Shavuos and Yitzchak: Am HaTorah, the Akeidah, and Mesiras Nefesh in Daily Learning

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Shalom Aleichem and Bruchim Habaim. We're coming off Shavuos, Meirdike Yontif of Kabbalas HaTorah. The Yontif represents the Yid and Torah. A Yid means Torah. That's what we are. We're Am HaTorah. We've accepted on Shavuos to be this Am HaTorah, the nation that lives Torah. What does it mean to be Am HaTorah? What does it mean, a Jew and Torah? It's such an intricate part of who we are, our identity, our essence. We are Am HaTorah. We are the nation. Our whole mahus, our whole entity, our whole existence, our goals and shi'ifos of life is Torah and Torah and vaiter Torah. What does it mean to be a Torah Jew? What does it mean to be a Yid that's lomeid Torah, that's mekayem the mitzvah of Talmud Torah? It is one of the loftiest of goals and the tenets of our Yiddishkeit. Tonight, I would like to address what it means to be a Torah Yid. A Yid that's mekayem and lives Talmud Torah, the learning of Torah. Shavuos, as we've mentioned, as we are saying, is the Yom Tov of Torah and limud haTorah. Yet something interesting is found in the Rishonim about the Yom Tov of Shavuos, which needs to be explained. The Tur, Shulchan Aruch, the Tur, he brings from his brother, Rabbi Yehuda, that all the Yamim Tovim, Pesach, Shavuos, Sukkos, are keneged the Avos. Each Yom Tov is symbolic of one of the Avos. Pesach is Avraham, Shavuos is Yitzchak, and Sukkos is Yaakov. There's a lot of literature, a lot of Torah, to explain the correlation between each Yom Tov and the Av, and the father that it represents. Pesach is Avraham, Shavuos Yitzchak, and Sukkos is Yaakov. Why? Why is it? What is it in the Yom Tov that represents the Av that it's symbolic for? I'd like to address Shavuos and Yitzchak, the connection, the correlation between Shavuos and Yitzchak. It's interesting. The Gra, the heilige Gaon, heilige Gaon brings that the name Shavuos. Why is it called Shavuos? Pashut to the Rishonim, the pshat is because Shavuos has to do with Sefiras HaOmer. It's the culmination of Sefiras HaOmer. The preparation with the Sefiras HaOmer concludes with the Yontif. So Shavuos is weeks. We count days and weeks. Mimeila, the Yontif takes on the name of Shavuos, weeks, Sefiras HaOmer. We've mentioned in the past, in the mitzvahs, the days to count Sefiras HaOmer is yamim, maybe also Shavuos, weeks. Why is it only Shavuos, weeks, and not yamim, days? We've talked about it in the past. We can speak about it in different shiurim in the future. But that's one pshat, that it has to do with Sefiras HaOmer, the counting of the days and weeks, Shavuos. Chiddah tells us that Shavuos, the name comes from swearing, shvuah. We swore. We made a shvuah, a commitment with...

Oath that we will accept the Torah, we will be the Am HaTorah, and return shvuos. It's a plural, a lashon of two shvuos. Ribbono Shel Olam swears to us that He is committed, and we are the Am HaNivchar forever. So it's a shvuos, plural of oaths: our oath to Hashem, the Ribbono Shel Olam, and the Ribbono Shel Olam's oath to us. The Gaon says something very unique, something very interesting. The Gaon says Yitzchak, he kept on digging the wells, as we find in Bereishis, and Avimelech and his people around him kept on undoing the wells that Yitzchak dug. And finally, the last well, it was called Nachlas Shiva, and that's why it's called Be'er Sheva, seven, sheva. Zogt the Gaon, so the sheva shvuos is seven shvuos: Yitzchak, the be'eiros, the wells, shvuos is al shem Be'er Sheva. The connection between the wells of Yitzchak, Be'er Sheva, the seventh well, the seventh well stays. We see clearly the connection between shvuos, the Yom Tov, Yitzchak, Avinu, his avodah, Be'er Sheva. There's some connection, there's some shaychus. What is that connection? Yitzchak to the Yom Tov of Shvuos, to the avodah of Yitzchak, to the be'eiros that Yitzchak had to dig, and he had to re-dig and fight for. Till finally, he was able to keep Er sheva. It's interesting, the Medrash, Vayeira, Chavgimel Yud Aleph, there's a yud in Yitzchak. Yitzchak. The yud in Yitzchak represents Aseres HaDibros. Interesting, the Yitzchak, the Yaakov also has a yud, but the Yitzchak, the yud is Aseres HaDibros. Vayter, again we see the connection between Aseres HaDibros, which was given to us, which was dictated to us on Shavuos, and the Av Yitzchak. There's another interesting Medrash Rabbah, which points to Aseres HaDibros, luchos, and Yitzchak. Avraham sends Eliezer to go get a wife for Yitzchak. When he finally meets Rivka, without question, this is the shidduch, osei chachtel avdecha l'Yitzchak. He realizes this is the shidduch for Yitzchak, and he jumps and he gives her a matanah, he gives her a present, he gives her gifts. What are the gifts? Shnei tzmidim. So two bracelets. Value asarah, ten, ten beka, ten. So it's two and ten. Zogn Chazal that there was a remez in the two and the ten. It was symbolic. It wasn't just, gadol, it happened to be two bracelets because you had two hands, or ten, that that was the worth of it. No, there was some significance of the two and the ten, because two are the luchos. And ten are the Aseres HaDibros. Rashi quotes this Chazal. So in the shidduch of Yitzchok to Rivka, the remez of Aseres HaDibros and the two luchos. Interesting. When Eliezer repeats the story to Besuel and Lavan, that he meets Rivka and he gives her these gifts, he changes a little the storyline. And he says that actually I asked her who she was, and I realized it's the right shidduch, and therefore I gave her these gifts. Meforshim, based on Chazal, explain the change. Why to Lavan and Besuel does he change the story? That's not what happened. He gave her the gifts without asking any questions. The teretz, of course, is simple, because Lavan, he would think that something's wrong with Eliezer. Someone gives gifts to a child, to a female, you got to start asking questions. Got to find out what he's all about. Something's wrong here.

Suspicious. So to Lavan and Besuel, he had to change the story. To Rivka, he gave it to her straight, straight away, without any questions. The shaila, the questions, but why? Why did he do it? What's the takkeh pshat? I mean, he should have asked who she is, and if it's a strange hanhaga, if it's something which is bizarre, so why did he takkeh do it? And then later on, to cover it up, when he speaks it over with Besuel and the Teretz, Rabosai, if I once heard that the Chiddushei Harim said this, I haven't seen it inside, but possibly it is a Chiddushei Harim. To Rivka, it's not money. Money has no value. She sees past the money, so she sees the siman, the symbol. And what is the symbol? That we marry Yitzchak. It comes with Aseres HaDibros. It comes with shnei luchos. This is the shidduch. This is the talk. This is the foundation, the unterste shura of the shidduch. Rivka would understand that because she sees past the money. She sees deeper than the money. Lavan and Besuel, it's just the money, so they wouldn't understand the siman, so they would have to be explained, what are you giving money for? And therefore he had to switch it around. This yesod, that Yitzchak—what is Yitzchak? Yitzchak is Aseres HaDibros, luchos. That's the life. When you marry Yitzchak, Rivka had to understand she's accepting a life of luchos and Aseres HaDibros, which is really... The pshat of the Tur, Shem his brother, Rabbi Yehuda, that Yitzchak represent teshuvas, luchos, Aseres HaDibros, Be'er Sheva, the goyen, that the avodah, the life story of Yitzchak is all about Aseres HaDibros and shnei luchos. The question is, vos volt geven shlecht if he would talk to Rivka first and then give it to her. This is such a big problem. If you first give, if you first ask who she is, go into dialogue, and then see if she's interested and talk to her, that it's about Aseres HaDibros and shnei luchos. Efshar, rabosai, we could say that merumaz here in the matanos, in the gift that was given to Rivka, in the marriage, in the life with Yitzchak of Aseres HaDibros is luchos, and Aseres HaDibros Rivka accepts it without question, without even asking one thing, because that's naaseh v'nishma. It was a form of naaseh v'nishma, of accepting without asking, ready to go. I accept, mashcheini acharecha narutz, I run. I don't need to know anything if it's luchos and Aseres HaDibros. This is the response, naaseh v'nishma. First I take and then I'll ask, and therefore she accepts, and then there's discussion what the shidduch is about. S'altz mais ov siman l'banim. This is the actions of Eliezer with Rivka is now doing the groundwork, is seeding. They're putting in seeds for the mahus, the future of Klal Yisrael. That Klal Yisrael, when they hear luchos, when they hear Aseres HaDibros, no questions asked, naaseh v'nishma, we accept. This explains why maybe Yaakov felt so bad when he comes to Rachel, he starts to cry. What is he crying? Chazal say two things. One, that he sees he's not going to be buried with Rachel. That I understand, that makes sense why he cries. And the second thing that's in Chazal, he couldn't do like Eliezer, eved Avraham, that came with presents. That's why you're crying? You think Rachel needs your presents? You think Rachel, to her it makes a difference if she got a wedding ring or not getting a wedding ring or an engagement ring? You think that's going to make the— if you think she's marrying only for that, then she's not your shidduch anyway. What are you crying about? It's meinsta. The teretz is, obviously what Eliezer did was not just an act of giving gifts.

It was deep. It was symbolic, and it was trailblazing. It was being maimid. It was establishing in avodas Hashem tremendous zachin in the future of Klal Yisrael, in their koiches hanefesh, in their maaseh avos siman labanim. And therefore he cried that he couldn't do it. It wasn't just a gift. It was an avodah. It was an avodas Hashem in kabolas haTorah and kabolas mitzvos. And Yitzchak, as the av of kabolas haTorah, therefore by him this siman played itself out. It was able to come to fruition. It was needed in the Kabbalah and the acceptance of Rivka, kabolas haluchos, kabolas haTorah, naaseh v'nishma without questions. The kasha is pretty obvious, but Yitzchak is not the amud haTorah. Yitzchak doesn't stand for Torah. Yitzchak stands for avodah. Avraham is chesed. Yitzchak is avodah. Yankev is the Torah. Yankev is the av of Torah. So how do we explain the whole avodah of kabolas haTorah, of luchos, of shvuos, is Yitzchak? It should have been Yaakov Avinu. Yaakov is the av of Torah. Midachzach, I believe, rabosai, it's likta a tremendous yesod. Avadah, Yankiv is Torah. Limud haTorah is Yankiv. And Yankiv had tremendous nisyonos, and he learned through those nisyonos. Yankiv is about simchas haTorah, and could be possibly in Sukkos we have Shemini Atzeres, which is simchas Torah. Yankiv has to do with Torah. We're not taking away not the Torah, not the simchas haTorah, that we're happy, we dance, and we're tzafriden with Torah. Has to do with Yaakov also, for sure, no question. But the avodah of naaseh v'nishma, of Kabbalas haTorah, which means b'mesirus nefesh, with self-sacrifice to the point that akedah, that there's no person. Person is completely sacrificed like a korban. That mesirus nefesh is the avodah of Shavuos, Kabbalas haTorah, Kabbalah with mesirus nefesh, Kabbalah with such devotion, selfless, korban, akedah. And Yitzchak, who is the symbol, is the semel of mesirus nefesh, of korban, of akedah, becomes the siman of Kabbalas haTorah and naaseh v'nishma. Yankiv Avinu, Torah, amud haTorah. Shavuos is not so much about Torah; it's about Kabbalah. Shavuos is about naaseh v'nishma, to accept no matter what. To be selfless, to sacrifice completely, the shoreshim of that naaseh v'nishma likten in Yitzchak Avinu's akeidah. It's rooted in Yitzchak's akeidah, and therefore Yitzchak, Yitzchak is the symbol, Yitzchak is the av of shvuos. Torah requires a lot of mesiras nefesh. Klal Yisrael is am haTorah; it's the am of mesiras nefesh. Throughout the doros, even when it defies for the Rabbeinu Shlolem and His Torah. Kabbalah, they accepted this in Ma'amad Har Sinai, naaseh v'nishma. There was a big fire in Kabbalas HaTorah, eish gedolah. The pasuk says, Vaya'al ashanoi k'eshan hakivshan. The smoke from that fire went up like that of a furnace, eshen. The smoke of a furnace goes up, smoke. Why do you need a mashal? Why do we need an example?

Explain to me what esh ashan, the smoke when smoke, fire. Why do we need an example of esh and hakivshan, a furnace? Imrei Emes, me'oirer a chiddush, me'oirer a deep pshat. It says, Imrei Emes, esh and hakivshan, whenever we use the word kivshan, it always has a ring, a remez to the kivshan ha'esh that Avraham Avinu was thrown into, the Krimatorium that Avraham was thrown into, the kivshan ha'esh. Vayal ha'shanai, the fire had smoke. That smoke billowed to the shamayim, to the heavens. Smokes of Auschwitz, Treblinka, those smokes of Yiddishe kerper. Vayal ha'shanai goes up to the kisei hakavod, and it's esh and hakivshan, it's rooted in the kivshan ha'esh. A Yid one day might be called upon for Torah, for shmiras haTorah, to be thrown into a fire. Kabbalas haTorah, there was a remez of mesiras nefesh. Chazal tell us that by Kabbalas haTorah, even though we said naaseh v'nishma, the Ribbono Shel Olam uprooted the mountain, put it over our heads, and the Ribbono Shel Olam told us and warned us, Im tekablu es haTorah, מוטב. V'im lav, sham tehei kevuraschem. There, sham, there will be your kevurah. The mountain will be dropped on you if you don't accept. The mefarshim all ask the kasha: it should have said, po, here. You pick up a mountain, it's here. You drop it here. What does it mean, sham, there, tehei kevuraschem? The lashon of Chazal, sham needs to be explained. It's po, it's here. Say the mefarshim, it doesn't mean po, here, because here they already said naaseh v'nishma. That's one of the kashas that all the mefarshim deal with, all the way starting from Tosafos. The Rishonim already asked this kasha. Chayrei, they accepted. They said naaseh; they gladly accepted, happily accepted. Why do they have to be again warned and threatened, with sham tehei kevuraschem if you don't accept? And the answer is, we're not talking about that generation, because they accepted. We're talking about the future, doros doros. There'll always be nisyonos, there'll be tests. The Yid will be put to test if he accepts and if he's mekabel Torah with limud and ameilus baTorah. It's not going to be easy. Sham, those future generations, tehei kevuraschem if you don't accept Torah, if you don't accept the naaseh v'nishma, you don't keep the naaseh v'nishma, sham tehei kevuraschem. Chayrei, the lashon sham tehei kevuraschem, it's very interesting wording. If it's talking about here, so we understand the mountain is being thrown on top and literally will bury them. But if it's symbolic for future generations that you'll have to die if you don't accept the naaseh v'nishma, so the kfuraschem is a very coarse lashon. Just say שם תמות, you'll die. Why does kfuraschem, buried, buried alive almost? It's a very strong language. What does it mean, kfuraschem? Why is the threat in such language, kfuraschem, be buried alive almost? What's the lashon? Chavei, sefshekemen zogen a pshat, and with this we'll understand the whole ma'amar of the Chazal. Im tekablu es haTorah, mutav; im lav, sham tehei kfuraschem. Tosafos has a kasha, like we just mentioned before, they didn't need to be forced. They said naaseh v'nishma. Answers Tosafos, there was a big fire. There was tremendous fire, eish gedolah, and that frightened them. They started going backwards, k'ilu they're having charatah, k'ilu they're regretting. So the Ribbono Shel Olam had to force them back with a threat of the mountain on top of them and sham tehei kfuraschem. Why the fire? Why the threat? Why the fear? Why the warnings? It was a—

Situation of simcha, of happiness. We spoke in the past from the Maharal. It's a tremendous situation in atmosphere of ahava. Chazal tell us it was like a wedding, chuppah. The mountain was like a chuppah, and the Ribbono Shel Olam was marrying Klal Yisrael. So why all the fear and the threat and the frightening? It should have been a beautiful matzav, a joyous situation. We learn all the halachos of chuppah from Matan Torah, from Ma'amad Har Sinai. The chuppah, the mountain, the flowers. Say the Rishonim come from Ma'amad Har Sinai. That's why we have flowers by a chasunah. The music, kolos u'brakim. I always said, the flash of the photographer, brakim, flash of lightning. Whatever it is, but it's a happy, a joyous occasion. Why the big fire? Pashtus, there is a din. There is a yesod, a condition that's needed in Talmud Torah, and that is, b'eimah, b'reses, b'zeiah. You need to be with trepidation. You need to be afraid. Fear, pachad, kavod haTorah. If not, people don't respect, they lose respect if they don't have the fear, the yirah. Like a talmid chacham, there's a din yirah. Got to be afraid. Hashem Elokecha tira. Es Hashem Elokecha tira. Asked the rabbis, talmidei chachamim. Torah needs yirah. Torah has to be learned not as a lax, a joyous festivity. It's something that should be learned with fear and respect. Efsher, rabosai. We could say another pshat: why the fire? Why the fright from fire? And the answer is, part of the naaseh v'nishma was to accept future generations of korbanos in Klal Yisroel, mesiras nefesh. Fire, Torah is eish. Sometimes eish warms. Fire gives us warmth, gives us food, and sometimes fire burns. There's eish ha'mizbeach. Klal Yisroel, when they heard, when they were accepting Torah, naaseh v'nishma, they needed to accept the fire that comes with it too, the eish ha'gedolah. The doros, a Yidn will be called to task to burn on the stake al kiddush Hashem, to burn in crematorium of concentration camps because they're Yidden. They needed to accept that eish ha'gedolah, and that frightened them. So Ribono Shel Olam picks up the mountain, and the Ribono Shel Olam says, Im tekablu es haTorah, mutav. Don't think that's going to be bad for you. Burning on the fire for kiddush Hashem is mutav. You're afraid, you think it's bad. No, the opposite. If you don't accept that, sham tehei kevuraschem will be burying yourself. The worst thing a Yid could do for himself, to annihilate himself, is to feel that he'll cover up his Torah. He'll hide his identity as the Am HaTorah. He believes this will save him. History has taught us that that is not the truth. It's very far from the truth. The more we hide our identity, the more in danger, the more danger that we are in from the goyim around us will try to persecute us. It's when we stand strong, and yes, there are times that the Ribono Shel Olam calls on us to have korbanos. Torah fordert. It requires lots of mesiras nefesh from the Am HaTorah. But this is what we've accepted, that this is our identity, this is our essence. We are the Am HaTorah. Torah is nitna b'eish, and we respond, b'eish u'bamayim. We are ready to go with fire and water. We do it. B'eish u'bamayim, we've accepted, and we've stood up to the task that was given to us. Proudly. Difficult, but proud we are, no matter what.

Happens. We could be put into a furnace, ovens, and just bounce back some years later with so much Torah and rebuild. This is the am haTorah. We've accepted the naaseh v'nishma with the eish hagedolah. Mutav. Reb Moshe is telling us, don't think you'll feel that you lost, chas v'chalilah. You go al kiddush Hashem, you'll feel the opposite, that you've won, that you've gained, that you've lived. Rav Shach, zichrono tzaddik livrachah, rosh yeshiva of Ponevezh, by the Knessiah Gedolah, said something so powerful. Rav Shach said, Rabosai, I read a story about the Holocaust, something that happened in one of the concentration camps. It was Simchas Torah. Yidden were being led to the gas chambers, and they were bemoaning not their death, but that it was Simchas Torah and that they weren't able to dance with the Torah. This is what a Yid—this is his concern at such a moment. And then they said to themselves, and they consoled themselves, No, we could dance Simchas Torah. We have ourselves. We are the am haTorah. We represent Torah, and therefore when we dance with ourselves, we are dancing with the Torah. And so they danced while being led into the concentration camps, into the gas chambers. Rav Shach screamed and he said, I don't know about you, but I could say about myself that all the years of my habatzas Torah, I would give it up. I'd be willing to switch all my habatzas Torah, because I lived, I survived the war just to be part of that group of people, to be in that group of Yidden that danced Simchas Torah with their identity of being the am haTorah into a gas chamber. And Rav Shach said something so yesoidisdik. Torah says, v'chai bahem, but yet we are called to give up our lives for Torah, the gimel aveiros chamuros. But it says, v'chai bahem. So the pashut pshat is that it's except in these three cases by the gimel aveiros chamuros, said Rav Shach, that's not the pshat. The pshat is giving up our lives, probably the Zohar, giluy arayos, shfichas damim, and giving up our lives for Kiddush Hashem is v'chai bahem. It's actually an expression of life, not an expression of death. To a Yid, that's called gelebt, dying al Kiddush Hashem, das is v'chai bahem. It's the life of a Yid. Im tekablus haTorah, mutav. This is what we were saying. This is the taich. Im tekablus haTorah, don't think if you give up your life al Kiddush Hashem... And you have what to be afraid of. No, mutav, farkert. You'll feel that this is something, the best thing that's for you. This is your life. This is going to bring you simchas hachayim, im Lag. But if you feel the farkert, you'll be poirish min haTorah. You'll cover your identity and live a real life, what the world on the outside calls life. Shom tekfuraschem. The opposite, you'll be burying yourself. Nisht Kiddush Hashem is geshtorben. Geshtorben al Kiddush Hashem, heist gelebt. Geshtorben al Kiddush Hashem does heist gelebt. It's brought down, sefer Reb Chaim Volozhin, something yedua, that Yidden die al Kiddush Hashem, their bodies don't feel the pain. I'm a simple Yid. I don't know, you know, what it means exactly, but it's brought down in the sefarim. It's brought down in Dachzel b'shem the Gaon, has to do with Avraham ben Avraham.

The Ger Tzedek that gave up his life al Kiddush Hashem, he got burnt at the stake. For Yiddishkeit, that yehudi who died al Kiddush Hashem, their pain is not a pain. You have to know the Gemara, Reb Akiva, that they were combing his flesh. Whatever it is, the yesod of it is, there's a special vechai bahem in dying with mesiras nefesh al Kiddush Hashem, that it's actually an act of vechai bahem. Das heist gelebt far a Yid. Chazal tell us that by Matan Har Sinai was parcha nishmasam. The neshamos flew out, and the Ribbono Shel Olam made a nes. He was mechayeh meisim, and then they were able to hear the rest of the dibros. I always wondered, why does He need a nes to revive them, techiyas hameisim, make the nes they shouldn't die in the first place? Why do you need parcha nishmasam? Why was it so essential in Matan Har Sinai they should die and that they should be revived? A nes. There'll be less of a shinui hateva to make them shouldn't die in the first place. Ibrige nisim, it's ידוע, the rule is, Ribbono Shel Olam doesn't make nisim unless it's needed. So make it that they shouldn't die, that they should die, and then there's techiyas hameisim. Medachtzach, I believe that this is the reason. Everything we've spoken tonight is the reason for this. It's to bring out that on Torah. A mensch is geshtarben, u'mit Torah, das is gelebt. It's techiyas hameisim. We think dying is—no, dying is not dying. With Torah, it's techiyas hameisim. Mayim from Har Sinai, a naaseh v'nishma instilled. It created that the Yid, mit Torah is gelebt; un Torah is geshtarben, became part of our mahus, part of our essence, part of our neshama. And a Yid, in the depth of his neshama, feels life, Torah, eitz chaim hi lamachazikim bah. On it, on Torah, das heis geshtarben. And this is the pshat that we've spoken from the Imrei Emes: Vayaal ha'shanai k'eshan hakivshan. This fire was eshan hakivshan. It gave us the koach. When we accepted this fire, when we went naaseh v'nishma regardless, that fire had in it eshan hakivshan. It had in it, and it instilled in us the ability to be thrown into a fire for Torah. We lein Rus on Shavuos. Many reasons. David HaMelech comes from Rus. David HaMelech died on Shavuos. He was niftar on Shavuos. But it seems, unilaterally, in the meforshim, a simple reason why we read Rus on Shavuos, and that is mesiras nefesh. Rus is the symbol. The epitome, all of mesiras nefesh, to be am, amech ami, to be Yid, to be part of this am. She was moser nefesh to be part of the Am Hashem, the Am HaTorah. And Rus, which of course is the lineage of Mashiach, is this symbol of mesiras nefesh, to give it all up, to have nothing. It's all about amech ami, Elokayich Elokai. Notice what does she say to Naomi when Naomi tries to convince her to go back and not become a giyores. She says, Ba'asher talini alin, and she also says the magic key words, v'sham ekaver, and there I will be buried. Pashut, it means the cemetery together with Yidden, because if a goyim Yidden don't get buried together. Mefarshim say sham ekaver was the key, the secret words, that she was mekabel the sham ekaver, the sham tehei kevuraschem, the nes of a nishma on the sham tehei kevuraschem, to die for Yiddishkeit. My father told me he was oisek in geirus.

Many years, we try to push away gerim, kashim gerim l'Yisrael k'sapachas, it's not a good thing. Yet we do accept gerim. What is the magic words that a ger has to say that we say, you know what? Yes, this is a real ger, we'll accept him. Father told me that if they use the words, My life is not a life if I don't do this, if I don't become part of the Jewish nation to keep Torah mitzvahs, I'm not ready to live like this. The pshat, l'choira, rabosai, is the Goyen tells us, umos ha'olam, they didn't accept the Torah, but not all umos ha'olam, not everyone. The nations as a whole didn't accept, but there were yechidim, there were individuals from within every nation that wanted. What happened to those yechidim, right? That tzibur, the vast majority of their nation said no, and therefore the Ribbono Shel Olam didn't give it to them. But what about the individuals? There must have been a few that wanted. Says the Goyen, the Gra, that the neshama of those people that really wanted eventually find their way back to Klal Yisrael through gerim. Their neshamos were actually at Ma'amad Har Sinai. Their neshamos were there when Klal Yisrael said Naaseh v'Nishma. Now it all comes together. The neshama that said Naaseh v'Nishma, Naaseh v'Nishma means we die for Torah. On Torahs, we don't have a life. So that neshama... Its essence is naaseh v'nishma, as is the neshama of every other Yid, and he finds its way back, the Klal Yisrael am echad ami, Elokaich Elokai, v'sham ekaver. The acceptance of naaseh v'nishma, with the sham tekfuraschem, with the mesirus nefesh, to die for Torah, and that life without Torah is not a life. Medrash Tehillim brings out this yesod so beautifully, how Yitzchak and his mesirus nefesh is the essence of shvuas and Kabbalas HaTorah. And as we've explained, because the akeidah of Yitzchak is Torah, it's the Kabbalah of naaseh v'nishma. I quote for you a Medrash Tehillim, Medrash Tehillim, samech tes: Sinai meheichan ba? What is Sinai? So we think it's Mount Sinai from the Midbar. Amar רבי יוסי, that actually Sinai is a mixture of two mountains. It's Sinai from the Midbar, and it's also Har Hamoriah. Har Moriah becomes infused in Sinai, becomes attached together with Sinai. Amar רבי יוסי, Har Moriah nitlash kechallah me'isa, like you take a challah from a dough, interesting challah dough, Klal Yisrael is, Bereishis, reishis arisoseichem, Klal Yisrael is like challah. Fire. What do you do with challah today? We burn it in galus. We burn, right? We don't have the kohanim, so we don't have burning fire, challah. Anyways, it was kechallah me'isa, mimakom shenekad Yitzchak Avinu. From the place where Yitzchak Avinu was a korban on Akedah, he was bound on the mizbeach. Amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu, hoyil v'Yitzchak Avihem nekad olav. Since on Har Moriah, Yitzchak was bound as a korban to die for the Ribono Shel Olam, na'eh lebanav, how befitting it is for his children, l'kabel olav es haTorah. Akedas Yitzchak is the ultimate. It's the perfect place for Kabbalas HaTorah. And the reason is because Kabbalas HaTorah is Akedah. It's accepting to be a korban, to be moser nefesh for the Ribono Shel Olam and His Torah. Let me add from the words of Chazal more insight of how significant Har Moriah and the Akedah that happened on it for the future of Klal Yisrael accepting the Torah on Sinai.

במכילתא, חזל, פרשת בשלח, סוף פרשה ג'. רבי יוסי הגלילי אומר, כשנכנסו ישראל לים, when Klal Yisrael went into Yam Suf, for the waters to split, they went in. They jumped into the waters. היה הר המוריה נקר. Har Moriah was already traveling with them. Har Moriah, where the Akedah was, was traveling behind them as they were traveling. הר המוריה נקר, ומזבח של יצחק אבינו עליו. Even the mizbeach traveled. The mizbeach that Yitzchak was bound to be geshachten as a korban went with. And, says the Mechilta, the woods that were on the mizbeach were also traveling. And as almost like a symbol, Yitzchak is on the Akedah, and Avraham is with the knife ready to shecht. All this traveled with them into the Yam Suf. It's an eloquent midrash, beautiful midrash. As they go into the Yam Suf, what are they carrying with them? The Har Moriah, not just the mountain, but the mizbeach. Not just the mizbeach, but the actual Akedah with the ma'aracha, with the wood. And not just the situation, but the actual Akedah itself of Yitzchak. And the Yitzchak is on that mizbeach, bound, and Avraham with the knife is ready to shecht him. All this, all this reality is following them into the Yam Suf. And the pshat, rabosai, is as follows. The Yam, the ocean, doesn't want to split. Chazal tell us that the Yam went back, le'eis sonoi, pasuk, le'eis sonoi. Chazal say sonoi is a language, a loshon of tenai, of condition. The Ribono Shel Olam is commanding, is demanding of the Yam Suf, eisanoi, tenai. There's a condition. I made a condition. I created the world on condition that Klal Yisrael will eventually leave Mitzrayim, go to Sinai and be mekabel the Torah. Tenai hisna. It's a condition that the Ribono Shel Olam made with the Yam Suf, Kabbalas HaTorah, and if not, the world ceases to exist. So you need to split in order for Klal Yisrael to be zocheh for this tenai. They need to go with the keilim, with the foundations of Kabbalas HaTorah, with the zechus of Kabbalas HaTorah. What is the Kabbalas HaTorah? What is the zechus? What is the Kabbalas HaTorah on Har Sinai? The answer is Har Moriah, the Akeidah. Mitzakeidas Yitzchak, the karbon. And therefore, they travel with this zechus of Akedah to Maimer Har Sinai through Yam Suf. Vayar hayam vayanos. The yam didn't see. What does it see? Hayam, sorry, hayam ra'ah vayanos. What did the ocean see? Hayam, says Chazal, they saw Yosef. What did they see in Yosef? That Yosef ran out from Eshes Potifar and didn't do the aveirah. Chazal tell us, tremendous mesiras nefesh. Rabbeinu Sholem shows the Yam Suf, atzmois Yosef, mesiras nefesh. Nakshon ben Aminadav, he jumps into the waters, mesiras nefesh. Klal Yisroel carrying with them a shtick mesiras nefesh over their shoulders. Above them, they walk and travel throughout the doros. We walk and travel with Sinai, infused, combined with Har Moriah, the Akedah, the mesiras nefesh.

Nothing could stand in the way of this mesiras nefesh. The Yidden's mesiras nefesh for Torah is bo b'eish uvamayim, and here they're coming bamayim, and the waters are going to retreat. The waters are going to split for them, because there's nothing that could stand in the way of the mesiras nefesh for Torah, from the amah Torah, for Kabbalas HaTorah. This is the symbol. This is the remez of Klal Yisrael traveling into the Yam Suf with Har Moriah, Akedah, with Yitzchak al hamizbeach, and Avraham Avinu and the sakin b'yado. They carry with them majestically, majestically, with honor, Akedas Yitzchak. This is our crown. This is our flag of honor. This is our essence. No waters, no Yam Suf could stand in its way, because there's nothing that stands in the way of the Yidden's mesiras nefesh for Torah. The Torah tells us there was a shofar gadol. As the pasuk says, by Ma'amad Har Sinai there was a shofar. The kol hashofar, holech v'chazak, was going and was getting stronger. The Tur says, what is this kol shofar? What is the significance of kol shofar by Ma'amad Har Sinai? Zogt the Tur, because of Akedas Yitzchok, the shofar has to do with the akeidah. I believe that that's the kol of the shofar, which is holech v'chazak. The kol of mesiras nefesh gets stronger; it doesn't get weaker. The more mesiras nefesh, the more strength we have, the more we escape, and the more we try to run from this mesiras nefesh, the weaker we become. Kol shofar holech v'chazak. This is our strength, our strong point. A Yid is called to task to be moser nefesh. He stands to the task at hand. He doesn't back down. He doesn't run away. And that's its strength. Kol shofar holech v'chazak. Yitzchok was never geshachten on the mizbeach. Aye, he was nikdash; he was sanctified to be a korban. So in the yeshivas, there's Torah from Reb Chaim Brisk, zichrono livrachah, the great Reb Chaim, that he was a na'eh Hashem korban. It was a different type of a korban, a beheima: you're makdish it, you sanctify it, so then it's kodesh, and it has to be slaughtered and burnt on the mizbeach. Yitzchak, as a person korban, he was a korban mechayim, a nahyeshem korban, a new type of a korban, a korban that lives, a korban that doesn't have to be geshachten and burnt on the mizbeach. What does it mean that he's a korban mechayim? So maybe we could add a little insight according to what we've just spoken: Torah, the life of Torah. Torah, a life with mesiras nefesh, that's a korban. It's a form of korban. You doah, the Beis Yosef learned with the Maggid, and he questioned the Maggid, why is it that I daven and I beg the Ribono Shel Olam in my tefillos I should be zoche to be a korban, to die al kiddush Hashem, like Rabbi Akiva said, Kol yamai tzartai, masai yavo v'adavah zeh l'yadi, and I was never zoche. The Ribono Shel Olam never answered my tefillos. Isaiah told me that the Chofetz Chaim also would often daven to ask the Ribono Shel Olam he should be zoche to die al kiddush Hashem. And the response of the Maggid, the malach to the Beis Yosef, is unique. It's quite eye-opening yesod.

HaGadol, you have a greater, a greater avodah, greater job than dying al Kiddush Hashem, because you need to live al Kiddush Hashem. Through your Torah, through your habatzas Torah, you wrote the Shulchan Aruch, the Beis Yosef, the Kesef Mishneh, all the Torah that you brought to this world, that is your expression of mesiras nefesh, korban. Yitzchak was put on the mizbeach to show the ultimate mesiras nefesh, to bring out in him selfless. But now, with this koach of Akedah, his job was to be secluded, anichashiv k'meis, suma chashiv k'meis. Yitzchak was a suma. Yitzchak lived secluded, suma. Yes, suma is a meis, but yet he was alive with the mesiras nefesh that he had for Torah. Chazal tell us that after Yitzchak was put on the Akedah, right from the Akedah, right from the experience of Har Moriah, he went to Shem v'Ever to seclude himself in the ohalei Torah, to learn bameilus and the taiches, because now korban mechayim takes on a whole new, a whole new avodah, and that is taka mesiras nefesh, mesiras nefesh in learning. Mesiras nefesh for Torah. And that mesiras nefesh is no less korban than as if one was nikrav al hamizbeach, rabosai. Generations before us, and one, the previous one before our time, they were called to give up literally their lives for Torah and to be burnt al kiddush Hashem. Today we live pretty much a free life. We're able to make money, and we have houses and cars. We're called to a different task of kiddush Hashem, to a different avodah of mesiras nefesh. Our mesiras nefesh is in the learning. It's in the daily avodah of Torah that we need to be involved in Torah. The nisyonos hachayim from outside are so strong that it takes selfless sacrifice to ignore everything, to be pure and to be omel, and to give up everything just for learning Torah. There was a time and a place where there was a concept of im pagacha bachamen navul, moshcheihu לבית המדרש. You were able to run. You had a place to hide in Shem v'Ever. The yetzer hara, the Satan, is very tricky, very wise, and gulus is very, very complicated. It attacks in different sneaky ways. That now it brings us the golus, and it brings us the paga bochamenuvelzeh into the beis medrash, on our Gemara as we are learning the phone. And again, not from the geirsa kanoim, but it's pretty obvious. A Yid could be sitting and learning. There was a time where a Yid was in the beis medrash; that was it. Adam kiyamus b'ohel. This was his hour of learning, and he was cut off from the whole world. Golus came up with a trick. Golus came up with a mahalach on how to get us, while we're at the Gemaras, to bring us this menuvelzeh, to bring us the outside world, all its confusion and all its tumah that it rips us away, that doesn't let us concentrate. All the difficulties, all the problems, right into the Gemara as we're learning. And it takes a tremendous mesiras nefesh to cut away all the distractions and learn and be frum and be ehrlich as we go out to the outside world as well, as we do business. It's a different form of mesiras nefesh.

It's a different mahalach of korban. Doiris before us, it was you're a Yid and you're gonna die for being a Yid. Now it's a different korban, a different mesiras nefesh to remain the am haTorah, to remain the Yid. There's an interesting Medrash Tanchuma. Medrash Tanchuma says, what did Yitzchak tell Rivka that he's taking—I'm sorry, what did Avram tell Sarah when he took Yitzchak to the Akeidah? I mean, he had to come up with some explanation where he's leaving. You go away for an hour or two, your wife is wanting to know where you went, and you have to have some kind of explanation where you're going, especially taking your son with you. Went for a few days, so what would—I mean, isn't Sarah thinking, Can you tell me where you're going? Says the Medrash Tanchuma that he did tell her something. He told her, I'm going to a faraway place with Yitzchak. This faraway place is makom shemechanchim bo es haktanim. They train children, like a sleepaway camp. I'm taking him over there. Was it true? You know, I don't know. We know you're allowed to be meshaneh mipnei hashalom. Stam, Avram Avinu thought of something that he told Sarah that probably had to be true. It couldn't have been—he made up a story, some kind of an excuse, some kind of bubbe meiseh that he left. Mitachtzech, rabboisai, ad rabba. What Avraham Avinu told Sarah was the truth. He was taking Yitzchak to a faraway place. The symbol of faraway could be galus, faraway galusin. Mechanchim es haktanim, akeidah, mesiras nefesh. This is the chinuch haktanim that we're referring to. The akeidah was the chinuch of Torah. It trained the Yid what it means to be a korban for Torah. And yes, what Avraham told Sarah wasn't just an excuse. It wasn't just a story; it was the truth. With this, rabboisai, we can explain a beautiful Gemara. The Gemara at the end of Nasa v'Nishma sugya, Shabbos, pei tes amud beis. The Gemara says a story. Zogt the Gemara that the Ribono Shel Olam turns to Avraham and he says, Banecha chatu. Your children sinned. Avraham Avinu says, If this is the case, yimachu al kiddush Hashem. They should be wiped out. They should die. And with this will be a kiddush Hashem Shamayim, because they're transgressing, because they're defiling the name of the Ribono Shel Olam. The Gemara says the same happened with Yaakov Avinu. Banecha chatu, and Yaakov Avinu says, Okay, I have nothing to respond. Yimachu al kiddush Shemecha. No defense. Yimachu al kiddush Shemecha. Says the Gemara, the Ribono Shel Olam turns to Yitzchak and he says, Banecha chatu. Says Yitzchak, Wait a minute. Banecha? They're my children. They're your children too. Did you, Rabbeinu Shleilam, not say clearly, when Klal Yisrael said, Naaseh v'nishma, you said clearly, Mi gilah razeh lebanai, shemalachei hashares mishtamshim bo. So you said clearly that they're your children too. All right, so we're in this together. I am a father, you're a father. I'll take half, you take half. How many hours they sleep, how many this, we'll cut it down, half on your cheshbon, half. Let's figure it out, and they should live. What's the pshat in the Gemara? Lefi what we spoke, rabosai, it's gargishmak. Avraham was taining Yimach al kiddush Shemecha. It's the only solution. Yaakov Avinu was taining Yimach al kiddush Shemecha. So Yitzchak, I was mechadesh a yesod in avodah, and that is, Yimachu. A Yid could die al kiddush Hashem by living and learning Torah, by being mesaken, by doing teshuvah. Yimachu al kiddush Shemecha. Yes, I agree with Avraham Avinu, I'm not arguing, but there's another way how to do the yimachu. There's another mahalach on how to substitute, and that is by learning Torah, naaseh v'nishma, with mesiras nefesh, mesiras nefesh of naaseh v'nishma.

is the ultimate yimachu al kiddush Hashem, to give up the person, his whole self, to give himself, his guf, all his ratzonos, everything that he wants, for the sake of naaseh v'nishma. This is the avodah, the mesirus nefesh of Yitzchak, and this is what he instilled in his children. The koach, as Reb Chaim Volozhin always says, the koach of a Yid to be moser nefesh is Avraham Avinu and Yitzchak — the akeidah, we'll talk a different time. We've spoken in the past that Avraham is a Yitzchak b'chol panim. Yitzchak was ready to be burnt on a mizbeach, selflessly, and this is the avodah of the am haTorah in their Kabbalas HaTorah. Mutav. We think we can get scared. A life of such mesirus nefesh scares us. We have so much gashmiyus, and there's so much out there that we want to swallow and take and be able to — that's not going to give us life. Mutav. The best thing is, Pascha melech tochal, mayim b'mesurah tishteh, al ha'aretz tishan, v'chayei tza'arteicha, mesirus nefesh, mesirus nefesh for Torah, mesirus nefesh, mesirus nefesh for being am haTorah. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.