Yisro: Anochi Hashem, the Aseres HaDibros, and Yiras Shamayim as the Foundation of Torah

Transcript

This week's parsha, Yisro, Aseres HaDibros. We have the Aseres HaDibros. Notice it's called Aseres HaDibros, not called Aseres Mitzvos, Dibros. Are each one of the Aseres HaDibros a mitzvah? We know there's ten, starting from Anochi, ending with, well it depends which cheshbon you use. Ibn Ezra has a different cheshbon, but ending with Lo sachmod, pashtus, Lo sachmod eishes rei'echa. So we have ten, l'choira mitzvos, but we call them Aseres HaDibros. Is Anochi Hashem Elokecha a mitzvah, or is Anochi Hashem Elokecha a dibra, meaning information, telling you, Anochi Hashem Elokecha? Is there any tzivui? Is Anochi a tzivui, that Anochi Hashem Elokecha? Because the truth is, the wording is not a tzivui. It's not to do or not to do, or not to do. To do or not, it's not that. What is it? Telling you, Anochi Hashem. Is it sippur ha'dvarim, or is it a mitzvah? The reason why we start with this question, eventually through this question we'll understand the entire Aseres HaDibros. We'll have the havanah, hagdarah, in the Aseres HaDibros. Everybody, every Jew knows the ten, the Ten Commandments. It's interesting, they call it commandments. Is it commandments? Is it mitzvahs? We call it dibros. We don't call it mitzvahs. But every Jew knows of it. Today, every Jew who sits at least in this shiur is going to understand the Ten Commandments. What are our Ten Commandments? Ma ze Aseres HaDibros? Anochi Hashem, we ask, is it sippur? Is it hodaas devarim? Or is it a mitzvah? Now I want you to know that the issue becomes an issue when we start counting taryag mitzvahs. There are taryag mitzvahs, ne'emar l'Moshe miSinai, this is the Gemara in Makos. There are supposed to be 613 mitzvahs. The moneh hamitzvahs argue which ones are the mitzvahs, which are, which are not. Some of the moneh hamitzvahs count mitzvahs that you'd never even believe. If someone asks you, are you allowed to be a baal gaavah? You would say, of course not, but it's middot. According to many moneh hamitzvahs, for example, the yire'im, that's one of the mitzvahs. Liyot anav u'shfal ruach. To be? No, not even v'halachta bidrachav. Liyot anav u'shfal ruach. The issue of moneh hamitzvahs, what are mitzvahs, what are not mitzvahs, is a complicated topic. There are people who spend all their lives. Studying just this portion of the Torah, which are the taryag mitzvos, and what makes them taryag, and which aren't and why they're not. These are called the monei hamitzvos, those that counted. They were busy with it. This was their chelek of Torah, to count the mitzvos. The Bahag, Baal Halachos Gedolos, was one of these Rishonim whose expertise, whose field, was monei hamitzvos, was to count the mitzvos. Interestingly, he does not count Anochi Hashem Elokecha as a mitzvah. Doesn't count it as a mitzvah. So the first of the Aseres HaDibros is not, according to the Bahag, a mitzvah. The Ramban, in his Sefer HaMitzvos—where would you find this? On the Ramban. The Ramban has a Sefer HaMitzvos, and the Ramban has on him ha'aros and his own seder of the mitzvos. He quotes the Bahag, and he says that the Bahag does not count Anochi Hashem Elokecha as one of the mitzvos. It's not—

One of the Taryag mitzvos. Why not? Why not? So of course, the simple explanation is because it's not said as a mitzvah; it's said as a story. Anochi Hashem Elokecha. That's a fact. There's no mitzvah pertained over here. There's no mitzvah included here. It just says, Anochi, I am. That's a fact. It's zeh metziut. It's not a mitzvah. But the Ramban adds, and the Ramban says that this can't be called a mitzvah. Forget about the wording. Not because of the wording. It can't be called a mitzvah. Why not? This is the shoresh shemimenu נולדו כל המצוות. Because there is a mitzaveh, then we can have tzivui. First we have to establish a fact that there's such a thing as Elokim, Hashem. That's mitzaveh. And then we can discuss tzivui. So before we talk about tzivui, Taryag mitzvot, commandments, we have to talk about a commander. We have to establish commander. So therefore he's not מונה, he doesn't count Anochi Hashem as a mitzvah. That's how the Ramban explains the bahag. Okay? It's not interesting to you? Anochi Hashem Elokecha. If I asked you, I said a ten dibrot, you would say ten commandments, right? But that's not what the word dibrot means. You know that dibrot means commandments? No. Dibur is Hashem's word. It doesn't say—it's not tzivui, it's not a commandment. Wait, wait, slowly, slowly. Let them understand. I want the olam to appreciate the simplicity of the facts that we're saying that people don't realize. They just say, Kol haTorah, ten commandments. Is it commandments? Are ten commandments? Who said there's ten commandments? It might be only nine commandments. You know, could you imagine a person says, Ten commandments? No, no, no, nine commandments. He'll say, What? Koifer. What are you talking about? You're a heretic. No. You didn't learn the sugya. You didn't learn the pesukim. You didn't learn the Rishonim. According to the Bahag, Anochi is not a commandment. So I explained to you, because it's not said as a commandment; it's said as a story. The way the Rabbeinu Bachya uses the lashon, sipur devarim. It's just a story, factual, a fact, a matter of fact: Anochi Hashem Elokecha. So the Bahag takke is not moneh it. He doesn't count it. But the reason he doesn't count is a little different, the way the Ramban explains, not because of the way it's written, but because it can't be a tzivui till we haven't established the metzaveh, the commander. First we have to, so to speak, elect—let's use the word elect—the commander-in-chief, right? We have to come and take and set up a commander-in-chief, and then we can say he's commanding tzivuyim. So Anochi Hashem is mamid malchut HaKadosh Baruch Hu, that Hashem is the King. And therefore, and therefore, says the Bahag, we can start talking about mitzvot from where? From lo yihyeh, from the second. He brings a mashal from a mechilta. The mechilta says, Mashal l'mah hadavar domeh, to a king who comes into a town. They don't know him. So once he starts making commandments, you know what they're going to tell him? Here's the door, rabosai, you know, go ahead. Who are you to tell me what to do? So first he has to get them to accept the malchut. Once they accept the malchut, kiblu malchusi, then he can come and say, Kiblu gezeirosai. This is the mechilta that he quotes, and he says that this is the makor, this is the root of where the Bahag got his halacha from, that Anochi is just making Hashem the melech, the melech, that He's the metzaveh, and then we can be kablu gezeirosai, to accept the tzivuyim of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. This is a mechilta, and this is where the Bahag got it from, explains the Ramban. Okay. The Ramban himself disagrees. The Ramban says, No, Anochi is a mitzvah. He says it over here as well, as he begins his peirush. The first thing the Ramban says on the pasuk, Anochi Hashem.

Says the Ramban, here, look at the Ramban over here. Hadibur hazeh mitzvat aseh. And that's what he says over here also. The Ramban over there on the bahag disagrees, and he says the same thing on the pasuk over here: Anochi Hashem is mitzvah. So what is the mitzvah? I thought it's just a statement. Anochi Hashem is a fact. No, it's a mitzvah. What? Yoreh v'yitzaveh osam. He's commanding them, and he's teaching them, sheyeidu vya'aminu ki yesh Hashem, that they should believe that there's an Hashem. So that's a tzivui. So the Ramban's shita is that it's a tzivui, and the Rabbeinu Bachaye, like I told you before, says it's not just sipur. It's not just a story, Anochi Hashem, but this is a tzivui. And all the Rishonim, except for the bahag, learn that it's a tzivui, that it's a commandment, and not just a fact. So according to the bahag, this is just to establish Hashem as the King. According to the other Rishonim, this is a commandment. We have to believe, Ani Hashem, that Hashem is the Melech. I ask you, according to those Rishonim, is Anochi Hashem an introduction? According to the bahag, it's definitely an introduction, because first you have to introduce the Melech, and then you have to introduce... His malchus, meaning his halachot, his tzivuyim. But according to the other Rishonim that learn Anochi Hashem is also a tzivuy, so are they all the same? Or this is, yes, this is a heading. This is a hakdamah. You know, every book, you look in the beginning, what they have is what? A foreword, a hakdamah, right? Either the hakdamah is the beginning story before the story. What's a hakdamah? Either hakdamah is it tells you where the story begins, but it gives you the background detail. Or sometimes you have a hakdamah which is a chitzur. It's an essence of the entire book. It's a tochen. What's the right word in English for tochen? Substance. Oh, come on. That's what I need you for. When you have a book, you have a synopsis. Synopsis, maybe that's the word, right? To give you a summary of the book, let's say, okay? Why am I asking you? I'll tell you the truth. Let me teach you something about teaching. A master teacher gets the students involved, thinking they think that I really need their answers, and the truth is I just want their participation. You understand? That's the master teacher. So I ask you as if I care if you say summary or—it's all... Give a take, you understand? Okay. I'm giving out my sefarim. Okay. So what do we have here? We have here that according to many Rishonim, this is not just an introduction, but it's one of the mitzvahs. But it is, Anochi, as a mitzvah, one of the introductions. There's two ways to understand an introduction. One way to understand the introduction is, ha-sipur shemimenu matchil ha-sipur. It has to give you background. So the Bahag learns, what type of hakdamah is it? Background. Anochi Hashem is a fact. Hashem is Hashem. He is the King. So that's the background. Now we can talk about tzivui. According to the Even Ezra, it says an unbelievable chiddush, that even if it's a mitzvah, the Even Ezra learns it's a mitzvah. Agav אורחא, anybody who has time, learn the Even Ezra on this pasuk. There is so much. Oh, it's unbelievable. Anochi Hashem, the Even Ezra is on—it's hard. A lot of it is hard, but it's unbelievable stuff. Pages and pages. You see, take a look how big it is. Okay. So the Even Ezra learns that even if it's a mitzvah, even if it's a mitzvah, it's an introduction.

I'll read you the lashon of the Eben Ezra. Listen to the lashon of the Eben Ezra. It says like this. Okay. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yep, I missed the page. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Here it is. Okay. Oh. Anchi ha-mechkar. People of philosophy. Anchi ha-mechkar. We like that word, anchi ha-mechkar. Matzu kol divrei ha-gufoi sheheim asarah. They found that the Aseres HaDibros is like ten parts, gufim, v'heim roshim klalim, that each one is a klal. Each one is a category for itself that entails many other things. So Aseres HaDibros is actually a kitzur of all of it. I love this. It's a beautiful Eben Ezra, the way he tries to understand what is Aseres HaDibros, what is it? And the answer is, it's a tochen. Like you have the, right, perek aleph, perek beis, and in the prakim there's arichut, right? There's many pratim. So the tochen is Aseres HaDibros. You open a book and you have table of contents. Table of contents is Aseres HaDibros, okay? Ha-rishon. What about the first one? Is there any significance to the first of the table of contents? And the answer is, hu etzem kol davar. It's the essence of the entire thing, which means it's the forward. Tochen, the beginning, Anochi Hashem, that's the forward, the hakdamah of the entire book, which means the entire book is entailed, is summarized by Anochi Hashem Elokecha. So if someone asks you, what is Aseres HaDibros? what you'll say is, it's the table of contents. I want to tell you a cute story, okay? I was once like you guys who didn't know any English, but I've come a long way since then. Since I've been two years old, I've come a long—I'm just kidding, okay? So I didn't know English. I was once in a certain town for Pesach. Actually it was for Shavuos. Excuse me, it was for Shavuos. The rabbi got up to say that Shavuos is the pinnacle of Pesach. What is pinnacle? Pinnacle means it's the focal point. Zah, huh? Climax. The climax. Hashpitz. Pesach is lagia lishvot. And he was darshening for ten minutes, and he kept on saying it's the pinnacle and it's the— I didn't understand. Az chashavti, shezeh shem shel hachag. I didn't know that. Now Shavuos has a name which is close to it. What's Shavuos called? Penta something it's called. Shvuos or Sukkos is penta cost, I don't know. One of them is very close. The kid's—I was walking in the street. You should know this. What is Shvuos called in English? All right, whatever. The kid's—I was walking in the street, and a guy stops me, and he asks me, I see that it's a holiday. What's the name of your holiday? I'm thinking to myself, a shvua? If I start telling him Shvuos... So I said, Hey, I remember the rabbi, Pinnacle. It's called Pinnacle. He goes, Rabbi, that's great. Thank you so much. He was so excited, you hear? I came to yeshiva and I told him the story. They were laughing at me, so laughing about Pinnacle. He meant—well, he meant to say Shpitz. Shpitz alazeh, the tafkid, להגיע לשו... That's not the name. That was my experience with the knowledge of the names, you hear? I'll tell you a cute story. My wife, she has the office, her dentist office. I went to put up the mezuzahs. So the lady who works in the front desk is not a Jewish lady, and I'm standing with a hammer here, and the mezuzah and a nail, and it's brand new. Everything's just...

And she's very into the office, that it's beautiful, because she's excited. She's the front desk. It's a chashuvah job that she has. Now she's very excited. So I go there with the hammer and the nail, yeah? And she looks at me and she goes, What are you doing? What are you doing? And I saw from her question that she thought I'm crazy. Like, You're going to make holes in the wall. What are you, nuts? No, but the way she said it, like, What are you doing? So I start to tell her it's religious observances. So she goes, Oh, okay. What's the name of it? I'm thinking I'm going to start giving her names. I go, What's the difference? Jewish observance. She goes, No, no, tell me. I learned my lesson. Don't think of the English name. Say it in Hebrew, and that's all. Let them break their teeth on the Hebrew. Instead of me breaking my teeth on the English. I said, Mezuzah. She goes, Okay, good. Now she knows it's mezuzah. Okay, so she's learning. So if someone asks you, if someone asks you, what is Aseret HaDibrot, you know what you should answer? According to the Bahag, it's ten dibrot. No, wait for the Bahag, ten dibrot. According to the Ramban, it's ten commandments. According to the Ibn Ezra, it's table of contents. It's the table of contents from the entire book called Torah Kedoshah. Good? You learned something new today? Okay. Says the Ibn Ezra, why is it called table of contents? Why should we look at it as table of contents? Says the Even Ezra, because the first dibur, the first dibur, this is etzem kol davar, v'hu omed. What does he mean, v'hu omed? Later on in the shiur, we're going to explain more what he means, but right now we'll just say, k'pshuto. Omed means it's the pillar that it all stands on, which means all the mitzvot, the entire book stands on one concept: Anochi Hashem Elokecha. Remember the words, dami. V'hu omed. Va'ates dvarim kulam mikra. And the nine things are all revolved around mikra, around omed, the yesod. The yesod that what? Anochi Hashem Elokecha. You hear? V'kulam nismachim al harishon. They're all dependent, samuch, they're all dependent on the first dibra of Anochi Hashem Elokecha, v'nilvim eilav, and they're attached to it, u'mimenu yetze'u. And from it they come. So Anochi is the yesod, it's the amud. On this stands the entire theme, the theme, the theme of this book of Torah and the Aseres HaDibros, which is the tochen, which is the table of contents of the Torah. What is the theme? Anochi Hashem Elokecha. Then he says, it's like middos, he explains it, b'kitzur, hu hayesod. I would like to explain: in what way is Anochi Hashem Elokecha the yesod? In what way is Anochi Hashem Elokecha the theme? Amud. Beautiful words: amud, yesod, right? Etzem kol davar. What does it mean? So simply it means because if there's no mitzaveh, then there's no tzivuy, like the Bahag, right? How would you learn simply? How would you learn the Aseres? Because if there's no commander, then there's no commandments. The theme of the Bahag is really the underlying theme of the Aseres. The thing is, the Aseres adds that it's a table of contents, and there's a theme, and a yesod, and an amud. But the reason why it's yesod and amud is all the same, right? The Bahag—nine. No, nine. He says it's not a tzivuy. It's not a tzivuy. There are taryag mitzvos, and one of them is not Anochi Hashem Elokecha. Dibros. Dibros, not tzivuyim. According to the Bahag, it's nine tzivuyim, ten dibros.

Hashem spoke. It's Hashem's word. It's not a tzivui. It's nine tzivuyim, ten dibrot. According to the other Rishonim, ten tzivuyim. According to the Ibn Ezra, it's something more polished. It's a table of contents, and it's— no, it's also ten. No, no, it's ten according to the— yeah, I understand. According to the Ibn Ezra, it's one plus— yeah, but they're all tzivuyim. But the way it's written, it's supposed to be the table of contents, sefer ha-tochen, lechol haTorah, va'mitzvah ha-rishonah shel Anochi. That's the yesod, the theme of the whole book, of the entire Aseres HaDibros. So my question is, in what way? So pashut you would say, like the Bahag. Why? Because the whole thing is about the mitzvah. Because without a mitzvah, there's no tzivuyim. I don't believe that that's what the Ibn Ezra means. Ani lo ma'amin shezeh ha-kavanah shel Ibn Ezra. I'm going to explain to you in depth the havanah, the hesber, in the words of the Ibn Ezra. Ma hu mitkaven? Ha'im hu mitkaven kemo ha-Bahag, sheyesod ha-kol zeh ha-mitzvah? Lo. Zeh mashu yoter amok. Ani ma'amin, I believe that what the Ibn Ezra is saying is that the entire Torah, the entire Torah is about— it's all about bringing out the clarification and the yediah of Anochi Hashem Elokecha. Let's say it again. Let's say it again. It's too deep. It's not deep enough. This is deep. Till na lomdim, till na lomdim, that hayesod is anochi, because otherwise there's no matchil. You can't. You have to start from the... Here, when you build a building, I'll give you an example. You ready? V'nasbir. K'sherotzim livnot binyan gadol, עושים foundation. האם אחד משוגע יגיע, שיקרא לזה a foundation? היקש של הבניין זה הfoundation, זה הבניין. אבל היסוד, היסוד זה הfoundation. The Bahag is learning like that, that anochi is the yesod. You're right. He's the mitzaveh, and without the mitzaveh there's nothing yesod to be עומד על, nothing to stand on. I'm going to teach you that what the Ibn Ezra means is something different than the Bahag. You know what he means? You know what he means? I'll tell you what he means. He means that the entire ikar of the Torah is anochi Hashem. It's not just the foundation. It's the whole essence, the whole theme of the Torah is anochi Hashem Elokecha. When you look at the binyan, all of it is about one thing. It's about anochi Hashem Elokecha. That's what the Ibn Ezra means. בוא ונסביר. Come, let's explain it. Notice he uses the lashon. Of oimed. Oimed! What is oimed? What does oimed... so, who oimed? It's standing. He means amud, right? Okay. Let me tell you where he got this lashon from. Where did the Even Ezra get the lashon oimed? Maybe the Gemara in Bava Kamma, and I'll show you where it comes from. The Gemara says, oh, vachavakuk. Oh, you'll find it in Chav-gimmel. The Gemara says that there's taryag mitzvos ne'emru l'Moshe miSinai, and each generation, they came and they minimized it less and less and less, meaning to make a synopsis, ad sheba Chavakuk, till Chavakuk came, v'he'emidan. Oimed. V'he'emidan. Tzadik be'emunaso yichyeh. So the Even Ezra is borrowing the lashon of the Gemara, that the Gemara says he'emidan. He doesn't like it. Now let me explain to you why he doesn't like it. He'emidan can mean a list. He'emidan means that he took all the mitzvos and he put it on an amud of taryag, of...

Of tzaddik b'emunaso yichyeh. Comes along the Maharsha and asks, how could there be such a thing? Hashem tells me Taryag mitzvos, Chavakuk says there's only one? What kind of Gemara? You know what it sounds like? The conservative rabbis. Not even the conservative; the conservative have more than one. It's not even the Reform; it's the Reconstruction. The Reconstructionists did the same thing. They took the Taryag mitzvos and made them halachos. And you know what that is? That you're supposed to be chomet eshes re'echa. That was the only mitzvah that they liked. They took out the word lo, and they had sachmot eshes re'echa. What's wrong? They chopped it down. They're chopping it down. So they chopped it down to one mitzvah: chamud eshes re'echa. What's in English? The reconstructionists chopped it down to one mitzvah. They took out the word lo tachmod, and they took out lo. Tachmod: you should lust the wife of your friend. That's the only mitzvah that they have of the Torah. But that's when you start chopping up the Torah. So how could the Gemara say that Chavakuk came and chopped it down? And I'm being mekatzer. The Gemara says David came and Yeshaya came. Each one came and chopped down the Torah more and more. What is the hemidah? The hemidah. The hemidah. I understood, rabosai, to answer this kasha the following way. You know what hemed is? To give a theme. He doesn't mean you don't have to do the Taryag mitzvos. He put a foundation that everything will stand on one thing. If you have emunah, then you can keep Taryag mitzvahs. It's to teach a person a lesson. You know, there's something called a shortcut to get to the main palace. Sometimes you need a shortcut in Torah to be able to keep the entire Torah. Each generation, it was getting harder and harder. It was getting harder and harder to be able to keep all Taryag mitzvahs. So Chavakuk came and said, I'll give you something which is omed. It's a pillar. On it, on it, you can get the entire Torah. And that is, Anochi Hashem Elokecha. That's Bo Chavakuk v'he'emidan. Chad chas v'shalom, that all you have to do is keep one mitzvah. Now, I don't have time to go through the entire mashal. It's a very long mashal. You'll look at it. There's different answers, there's different parts to the mashal. The mashal says one thing in the beginning, he changes it in the end. I don't have time for it right now. The bottom line is, the question is simple: how do you explain v'he'emidan? What do you mean, Chavakuk chopped the Torah down? And the answer is, rabosai, he'emid, he'emidan, which means he made a yesod. He made a foundation, a strong foundation, which is what? Tzadik b'emunaso yichyeh. Anochi Hashem. That's this even ezer, okay? Where did I get this teretz from? Where did I get it from? Rabosai, let me read to you a Shaarei Teshuvah. Oid amar Rabbeinu, zichrono livracha, gimel, gimel, zayin. Ki tovim dodecha miyayin. Chavivin divrei sofrim yoser miyaina shel Torah. Again, it says a shiur shiurim. Ki tovim, it's better to me dodecha, your dear ones, miyayin, from wine. Chavivin divrei sofrim. The words of the divrei sofrim are more dear, yoser miyaina, than the wine. It's a Gemara, it's a shiur shiurim, Avodah Zarah lamed hei amud aleph, it's a Gemara. Ki tovim dodecha miyayin, tovim divrei sofrim yoser miyaina shel Torah. Says Rabbeinu Yonah, va'anachnu tzrichim lefaresh gam et zeh. We have to explain what this means. What does that mean? What does it mean, ki tovim dodecha, that the words of the divrei sofrim are more—yoter, yoter—it's more, chaviv, dear, more than the words of the Torah itself. Says Rabbeinu Yonah, perek gimel, os zayin, yadoa teida.

No. Ki yiras Hashem yesod hamitzvos. Wow, it sounds familiar. This is what we're learning. Anochi Hashem, bocha vakuk, vemidos halachas. That the yesod, the yesod of all the mitzvos, is yiras Hashem, shene'emar, V'atah Yisrael, mah Hashem Elokecha sho'el me'imach. What does Hashem ask? Ki im l'yirah es Hashem. That's all Hashem asks. Hashem asks for all the mitzvos. And the teretz is, yiras Shamayim is the yesod of all the mitzvos. Uv'zeh yirtzeh Hashem es brio. And with this, Hashem is happy with His creation. Like it says, Rotzeh Hashem et yire'av. Hashem wants His yire'av, those that fear Him. V'takanas chachamim v'gedereihem yesod l'derech hayirah. You want to know what yirah is all about? Yirah is all about the takanos chachamim, the gedarim that they came. Chachamim made boundaries and they said, keep this, keep that. That's yiras Hashem. That's yiras Hashem. Yesod l'derech hayirah, ki ya'asu geder v'harchakah, pen tiga yad adam b'issur haTorah. Because maybe, maybe, maybe a person's going to touch the issur Torah, and what is that? That's fear, yirah, afraid, and he shouldn't do an aveirah. And this— This is ki tovim deidechem miyayin. Gezeiros. Al kein amru, chavivah divrei soferim yoser miyeina shel Torah. You know, we could do it. We could do it without yiras Shamayim. A person could keep the takanas chachamim and also not have yiras Shamayim, no? Tell me, a person keeps the mitzvahs. Doesn't mean he has yiras Shamayim. So the truth is, we're not talking about the person. We're talking about the fact that the chachamim made it. They made yiras Shamayim. They established, they put into action—how would I say it? What? They implemented a technique that protects yiras Shamayim, okay? Like brainwash somebody? No, no, no, no, no, no, you're missing the—sometimes when you have a program, right, and the program is with a protection to protect it, or antivirus, right? So the whole thing is meant to protect. Takanos chachamim are meant to protect, protect a person from doing aveiros, and therefore, and therefore, since it's there just to protect, so Hashem likes divrei soferim. He likes this protective—what do they call that—program. He likes it. Yeah, but a person could end up doing it without yiras Shamayim. But I guess that's not an issue. The issue is the program and not the people who keep the program. I guess that's what he said. So why does it say, Rotzeh Hashem es yireiav? Yireiav? I mean, you become a yarei by outwardly doing what the chacham said not to do. So I guess there's a yiras Shamayim b'maaseh, and there's a yiras Shamayim b'machshavah, I guess. Hashem likes yireiav. What are the yireiav? Those that keep the takanos chachamim. How many people keep takanos chachamim that have no yiras Shamayim whatsoever? Nothing. Tell me, am I learning good, Rabbi ...? I'm learning very good. I was thinking about it. I know tons of people that are so frum that even Hashem was not as frum as them, okay? Afilu HaKadosh Baruch Hu lo machmir k'mohem. Klapei hem HaKadosh Baruch Hu kal shebekalim, okay? That's a joke. U'vechol zot, u'vechol zot, rabosai, you hear? They have no yiras Shamayim whatsoever. So the external behavior of takanas chachamim, gedarim, and yiras Shamayim is called ratzon Hashem, yireiav, yotzei Hashem et yireiav. Unless he's going back on the chachamim — the chachamim were yireiav — yotzei Hashem et yireiav is the sofrim. It's not...

He says, the bruin, u'vzeh yirtzeh Hashem, and bruah. So by keeping the takanos chachamim, Hashem likes all the creation that He created. What happens if a person keeps all the takanos and he has no yiras Shamayim whatsoever? You know, my uncle used to have a great saying from Europe: Shayach, afilu a tzaddik, yesh lo ktzat rishus. Ein tzaddik ba'aretz asher yaaseh tov v'lo yecheta. Can have some rishus. Aval kazeh rasha, kemo tzaddik zeh me'olam lo... Kazeh tzaddik, kazeh rasha ketzaddik, kazeh me'olam lo shamati davar. Every tzaddik can have a little, the Gemara says, but this, like this tzaddik, I never saw such a rasha. What am I trying to bring out? You can have a metzius where a person keeps, but inside he's completely not where he's supposed to be. So what does it mean that the takanos chachamim, that's what it's all about, the gedarim? Unless it means a person who keeps it with the right kavanos. He doesn't say that, though. בוא נסביר את הרבינו. Come, let's explain. Let's explain, Danny. Let's learn the Rabbeinu Yonah. Let's learn, you hear? There's an unbelievable Medrash Shocher Tov. You ready? The Medrash Shocher Tov on Tehillim, chav-zayin, says that HaKadosh Baruch Hu came and complained against Dovid HaMelech. Plenty of Dovid HaMelech. He says, Dovid, HaTefilos shelcha, haTefilos shelcha lo b'seder. Lama? Harei, Atah mevakesh, achas sha'alti me'eis Hashem. What's achas? Achas is one thing. U'mah atah mevakesh? Shivti b'veis Hashem, lachazos b'noam Hashem u'levaker b'heichalo. You ask a little bit in the beginning, but then as soon as I start listening to you, I listen, you ask a whole list of things. You're asking so much. Achas, you make it sound. What am I asking you? I'm asking nothing. What am I? It's just a million dollars, but it's one request. Magic guy says, What am I asking you? I'm asking you one check. Yeah, but a million dollars. It's not the one check. Achas sha'alti. You're tricking me. You're tricking me. Achas sha'alti me'eis Hashem, lachazos b'noam Hashem. Do you know Dovid HaMelech answered back? I learned it from you, Rabbeinu sh'lolam. You tricked us also. What did you tell us? Mah Hashem Elokecha sho'el me'imach? What did you ask? Nothing. It's nothing, yeah? Ki im l'yirah... laleches b'chol derachav. So you went into a whole list of things. No? Same thing. So you know what I wanted to understand? So what's the pshat? Mah b'emet hapshat? No? It's a good question. Hashem is asking a good question, and Dovid HaMelech is asking back a good question. So that's it, like in Brisk. As long as you ask a good question, forget about the answer. B'ris lo tzrichin peirut, rak kushyos. I asked you a question, you ask me back a question. So what's the teretz? You know, they say over that Reb Eizel Charif wanted to look for a chatan for his son-in-law. So he went to all the yeshivot and he asked a question which was almost impossible to answer. And whoever would answer would become his son-in-law. Nobody knew. He went from yeshiva to yeshiva. Finally one guy tried and it was no good. He says, Forget it. It's not... So he left. So he left. And this bachur ran after him and said, Forget the question. What's the answer? So I'm telling you the same thing on the Medrash, the same thing. So good, it's a good question. David, Hashem asked you a good question. Hashem, David asked you a good question. What's the answer? What's takkeh the pshat? What's takkeh the end of the story? But I don't care about the end of the story. I want to know the—what's the answer to the question? Okay. The way we're learning, I think it's gargishmak. Listen, kids. Hashem said, Moa Hashem sho'el me'imach ki im l'yirah. Because through the yirat Shamayim, it's yesod kol hamitzvos. So ein hachi nami, Hashem is asking yirat Shamayim.

Through Yiras Shamayim, you can come to all the mitzvahs. So it's not asking you a lot. He's giving you the shortcut. He's giving you the ha'amud hayesod she'imah yecholim lekabel et kol ha'mitzvot. Now what's with David HaMelech? He could say the same with David HaMelech. Acha sha'alti me'eis Hashem, osah avakesh. Shivti b'veit Hashem kol yemei chayai. You know what the yesod is? Acha sha'alti, osah avakesh. Got the want. You're right, I'm asking for a lot, but you can get it with one yesod. That's by mitzvahs. What about by Torah? Acha sha'al, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit. Do it. You like it? Ten more, huh? David HaMelech said, I ask Hashem one yesod: let me sit. Let me be here. I want it. Oh, lachs b'noiam Hashem, ulvaker b'heichalo. You'll get everything from that yesod. Beautiful. You know, hasaba sheli pam bi'el hapetaron. Acha sha'alti, oto avakesh. So it's double lashon: acha sha'alti, oto avakesh. You're saying the same thing twice. And also, if you take a look, he's asking for more than one thing, right? He's asking, acha... lachs b'noiam Hashem, ulvaker b'heichalo. Omer hasaba, yafeh meod. Yesh she'eilah v'yesh bakashah. Nafshi b'she'eilati, ami b'vakashasi, right? Esther says, nafshi. What's the difference? She'eilati, bakashah. She'eilah is, I ask if I get it good, if I don't get it, it's also good. Bakashah, I search, mevakesh, v'lo mafsik ad she'ani motze. No, I look for it, I search it. Yeah? It's nafshi, nafshi, for me, she'eilah I ask. Ami, but for Klal Yisrael, bakashah. HaSabba, kach bi'er haSabba. Omer haSabba, zeh pshat gam ken po. Achat she'alti, but lo savakesh. V'lo maspik adam mevakesh, I want to learn, I want to. Tell me that you're mevakesh to learn. It's not enough to be rotzeh lilmod. Tzrichim levakesh lilmod, to really want. Achat she'alti, otah avakesh. So mimeila, if this is what you really want, lachas b'noam Hashem, levaker b'heichalo, it's all come, everything will come if you really want. Zeh ma she'ani mosif. So hashe'eilah hi, achat she'alti. So therefore he can ask for everything. You understood the last point? She'eilah and bakashah is a request, and bakashah is a search. I request. You get a no, is no. You know what they say in English, nothing wrong with asking. If that's how you ask for Torah, you won't get anything. Ma, madua ani mevakesh? Rak sho'el, rak sho'el, teshev babayit, shum davar lo yetzeh mimcha. Otah avakesh. Even if I get a no, I push, and I push, mevakesh. Nafshi, b'she'eilasi. For me, my nefesh says, Esther, b'she'eilah. Ami, ami b'vakashasi. Achat she'alti me'eis Hashem, it's not enough. Otah avakesh. Shivti b'veis Hashem kol yemei chayai, lachazos b'noam Hashem. It's not a lot, because the bakoshah is there. Same thing with the mitzvos. Moa Hashem sho'el me'imach. What is Hashem asking? There's a long list, hayag mitzvos. Aval ze kalul b'mah? Emunah, yirah. Moa Hashem sho'el me'imach ki im... Yesod. Okay. How does that work? How is yirah the yesod of all the mitzvos? You know, everybody knows the Rabbeinu Yonah, right? Yesod... Oh, so let's go back to Rabbeinu Yonah. Okay, I'm sorry. You know what? Not yet, not yet. We'll go back to Rabbeinu Yonah at the end of the shiur, because I'm not finished explaining to you how is yirah the yesod of all the mitzvos. And when I get to yirah being the yesod of all the mitzvos, b'havanah, אז בעז"ה... דברי רבינו יונה, שהתקנות חכמים, התקנות חכמים is yiras Hashem. We'll get to it soon, okay? Now, how does it work that yirah is the yesod? Why is yiras Shamayim the yesod of all the mitzvos? So the truth is, because if you fear Hashem...

You'll keep the mitzvahs, kipshuto, right? A person who doesn't fear Hashem isn't afraid to do what? And the Even Ezra brings this. You know, whenever you start saying, ah, that's not so big, because you don't have yiras Shamayim. If you had yiras Shamayim, you'd be careful in all the mitzvahs. You know who says this? Shulchan Aruch: Shivisi Hashem l'negdi tamid, right? If a person has Shivisi Hashem, he's not going to do aveiros. Why? Because if he puts yirah, the fear of Hashem, in front of him always, he won't do any aveiros, because he'll know even in private he has to be afraid of Hashem. You remember this? I don't think there's a person in the world that doesn't know this. But we're supposed to love Hashem also. We're talking about love, a different kind. But the point is, yiras Hashem is the vehicle that protects a person. It's the program that protects a person from virus, a virus, okay? It protects a person from a virus. You know what a virus is? A virus, okay. Today everything is computer talk. You have to talk like the computer, okay? So it protects a person anti-virus. Shulchan Aruch says it clearly, right, that the yiras Shamayim is the protection. That's kipshuto, how yiras Shamayim is yesod l'chol ha-mitzvos. I would say, rabosai, that if you look in the Even Ezra, he takke sticks in to the mitzvah of Anochi Hashem, Shivisi Hashem l'negdi tamid. You know, if you look at the meonei ha-mitzvos, how they explain Anochi Hashem, what's the requirement of Anochi Hashem? In it, you'll see a lot of windows. Windows. It's also computer lashon. Windows. The way the Rishonim understood Anochi Hashem, the mitzvah. Now, I want to read to you how the Even Ezra writes about Anochi Hashem. V'taam Anochi, sheyid'enu v'yaavenu. This is what you wanted, that you should know Hashem, you should love Hashem b'chol libo, v'yidbak bo, v'yeh l'negdo tamid. So he brings shivisi Hashem as a part of Anochi Hashem Elokecha. What's the pshat? Because it says Anochi Hashem. How does someone know? Tell me, do you know who you are? Do you know? You know the answer to that? Not, you know, all day. You could know once a month. You could know once a year. For example, your friend who asks you to pay back the loan, him you know once a year, right? You don't know him. You think about him once a year. Yourself, you know every moment, right? When it says Anochi Hashem, when? How much of the day? So the Chinuch, Mishnah Berurah brings it down, these are from the mitzvah temidis, because there's no shiur when. Does it say how much? It doesn't say. It says all the time. That's why the Even Ezra says, v'yeh l'negdi tamid, that the shivisi must be there always. Now why is that important? Because since he's learning that it's about yiras Shamayim, so shivisi Hashem l'negdi tamid is— יסוד דבירת שמים, like the Shulchan Aruch brings down in the beginning of seif aleph. You understand what I'm telling you? I'm telling you a beautiful point. I'm teaching you. I'm teaching you. You want to know what Aseres HaDibros is. You want to know, you want to be able to just say, yeah, Ten Commandments, pinnacle. You want to know. You want to know. So I'm asking you, Anochi Hashem, is it a mitzvah? Yes, according to most of the Rishonim it's a mitzvah. When is this mitzvah? When? Two times a day? Five times a day? How many times a day? It doesn't say zman. It doesn't say when. So the Even Ezra says, v'yeel l'negdi tamid. It's got to be always there. Why does he use the negdi tamid? Because l'shitato, we explained that this is the yesod of all the mitzvahs because it's about Yiras Shamayim. Shivisi Hashem is the yesod of Yiras Shamayim tamid. Shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid. That's the beginning of Shulchan Aruch. That's what it says. Shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid. This is the protection of anti-aveiros. That's what it is. Okay. Now, the Chinuch says a very big chiddush. What do we have to remember? Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeisicha...

Mi'eretz Mitzrayim, mi'beis avadim. So that Hashem took us out. So the Even Ezra asks, why doesn't it say—he brings from Rabbi Yehuda Menuchasei kavod—that Rabbi Yehuda asked him a question: How come it doesn't say, asher b'rasi shamayim va'aretz? And there's many different answers that are given to this question. But there's a piece from the Chinuch, which is a very big chiddush. The Chinuch says, asher hotzeisicha me'eretz... You're supposed to remember Hashem, they took you out of Mitzrayim. How about Kabbalas HaTorah? Do you have to remember Kabbalas HaTorah, that Hashem gave us the Torah? It doesn't say it in the pasuk. Does it say it in the pasuk? So if you had to write the mitzvah of Anochi Hashem Elokecha, would you say, Hashem who gave you the Torah? No, there's no shaychus, right? It says, asher hotzeisicha me'eretz Mitzrayim. Chinuch—he doesn't have it here, but the Chinuch is, you'll bring it to look at it—the Chinuch says, asher hotzeisicha me'eretz Mitzrayim, v'nasan lanu es haTorah. Kulam matzvi'im. Ma pshat? Ma pshat? Why? Why do you—the pasuk says, asher hotzeisicha me'eretz Mitzrayim, so why does it say that He gave us the Torah? I have to know Hashem that He gave us the Torah. So, very good. Dani, you say good. That's the pashut pshat. I said all the years, all the years I said, the whole reason for the yetzias Mitzrayim is tohavdanos Elokim al hahar hazeh. The pinnacle is the Kabbalas HaTorah. Very good. You see, he used it to halacha l'maaseh. You're able to put it into use. Here, Kabbalas HaTorah, Shavuos pinnacle. Okay, very good, yeah. Go, read it, read it. Yeah. Vechi hu hotzianu me'eretz Mitzrayim mitzvah chaf hei, v'naasah lanu es haTorah, shene'emar b'tchilas nesinas haTorah, Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeisicha me'eretz Mitzrayim. Peirush, peirush. Ki'ilu amar, teida v'sa'aminu sheyesh la'olam Eloka, ki milos Anochi Torah al hametzius. Yeah, so what does the Torah have to do with it? How did the Torah come in? Vechi hu hotzianu me'eretz Mitzrayim. Oh, so the answer is because somehow it says it in the Torah. It says somehow it says it in the Torah. So the Torah has to teach me that what? That Hashem gave me the Torah. Anochi Hashem is— And Hashem said, by the matan Torah. Again, but it says that you have to believe sheyesh Eloka echad, Vechi hu hotzianu me'eretz Mitzrayim, v'naasah lanu es haTorah. What do you need that? No, he says because since it says in the beginning of the Torah, so meileh what? So we have to know Hashem took us out and gave us the Torah. No, that's it, that's it. Then he goes through Mitzrayim. Don't believe he'll shy, no? What? Beautiful, no? Okay, you know what? We're gonna have my two lawyers here, my two prosecutors. Everything I say, I have two prosecutors, Baruch Hashem. Let them be modeh al ha'emes, how beautiful the question is. Go ahead, read the question. Go ahead, read the question. Tikra. Oh, that's Anochi Hashem Elokecha, yeah. V'kol mah shehayah sheyihyeh ad, v'hu ki hu hotzianu me'eretz Mitzrayim, v'nasan lanu es haTorah. Now what's his reason? Because it says it in the Torah. What does it mean? What does it mean? You know, Anochi Hashem is Hashem gave us the Torah. You thought of that? Ah, so you're a tzaddik. Most people think Anochi Hashem either that He created the world, or that He took us out of Mitzrayim, like the pasuk says. But that we have to think Anochi Hashem, that He gave us the Torah? Let me talk to you. I just finished explaining to you. Oh, so Danny's saying good. This is what I said all the years. Since the whole yetzias Mitzrayim is only for the Kabbalas HaTorah, mimeila you have to believe yetzias Mitzrayim and Kabbalas HaTorah, because that was the reason for it. Or maybe we could say the way we explained, everything is beautiful, yeah? What is Yiras Shamayim? Yiras Shamayim is yesod kol haTorah kula, yeah? It's the yesod. It's the essence of the entire Torah, right? So part of having yirah...

That Shemayim is believing that there's a nasan lanu es Torah. And let me tell it to you with one step further. The only way that we can get to Yiras Shamayim is through the Torah. I'm going to read you a lashon of the Alter from Kelm. Oh, wait a second. Says the Alter from Kelm, Kol haTaryag mitzvos hei l'tachlis hayirah. The tachlis of all the taryag mitzvos is to bring to yirah. Remember I told you essence? There's two ways how essence could be, you know that? There's two ways. Sometimes you can have the hakdamah in order to understand the entire Torah. Sometimes you can have the entire Torah to come to a conclusion of a Nochi Hashem Elokecha. You know, the forward, the hakdamah could work two ways. Either the hakdamah, it teaches you about the book, or the hakdamah is the result that comes from the book. It's a synopsis of the book. So the only way a person to come to Nochi Hashem is from the Torah. Now read the Chinuch. Before, I just want to tell you one more lashon. This is from Chachmah uMussar, the Alter from Kelm, chelek alef, page shin samech vav. Now I'm going to read you another piece from Chachmah uMussar, the Alter from Slabodka, chelek alef, page reish tezvav. Yirah pnimis, the internal yirah comes from al pi haTorah, only through the Torah. Yiras pnimis, museget al pi haTorah. It's only through the Torah that you can come to yirah. So sometimes, you know what the first page of a book is? It's the result. You know, for example, if you do research, so you'll have an entire book of the research. You know what the front page, you know what the hakdamah is going to be? The summary, the result, the conclusion that comes from the research. Okay? So you're right. Anochi Hashem is the amud, it's the yesod, it's the introduction. But there's two ways how we can understand it. It's either the introduction to understand the mitzvahs, or it's an introduction because this is the final, the conclusion, the result from the entire book, the entire Sefer HaMitzvos. Now go read the Chinuch. Go read it inside and you'll see we're saying gevaldik. No. Start again. Yeah, and then he gave us the Torah. We have to believe he gave us the Torah. Why? What's the lashon of the Chinuch? Because it says it in the beginning of the Torah, Anochi Hashem Elokecha. Through the Torah comes the yirah. So the Kabbalas haTorah is bound together with the yiras Shamayim. How do you know yiras Shamayim? You only know it because in the Torah it says, Anochi Hashem Elokecha. That's what the Alter is saying, that it's the Torah itself. The Torah itself teaches us, Anochi Hashem Elokecha. If a person could sit all day long and philosophize Anochi Hashem Elokecha, he will not come to the same conclusion, the proper one, than he comes from learning the pasuk Anochi Hashem Elokecha. If the Torah, it says Anochi Hashem Elokecha, so therefore Kabbalas HaTorah is tied to Yiras Shamayim. It's the yesod of the Kabbalas HaTorah. Hashem gave us the Torah and He began with Anochi Hashem Elokecha. So of course the introduction of the book is bound to the book itself directly. Of course not, because it's deep and it takes time to penetrate. Let's say it again. How many books do you know that the introduction of the book has nothing to do with the book? And the answer is, you go to the library and all the crazy people write books. It's like that, right? But a healthy, normal book, the introduction is bound to the book itself, right? So if Hashem went and gave us a book called Torah, and as an introduction to this He wrote Anochi Hashem Elokecha.

And he gave us Kabbalas HaTorah with a preface of Anochi Hashem Elokecha. So therefore we have to believe that Anochi Hashem Elokecha was an introduction, taka, to this book called Torah, to this Kabbalas HaTorah. Because when Hashem gave us the Torah, He wrote Anochi Hashem Elokecha in it as a preface, as an introduction to its giving. So therefore the belief of Anochi Hashem Elokecha is intricate. It's, what do you call it, no, connected. Give me a better word for connected. It's attached, intertwined, intertwined in the Kabbalas HaTorah. Hashem gave us Torah, and He gave us by Ma'amad Har Sinai, and He began with Anochi Hashem Elokecha, so it's intertwined as the amud of the Kabbalas HaTorah. That's what he means, because in the Torah that Hashem gave us, it begins with Anochi Hashem Elokecha. It prefaces it. He began Kabbalas HaTorah by teaching us Anochi Hashem Elokecha, so Kabbalas HaTorah is part of what we believe, Anochi Hashem Elokecha, and that He gave us the Torah. And as the Alter from Kelm says, because only through the Torah could we come to Anochi Hashem Elokecha. Now, rabosai, this is more or less the pashut pshat in the Ibn Ezra, more or less, with a little bit omek, with a little bit depth, that it's an introduction. To Torah, to Taryag mitzvahs, to Kabbalas haTorah. But I'm going to tell you a little bit further, and I'll tell you why I'm saying this. There's an unbelievable, unbelievable Rabbeinu Yonah in Mishlei. Just like Rabbeinu Yonah in Shaarei Teshuvah says that it's the introduction, that it's the introduction to mitzvahs, that it's the yesod of the mitzvahs, Rabbeinu Yonah says it's the yesod to all the middos tovos also. Yiras Shamayim is the yesod to all the middos tovos. You found the Mishlei, you found it inside, read it, read it. You have it? Here. Yiras Hashem mekor chayim. Pasuk says, Yiras Hashem is the mekor, mekor of life. What does that mean? Midah achas, v'hi mekor l'chol hape'ulos hanechbados. All the honorable traits has one shoresh. V'yesh middos nichbados u'l'chol achas mehem toldos rabos, u'ma'asim atzumim. I'm sorry, ma'asim atzumim tluyim בהם. V'yiras Hashem mekor l'chol hamiddos. It's the mekor for all the middos also. It's not only the yesod of all the mitzvahs, it's the yesod of all the middos. Very interesting, huh? So now we learned it's not just the yesod of the Torah. If someone asks you, tell me, what's the foundation? Bochavakuk, emunah. What about ethics? What about middos? Rabbeinu Yonah says, Yiras Hashem mekor chayim. Life, which Rabbeinu Yonah learns is life, middos, actions of a person, they're all governed by what? By Yiras Hashem. I didn't make it up. It's right here. Here it is. Go ahead, read it. I didn't make it up. Okay. What's wrong? What's wrong? You don't know this? What's wrong with you? No, I don't know. Huh? You don't like this? Oh, we're getting there. Wait. If you knew what I want, I want something. I want something. I want something. You hear? Now we're learning that it's not just hakdamah to the tayag; it's hakdamah to all the middos tovos also. You hear? I want you to know, rabosai, that a lot of people know this from a different angle. I'll tell you where they know it from. You know the famous question of the Even Ezra on Lo sachmod. What's the question? Sachmod? How could it be lo sachmod? I do, I want, I want, I want. How can you tell a person not to—

You want what he wants, right? So the Beis Halevi comes and gives a teretz. Everybody knows it, that if you have yiras Shamayim, then what? Then you won't have chemdah. You won't lust. If you have yiras Shamayim, you don't lust. This is mamash what Rabbeinu Yonah is saying, that even the middos—no, no—even the middos are corrected, are straightened out with yiras Shamayim. There's just one problem: it doesn't work. Gershon wants to—how does it work? How does it—his name's Gershon—how does it work? It's not clear. So you know what everybody says when a person's afraid, he doesn't have taavos. I don't believe it has anything to do with that. You know, that's what they say. The famous—they give a mashal. What's the mashal? You ever see a guy who's running across the lake, those ice breaks, he's ready to fall in. You think he's thinking about the taavah that he was running for? He's thinking how he's dying, right? He's never going to get out of here. You think he's thinking about the hamburger that he ran for, the bun and frank that he ran for? The minute he gets out of his sakanah, so then he's not afraid anymore, so then he starts thinking again about the taavah. That's how everybody explains yiras Hashem. I don't like that. You know why? Because that's yirah without Hashem. That's about fear. That's not about Hashem. That's what the Beis Halevi meant, yiras Shamayim, fear. It's a physical, emotional, psychiatric response that when a person is scared, he doesn't have a taavah. I don't believe that's the pshat. I'm going to tell you what I think the pshat is. In the pesicha of Shaar Ahavas Hashem. The Chovos HaLevavos writes, which comes first, yiras Hashem or ahavas Hashem? This is in the psicha of the Chovos HaLevavos. You know which one comes first. Yirah comes first. Why does yirah come first? Ki im l'yiras Hashem... Right? Which one is first in the pasuk? Mah Hashem Elokecha... ki im l'yirah, and then l'ahavah. Ahavah comes after, right? That's the pasuk: ki im l'yiras Hashem u'le'ahavah. Yirah is first. Yirah is the beginning. Tell me something, rabosai. Is it because it's a din? Is it a din that since the pasuk says yirah first, and therefore yirah is first? No, says Chovos HaLevavos. It's a psychology. You know how it works? Because yirah is meroken lev ha'adam me'ahavas olam hazeh. Yirah cleans. It cleans out a person from the love, which is really what the Beis HaLevi is saying, right? You're afraid, so you don't have a taivah, right? Olam hazeh, you don't have a taivah. Once you don't have a taivah, then there's room for ahavas Hashem. I would say it a little different. Not different than the Chovos HaLevavos, but a different pshat in what the Chovos HaLevavos means. Let me tell you how I would say it. There's an unbelievable Ramban. I'll type it out. You ready? The Sefer Mitzvos over here they bring from the Ralbag: Lo yihyeh lecha elohim acheirim. You're not allowed to have other gods. Says the Ralbag, v'ulam hato'eles hamagia mizois hamitzvah. What do you gain from this mitzvah? If you have other gods, so you would say that you gain that you're not an oveid avodah zarah, no? Can you imagine you ask a guy, what do you gain by not being an apikores? Well, for starters, I get Olam Haba. That's a pretty good reason, no? I don't want to be chayav misah. I mean, that's to me a good start, right? Says the Ralbag, I'll tell you that it's more than just Olam Haba reward. The to'eles from this mitzvah: de'os. It's in the mind. It's an hashkafah of the person. If a person believes—listen—if a person believes in an avodah zarah, in his mind, in his intellect, he's losing a lot. Well, what's he losing? V'zeh, and the reason for this is, ki k'sheyinaseinu Elokis l'zulaso, if he gives godliness to something other than Hashem, tipol meha'adam harbeh mechochmas hanimtza'os.

A lot of the wisdom of the world, you're left in the dark from. Let me tell you, so when I see a Rav bag like this, my mind, my heart starts to jump. You don't realize what he's saying. It's like unbelievable what he's saying. Come here, Mr. Kaikov, listen to what's going on here. Huh? Ken. Ken. Madam sho'elet otcha, ma to'elet mi lo yihyeh lecha? To'elet is simple. Of course you gain. You know what you gain? The belief of God. Well, what are you talking about? He says there's more than that. It's a personal gain for you. You're gaining wisdom and intellect. Because if a person starts believing in other gods, tipa, it falls away from the person. Harbei michochmas hanimtzaos, the wisdoms of the world, hayakar shebahem, the beauty that's in it. V'timla me'od hamatzlachos hanafshios ha'emes. You're ruining yourself. It's about you. It's not about Hashem. Unbelievable. Shehi maga'as, that this greatness, personal gain that you have, comes b'shenaskel v'neida Hashem yisbarach, by knowing Hashem kefi hayecholes. And on this he says, that's pshat, b'zois yisalel hamishalel. You want to know what you should be proud of? You know what you should be excited? You should be happy. You should be thrilled. Haskel v'yodea osi, because you have knowledge that you know Me. V'chol shekein k'sheyiten lo Elokus l'psilim, if you give godliness to other... Idols. כי זה ממש יאפל חכמת הנמצאות בכללה. You're ruining wisdom. What's he mean, huh? What does he mean? Let me tell you what I think he means. The only way a person could see clearly things, the only way a person could grasp the truth of this world and the wisdom and the beauty it has to offer, if he has yiras Hashem. You hear what I'm telling you? There's a clear lens, hashkafah. If it's clouded by avodah zarah, there is no way to grasp. There's no way to take in the true wisdom and beauty of the world around us. A person is flawed in his senses and his mabat, in his look, to the extent that he cannot see the beauty of the world in front of him. Unbelievable thing. You want to know something? The chronic complainers of life, you know that they don't have yiras Shamayim. That's where it comes from. They cannot grasp. They cannot take in what's really beautiful around them. The yoker, chochmah — you know, lashon of albad — the chochmas hanimtzaos, והיוקר שבהם, and the beauty that it entails, when a person does not have yiras Shamayim. You know, I want to teach you something. We think avodah zarah is black and white. Black and white. Bow down to Jesus, then it's avodah zarah, right? And if you go to shul, it's yiras Shamayim. Let me tell you, you could be in shul and do avodah zarah also. You know that, right? Ech. The Gemara tells us in Shabbos, kol hakois, whoever gets angry, k'ilu oved avodah zarah. It's as if he was oved avodah zarah. What's the pshat? So the mefarshim explain, the mefarshim explain, because if you believed really Hashem is running the world, you wouldn't get upset. By not having this yiras Shamayim, you have a—what do you call that? When they have the thing on the mirror that it's blocking, a black—what do you call that? A blind spot. You have a blind spot. By not having the proper yiras Shamayim, you think that that guy is doing it to you, and because of that you get angry at him. You could turn the whole family and the whole shul and the whole people around you upside down. You know the tumult and the mess you could make by lacking one re'ah, one mabat. You didn't see properly. It's not him, it's Hashem. Yiras Shamayim.

Hashem is a different view of the world. He sees things different. I want to show you another example. The Chovos HaLevavos writes in Shaar Yichud HaMaaseh, Ki hachonef — someone who is chonef people — ein tachlit l'ne'evadav. There is no end to the people who he worships. It's also avodah zarah. There's only one difference. It's not one, it's a thousand. It's every guy he comes in contact with, he worships him. You understand what we're saying? It's unbelievable. A person doesn't have the proper yiras Hashem, which means that he doesn't think, Ein od milvado. I'm not afraid of nobody. I don't need anybody. Hashem, it's Your world. I don't have to come on to His favors that something should happen. If a person doesn't believe that, and he's a chonef anashim, there's no end to that avodah zarah that he has, because he has to worship people. It's unbelievable, Chovos HaLevavos. Here, why am I chonef the person? Because I think that I need him. You need him? That's avodah zarah. What do you — you need him? Ashrei hagever asher yivtach baShem, arur hagever asher yivtach ba'adam. What are you talking about? And you don't realize, on a constant basis, ein sof, ein sof la'avodah zarah. ... Ein sof la'avodah zarah sheyesh la ben adam hazeh. It's unbelievable, Chovos HaLevavos. You don't view it that way. You don't see it that way. But that's a blind spot, because you don't have a proper yiras Shamayim. If you had the proper yiras Shamayim, you wouldn't even care what he said. Who cares? What could he do to you? How many times are we afraid? If you had the proper yiras Shamayim—I'm not saying we do. Unfortunately, we're not on the midah, the madreigah, the level that we need to have. But if we had it, we wouldn't be afraid. We wouldn't need the other guy. We wouldn't have to come on to worshipping the other guy. You don't understand what I'm saying. The chochmah and the yakar, the chochmah and the yakar of the things that happen in this world is blinded by a lack of yiras Shamayim. So the toeles of having yiras Shamayim is not for Hashem or for the Torah. It's personal. So what do we have? Listen here. It comes out that be'emes here, the Gemara says, HaMeshaber keilim b'chamaso, yihyeh lo ovdei avodah zarah, right? The ratzon, all the ratzonot that we want, which is blinded by the fact that we don't have yiras Shamayim. It's a tremendous detriment, tremendous detriment. According to this, I understand, lo tachmod. Yiras Shamayim fixes it. Now it fixes it. It gives you a clear view. What are you being chomed? It's nothing to do with you. It's Hashem's world, and Hashem gives to who He needs to give to. So the yirah is not the fear, but it's the yiras Hashem. It's the fear of Hashem, the clarity that He's not afraid of adam, and He knows ein od milvado. That clarity makes a person understand lo tachmod, and this is the yesod of kol hamitzvot. How is this the yesod of kol hamitzvot? Because all the mitzvot are to teach a person, yeah, to teach a person the truth about this world. It's to be madrich the person the truth. What's really good, mah tov, what is good in this world. The Torah teaches us what's good. You know why we don't appreciate it? Because we've lacked the proper yiras Shamayim. So it's the yesod of all the mitzvot, and it's the yesod of all the middot. It's all true. And I want to show you something interesting. The Biur Halacha brings down that a person is over lo sa...

To achrei levavchem v'achrei eineichem, zu minus, apikorsus, says the Biur Halacha, the first one in the six mitzvos included in this is anything which a person goes against daas haTorah. It's not only Hashem. Minut is, I don't believe in Hashem, or I believe in Elokus or something. Anything which is neged, hepech. He says, the Biur Halacha says, anything which is hepech daas haTorah becomes minut, apikorsus. So I always thought, you know what the pshat is? I'll tell you what the pshat is. Hashem gave us the Torah, so by going against the Torah, it's revolting against the Melech, right? If Hashem gave us the Torah and you go and you go hepech of the Torah, so that's minut against Hashem. I would say it differently. After this shiur, I understood more. The daas haTorah can only be understood, the daas haTorah can only, if you have emunah in Hashem. When a person has his own levad tzonos, then the daas haTorah makes no sense to him whatsoever. He doesn't understand it. So underlying in accepting and understanding daas haTorah is to believe in Hashem. Yeah, I'm saying gevaldig. How would you say? Everybody says if a person doesn't listen to daas haTorah, he's apikores. You know why? Because Hashem gave us the Torah, and you go against the Torah and the daas haTorah, so you're going against Hashem. According to the way we're saying it, it's deeper than that. The data Torah can only be understood, it can only be internalized, if you have emunah. Tzadik b'emunaso yichyeh, it's the yesod of the Torah. So if you don't understand and accept and subordinate your mind to the data Torah, it's because you're lacking the proper emunah in HaKadosh Baruch Hu. It's only when you don't have the right emunah that you can't understand what the Torah is saying. You know, there's a very famous Sma, dat balabatim is neged dat Torah. Neged dat Torah. They say over that the Sma would go ask a balabat whenever there was a question in Choshen Mishpat, and whenever there was a question of halacha, he would ask a balabat, and whenever he would say, do the opposite. You said it's mutar? Okay, it's asur. Why? What do you mean? It's so the opposite. You know what he means? I'll tell you what he means. The moment a person, and I don't think he meant a balabat who's doing the Torah and learning and he's doing l'shem Shamayim, that's not what he's referring to. He's referring to a person who left, who's now busy with his world and his... Once you take Hashem out of your world, automatically you cannot understand the data, the Torah. There's no way to understand it. There's no way that you look at it, it's crazy, doesn't make sense. Data Torah needs Hashem shebishiviti Hashem l'negdi, Hashem is the main part of my life. It's an interesting concept. Anochi Hashem Elokecha is the introduction to the entire Torah, because the Torah can only be understood, it can only be practiced. Anochi Hashem Elokecha is in proper place. Otherwise, he has a whole different view of the world, and there's no way that he could internalize, accept, and appreciate the Torah. This is pshat of Anochi Hashem Elokecha is the yesod, is the foundation. Because I said to you, remember I started asking you, how is it the yesod? The answer is, it's not just the introduction. It's also the essence, the essence of the entire Torah. Anochi Hashem is the Torah. You want to know this mitzvah? This mitzvah is in a world of Anochi Hashem Elokecha mitzvah. In the world where Hashem is Melech, this mitzvah is a mitzvah, and you understand that, and you want to do it. In a world that you took Hashem out, the mitzvahs don't make sense. You know what it becomes? It becomes archaic. You know where the problem with the conservative and the reform? It's not that they chopped the Torah out. It's that they took Hashem out of the Torah. That's what happened. The minute you pull Hashem away from the Torah, then the Torah's laws don't make sense. I want to explain to you something. This is something which is very touchy to me because I think about it for many years. You know, Christianity.

The Torah has a lot of yesodos which sound great. Sounds great. It's about love, and it's about ... and it's so many different concepts which sound great, okay? What was the yesod? The yesod was they decided that there's a human being that came to, right, that came to, that was created from God, right? I understood that they wanted to put a human face to the godliness that's in the Torah. And therefore all the old mitzvahs can't have any justification. It became a humanistic, which of course it wasn't because it's about retzicha based on the fact that it's not real, but they put a human face. The idea was to bring it back like the eigel hazahav. What do they need? A person. They needed a person. It should be tangible and human, like the egel. Once they took the Rabbeinu Shlolem out of the Torah, so they made it a human religion about love and love and people and... The yesod of the Torah, the mitzvahs only make sense in a world that Anochi Hashem Elokecha, בלי שיתוף הזולת, without somebody else involved also, without a person, without a pesel. בעולם שיש רק בורא אחד ואין עוד מלבדו, תריג מצוות make sense. In a world that Anochi Hashem is taken out. The Yag mitzvahs don't have any havanah, ein daas l'zeh. פה מאוד, תשמע מה שאנחנו מדברים פה. This, rabosai, is also the pshat I told you in the Rabbeinu Yonah. Remember I asked you, Rabbeinu Yonah says the takanot and the gezeirot, right? How is this yiras Hashem? I'll explain to you how it's yiras Hashem. You know what? The chachamim came. Chachamim were very wise. The chachamim saw the mitzvahs and how they apply in the world around us. Let's make a cheshbon. Danny, listen to what I'm saying. It's the end, but it's יפה, you hear? Do you understand what I explained to you, that they needed a human? Christianity was a human face to a godly thing, and therefore they drove it into love and feelings and emotions and soup kitchens and whatever, whatever junk, even with all the ... anyway, because they killed millions of people with it. It was to put an egel, a physical human touch, to a godly thing. Now, let's listen to the Rabbeinu Yonah. Rabbeinu Yonah says that the takanot and the gedarim that the chachamim made, that's yiras Hashem. How is that yiras Hashem? Listen carefully. The mitzvahs needed to be fine-tuned and adjusted to the world around us, that they should have protection. They made harchakot. Lefi the Torah, it's mutar. Yeah, but in the world, in the people, it has to be wisely adjusted to human nature. To people's actions. That's why they made shniyos, the second generation of arayos, so you shouldn't come to the main. This wisdom is a wisdom of yiras Hashem. That's the wisdom of living in a world where I'm careful not to go against Hashem's word. So the whole mechanism of shniyos midivrei sofrim is the mechanism of yiras Hashem. It's gevaldig a vort. Think about it. The wisdom of trying to make that the world around us, that the world around us should be Hashem's world around us. In Hashem's world, harchakos are needed, because you don't want to be over al retzono. The world has a lot of pitfalls. The world has a lot of nisyonos. So how do you produce that the Torah should fit into today's world and the society around us? Chacham b'chachmasam, with their wisdom, came. That's called yiras Hashem. That's kituv derech hayashar. To be able to put HaKadosh Baruch Hu back into the world, to put Anochi Hashem Elokecha into the world. Fakert. How did the goyim do it?

The going did by taking Hashem out. They don't make the opposite. Think about it. It was too difficult, right? The world has so many nisyonos around us. So you know there's one way how to do it: either you take Hashem out of the world — take Him out, right? It's causing too many problems, so take Him out. Or the other way around: make the world feasible around Hashem, that it should be an olam that Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeisicha me'eretz Mitzrayim. That's called yiras Hashem. When a person has yiras Shamayim, so everything — Shiviti Hashem... so the world around him is about Hashem. That becomes yiras Hashem, ki tovim dodecha miyayin, and that's Anochi Hashem as an introduction. All the middos — middos is seichelic things. It's human behavior. Every human behavior is altered if he sees Hashem in front of him. It's the inclarity, the fact that it's not clear that Hashem — that all the bad middos, all the bad hanhagos, result from that. This is the Aseres HaDibros. It's time to be zoche that we should internalize Aseres HaDibros in all its lessons.