Shofar, Moshiach, and the Mesirus Nefesh of Everyday Life

Transcript

It's a gold. You see, you can always say it's not the shoifer, it's the Yitzchak. You can always say that. Say the same thing by the shoifer. Say the same thing by everything. It's not the etzem davar, but what it is is, what? It's the eileh shel Yitzchak. It's the Yitzchak that's the zecher. What's the taich that the eifoid—it's not the eifoid, but it's the shvatim. I was thinking maybe we could say pshat like this. The chiluk is us and the shvatim. The shvatim are on the eifoid. That's meant for a zecher to the shvatim. That's what Tosafos means. The Ribono Shel Olam wants to be zocher the shvatim, so He puts a zecher. There's no problem of ein kategor na'aseh sanegor, because it's the zecher of the shvatim. It's not a zecher for us. Ma she'ein kein by eileh shel Yitzchak, it's not the zecher of the eileh shel Yitzchak. It's the zecher for us, that we could be a karov to Atzmecha. So therefore we have a problem of ein kategor na'aseh sanegor. The Ribono Shel Olam wants to remember the avos. The Ribono Shel Olam wants to remember the shvatim. There the taich is, who cares that it's with gold? Ma she'ein kein, where the taich is it's for us, the zecher is that we should remember eileh shel Yitzchak. We can't have ein kategor na'aseh sanegor. You can't have something which is maskir, maskir... A mitzvah, a maskil cheres at the same time. And that's the way we learn it's even tefer. Why? Because the zechus for us. So the same way the zechus is maskil the eilish shel Yitzchak, if it will also be maskil Egel, so then it's no good. Not for the Eibishter. It's not like if I say the word Egel, the Ribono Shel Olam will be mechaper us. The Ribono Shel Olam remembers anyway. It's like what, like by Bilam. By Bilam it says that at that moment he wanted to curse Klal Yisroel, so the Eibishter is angry, and when he hears a bad thing about Klal Yisroel, we spoke about this. What's the pshat by Bilam? Bilam was angry. Bilam knew when Hashem got angry. So what? At that moment, at that moment, if I would say a bad word, b'ein Hashem with curse, Hashem gets angry. Hashem doesn't know the thing that Bilam was going to say, the bad thing about Klal Yisroel. You know, it's a shver sugya, we spoke about it, a whole shiur about this. But this is not the taich of Egel. It's not the pshat that you're coming to the Ribono Shel Olam and saying, Ah, vimachaper me... Wait a second, you're reminding Hashem about the Egel, believing Hashem doesn't have to forget and remember the Egel. Taich is for us. If we're coming and saying, Look at us, this is our potential, so we can't go and say, Look at us, our potential is Egel. That's the pshat. You with me, ois? It's a very tiefer pshat. Here it's gevaldik. Where the zechus is not so much the Ribono Shel Olam should remember. And the biggest raya is the Ribono Shel Olam remembers the Akeidah, and at the same time the Ribono Shel Olam remembers the Egel either way. Either way, either you're maskir, you're not maskir, it's the Egel. So what's the taich? We're coming to the Ribono Shel Olam and saying, Look who we are. Because look at our past. So you can't have something which says, look at who we are, look at our past, and we have an egel. We're supposed to take the zecher of that chet, and forget the zecher of the egel. We have to wash away the shorashim that we had from the egel. That's pshat, ein kateigor na'aseh sanegor. Our sanegor, that we're coming to say, look at us, that we're the zera of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. We can't come and say we're also the zera of the egel. That's pshat in the Gemara. It's not for the egel's sake. You think it's for the egel's sake that you come to Rabbeinu Sh... Don't mention egel, chas v'shalom, the Ribono Shel Olam remembers egel anyway. No, the sanegor of Klal Yisroel. What's a sanegor? Think of the taich of sanegor. Sanegor means this is a limud zechus. What's the limud zechus? Ribono Shel Olam, I have this in my potential. So what are you going to show? You also have potential egel. What are you showing? What are you saying? Ein kateigor na'aseh sanegor. Hashem kein, by the shevatim, it's not l'zecher for us. It's not a zecher for the avos. Ribono Shel Olam wants the shevatim on the choshen. Am Yisroel, it's not so much that we should remember the shevatim. Meile, it's no problem, ein kateigor na'aseh sanegor. That's pshat in Tosafos. I understand livnei Yisroel, but not for us to follow, because we don't see it anyway.

So we don't see it. It's takke for the Eibishter. It's takke for the Ribono Shel Olam. That's what he means. Bishleima dashvatim zichren hei. The Ribono Shel Olam wants to be matzkir the shevatim. For the Ribono Shel Olam wants to be matzkir the shevatim, there's no problem of ein keteigan naaseh saneigor in the sugya. Efsher kemezog, that's the pshat in Tosafos. So nachamol. The kasha is the shevatim on this zichron. So tell to my shoifer say that. It's not the shoifer; it's the Yitzchak that's the zecher. The teretz is, the Ribono Shel Olam wants to have a zikaron for the shevatim. That's not nogea to the sugya of ein keteigan naaseh saneigor, something else. Ein keteigan naaseh saneigor is when the zichron—it's not the pshat the zichron of the shevatim, but it's a zichron that we should be like, then there's a problem of ein keteigan naaseh saneigor. Ribono Shel Olam, this is what we could be, then there's a problem of ein keteigan naaseh saneigor. I was thinking—one ain nekudah, just maybe drush, I don't have raayos to this, but I was thinking about this. Remember I told you, bameh ba-shoifer goes on what? Zichronos and malchiyos. Lemaaseh it doesn't speak about shofros. The Gemara never said, imru lefanai shofros, ubameh ba-shoifer. It doesn't speak about that. So what's the imru lefanai shofros? What's the reason to say it? Bishleima to blow shoifer, I know. But what's the inyan of saying shofros, pesukim of shofros? What's that? What do I have to say pesukim of shofros? So I saw the Shiltei Giborim adds into the Gemara, interesting, on the Rif. Where's the Shiltei Giborim? Where's the Gemara? Where's my Gemara Rosh Hashanah? Where's my Gemara Rosh Hashanah? It's right here. It's a bamatzia, no? That's Rosh Hashanah. Oh, okay. In this, ... lifnei zichreichem l'tovah. Shofaros. He adds into the Gemara, shofaros: shetitnu lev v'titzapu li — I'm sorry — v'titzapu li l'yom hadin, shetitnu lev v'titzapu li l'yemos haMashiach. Shofar — what is shofar? Pesukim of shofaros, remember the Yom HaDin and be metzapeh l'yemos haMashiach. Very interesting, that shofar has in it a tzipui, l'yemos haMashiach. Bemes, the Yerushalmi brings this down. Gemara says, Lama tokea k'sheyoshvin, lama tokea k'she'omdim? It says, l'arvev haSatan. L'arvev the Satan, the Gemara says in daf zayin. Says Rashi, what's l'arvev haSatan? That mechabedes hamitzvos. The Satan sees that we're mechabed the mitzvos. K'sheYishrael mechabedes hamitzvah, mis'asmin dvaro. That shuts up the Satan, that he can't be mekatreg. Tosafos brings down from the Yerushalmi that he hears the kol shofar. He hears the kol shofar, he gets scared. He thinks Mashiach is here. U'kedam taniyan, ama vadai zeh shipur, d'yiska b'shofar gadol. He toka b'shofar gadol. If you notice, a lot of the pesukim we say are about Mashiach. He toka b'shofar gadol. The Satan thinks Mashiach is here. Immediately he gets scared. Alef, fregt the kasha, what do you mean? Every year he hears it. He should know the trick already by now. Well, what's he scared of? How many times could things have expression, cry wolf? You can put a sign with one, two, three. Every day it goes off, you know it's nothing. It doesn't mean anything. What's the pshat, Shoifet shel Mashiach? What was pshat in this Yerushalmi? You know, you thought something you teach the children. Yerushalmi. How he brings down pshat in the Gemara. ... Because he thinks it's kolel shel Mashiach. Why would he think it's kolel shel Mashiach? So I was thinking, could be the taich is like this. The ultimate malchus of HaKadosh Baruch Hu is mechayev Kiddush Hashem. Mechayev Kiddush Hashem. It's interesting, Mashiach is going to change the world with milchemos Hashem. It's a milchamah. The Rambam brings it down, perek yud aleph, halacha daled: Veyachaz kol Yisrael leilech bah ul'chazek, veyilachem milchemos Hashem. He has to fight milchamos. Chazal tell us that the wars when Mashiach comes will be unbelievable. Why do you need these wars? Why do you need these wars? What's wrong if Mashiach comes peacefully? Peacefully, and then it changes.

Change the whole world around. ... Yet, v'im ya'amid melech miBeis Dovid, hoygu b'Torah v'oskim mitzvos k'Dovid aviv, k'fi Torah shebiksav sheb'al peh, v'yachzir kol Yisrael leilech bah u'lechazek bah, v'ilachem milchamos Hashem. What does he need the milchamos Hashem? What do you need it for? We all know Chazal tell us unbelievable milchamos, unbelievable things will happen when Moshiach comes. So I think the taich is, eh pashut: it has to be with a mesirus nefesh. The malchus of HaKadosh Baruch Hu has to come with a mesirus nefesh. It's not going to work easy, ... It's not going to come, you'll talk, you'll convince the world. It's not going to work that way. It has to be with a mesirus nefesh. Why? Because that's the ultimate malchus of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. L'havdil elef havdalos, elef havdalos, the Muslims. The whole yesod, this nekudah, suicide — they're ready to kill themselves. What? For the melech. Hagam they do it in a retzichahdike way, and they have no cheshbonos in what they do, but there is a yesod like this, that the malchus mechayev that you should give up your life for the melech. Mesirus nefesh. Chinuch tells us that every milchamah, there's no halachah of shluchei mitzvah einan nizokin. Why is there no halachah of shluchei mitzvah einan nizokin? How can people die in a war? Shluchei mitzvah einan nizokin — you're going on a mitzvah. The teretz is, shaas sakanah. When there's a shaas sakanah, there's no guarantee you're going to live. A milchamah, the time Moshiach is mechtais. And hachanami, you have to go al kiddush Hashem. You have to be ready to die for the Ribono Shel Olam. That's for the malchus, the ultimate malchus. V'hayah bayom hahu, ... Hashem's malchus. Hashem Melech, Hashem will be the King, is mechayev. There's mechayev a certain mesirus nefesh. Melech would have to be b'milchamah. How can it be בלי מלחמה? So I think that's the taich over here too. The Satan. What is the Satan? Satan is a malchamavis. Satan is mekatreg on Klal Yisroel. What is the ultimate, the ultimate mesasim, the pi of the Satan? Is the inyan of Moshiach. Moshiach is a taich that Klal Yisroel is ready to accept the malchus ad maves, to give up their life for it. That's mesasim. It's not so much that he's afraid Moshiach is coming now. The inyan that Moshiach is coming, klal. That shuts him up. If he's afraid Moshiach is here now, so what, he doesn't know every year. What shuts him up is that Klal Yisroel waits for Moshiach, which means they wait for the day that they accept the malchus HaKadosh Baruch Hu completely, and they're ready to be moser nefesh for it. Vadai zehu shepurah deyitka b'shofar gadol. What does that mean? What does it mean? This is vadai the shofar gadol that will blow when Moshiach comes. It doesn't mean that it's now that it's happening. When he hears the kol of the shofar, it reminds him, this is the kol of Moshiach. This is the blow that Klal Yisroel will blow, we're ready to go al kiddush Hashem, and that keeps him quiet. Al derech k'mah Rashi says. Rashi learns the chiyuv hamitzvah keeps him quiet. Yerushalmi learns it's not the chiyuv hamitzvah, but it's the yitaka b'shofar gadol. He hears in the shofar kolo shel Moshiach, and that's what the Shiltei Giborim says. When you mention the shofros, what do you have to hear? You have to hear, see kolo shel Moshiach, that we await Moshiach. What is all this for? Malchius. Yesod Rosh Hashanah is Hashem is the Melech. And mimeila, we have Malchius, and mimeila we have Zichronos, Kiddush Hashem, and we also have what? We also have shofros. What? Yom HaDin, which is Malchus. The Rabbeishter is the Melech, עומד בדין, and the תקיעה למשיח, when Hashem will be the ultimate Melech. And it will be what? כי לה' המלוכה ומושל בגוים. Well, ומושיע הר ציון... will be the final, the final meluchah. This is b'shofar u'vameh? It's all b'shofar. This is all one sugya, Malchius. Malchius, Zichronos, and that's why we say pesukim b'shofros, to be me'orer the people. What? Yom HaDin and Mashiach, תקיעה למשיח. Shouldn't be me'orer. This is the ta'ich, u'vashofar, and that's what the Satan gets afraid of. The Satan hears this kol. He doesn't think Mashiach's here now. He knows that Mashiach will come, and Klal Yisrael is waiting for Mashiach, and they're ready to be moser nefesh for Mashiach. This scares off the Satan. But this, I want to end.

It's just nefesh. Maiseh today, we don't ask of anybody to mesiras nefesh. I got people go to Eretz Yisroel, maybe a little bit matzav of mesiras nefesh, a matzav there, dangerous. Derech klal, we don't have mesiras nefesh today. How do we mekayem the inyan of mesiras nefesh? How do we do it? I tell you, Rosh Hashanah, the yesod is Hashem's malchus even for mesiras nefesh, even to be ready to be moser nefesh. So how do you have that today? I told you many times, a big yesod: Avraham Avinu was mispalel that his son should go for Akeidah. He wanted to make the Akeidah, he wanted it with all his heart. The maiseh was his tefillos and nena, lechurah not. Lechurah wasn't answered. His tefillos were not answered. Another kasha that the Velt asks: maiseh, who had the bigger nisayon, Avraham or Yitzchak? V'Akeidas Yitzchak, lezar z shel Avraham, b'rachamim tizkor. We say in Rosh Hashanah davening, V'Akeidas Yitzchak yesh remember to the zera of Avraham. Okay, you should say, yesh remember to the zera of Yitzchak. Who had the bigger nisayon? Lechurah Yitzchak. He gave himself up to Kiddush Hashem. So the Velt says, okay, Avraham had a bigger nisayon. Why did Avraham have a bigger nisayon? Because he had to go on living without Yitzchak. Yitzchak, in one minute, is able to jump into a fire, able to jump into a fire, Kiddush Hashem. We find many people able to jump in, and at a certain moment, hisorerus, you jump in. To live a life of mesirus for Avas Hashem, it's more difficult. So we say, Vakeidas Yitzchak l'zarish l'Avraham b'rachamim tizkor. It's Avraham's chesed gar. Not Yitzchak; it's Avraham. Avraham gets the credit, so to speak, for what? Akeidas Yitzchak. L'maaseh, I told you over, there's another taich here also. Yitzchak, kacha haAkeidah. Avraham Avinu's tefillah was niskabel. Why? It's more difficult to live as a korban than to die as a korban. Understand that Yitzchak lived as a korban. That's why he couldn't leave. It says clear he couldn't leave Eretz Yisrael because of no tumah. To live as a korban is a bigger hakravah. It's a bigger mesirus nefesh. It's a bigger maaseh kiddush Hashem than to die for Kiddush Hashem. Living Kiddush Hashem is maybe greater than dying Kiddush Hashem. So Avraham Avinu feels more niskabel. Avraham asks, I want to make an akeidah. Zogt dem Ribono Shel Olam, you made an akeidah. This is the akeidah. You will makdish your son to live a life as a korban. Today, lemaaseh, we don't ask anybody to live as a korban. V'hainu that we have to makriv ourselves. To live as a korban — don't stop him. Yeah, that you could do. What does that mean, mesirus nefesh? Mesirus nefesh. Yikarah shanah, you say, Ribono Shel Olam, I'm ready to be moser nefesh for You. And what does that mean? It means in learning, it means in davening, even if it's difficult. It's difficult. Everybody has a difficulty. Believe me, every person in the world has his difficulties. In a choyyut, b'mesiras nefesh, af al pi kein. That's called mesiras nefesh. No one has to go and stand in front of a fire, Baruch Hashem, for Kiddush Hashem. We're not put in that nisayon, Baruch Hashem. There were times in Klal Yisroel was put into that nisayon. We're not put into that nisayon. So what is our Kiddush Hashem? Our Kiddush Hashem is to live like a korban, to live b'Kiddush Hashem. You makriv yourself, makriv yourself. It's hard to get up in the morning, get up anyway. It's hard to learn, you learn anyway. Difficult to daven, you daven anyway. Bein adam l'chaveiro, you fight to be mekayem bein adam l'chaveiro. You fight your yetzer hara. It's difficult. Sometimes it's difficult to get along with — you work on yourself. You makriv from yourself. It's not easy. Then you show the Ribono Shel Olam mesiras nefesh. And that's the mesiras nefesh that Rosh Hashanah is mechayev, al malchus Shamayim. A person has to mekabel on himself, thatness, to be a soldier. A soldier. And a soldier is expected normally to die for the melech. Here it doesn't mean to die for the melech. It means to tackle, to die with the yetzer. Kill your yetzer. Whatever you're looking for, whatever you need, whatever your taivos, leave it alone. I learn, I daven no matter what. Mesiras nefesh, mesiras nefesh. And that's...

And with this, you can have zechusim, good year for Shanah Tovah. The Ribbono Shel Olam says, I look at your potential. I see who you can be. And Klal Yisrael has the potential, the avos, Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, has akeidah, has unbelievable potential, has potential, atzmius nefesh, mamash atzmius nefesh. With this, ... לזכות ... שנה טובה.