the goyim shouldn't come later and say it belongs to us. We paid for it. And it's interesting, those three places they claim is theirs. Those same places that we bought in order that they shouldn't come and claim is theirs, those are the places that they claim is theirs. So could be that's what the pasuk in Yehoshua means. They buried Yosef in the place that Yaakov bought, b'me'ah kesitah, just like Avraham bought, b'arba me'os shekel kesef. Also there too the Torah stresses the amount of money even. So he can't come and say it's not true. I can even tell you how much money I paid. I'll show you the check. Ever see a person says, How can you say I didn't pay? I'll show you the check. I'll show you the receipt. Me'ah kesitah, me'arba me'os shekel, the Maras HaMachpeilah. I think there's a lot deeper going on here. Why we're burying Yosef in this piece of sada? We have to explain why does Yaakov buy this piece of sada? Why is he buying this piece of sada? It's a tremendous question. So there's a very nice Seforno. The Seforno says, You know why he bought this chelkat ha-sadeh? Because he wanted to build a mizbeach. He just came back to Canaan. He's coming from Lavan, and he lands in Eretz Yisrael now. So he wants to build a mizbeach, like it says in the pasuk. He built a mizbeach. So what did he build a mizbeach? Ech na shir et shir Hashem al admat nechar. You can't do it on somebody else's land. It has to be admat nechar. It has to be on your land. Ech na shir, says the Siforno, beautiful Siforno, ech na shir. How should I sing the praises of Hashem al admat nechar? What does he mean, the Siforno? I could tell you one of two things. Either he means to say that it belongs to Canaan, to Shechem. He built a mizbeach, so he bought it away from him. Koneh. And now, like it says by the Ma'arat HaMachpelah, it becomes elevated. What does it say? Tkumah ha'otalah, sheyatza miyad Hedyot. It says after the Me'arat HaMachpelah by Yaakov, that it had an elevation. It's not in the hands of Shechem; it's now where? In Yaakov's hands. That's one pshat. Or I could come and tell you a second pshat in the Siforno, that if you build a mizbeach, a mizbeach has to be an expression from the person himself. So it has to be from within you. It can't be in someone else's land, like it says, Bilvavi mishkan evneh. How does one build a mishkan? From within, from his heart, the chareidim. U'lemishkan mizbeach asim. What do I put in the mishkan, a mizbeach? What is the mizbeach? Nafshi ha'yechidah, akriv lo, nafshi ha'yechidah. So therefore he bought it. It should be him. Ech na shir et shir Hashem al admat nechar. How could you sing the song and the praises of Hashem in someone else's land? It has to be what? You. Your property. So those are two pshatim we could say. Either the Siforno means it had to be not a goyishe land. That's what neichor. Neichor could mean nochri, like a goy, or neichor can mean neichor, strange person, someone else, not me. It has to come from within your land, your property, your heart, your soul, from within you. And therefore he had to buy it. Those are two interpretations that I would say in the Siforno. Even Ezra says a different pshat. Even Ezra says, you know why he bought this sadeh? Because he wanted, as soon as he walked into Eretz Yisrael, to own a piece of land in Eretz Yisrael. He wanted to own a piece of land in Eretz Yisrael. You hear? He wanted to own a piece of land in Eretz Yisrael. So he bought a small piece of sadeh. It's brought down in the sefer Mishmar HaLeviim, Rav Shulzinger, zichrono livracha, who just passed away recently. So he was very close to Rabbi Abramsky, Rav Chatzkel Abramsky, zecher tzaddik livracha, and he says over there in the sefer that he met once Rabbi Chatzkel Abramsky at a bris, and—

Chatzke Bramsky told him, You know the first thing I did when I moved from London to Israel, to Eretz Yisrael? I bought myself in the Galil a small piece of land, a field somewhere. I was never there. I don't know anything about it, but I bought it, l'kayem this even Ezra, that the first thing, as soon as you walked into Eretz Yisrael, I bought a piece of sada, kedushat Eretz Yisrael. I know nothing of it. I don't go there, but I have it, l'kayem this even Ezra. That just like Yaakov Avinu also, as soon as he came into Eretz Yisrael, he bought a chelkat ha-sadeh. Years ago, there was in the papers a, I guess we could call it a novel sale. What is it? They wanted to sell you, for a few dollars, a small piece of land in Eretz Yisrael, and like this you would be mekayem shemitah, the mitzvah of shemitah, because they wouldn't work on that land, and it would be yours, so you would get the mitzvah. And a lot of the rabbanim signed that, you know, it's a good idea for a few dollars to buy. So I remember when it came out, Rav Belsky, my rebbe, shlita, gave a whole speech how it's a gimmick, it's not a real thing. Why? Because shemitah doesn't mean that I happen to have a piece of land somewhere in Eretz Yisrael and I'm mekayem a mitzvah with that. If I live on the land, that's my parnassah, and I don't work it, that's called shemitah. But stam, somewhere in Israel I have a—how much could you, could you work on that land? Could you go arba amot on that? It's nothing. They would sell you— Three inches by three inches. So how was that mitzvahs yishuv Eretz Yisrael, and how was that shemitah? And he gave a whole speech about that, that it's just a gimmick. So I walked over to him afterwards. I say, Rebbe, I don't understand. How could you speak against it, that it's a gimmick? You yourself are signed on it. You're one of the rabbanim that are signed on this. So he tells me, I signed on it because it's not a bad idea for tzedakah, you know, listen, if this gets a guy to give tzedakah, why not, you know? But the truth is, you're not going to get mitzvahs yishuv Eretz Yisrael with this, you know, you're not going to get. But it's interesting, here you see there's an inyan of chelkas hasadeh, and Reb Chatzkel Abramsky learned that means a small piece. You don't need much. You don't even have to go there or be there. The mere fact that you have a piece of sadeh in Eretz Yisrael is a very big mitzvah, and that we learn from this pasuk, that Yaakov, the minute he came into Eretz Yisrael, the first thing he did was he bought a piece of land, a chelkas hasadeh, a piece of sadeh. This answers why he bought a piece of land. It still does not answer why he bought sadeh. Why did he have to buy a field outside the city of Shechem? Do you know what I would have said, pshat maybe? Shechem might have been a big city like Manhattan, and the real estate there, where are you going to find real estate in Manhattan? So you had to go to the sadeh in the suburbs. He wanted to buy a piece of land. Where's he going to buy it? Walk into Manhattan, say you want to buy a piece of Manhattan. What are they going to tell you? Have a nice day. Go to New Jersey, they'll sell you. As much as you want, please take more. You know, let me. So it could be he bought the sadeh at the outskirts. He came with a few trees over there. There's a few. He came, he went to the bar, he'll piece of land. So you can tell, land? Who lands? Shechem is a big city. What are you talking about? Manhattan? Piece of land. Who's going to sell you a piece of land in Manhattan? So they went, and he bought from chelkas hasadeh. Where? Where's chelkas hasadeh, rabosai? On the outskirts. Could be. Truthfully, I think there's more to it, obviously. The Ramban explains why he bought this land, and he says two things, which are maybe one thing. It's not clear in the Ramban. The Ramban says as follows: He didn't want to go into the city because he didn't want to be achsanai betoch ha'ir. He wasn't interested in being in the city of Shechem. Ve'od, which he doesn't write the word ve'od, but he brings it as a second thing, techilas bi'ato la'aretz yehyeh betoch shelo. His first, his first—I'm going to use the word Shabbos because you'll soon see it was Shabbos—he wanted his first Shabbos in Eretz Yisrael to be betoch shelo. It should be in his. It should be...

In his own property. Now, does the Ramban mean one thing, that he didn't want to be in the city a guest because he wanted that the first, let's use the word Shabbos, should be b'toch shelo? Or does he mean two things? One is he didn't want to be in the city, and the second thing is he didn't want to be that the first time he comes to Eretz Yisrael should be in someone else's land; it should be in his own land. Is it one reason, or is it two reasons? Again, the Ramban says two points, which might be the same point. A, he didn't want to be achsanai b'toch ha'ir, so he bought outside a sadeh in the outskirts. Second of all, he wanted shebei techilas bi'ato, the first coming to Eretz Yisrael, should be in his own property, maybe mitzvas yishuv Eretz Yisrael or whatever it is. Is it one or two reasons? Either way, I think there's something very deep here in the Ramban. When did he come? Does anybody know when he came? Rashi says—when was the first approach to Eretz Yisrael? What day was it? Rashi says it was erev Shabbos. Rashi says clearly, because it says in the pasuk, Vayichan Yaakov, right? What is Vayichan Yaakov? Erev Shabbos haya. It was erev Shabbos. Rashi brings from the She'iltos. You look at the Medrash; the Medrash elaborates on this point. Vayichan is a lashon menuchah, melashon chanayah, that he set techumim. He was kovea techumim. This is my techum Shabbos. I'm right now living here Shabbos. Mikan, says the Medrash, from here we learn out, sheShamar Yaakov es haShabbat, that Yaakov kept Shabbos. Vayichan, from this pasuk we learn out that Yaakov kept the Shabbos, because it says he came and he made Vayichan, his chanayah, his resting place, he made it here in Chelkas HaSadeh. So from here we learn that he kept Shabbos. It's a Medrash, huh? It could be it's Midrashim; it's a first Medrash. This is a Medrash. No, Rashi is on the Shilt, because Rashi brings that there was erev Shabbos. That is a Rashi. I start with Rashi. The Rashi says it was erev Shabbos from the Shiltos, and the Medrash is that Vayichan, techumim, that he made his techum Shabbos over there. And from here we learn that he kept the Shabbos. All the mefarshim ask, I don't understand. Avraham also kept Shabbos. Yitzchak also kept Shabbos. It says clearly in the Gemara and in the Chazal, the Midrashim, Vayishmor et mishmarti, et chukotai v'etzotai v'et mitzvotai. Avraham Avinu kept it all, even Eruv Tavshilin, says the Gemara, he made. So he kept Shabbos. So how could he come and tell me Yaakov shamar es haShabbat? Big deal, they all kept Shabbos. More than that, you know the Medrash says, Lo keAvraham Avinu, not like Avraham Avinu, that didn't keep the Shabbos. V'lo kiYitzchak, but rather ki Yaakov sheShamar es haShabbat, Yaakov kept the Shabbos. Like it says in the Gemara, Kol hama'aneg es haShabbos, notnim lo nachalah bli metzarim. What's the Gemara pasuk that the Gemara brings? Vachalticha nachalas Yaakov. Shabbos is Yaakov. The Gemara says clearly that Avram kept Shabbos. It says clearly that Yitzchok kept the Shabbos. So all the mefarshim on the Medrash ask this for a question. Pilei plaim. Pilei plaim. It's a pilei plaim. What is it? How do you understand that you're saying that Yaakov kept Shabbos, and it's special, the Medrash says, only Yaakov? What about Avram? No, no, Avram not. Yitzchok not. But they also kept Shabbos. Even after Matan Avram kept. So bezras Hashem, I'm going to answer this question. The Eitz Yosef explains Avram was mefurash—not mefurash, excuse me—Avram kept it, but it's not mefurash in the pasuk. Yaakov is mefurash, Vayichan. It's mefurash in the pasuk. That's what it means. No, Avram kept, but not like Yaakov. What does it mean? What does it mean? So the meba'alei mefarshim explain where it says it mefurash means that more shleimus, he kept it more, which means Avram kept, but not as much as Yaakov. Avram kept; it's not mefurash in the Torah.

Yaakov kept, first of the Torah, it’s got to be shleimus more. What does that mean? What is keeping Shabbos v’lo bishleimus? What does it mean? Keeping Shabbos? Avraham kept Shabbos, but not bishleimus. Yaakov kept Shabbos? Oh, that was bishleimus. What does it mean? What is it? I’ll tell you what I think it means, rabosai. By Avraham Avinu it says, Eikev asher shama Avraham b’koli, vayishmor mishmarti, chukosai, torosai. You know what it means to be shomea b’kol? To listen to the commandment. To listen to the commandment, kol. Shemirah, shemirah means I listen to the mitzvah of what it says. But in Shabbos there’s more. Shabbos, there’s also, on top of the mitzvah, there is the kiyum of the Shabbat, what is the spirit of the Shabbos, as they say in English. Shomrei Shabbat v’korei oneg, am mekadshei shevi’i. There’s two things in Shabbos. There’s shemiras haShabbat. You could keep the Shabbos, all the halachos, lamed tes melachos, not one thing you do wrong, but you still didn’t keep the Shabbos if a person slept the whole Shabbos, if a person read the newspaper whole Shabbos, or he kept Shabbos. You’re right, he didn’t do any melachos whatsoever, but that’s not what Shabbos is. You know how I know this? The Rambam speaks about this clearly in halacha. The Rambam says one of the reasons, at the end of Hilchos Mukzah, perek chav-daled Hilchos Shabbat, why did they make the issur of muktzah? So one of the reasons the Rambam says is that a person could keep all the mitzvot of Shabbat, yet he cleans his house, he moves around all his furniture. U'vatel ha-taam — it's batel, the reason that the Torah says, L'maan yanuach, shorcha v'chamorcha. Atah v'shorcha v'chamorcha, you should rest. It means a person could not be over lamed-tes melachos, but he didn't keep the Shabbos. He wasn't menuchah on Shabbos. He wasn't nach. Imagine a person is running around the whole Shabbos. Did you rest on Shabbos? Did you go to shul on Shabbos? A person takes a walk — he wakes up in the morning, he walks all the way to Brooklyn on Shabbos, all right? Techum Shabbos he took care of, he took care of, there's no problem with techum Shabbos. Did you do any aveiros? Not one aveirah, he kept Shabbos. He was shomer Shabbos. But was he korei oneg? Did he do l'maan yanuach? U'vatel ha-taam — the Rambam says it clearly. So therefore they gave the issur muktzah, you can't do anything on Shabbos. Don't touch muktzah, don't — muktzah, everything's muktzah, so you can't do anything. What are you gonna do? The Rambam speaks this yesod: a person could keep hilchos Shabbat, yet not keep the l'maan yanuach of Shabbat. Avraham Avinu was eikev asher shama Avraham b'koli, vayishmor mishmarti. He kept the tzivuyim. Yaakov kept something different. Vayichan — what does vayichan mean? Menuchah. He rested on the Shabbos. This is something special and new. Vayichan — he rested. I want to show you something interesting. By Avraham Avinu, it says he even kept Eruv Tavshilin. You know what Eruv Tavshilin is for? Cooking, the issur melacha of cooking. What did Yaakov keep? Techumin. What is techumin? Stay at your place on Shabbos, rest. You hear? What do you say? Beautiful pshat, rabosai. Avram kept Eruv Tavshilin. Yaakov kept something different, Eruv techumin. Vayichan, chanayah, he rested on his place. A person is not allowed to go mimkomo b'Yom HaShabbat. Why? Because he must be rest. This is where we learn techumin from. Al yeitze ish mimkomo b'Yom HaShabbat. You're supposed to be in one place. You're supposed to rest. That's kavod techumin. So Yaakov Avinu kept it. Avram. Avram kept the Shabbat. Yaakov was ma'aneg et haShabbat, and that's why I think the Gemara in Shabbat is very meduyak. The Gemara says, Kol hame'aneg et haShabbat, nosnin lo nachalah bli metzarim. And what is the me'aneg et haShabbat? Which pasuk? V'achalticha nachalat Yaakov. Yaakov, you hear? Nachalas Yaakov. Ma'aneg et haShabbat was nachalas Yaakov.

Now, let's go further. You know, in the tefillah of Shabbat we say, Avraham yagel, Yitzchak yeranen, Yaakov uvanav yanuchu. So first of all, there's two diyukim. One is yanuchu, vayichan. But who? Yaakov uvanav. By Avraham it doesn't say Avraham uvanav. By Yitzchak it doesn't say Yitzchak uvanav. So I would say, you know what the simple reason is? Because it says in the pasuk, V'lo nasata l'goyeratzot, v'lo nachalta l'malkeinu avdei pesilim, v'gam b'nuchato lo yishkenu arelim. So it's not for Yitzchak. It's not for Yishmael. It wasn't meant for Esav, right? Because it says, Geim l'zera Yaakov asher lo bacharta. It had to be zera, so it's not for Yishmael, and it's not for Esav. So who's it for? Yaakov uvanav. That's why by Yaakov we stress Yaakov uvanav. But the way we're learning could be even deeper. Yesh shomerer the Shabbat, that's me, that's you. I'm shomer, I don't do aveiros, you don't do aveiros. But maneg et haShabbat, to make a Shabbos home, that's only if you're manhig et haShabbat. That's Yaakov uvanav yanuchu bo. Avraham, he kept Shabbos, shmirat Shabbos. Yitzchak kept shmirat Shabbos. What did Yaakov keep? Maneg et haShabbat, Yaakov uvanav. Together with his children, he made a Shabbos home. Yaakov uvanav yanuchu bo. That's why we say, V'lo nasata l'goyeratzot, v'lo nachalta... Ki im l'Yisrael amcha nasata zera Yaakov. The zera Yaakov. There's something new, the zera Yaakov. Yaakov uvanav, yanuchu bo, yanuchu bo. Yaakov uvanav. Not each one just keeps the mitzvot. That's pshat: mikan that Yaakov Avinu was special, Vayichan sham Yisrael, Vayichan sham, that he rested over there, he made the Shabbat. Now I understand another nekudah. Why did he want to go into the city? Why go into the city? What's wrong? He didn't want to be achsanai b'toch ha'ir. Why not? And why did he buy a sadeh? So I'll tell you the pshat. You know, Shabbos is affiliated with sadeh. You know that? Bo'u v'neitzei likrat Shabbat malketa. We go out to greet the Shabbos. Where are you going out? ... Where do they go out? To the sadeh. Neitzei ha-sadeh. You see, the inyan of sadeh has to do with kedushat haShabbat. You know, it's interesting. There's a Maharsha. The Maharsha learns that just like a kallah—how do you have a kallah? You have the beginning of the chatunah, slow song. You ever see the beginning, the chatan, kallah, slow, and then afterwards, da-da-da, it's a fast song, right? You know, when you have Lecha Dodi, it's the same thing. Till L'cha dodi, everybody sings a slow song. And then by L'cha dodi, fast song. Why? Because like a chatunah, yeah? In the beginning, slow song. And then afterwards, פירסום. Okay. Why did we wear a coat by a chuppah? You know why we wear? They put on the kittel. I don't know, Sefardim wear kittel? No. But do you wear a coat? Also no. Ashkenazim wear a kittel and a coat. So everybody thinks it's to cover the kittel, because it doesn't look nice on the pictures. That's not the real reason, rabosai. They wore a coat because the original weddings were in the sadeh, they were in the field. They put on a coat. It was cold. They used to wear a coat, very simple. They used to wear a coat. It was cold. So it became a custom, you wear a coat. What's the point? Just like by Shabbos Malka, the Maharsha says it's like going out to greet the chassan with the kallah. So where was it? The sadeh, it used to be in the fields. So the chuppah was in the field. What did Yaakov Avinu buy? A sadeh. Why did he not want to be בתוך העיר? What is the ענין of Shabbat? Shabbat is להבדיל. Which havdil? What separation? Shabbos is להבדיל בין הקודש ובין החול, בין אור לחושך, בין ישראל לעמים. So Yaakov Avinu wanted...

That the first Shabbos, the first Shabbos that he's in Eretz Yisrael, movedal mehagoy. He didn't want to be b'toch ha'ir. He didn't want to be b'toch ha'ir. He didn't want to be in the city. You hear? He didn't want to be in the city, because Shabbos means movedal. Shabbos, you have to be separated. And what are you separated? Yaakov Avinu with his children, not with the outside world. Yaakov u'vanav, yonuchu vo. Menuchas ahavah v'nedavah, menuchas emes v'emunah. So he wanted to be in the sadeh, movedal, like the lashon of the Ramban, leratzot lihyos achsanai b'toch ha'ir. Now I understand why Yosef is buried there. You know why Yosef is buried there? How did Yosef survive in Mitzrayim? What was Yosef's home in Mitzrayim? It was movedal from the goyim. As a matter of fact, when Yaakov Avinu came to Mitzrayim, what was Yosef's chiddush? I'll put you in Goshen, separate. I'll be mavdil you from the rest of Mitzrayim, not to live b'toch ha'ir. This was the chiddush of Yosef, you hear? You know, Yaakov Avinu was ready to go home now in the beginning of the parsha, Vayishlach. Why? Why? Why is he ready to go home now? So it says because he had Yosef, sitno shel Esav. How is Yosef the satan of Esav? Why is Yosef the satan of Esav? And the Teretz, rabosai, is gevaldik. Hashpo. Esav is about to be mashpia. You know what Esav wants? I want to go together with you. What does Yaakov Avinu say? No. We go separate. Muvdal. Yaakov's chiddush was havdalah. No, no, no, no. We stay separate. Yaakov uvanav, we stay separate. What was Yosef? It's interesting. Yosef covered his mother from Esav. What is the point? Cover. Muvdal. Esav is not going to see Rachel, because Esav and Rachel are not supposed to be together. The way to deal with Esav is to fight, to make havdalah, to make a separation. Yosef had this koach. Yosef had this. And because Yosef had it, so in Mitzrayim, in Mitzrayim, unbelievable, he was able to save Klal Yisrael. Shloshinu shmam, leshonam, malbusham. How did that happen? Because they lived in Goshen. They had their own place, their own city, their own language, which is a tremendous chizuk for this idea that Jews are supposed to have their own clothing and their own language and not be mevulbal with the goyim, not to be mevulbal with the goyim. You know, what was sari shel Esav? You know what sari shel Esav is? In the piyutim of Geshem, we say that the sari shel Esav is esh. He's fire. I'm sorry, in the Hoshanos we say he's fire. Maybe to geshem. One of the places we say that it's fire, and in geshem we say, Mevulal b'mayim v'eish. Sarosh shel esav is a mixture of fire and water. Mixture of fire and water. This pshat: the lack of havdalah, the lack of, on one hand it's mayim and on one hand it's eish. Mevulal means it's mixed. What is the sarish shel Esav? Mevulal b'mayim v'eish. It says it clearly in the piyut. In tefilas geshem we say it's a mixture of fire and water. And the answer is because it's a mixture. It's a mixture of fire and water. It's mevulal. It's mixed. It's dangerous when it's mixed. Esav, on one hand, was a tremendous giant, and on the other hand he was a tremendous rasha. Mevulal. There was no havdalah between tov and ra, kedushah and tumah. Mevulal, yeah, mevulal b'eish uvamayim. This is the inyan. Mevulal means mixture of fire and water. What does that mean? That's this point. The sarish shel Esav mixes up. It's a mixture. It's not clear fire, water. The idea of Yaakov is lehavdil bein hakodesh uvein hachol. You have to mix it. It's shem chamik.

This coming, we'll talk about the inyan of the Yevanim is also to take the Torah and mix it with taiva. And what's the inyan of the kedusha is to separate it. There's a difference between kedusha and taiva; you have to separate. Okay. Now I understand why Yosef is buried where? In this chelka tasadeh. What was this chelka tasadeh? It was to take the mishpachah of Yaakov and say, Lo, we're not going to become mixed in together with the goyim. We're going to be separate. So therefore Yosef is buried, because that was the koach of Yosef, to stand strong in Mitzrayim, to stand strong against the yetzer hara, not to be mevulal, not to get mixed in with the goyim. So the kevurah is in this chelka tasadeh that Yaakov buys, not to be mixed in, to keep Shabbos. His first Shabbos was lehavdil, la'ateisei dina mitoch ha'otah sadeh. That's what the Rashbam means. It was from that hevdel. There was supposed to be a separation between the outside world and Yaakov's family. She went out from that separation, la'ateisei dina, and she wasn't ready for it, and that's what happened. That's what happened. Otherwise it's a chidush. You know, you go over to a Bais Yaakov girl today, and you tell her you have a shidduch. You know what type of question she asks? Does he learn like this first seder, or is he this type of ben Torah? Imagine you tell her, I have a shidduch for you. The guy is a goy. His name is Chazir, and his father's name is Satan. Well, you'd think it would work. You think she would even look into it? Chamor? Shechem ben Chamor. Who goes near that? Dina, would Dina go next to chamor? Imagine, I have a shidduch for you, for your daughter. Oh yeah, really? What is it? His name is Chazir. You're interested? Who would go near things like that? Who would go? Lateitz Dina. What happened? And the answer is this: go out from the havdalah, and you start seeing b'vnos haaretz, you lose them completely. There's no end. Havdalah, havdalah. The inyan of havdalah was Yaakov's koach, mitato sheleimah, mitato sheleimah. He wanted his bed. You know, I was thinking in the beginning of this week's parsha already it says, Vayeishev Yaakov b'eretz megurei aviv, b'eretz Canaan. So why does it say two things? B'eretz megurei aviv, b'eretz Canaan. So the mefarshim ask this for a question. So most of the mefarshim say there were two taanos on Yaakov. The first taanah on Yaakov was, Yishuv Eretz Yisrael. That's what it says, he was afraid of Esav. The second thing was kibud av va'em. So here the pasuk is saying when he went back, he took care of both. B'eretz megurei aviv, he took care of the kibud av va'em, b'eretz Canaan, and he took care of mitzvas yishuv Eretz Yisrael. I would say a little different. I would say pshat like this. You could be in Canaan. Yeah, Canaan has a lot of goyim. He didn't want that, Yaakov. He wanted muvdal. Separate. So he went back, be'eretz megurei aviv. He went back to be around his father's house. You know, open up a branch, a yeshiva somewhere else out there. There's a big Canaan. Why should you go back to the eretz megurei aviv? Go find another corner in Eretz Yisrael and make kedushah over there. And the answer is that wasn't Yaakov's avodah. Yaakov's avodah was the children. So he brought back his children, be'eretz megurei aviv. And I want to prove this to you, because it says, V'shavti b'shalom el beit avi. It wasn't even to go back to where his father lived. Where was he to go back to? His father's house. El beit avi, to go back to the father's house. Go b'mefarsem — Avraham Avinu went all over. It says clearly Avraham went all over the world. It says Avraham went all over Eretz Yisrael, Canaan, being — clearly, Avraham went everywhere. Go all over, go. No, he didn't want to go all over. Where did he want to go? Yaakov. Where did he want? El beit avi, Eretz megurei aviv. I go back to my father's house, because...

His avodah was the bayit. I want to tell you a meirdike pshat, I will tell you. Ready? Let's go. If you look, it says that every one of the Avot called the Beit HaMikdash something else. Avram called it har. Yitzchak called it sadeh. Yaakov called it bayit. Bayit. Bayit. I want to say pshat like this. You want to hear? Now you understand what I want. You hear what I want? Avraham Avinu, har. He wanted that the people on the ground should look up. They should see Hashem, something high up. Yitzchak was high up. So he, from up, he looks down, he says, It's a sadeh. It's a field. Yaakov was about the bayit. Yaakov erred that the avodah is about the home, his house. Yaakov was one of you. You hear? Avraham was called har. He took the people on the ground, simple people. Wow. You ever see a person stands in front of the Alps? Whoa. Unbelievable. Then you have a person who's sitting on top of the Alps, and he looks down, he goes, Wow, look at the sadeh, right? Then you have a person who sits home and depends on his house. If his house is a junkyard, so he wants to be everywhere else but his house. But if the house is kadosh, so you go, Wow, look at my beautiful home. I don't have to need the Alps, and I don't have to the sadeh. I don't need all that. Bayit, bayit, bayit, bayit. This was the chiddush of Yaakov Avinu, the inyan of bayit. Vatashleimah, vateitzei Dinah. Dinah left that. She walked out, and she got mixed in. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.