Pesach and Sefiras HaOmer: From Freedom to Kabbalas HaTorah and Ahavas HaTorah

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Talk a little bit more about Pesach. What is the limud, the avodah of Pesach? Last week we spoke, the inyan of me'avdus l'cheirus, the inyan eved, to go to become a ben chorin. And of course, it doesn't just mean to be free; it means to be malchus, ein lecha ben chorin ela mi she'osek baTorah. That's called mamlaches kohanim v'goy kadosh. And we spoke on how during the Seder, al imuser speak, how you're supposed to portray and convey these hargashim of ashreinu, zachinu, that we were zocheh to go from avadim to become mamlaches, mamlaches royalty, mamlaches kohanim, an am kadosh laShem. There's another nekudah, another yesod that's clear in the Rishonim, on the tachlis, tafkid, lesson, yesod, avodah, whichever lashon you want to use, about Pesach. You ask anyone, what is Pesach about? So they'll tell you, emunah. Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeisicha me'eretz Mitzrayim. Emunah, the Rabbeinu Shalom, and the chiluk between Shabbos and Pesach is simple. Shabbos is an eidus that the Rabbeinu Shalom is boirei es ha'olam; He created the world. Many believed after creation the Rabbeinu Shalom utapkelus developed. He's not a manhig. He's not mashgiach on the world. So Pesach is teaching the Yid, boirei u'manhig. Anochi Hashem Elokecha. It's not asher bara asi shamayim va'aretz, but Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeisicha me'eretz Mitzrayim. Emunah, but not stam emunah that the Rabbeinu Shalom created the world. Emunah, hashgacha pratis. And they'll be right if they answer that it's true. Dos is klar in the Rishonim. It's clear in all the mefarshim that that is the tachlis and tafkid of sippur yetzias Mitzrayim and zechiras yetzias Mitzrayim, sippur the night of Pesach, zechirah, like Reb Chaim explains every day of the year, the chiluk. We do it once, the night of Pesach, in a very long and detailed fashion, and during the year it's zechirah, a reminder. In many Acharonim, they'll give a different nekudah that becomes the focal point of Pesach, and that is that we became Am Yisrael. Klal Yisroel, am zu yatzarti, tehilasi yesaperu. The night of Pesach, he became Am Yisrael. Am. The Maharal is me'arech a lot about this in Gevuros Hashem, that what's so special about Pesach and the limud and the avodah is internalizing am, am Hashem. Atah ve'chatanu mikol ha'amim, and soon we'll get from the goyim, that explains that atah ve'chatanu mikol ha'amim, ahavtanu, ratzisa banu. It's going on different Yom Tovim. Atah ve'chatanu is Pesach. So you'd be not wrong if you also said that Pesach is about bechirah, that we were chosen to be the am hanivchar, Anechi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeisicha me'eretz Mitzrayim, mi'beis avadim. So mi'beis avadim means now you become my eved. As they state in the Sefarim Rishonim, you became an eved. I took you out, so now you're my eved, so I chose you. That's atah ve'chatanu. This would be the two standard answers that most would give.

It's about emunah, and it's about bechirah. I have a chiddush for you, rabosai, not my words, but it's in the Chofetz Chaim and before him in the Chinuch, that the yesod of Pesach is not emunah. I'll read it to you inside. Emunah is a side maila, a side note, in Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim and in the Yom Tov of Pesach. Unbelievable. You would say, what's that? Pesach, Pesach about emunah, emunah. The Chofetz Chaim says, no, no, no, no. It's taka a great zech, and it's taka something that is embedded in Pesach and in the avodah of Pesach, but that's not the ikur. That's not why it's there. I quote you a Chofetz Chaim. What is the tachlis of Pesach? What is the tafkid of Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim and the korban Pesach and all the avodah that we do in Pesach? Zogt der heiliger Chofetz Chaim in Shem Olam, perek hei, shar hischazkus, zogt der Chofetz Chaim, it's very important to be mechazek in Torah. And he says, look at all the Yamim Tovim is zecher l'Yetzias Mitzrayim. Now why? Why is that such an important part of every mitzvah, and so many mitzvahs revolve around zecher l'Yetzias Mitzrayim? Says the Chofetz Chaim, parshat, שעל ידו נתברר העניינים גדולים בארץ. Big things become nisbarer, they become clear through Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim, and that is, על ידי זה נתחזק האמונה בהשם, ובאו לידי יראה ממנו, דכתיב, וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה אשר עשה השם, וגם נתגלה ידי השגחת השם בארץ, like we spoke. This is very crucial, a very integral part of the limud of Pesach. Yet the Chofetz Chaim says, but, והנה בוודאי דברים כאלו תכלית גדול ונורא מאוד. It's true these are tremendous lessons to be taken. אולם, כאשר נשכל ונתבונן, עוד נמצא מפורש בתורה, we'll see clearly from the pasuk in the Torah itself, שיש עוד מטרה גדולה. There's actually one more matarah which is even greater. It's a great matarah, and he says, שהיא נעלה על כל המטרות. A reason which is even greater than all the other above. אמונה, השגחה? No, no, no, no. The pasuk teaches us that Pesach is a limud for something even which is even a matarah gedolah, he calls there, שבשבילו היה עיקר יציאת מצרים, דהיינו, שעל ידי זה שנצא ממצרים נזכה לבסוף. Kabbalas haTorah. Kabbalas haTorah. V'zeh gilah HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe b'shaah shehiftzilia shlich l'hotzi es Yisrael, u'k'richsiv, V'eileh ha'os kenochi shlachticha, v'hotzei aches ami Mitzrayim, tavnus Elokim al har hazeh. Learning, b'tachas kol zeh, k'dei she'al yedei zeh nischazek lodaas Toras HaKedoshah, v'tiheh shgurah b'finu. And that's why it ends, V'hayah l'cha l'os al yadcha, ki b'yad chazakah hotzicha Hashem miMitzrayim. The lashon of the Chofetz Chaim, yeah, that this is a matarah, shehi nalah oid al kol hamataros, more important. So Pesach, which everyone thinks is about emunah, the Chofetz Chaim says the matarah, which is even greater than all the emunah and hashgachah that you could take out of Pesach. Torah. There's an interesting Chinuch on Pesach. The Chinuch actually says k'mat what the Chofetz Chaim says. It's a mitzvah shin-vav. Says the Chinuch.

Al tzad ha-poshut, for the mitzvah of Sefiras HaOmer. What is Sefiras HaOmer? We're counting to Kabbalas HaTorah. It's a machlokes in the Rishonim if it has to do with the Omer or it's the Kabbalas HaTorah, because the Ramban speaks that they were even counting Sefiras HaOmer, the mitzvah was even in the Midbar, and in the Midbar there was no korban omer. When they came to Eretz Yisrael. So you see that Sefirah was l'yom ha-gadol, to the great day of Kabbalas HaTorah, like a person counts to Kabbalas HaTorah. So the Chinuch is going with that yesod. It's a whole shaila what Sefiras HaOmer is about. I don't have the time to go into it in detail, but there's one mahalach that it's a count to Kabbalas HaTorah. Famous kasha: why don't we count down instead of counting up? When somebody has a special day, he counts down to the day. One day left, right? Here we're counting up. It's talked in the mefarshim, but the point is it's to the great day of Kabbalas HaTorah. Zogt der Chinuch, because ikran shel Yisrael eina ela haTorah. We want to know what Klal Yisrael is about, and if we're celebrating Klal Yisrael, am hanivchar, what are we celebrating? What are we commemorating? And the answer is, ikran shel Yisrael is Torah, u'mipnei haTorah nivru shamayim va'aretz v'Yisrael. And he brings the pasuk, V'zeh lecha os, k'nochi sholachticha, like the Chofetz Chaim brings, but he adds something so interesting, rabosai. There's something called zeh nitla b'zeh. This is talui in this. What does that mean? When something is the important thing, so that becomes the main event, and the proof to that event is the thing which is not the ikar, right? You give a mashal: it's next to, right? The chasunah is next to that street or that building. Main thing is not the building; the main thing is the chasunah, right? Zogt der chinuch a chiddush, that when the Torah, when the Ribono Shel Olam tells Moshe Rabbeinu, V'zeh lecha os tavnis Elokim al hahar hazeh, it's not the pshat Yetzias Mitzrayim and I proved to you Yetzias Mitzrayim with Kabbalas HaTorah. It's actually the other way around. It's really all about Kabbalas HaTorah, and the os of Kabbalas HaTorah, אמרי דגחינוך, you hear, the os is what? Yetzias Mitzrayim. Zogt der chinuch, Ki hatafel, os eino os l'olam ela l'ikar, and the ikar was Kabbalas HaTorah. V'zeh lecha os — pashut, you learn the other way around. V'zeh lecha os, you want an os on the Yetzias Mitzrayim, the os will be Kabbalas HaTorah. Chinuch lets pull back. The ikar, I want you to know, you're going to go out and you're going to be mekabel the heilige Torah, and the os is Yetzias Mitzrayim. The Chinuch adds one more line, which is unbelievable, and he says why. כי הטוב לא נעשה לעולם אלא עיקר. זאָגט דער חינוך, to Klal Yisrael, to the Yid, קבלת התורה is more ikker than the yetzias Mitzrayim. זאָגט דער חינוך, the lashon, to kabalas haTorah shehi ha'ikkar hagadol, shebishvil zeh nimgalim, v'hitachles hatovah shelahem. To the Yid, what was more important was Kabbalas HaTorah, not the yetzias Mitzrayim, and it's greater in Yisrael, yoser min hacheres me'avdus. זאָגט דער Yid, what's going? He's going out from avdus l'cheirus. You think that would be the main thing. That would be what's me'oirim. Ah, no. That's... זאָגט, miKabbalas haTorah. Okay, that to me is ikar gadol. Yed lashon, me'iredike lashon. Ve'inyan gadol hu lahem yoser min hacheres me'avdus. So Pesach, when they celebrate Pesach, it's good.

That's good. I don't know what you asked, but it's good. Okay, I'll answer you. Good. That's what it means. That's what he's trying to say. It's all ein zach. Biz nisht aroys fun Mitzrayim, ach, mi geit aroys fun Mitzrayim? Nu, nu. Nu, nu. Aber mi geit af kabolas ha... Rebbe, I'd love to read you a shtikel goyen that the Siach Yitzchok brings. Zogt er, shein, there's so much Yiddishkeit from doires, from unzere tates and zeides, what's ligt in the velter from the Goyen. The Goyen, the Siach Yitzchok speaks the same yesod, that the ikur was kabolas haTorah. And he explains that the yetzias Mitzrayim was only to get the kabolas haTorah; m'dem farshteit men a Chazal, zogt the Goyen. Moshe Rabbeinu came to Shamayim, b'malachim tried to stop him from accepting the Torah. The Ribbono Shel Olam said, Respond to them. What did he respond? Klum yatzasem? Did you go out of Mitzrayim? Shteit doch in the Torah, asher hotzeisicha me'eretz Mitzrayim. Klum nishtabadtem l'Mitzrayim? So therefore you can't get the Torah. What does that mean? Nu? Nu, zogt the Goyen, geshmak. Der gantze yetzias Mitzrayim is af kabolas haTorah. Host nisht kein Mitzrayim, host nisht kein kabolas haTorah, zogt the Goyen. If the whole... Yetzias Mitzrayim. It's not about Yetzias Mitzrayim. It's about Kabbalas HaTorah. So if you're not in Mitzrayim, so you don't have Kabbalas HaTorah. I'll tell you a beautiful Chazal quickly, because I know the time is rushing a little bit. Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to take his two children to Mitzrayim on the shlichus that the Ribono Shel Olam sent him. So there's a machlokes who stopped him, either Yisro stopped him or Aharon stopped him. There's two midrashim, with a ta'ina: al harishonim anu מצטערים about the bo l'hosif aleihem? You want to add more people to Mitzrayim? We're trying to get whatever is in Mitzrayim out. You want to add more Yidden should come down to Mitzrayim? And he answers, soon we're going to stand on Har Sinai, and we're going to hear, אנכי ה' אלוקיך, ובני, my children, לא ישמעו, they won't hear, כמו הם, like the rest of the Yidden. So therefore I must take them to Mitzrayim, because they must be by Kabbalas HaTorah. נו, איד אלעך פרעג. Take them afterwards. Pick them up. It's taka pele. They leave Mitzrayim, Yisro has to come bring the children. In English, ... I don't even ... a dead beat dad. What's, what's, what's? Trachtsich וועגן די kinder. I mean, it's a simple shaila, I don't understand. Yisro has to come and bring the children to Kabbalas HaTorah. ... machlokes before Kabbalas, after Kabbalas, okay, good. What's the pshat that Moshe doesn't go after his children? I give you many terutzim, not for right now, but the pashut pshat, lefi zeh is gevaldik. Nu, az me'katnish kein shibud mitzius Mitzrayim. Me'hat nisht the shibud, me'hat nisht the yetziah, hat men nisht the Kabbalas haTorah. This was a hachanah, this for this. U'bonai, it doesn't say lo yishmu. What does it say? U'bonai lo yishmu. Nu, vi reis, k'moi. Hey, like them, they could hear it. Abisel ishtizel b'taheirah. It's not going to be the same taharah. Al kol panim, zogt the heilige Goyen, gevaldik a hemshech. Un es shteit in pasuk, v'achar kein yeitzu b'rechush gadol. Peirush hameforshim, zogt the Tziach Yitzchok b'sheim the Goyen, you know what the rechush gadol is referring to? It's not referring to the money. It's referring to the Torah. V'achar kein yeitzu b'rechush gadol, mit a greiser rechush. Going on the Torah. What's a rechush? What's rich to a Yid? I once saw a beautiful pshat. That's what Dovid HaMelech says, Tov li Toras picha me'alfei zahav vachesef. It's referring...

Bringing to Kabbalas HaTorah over bizas hayam. Toiv li Torah aspicha. Klal Yisroel chose. For them a richush gadol. What's a richush gadol? For them a richush gadol is toiv li Torah aspicha me'alfei zahav vachesef. Let's show you an interesting Gemara, rabosai. The Gemara in Kesubos, daf nun. The Gemara says, a shteit in pasuk in Tehillim kuf yud beis: Hon v'osher b'veiso, v'tzidkaso omedes lo'ad. Hon v'osher. What's hon v'osher? Riches. Hon v'osher, riches. V'tzidkaso, his tzedakah, his righteousness remains forever. Pashut, you would say he's a rich person, he gives tzedakah, yeah, that's the pshat in the pasuk, huh? Zogt the Gemara, Rav Huna v'Rav Chisda, chad amar, ze halomeid Torah u'melamdah. Rich. What's called rich? Rich means that a person has Torah and he teaches his Torah. That's hon v'osher. Couldn't think of any other pshat in the pasuk. Hon v'osher, kemi zogt a pashut pshat? Mitoch sheken zogt a pashut pshat? No, hon v'osher is a tachrich. He comes to him by the door, you're knocking on his door, and he gives you money, v'tzidkaso omedes lo'ad. No, that's not. Richush, hon v'osher. Kayaid is this. Bedavka sheken zogen a pshat, Rabosai. Daber na baznei ha'am. He's begging. The Ribono Shel Olam is begging, Daber na baznei ha'am. Yisha'lu ish me'eis re'eihu, klei kesef. They should borrow, take the money. So why not? You ever see, ain betn yenem nemen gelt? You have to beg someone to take? Something's not right with the scenario, right? Can not never saw a man should turn down that he needs to be begged? So the Gemara brings down that they said, Halavai sheneitzei batzmeinu. As long as we go out with ourselves. All the meforshim, tumul, what does it mean? Why didn't they want the money? A tzveite shayla, Rabosai. Rashi brings down a Chazal that the Ribono Shel Olam begs Moshe to beg Klal Yisrael, shelo yomru oiseh tzaddik, shelo yomar oiseh tzaddik. Vavad veinu oisam kayem. Right? Vachechein yeitzei bechush gadol. First of all, what is oiseh tzaddik? Anaya titl, anaya titl from Avraham Avinu, oiseh tzaddik? If you said oiseh tzaddik, the first thing that comes to mind is Avraham Avinu. What's this oiseh tzaddik? It's all Avraham Avinu's only taineh. The tzveite shayla is, Avraham Avinu will gelt? What's the pshat? As I always said a pshat previous years. The goyim says that v'achachein yetzei b'chush gadlus be'emes teirah. It's going on the teirah alein. So Avraham Avinu's taining, me'eish mechveisecha, you could be yotzei, you'll win a din Torah by saying, I gave them Torah. I gave them the klal Yisroel the Torah. Aval l'maaseh, give them also a chush. Shlo yomar, the zeide, the zeide Avraham, mit ruchniyus, az ein a bissel panosah echad. All right, all right, zi gut, sie shein. But m'dacht zach zi do a tieferer. Klal Yisroel was holding on a madreigah, farshteitn chinuch, v'inyan gadol hu lahem yoser min acheres me'avdus. They were looking at the money, v'dafke, al vayter neitza batzmeinu, it's a reizgein. Kabolas haTorah, their mind wasn't there. Shlo yomar ois a tzaddik. Avraham Avinu was afraid that either amongst the Yidden, or probably even better, maybe even the goyim. Shlo yomar ois a tzaddik, va'avodim v'einu kiyam bohem. Notice it doesn't say kiyam banu. It should have said, avodim v'einu kiyam banu. Efsher is nish Klal Yisroel's taineh dos, volt Klal Yisroel...

Yisrael, wollt gewen tzufridn mit the Torah, but the world is not going to understand the ahavas haTorah that a Yid has. The world's gonna look and say, What did you walk away with? Where's the chush gadol? Gei gebn tzu a goy tzu farshteyn. Give a goy to understand that to a Yid, that's called the chush gadol. Shloyimais haTzadik, who tried to bring emunah into the world. What was Avraham's tzidkus? Avraham's tzidkus was to shpreitn emunah that the Ribono Shel Olam is neman. See, he was afraid, shloy yomru. Not who, maybe not even the Yidden. So zayn in the velt, az even yeshiva light, zayzen nimamish oysher of a Teisvis. When I'm the trachtn, vos host fun dem? What do you have? What do you own? A Teisvis, a Gemara. That's pshat, shloy yomru tzaddik, la'avadim v'einu osa kiyam bahem. He was afraid that not everybody would understand. I once told you that there was an hachnasas sefer Torah in my father's shul. If I remember correctly, it was after my bubby was niftar, and they donated a Sefer Torah, and they brought it in, and it was the whole neighborhood, and everybody came, and in the street there was a whole parade of simcha. So there's a guy who lived on my block. He asked me, Tell me, what's the big— is this the only Torah scroll you have in the whole shul? Is this like the first one you're getting? I said, No. As a matter of fact, we have like eight of them, seven, eight of them. I don't know the exact number, but, baruch, seven, eight, we had already. So he asked me, Is it a new addition? Nidfashtanen vos. What is it? Vos fregt men zach azoi? And I said to myself, What can I answer him? And I realized there's nothing to explain, because he memeila nitfashteit. Why would he understand the simcha that a Yid has about a Torah, afilu d'alta Torah? It's old. There's nothing new in it. The simcha vos mat, vos geymen, is an expression in Yiddish: Vos di vos farshtein darf men zey nit zogn, un di vos farshtein nisht, vet afilu zogn ken nisht helfen. For those that understand, it's okay. You don't have to explain anything. And for those that don't understand, farshteit nisht. I want to tell you something beautiful. Ich hob... Mishteglach gedon der rebbe. I see the time. I'm trying to fit it all in. You know, there's an interesting machlokes. When the Sefiras HaOmer begins, we hold it begins the second day Pesach. Mimochoras HaShabbos is the next day after Pesach. The Baisusim, the Tzedukim, they hold, Mimochoras HaShabbos. You have to wait for Shabbos. ... a machlokes between us, Samechem and Aleph, us and the Baisusim. What's the yesod of the machlokes? The sefarim that gebracht, the sefarim it's brought that the machlokes between us and the Baisusim: we hold the whole ikker that we left Mitzrayim was for Torah. So m'meila Sefiras HaOmer is miMacharas, right after. We have to connect it to the first day of Pesach. The Baisusim separated the two: Am Yisroel, Klal Yisroel, a nation, lumiut, and then separately there's Kabbalas HaTorah, Sefiras HaOmer. Many Acharonim, many mefarshim, darshanim connect the two. The Sefiras HaOmer has to be to us the next day after, because we right away direct ourselves to Kabbalas HaTorah. You know, it's interesting: Atah v'chartanu mikol ha'amim, ahavta osanu v'ratzisa banu, v'romamtanu mikol הלשונות. What's Atah v'chartanu? Says the Gaon that's—

Pesach. Ahavto es Hashem Elokecha is Shavuos, Matan Torah. Atzisa bonu Sukkos, ... Mini Atzeres, famous gaon. So we see that Ata v'chartanu is Pesach, and I spoke to you that that's the inyan of bechirah that we were chosen. What is the bracha by birchas haTorah? Asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim, v'nasan lanu es Toraso. The bechirah was gufa in Torah. What is Torah? What is Torah lishmah? What is ahavas haTorah? I want to tell you, in all the yeshivas, there's a chinuch, we're being mechanech with the nefesh hachayim's yesod, that Torah lishmah means Torah for the sake of Torah, daf lernen Torah without a cheshbon. Torah val Torah. The nefesh hachayim is full of this yesod, Torah l'shem haTorah. Very few know, rabosai, Reb Chaim Volozhiner adds one word, ein vort, in Ruach Chaim, in his peirush in Avos, on the Mishnah, Kol ha-lomeid Torah lishmah. What's Torah lishmah? Torah l'shem... Ahavas. Ahavas haTorah. I've given shiurim in many yeshivas here in Lakewood, and every time I talk about Torah lishmah, and I bring up and I show them the nefesh hachayim inside, in the ruach chayim. It's a chiddush even to rabbeim. It's an interesting ruach chayim. What's called Torah lishmah? It's l'shem ahavas haTorah. What is ahavas haTorah, rabosai? Reb Boruch Ber, yeidua, was gevekt; he was filled with ahavas haTorah. Reb Boruch Ber never held a Gemara under his arm. When he would hold a Gemara, he would hold it like this in front. He says, when you have a child and you love him, you don't carry him like this under the arm. Carry him with love in front, close to your heart. That's how Reb Boruch Ber, ahavas haTorah. My alter zeide, in the hakdamah to his sefarim, the one I believe on Bamidbar, he writes to the sefer itself. He talks to the sefer, and he gives her a send-off. He says, Till here, you were underneath in my home, under my watch, and now you're going out into the world. And how does he address his sefer? Biti, my daughter. Calls it my daughter. It's the love, the ahavas haTorah of a malamed Torah, chiddush Torah. A bocher called her his son, dealted zeide called her a daughter. Biti, my daughter. I saw something from a ma'aseh, which to me, it may be simple, but it struck such a chord in my neshama. It's a nisayon. Moshe writes, Torah tzivah lanu Moshe, morashah kehilas Yaakov. What's morashah? It's yerushah. So Moshe, mashal lamah hadavar domeh. What's the mashal? Torah has to be like a yerushah. What does that mean? He says, imagine, take an example of a kallah. She gets her leichters before the chasan, her excitement. Says the Rosh Yeshiva, a ma'aseh itself. What happens with these leichters? With the baba's leichters. And the baba got it from her baba. How much precious, how much love, how much affection, how much hergesh would be towards these leichters. Torah tzivah lanu Moshe.

Rasha, it's taka not a new Torah. What's beautiful to the Yid, that it's my father's, my grandfathers, and my great-grandfathers. And they went al kiddush Hashem for these toises, for these gemaras. They were put into fires and ovens throughout the doros. The rasha has a certain dearness, and it struck a chord in my neshama, because I remember my bubby telling me that when she ran the grenitzen, the Yiddishkeit from the Laffin, the grenitzen, she had to leave Shavuos morning because her father, the rav in Trab, was told that the next morning they're coming to pick her up and take her away to Siberia. They were summoned in the community that famasert. So I guess someone had charata, someone felt bad, so they came to tell her tomorrow. So she was sent out in the middle of the night to go to another part of Poland to run away. She told me she went with three children, an older daughter by foot, two children in her hands, and her leichters on her back, because it was the babbis leichters. Remember the nusach she used, it was the babbis leichters. That's how precious the children, the babbis leichters. To me it struck a chord in my neshama when I heard how the Rosh Yeshiva, the way he fatached the rasha, the babbis leichters. The question is, how does one reach and achieve... I have a sefer. I was once waiting on line, and a tzaddik in the manshe came over to me and told me, Lita, in yeshivas, they're busy with the nefesh hachayim, Torah, l'shem Torah, Torah lishmah. Reb Chaim Volozhin, he said, I don't understand it. I can't figure it out. I don't understand what it means. We have a hard time understanding it. So I began to explain to him, you ever see that a person could go out and buy a diamond or a painting, right? What does he do with it? It's so expensive that he can't even wear it at any simcha, so he keeps it in a vault in the bank, right? It's protected. What do you have from it? No. What's the answer? Because it's that chashuv, I feel chashuv that I have it, right? When something is so yakar, it's so special, it's very few have it, so the mere fact that I have it, I feel good. Even if I can't do much, like I'm usually, you need it for display otherwise, vos hasfin them. Okay, the clock doesn't let me go into the musach chelek of this part of the understanding of why people buy jewelry that they can't use. But al kol panim, there's a certain feeling: I have it. So I said, that's Torah lishmah by Yid. Chav Torah. It's so important, it's like diamonds. Tov li Toras picha me'alfei zahav vachesef. Imtvatsheneker kesef u'kematmonim, az timtza ena. He thanked me very much. He says, Wow, it's the first time I have a shtikel hapsa, a tfisa, a achizas yad, to understand what this Reb Chaim Volozhin, what the Litvish oilam is talking about. He meant because we all know that Avnei Nezer learns Torah lishmah means Torah l'shem taanug haTorah, for the geshmak, hakdamas Avnei Nezer. I thought many years about his question, many years. And I came to a hachlata that there is no explanation of why Yidden want to learn Torah lishmah. And that's what Torah lishmah means, l'shem Torah. It's ingrained in the Yid, in every one of us, to love Torah. There's a leve l'Yahu, rabosai, the leve l'Yahu. And with this I know I have to end, even though I'd love to continue to talk about this topic. But there's a ma'amardike Lev Eliyahu classic. The Mishnah says, Kach hi darkah shel Torah: pas bamelach tochal, u'mayim b'mesurah tishteh, v'al ha'aretz tishan, v'chayei tza'ar tichyeh. Food, bread with salt, water measured b'mshurah, al ha'aretz tishan...

On the ground, the chayitzar tichya, you have only tzar, difficulty. Shema ta'oseh kein. If you do it, ashrecha ba'olam hazeh v'tov lach l'olam haba. Prakt leiv liyo. Yeah, that's what it means, that if you do it. I mean, why would the Mishnah have to emphasize, shema ta'oseh kein? Pashut, melta. Ashrecha ba'olam hazeh. We know that. If you don't do it, it says. Sakra beliya lapia with a mashal. Imagine a person picks up a brochure. The brochure is about a vacation, the best vacation you could ever, ever experience. Turn to the beginning. You want to see, what are they offering on this vacation? So the first thing they offer, you want to look, is the cuisine. So you're expecting to see steaks, mit ducks, mit chickens, a zaher, mit chickens aheym, mit fish fillets, azoy. Ma mishte gantze. Pas b'melech toicha. That's what we're giving you to eat: bread, dry bread with water. Ah, it's a mistake. It must be a mistake. Okay, let's turn to page two and see what the bar looks like. What does the bar look like? Let's see what they're giving us: martinis. Forgive me for my maratzes, I don't know, whatever is good today, okay? Yeah. Pina coladas, whatever the oilem drinks up, okay? From beach. Okay, good. Yeah, let me hear, yeah. Mayim amsurah tishteh. Give you water, but not a lot. Amsurah, it has to be measured. I'm not going to give you a full cup of water. You know what this is? Let me see at least the lodging quarters, or the beds, what the—? My Lord, it's Tisha? A bed? Who's giving you a bed בכלל? Not only not giving you a cot, katoychnisht. You ever see come to a hotel, they give you bedsachain. Give me, besides the two beds, also a cot. A cot? No. Who's getting anything? My Lord, Tisha. Let me go see the activities. It's got to be activities: golf, tennis, ... walking, hiking, biking. No, Chayitzar Tichya. So you look at this and you're saying, turn the page, and we thank you for coming to the resort. I guarantee that you'll have the best vacation that you ever had in your life. As Reb Sholom Shvadron used to say over this— I heard when I was in Taryut Tmimi, he came and spoke, and says, Crazy! ... What are you talking about? Could you imagine the Mishnah, after telling you all this, tells us, Ashrecha, Olam Hazeh, you'll have a great life. Chayitzar Tichya. Did you not read what it said a minute ago, Chayitzar Tichya? It's not Reb Eliahu piyan. The heilige, heilige Reb Eliahu. Reb Eliahu, Reb Eliahu, the heilige Reb Eliahu. Not the oisek. I can't explain it to you. It sounds bittei vigal. Chayitzar Tichya. If I could just tell you, im ata oisek, Ashrecha b'olam hazeh v'tov lo. He loves it. Tayra, it's ingrained deep in our neshama. This is what we got from Yetzias Mitzrayim, Atah v'chartanu mikol ha'amim, that we're different than all the other nations. Ahavta osanu, retzisa banu. What? V'nasan lanu es Toraso, es Toraso, es Toraso. And that's what the Chinuch is saying. Pesach, the ikar is Kabbalas HaTorah. The tafel is yetzianu me'avdus l'cheirus. Try to tap in on Pesach. Listen to your neshama. Father, we go on chalamoyed trips. It's true, and we have to, and we have to take care of the children and the grandchildren. But, ... any enjoyable trip that you think you're taking, you'll enjoy more the ... take it with you. You'll enjoy the learning, the davening, and we should be zocheh, Chasal sidur Pesach k'hilchaso. We should be zocheh l'shanah haba'ah, l'mekayem in Eretz Yisrael. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.