Shavuos: Naaseh V’nishma, Kesser Torah, and Why Torah Is the Essence of a Yid

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. As we approach Shavuos, the gevaldige heilige Yom Tov of Shavuos, the Yom Tov of Kabbalas HaTorah, I would like to address the Yom Tov, to explain the Yom Tov, by actually beginning by bringing up a tremendous question about this Yom Tov. If you ask anyone, he'll tell you, what is Shavuos? Kabbalas HaTorah. Rabosai, we were never mekabel the Torah on Shavuos. We were never mekabel the Torah on Shavuos. Never happened. The Ribono Shel Olam gave Moshe the Torah. Moshe came down. He saw we did the eigel. He dropped the luchos. He never gave us the Torah. So how could we discuss Kabbalas HaTorah, Vav Sivan, Shavuos? Never happened. Never happened. Imagine a person tells you an entire story that happened on this and this day, and this, and then you look and you say, wait a minute, it never happened. Guy says, when did you get married? I got married on, zayin Kislev. Tell me, how was it? It never happened. Never happened. But it's the anniversary, zayin Kislev. What happened? They called off the wedding. Hadei say, Chazal tell us, aluvah kallah shezinsa tachas chupasa. The marriage never finished, never completed. Under the chuppah, Klal Yisrael did an egel. It's a lashon of the Chazal, aluvah kallah shezinsa tachas chupasa. So what are we celebrating on an anniversary? The day that we got the Torah, we never got the Torah. It never happened. Never happened. We would never mekabel the Torah. So you could give a teretz. If you notice, we don't say zman kabbalas haTorah, but zman matan Torah. In the tefillah, the nusach is zman matan, the giving. The Ribbono Shel Olam gave it. Here we're parsing words now a little bit. Matan Torah, the Ribbono Shel Olam gave it. Did we get it? No, because something interfered in between the giving and the getting. There was something that broke up the chain of events. Matan happened, but kabbalah didn't happen. So what's the point, though? So what are we trying to say, matan Torah, the Ribbono Shel Olam gave it to us? You know, at the end of the day, it was Yom Kippur, luchos shniyos. So we should celebrate matan Torah, luchos shniyos. Well, we didn't accept it, but it was given to us. It was given and it was broken, shivrei. Now the truth is, there's a Medrash, a Gemara: shivrei luchos munachim ba'aron. That in the aron, we have the shivrei luchos and the actual luchos, which, the luchos shniyos. So you see that there was some significance to the luchos rishainos that were given to us. Otherwise, what's the point of having the shivrei luchos in the aron? If it never happened and it got destroyed, it's not something that took effect. So what's the point of having the shivrei luchos in the aron? It should just be the luchos shniyos, and the teretz is there is something about the luchos rishainos. They had to be broken, but it's the luchos. Yeah? If the luchos rishainos are in the aron, so you can't say nothing happened on Vav Sivan. Yeah, but first of all, that guf is a kasha. What is luchos rishainos? I mean, if it was shivrei luchos, they broke. I mean, let's discuss in Hilchos Sefer Torah. If you have a Sefer Torah that gets burnt, destroyed, chas v'shalom, unfortunately, you know, so what? It has a Sefer Torah, you keep it in the aron? No, you put it in sheimos. It's hard to understand what exactly is the—

The point of having the first luchos that were broken, and what is its halacha? I don't know. Does it have halacha of luchos? Is it called Sefer Torah shenisraf? I don't know. Kavrim oto? That's supposed to have the din genizah. It's a good discussion, which I don't want to go into in the shiur right now. But all I'm trying to understand is, what is the significance of Vav Sivan, the first luchos? What's the significance? What is it? One thing for sure: it can't take precedence over luchos shniyos. It can't be that the luchos shniyos are not celebrated, while the luchos rishonos become zman matan Toraseinu. How do you understand it? Yes, Yashar koach, Shibarta, many sefarim explain that there was an inyan in the luchos rishonos to show that the luchos rishonos had to be broken. Sometimes you need aliyah tzorech yeridah, yeridah tzorech aliyah. Sometimes you need to break things. The Ribbono Shel Olam said, This is not the right way. It needs to be broken. It's also one of the lessons of Torah: shevirah. Sometimes you got to break in order to build. Yeah, but that's not going to be the ikar of Matan Torah over luchos shniyos. Why are we celebrating, and what are we celebrating, in the luchos rishonos, Vav Sivan, Kabbalas HaTorah of the luchos rishonos? I saw an interesting shlah, rabosai. The Shlah, Maseches Shavuos, Ner Mitzvah, os yud ches, he says, Chayav adam lismoach b'zeh hachag b'yoser. A person needs to be extremely happy on Shavuos. Now, rabosai, when you tell a person he's happy on Shavuos, he'll tell you, Avada, such delicious food, delicious types of cheesecake that they serve. I heard there's a store that has, chaveirim, fifty, sixty, I don't know, maybe today it's even more, I don't know. I haven't been on top of the... but they say, Shavuos, geshmak, gevaldik, yeah, interesting, cheesecake. Okay. But that's not what the Shlah talks about, why you should be very happy on Shavuos. You have to be extremely happy on Shavuos. What do you have to be happy about on Shavuos? Ki hi yom shezachinu l'keser Torah. The keser Torah, chayra. He should have said simply, that's the day we were zocheh to Torah. Why does the Shlah write that it's the day we were zocheh for keser, keser Torah, the crowns of Torah? And I believe, and I think, be'ezras Hashem yisbarach, that the Shlah is addressing our question. We actually did not get the Torah. On Vav Sivan. Or actually, if you learn the Gemara in the Magen Avraham, it was Zayin Sivan, but al kol panim, we did not get the Torah. So then what are we celebrating? What is the chag of Shavuos and the teretz is, it's not the Torah, but it's the keser Torah, the crowns of Torah. Chazal tell us in Shabbos Pei Ches that when Klal Yisroel said Naaseh v'Nishma, they were zocheh to two crowns, kesarim. Mefarshim tell us those kesarim are keser Torah. We received keser Torah when we said Naaseh v'Nishma. And that is what Shavuos is about. Shavuos is about the chag, celebrating, thanking the Ribono Shel Olam, appreciating that we got keser Torah. Ay, ves fregt a kasha, yes, but we lost that. We did the eigel. Chazal tell us that we actually lost the kesarim. By hisnatzlus, edyoi meicherev, it was taken away from us. It was ripped off our heads, the keser Torah. So the kasha comes back. So again, what are we celebrating? I explained.

We never got the Torah. We're not celebrating the getting of the Torah. The teretz is we're celebrating the getting of the crowns, but the crowns were also taken away when we did the eigel. So I saw in the Leshem, this is quoted in the sefer Mizmor l'David, Reb David Kayan, the Rosh Yeshiva of Chevron. He brings from the Leshem something interesting, chelek beis siman daled, that the keser, the kesarim that was given to us from our guf was taken away. But the ones that attached themselves to our neshama, that was never taken away. Vayisnaslu es edyam me'Har Chorev. The keser, teira, the physical, which attached to our bodies—now again, I don't even know if it was a physical crown anyway, so you have to work that out—but I'm too simple to really understand exactly what it means, the keser of the guf and the keser of the neshama. But the words themselves I could accept, and that is that there was an external, physical, something that we saw on the outside that we lost by doing the chet. But the inner, the penimius, the inner kesarim, the inner crowns that a Yid has on his neshama, keser Torah, that we never ever lost. Rabosai, I'd like to explain that. I'd like to give us a simple— that we could grasp our hands around to understand what that means. The ksarim. And that's naaseh v'nishma. You hear? So what are we celebrating? Not the getting of the Torah, but the getting of the crowns. Naaseh v'nishma. Naaseh v'nishma. It's interesting. Someone in my shul, Rav Moshe Tesler, was me'oirer to me something very interesting. He said, how many people were actually by Matan Torah? How many people were alive? So 600,000 Klal Yisrael. L'maaseh, all the neshamos of Klal Yisrael were there by Matan Torah. They also accepted Torah. The Gaon says that all neshamos of Klal Yisrael that will always be, that will come in the future, ad bias haMashiach, stood by Matan Torah. They were there at the presence of Matan Torah, and they also accepted naaseh v'nishma. So I don't know. This you'll have to speak to mekubalim, how many neshamos, I don't know, I don't know. It's a good discussion. 600,000 neshamos besides the 600,000 people. So I know that there's an issue here, but I don't want to go into the issue. The point being that who did the chet? The peoples that were alive. What about the neshamos that were not alive, the neshamos of Klal Yisrael? They never did the chet. So the neshamos never lost the naaseh v'nishma. They never lost the ksarim. Nishmos Yisrael, nice to hear. Who did the chet? The people that were there. The neshama, why are they responsible so they never lost Klal Yisrael throughout the doros. Their neshamos, that they said Naaseh v'Nishma, they got secharim. That never got lost. What is the keser on the neshama? I believe that every Yid carries in his penimius, he carries in his neshama keser Torah. Every Yid. What? Kesarim, keser Torah, avada, it's not a physical thing, but even in the words of the Leshem, the Leshem is saying there's somewhat of a keser, even if it's not physical, it's on the guf. There's something penimius, something within the heart of every Yid, the neshama of every Yid, that he carries keser Torah. What is it? Rabosai, we got these kesarim from Naaseh v'Nishma. What is Naaseh v'Nishma? Naaseh v'Nishma means no matter what, we'll do it. The first thing you have to ask a question: how can it be Naaseh without Nishma? What are you doing if you don't know what to do? Right? I mean, what are you doing? I don't say, Naaseh, I'll do it before Nishma. Imagine someone...

Someone's in class. He's sitting in class, and he has the answer before he knows the information. I'm ready to do. To do what? What are you talking about? What are you doing? So you could say it doesn't mean he'll do. All he meant to say was he'll do whatever it is. He agrees to all of the above, and he taka doesn't know what it's about. And he's taka not being mechayev himself to do A, B, and C. He's mechayev in general, whatever it is. Or maybe. You know, Avraham Avinu was mekayem kol haTorah kula. Yitzchak was mekayem. Yaakov was mekayem kol haTorah kula. The Rambam speaks how each one of the Avos added different mitzvahs. How did they know? How did they know Torah? Torah was not given. Now we know there's a yeshiva Shem v'Ever, and they were learning. It's one of the sugyas that need to be explained. How could you learn Torah before it was given? So someone will say it's based on a Gemara. The Gemara in Eruvin says, daf kuf, that if not for the Torah actually given, we would know many of the halachos of the Torah from the briah, from the creation. From the creation, we would learn tznius from a cat. We would learn arayos from a yonah, from a bird, from a dove. And that's how they learned the Torah. They learned Torah through the briah. Gezel from a nemalah, correct. Possibly, and this is really in the mefarshim, Avraham Avinu's neshama. The neshama v'yid. Avraham Avinu's neshama has in it Torah. Torah and the neshama v'yid are connected, Yisrael v'Oraisa. Now, I'm not going to discuss the shaila if Avraham Avinu is a Yid, he's not a Yid. There's a whole question: when does Jewish Yidden, Judaism, Yidden, Jewish people, where does it begin? Is Avraham considered a Yid or not a Yid? Parshas Derachim, it's a big discussion in the sefarim of the Torah of the Parshas Derachim. Whatever it is, there's something about a Yid, that his neshama and Torah is all one. Yisrael v'Oraisa v'Kudsha Brich Hu, it's all one. You can't separate it. You can't separate it. I want to tell you a beautiful Chazal. It says in the pasuk that Moshe Rabbeinu, it says in the pasuk like this: U'Moshe alah el haElokim, vayikra eilav Hashem min hahar. What do you mean, min hahar? I mean, it says, Moshe alah el haElokim, it says, right? Vayikra eilav Hashem min hahar. Then it says again: Vayavo Moshe... vayanakel ha'am, vayomer Hashem el Moshe, hein anochi... Vayeired Moshe min hahar el ha'am. Again, the hor keeps on emphasizing the hor. Says the Medrash, why is there so much hadgasha, so much emphasis? Vayeira Hashem el har Sinai, rosh hahor. Vayikra Hashem l'Moshe el rosh hahor. Hor, hor, hor. Okay, we know where this is all taking place. It should have said Moshe was called, Moshe went up, Hashem speaks to Moshe. Min hahor, min hahor, min hahor. You know what the Medrash says? Says the Medrash, min hahor is specific, mudgash, it's emphasized on purpose. There's a pasuk, Esa einai el heharim, al heharim, el heharim. I look up to the avos, el heharim, the avos. Moshe, Rabbeinu Shalom calls him min hahor, hahor, hahor. It has to do with the avos. Rabbeinu Shalom is calling him. He's being beckoned, summoned. El hahor, bizchus uv'koach haavos. This is the Medrash. Matan Teirah.

Rabbeinu Shlomo, hahar, hahar, hahar. What's the emphasis of hahar? What's the hehidim? What is it, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov? And the teretz is, in order for Klal Yisrael to accept the Torah, it could only have been because we are the Bnei Avraham, Yitzchak, v'Yaakov. The avos instilled in us neshama of Torah. Other than that, we could never accept the Torah, and this is a mefurash in Medrash. This Shabbos that we just had is the day before Shloshes Yemei Hagbalah. In sefarim it's called Yom HaMeyuchas. Now the Mishnah Berurah doesn't bring it down. In siman tof tzadi daled, it says that we don't say Tachanun from Rosh Chodesh Sivan till Shavuos, Shloshes Yemei Hagbalah, and the day before, says the Mishnah Berurah. What's the day before? Why no Tachanun? What's that? He says because that's the day that the Eibishter said, V'atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim v'goy kadosh. It's a special day. It's a special day. Rabbeinu Shlomo was telling us, but he never mentions the word and the name Yom HaMeyuchas. Yom HaMeyuchas means the special day that has yichus, special. Yom HaMeyuchas. Not mentioned in the Mishnah Berurah, not one word. Chassidus shefarim are busy, Yom HaMyuchas, Yom HaMyuchas. It's a very special day. What's so special about the Yom HaMyuchas? What's so special? So pashut, Mishnah Berurah's reason why we don't say Tachanun is why it's called Yom HaMyuchas. And the truth is, the words, Atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim, yichus, miyuchas. We were crowned that day, that we're special, miyuchas. Many sefarim, I think the ... Kluger brings the concept of Yom HaMyuchas, and he says that it's Rosh Chodesh and then shloshim me'agbalah, so it's very miyuchas. It's in the middle of mamish great days, Rosh Chodesh and shloshim me'agbalah, that's its yichus. On the right and on the left of it, before it and after it, like a sandwich of meyuchadike days, huh? That's why it's called Yom HaMyuchas. No, no. I saw in the Nitei Gavriel brings down, I was trying to do a little research, what's this Yom HaMyuchas? What is it? He brings down from the Likutei Maharich, Kach hamedaber, it's talk in the street almost, that's called Yom HaMyuchas. No makar for it. Interestingly, interestingly, the Orach HaShulchan brings it. Interesting, the Orach HaShulchan, baal Litvishe sefer, it brings the inyan of Yom HaMyuchas, and he says the first thing is Atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim, the Goy kadosh. It's miyuchas. It's a very special day. We were given a special VIP, so to speak, that we're mamleches kohanim. And then he says that actually it's because this day will be the same day that Yom Kippur falls out. Whenever Yom HaM... whatever day Yom HaMuchas is, says the Torah Chasulchan, is the same day, the same day that Yom Kippur is going to fall out. So, mitz Hashem, this year Yom HaMuchas was Shabbos, so Yom Kippur is going to be Shabbos. And if you look at the piyutim in the siddur and the machzor, Yom Kippur is called Yom HaMuchas, very special day, Yom HaMuchas. Now it's interesting, when was actually Kabbalas HaTorah on Yom Kippur? It's actually Luchos Shniyos. So it's interesting, the Yom HaMuchas, maybe the nasa v'nishma was the start and the finish was Yom Kippur. It's some process of Luchos Rishonos and Luchos Shniyos. We could discuss this in great length, you hear? But I want to tell you something interesting. What is nasa v'nishma? What is Kesser Torah? What is it? Kesser Torah is...

The neshama of a Yid, that he cannot be without Torah. He needs, he's driven, he's attached. Torah. He can't be without Torah. It's his ratzon. It's his whole want, his whole being. There are two places where the Rambam discusses keser Torah and hilchos Talmud Torah, and in both places, the Rambam speaks of keser Torah in the context of ratzon. The first Rambam is in Hilchos Talmud Torah, perek gimmel, halacha aleph: Bishloshah kesarim nichteru Yisrael: keser Torah, keser kehunah, v'keser malchus. Keser kehunah is Aharon. Keser malchus, zacha bo David. What's keser Torah? Harei zeh munach v'omed u'muchan lakol. Keser Torah is—here, this is keser Torah—it's just out there, available. Shenemar, Torah tzivah lanu Moshe morashah kehilas Yaakov. Kol mi sheyirtze, yavo v'yitol. How do you get keser Torah? You have to want. It's the ratzon. Keser Torah is about wanting Torah, wanting. Let me show you another interesting lashon of the Rambam in the same perek, perek gimmel, halacha yud gimmel. Says the Rambam: Af al pi shemitzvah lilmod bayom uvalaylah... Ein adam lamad rov chachmaso ela balayla. There's a mitzvah to learn all the time, but a person doesn't learn rov chachmaso only by night. Lefichach, mi sheratzah, sheratzah, sheratzah, lizkos bkeser haTorah, yizaher bchol leilosav, vlo yaaver afilu achas מהן בשינה, achilah, שתיה, ושיחה, כיוצא בהם, אלא בתלמוד תורה ודברי חכמה. A person learns when he's supposed to learn. How about at night when people want to relax and they want to take it easy? The ratzon of wanting keser Torah, that's when it begins to take effect. That's when the avodah of keser Torah comes in: the want. How much do you really want? Learning when you have to, learning when it's not a have to, but you want to, you want, that's keser Torah. Keser Torah is ratzon. Where is that based? Where is the mekor of this? Because Naaseh vNishma, Naaseh vNishma gave us keser Torah. Naaseh vNishma gave us keser Torah. Naaseh vNishma gave us keser Torah. What about Naaseh vNishma? What is it in the words of Naaseh vNishma that brought us to keser Torah? And the answer is, Ribono Shel Olam, ich vil. I want. Naaseh vNishma. Rashi explains Naaseh vNishma. Most people first want to hear what it is if they could do it. Mi gilerozeh lebonai. Why? What's bonai? Because he doesn't ask if he could do it. He wants so much, he'll do it anyway. Rashi in Peiches in Shabbos. Avodim, an eved asks because he has to know if he could do it. I have to know what it entails. Remember, Rav Paller, zecher tzaddik livracha, zecher tzaddik livracha, Rav Paller, the great Rosh Yeshiva, talmid of the Brisker Rav, he carried with himself all the Brisker hashkafah. He emblemed Brisker hashkafah. I was once told to bring a letter to him to sign. It had to do—I don't want to be marech in the whole story—but it had to do with a respect, a kovod for my grandfather, Reb Shmuel David Wolkin, zecher tzaddik livracha. It was to sign a commemoration for him that people should be mechazek in shmiras halashon. And I was told to bring it to him by Reb Shmuel Birnbaum, zecher tzaddik livracha. Reb Shmuel told me, Bring it to Rav Paller. I'll sign it.

First, Rav Pam will sign it second, and then you go to Rav Paller. He'll be the third signature on this kol koreh, on this letter. I looked at Rav Shmuel, and I said, Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Paller will never sign. Briskers don't sign things. They don't. He's going to think I'm crazy, think I'm strange, or I'm coming with such a request. Rav Shmuel Birnbaum said, Vezen, gei tzam, evet tasign. You'll see, he'll do it. I'm telling you, he'll do it. Emunas chachamim. Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Shmuel told me to do it. Okay. I called up the Rebbetzin. I called up the Rebbetzin, and I said, Rebbetzin, I have something I'd like to bring to the Rosh Yeshiva should see. Why not come over right now? Sure. She was very warm and friendly. She asked my name, maybe it had to do with the fact that she knew the family. Come right now. I came. Rosh Yeshiva's atzal, Rav Paller was sitting there, and I show him the paper, and I start telling him it's a kol koreh, a letter, signing. He didn't even bother to look what, when, where. He used to stutter, Rav Paller, especially when he got nervous. I don't do these things, signing letters, you know. Briskers don't sign letters, all right? His Rebbetzin was standing there, his wife, and she said to him, Why don't you first find out what it's about before you—why say no? Listen to him first. Hear him out, and then you'll say no. So he said, Okay. So I started telling him, It's in honor of my grandfather. They're going to bring out that he was a big person, and in his schus they're asking people to be makpid on shmiras halashon. Don't forget the zeide was a talmid of the Chofetz Chaim. So through that, they would bring out chizuk. They should be mechazek people, shouldn't speak lashon hara. Before I had a chance to even finish my sentence, the Paller said to his rebbetzin, Bring me a pen. I'm signing it. Didn't even hear what I... I started telling him it was in the honor of my grandfather. He's signing it. He says, Let me tell you something. When we were in Shanghai, the Mir Yeshiva and the talmidim of the Mir, they needed a lot of help. Difficult period. Yoseida was a rav in Shanghai. He was one of the rabbanim in Shanghai. And we used to come on to him all the time for favors, to ask him for help. And every time, when the Mir bochurim, me included, when we came for help, the first thing he would say, Yes. Now let me hear what it's about. The first thing was yes. Didn't even hear what... didn't even know what. Yes. Yes. Now, okay, now tell me what it is and we'll get it done. So, hakaras hatov. In his honor, I don't even want to know what it's about. You tell me it's in honor, it's for your grand... I'm signing, and then you'll tell me what it's about. The talmidim of Rav Paller never believed that he signed it. They used to come over to me afterwards, Can I see the original? I can't believe it. I would show it to them. I'd say, Here it is. Look at it. Take it. It's an original copy with his signature. A musica maisa, yeah? When you want and you love, there's no way of no. There's no, there's nothing. Ein davar oimed bifnei haratzon. There's nothing. When you want to do, and you love, you care. Yidden's zakens geit in harts, geit in lebn. There's no no. Klal Yisroel was telling the Ribono Shel Olam on Shavuos, there's no no. I don't care what it entails. I'm not interested. It's not negea, because whatever it is, naaseh v'nishma. Ratzon. Ratzon. When I want something, that's naaseh v'nishma. Most people, normal people, need to hear the details before they say yes. Not if you love, and not if you want. Ein davar oimed bifnei haratzon. But the ratzon has to be real, and the ratzon has to be strong. Klal Yisroel portrayed a certain ratzon, which the Ribono Shel Olam saw as a trait.

A trait in Klal Yisroel's maila. They had a maila of nasa v'nishma. It's who they were, that you can't tell a Yid no. When it comes to Torah, there's no way to say no to him. He can't control himself. It's something I need. It's something I want. There's no no. Now, of course, the yetzer hara picks at this. The yetzer hara tries to undermine our ratzon pnimi. The Rambam speaks all the time that by korban, which is, of course, kaparah, kreivus to Hashem, to fix aveiros, to get close to Ribono Shel Olam again, koifin — you're forced. When a person has to bring a korban, you're forced. Says the Rambam, a korban has to be l'ritzonoi. Answers the Rambam that the ratzon pnimi is always there. The yetzer hara doesn't let. If I dray you a cup, but avada a korban to be close to the Eibishter, a Yid really wants. There's no such a thing that deep down in pnimiyus that there's not l'ritzonoi. That's the mahus. That's the metzius of a Yid, that the l'ritzonoi is there. He might externally, externally, make mistakes and stray, but internally, the nasa v'nishma is always there. It can never be taken away. By Yisnatzlu es Edyam miChorev was only klapi chutz, but bifnim, that's what the lesson is saying. The nasa v'nishma always was there, remained strong, and that was the first. Luchos Rishonos, what the luchos showed. And I believe that shivrei luchos shows our persistence in ratzon, that even though there was shivrei luchos, we persisted, and we did teshuvah, and we came back from ego, and we were mekabel the Torah again on Yom Kippur. So shivrei luchos and luchos munachim ba'aron, because that symbolizes Kabbalas HaTorah. Our kabbalah, our acceptance is so strong that we could survive a shivrei luchos and rebound, and rebound to a Yom Kippur to be mekabel the Torah again. Kaf aleihem har k'gigis. The Ribbono Shel Olam forced us into Matan Torah. Tosafos in Shabbos, Pei Ches, asks, but they said naaseh v'nishma. They said naaseh v'nishma. Why did they need it to be forced? So Tosafos says that the Ribbono Shel Olam was afraid that after the naaseh v'nishma, they would retract. They see eish hagdolah, the great fires of Matan Torah. I've always told you in the past that just like Sham Tehe furaschem, the Ribbono Shel Olam said sham, He didn't say פה, He said sham. It meant eternally, eternally. If you don't accept the Torah, sham tehei furaschem. The eish hagdolah was also eternal. Jews through the doros, generation after generation, had to go through big fires for Torah, through crematoriums, through Kiddush Hashem, eish hagedolah, big fire. Torah is be'esh nitnah. There's fire in Torah. That fire, sometimes it's fire when we learn, and then sometimes when we don't learn, we have to go through eish hagedolah, but we didn't accept. And the Ribono Shel Olam was testing us. Ribono Shel Olam was afraid that we'll go and retract when we see the eish hagedolah, so we had to be forced. I saw in Chiddushei Sefarim, a beautiful deher. The opposite. The Ribono Shel Olam was testing our resolve and testing our ahavah. If we still held by the naaseh v'nishma even after seeing the eish hagedolah. The kfiyah wasn't because we would retract from the naaseh v'nishma. The kfiyah was to test the naaseh v'nishma, if we're still holding by the naaseh v'nishma. The Ribono Shel Olam was testing our naaseh v'nishma. I'll force you. Do you still want? You know, it's very nice to want.

When the Ribono Shel Olam makes a beautiful portrayal of beauty, Atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim v'goy kadosh, segulah mikol ha'amim. Of course we want. It's very romantic, very enticing. Atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim. The question is, let's get down to the brass knuckles, as they say. It's not going to be easy all the time. There's going to be times where it's kefiyah, where you have to fight. There'll be times where there'll be opposition. There'll be times where there'll be esh hagdolah. Are you still holding by the naaseh v'nishma? That's taking the naaseh v'nishma and bringing it to its full force and potential, the real naaseh v'nishma. The Ribono Shel Olam was testing the naaseh v'nishma. Miryam diketeher. Avada there's naaseh v'nishma. And in Luchos Rishonos, we established this naaseh v'nishma. Shivrei Luchos was the test: do we give up when learning isn't going gishmak, when we have nisyonos hachayim, do we drop it? That's called shivrei Luchos. When we get break in life, when things are shivrei, or do we recoup, or do we enforce ourselves and overcome and accept Luchos Shniyos? And the answer is naaseh v'nishma. The resolve of Klal Yisrael was strong after a Holocaust. Who believed? A Yidn would come back to a Gemara, you got to be crazy. From a Krimitorium to a Ponevezh Yeshiva, to a Mir Yeshiva, you got to be crazy. And the teretz is, that's the result. That's the nasa v'nishma, eish hagdolah, and yet nasa v'nishma, that we never lost. And that's in the neshama. That's deep in the heart of every Yid. And where does this come from? And the teretz is, Esa einai el heharim. Vayeired Hashem, Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe meHar Sinai meheharim, meha'avos. Part of Matan Torah, the eish hagdolah, and to accept nasa v'nishma was because of the zechus avos, that the fathers Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov, Moshe nefesh, and Torah was part of their life regardless. With all the difficulties, eikev asher shama Avraham b'koli, vayishmor mishmarti, chukosai v'mitzvosai, because he couldn't separate. When it's part of who you are, no situation could change it. When it's external, so when there's difficulties, you drop it. But when it's who you are, it's just who you are. B'ni bechori Yisrael. Klal Yisrael, when they said nasa v'nishma, it became b'ni. B'ni, the child, no matter what, remains a child. You can't undo the DNA. A father is a father, a child is a child. An eved could rebel. An eved could be sold away, given away. Hefker. A child remains. No matter how far, no matter how much, a child remains the bni bechori Yisrael, Klal Yisrael, with their neshamah, became bni bechori Yisrael, but you can't separate. It always remains bni bechori Yisrael. And this is hahorim. This is the avos. This is Klal Yisrael from the shoresh, from who they are inherently, their pnimiyus, their middos. This is the simanim of Bnei Avraham, Yitzchak, v'Yaakov, that they have this koach called naaseh v'nishma. There's a beautiful vort from the Gerer Rebbe, the Sfas Emes. The Ribono Shel Olam tested all the nations to see if they could accept the Torah. He tested them, and he said, you know, you, you know, I said in my Torah, Lo tirtzach. You still interested?

And of course, he picked the one thing that each nation couldn't control themselves. He picked the one thing, yiddish zach, the shvachkeit, the weakness of that nation, to test them if they're still interested. Zogt, says the Chidushei Harim, why didn't the Ribono Shel Olam test Klal Yisroel? Fair is fair, no? Why didn't you go and say, listen, Klal Yisroel, this is your weakness. I'm not going to say—had I been an entertaining speaker, I would pick some kind of a thing and say, Oh, this is the weakness of Klal Yisroel, and why did the Ribono Shel Olam pick that? Says the Gerer Rebbe, Chidushei Harim, the Ribono Shel Olam did do that, as a matter of fact. He gave them the mitzvah of hagbalah. That's the—Matan Torah is based on shloshes yemei hagbalah, three days where they had to be magbil themselves. They had to hold themselves back. Hagbalah, what? Al tikshu, don't go to the mountain, don't go up the mountain, don't go up the mountain. Says Chidushei Harim that he was testing Klal Yisroel to the Yid to be told no when it came to the Ribono Shel Olam. When it came to going up and accepting the Torah, Ribono Shel Olam said, Hagbalah. Stand where you are. Don't break through. He was testing Klal Yisroel if they were able to keep the Torah. Because the machus of the Yid is that he can't take no when it comes to the Ribono Shel Olam attaching himself b'ruchniyus to Ribono Shel Olam and His Torah. There was a tremendous cheshek. Ribono Shel Olam, we want to go up. We want to be there, more, higher in the mountain. The love. We couldn't control ourselves, because a Yid can't be controlled when it comes to ahavah, when it comes to Torah. Ribono Shel Olam said, I'm going to test you, huh? The mitzvah is magbil. Stay where you are. And they passed the test. Every nation was tested by their weakness. Hagbalah is the weakness of Klal Yisrael, because when their neshama sees ruchniyus, sees an avenue to get closer to the Eibishter, to get closer to Torah and to Matan Torah and Kabbalas HaTorah, I'm addicted. I'm addicted. I'm addicted. I can't. I want to tell you something beautiful. The pasuk, it says that the Ribono Shel Olam enticed Klal Yisrael with a very illustrious, illustrious schar reward: V'atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim v'goy kadosh. V'atem tihyu li segulah mikol ha'amim. Why does it say the word li? It should say, V'atem tihyu mamleches kohanim. V'atem tihyu segulah mikol ha'amim. I saw a sefarim that asked this kasha. What's the hadgasha, v'atem tihyu li, v'atem tihyu li, ... v'atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim. And the teretz is, the way to get Klal Yisrael is not by the rewards: you'll be this and you'll get that. It's v'atem tihyu li. You'll be mine, a segulah mikol ha'amim. To the Yid, to his neshama, external rewards don't talk to him that much. You'll be segulah mikol ha'amim, all right. You'll be mamleches kohanim, all right. But v'atem tihyu li, you'll be mine. Ah. Where did I see this? Yida Kaddish. The Yida Kaddish. You see this in the groise chassidishe, groise Rebbes, the big baalei machshava. He says, if you notice, what was the Klal Yisrael's response? Klal Yisrael's response to v'atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim: Vaya'an kol ha'am yachdav, vayomeru, kol asher diber Hashem na'aseh. Told Him everything.

He gave them a full pep talk, with all the rewards and everything. What was their response? Vaya'anu kol ha'am yachdav, vayomru, kol asher diber Hashem na'aseh. Whatever you say, it's fine. It's not the rewards. It's not the illustrious status we will have. It's if you tell us, we're doing it. Devoted, mekushar, davuk to the Eibishter. Whatever you want. Please, ... kaddish. Moshe told them everything. Their response is, Ribono Shel Olam, if you tell me that's what it is, azoi is good for me. I don't need all the schar and all the illustrious... I need the Eibishter. That's what Klal Yisrael was telling the Ribono Shel Olam. I need the Ribono Shel Olam. That's what I need. Let's go back now to understand Yom HaMyuchas. What's Yom HaMyuchas? I told you that the Ribono Shel Olam said, in order to get the Torah, Heviu sefer yuchaseichem. Huh? Heviu sefer yuchaseichem. Sefer Ginzei Chaim quotes the Chak V'Reem that explains that that's why it's called Yom HaMyuchas. It has to do with yichus, because the Ribono Shel Olam said, Bring your documentation. The goyim didn't have the sefer yichus. It was a very, very complicated sefer yichus they came up with, right? Each one had ten fathers, maybes, right? And mothers also these days could have been maybe. It was a whole mishmash over there. But Klal Yisroel was able to bring the Sefer Yichus. Now why did they need to bring Sefer Yichus? It's a pashut, because Torah is kadosh, Klal Yisroel, right? The way we're learning, and this is what I saw in his words of the Charkov, and this is what I think he means. He says, because be'etzem the Ribono Shel Olam is forcing Klal Yisroel. He's forcing us. So what is forced kabbalas haTorah? That's not a kabbalah, which of course we could talk about talu v'zavin, forced kinyan, okay, there's a lot of Torah about that in the Acharonim to explain how could we be forced and still it's an accepting. And the teretz is you could force somebody to buy and sell, talu v'zavin, the Gemara in Kiddushin and halacha, okay. But he says a deeper vort. He says actually because there's no such thing as forced by Klal Yisroel, because really they really do want. And where does this come from? Sefer Yichus comes from the avos, Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, instilled, as a Yid will ich vil Torah no matter what. Forced means even difficulties, we're taking it. We accept l'ratzonoi a korban laShem to get close to the Eibishter, and that came yichus. Heviu sefer yichuseichem, because I need to. The goyim came and claimed, why didn't you force us? And the teretz is, heviu sefer yichuseichem. That's the teretz, because it wouldn't help. I couldn't force you, because then you'd be forced. Then you'd be forced. Memeila, vihu sefi yichuseichem, because the penimius of the Yid from Avraham, Yitzchok, v'Yaakov is revealed, revealed, revealed, the Ribono Shel Olam, regardless of all the nisyonos. You know, Matan Torah was a lot of love. That was a lot of love. I think the Beis Yosef in his Avkas Rochel says, v'diglo alai ahavah is gematria shishim ribo Matan Torah. He brings a pasuk, I don't remember exactly, I haven't seen it in a long time, but v'diglo alai ahavah. It was love, tremendous ahavah. Shir HaShirim speaks, Tzena v'rena bnos Tzion, hamelech Shlomo ba'atarah she'itrah lo imo b'yom chasnuso, b'yom simchas libo. Simchas libo is זו Matan Torah. So what's the lashon of the pasuk, rabosai? Let's talk again. Ba'yom chasnuso.

U'viyoin simchas liboi, liboi, simchas liboi. Zu matan toivah. What's the pshat? There was so much love. What was the love? There's a beautiful Orach Chaim, which I've mentioned in the past, I think maybe the last year I also mentioned it. Shavuos is Yom HaBikkurim. We bring bikkurim on Shavuos. Shavuos is simchah. By bikkurim, v'samachta b'chol hatov. So what's the pashut b'chol hatov? Ribono Shel Olam gave you bikkurim, He gave you food, parnassah. It says the Orach Chaim, b'chol hatov, ein tov ela Torah. So the simchah that one has to have when he brings bikkurim is actually a simchas haTorah. So how did it come in here? Bikkurim, huh? Bikkurim, simchas haTorah. You're all over the place, right? No? Huh? Nu! Something's missing here. You're bringing bikkurim. Shavuos is bikkurim, right? That's when you bring it, Pesach, ha'atzeres, you bring bikkurim. And then it says there, v'samachta b'chol hatov. Tov, Torah? When you bring bikkurim, what are you talking about? And the Teretz is, rabosai, when a person starts to be makir tov, it's supposed to open up to be makir for the real tov in his life. What's the real tov by a Jew, by a Yid? It's not the bikkurim, it's not the chitzoniyus, not the fruits. It's tov, ein tov ela Torah. Bikurim is supposed to train a person to be makir tov and to be sameach, which will lead you to be sameach b'chol hatov. Because the real tov and the real simcha is the simchas haTorah. That's the real tov. That's pshat in Ohr HaChaim. Let's go back to the pasuk. Bayom chasnuso, there's a lot of love, but what is it? It's simchas libo, deep down the heart. A person could be externally in a matzav where everything's difficult. What's the heart? The heart of a Yid: ein simcha ela Torah. Only Torah makes him happy. At the end of the day, the Yid's neshama, the Yid's heart, what's mesameach him? Ein simcha ela Torah. It is what it is. You could try to find happiness in all the things, all the gimmicks and all the new moda, all the new things that come up. That's not going to bring simchas libo. It's external simcha. Simchas libo. There was love. There was tremendous love in Matan Torah. I want to show you a meydeke vort. Ahavah rabbah, Ahavtanu Hashem. Hashem loved us; He gave us Torah. Okay, we've spoken about in the past, Torah is a symbol of love of the Eibishter, right? V'diglei alai ahavah, yom chasnuso, tremendous love. Chemlo gedoylo viseiro, chamalta aleinu. Chemlo? Rachmones. Gedoylo viseiro. Big, a lot. Chamalta aleinu. Rachmones on us. What does it mean? Chemlo gedoylo viseiro, chamalta aleinu. What's the rachmones? Right, Torah means He loves us, He gave us Torah. Rachmones on us. The Gemara in Pesachim says, Biladahu yoima, kama yosi ika b'shuka. How many Yosi would be in the street, b'shuka, in the marketplace? What is Chazal mean? I want to tell you something about this. We don't understand what it would be for us if we didn't have Torah. A guy, Gentile, was born into this world, so he finds happiness in this world because, like every animal, l'havdil—I don't call a person an animal, that's not my kavanah—but the Ribono Shel Olam gave him to adapt, adapt to his surroundings and find what he needs.

What he enjoys in his surroundings. What do you do when a Yid is born into this world? He's not nourished by Olam Hazeh. His neshama is b'reishis bishvil haTorah shenikreis reishis, bishvil Yisrael shenikreis reishis. He needs Torah. So what happens if he doesn't get that Torah? What happens? Torah, I told you, is the love that a Yid feels from the Ribono Shel Olam. You know, today they discuss when someone doesn't get the love that he needs, he's empty. He can't function. How does a Yid function? And the answer is, if he gets his, for lack of a better term, his fix in Torah, what he needs in Torah, he gets it, that gives him chiyus. That gives him ki heim chayeinu v'orech yameinu. Chayeinu means what? It's our life. That's what it is. They say over from Reb Ber, Tzadik v'kadosh livrachah, ber Chashmuel, that there was once a speaker that got up to say that Torah is the life sustenance of a Yid. Reb Ber got upset at him. He got up and he said, A moiche! You didn't say it right. It's sustaining? No. Heim chayeinu. It's our life. That's sustaining our life. Tell me something. You have food, fish, steak. That sustains a person. It's not his life. Unfortunately, some people do think that that's their life, but it's not. It's something that you need to live. Torah is not something we need to live. Torah is chayeinu, ki heim chayeinu. But that was obsessed. He says, You're not understanding. So it's more than just, I need Torah to live. Torah is my life, my heart, my heart. Pesach libi b'Secha. Pesach libi b'Secha. What is libi? Pesach libi. What does it mean, libi b'Secha? I thought a person has moach, no? A person has a good head, so you want, Open my mind. Is that how you translate the word libi, mind? No. You daven every day, Pesach libi b'Secha. Yeah, you daven? No, you don't daven so much. You daven, Pesach libi b'Secha. Pesach mochi, pesach daati, open my mind, give me a good head, open. It's not about your mind, Rabbi Yisai. It's about your lev. Pesach... Now, the truth is lev and bina, I hear, I know all that. But this is the way I like to understand it. When I daven to the Eibishter and I say, Pesach libi, I say, Ribono Shel Olam, open my arteries. Sustain my life, sustain my heart. It's my heart. Lev. This is my heart. This is what it is. My heart beats Torah. That's what's going through the veins of a Yid, the sach, living. Imagine a person walks into a yeshiva and says, I want open heart surgery. I want to have triple bypass of all my arteries. They're all stuffed up, the arteries. I need to clean them out, so. Yeah, let's sit down and learn a Tosafos. Go ahead, let's do it. Sach, livi v'seirasecha. Give me open heart surgery. Make my heart pump, sach, open it up. It's clogged. Sach, livi v'seirasecha, open my heart, yeah. Something fell. So a Yid needs this, and if not, it's sham tehei kevuraschem, because you can't function without it. That's what it is. It's what makes you function, what makes you breathe, what makes your heart pump. I want to tell you over a meridige vort. Chemla gedolah. Chemla gedolah means—

Through billions, Hashem has rachmanus on me. Could you imagine if He didn't give me Torah? He starved me to death. A Yid would be starved. That's pshat, chemlah gedolah v'yeseirah chamalta aleinu. Tremendous rachmanus on us. Had You not given the Yid His Torah, he couldn't function. He couldn't exist. It's ahavah, it's love, but it's also chemlah gedolah v'yeseirah. Yiddish's expression: fein volt ich oysgezען. Okay, we're going to teach a little Yiddish today. And those that are out there in Torah Anytime land that are listening to this shiur, some of you know what the expression is: fein volt ich oysgezען. Could you imagine what I'd look like? Tell me, if you had a person starve to death, we've seen pictures of people, their bones, and they're emaciated, and they're swollen, and they look tzubrochen and tzishtochen, yeah? A Yid on Torah, fein volt er oysgezען. Oy yoy yoy, what he would look like. Oy yoy yoy. Nebach what a Yid. We look in the mirror and we see, a Yid mit Torah. Baruch Hashem, chemlah gedolah. Rebono shel olam, thank You so much. Could you imagine if I didn't have Torah, what I would look like? Kama yofi ika b'shuka. Could you imagine I'd be the same yofi that's on Wall Street, that's busy destroying everybody around him, trying to undermine, steal the other guy's money, and being a bulvan, and coming home and enacting disgusting to his wife. Could you imagine kama yofi ika b'shuka, in the street? You know, you go out to the street, rabosai. S'bishlaymiyer in a beis medrash, all right, you don't see what it is, but go out into the street, and you didn't learn Torah. Even if you didn't learn Torah that day, you don't look the same anymore. The Yid b'shuka, kama yofi. Could you imagine what it would have been with me? I want to once say a pshat on beis. Listen to a pshat. Women are chayav in birchas haTorah. Shailah is why they don't have the mitzvah of Talmud Torah. Famous kasha. So the Magen Avraham says the mechuyav to say korbanos, korbanos is Torah. Kasha is, when you say korbanos, it's for tefillah, and when you say Torah for tefillah, it's actually tefillah, not Torah. For example, Kriyas Shema. Rabbeinu Yonah says you're allowed to say Kriyas Shema ba'al peh. ... You have to omer ba'al peh, and the Torah says you're not saying it for Kriyas Shema, you're saying it for—I'm sorry, you're not saying it for Torah, you're saying it for tefillah. So when you say it for tefillah, there's no problem. It's one of the terutzim of Rabbeinu Yonah. The other one, that's ragil, people are used to it because they say it every day, so there's no problem. Okay. L'maaseh, there's halacha of Ava Rabba, that Ava Rabba is birchas haTorah. Mechaber brings two de'os: you have to learn right away, you don't have to learn right away. Some say you could be yotzei, says the Mechaber, because you say Kriyas Shema. So Kriyas Shema is Torah, so what's the other shittah? Because Kriyas Shema is not really Torah, because it's said as tefillah. Nai d'bYehuda, Kriyas Shema is actually, in essence, Torah. That's the whole point of Kriyas Shema. It's b'shochbecha uvkumecha, v'kayem Talmud Torah with it. We could talk from today till tomorrow, as they say. Shei. L'maaseh, the Beis Halevi gives a different teretz to this kasha. Why do they make birchas haTorah and put the Beis Halevi in Parshas Mishpatim, that they make a bracha because they have Talmud Torah on the mitzvahs that are nogea to them, nidah, challah, hadlakas neiros, so they have Talmud Torah. It's a kiyum of Talmud Torah. He says that's the pshat, naasa v'nishma, shnei kesarim. Why did we get two crowns for naasa v'nishma? One for naasa, one for nishma. L'choira it's one thing, naasa v'nishma, we'll do the Torah. Why do they get a separate crown for naaseh and a separate crown for nishma? The Teretz is there's two mitzvahs in Talmud Torah. One is for naaseh, and one is for nishma. Even in Talmud Torah, one is to learn to be naaseh, to do the mitzvahs, and one is nishma, just for the sake of learning. Women have the Talmud Torah of naaseh, limud al menas la'asos. And that's the two crowns. We got one crown for limud that we mekabel to learn for naaseh, and one crown that we mekabel to learn for nishma. That's the end of the Beis HaLevi. See here, rabosai, two terutzim to the kasha: why do we make birchas haTorah? So either the pshat is because they're mechuyav in korbanos to say parshas hakorbanos, okay, which is a very controversial shaila topic, l'choira, says the Beis HaLevi, they have Talmud Torah in the mitzvahs that are nogeia to them. It was a big raid in Europe when they started the Beis Yaakovs. Are you allowed to—

Money for tzedakah, for the yeshiva, from the yeshiva is to give to the Beis Yaakovs, because money that was given for Talmud Torah can't go for a lesser cause. It has to go for Talmud Torah. It is, if Talmud Torah is the greatest mitzvah, people gave money to support Talmud Torah, to give it to Beis Yaakov, who says Talmud Torah? So, me'elta zeh, there was one of the big poskim. Reb Beisarin was one of the big poskim that they went to with this question, and he set down the rule that all money that's given to yeshivas could be given to Beis Yaakovs, because what's they get to the limud that they have to learn halachos, it's Talmud Torah, like this Beis Halevi's yesod, and therefore you could switch the monies from yeshiva to Beis Yaakovs, and that became policy, accepted policy. Europe based on the teshuva of the Alter Zeide, the famous historic thing. Reb Dovid Yosef came to America, he was here in Beis Gavriel, he mentioned this whole historic issue of the Beis Yaakovs, that they went to the Beis Sarin, and he was the one that was kovea, he was the one that set policy in this area. Al kol panim, the Brisker Rav himself, interestingly, doesn't speak over this Beis Halevi, this teretz, but he asks the kasha, why do they make a birchas haTorah? And he gives a completely different answer, not looking at what his, the Beis Halevi, he says a different teretz, the Brisker Rav. B'shem Reb Chaim. He says b'shem Reb Chaim that Reb Chaim, he said that birchas haTorah is not birchas hamitzvos. Birchas haTorah is birchas hashevach. Praise of the Rabbeinu Shleilam. I'm praising the Rabbeinu Shleilam for Torah. And women have that. They may not have mitzvahs Talmud Torah, but they have birchas hashavach. Interesting, the Steipler, in Kehillos Yaakov, in the last siman in Brachos, Reb Reuven Fein is an hakdamah to Bein Hashmashos, and the sefarim Bein Hashmashos says the same yesod, that birchas haTorah is a birchas hanehenin. Birchas hanehenin. Enjoyment, just like you eat food. It's interesting, we learn birchas haTorah from birchas hamazon. The name lachreim is learned out from birchas hamazon. That's why by Talmud Torah we have before and after, like birchas hamazon, like food. So he says it's a birchas hanehenin. I remember my zeide, zatzal, used to say over that the Chofetz Chaim, when he said a gishmakke vort, he used to, with his mouth, like he'd sweet... delicious. So when I was in Lakewood, in zichron Shneyer, it's one of the big shuls in Lakewood. The rav is Rav Chaim Zimerman, basher Chaim Zimerman, one of the poskim of Lakewood, one of the four poskim. So I said over this story from the Alter Zeide, and I said I don't know if the Chofetz Chaim actually, you know, he was just trying to teach the talmidim that they should appreciate Torah in such a way. It was to bring out the point, teireh is. After the shiur, Reb Asher Chaim's shlita comes over to me and he tells me the drasha was gevaldik, loved it, but one thing I take issue with. I don't like the way you learn pshat in the maaseh of the Chofetz Chaim. Chofetz Chaim taaked delicious. It was sweet. It was so sweet to him. He was taaking enjoyment. It wasn't just to teach the talmidim and to be madrich them how to appreciate. Keri taka felt the sweetness of Torah. That's what he told me. He took issue, took issue with this. He said, Okay, maskim, I'm not going to argue with that. Maybe. One thing for sure: ruin hadvarim l'mi she'amram, ruin hadvarim shemi she'amram, the stipler, and Rav Ruvein Fein, zecher tzaddik v'kadosh livrachah. Makes sense that they said that birchas haTorah is a birchas hanehenin. Makes sense for them. For people like this, I hear where they're coming from, that they understood birchas haTorah as a birchas hanehenin. I always said pshat that that's why we have three brachos, maybe. The first bracha, la'asok b'divrei Torah, depending if you're Sephardim or Ashkenazim, is a birchas ha... nu, birchas ha-mitzvos. Meharev na, sweet, is what? Birchas hanehenin. Asher bachar banu is birchas ha-shevach. What did Reb Chaim mean that women, women, have a chiyuv to make birchas haTorah birchas ha-shevach? And the teretz is, part of Torah is who we are. It's a shevach to the Ribono Shel Olam, asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim, v'nasan lanu es Toraso.

If we didn't have a Torah. Find, b'nois gezen, if the man learns in yeshiva and a wife has a husband that comes home, he's a ben Torah, the house is different, the marriage is different, the kesher. So she also appreciates, Asher bachar bonu mikol amim. Part of Torah is not only what, rabosai, what we do, who. It's who we are. Torah is not what we do. Torah is who we are. Lasting, yes, birchas hamitzvos, what we do. Asher bachar bonu mikol amim, asher bachar bonu mikol amim, asher bachar bonu, who we are. Proud to be a ben Torah, proud to be a Yid that learns Torah. We appreciate hakaras hatov is hamachta b'chol hatov. We appreciate keser Torah, which is only l'Yisrael. Bishlosh kesarim, it's a keser, it's our crown, it's our jewel, it's our beauty. What are we? Asher bachar bonu. What's so special? And the answer is keser Torah. And that we got when we said two words: Rabboisai, naaseh v'nishma. Naaseh v'nishma, that's who we are. So, Rabboisai, gut keser. We're going to put a crown on that. That's a melech, it's a malchus, it's who he is. He carries himself with royalty. Malchi Rabbanan, who are the princes. A Yid is a prince because he learns Torah. He's a prince. I grew up, I heard language like this in my home. Seydes used to say, Ah, he's a prince. Talked about a ben Torah, he was a prince. When he wore a cape and he walked around with a serpent, he walked around with a stick, he's a prince. What made him a prince? And the answer is, it was eternal. His neshama, prince-like Torah. Torah was malchus. It was royalty. A Yid has that royalty, and it's who he is, and it's from his avos. It's from Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov, yichus. It is, Asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim, asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim v'nosan lanu es Toraso. Something special. It's who you are, and not what you do. It's who you are. A ben Torah is not someone who just learns. A ben Torah is ben Torah. You can't separate the ben. That's why it's called a ben Torah. The meforshim explain, what's ben Torah? You're attached. You have the DNA of the Torah. It's who you are. Remember, Shavuos we're celebrating. What are we celebrating? Not what we do, but who we are. The meforshim speak, Atzeres, there's no mitzvos on Shavuos. You know what's interesting? It doesn't even say you're mechuyav to learn on Shavuos. I thought about it. It should have been that the mitzvos hayom is to learn Torah, no? Shavuos, staying up at night, that's the mitzvah hayom. It's not a mitzvah. Why not? Tzu der bin. And the answer is, rabosai, the way I explain, meiredik. It's not what that you do; it's who we are. It's not what we do. The mitzvah hayom is not what to do. It's more about Ashreinu, thanking the Eibishter for who we are, that we said Naaseh v'Nishma. It's that we were able to come and say Naaseh v'Nishma. I want to end with the following vort, rabosai, because I see the oilam can't sit anymore. Why not? Why am I able to sit and you guys can't sit anymore? Can't sit. All right. So I'll answer, rabosai, with a beautiful vort, and then I'll wish you a Ashreinu, kol ha'amim, a beautiful Yom Tov, Havalah Satorah. You ready? I saw a vort from the Sar Shalom, first Belzer Rebbe's mayvedik. When Moshe Rabbeinu returns the responsibility of Klal Yisrael to the Eibishter, it says in the pasuk...

The statement pasuk like this. Oh, there's the place here. Give me a minute. Statement pasuk that Moshe brought back the response of Klal Yisroel, right? Right. Vayomer Hashem el Har Sinai, vayomer... Oy, oy, oy. Statement, zeh in pasuk, no? Not zeh, yep. Vayagid Moshe es divrei ha'am el Hashem. Moshe returns and gives the response of Klal Yisroel. He was a negotiator. He was a go-between, right? Ribono Shel Olam speaks to him, he goes back down to the people. The people answered, responded, he brings back the answer. So it was a negotiation, as they say in English, face to face. Not so, says the Yerushalmi. Targum Yerushalmi on the pasuk, Vesani Moshe yas pizgamei ama. Moshe Rabbeinu brings back the response of the Bnei Yisrael b'tefilah kodam Hashem, in his tefilah, in his prayer, in his davening before the Ribono Shel Olam. Tefilah, davening? He went down, he had negotiations, he told them, he responded, they responded, he brings back the response. What's b'tefilah? Where did davening come in? Says the Sfas Emes, such a beautiful vort. Klal Yisroel showed such unique dveikus, such unique love to the Ribono Shel Olam when they said, Naaseh v'nishma, that they're telling the Ribono Shel Olam, whatever you tell us, we don't even have to hear. We love, we're going to do it. Moshe, besides bringing back the response, also davened to the Eibishter, the Ribono Shel Olam reciprocate that love, not only now but in doros future. Remember always that Klal Yisroel said, Naaseh v'nishma, and reciprocate with showing love. V'hayu terem yikrau v'ani e'eneh. Answer them yes before you even hear what they want. First say yes, and then listen to what they want. B'tzilo — remember I told you the story of Paller. When there's love, there is no no. The Ribono Shel Olam — Klal Yisroel shows you love that there's no no. B'tzilo aidav. This should be in front of you as a zecher, as a zechus. You should always remember, V'ani terem yikrau, v'heim terem yikrau v'ani e'eneh. Say yes, and then listen to what they want, like they said yes, and they said, Okay, now we're going to listen. Klal Yisroel's diglo alai ahavah — there was so much love at Matan Torah that Klal Yisroel, in the words of Naaseh v'nishma, betrayed so much kesher and dveikus. Moshe's tefillah was. Rabbeinu should show on his end the same diglo alai ahava. Yes, and now let me hear what it is. Unconditional love. Not the Torah is about unconditional love. And Shivrei Luchos is the biggest raya. And with this I'll end. Anochi, anochi hu menachemchem. Anochi, anochi. Klal Yisroel gets destroyed, churban habayis, and churban of Klal Yisroel. The nechama is anochi, anochi hu menachemchem. What's the double lashon, anochi, anochi? It's a pashut, it's an expression. That's the way they double, right? Hagam, we know, it says clearly, chatu b'kiflayim, right? Nechama b'kiflayim. The nechama is double, right? Nachamu, nachamu, double. So there's a reason why it says it double. So what's anochi, anochi? That's just expression, anochi, anochi. Or there's also significance to the duplication, the repetition, anochi, anochi. I always wanted to say pshat: anochi was said twice. Anochi was said by the Luchos Rishainis, and then the Rabbeinu repeated it: anochi, anochi.

The Rebbe is saying, look at the fact that I was moichel after the eigel, and I was still a nochi, Hashem Elokecha. I was still a nochi. The fact that I said twice, Anochi hu menachemchem, that no matter what you go through, no matter what destruction or whatever, the love is unchanged. Anochi, Anochi. Hu, that should be your nechamah, that no matter what, I still remain a nochi. See, the sefarim speak. Why did the Ribono Shel Olam say, Anochi Hashem Elokecha? Anochi Hashem Elokecha? He spoke to Klal Yisrael, everyone. So the sefarim, first of all, speak with Chazal. There's a very famous Chazal that the Ribono Shel Olam was actually talking to Moshe, so later on when Klal Yisrael sins, they could come and say, Oh, you said Anochi Hashem Elokecha. You only said it to Moshe, right? You didn't say Elokeichem; you said Elokecha. Huh? Anochi, Hashem Elokecha. You didn't say Elokeichem. See, the sefarim write, Anochi Hashem Elokecha, individual. You know, you have thousands of people standing, so he's the melech, he's the... It's everyone. You don't feel personal kesher. By Matan Torah they felt a nochi, Hashem Elokecha. It's personal. I am yours, I am yours, I am yours. Everyone has his kesher, his deveikus, personalized love and kesher with the Ribono Shel Olam. When he learns Torah, the Ribono Shel Olam is mine, tata. He's mine. Not unsere taanis, my taanis. It's individualized. It's personalized. Anochi, Anochi, Hashem Elokecha. It's each person has this love and connection on a personal level, and that's what they felt by Matan Torah, and they felt it zeh Keli v'anveihu. They felt it by... I just want to end with the following. I know I keep on saying I want to end with the following. It's a trick how to keep you guys, keep on thinking, you know, to keep you. Remember I told you Yom HaMuchas was the day that Klal Yisrael said naaseh v'nishma. They were interested, right? Ratzon. Naaseh v'nishma is about wanting, yeah? Yom Kippur, Yom HaMuchas, Derech HaShulchan, Luchos Shniyos was Yom Kippur. Do you know what Yom Kippur is called? What's Yom Kippur called? The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called Yemei HaRachamim. Now I know Sefardim will say Yemei HaRachamim v'Slichos. It's true, because that's the lashon of the piyutim, HaRachamim v'Slichos, Adon HaRachamim v'Slichos. Ashkenaz calls it, Mishnah Berurah I think even brings it, Yemei HaRachamim v'Ratzon. What does ratzon mean? So pashut means goodwill. Alte fun kelem used to fatach, Yemei HaRachamim v'Ratzon, where the ratzon of Klal Yisrael comes out. All year we get lost, tumult. The yetzer hara from Mishnah is what we really want deep down, right? It's the yetzer hara that makes us confused, but what do we really want? Yom Kippur, it comes through. There's no eating, there's no drinking, there's nothing. What is it? That's when the ratzon pnimi, only the neshama, the penimius of the Yid comes through. Yemei harachamim v'haratzon, the ratzon of the Yid comes through. Yom hamyuchas is the day where Klal Yisroel shows what it means to be a Yid. The yichus that they're Bnei Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, they show ratzon, tremendous naaseh v'nishma. Yom Kippur is also yemei harachamim v'haratzon. So Shivrei luchos, the first luchos, ended with what? Yom Kippur. Because Yom Kippur, the Ribono Shel Olam says, amochel. Everything that you transgressed physically, what you did with your... Why? Because I look deeper, and what do I see? It's really your ratzon. What's really inside who you are? And the answer is, Yidden stand, Lifnei Hashem titharu, you're clean, you're pure, it's open. What do you see? You see ratzon. The Ribono Shel Olam judges us on our ratzon, how much we want. Yom Kippur, that comes through. We cut away all the taivos, all the chitzoniyus, and the Ribono Shel Olam sees raw Yid. Raw Yid is ratzon.

Naaseh v'nishma was rotzon, was ratzon. Yom hameyuchas, that's the yichus of Klal Yisrael. That's special. This is Atzeres, Shavuos, Kabbalas HaTorah, naaseh v'nishma, the kesarim, the royalty of Klal Yisrael. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.