Insights on Pesach (pt. 1) | Rabbi Zvi Davidson

AI-Generated Summary (AI can be inaccurate. Check important information):

1. *Defining Shloshim Yom* — The requirement to prepare thirty days before *Pesach* is subject to three interpretations in the *Rishonim*: giving priority to a student's questions (*shoel k’inyano*), learning the complex *halachot* of the holiday, or specifically studying the laws of the *Korban Pesach*.

2. *Angelic Mindset* — Wearing a *Kittel* at the *Seder* serves as a reminder that we are *metzuyanim* (distinct) as Jews; it transforms our status to that of a *malach* (angel) or a *Kohen Gadol* entering the Holy of Holies.

3. *Spiritual Refinement First* — The sequence of *Kadesh Urchatz* teaches that before one can influence or "clean" others (*urchatz*), one must first sanctify and work on oneself (*Kadesh*).

4. *Values of Simplicity* — The *Karpas*, a simple vegetable, provides a *mussar* lesson in *yistapek bemuat* (sufficing with little), suggesting that a lifestyle focused on luxury can hinder one's growth as a *Talmid Chacham*.

5. *Shared Responsibility* — The *Yachatz* (breaking of the matzah) symbolizes the partnership between the one who learns Torah and the one who supports it, as well as the need for a person to always view their spiritual standing as *mechtzeh mechtzeh* (half-merited, half-liable).

6. *The Duty of Maggid* — The section of *Maggid* reminds us of our communal responsibility; if we fail to speak up or encourage others (*lo yaggid*), we become spiritually accountable for their failings.

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We're within שלושים יום קודם לחג shloshim yom kodem lechag and there's an interesting מחלוקת machloket in the ראשונים rishonim. It's one between two if you want to share. There's an interesting מחלוקת machloket in the ראשונים rishonim. The בית יוסף Beit Yosef brings three opinions about when we say שלושים יום קודם לחג shloshim yom kodem lechag then what does that refer to? Does that mean to learn the הלכות halachos? Does it mean other things? So I'll just share with you a quick insight of the בית יוסף Beit Yosef. The בית יוסף Beit Yosef says that there he brings three opinions about what do we mean when we say שלושים יום קודם לחג shloshim yom kodem lechag. One opinion the בית יוסף Beit Yosef says is the ר\"ן Ran and the רשב\"א Rashba and maybe also the רמב\"ם Rambam. He says that there's no דין din of teaching הלכה halacha of פסח Pesach thirty days before. There's no הלכה halacha like that. But rather if a תלמיד talmid comes to ask a question within thirty days then he has זכות קדימה zechut kedima. It's considered שואל כענינו shoel k'inyano. It's considered a relevant thing to ask and therefore the רב Rav has to give first attention to him. That's one opinion. The second mainstream opinion is הלכה halacha. הלכה halacha meaning that specifically for פסח Pesach where there's so many details and it's so complicated so then you have to prepare ahead of time. That's a second opinion. The third opinion which the בית יוסף Beit Yosef brings which is a very interesting one is תוספות Tosfot from עבודה זרה Avoda Zara where he says that it's actually to learn the קרבנות korbanot. This is the most interesting. He says that קרבן פסח korban Pesach was a קרבן korban that everyone had to bring. And not everyone knew the הלכות halachos and they would need to check and prepare the קרבן korban ahead of time. There's also a limited amount of time when you could bring it. It's not like the קרבן חגיגה korban chagigah of שבועות Shavuos and of סוכות Succos where you have the whole week to bring. Here you had a very very limited time, י\"ד ערב יום טוב Yud Daled erev Yom Tov, by a certain time. It was a very limited time and not everyone knew the הלכות halachos so they would say that you should start learning the הלכות halachos of the קרבן פסח korban Pesach a month before. And even though nowadays we don't have a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash but the תקנה takkana remained in place. So according to that there's three opinions, that's תוספות Tosfot. So according to those three opinions it's very very different how you prepare for פסח Pesach thirty days before. Is it just that you don't have to prepare but just if someone asks a question the רב Rav gives him first preference? Is it that you have to learn the הלכות halachos before? Or is it that you have to learn the קרבנות korbanot, the laws of the קרבנות korbanot, thirty days before? Those are the three opinions that בית יוסף Beit Yosef brings. So what about learning preparation of הגדה Haggadah and מוסר mussar and what does the meaning of the day? So that the פוסקים poskim say that doesn't apply thirty days before, that only applies on יום טוב Yom Tov. That on יום טוב Yom Tov itself, there משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, it's the last, if anyone's ever been at or done a סיום siyum of מסכת מגילה Masechet Megillah. Then the last last piece of מסכת מגילה Masechet Megillah says that משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu was מתקן metaken הלכות פסח בפסח hilchos Pesach bePesach and הלכות סוכות בחג hilchos Succos bechag and הלכות עצרת בעצרת hilchos Atzeret beAtzeret. And the מפרשים meforshim say it doesn't only mean the הלכות halachos but it means the עצמו של היום itzmo shel hayom, the מהות mahut of the day. So we have the זכות zechut, if you don't just pass them on, there's one between two just if you pass it down. Okay, I meant you two this way and then you that way and so on. Go down there too. So we have the great merit in our era of many many many הגדות Haggadot being published. So many הגדות Haggadot it's hard to, if you would buy a הגדה Haggadah a year for the rest of your life and you would live a thousand years, you wouldn't be able to finish all the הגדות Haggadot that are out there. But I have a specific soft place in my heart for the הגדה Haggadah of כרם הצבי Kerem HaTzvi. And so I wanted to share a few insights from כרם הצבי Kerem HaTzvi which I think and I hand-picked ones which I think are to do with עבודת ה' avodat Hashem that will hopefully give a mindset coming towards פסח Pesach. So in the first section he goes through the מנהגים minhagim of פסח Pesach and he gives more depth and understanding behind the מנהגים minhagim. So I'm on page, it's a bit confusing how the pages work, but if you look at the top for ס\"א Samech Aleph. So here he speaks about the מנהג minhag of wearing a קיטל kittel. There's a מנהג minhag that many people have that you wear a white garment a קיטל kittel on the night of פסח Pesach and he gives two insights as to why wear a קיטל kittel. We'll quote them both but the second one is I think very exciting and it gives, I always quote this to my family as we start the ליל הסדר Leil HaSeder, I quote this second ווארט vort because it really gives a healthy and an appropriate and uplifting mindset as you enter as you enter the ליל הסדר Leil HaSeder. So we'll read both. So we're in לבישת קיטל levishat kittel. טעם לבישת הקיטל בסדר בליל סדר של פסח ראיתי בהגדת ילקוט שמעוני בשם חכם אחד סמך לזה מדרשת חז\"ל והיו שם לגוי מלמד שהיו ישראל מצוינים שם Ta'am levishat hakittel beSeder beLeil Seder shel Pesach ra'iti beHaggadat Yalkut Shimoni beshem chacham echad semech lazeh midrashat Chazal vehayu sham legoy melamed shehayu Yisrael metzuyanim sham. The Jewish people they dressed in a Jewish way. You can just envision as they were leaving Egypt they were wearing שטריימלך shtreimelach and they had white socks pulled up over their trousers or their pants and I don't know if that's what they wore but they had a Jewish way of dressing. Maybe it was a צניעות tzniut way of dressing. Maybe in an appropriate way not a way of showing off their body. I don't know exactly what the Jewish way was at that time. We envision what you would think that the אבות Avos looked like with turbans and with long robes. I don't know exactly what it was but it was something that made them stand out. The people saw them, they said there goes a Jew. And what it how exactly it looked is not so relevant but the fact that it symbolized a Jewish way, they wanted to stand out and say I'm Jewish and I want people to know that I'm Jewish and I'm making an ענין Inyan of the fact that I'm Jewish, I'm not hiding the fact. I just heard there's a rabbi in London, his name is Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair and he's got many שיעורים shiurim in מחשבה machshava. So his mother, may she live and be well, she's over a hundred, she lives in St. John's Wood which is a neighborhood which isn't such a heavily Jewish neighborhood. And he walked there on שבת Shabbos recently and he was really scared because there's a lot of things going on with Arabs in England and London and it's the pro-Palestinian area and he was scared to walk there and he was debating should he wear a baseball cap or should he wear his hat, his שבת Shabbos hat that he normally wears because he's going through an area which isn't such a Jewish area. And he didn't quote this but he said ויהיו מצוינים שם Viyhu metzuyanim sham. I'm not saying it's a הדרכה hadracha for the rabbis but he said no he's proud of the fact that he's Jewish and if anyone starts up with him then he's going to hopefully he's not going to fight them but he's not going to hide his יידישקייט Yiddishkeit. And he walked through and he said that he got two people saying praise of ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisroel. Non-Jewish people. Non-Jewish people who in their way, not in such a polite way, but in their way of shouting we're for Israel, kill all the whatever they said. Either way they gave him support and he said like wow look at that, you're proud of who you are and other people give you respect. Doesn't always work. Doesn't always work. Jonah knows it doesn't always work with all the protests. He told me that he attends the protests on שבת Shabbos in town of London. Oh yeah once, but London London is not so bad. No, that's what Jonah tells me. He's told me some stories. Stories. He's told me all the stories about him being anti-protest, protests and the counter-protest. So the first thing that the לבוש הקיטל levush hakittel symbolizes is that we're dressing Jewish, we're proud of the fact that we're Jewish, we're not hiding the fact that we're Jewish and חז״ל Chazal say that תלמידי חכמים שבבבל מצוינים בבגדי לבן Talmidei chachomim shebeBavel metzuyanim bevigdei lavan. Interesting then? Isn't that interesting? Some ספרדים Sefardim till this day based on the בן איש חי Ben Ish Chai, they specifically wear white on שבת Shabbos. Somehow our מנהג minhag has become to wear black on שבת Shabbos. It's the opposite of what חז״ל Chazal intended. To wear a black suit and a black hat and black shoes. חז״ל Chazal speak about the fact that you want to honor שבת Shabbos you wear white on שבת Shabbos. And there are some people, there was once an אברך avreich here in Kerem B'Yavneh, Tzafrir was his name, very unique name, Tzafrir, and he used to wear all white on שבת Shabbos. And his wife didn't like it. So he got a very light grey suit so that he could but he still wore white he wore white sneakers on שבת Shabbos. Like he would dress as white as he could to fulfill this מנהג minhag. And the גמרא Gemara says in נדרים Nedarim, דרבנן נקראים מלאכי השרת משום דמצויני בבגדיהם כמלאכי השרת Derabbanan nikraim malachei hashareis mishum demetzuyanim bevigdeihem kemalachei hashareis. So you're entering ליל הסדר Leil Haseder and you're acting a מלאך malach. You're acting angelic. You're envisioning yourself like the תלמידי חכמים Talmidei chachomim of previous generations who wore all white and you yourself are saying I'm proud that I'm Jewish and I'm dressing Jewish and I'm feeling on a higher level, I'm feeling on a more lofty level. The מלאכי השרת malachei hashareis it says they were לבוש בדים levush badim and he brings the sources there the רד״ק Radak etc. that say that that was בגדי לבן bigdei lavan. And that's why we wear a בגד לבן beged lavan and he says חס ושלום chas v'shalom don't say that it's אבילות aveilus. חס מלהזכיר אבילות בפסח Chas m'lehazkir aveilus b'Pesach and he's very, very against that concept of discussing mourning on פסח Pesach. It's a time of joy, great joy, the connection between עם ישראל Am Yisroel and הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu is nothing to do with תכריכין tachrichin, it's a time of joy. That's the first פשט peshat that he gives. Now the second one which I'm very excited about. עוד ראיתי בספר הלל נרצה Od ra'iti besefer Hallel Nirtza which is by Rabbi Moshe Grunwald. I want to just give credit to Rabbi Itiel Sofer for all these footnotes that he added in which opened the book and gave me insight as to who all these unknown הגדות Haggadahs was that the Rabbi Ferber was quoting. And he says like this: טעם למנהג זה על דרך הכתוב בויקרא Ta'am leminhag zeh al derech hakatuv beVayikra ופשטת בגדיו ולבש בגדים אחרים uphashtat bgadav velavash bgadim acherim. Are you ready Moshe? כהן גדול Kohen Gadol. It says that the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol on the day of יום כיפור Yom Kippur he would get changed and then he would get undressed and get redressed five times. ופשטת בגדיו uphashtat bgadav and he would take off certain clothing ולבש בגדים אחרים velavash bgadim acherim and he would wear other clothing. And חז״ל Chazal say in מסכת שבת Masechet Shabbos why would he do that? בגדים שבישל בהם קדירה לרבו Bgadim shebishel bahem kederah lerabbo, if you have a cook, a chef, who is cooking in workday clothes, אל ימזוג בהם כוס לרבו al yimzog bahem kos lerabbo, when he comes to serve his master he doesn't wear those same dirty clothing, he gets dressed up in a more finer clothing in order to come towards his master in a more respectful manner. ונרמז בזה Venirmaz bezeh, this is actually a deeper insight. התפשטות לבושי הגשמיות Hitpashut levushei hagashemiyut שהוא לבוש בהם כל השנה shehu lavush bahem kol hashanah. So the משל mashal is that someone who cooks he gets dirty and when he comes into the king then he puts on his finer clothing. A כהן גדול Kohen Gadol when he's doing... the work that's dirty, so he's wearing certain clothing, but then when he's coming to enter the קודש הקדשים Kodesh Hakodashim, he gets changed and he's saying, \"I'm coming close to the king now. I have to dress myself in different clothing.\" He says it's not just talking about external dress, it's talking about an inner mindset that you have. There's a mindset that a person has throughout the year as if he's wearing certain clothing with the mindset that he has. That's the concept that he's going through. What clothing am I wearing symbolizes, or as you say in English, what hat are you wearing? You know, sometimes you have your rabbi's hat on, and sometimes you have your father hat on, and sometimes you have your friend hat on. Different hat means that you have different strengths or different modes that you relate to people. So what hat are you wearing? What clothing are you wearing? So we relate in a certain way throughout the year. Comes יום טוב Yom Tov, comes פסח Pesach, and we're like the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol. ופשט את בגדיו Ufashat et begadav, you take off certain clothing, ולבש בגדים אחרים velavash begadim acherim, and you wear different clothing. It's not talking about external clothing alone. It's talking about an inner mindset that you have. יסירם מעליו בבואו למזוג כוס רבו Yasirem me'alav bevo'o limzog kos rabo, you're now entering the world of השם Hashem. You're in the סדר Seder table as like the entering the world of הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu. We're acknowledging הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu and the שכינה Shechina that came down on the night of פסח Pesach, and the שכינה Shechina is coming down on ליל הסדר Leil Haseder. You can't be in the same regular mindset. You're not talking about the daily things that you speak about. You're not thinking about the regular things you're speaking about. You're entering a new world. So you take off the regular clothing וילבש רוממות הנפש בגד לבן ונקי מבגדי חמודות הנפש האלוקית veyilbash romemut hanefesh beged lavan venaki mibigdei chamudot hanefesh ha'elokit. As the פסוק pasuk says, עוז והדר לבושה Oz vehadar levusha. You see the in משלי Mishlei, in אשת חיל Eshet Chayil, it talks about getting dressed not just in clothing but getting dressed in מדות middot. עוז והדר לבושה Oz vehadar levusha. You can dress yourself in a more lofty concept. And another פסוק pasuk, do you have the next page, ע\"ב Ayin-Beit? Should be on the same side just one up to the right because we haven't figured out how to do the left to right. ויסירו בגדים הצואים מעליו ויאמר אליו ראה העברתי מעליך עוונך והלבש אותך מחלצות Vayasiru begadim hatzo'im me'alav vayomer elav re'eh he'evarti me'alecha avonecha vehalbesh otcha machalatzot. You see there's a concept of getting changed changes your spiritual level. And it's not just that it happens externally, but you choose to do it. So the idea of wearing a שבת Shabbos clothing, or some people having a davenning jacket, but certainly when it comes to יום טוב Yom Tov and you're coming to the סדר Seder and you put on a קיטל kittel, as if you're saying, \"I'm entering a new spiritual zone. I'm now with הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu.\" Whatever happens and whatever my mindset is throughout the year and whoever I was until now isn't so relevant anymore. Now I'm entering a higher zone, I'm with הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And I usually quote this piece as an introduction to the ליל הסדר Leil Haseder to like ask everyone to be fully invested in the סדר Seder. We're not talking here about politics, and we're not talking about news, and we're not talking here about like technical things that we can speak about the rest of יום טוב Yom Tov. Now it's the סדר Seder that we just talking about השם Hashem and our relationship with הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And that's why the father wears a קיטל kittel as if to say we're entering a new world, a new zone, we've entered a Godly zone right now. That's a התפשטות הנפש hitpashtut hanefesh. We're taking out the weekday clothing, we're putting on Godly clothing. We're entering that zone, like the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, פשט בגדים הלבש בגדים אחרים pashat begadim hilbish begadim acherim. That was the first ווארט vort that I wanted to share with you. That one always excites me. There's more to read there but that was the main point that I wanted to share. We're switching. ע\"ב Ayin-Beit. Do you have ע\"ב Ayin-Beit? Should be on the other side, a different page or the other side of that same page. ע\"ב Ayin-Beit. Okay, this is a very interesting insight that I hadn't seen elsewhere and I really liked what he did here so I want to learn it together. At the, there's a מנהג minhag in עם ישראל Am Yisrael that at the beginning of the סדר Seder, you say all the names of the fifteen things that are happening throughout the סדר Seder. People have different tunes for them. קדש ורחץ כרפס יחץ Kadesh urchatz karpas yachatz. Is that, you don't use that tune? Yeah. יחץ מגיד רחצה מוציא yachatz magid rachtzah motzi. That's one tune we do in my family. קדש ורחץ כרפס יחץ Kadesh urchatz karpas yachatz. We do both because some people are more traditional, some people like the fast action one. So why do we do that? Why do we list the whole thing? What, is there an index? You need a list of contents? Why do you have to go through the whole thing at the beginning and like list the whole? Why can't you just as you go through say what it is? Why do you have to list at the beginning? So he says that there's a רמז remez. Rabbi Furst says there's a רמז remez for the order, which is not to do with פסח Pesach necessarily but is to do with who you are. And each one has a מוסר ווארט mussar vort or a הדרכה hadracha, certain like a calling to teach you what each one is and I want to go through them together with you because I think it's a very inspiring piece. קדש ורחץ ט\"ו תיבות אלו כוללים כל סדר של ליל הפסח וכתבו דצריך להזכיר בפה אותה תיבה בהגיעו לעשות דבר השייך לה Kadesh urchatz tet-vav teivot elu kolelim kol seder shel Leil HaPesach vekatvu detzarich lehazkir bepeh otah teivah behagio la'asot davar sheshayach lah. So there's two things you have to do. One is that you read them all at the beginning and the second one is before you do each one, you're supposed to say it out loud. So you sing the whole song and then afterwards you say קדש Kadesh and then you do the קדש Kadesh. Then you say ורחץ Urchatz and then you do the washing hands. It doesn't work so well with the, there's a certain people who say you shouldn't make a הפסק hefsek between the מוציא מצה motzi matzah. on the מרור *Maror* and the הלל *Hillel*’s כריכה *Kricha*. So some people don’t do it over there because they don’t want to be so, I just read those couple together instead of having a הפסק *Hefsek*. Right, where is it on the next page? Right, מוציא מצה *Motzi Matzah* מרור *Maror* and כורך *Koreich*. So in order to not have a, it might not be a הפסק *Hefsek*, it might be it’s okay because you’re allowed to say ענייני *inyanei*, like you’re allowed to say pass the salt, even if you have already made המוציא *HaMotzi* because it’s still in the same עניין *inyan*, so maybe you’re allowed to say מוציא מצה *Motzi Matzah* or מרור *Maror* or כורך *Koreich*, but I say them at the beginning all in one go. What’s the idea of saying them? So the one is that you say them all together at the beginning, and then you say each one as you get to it. כמו קודם קידוש לומר בפיו קדש *Kemo kodem kiddush lomar befiv kadesh*. ולבד פשוטם *Ulevad pshutam*, bless you. And apart from the simple explanation, שהם סימנים להזכיר *she-hem simanim lehazkir*, that the simple reason is just that you don’t miss anything. If you know the סדר *Seder* very well and you know say them all by heart, then you’ll, oh you didn’t do כרפס *Karpas*, like you’ll remember that it’s supposed to be a particular, that’s the simple reason why we read them all, שלא יטעה *shelo yite*, that you won’t make a mistake. But nevertheless, רמזו בזה סודות ורזין עילאין *ramzu beze sodot u-razin ila-in*. But there’s also secrets and lofty ideas. הבא לטהר עצמו *Le-haba letaher atzmo*. Because the fact that you shouldn’t make a mistake is why you call it out at the beginning, but why do you read them all the beginning? Why do you have to say them all together? There must be some other deeper secret about reading them all together, some message there. כי הלילה הזאת מסוגלת לשפע קודש *Ki halailah hazot mesugeret leshefa kodesh*. This evening just like we spoke about the קיטל *Kittel* is supposed to enter a new zone, a holy godly zone, also something else is happening here on the night of פסח *Pesach* that you’re entering a holy place. ויש שרמזו בזה סדר הנהגת תלמיד חכם ומנהיגי עדת *Veyesh sheramzu beze seder hanhagah talmid chacham u-manhigei adat*. And he says, because this was who he was, you know, he says that maybe this is a message for תלמידי חכמים *talmidei chachamim* that, and I think all of us just being בני תורה *bnei Torah* fit, fall into this category. And you are representing הקדוש ברוך הוא *Hakadosh Baruch Hu* and you’re going to go back home and you’re the בן ישיבה *Ben Yeshivah*, you know, you’re the בן תורה *ben Torah* of the family, whether you choose to or don’t choose to, it doesn’t make a difference, you represent God now wherever you go because you’ve been to ישיבה *Yeshivah*. I remember when I was in ישיבה *Yeshivah* in, I told the story before, I was in אלול *Elul*. I came back, it was בין הזמנים *Bein Hazmanim* סוכות *Sukkos*. I’d been in ישיבה *Yeshivah* five weeks. My whole life had been five weeks of בין הזמנים *Bein Hazmanim*, and I came and I visited my grandmother and one of her friends was visiting and she said, what are you doing? I said, I’m in ישיבה *Yeshivah*. ישיבה *Yeshivah*? Why don’t those Rabbis free the עגונות *agunos*? And I was like, free the עגונות *agunos*, I don’t know, I can tell you that if two people are arguing over a טלית *tallis* and he says it’s mine, he says it’s mine, they have to swear and they can take half, but I don’t, I have no idea why you free the עגונות *agunos*. But it didn’t matter. I represented, I went to ישיבה *Yeshivah* for five weeks, I’m God now, you know. I’m God, not that she looks up to me like God, but she’s blaming me like I have to answer everything God has to answer. So he gives here מוסר *mussar* so to us as well, not just the תלמידי חכמים *talmidei chachamim* who are the leaders of the community, but everyone here. ובעקבותיו אלך גם אני *Ve’ikvotav elech gam ani*, this is his own idea he’s quoting now. He took the idea that you should make an order out of them from somewhere else, but which idea he’s saying that’s his own idea. Let’s go through them. קדש ורחץ *Kadesh Urchatz*. רמז למי שרוצה להרביץ תורה ויראת שמים *Remez lemi sherotze leharbitz Torah ve-yiras shamayim*. Someone wants to go to his community, he wants to meet younger people, he wants to go out there and teach תורה *Torah*, he wants to inspire other people both for תורה *Torah* and for יראת שמים *yiras shamayim*. לזכות את הרבים *Lezakos es harabbim*. להוכיחם *Le-hochicham* and tell them you’ve got to improve your ways. ולקרב לבם *U-lekarev libam* and bring their heart close לאביהם שבשמים *l’avihem shebashamayim*. איך יתנהג *Eich yitnaheg*? How are you supposed to act? למען יהיו דבריו נשמעים *Lema’an yu devarav nishma’im*. You know, it’s not going to be a good scene if you’re going to go out there and start telling people what to do. If you’re going to go back home and break all of your mother’s china because you think that it’s not כשר *kosher*, it’s not going to be good for שנה ב *Shana Bet* or for your relationship in life in general. It’s not going to be good if you’re going to start accusing your family of not keeping הלכה *halacha* based on what you’ve learned in the ישיבה *Yeshivah*. So if you want to go and give מוסר *mussar* or תוכחה *tochecha* or encouragement and connect people to תורה *Torah*, how do you do it? What’s the path? How do you do קירוב *kiruv*? מקודם קדש ורחץ *Mikodem kadesh u-rchatz*. קדש עצמו *Kadesh atzmo*. קשוט עצמך ואחר כך קשוט אחרים *Kshos atzmecha acharchach kshos acherim*. ובערת הרע מקרבך *U’bi’arta hara mikirbecha*. First work on yourself. ואז אחרי כן וכל ישראל ישמעו ויראו *Ve’az acharei chen vechol Yisrael yishme’u veyira’u*. כי דבריך יהיו נשמעים *Ki devarecha ye’yu nishma’im*. Don’t even think of giving any words of תוכחה *tochecha* or encouragement to other people if you’re not perfect in those areas. Or you’re not at least beyond reproach in those areas. That you’ve reached a level where you’re stable, you’re solid, you’re doing the right thing. So first קדש *kadesh* and then ורחץ *urchatz*. If you want to go and clean other people, right? You want to clean them out, you want to help other people become more in line with השם *Hashem*’s will, there’s something that has to come first. You have to מקדש *mekadesh* yourself first. So ובערת הרע מקרבך *u’bi’arta hara mikirbecha*, means you have to first remove all the evil from yourself. That’s what it means, קשוט עצמך *kshos atzmecha*, first adorn yourself, ואחר כך קשוט אחרים *ve’acharchach kshos acherim*. That’s the first thing on this list. קדש *Kadesh* has to come first, you have to make sure that you’re holy, and then when you’re holy and you’re coming from the right intention, the right mindset, then you have what to say to help other people. ורחץ כמו שכתוב רחצו *Urchatz kmo shekasuv rachatzu*. הזכו hizaku, הסירו רוע מעלליכם hasiru roa maalaleichem, ארחץ בנקיון כפי erchatz benikayon kapai, להיות נקי כפיים lihiyot neki kapayim, ולרחוץ עצמו במים של תורה הקדושה velirchotz atzmo bemayim shel Torah hakedosha ודעת קדושים ולטהר vadaat kedoshim uletahar. So קדש kadesh means that you clean yourself in the sense that you have you yourself have יראת שמים yirat shamayim. You recognize that you're coming from a holy place. ורחץ urchatz means that you're pure as far as Torah mindset is concerned. We spoke about the story that my son משה ישראל Moshe Yisrael משה Moshe said yesterday about the fact that in מים של תורה mayim shel Torah. So you have to make sure that you're fully invested in Torah, you're a Torah Jew. You can't be coming to give מוסר mussar and approach other people when you yourself aren't well grounded in Torah and keeping הלכה halacha very well. כרפס karpas. What's כרפס karpas? מיני ירקות mini yerakot. It's a type of vegetable. אפשר שזה רמז efshar shezeh remez לתלמיד חכם letalmid chacham שלא יטריד נפשו לבקש מותרות shelo yatrid nafsho levakesh motarot. The first thing we eat בליל הסדר beleil haseder, first thing we eat is this kind of small vegetable that is not very nutritious, it's not very satisfying and satiating. And that's what we're starting with? That's the big opening? That's the appetizer? What's the message? יסתפק במועט yistapek bemuat ויעסוק בתורה veyaasok baTorah. You're going to be spending the whole night teaching about יציאת מצרים yetziat mitzrayim. It's going to be a night of learning Torah together with your family. The first thing you know if you want to get the Torah, don't invest yourself in גשמיות gashmiyut. Don't have the big, big, big accomplishment in life how wealthy you are. Don't say 'he made it big' and mean wealthy, rather mean he finished ש״ס Shas. You should have your values that should be very clear. And if a person eats what he needs to eat but doesn't make a culture out of eating, doesn't make a culture out of having fancy cars and having a fancy house, then you have the potential of becoming a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. As it says in עירובין Eruvin, רב אדא בר מתנה הוה קאזיל לבי רב Rav Adda bar Mattana hava ka'azil levei Rav. אמרה ליה דביתהו amrah lei deviteihu, ינוקי דידך מאי עביד להו yanokei didach mai avid lehu? אמר לה amar lah, מי שלים קורמי באגמא mi shalim kurmi beagma? ובפסחים uvefsachim, אכיל עלייתא achil aliyata תשי בעלייתא tashi ba'aliyata. עליו להטמין עצמו בעלייה מפני נושים alav lehatmin atzmo ba'aliyah mipnei noshim. He didn't have much money, he wasn't someone who was wealthy. ובאכול ירקות uve'achol yerakot ואכלי דמטא שכיב ve'achelei demata shakiv יוכל לשכב בפרסום yuchal lishkav bepirsum והואיל שאין לו תאוות vehoil she'ein lo ta'avot. Someone who is always seeking out money, then he has debts. And when he has debts, then he has to spend his life paying back those debts. I think I've told you this story here, it's a very sad story, but there was once someone who there's in Kerem B'Yavneh there's a כולל יום שלישי kollel yom shlishi and there's a כולל יום שישי kollel yom shishi as well of people who come to learn. And there's one someone who I met there who came to speak and we were schmoozing and he said to me, הלוואי halevai I would have הלוואי halevai I could learn all day. I said, you can, you're welcome, come join us in Kerem B'Yavneh. He said, no I can't. He said, I started my life wanting to have the biggest and the best of everything. So I moved my family to a community where we have this big fancy house and we bought this big fancy car and now I have a massive mortgage to pay off. And now I realize that I made a big mistake and I want to live a simple life and live in a more simple community and just not have all this money that I have to pay, but I can't get out of it now. I have these massive debts that I have to pay, so I'm working, and I'm fine, I'm not in debt, I'm not in debt, but I can't I can't take off half day and start learning. Even though in theory I could, financially I could, but I can't because I have to keep up this level of living that I've started my family with. I can't pull my family out of this community now and say we're going to live in somewhere simple and somewhere with cheap housing and cheap neighborhood and not have two cars. I can't do that to my family at the stage we're at now. My wife wouldn't accept it, my kids won't accept it. So I've got myself in a rut now where we've got a certain standard of living which I need to keep up. And because I need to keep it up, then I have to work very, very, very hard and I don't have time to learn. And if I could go back in time and I could start again, I would go on a much simpler lifestyle where I could dedicate myself so much greater to Torah. So who knows, if he would have bought this הגדה של פסח Haggadah shel Pesach and read this section on כרפס karpas maybe ahead of time he would have taken that message. But at least for all the חברה chevra here, right? We're not saying you should deprive yourself or your wife or your kids, but we are saying you shouldn't look as a lifestyle, as a culture to have the biggest and the best and the fanciest of everything. If you want to grow in Torah, then look for the simplest. Not to deprive your family, but you don't need to have fancy. You can have simple things and it's more likely that your children will grow in Torah in a greater way. יחץ yachatz. לעורר העם להחזקת התורה le'orer ha'am lehachzakat haTorah. So this point is that you have to awaken people that they should support Torah. דאז יהיה להם מחצית חלק בתורה de'az yihyeh lahem machatzit chelek baTorah. זבולון עם יששכר Zevulun im Yissachar ולא ידח ממנו נדח velo yidach mimenu nidach. כמו שמברכים kmo shemevarchim בורא נפשות רבות וחסרונן borei nefashot rabbot vechesronan. Who's חסר chaser? תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, he's חסר chaser. Why is he חסר chaser? He doesn't have any money. והעשיר vehe'ashir, what's he missing? והעשיר vehe'ashir is missing Torah. He's learning all day, he's working all day. Each of them by themselves are only a half a person. ולמה יחסר לתלמיד חכם ממון ulmah yechesar letalmid chacham mammon? Why should the תלמיד חכם talmid chacham miss out on the money? להחיות בהם נפש כל חי lehachayot bahem nefesh kol chai. That's a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. And the עשיר *ashir*, and why should the עשיר *ashir* miss out? שיהא אור תורה מחייהו *she-yehei or Torah mechayehu*, כמו שכתוב בכתובות *kemo she-katuv be-ketuvot*. So the ברכה *beracha* of בורא נפשות רבות וחסרונן *borei nefashot rabbot ve-chesronan* על כל מה שבראת להחיות בהם נפש כל חי ברוך חי העולמים *al kol ma she-barata le-hachayot bahem nefesh kol chai Baruch Chei ha-olamim* is showing you there are some people who are missing money and some people who are missing חיים *chayim*, the life of תורה *Torah*. When they get together, when they pair up, then they're able to have the full existence. I'm learning תורה *Torah* and I'm a partner with you. You're working and you're a partner with me. Together we can work. So he says that the יחץ *yachatz* represents that you don't have everyone who's learning, you don't have everyone who's working, but you have to work together as a team. That's a תלמיד חכם *talmid chacham* and an עשיר *ashir* working together. If you look in the book that I wrote, ויחי *Vayechi*, then you'll see more on that, page ע\"ג *ayin gimmel*. יש עוד רמז *yesh od remez*, a further insight. Should be on the same page as some of them. שיחץ בא לרמז *she-yachatz ba le-ramez* what it says in קידושין *Kiddushin*: לעולם יראה אדם עצמו כאילו חציו חייב וחציו זכאי *le-olam yireh adam atzmo ke-ilu chetzyo chayav ve-chetzyo zakai*. עשה מצווה אחת אשריו שהכריע את עצמו לכף זכות *asah mitzvah achat ashrav she-hichria et atzmo le-chaf zechut*. עבר עבירה אחת אוי לו שהכריע את עצמו לכף חובה *avar aveirah achat oy lo she-hichria et atzmo le-chaf chovah*. שנאמר *she-ne'emar*: וחוטא אחד יובד טובה הרבה *ve-choteh echad yovad tovah harbeh*. ובשביל חטא יחידי שחטא יובד ממנו טובות הרבה *u-vishvil cheit yachidi she-hata yoved mimenu tovot harbeh*. ולכן יצייר לו תמיד מצב יחץ עליו ועל כל העולם כולו *ve-lachen yetzayer lo tamid matzav yachatz alav ve-al kol ha-olam kulo*. You should always see yourself as being exactly on the middle of how you're holding. If you see yourself as way too good, then you rest on your laurels, you take it easy, I don't need to work hard, I've done enough, I've learned enough, I'm okay, I'm good, chill. And if you see yourself as negative, then you feel bad about yourself, you beat yourself up. The deal should be that a person says, I'm doing well, but I have to stay in the game. כמשל למה הדבר דומה *ke-mashal le-ma ha-davar domeh*, you're running a race, running a marathon. And you're running the marathon and you're running against someone else who's really good. And you keep trying to get ahead of him, but he always remains exactly where you are and you're running like parallel, neck and neck the whole way. So you're saying, I'm doing well, I'm doing well, but I'm trying to get ahead. I can't fall behind because then he's going to be ahead. But I can't really get ahead, I'm trying. I just have to keep up where I am right now. A Jew has to view himself as exactly מחצה מחצה *mechtzeh mechtzeh*. Like, I'm doing everything good, I'm keeping up the pace, I'm running well, but I can't fall behind. מחצה מחצה *mechtzeh mechtzeh*, that's interesting because our מנהג *minhag* actually is to do one bigger portion, one smaller portion for the יחץ *yachatz*. But according to both פירושים *peirushim* he gave here, that someone's learning תורה *Torah* and someone's financially supporting, or someone should look at themselves as חצי חצי *chetzi chetzi*, then it should be half-half. Is this a ווארט *vort* that he gives? I just want to give it, then we'll do one more. I heard something from Rabbi Schwab, Rabbi Shimon Schwab. So he says that the idea of יחץ *yachatz*, a different idea he says is that when you break it, there's the smaller piece and the bigger piece. Which one do you eat straight away, and which one do you keep for later? You eat the smaller piece straight away and you keep the bigger for later. So he says that that's a משל *mashal* for reward in this world and reward in the next world. That a person should view himself that he's going to benefit in this world, the smaller portion, but the ultimate שכר *schar* that will come in the future. And therefore the smaller piece is ready to be eaten now, but the larger piece, the main goal, the main שכינה *Shechinah* that we're going to connect to, the זיו השכינה *ziv ha-Shechinah* that we're going to connect to, that's going to be kept for the future. Okay, we'll do one more. מגיד *maggid*. לקיים הגד לעמי פשעם ולבית יעקב חטאתם *lekayeim hageid l'ami pish'am ul'veit ya'akov chatatam*. כמו שכתוב *kemo she-katuv*, אם לא יגיד ונשא עוונו *im lo yaggid venasa avono*. Now that word לא יגיד *lo yaggid* is an interesting word. It's written in the תורה *Torah* with both a ו *vav* and an א *alef*, and it has different meanings. If you write the word לו *lo* with a ו *vav*, it means to him. If you write the word לא *lo* with an א *alef*, it means no. So how do you read the פסוק *pasuk*? Do you read it, אם לא יגיד *im lo yaggid* as if it says an א *alef*, \"don't say,\" ונשא עוונו *venasa avono*? That's one way of reading it. Or do you read it, אם לו יגיד *im lo yaggid*, if you say to him, נשא עוונו *nasa avono*. Which way do you read it? It has both. Why does it say both? לרמז שאם לו לחוטא יגיד *le-ramez she-im lo la-choteh yaggid*, what does it mean to say to the חוטא *choteh*? Right, in other words, you rebuke him and you try and encourage him and you guide him back to what we said at the beginning, that you should see people, you should try and give them encouragement, build them, do קירוב *kiruv*. So אם לו יגיד *im lo yaggid*, if you say to him what he needs to do to improve his ways, והזהיר את נפשו הציל *ve-hizhir et nafsho hitzil*, then you saved him. והחוטא ישא עוונו *veha-choteh yisa avono*, actually you saved yourself. You saved yourself because if you see someone doing something wrong and you don't say anything, you're held accountable. It was the fault of the תלמידי חכמים *talmidei chachamim* who stayed quiet in the meal of קמצא בר קמצא *Kamtza bar Kamtza* for not speaking up that the בית המקדש *Beis Hamikdash* was destroyed because they should have spoken up. So אם לו יגיד *im lo yaggid*, if you rebuke him, then ונשא עוונו *venasa avono*, then he carries his own sin and you're exempt. ואם לא יגיד *ve-im lo yaggid* with an א *alef*, but if you don't say anything, שלא יוכיח ולא ימחה *she-lo yokhiah ve-lo yimcheh*, אז ונשא הוא את עוונו של החוטא *az venasa hu et avono shel ha-choteh*, then you get his sin. The sin falls on you. As it says in יחזקאל *Yechezkel*, כל מי שיש בידו למחות ואינו מוחה נענש עליו *kol mi she-yesh beyado limchot ve-eino mocheh ne-enash alav*. So the word מגיד *maggid* here is like from the לשון גידים *lashon giddim*, which is a harsh thing, it means you have to encourage people, you have to tell them what to do. I'll finish with this story. חפץ חיים *Chofetz Chaim*. What time is it? We have two minutes? The חפץ חיים *Chofetz Chaim*. Okay, so I'll tell the story and we'll go. The חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim once someone came to him who wasn't keeping שבת Shabbos, and he said to them, he said to them, please come, come, and he held their hand and he started crying. Holding their hand and he was crying. And then he said to him, I don't want to be held accountable in the next world. I don't want to be held accountable, so please come, listen to me. Keep שבת Shabbos, keep שבת Shabbos, keep שבת Shabbos. That was such a beautiful concept there, because if you rebuke the other person and you say, you're not okay, you're messing up, you're making a mistake, the guy can say, get off my back, what are you interfering? But the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim said, you know, I'm accountable for you. Please help me. Help me that I won't be accountable. Help me fulfill my spiritual... oh, you need help? You need favor, Rabbi? Okay, fine, I'll help you out, I'll help you. So אם לא יגיד im lo yaggid is both עם im with an ע ayin and אם im with an א aleph. To teach that if לא יגיד lo yaggid you're okay, אם לא יגיד im lo yaggid with an א aleph, then you're not okay, then it's held on you. So that's part of the מגיד maggid structure, בעזרת השם Be'ezrat Hashem we will continue with this and then in future pieces on.