Daily Bitachon

Welcome to our class on humility. One aspect of humility is that when things don't go right, we see it as coming from Hashem, Who is in charge. We accept it with humility, without demands or complaints. We humbly accept the will of God. There is a Mishna that says, A person has a responsibility to say a blessing on the evil, the same as he says a blessing on the good. The Gemara in Berachot 60B, comments on that and says, Does that mean you say the exact same blessing? That's not true. When something good happens, there's a blessing HaTov V'HaMetiv/God is good and bequeaths good and Has V'shalom when something bad happens, we say a blessing of Dayan HaEmet God is the true Judge. So it's not the same text. So how could you say that you have to make the blessing in the same way? The Gemara answers that it means you have to accept them the same way. Just like when something good happens you accept it with happiness without any complaints, so too, has v'shalom , you accept when something doesn't go right b'simcha . Does that mean that in your mind it's exactly the same? That you don't flinch when a bad thing happens because Hey , it's good? Well, obviously not because we make two different blessings. There is a famous line in the Gemara in Pesachim 50A, In the future. Hashem will be king on the land and on that day, יהיה ה' אחד ושמו אחד /He will be one and His name will be One The Gemara asks, Does that mean today His name is not One? To which the Gemara answers that this world is a little different than the next world. In this world we make two different blessings. On good things, we say HaTov VHaMetiv. On bad things, has v'shalom, we say, Dayan Emet. But in the World to Come, everything is HaTov HaMetiv. That means that in this current world, we don't perceive difficult things as good. When they're difficult, they're difficult and we have to be aware that they're difficult. We can't delude ourselves into saying it's good. It's obviously not good. You want to change it, it's not so good. Rav Avraham Grodzinski the great Mashgiach of Slobodka, in his sefer Torat Avraham, has a whole unit that discusses accepting Yissurim . He quotes a very interesting Tosafot in Sotah 31A, which quotes from the Yerushalmi in the 9 th perek of Berachot , a slightly different version of a story that we all know. The story is of Rabbi Akiva who was one of the 10 martyrs and died Al Kiddush Hashem. As he was tortured, he said Shema . His students were standing there, and we know what they asked him, but lthe wicked king Turnus Rufus, the one who ordered this horrible execution was also there. He saw Rabbi Akiva saying Shema , and not only was he saying it, but he was smiling. So this wicked man said, " Saba, saba/Old man, old man. You're either a fool or you're a Meva'et B'Yissurim, you're someone that's kicking at Yissurim. You're being defiant. It's like if you hit a kid and the kid says, " Ha ha, you can't hurt me ." Rabbi Akiva responded, "I am not a fool and I'm not defiant. My whole life I waited to say this pasuk with all my heart, and now I'm saying it. I'm going to say it with a smile. On that Rav Grodzenski says, We see from here it's possible when someone is suffering, that there are two ways to interpret his happiness. It could be a happiness of accepting suffering with love or it could be defiance. ( His understanding is that the defiance isn't directed toward the torturer, like someone being tortured by a Nazi won't give him the pleasure of screaming). This defiance is to God. How so? He quotes the Gemara that we just mentioned, that one does not make the same blessing on good and bad. And therefore he says, " The person has to feel the bad, that this is Dayan HaEmet." God is invoking truth; God is not invoking kindness now. This is judgment, not mercy. That's what the Dayan Emet blessing is. With all that being said, he has to accept it b'simcha , that he's happy on the justice. He feels the suffering, but at the same time he accepts the suffering. That's what it means to accept Yissurim B'Ahava. Accepting Yissurim B'Ahava doesn't mean that the person is apathetic. It's not like he took Novocaine and doesn't feel anything. No, something is hurting, and I accept the pain, but I accept it happily. Just like someone getting a root canal doesn't punch the dentist. He doesn't like the root canal. It's painful. But he accepts it with happiness. He's not delusional, he doesn't say " It's great, it's terrific that this is happening. It's the best thing!" It is painful, it is hard. It takes processing to get there. Rav Avraham Grodzinski practiced what he preached. He was a Baal Yissurim . He was the father-in-law of Rav Wolbe and he died in the Warsaw ghetto. When he first became Mashgiach of Slobodka, his wife passed away. He was taking care of eight children, the youngest of them one and two years old. It was a terrible tragedy. Halacha says to say, Dayan HaEmet - has v'shalom, mourners have to make a beracha. But he did not want make this beracha out of habit (This is brought down the introduction to one of his Sefarim, written by his sons) You have to accept it b'simcha . It took him two days until he said Dayan HaEmet, until he was ready to say it. He didn't just say it, he wanted to be ready to say it. I heard this from Rav Wolbe besides it being in the book. What greatness. He wasn't trying to fool people by saying immediately that it was great. He was being honest. No, it's not great. He lost his wife. He had eight orphans. He was not instantly ready to say it. A Gadol B'Yisrael, a giant of people once came to our house in Monsey to visit my father. He had recently lost a child, lo alenu, and he said something that, to this day, hits me to the core. He said, " I don't understand. There are three partners, man, his wife, and God. How could Hashem take something away without asking the other two partners permission?" I was like, Whoa. How can he say that? But the answer is he was dealing with it. It's a process. There are internal struggles that we have. You can't just take a shot Novocaine and ignore everything that's going on. The definition of the word רע is evil , but the root of the word רע comes from a pasuk in Tehilim 2,9 תְּ֭רֹעֵם בְּשֵׁ֣בֶט בַּרְזֶ֑ל כִּכְלִ֖י יוֹצֵ֣ר תְּנַפְּצֵֽם׃ Break them with the iron staff. And Rav Moshe Shapiro says the root of the word תרעם is רע / broken , because רע is a just piece of the picture. On its own, it's evil, but in the larger picture, it is something that is good. The root canal is not great, but now you can eat without pain. So in the larger picture, it's good. Some might ask, about the Maggid of Mezritch, who was asked by his students, how it could be humanly possible for anyone to reach the level that the Gemara describes, where a person is required to bless Hashem for the bad, just as he blesses Hashem for the good. Great question. The Maggid of Mezritch told them, " Go and ask my student the holy Reb Zusha." So they went to Rev Zusha's home, which was a shambles. His clothes were torn and faded, he seemed to be in physical pain and his family situation wasn't great. They asked him the question, How could it be that a person makes a beracha on the bad the same as he does on the good. They told him the Maggid of Mezritch sent them to him for the answer to the question. Rav Zusha answered, " You've come to the wrong place. I never experienced anything bad in my life, so how could I answer you?" When they heard his answer, they understood. That story makes it seem like Rav Zusha didn't have any feelings, and just thought everything was great. But that's a rare exception. This is an important rule. There's the rule and there is the exception. Rav Ades said, " We don't live our lives on stories." You have to go and learn the topic. The Leshem, Rav Elyashiv's grandfather, in is sefer HaDe'ah (vol 2, derush 5, chapter 30), asks the famous question. " How could it be that if you rely on Hashem, He comes through, if He didn't come through for many great people? His answer is that some of them were on the level of Mekablei Yissurim B'Ahava. They wanted to accept suffering with love like Rabbi Akiva, and the rare example of the 10 martyrs. And yes, of course Rabbi Akiva could have gotten out of it with his bitachon, but he didn't want to, he wanted to be Mekabel Yissurim B'Ahava.. And further, he didn't want to bother his Creator. He didn't want to bother his Creator?? Rav Bloch, in his sefer Igeret Al HaBitachon page 72 says, asks, What do you mean you don't want to bother your Creator? There is a mitzvah of Bitachon. How can it be a bother? He answers based on the Gemara in Pesachim 50A that we quoted above, that Olam Haba is only HaTov HaMetiv. In the future, we will recognize that everything is good; that everything that happened to us is Tov Mamash- not just for the good, but good . There are some people that can reach that level in this world. It's like I have vanilla ice cream with sprinkles, but I say, " Could you give me that vanilla ice cream with sprinkles," even though I have the same thing. It was all the same for them, and therefore it was a bother to ask God to change it. There are people that reach that level. Rav Zusha was one of those people. But that doesn't mean that we are on that level or that we should now suddenly bypass the situation and say, " It's all good ." It's not all good, it's all for the good . Ehen something happens to us, we have to feel it. Then we have to humble ourselves and accept it, even though it's difficult and we don't like it. We have to humble ourselves to will of God. There are two ways to do it. If you say, " Nothing happened, it's great," you're not humbling yourself to will of God. You're reframing that this is good when you don't really feel it's good, but you're trying to make yourself feel that it's good. But even the greatest of greats aren't necessarily there, and for us to even think that we're there is almost presumptuous.

Welcome to our series on Anava . Chacham Bentzion Abba Shaul, in his sefer Or LeTzion Chochma UMussar (page 242) brings up the following point: On one hand, our rabbis tell us in Sanhedrin 37A, that everyone has an obligation to say, " The world was created for me. " That means you're supposed to look at the sun, the moon, the stars and know that everything in the world is there for me . That might sound like arrogance. But Chacham Bentzion says we see from here that humility does not mean that a person feels lowly and he is in a state of Ye'ush and despair thinking he has no value. It doesn't mean you think, "There's no benefit in what I am and in what I do." That's not the definition of humility. That's Shiflut/lowliness and negativity .. What is humility? Humility means that I believe that whatever I accomplish is a gift from Hashem. I'm a somebody. I may have a beautiful car or a beautiful watch, but someone gave me the car and someone gave me the watch. I'm not saying, This car is a piece of junk. No, it's a beautiful car, but it was given to me by somebody else . He further expounds on this by explaining a seeming contradiction: On one hand, the pasuk in Divrei Hayamim II 17:6 tells us, " וַיִּגְבַּ֥הּ לִבּ֖וֹ בְּדַרְכֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה And his heart was uplifted in the ways of Hashem." VaYigba Libo almost means arrogance . But on the other hand, Mishleh tells us in pasuk 16:5, תּוֹעֲבַ֣ת יְ֭הֹוָה כׇּל־גְּבַהּ־לֵ֑ב יָ֥ד / it's an abomination to be arrogance. He explains that one refers to the past and the other one refers to the future. What you did in the past, you're supposed to be humble about. You're supposed to look back and say it was with Hashem's help. I'm supposed to look back and say, Baruch Hashem, thank you Hashem, for giving me those opportunities. Like the famous story that the Chafetz Chaim was once overheard in a moment of contemplation and meditation, discussing his life with Hashem, " Hashem, I owe You so much. You gave me the Mishna Berurah, you gave me the Chafetz Chaim, you gave me all these things." That's all in the past . But when you go in the future , you have to have strength. You can't despair. You should say, I'm gonna do it. I can do it. Conversely, I heard from Rav Wolbe that when the Chafetz Chaim was in the middle of his Mishna Berurah , there were certain tragedies and challenges that were going on in his personal life. One day he opened the window, shook his fist and said, " You're not going to stop me!" He was talking to the Yetzer Hara. Look at that courage! Look at the energy, look at the almost arrogance. I'm going do it! That's fine. I'm going to do it is beautiful. I did a little bit. I'm going to do more. I'll keep on doing more. I have talents that Hashem gave me. I'm going to keep growing . That attitude gives the person the drive to move further in his Avodat Hashem . He used the rule, One that has aspirations will be successful even though it looks like naturally it won't happen. His example is the tremendous drive that the Americans had to put a man on the moon. If you have a drive and you have a dream, you'll get there. But many people are broken because they flip the pipes. Instead of saying, Forget about what I did in the past, let's look at the future , they make the past the main thing. They focus on the past and forget about the future. This is the dichotomy between humility (or arrogance) and lowness in the wrong way. Rav Eliyahu of Izmir (1640 -1729) was a leading Rav of Izmir, Turkey. He authored over 30 different tremendous sefarim including Shevet Mussar, that are learned all over. In his sefer Chut shel Hessed on Parashat HaAzinu, he discusses the Piyut that we mentioned previously, that we say on Rosh Hashanah. The last stanza says, " Piyut הִשְׁתּוֹנֵן, וְהִכּוֹנֵן, וְהִתְבּוֹנֵן בְּסוֹדֶךָ. וְהִבַּטְתָּ, מָה אַתָּה, וּמֵאַיִן יְסוֹדֶךָ. וּמִי הֱכִינְךָ, וּמִי הֱבִינְךָ, / Sharpen yourself and prepare yourself. Look into your secrets. What does it mean to Look into your secrets? He says, the secret refers to the fact of my humble beginnings- What am I made of ? Dust. Further, after we say, וְהִתְבּוֹנֵן בְּסוֹדֶךָ we also say, What are you Ma Atah /What are you? Like Moshe and Aharon said to Korach (Shemot 16,7) Where are your roots? So it starts off, I'm humble and I'm nothing. Well, if that's the case, if I'm humble and I'm nothing, then what is the purpose of my Mitzvot? Can a mosquito impact the king? Then we say, no, slow down מי הכינך Who set you up for this? Hashem set you up for greatness. מי הבינך Who gave you understanding ? And מי ינידך , what's making you move ? You have a soul inside of you, a Neshama, a spirituality inside of you. Realize where you came from. He quotes the sefer Bet HaElohim that says that there's a danger in thinking of yourself as the lowest of low, because you'll end up saying Hashem doesn't supervise me, He doesn't look at me . But then you can go to the other extreme and say, I'm arrogant. Mi Hashem Who is God? It's a constant balance on this tightrope, not to get stuck with being broken because I'm a nobody, and not to be arrogant. It's like the Shfeel Hazahav/ the golden path. Rav Wolbe, in Alei Shur vol 2 page 160 quotes the Hovot Halevavot in Shaar Hakniah, which is dedicated to humility. In the second chapter, he says, הכניעה היא אשר תהיה אחר רוממות הנפש והתנשאה מהשתתף עם הבהמות במידותן המגונות, וגבהותה מהידמות במידות / Humilty comes after you realize the exaltedness of your soul and that it's being uplifted. I'm not a partners with an animal in their low Middot. It comes when you realize how wise you are and how dear is your soul. You know about all the good Middot. כאשר תהיה סמוך לזה כניעת הנפש ושפלותה, אז תהיה מידה משובחת , And then then when I add a little spice of humility in there, then the humility is a good Middah. אבל זולת זה איננה נכנסת במידות המשובחות ומעלות הנפש, אך במגונות שבהן, כי ענינה בזה כענין הבהמות But if it's humility that's not coming from that, it's not considered good quality. It's just despair. It's not, humility. That's just the animal that doesn't have any recognition of what it is at all. As Chacham Bentzion said, You can feel great in who you are, and then you add that little flavor of, All those qualities I have, I got from Hashem . Like we stated at the beginning- Look at this beautiful car that I have. I have a stretch Rolls Royce. Wow, what a car. But you know what? My father gave it to me. So I'll now humble myself to my father for all that he gave me. It's not a contradiction. As long as you have that right attitude of, What I have is great, but it was given to me. And more than that, I have a responsibility to use it properly, that is the proper hashkafa / attitude , not to be brought down with this work on our humility. Further in that same discussion, Rav Wolbe quotes Rabbenu Yonah in Shaare Avodah where he says the first step to serving Hashem is that man knows his value, realizes his level, realizes who his parents and his grandparents are, how hashuv they were and where he came from- And say to yourself , Adam Gadol V'Chashuv Kamoni , something that's important like me today, with all the great qualities I have, I am the children of the greats, of the kings of old, how can I sin? So Rav Wolbe is teaching is that learning your good qualities is not a contradiction to humility. We have to make sure we have that proper outlook when we're working on humility.

Welcome to our series on Anava . All of our good Middot come from emulating Hashem. In Bereshit 1:26 before man is even there, Hashem says, וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ /Let us make man in our image. Rashi tells us, we learn from here the humility of Hashem. When it came to the time to make man, which would be in an image similar to angels, they might be jealous of him. So He first asked them their opinion. Imagine you have a company and you want to bring on a new employee, but you're afraid that the existing employees might feel some competition, so you bring them into the decision. So too, Hashem so to say, says, I want to bring the angels in. Rashi continues, He said, Na'aseh Adam/Let us make man. Even though, of course, they didn't help with the creation. So it's possible for a heretic to say, " Oh, look at that. There's more than one force here." But the Torah says, לא נמנע הכתוב מללמד דרך ארץ No says, I'm not going to hold back from teaching you a good Middah - Middat Anava. שיהא הגדול נמלך ונוטל רשות מן הקטן I have to teach you the lesson. And if I write, E'esah Adam/I will make man, we won't learn that lesson. And therefore we'll take the risk of saying Na'aseh Adam, even though it could bring one to heresy. The Midrash Raba on Bereshit 8:8 adds that when Moshe Rabbenu was writing the Torah, he asked Hashem, " Why are you giving the heretics an opening here? And Hashem said, כתוב והרוצה לטעות יטעה / You write, and the one that wants to make a mistake, will make the mistake. Hashem continues and tells Moshe, This man that I create, They'll be big people and small people. And the big people might think, "I don't have to ask any permission or advice from small people." But you'll be able to say " No, learn from your Creator. He created the world and He still advised with the angels." The Elder of Slobodka, in his sefer Or HaTzafon on Bereshit adds a beautiful thought. There is a big risk here that person may have a wrong hashkafa . They may think there were two creators. But what's the other option? Not to teach the Derech Eretz of Anava? Then we'll have a mistake in proper Middot, and a mistake in understanding Hashem and how He acts. And therefore it seems that it's better to make this mistake than the other. We don't want to take the chance. Its unbelievable- look how important Anava is, that Hashem took that risk, so to say, to give us that lesson. The Sefer Parashat Derachim , from the same author as t he Mishneh LeMelech, in his 16th derush , says a fascinating concept. Why is it that it says somebody who is arrogant is like he's worshiping idols? Because when you look at the words Na'aseh Adam, with a humility lens, you understand that Hashem is being humble. Of course He created the world, but He's being humble and advising with the angels. That's if you are a humble person. If you're a humble person, you see the pasuk teaching a lesson in humility. But if a person is arrogant, with his arrogant glasses, he can't see that God would ever seek advice. Of course not. So he'll think, " It must be that be here are two forces. " So his arrogant lens causes him to misunderstand the pasuk and therefore he's going to be an idol worshiper, because he's going to say there are two forces. God alone didn't do it. This is one of the important ways, says Rav Wolbe (Aleh Shor vol 2 pg 312) to work on becoming humble- advise with people younger than you or lesser than you. He says Rav Yerucham Levovitz gave this idea and did it himself as well. He used to do this to ask advice from others. He tells a story that one of the younger students went to Rav Yerucham with a message from his father, and Rav Yerucham asked the boy, " What's the weather outside ?" The boy said, " There's a very strong wind blowing. " Rav Yerucham said, "I have a bit of cold. What do you think? Should I go to yeshiva for Mincha or stay home? " The boy hought for a minute and answered, " I think you should stay home." Rav Yerucham replied, " I think you're right. I'm going to listen to you." Unbelievable! He was doing that to work on his Anava . He actually listened to him in a case where it meant staying home. There's a similar story that I heard Rabbi Ades tell over about Rav Shach. When Rav Shach was sitting Shiva for his wife, it was during that he had to give his shiur . There's a question, if a giving a public class overrides mourning and there's a Halacic question about whether one should go to give shiur during shiva . Rabbi Ades was one of Rav Shach's students, and when he came to pay respects, Rav Shach asked " What do you think I should do? Do you think I should go and give the shiur? If I do, people might make a mistake and think I'm being lenient on the laws of Avelut. They may not understand that I'm really being stringent on the laws of Talmud Torah/teaching Torah." Rabbi Ades thought about it for a minute and said, "I think that people won't understand, so I think it's better if the Rosh Yeshiva stays home." And he did. Wonder of wonders. Rav Shach was asking Rav Ades for advice? Of course he didn't need Rav Ades' advice, but this was the way of the Gedolim - to always ask advice. That was a way of them working on the humility. There's a story told over on this pasuk Na'aseh Adam in the sefer Lulei Toratecha- stories on of Rav Shach, on the pesukim . Once when Rav Shach was going to speak at a major event in Yad Eliyahu with thousands of people in attemdance, he asked a student, "What do you think I should speak about? The student suggested he speak about Emunah and the negativity of arguments. Rav Shach said, " Good, good. I like the idea." So Rav Shach went gave a major speech. I still remember it. He spoke about the creation and it was a major, major speech on Emunah. But he ended up not speaking about the second topic. When he came back afterwards, he met this young man and said, "I have to make an apology. I didn't listen to your advice. I couldn't because I thought I was the only speaker but it turned out that there was another speaker, so I didn't want to speak too long and tire out the crowd. But I think it was okay because Rabbi Elyashiv said that I spoke pretty well." Look at his humility! He shared with the student that Rav Elyashiv gave him a compliment, so he wouldn't feel bad that the speech didn't go well. We need to work on these things. This is practical advice - asking people less than you, even though you don't need them. These are maasim/ actions that will help you become humble. And like we said, it's our responsibility to do what we can to become humble.

Welcome to our series on humility . Some people like practical advice. They say, What can I actually do to work on myself to become humble? It's nice to have the thoughts that we mentioned, but is there anything I can do? Rav Wolbe in his sefer Aleh Shor ( vol 2, page 310) says, " In a person's day-to-day life, there are two fundamental areas that help us work on our arrogance. One of them is prayer, and the second one is learning." We'll talk about prayer first. Prayer in its essence is humbling oneself to the Creator, just by praying to Hashem from the depths of your heart. While you're praying, don't just pray, but train yourself, so to say, that I'm humbling myself in front of my Creator. This is good advice to make what he calls an Esek Rav/ a big deal out of prayer. Of course, prayer is not that easy. As we mentioned, one of the fundamental impediments to prayer is arrogance. Arrogance interferes with prayer, but conversely, prayer helps your arrogance. To quote Mesilat Yeshayim (chapter 19, Artscroll edition): " There are three things that a person must look at and contemplate well in order to arrive at the necessary fear of Hashem that is a prerequisite to prayer. -The first is that while praying, he's actually standing before the Creator and communicating with Him, even though man's eye does not see Him. Now, he realizes that this is a most difficult thing to visualize in one's heart without an accurate picture- being that the physical senses do not assist him in this endeavor at all. Nevertheless, despite the difficulty, one who is of sound intellect, with a little bit of contemplation and focus can etch into his heart the truth of this matter. That is how when he prays, he comes before Hashem and literally communicates with Him, blessed be He. And before Him he beseeches. And from Him he implores, and He, blessed be His name, in turn, listens to him and pays attention to his words in the same way that a person speaks to his friend and his friend pays attention and listens to him. After a person has etched his truth in his mind, he must meditate upon Hashem's exaltedness, namely that He's exalted and lofty beyond all blessings and praise. And additionally, one must meditate upon the lowliness of man and his inferiority on account of his innate physicality and coarseness and certainly on account of all the sins he has committed since has come into existence. So this is the definition of prayer: -I'm standing in front of Hashem and I'm talking to Him. -He's all powerful, -and I'm a little creature. That's the 1, 2, 3 punch of prayer. The Mesilat Yesharim applies this approach to fear of Hashem, but we're applying it to humility. (We mentioned previously that humility brings about fear of Hashem-they're one and the same) The Mesilat Yesharim cites sources for the fear of Hashem that was upon great people- and two of them are in connection to Tefila . One is a pasuk in Tehilim 5,8 וַאֲנִ֗י בְּרֹ֣ב חַ֭סְדְּךָ אָב֣וֹא בֵיתֶ֑ך (I, through your abundant kindness will enter your house)- that is the first part of the pasuk, And the quote is: אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֥ה אֶל־הֵֽיכַל־קׇ֝דְשְׁךָ֗ בְּיִרְאָתֶֽךָ׃ I will bow myself towards Your holy sanctuary, in Your fear. The Arizal says we are supposed to say this pasuk as we walk into a shul. He says, ideally one is supposed to be wearing Talet and Tefilin , and bow down towards the Aron Hakodesh with fear. So the Alef Bet of prayer is humility . It starts even before you beginpraying. As you walk into the shul, you bow your head down. Additionally, a pasuk in Malachi 2:5 is quoted in the Gemara in Berachot 12A as a source that you have to bow during the Amida , וּמִפְּנֵ֥י שְׁמִ֖י נִחַ֥ת הֽוּא׃ / he was humbled before My name, Which means you bow before you mention Hashem's name in the Amida . The Mesilat Yesharim cites this when he discusses the fundamentals of prayer. The fundamentals of prayer surround humility. We mentioned this in previous classes. If the essence of prayer is humility, one can't pray without humility, and prayer brings one to humility, as Rav Wolbe said. So that's our first practical advice -to put some work into praying, not just the words of the prayers, but the humbling experience of prayer. That is the introduction to prayer. You can't even start praying if you don't have this in mind. Rav Chaim Brisker, in his first piece in his Sefer when he talks about Tefilah , says, there are two kinds of kavana . One kavana is what the words are saying, and that is only essential in the first blessing of the Amida . The second kavana is that I'm standing in front of Hashem and that is a necessary intention. He says without that, we don't have the essence of prayer. He uses the term mitasek which means busy with something else, not focused . For example, if a person turns on a light by mistake on Shabbat (either he forgot it was Shabbat, or he forgot that you're not allowed turn on lights), he has to bring a korban chatat/a sin offering because he made a mistake. But if he was yawning and he touched the light switch and he turned it off, he doesn't bring any korban because he was mitasek / he was busy with something else, it's like he wasn't present in the action. Rav Chaim Brisker says, If, when you're praying you don't realize you're standing in front of God, that's not even defined as prayer. At that moment, you're not praying. The essence of prayer is I'm standing in front of God. That's number one. I'm standing and talking to God. And we have to add the other nuances- in front of God Who's great and exalted and , I am this humble little being. That is the story of prayer. And as we said, the most difficult step is just realizing that Hashem is there for you to talk to. One of the reasons why it's so hard for us to realize that Hashem there for us to talk to, is because we think, " Little me? I'm gonna talk to Him-Big Hashem? He's here to listen to me?" But this train of thought was the source for idol worship! The ancient people said, " I'm going to talk to God? I'm going to serve God? I'm going to deal with God? He's too high, and lofty. Ram Al kol Goyim/Hashem is high and above all the goyim. But we say, Hamashpili Lirot B'Shamayim Ub'Aaretz Hashem humbles Himself. He comes down and looks at us. So originally the nations said, God is too high and lofty, and therefore they didn't feel they could deal with Him. They didn't understand Hashem's humility. They didn't understand how where you find His greatness, you find His humility and therefore they couldn't pray to Him. So what really stops us from praying (which we said is the realization that Hashem is standing here), is that we don't fathom His humility . We don't fathom Hashem's humility because we're far from humility. We can't perceive humility. So the first step is to realize that Hashem is so humble that He comes down to listen to little me , but I have to realize it's little me and big Him. If we don't have that realization, we can't start the relationship. And that's why working on Tefilah , and making an issue out of Tefilah , making a big deal about prayer, is one of the ways to bring ourselves to humility.

Welcome to our humility series. We're talking about thoughts that cause one to become humble. The Hovot Halevavot in the second gate, Shaar HaBechina, which looks into creation (chapter 5), says, " There's something that you should look into in creation. It applies to the greatest and smallest of creatures. It's something that's hidden, that you don't see with your regular senses. It's the constant of movement . Everything that's happening is happening because of movement. He says, without movement, nothing would come to be. And he quotes a statement. רב הטבעים עם התנועה /Most of natural events come about due to movement It's what makes the cells move . What makes your blood flow? What makes you able to walk and move your limbs? And he says, When you understand the secret of movement, you'll understand how spiritual it is . It's from the wonders of God. And you'll realize, Hashem's tremendous mercy on you . And you'll realize that all of your movements are connected to the will of your Creator. He's making everything move. The only thing that He left is certain things you have freedom of choice in. But otherwise, as we say in the morning, Hamechin Mitzader Gaver,/God sets up the steps of man . So pay attention to every movement you make and realize how He is connected to that movement. Be a little bit shameful of Him and give yourself over to His will because He's watching and looking and directing you. This is a very, very important point- we don't have our own independent energy. Hashem makes us move at all times. This is something to think about. On Rosh Hashanah there is a Piyut that Sephardim say, written by Rav Yehuda Halevi, the author of the Kuzari. It's called Ya Shimcha/Your name is Hashem. It says in the last stanza of that Piyut הִשְׁתּוֹנֵן, וְהִכּוֹנֵן, וְהִתְבּוֹנֵן בְּסוֹדֶךָ. וְהִבַּטְתָּ, מָה אַתָּה, וּמֵאַיִן יְסוֹדֶךָ. וּמִי הֱכִינְךָ, וּמִי הֱבִינְךָ, / Sharpen your mind and prepare yourself and delve into your secret (which refers to your soul) And realize what are you and what is your source of being? Who formed you? Who gave you wisdom? And now for the last three words, וְכֹחַ מִי יְנִידֶךָ. / Whose power animates you? Whose power makes you move? That's something that the Paytan is asking us to think about, specifically on Rosh Hashanah, the day of creation, the day that God breathed life into man. We should think about this every day, but especially on Rosh Hashanah- Who is energizing us? Who's giving us the strength to move? We will quote three different sources for this concept, each from a different shade of our religion. Working chronologically, we start with the Tomar Devorah, the famous sefer written by Rav Moshe, Cordovero, one of the great Kabbalists of Sfat. He lived from 1522 to 1570 and was actually one of the leaders of Kabbalah, even before the Arizal. In the first chapter of Tomar Devorah when talking about he first Middah of Hashem, he says, אֵין רֶגַע שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיֶה הָאָדָם נִזּוֹן וּמִתְקַיֵּים מִכֹּחַ עֶלְיוֹן הַשּׁוֹפֵעַ עָלָיו. /There's not a moment that a person is not sustained and exists from the heavenly force that is constantly granted upon him. That means we do not live because we're here as independent beings. We will explain further citing a quote from the Baal Shem Tov, Rav Yisrael ben Eliezer (c. 1700 to 1760), the founder of Hasidut , in his sefer Beer Mayim Chaim on Bereshit explaining the pasuk (Tehilim 119 89) לעולם ה' דברך נצב בשמים, /Forever Hashem, Your words are standing in the Shamayim The Baal Shem Tov explains that when a flesh and blood craftsman makes a vessel, he can walk away from the vessel and no matter what energy or wisdom he put into it, his ability no longer impacts it. It's going to stay forever. Why? Because he's made it yesh m'yesh/something from something. He took existing silver and crafted it into the vessel. But Hashem created the world yesh m'eyin/something from nothing. There was nothing there before Him. And therefore, if Hashem, even for a second, decides to cease to pump the energy into it, it will cease to exist. God has to constantly put that energy in to make it be. Thr Baal Shem Tov gives the example of the sun. Why is the sun there? Not just because it's there. No. If you were able to put on spiritual glasses, you'd see the words Yehi Or pumping into the sun. And if those letters Yehi Or went away, the sun would cease to exist. Hashem, every second, is pumping energy Yehi Rakia/let there be a firmament. That's why there's a sky. He says that's what it means L'Olam/Forever Your words are still in the heavens. That means the original ten statements that God said when He created the world are still standing there. And if your eyes were capable of seeing it, you'd see them still there. Lastly, we will quote the Nefesh HaChaim, Rav Chaim of Volozhin (1749 to 1821), the father of the Yeshiva movement. He was a student of the Gaon of Vilna and got everything from him. And he says almost the same thing. Why is Hashem called Elohim, which means the Source of all energy? Because God is different than a regular craftsman that builds a building out of wood, who didn't make the wood, he just formed it. When the craftsman goes away, he goes away. He makes the same point as the Baal Shem Tov: Hashem made something from nothing. And he says, from the time of creation, כל יום וכל רגע ממש. , Every day and every moment, God is keeping it going. And he says that's why Anshei Knessset HaGedolah said המחדש בטובו בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית / God renews in His goodness every day constantly, the creation. תמיד ממש כל עת ורגע. /literally every second . And as it says, לעושה אורים גדולים /God is making the great luminaries - in the present tense. Not He made . What does that have to do with us? Humility . In the words of the Hovot Halevavot and of Rav Yehuda Halevi- There's nothing that we do on our own. Our heart is pumping because God is making it pump. In Shir HaShirim 5,2 it says ק֣וֹל ׀ דּוֹדִ֣י דוֹפֵ֗ק / The voice of my beloved is banging , פִּתְחִ / Open up Our pulse is called defek cause the pulse bangs . It pulsates . I once saw a pshat that the pulse is called defek/ banging because Who's the One that's banging and pulsating through our body? It's ק֣וֹל ׀ דּוֹדִ֣י דוֹפֵ֗ק Hashem is making that happen. When we think these thoughts, we realize, What are we doing? Whatever we're doing, whether hitting a ball, making a cake, or making money, Who is energizing me? Who's pumping it into me? Imagine those huge blow up items that flail around in front of stores to get your attention, flapping back and forth. Imagine if it thought to itself, " Wow! look how powerful I am. I'm going back and forth. " Excuse me, sir. There's someone pumping the air into you. You'd be flat on the floor without that thing pumping air into you. And with us, it's even worse because we wouldn't even be that flat plastic on the floor if Hashem wasn't pumping energy into us. These kind of thoughts are humbling, and it's our responsibility to think about them.

People sometimes think, " Do I really have to work on humility? Is that an obligation? I've heard of Yirat Shamayim, But where is humility on the list of things that I have to work on?" At the beginning of the Bet Halevi's essay on arrogance and humility, he points out that arrogance is a sin. So of course you have to work on it. But there are a lot of things that are sins. Is this something that has to be at the top of my radar? Is it a priority? We hear about movements of Ahavat Yisrael/love your fellow man , and we have movements about that. There's a movement to guard your eyes, as well. But I haven't yet seen a Ga'avah movement where people say, Make Klal Yisrael Humble Again. We don't find such initiatives out there. So let's quote a pasuk in Mishleh from the wisest of men, Shlomo Hamelech, טו ( כח) לֵב צַדִּיק יֶהְגֶּה לַעֲנוֹת: /The heart of a righteous person will considers what to answer. Simply speaking, Rashi and other commentaries understand the word לענות means to answer . Rabbenu Yonah, in his commentary on Mishleh, has a different explanation.. He says the root of the word לענות is the same as ענו / humble or עני /poor Rabbenu Bachye, in his introduction, Parashat Bahar Vayikra 25:1 brings down this pasuk (as in his introduction to many, parshiot, he brings down a pasuk in Mishleh) and he says that the word laanot is the same as the term used when Hashem spoke to Paroah So said God, the God of the Hebrews, עד מתי מאנת לענות מפני / Until when do you refuse to humble yourself in front of Me . Rashi says on that word, לענות follow the Targum. The Targum says, להתכנעא which means to be to be humble . And the root of the word he says is Ani/poor . Base on this Rabbenu Yonah explains the pasuk. He says, the Sadik is always thinking of ways to humble himself. Rabbenu Bachye in that same spot says that's the defining aspect of a sadik. The sadik is someone who humbles himself. And now for Rabbenu Yona's powerful words, יש צורך למערכי לב להתמדת הצעות במחשבות להגיע אל הענוה ולאהוב את השפלות, A person must create compositions in his heart to constant ideas and thoughts to reach humility into being lowly. So Rabbenu Yonah doesn't just say it's a fleeting thought. Rather, there is a need to create compositions constantly, with new ideas on how to become humble. Rav Wolbe used to quote another Rabbenu Yonah in Shaare teshuva (Shaar ג letter 15 ( , where he's talking about the requirement to have Yirat Shamayim . And he says people that are not constantly creating compositions and thinking and understanding, the prophet says strong words about them, Rav Wolbe used to say the term, Orchim Maracha is used by Rav Akiva Eiger, one of the great giants of yesteryear, who wrote a 20-30 piece essay on a topic and called a Maracha . It's like a composition. He says, that's what you have to do for Yirat Shamayim. And I'll add that Rabbenu Yona uses the same word of Orchim Machshevot on humility . These are similar words- where in Shaare Teshuva he says, Letitbonen Tamid, here he says, hatmada/ consistent thoughts. So it may seem like it's a contradiction, to have Anava and Yirah at the same time but we can answer based on another pasuk in Mishleh 22:4. עֵ֣קֶב עֲ֭נָוָה יִרְאַ֣ת יְהֹוָ֑ה עֹ֖שֶׁר וְכָב֣וֹד וְחַיִּֽים׃ / The result of humility is fear of Hashem. The Artscroll commentary on Mishleh quotes from Siftei Chaim, that says, " Arrogance is the primary obstacle to recognizing Hashem. Such a person finds it hard to acknowledge that his abilities are gifts of Hashem for such an awareness would impinge upon his sense of self-importance. A humble person, however, knows he is a minute creature controlled by Hashem, so he automatically develops the fear of Hashem. So we no longer have a contradiction. Rabbenu Yonah is saying both are true. You need to constantly think of ways to have Yirat Shamayim and you have to constantly think it's about being humble because it's one and the same. Rav Wolbe, in his sefer Alei Shor (vol 2 Page 141) on the topic of the learning Mussar in the unit Marechet Limud Mussar/Composition on Learning Mussar, mentions sources and discusses how Mussar is not a new creation. Everything we have is tradition. He quotes from different Amoraim from the Gemara that use the technique of mussar , which is repeating to yourself important principles to penetrate your heart. He quotes from Sanhedrin7A, that when Rav, an Amora, would see a crowd of scholars following him, (fearing that he might get arrogant) he would say the following verse from Iyov 20:7 to himself: כְּֽ֭גֶלְלוֹ לָנֶ֣צַח יֹאבֵ֑ד רֹ֝אָ֗יו יֹאמְר֥וּ אַיּֽוֹ׃ If his stature rises to the heavens, he shall perish forever like his waste Rav quoted this pasuk to avoid getting haughty from all the people are following him . He reminded himself, Calm down. As high as you get, you're not going to be here forever. In a similar practice by Mar Zutra Hasida/the pious, his students would carry him on their shoulders during the Shabbat of the festival discourse when everyone would gather together He would say the pasuk from Mishleh 27:24 כִּ֤י לֹ֣א לְעוֹלָ֣ם חֹ֑סֶן וְאִם־נֵ֝֗זֶר לְד֣וֹר (דור) [וָדֽוֹר]׃ / For riches are not forever And does the crown endure for all generations? So these greatest of the greats were giving themselves Mussar, lest they fall prey to the challenge of arrogance. For a more modern story on the same topic, there is a story is in the Maggid Speaks , the original book by Rabbi Pesach Krohn, which are stories and parables of Rav Shlomo Schwadron z'l the Maggid of Yerushalayim (see page 154). Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer the great Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Etz Chaim (1870 to 1953) was always careful not to write on Chol Hamoed. (People are careful not to write unless it's an emergency, or some kind of a loss or damage would be incurred if you don't write.) but he asked his nephew for a pen and ink to write something. The nephew wanted to know what the emergency is. Under pressure, Rav Isser Zalman revealed that, " On Chol Hamoed, a lot of people come to visit me. I have the ability to look into people. When I'm talking to them, I'm immediately aware of a person's virtues and faults. It hurts me to know the faults of people who come to visit me. Additionally, knowing another's faults can lead me to become arrogant. So I devised a plan: Shlomo Hamelech in Mishleh 4:25 writes, עֵ֭ינֶיךָ לְנֹ֣כַח יַבִּ֑יטוּ וְ֝עַפְעַפֶּ֗יךָ יַיְשִׁ֥רוּ נֶגְדֶּֽךָ׃ / Let your eyes seek honesty and your brows search straightforwardly before you. Now the word lenochach which here is used for honesty , is usually translated towards yourself . So now there's a new meaning. Let your eyes seek yourself. In other words, look at yourself. See your own faults instead of the fault of others. I always keep this pasuk in front of me on a small piece of paper as people are talking to me. It helps me avoid Gaava. But now I can't find that slip of paper. It's an emergency. I have to write this down now, lest I fall into arrogance." Many years after Rav Isser Zalman passed away, Rav Shlomo Schwadron was sitting in the Succah of Rav Isser Zalman's son-in-law on Chol Hamoed and he told over the story. Rav Isser Zalman's daughter, who was listening to the story as well, left the Succah and came back with a smile on her face and a sugar bowl in her hand. She said, " This is the sugar bowl my father kept on his table and on the sugar bowl was etched this pasuk עֵ֭ינֶיךָ לְנֹ֣כַח יַבִּ֑יטוּ וְ֝עַפְעַפֶּ֗יךָ יַיְשִׁ֥רוּ נֶגְדֶּֽךָ׃ He kept it in front of him, but in a hidden way, to give himself this message. This is how the Greats became great, by constantly looking for ideas to humble themselves.

Welcome to our special Shovavim series on Humility. We are continuing with lessons from Rabbi Ades on humility: Rabbi Yehezkiel Abramsky was exiled to Siberia for a year and a half. All he did all day was chop wood in the forest in frigid weather. His hands were cracked and bleeding. One morning after saying Modeh Ani , which is a Thank You to Hashem for getting up, he asked himself, " Why am I saying thank you for getting up? What am I getting up for? I don't pray. I don't learn. I can't serve Hashem. "And he came up with the answer that, " I'm saying, thank you for being able to say, Modeh Ani ." Unbelievable. When Rav Shach eulogized Rav Abramsky, he said, " I'm jealous of you. Not because the books you wrote (Rav Abramsky wrote 24 volumes of commentary on the Tosefta), and because f your learning. I'm jealous of your years of Siberia." Rabbi Ades asked, What is going on? You're jealous of his years in Siberia? And he explained, Man's goal ultimate goal in this world is to connect Hashem. And a person cannot connect himself to Hashem until he nullifies himself before Hashem's will. The first step to that is to humble oneself in front of his Creator, and realize I'm a mortal, created by Hashem and I have to accept His yoke. Reaching this level is extremely difficult but Rav Shach was convinced that the year and a half in Siberia did that for Rav Abramsky. But he stresses, You don't have to go to Siberia . People have challenging situations, when life is not going the way we'd like it to go. For example, if a person has a mono- type of virus, he's in bed for a month and it seems like it'll be another month until he recuperates. Let's say this is a learning man. He gets frustrated by his inability to learn and serve Hashem. He says, What does Hashem want from me? You know what Hashem wants from you? He wants you to have Mono. What should I do ? Do what people with Mono do. Lie in bed and do nothing. What about all the Torah and Mitzvot I should be doing? You decided you should be learning and praying and functioning. That's your opinion. Hashem thinks otherwise. He says that it's a expression of arrogance to say, I think I know what I should be doing, and how I should serve Hashem and how I can bring him pleasure. Wrong. Hashem knows what He wants from you and needs from you in the situation that you're in, but your arrogance doesn't let you accept it. That arrogance actually ends up causing the person to feel down and depressed because their first reaction is to feel worthless, like they have no purpose, and that Hashem doesn't love them. But if you peel away a little of the arrogance and say, " I know I don't understand this, but I know it's all planned by Hashem, and there's a reason for it , and Hashem knows the reason, and probably the reason is for me to be able to say, Hey, I don't get it," that's humility. But our Gaava decides what we think Hashem should give us. And when I don't get it, I decide that Hashem doesn't love me. One of the great Hasidic Rebbes was once asked, " If you were Hashem, what would you do differently? What would you change in the world?" Personally, I think the first thing I would do is let all the hostages out. That's a good thing to do. After letting all hostages out, I would probably destroy Hamas. I would probably also eliminate the burden of the tuition crisis. And solve the shidduch crisis. I have a long list of things that I would do if I was in that position. But the great Hasidic Rebbi answered, " You know what I would do? I wouldn't change a thing. Because whatever God is doing, He knows what He is doing." When we start things to change, it means we think we know how the world should be run. Again, we go back to, So then why do I pray? Well, I pray for a very good reason. I pray because the prayer in itself is humbling. Because prayer says, I'm asking Hashem, I'm not in control. You please do what You can do for me. There's a beautiful thought in Midrash Rabba in Shemot 21:5 which says when the Jewish people left Egypt, Hashem sent the Egyptians after them and they were stuck and they cried out to Hashem. Why did Hashem do this? And it says, because Hashem wants to hear the praises of the sadikim. What does that mean? Rav Yehuda Ben Levi brings a mashal of a king on the road when a princess was screaming out, " Help ! Save me from these thieves. " The king heard her cries and saved her. And after a while they got married, and sometime into the marriage they weren't on speaking terms. He wanted her to talk to him but she didn't want to. So he sent thieves out against her. And again she cried out. The king went and saved her, and the king said to her, " That's what I wanted. I wanted to hear your voice." The Jewish people in Mitzrayim were being subjugated. They were crying out Hashem. They were looking up to Hashem, as it says, " ויצעקו and they cried out Hashem saw their problem and started to take them out with the strong hand and the outstretched arm." He wanted to hear their voice again and they didn't want to, so He sent Paroah to chase after them. And they cried out. Hashem said, that's what I wanted. I wanted to hear your voice. Like it says יונתי בחגוי הסלע השמיעני קול אינו אומר אלא השמיעני את קולך אותו הקול שכבר My dove was in the cleft of the rock. I want to hear the voice -the voice that I heard in Mitzrayim. And then they cried out and that was it. Hashem told Moshe, What are you praying for? I already heard their cries . What does it mean that I want to hear, not the voice but that voice? There's a difference between how you pray when everything's fine and how you pray when you're in trouble. And that is what was going on in Mitzrayim. At first they were crying out from the bottom of their hearts. But then they started to look at things differently. And that was a problem. So when it says that Hashem wants the prayers of the sadikim , it means He wants that connection from us. And He doesn't want it to be the everything's fine type of lukewarm prayer. He wants the prayer of connection . The Sefer Imre Menachem says the prayer of connection means the humble prayer. Going back to what we started with, about Why do we pray if everything is good, why are we praying for it to change? The answer is Yes, it's good and it's wonderful because it's doing what it needs to do right now. But if I could accomplish that without needing the difficulty , I'd like to get there. There is a famous saying, in the name of the Chafetz Chaim: A person is allowed to say about an event that it's bitter, because a medicine that's good for a person is bitter. But you can't say that it's bad because everything Hashem does is good. So it's good. It's bitter and it's good. But what if I don't want it to be bitter anymore? Do how do I get rid of the bitter? The bitterness is necessary to humble us. In another story, the Chafetz Chaim was talking to a certain person who had a job. The Chafetz Chaim asked how he was doing and the man answered, " A few extra dollars wouldn't hurt." The Chafetz Chaim said, " Of course it would hurt. Hashem is merciful and kind. He wants to do what's best for you. And if He gave you what He gave you, that's good." In yet another story the Chafetz Chaim once asked someone, " How are things going?" And the person replied, " Things could be better." Thr Chafetz Chaim's answer was, "If it could be better, it would be better." The Ramchal writes somewhere in his Otzrot " Whatever was done, it can't be better than that." What do you mean that it can't be better than that? This life is difficult. It can't be better because right now you need that dose. It's like saying life would be better without aspirin. But you need it. This is your aspirin, this is your medicine. This is your healing process. But once I get the message of it, I don't need it anymore. That's the answer to understanding this seeming dichotomy.

Welcome to our special Shovavim series on humility. We've been talking about how when things happen, it's up to the person how to receive it. We discussed how this applies in a general way, like the Galut of Jewish people that changed over the 400 years. They initially started off as sojourners in Eretz Yisrael and they switched to going to Mitzrayim in a calm way, then there was hard work and then there was torture because the lesson is to become humbled and it's up to the receiver to be humbled by the situation. The sefer Mishpat Sedek on Tehilim by Rav Moshe of Zolchin was written in 1875. In it he says something very interesting: When something goes wrong and the person is concerned or worried it's a sign that he has a pure soul. This is based on a Gemara in Masechet Shabbat 105B, where it says in the name of Rabbi Yochanan that when something happens in a group, whether it's a family or a group of friends, everyone should be concerned. As it says, אחד מבני חבורה שמת תדאג כל החבורה כולה (If) one of the group passes away (heaven forbid), the whole group should be concerned. The Rambam brings it down in the laws of Avelut , Chapter 13, Halacha 12, where he says, anyone that does not mourn like the Chachamim told us to do is a cruel person. Rather he should be worried and concerned and check his deeds and return to Teshuva . He says if one person from the group passes away… they should be aware He's telling us that when things happen, it's for a reason, to arouse us to look into our deeds. and continues. Rabbi Moshe of Zolchin continues in his sefer Mishpat Sedek " Do not be like those people that are not concerned at all when something bad happens, they say ' וקבל הכל בשמחה /Accept everything with happiness,' and they start dancing. זה שקר גמור / This is a total falsehood. We have to be serious when things go wrong. We have to take the message-the main reason why it went wrong was to bring a little humility . And therefore when things go wrong, humble yourself, be concerned about your sins. Do teshuva. This is a very important concept that people misunderstand. They hear a story about a great rabbi whose house burnt down, and he started dancing in front of the house. They hear that story and when something goes wrong for them, like a terrible car accident lo Alenu, and everybody walked away from it, they start to dance. Of course dance. Have Hakarat HaTov, make a Seuda Hodaah, do whatever you like . But take a minute. Something happened here and it was for a reason. Humble yourself, get the message, and then dance. We don't go right into the celebration without saying, Hold on, something happened for a reason . It's there to humble us. This is a very important point because if we don't walk away with a message, we haven't accomplished anything. I heard a story from Rabbi Yehuda Ades (may he have a refuah shelemah)- After his father Rav Yaakov Ades had a stroke, he went to visit him with his Rebbi, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. Rav Yaakov was bedridden, and not functioning well, although his mind was still working. And Rav Shlomo Zalman told Rav Yehuda (perhaps in response to a question) " Who knows if one humbling feeling that he has, or one groan that he has will cleanse his entire life retroactively from any little bit of extra arrogance that he had." Now, that may sound like a heavy statement, but it gave me hizzuk , because when things go wrong, we start getting down, thinking, ' What's wrong with me? I'm no good.' But we're talking about Kaddosh Elyon Chacham Rav Yaakov Ades. And Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach said, " Yes, everybody needs to be humbled. " We have a long way, we're not there yet. And with this, Rav Ades explained one of the famous questions, which is, Why do we pray for suffering to go away if we believe everything is good for us? You may say because it's painful. But if you go to the dentist and he has to drill a cavity or you'll need a root canal, you don't pray for him to stop because it's painful. You know it's good for him to drill. So too, if anything that goes wrong is good for me, why not just stay with it and accept it? But he explained that the purpose of suffering is to become humble. And once a person gets the message and turns humbly to Hashem and surrenders, there's no need for the suffering anymore. The suffering accomplished what it needed to accomplish. What a fascinating explanation! That means when the person is in a very difficult situation and they just can't handle it, and they break down and pray to Hashem, " Hashem, please, I don't know what to do, " that humility accomplished, so they no longer need the suffering. So the question isn't, "Why should you ask for suffering to go away if it's good for you?" Because the good is that its going to make you humble. And praying from the depths of your heart and pleading for it to go away, is humility . And Rabbi Ades said that a lot of times we we don't realize why things are happening and we have to understand why they're happening. He gave him a mashal - Sometimes people go to a hospital for something minor and it develops into something more serious. He said, possibly the reason is the person was sent to the hospital to be humbled. Being in a hospital is humiliating. You have a roommate, the nurse has to help with bodily functions. It's not a picnic, to put it mildly. But if the person starts to complain about the accommodations, about the food etc, as if he's in a hotel, he doesn't understand. He wasn't sent to a hotel. He was there to get the message that, " I'm not in charge. I'm not in control. I need Hashem. Please Hashem, get me out of here!" This is concept that Galut is in the eyes of the beholde r or suffering is in the eyes of the holder. The Pele Yoetz says on the topic of Galut, that Galut doesn't have to be that you go to a foreign land. He says we see a proof from the Pesikta Rabbati which tells us Hashem make Succot come after Kippur because as the Rambam told us, going into exile forgives our sins. So Hashem said, "Go into the Succah, that's a Kaparah." The Rambam says in Moreh Nevuchim that the purpose of the Succah is to humble yourself. You're sitting in a hut. Remember your beginnings. You're humble. But even when you go to a Shul or Bet Midrash that's not comfortable, whether too hot, it's too cold, that's Galut . He says, when it's Erev Pesach and you can't be in your dining room and you can't be here and you can't be there and you're prisoner in your own house, that's Galut . When you go on a business trip, Galut Mechaperet . But it all depends on how you look at it. Rabbi Ades said that when he was still a young man with many children in the house, maybe giving Shiur in the yeshiva, one of his friends came to him in the month of Av during Ben HaZmanim the mid-semester break. The friend said that it was brought down that great Sadikim used to go into Galut . They'd exile themselves. The Chida did it, the Gaon of Vilna did it… They would go to a place where no one recognized them, sit in the back of the shul and learn. They'd wait for people to invite them to their homes to eat. They'd sleep on the shul benches without any kavod and they'd humble themselves. This friend suggested leaving Yerushalayim for Meron , sleeping by the cave of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai and going into Galut . But what were they leaving behind? A wife and six kids! So Rabbi Ades told his friend, " You don't want to go into Galut, you want to go on a picnic! You just want to get away from your wife and kids. Maybe it's more humbling to be home with your wife and kids for three weeks!" It's all in how you look at it and the lessons that you get.

Welcome back to our special series on humility for Shovavim . The Rambam, in the laws of Teshuva, when delineating what one needs to do for Teshuva ( Shovavim is all about doing Teshuva ) lists the following criteria: 1- צועק תמיד לפני השם בבכי ובתחנונים He cries out constantly to God with tears and with with crying and with supplication. So the first thing is prayer. He's a Baal Teshuva so of course, he repented and regretted and did what he had to do. Teshuva is always about really reconnecting and restarting. So you have to cry out to Hashem. It's about the relationship. 2 ועושה צדקה כפי כחו Give charity according to your ability, whatever your ability is. Charity is also a way of atoning for sin. 3- ומתרחק הרבה מן הדבר שחטא בו אני S tay far, far away from your sin . That means you have to make fences. If you stumbled on eating something that's not kosher, don't even walk into the airport concession or get near anything on kosher. Stay far away. 3- ומשנה שמו change your name The Gemara talks about changing names. The Rambam says It's not some mystical power. Rather, it means to say אני אחר ואיני אותו האיש שעשה אותן המעשים I'm somebody else. I'm not the same person. And with that, I changed my deeds. I'm a whole new person. I used to be Jose and now I'm Yosef. I changed. 4- The final cherry on top, וגולה ממקומו He exiles himself. Why? שגלות מכפרת עון מפני שגורמת לו להכנע ולהיות עניו ושפל רוח: Exile atones for sins because it causes humility, enabling one to be a humble and lowly spirit. Avraham Menachem Danziger (the Alexander Rebi from from 1973 to 2005), in his sefer Divrei Menachem on Parashat Netzavim says we see from here that the main point of Teshuva is humility. That's the cherry on top. And he quotes Rabbenu Yona in Shaare Teshuva (first gate 23rd letter) that says אשר ההכנעה מעיקרי התשובה Humility is one of the fundamentals of Teshuva, as it says in Tehilim 90:3, ת שב אנוש עד דכא, /A man should return until he is crushed. Crushed means he's humble. And that humility is what gives the added energy to Teshuva . That's why it's the last thing on Rambam's list. It's the final aspect. But how does it work? The Imrei Menachem says something fascinating that he bases on the Magid of Mezerich (sefer Yosher Divrei Emet letter 13) But first we need some background- The Gemara in Masechet Temurah 31A discusses the Halachic concept that anything that comes out of an unkosher animal is unkosher. For example, camels are unkosher, so camel milk is unkosher. Furthermore, if a cow which is a kosher species has a hole in his lung, rendering it unkosher, the milk from that cow is also forbidden. In fact, the only reason we can drink cow's milk without taking sonograms first is that the majority of cows are kosher and therefore we can assume the milk that comes out of the cow is kosher. To complicate matters, an egg that comes out of an ostrich is unkosher, but an that egg comes out of a chicken that had a hole in its lung is permissible. Why? The answer is that in order to become the chicken, It first has to rot and decompose, and that at that stage it becomes like dust. And anytime you have a new creation, a new being, the previous creation has to cease to exist. It has to go from something into nothing and then from nothing back into something- yesh to eyin and back to yesh . The middle stage is nothingness. And he says that's how Teshuva works. When you humble yourself, you become like nothing, you don't exist. And then you're ready for the rebirth. So in actuality, the Rambam's last two points, of changing your name and going into exile are not two separate things. It means I'm reborn, I'm a new person . And the way to be reborn is through humbling yourself. (If anyone is now wondering why we can't eat an ostrich if it came from the ostrich egg and the ostrich egg decomposed, the answer is because it's an ostrich - it's not about where it came from. The chicken egg in question is a chicken, but it came from an unkosher chicken- which had a hole in its lung, so we don't have the problem of where it came from, because it decomposed and recomposed in the middle.) This is an extremely important concept. It's how Teshuva works, and Hashem, in His love for us, built this into the system. Let's take a look at Rosh Hoshana , when we blow the shofar . Why is the shofar bent? The Gemara in Rosh Hashana says it symbolizes humility. We have to humble ourselves. What does Hashem say when we blow the shofar ? " It reminds Me of Akedat Yitzhak and I view it as if you yourself sacrificed yourself like Yitzhak was ready to sacrifice himself." What does it mean to sacrifice yourself? It means I'm nothing. I annul myself totally. The ultimate annulment is being ready to sacrifice yourself, like Yitzhak Avinu did. But Hashem doesn't want that from us. He doesn't want us to die. The famous Or HaChaim HaKadosh, at the end of Parashat Vayera, says that Yitzhak Avinu wasn't supposed to have children. But when the knife came to his throat, his previous soul left and a new soul came down and he was able to have children, based on the new soul. That's why right then and there, it mentions that Rivka was born. Yitzhak 1.0 didn't have a match because he wasn't going to have children. But Yitzhak 2.0 was ready for Rivka. That's what happens every year on Rosh Hashanah. We are reborn. That's why Teshuva is compared to Techiat Hametim . Just like Yitzhak Avinu's soul left and came back, as a Techiat Hametim of sorts, so too, we have the ability to totally renew ourselves. And with that comes a whole new life. That's why sometimes when things are going wrong, they say, let's change his name. There is a mystical force to changing the name, but the Rambam's understanding is that it's not mystical. You became a new person and therefore all the problems were the old you. We just created a new you and the new you was created through humility. Fascinating. In the words of the Imrei Menachem, ונעשה איש אחר ואינו אותו האיש שחטא כלל: He is a different person. So yes, there was a decree on Reuven, but you're not Reuven anymore. You became a new person, born again and rejuvenated. And that happens with humility הכנעה it's a fascinating concept. On Rosh Hashanah, the ultimate thing we do in the pesukim of Hashem becoming King is that we say Shema Yisrael Hashem Echad, which means Kabalat Ohl Malchut Shamayim. We accept Hashem's Kingdom. Rav Chaim Pilaggi, in his sefer Kaf HaChaim (siman יד letter 38) says something almost beyond belief. He says, we all know that the main point of Keriat Shema is Mesirut Nefesh- bechol nafshecha-with all your life- Rabbi Akiva waited for that chance all his life. That's the main kavanah . You say Keriat Shema, I'm ready to give up my life Al kiddush Hashem and it's considered like it happened. He says that when a person is Moser Nefesh, that fixes every part of his body! Every one of his limbs now become holy because he was ready to give himself up and he's reborn and recreated. And he says that's why Keriat Shema has in it 248 letters- for the 248 limbs. Because literally , you are fixing your 248 limbs with your Keriat Shema ! Wonder of wonders! 18 times, Hashem's name is mentioned, corresponding to the 18 parts of your spinal cord. This is the power of humility- when a person humbles himself, because hat's what Kabalat Ohl Malchut Shamayim is. Accepting the yoke of God. A yoke means the load is put it on your neck and you're going to pull it. Accepting the yoke of God's kingdom- that's Hachnaah . That's humility. It's interesting in the Gemara in Masechet Moed Katan page 16 describes David Hamelech as Neum HaGever Hu Kam Ohl, he was the one that set up the yoke -of teshuva. The Chatam Sofer on tehilim 144:9 says Teshuva is ate just Hametim So David Hamelech , although he might have killed people, he brought back so many people to life by setting up Teshuva. And he's called the man that set up the yoke because teshuva is all about a yoke. It's about humility.

Welcome to our Shovavim Humility series. We've been going through the progression of the Galut . We started off that when the Jewish people came into Mitzrayim, Yaakov Avinu was only a Ger, as ut says, לגור שם ,and the brothers came as Gerim . Then, as is quoted in the Hagaddah Shel Pesach, from Ki Tavo, וַיְהִי שָׁם לְגוֹי. / They were a nation, which means שֶׁהָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל מְצֻיָּנִים שָׁם. גָּדוֹל עָצוּם כְּמָה They were outstanding, they were gadol . They were great . And it quotes from the pasuk שֶּׁנֶּאֱמַר, וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל פָּרוּ וַיִּשְׁרְצוּ וַיִּרְבּוּ וַיַּעַצְמוּ בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד , וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ אֹתָם They multiplied and they were strong. They were strong, very, very much. The land was filled with them. But the next pasuk says, וירעו אתנו מצרים And the Egyptians did evil to us." Why? What happened? What caused the change? They went from ' Lagur Sham,' to 'they're doing evil to us ?' The Maharal Diskin explains (based on Midrash Tanhuma Shemot letter six) that it says וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ אֹתָם / the land was full with them , meaning שנתמלאו בתי טרטיאות ובתי קרקסיאות מהם, מיד גזרו עליהם / The theaters and circuses were full of them. They were no longer in their ghetto of Goshen . The land was full of them means they no longer felt like they were immigrants and aliens. And מ יד / immediately, says the midrash, the decree came against them. But what's wrong with going to a theater and a circus? There was probably separate seating, and everything was kosher. And the answer is, it no longer qualifies as Galut. You are no longer humble. You feel you belong everywhere. We went everywhere. We were no longer in Goshen. We spread out all over the place. Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch on Shemot 1,12 where it says ויקצו , says the Egyptians were disgusted with them . Why? Because wherever they went, Jews were there. When they went to the theater, there were Jews there, when they went to the circus, there were Jews there. But we don't belong there. It's like the private golf course that used to say, No Jews Allowed, and now they're there and everywhere . And we don't belong everywhere! That is the job of the host nation- to make us feel, Hey we don't belong here. I once heard a beautiful thought from Rav Elya Brudny. He asks, Why is it that if you're at the Bronx Zoo and some nice family is there on a Chol Hamoed trip, and the kids leave the ice cream wrappers on the floor, the people say, " Oh my gosh, look at those unruly people!" And they roll their eyes and snicker. But if some immigrant from another country does the same, they don't say anything. Why are we being held more accountable? He answered with a mashal : When you're in your own house, and you decide to leave your robe and pajamas on the floor in your bedroom, that's okay, It's your bedroom. You can do whatever you want. But if a guest walks in and leaves their shoes in the middle of your living room or whatever it may be, it's a little odd. What are they doing? They're a guest. They don't belong here. And the nimshal is, we don't belong here . The reason we can't do things that other people can do is that we don't belong here. This is Galut . We're only sojourners. And the job of Galut is to remind us to be humbled. The Sefer Aperion , a commentary on Chumash from the author of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch the says on the pasuk וַיִּרְבּוּ וַיַּעַצְמוּ they were strong, בִּמ ְאֹד מְאֹד /they were very powerful. What does it mean In Me'od Me'od And he says that when the Torah says in Devarim 6,5 ובכל מאודך Rashi, based on the Mishna says it means with all your money. So ויעצמו במאד means they became very wealthy . And when you become very wealthy, you now have a lot of capabilities. You're able to travel, you're able to do things. And that's when they started feeling overly comfortable. The Meshech Chochma tells us a beautiful, almost prophetic thought, written 10-20 before the Holocaust. In his commentary on Vayikra 26,44, he says, what happens in history is that the Jews go to a new country and after being there a little bit too much time, ישכח מחצבתו ויחשב לאזרח רענן, יעזוב לימודי דתו, ללמדו לשונות לא לו, יליף ממקלקלתא ולא יליף מתקנתא They forget where they came from. And they think of themselves as very comfortable citizens and they start to forget their religion. He was talking about the German Jews at that time, who were extremely cultured, and he said, יחשוב כי ברלין היא ירושלים /they think Berlin is like Jerusalem. And he says, when that happens, אז יבוא רוח סועה וסער, יעקור אותו מגזעו: /A tornado of a wind will come , and uproot them from where they're rooted . This is something that repeats itself. History repeats itself. And this is the history of Galut . As was once said, Those that do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. It was that way in the Spanish Inquisition. It was that way throughout the generations. Whenever the Jew forgot that he was a stranger, that he was a sojourner, they'd come and remind us that, as we started our class with, Galut is in the eye of the beholder , and the eye of the receiver. We must view ourselves as, I don't belong here, I'm a stranger. I have to keep a low profile and not demand anything because I'm a visitor. But once we start demanding, feeling, What about my rights? What about my xyz… it's a problem. Of course, we live in a democratic country, and we want to have rights, but we have to understand that deep down, this is not where we belong. And as long as we have that understanding, we can go back to a quiet, serene galut like Yitzhak Avinu's Galut . But once we start feeling, Hey, this is mine, the problems start. This is an important lesson in how to receive Galut and how to stay safe in Galut .

Welcome to our special Shovavim series on Anava . We're going to go through pesukim that show how the Galut was accepted by the various beholders (for, as we said yesterday, Galut is in the eye of the beholder). וַיֵּשֶׁב יַעֲקֹב בְּאֶרֶץ מְגוּרֵי אָבִיו בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן: / Yaakov dwelled in the land that his father's sojourned in . Rashi famously says ביקש יעקב לישב בשלוה קפץ עליו רוגזו של יוסף : Yaakov Avinu wanted to sit in serenity, and the anger and disturbance and turmoil of Yosef jumped upon him. The famous question is, What did Yaakov Avinu do wrong? He wanted to wanted sit in shalva/serenity. He wanted sit and learn. What's wrong with that? The answer is, We're in Galut . And in Galut , you have to feel like you're in Galut . Yaakov Avinu didn't do anything wrong. But the way he was setting himself up, he wasn't cognizant of Galut . The pasuk uses two terms- Vayeshev Yaakov , whereas for his father it says, Gureh Aviv . One is a dweller and one is a sojourner. (Like Avraham Avinu says, Ger V'Toshav Anochi Imachem . Rashi says it's a contradiction. And he says, Really, I'm a ger . I'm a sojourner . I don't own the land, but if you don't give it to me, then I'll exercise my Toshav rights) So that's the contrast of Ger and Toshav . וַיֵּשֶׁב יַעֲקֹב בְּאֶרֶץ מְגוּרֵי אָבִיו בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן: Yaakov Avinu felt like a dweller , a permanent citizen in the land where his father felt like a sojourner . Yitzhak Avinu was a Ger , so he was okay. The Chatam Sofer on Bereshit 37,1 says that Eretz Yisrael is called ארץ העברים Eretz HaIvrim/ the land of the Hebrews, but we see that Yaakov Avinu refers to it as Eretz Canaan, the land of Canaan . What doesn't he call it Eretz HaIvrim/The land of the Hebrews ? The Chatam Sofer says that he called it Eretz Canaan because he wanted to remind them that We don't own this land. We are only guests. It's not ours yet. Yaakov Avinu was trying. He said, What am I supposed to do? I have a yeshiva, I'm learning, everything's fine, but וַיֵּשֶׁב יַעֲקֹב בְּאֶרֶץ מְגוּרֵי אָבִיו how am I going stop from feeling like we belong here? I'll call it Eretz Canaan to remember that it's not my land. I'm just a guest. Furthermore, the Rama MiPano, one of the great Kabbalists, in his essay called Meah Kesita chapter 30, says that the root of the word כנען is כנעה which is humility . So when we're in Eretz Yisrael, we have to be humble. We can be humble through Galut or can be humble by simply humbling ourselves to Hashem. The Rama MiPano adds something unbelievable- the numerical value of the word כנען Canaan is 190, because the 190 years of Yitzhak Avinu and Yaakov before the point of ביקש יעקב לישב בשלוה werein Canaan, which means humble . And because they were humble, they were able to subtract the 190 years. In the Hagaddah shel Pesach , the pesukim of Bikurim describe what was going on: וַיָּגָר שָׁם. / They sojourned there מְלַמֵּד שֶׁלֹא יָרַד יַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ לְהִשְׁתַּקֵּעַ בְּמִצְרַיִם אֶלָּא לָגוּר שָׁם /This teaches us that Yaakov didn't go to get himself entrenched, but rather, to be a sojourner / וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֶל פַּרְעֹה, As the brothers tell Paroah לָגוּר בָּאָרֶץ בָּאנוּ , כִּי אֵין מִרְעֶה לַצֹּאן אֲשֶׁר לַעֲבָדֶיךָ, כִּי כָבֵד הָרָעָב בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן. / There's a famine, we have no grazing. וְעַתָּה יֵשְׁבוּ נָא עֲבָדֶיךָ בְּאֶרֶץ גֹּשֶן And therefore we want to dwell in Goshen. So yes, we're going to be dwellers, but in Goshen , in the ghetto. The Meshech Chochma 26,44 says, Yaakov is teaching us a lesson for the generations, for how we are supposed to act: We're supposed to realize we don't belong here, and know that we're not going to become entrenched here. We're not citizens . He says, that's why Yosef and the brothers all said their bones should be taken out -to remind them that this is not where we belong. Similarly, Rav Yaakov Kaminetzsky says, that's why Yaakov Avinu wanted his bones to be taken out. And that's why Yaakov spoke about where Rachel was buried when he spoke to Ephraim and Menashe. Why did he have to mention that? To let them know This is not where you belong. Grandma is buried back in Eretz Canaan; this is not our land. Now look at this unbelievable Shem MiShemuel on Parashat Vayechi in the year 5472: He's bothered that when Yaakov Avinu dies, the brothers fall in front of Yosef and say, " We're slaves." Slaves ? What's going on? And he says something unbelievable. They knew when ever Yaakov Avinu died, the shibut was supposed to start. They knew Middat HaDin as upon them. They knew there would be be all kinds of issues. But they knew that any time a person has a challenge, the whole goal is to humble yourself. Therefore they said, Why should we be subjugated by the Egyptians to cause us to be humbled? Let us bring about self - humiliation! Let us go Yosef and humble ourselves to him! Humbling ourselves to Yosef will make us fulfill the Galut ! As we said, Galut is in the eye of the beholder. He goes on to say something fascinating. Eliezer Eved Avraham, the Midrash says, in Bereshit chapter 60. Who's an Eved Maskil , a wise slave ? What was so wise about it? He said, " I come from Canaan. I'm going to be cursed anyway. Let me at least be enslaved by Abraham Avinu!" That's brilliance. You have to have it, so you do it in the best possible way. That was their idea. By humbling ourselves to him, they wouldn't need to have come onto it. And it worked. This final piece is a lesson for everybody: וזה לימוד גדול לכל איש להכנע תחת רצון השי"ת, ובזה יסיר מעליו כל הצרות וכל הפורעניות ולא יצטרך להכנעה אחרת Humble yourself to all . And this will remove (from him) all the problems, and all the punishments . You won't need to have any other cause to humble yourself. You're not going to need the building department, the IRS, the lawyers, the doctors, whatever it may be. You won't need that anymore. Why? Because you fulfilled it on your own. Rav Gedalia Schor, in Parashat Shemot, points out that it says the tribe of Levi did not go into Galut . This was because the tribe of Levi committed themselves to Torah. They got their Galut through the Torah. What a fascinating concept- that it says that the Jewish people worked with chomer/mud, with Bilvenim /bricks, and avodat Hasadeh/all the work in the fields and says the Zohar, the chomer/mud to kal v 'chomer , one of the Talmudic eruditions that we use to learn out things in pesukim. He also says Bilvenim /bricks refers to Binyan Av , when I apply one law to another. And finally, Avodat Sadeh/ the outside work refers to a Brita , which is not in the Mishna, it's outside. What was the Zohar talking about, connecting work in the fields with Gemara learning? He answers, Yes. They fulfilled their Galut through the learning, they fulfilled it by humbling themselves through their learning. And he quotes Rav Gedalia Schorr who says these exact words of this Midrash, " I'd rather be a slave in this house than a slave someplace else. I'm going to suffer anyway. Let me humble myself through Torah." That is this unbelievable concept. As we go through Galut and as we endure the challenges- it's all in the how we view it . BeH We will continue on with these pesukim in the in the history of Yetziat Mitzrayim.

Welcome back to our special Shovavim series on humility. Yesterday we mentioned that the purpose of Galut Mitzrayim was to bring us to humility. The Rambam, in the laws of Teshuva , chapter 2, tells us that the Gemara says one way to do Teshuva for Rosh Hashana is to exile yourself because שגלות מכפרת עון / Galut is an atonement for sins. The Rambam adds a few words: מפני שגורמת לו להכנע ולהיות עניו ושפל רוח: / because it causes one to become humble and low of spirits. So Galut is defined as the humblizer . This is an important concept to remember, especially considering a very fundamental piece of our history. In the Torah, in Bereshit 15,13, Hashem tells Abraham at the Brit Ben Habetarim , You should know, יָדֹעַ תֵּדַע כִּי גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ / Your children will be sojourners בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם in a land that isn't theirs. וַעֲבָדוּם And they're going to work them וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם / and they're going to pain them אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה: / for 400 years. But we only spent 210 years in Egypt, not 400. So how does it add up? As we may know, Hashem חישב את הקץ / calculated the end. Interestingly, the numerical value of קץ ketz /end is 190. Subtract that from 400, and we are left with 210 years- the amount of years spent in Mitzrayim. How does that work out? We go back to Yizhak Avinu, who was born in Eretz Yisrael. His birth somehow started the count of Galut . Why? Because he was a Sojourner . Just because he lived in Eretz Ysrael that didn't mean he felt like a citizen. He considered himself a temporary resident , as If he was there on a 'travel visa.' He felt like an immigrant , and therefore it counted as Galut , as the pasuk says, says, כִּי גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ / your children will be sojourners. But if that counted as Galut, why couldn't we have spent all 400 years in Eretz Yisrael like Yitzhak Avinu did, in relative calm? Why did we need the next three stages of the pasuk? Thr next stage, בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא להם -in a land that's not theirs started when the Shevatim came down with Yaakov to Mitzrayim . They were in a land that wasn't theirs. When even that wasn't enough, the third stage started- ועבדם they started to work them And finally , וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם /they pained them ( the word ענו is the same word as ענוה ) They gave them really torturous work, they inflicted them. All of these four stages happened over 400 years. So one explanation is that Hashem didn't say we'd be in Mitzrayim for 400 years, rather, it would be a process, a four stage process that would last 400 years. But again, why couldn't we had have the same level of seeming serenity like Yitzhak's Galut , for the whole 400 years? Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky gives a very powerful answer at the beginning of sefer Shemot. He says, Galut is in the eye of the beholder. If the purpose of Galut is to humble yourself, then it's up to you to become humbled by the situation. Yitzhak Avinu was humbled just by being in Eretz Yisrael. He was a lone man. There was no, so to say, Jewish people . He was a stranger, and he was humbled. That was it. Then, as time went on, Yaakov Avinu's family grew, and Yaakov with his 12 tribes around him was like the Mishkan . There was a certain sense of belonging. They no longer felt like strangers, so they had to go to Mitzrayim. בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא להם - They were in Goshen , and initially that was enough for them to feel Galut. Goshen was a ghetto and they felt they were strangers that didn't belong. Then, as time went on, that was no longer enough. They got too comfortable. They were feeling like citizens . They were born there, their grandparents were born here. So the hard work started וַעֲבָדוּם They had have slave labor camps. And when that was not enough וענו אֹתָם they started getting tortured , because they needed more to be humble. The goal of Galut is humility . What you need to feel humble is up to you. There's a mashal that illustrates this beautifully: A young teenage girl, who misbehaved and was sent to her room. She has her device so after a few hours when she gets hungry, she orders Uber Eats and has them deliver through the window. She's talking to her friends, eating… life is good. Another day goes by, and she's doing okay. Her parents wonder, What happened to Sarah? Where's Sarah? Sarah is still in the room?! She was sent to her room and never came out. So they go knock on her door but she doesn't andwer. She's fine. Next, they turn off the credit card. No problem. She gets her friend to get her some Amazon gift cards and she's fine. Then they turn off the phone. Okay, her friend gives her a sim card, and she's doing fine. Now they off the electricity and the heat. Life gets a little tough in the room so she finally decides to go back to her parents. What's the nimshal ?What do you need in order to become humbled? Everybody needs something else. That's why Galut is in the eye of the beholder.

Welcome to our special Shovavim mini-series, on the topic of humility . If you ask people what the purpose of Yetziat Mitzrayim was, you'd probably get a few different answers. Most people would say that it was a Gezera /decree. God told Abraham at Brit Ben HaBetarim that we'd be in Galut . What was the reason? Was it due to a sin? The Abarbanel in Bereshit chapter 15 tells us in the name of the Ran that this Galut was not due to any sin. Rather, it was in order to humble the hearts of the Jewish people so that they should be fit to receive the Torah, or what we call, Yisurim shelAhava/ suffering that Hashem gives, not as a punishment but out of love, to make us better. The Chida, in his sefer Chomat Anach , Chapter 54, pasuk 11, he says that since the Torah is a spiritual existence, it can't be held by a person who has improper thoughts, namely arrogance . So the purpose of Galut Mitzrayim was to break that arrogance, in order to allow them to receive the Torah. The Chida, in his sefer Yosef Tehilot on Tehilim 119,72 offers an additional nuance. He asks, Why are we in exile so long? What did we do that was terrible ? He answers that the Torah we have today is like hot air compared to the Torah that's going come in the time of Mashiach, which will reveal all the secrets. And in order to be a receptacle for that high level of Torah that we're going to receive in Mashiach's time, we need to have extreme humility that can only to come through a long and difficult exile. This is a whole different way of looking at what we're going through. It's not that Hashem is just beating us up for no reason. No. He's purifying us. And the purification is specifically in the area of humility. When things don't go right, when things are difficult, man becomes humble and realizes he's not in control. The Bnei Yisaschar, in his essays on Nissan (essay 9) quotes this Chida, and says that this is the meaning of the pasuk in Shemot 1,11: וַיָּשִׂ֤ימוּ עָלָיו֙ שָׂרֵ֣י מִסִּ֔ים לְמַ֥עַן עַנֹּת֖וֹ בְּסִבְלֹתָ֑ם וַיִּ֜בֶן עָרֵ֤י מִסְכְּנוֹת֙ לְפַרְעֹ֔ה אֶת־פִּתֹ֖ם וְאֶת־רַעַמְסֵֽס׃ Paroah put taskmasters on the Jewish people to humble them. The purpose of Galut Mitzrayim was to humble them, to get them ready to receive the Torah. It says in Shemot 3,12, that Hashem told Moshe, בְּהוֹצִֽיאֲךָ֤ אֶת־הָעָם֙ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם תַּֽעַבְדוּן֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים עַ֖ל הָהָ֥ר הַזֶּֽה / Take them out of Egypt. You will serve Hashem on this mountain.. So the there's a goal here. It's not just for no reason. The Bnei Yisaschar gives a beautiful Mashal- If, lo Alenu, someone is sick, the doctor gives him all kinds of difficult medicines and treatments and he suffers through it. But at the end, when he is totally healed, and he sees how this difficult treatment cleansed him and purified him, he hugs and kisses his doctor for bringing him the Yeshua /salvation by healing him. That's the way we're going to look back at all the things that happened to us in Galut . We'll see how it purified us. The Bnei Yisaschar, in essay 12 on Nissan, says that's why every single year between Pesach and Shavuot , we have Sefirat HaOmer , a time to work on our Middot , specifically being humble . The students of Rabbi Akiva did not respect each other. So every year we reaccept and recommit ourselves to the to Torah, and go through that purification process to get rid of our arrogance. And now for the real clincher, which now seems so obvious and simple: The Kli Yakar in Vayikra 6,9 says that the whole Pesach is all about staying away from hametz , which rises. Hametz symbolizes arrogance , whereas Matzah is Lechem Oni , לחם עני The bread of affliction , And as we said, Oni , has the same as the root as the word Anava ענוה . So the goal of the days of Pesach is to eliminate every drop of arrogance; hametz, is completely forbidden, even a drop. Rambam says that for all Middot, we are supposed to take the middle road, except when it comes to arrogance, as it says in Pirkei Avot 4- מאד מאד be extremely humble. So since the whole purpose of Galut Mitzrayim was to humble ourselves, come out humble people and eradicate our arrogance, it's no wonder that the whole theme of Pesach is all about getting rid of the hametz and humbling ourselves. It's black on white. Of course the purpose of Galut Mitzrayim was to humble ourselves, and to eventually get ourselves to have a heart that's pure, with proper Middot and get ready to receive the Torah, whether at the original Yetziat Mitzrayim, or every single year. One final point from that Bnei Yisaschar on Nissan: it says we count 49 days which is numerical value of לב טוב . So we are going to get ourselves a good heart . And a good heart is a humble heart. As it says in Tehilim 5 1,19 זִ֥בְחֵ֣י אֱלֹהִים֮ ר֤וּחַ נִשְׁבָּ֫רָ֥ה לֵב־נִשְׁבָּ֥ר וְנִדְכֶּ֑ה אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים לֹ֣א תִבְזֶֽה׃ The sacrifices of God is broken spirit, a broken heart, a humbled heart, God does not despise. The best heart is the broken heart. As the famous Kotzker Rebbe once said, there is nothing more whole than a broken heart.

Today we start a new topic, as we enter the third week of שובבים / Shovavim , which is an acronym for שמות Shemot, וראה Vaera, בא Bo, בשלח Beshalach, יתרו Yitro, and משפתים Mishpatim, the six weeks that go through the exile and eventual redemption from Egypt. So for the next few weeks, we will discuss this topic. It's important to note that it has strong kabalistic ramifications. There are people that fast during these days and people that say Tehilim. We should at least know these days exist. For our level, we will focus on the simple concept of one of the main messages of Yetziat Mitzrayim, which is humility. Kabalistically, the days of Shovavim are there to fix the sin of Adam HaRishon. In Bereshit 3,4 the snake approaches Chava and tells her, Don't worry about eating from the tree. You won't die if you eat from the tree. כִּ֚י יֹדֵ֣עַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים כִּ֗י בְּיוֹם֙ אֲכׇלְכֶ֣ם מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְנִפְקְח֖וּ עֵֽינֵיכֶ֑ם וִהְיִיתֶם֙ כֵּֽאלֹהִ֔ים יֹדְעֵ֖י ט֥וֹב וָרָֽע׃ The whole reason why God doesn't want you to eat from the tree is that God knows that the day you eat from the tree, your eyes will be opened up and you'll be like a God who knows good from bad . So the snake's selling point was, ' Eat from the tree, you'll be Godly.' Rashi adds, " All craftsmen hate their fellow craftsmen, " due to competition. And therefore, the snake says, God ate from this tree and He doesn't want you to eat from it because He doesn't want you to be Godly. And if you eat from the tree, you'll be Godly. You'll be able to create worlds. (It's worth noting here that the snake was the first to speak Lashon Hara , as he spoke Lashon Hara against God. That's why the snake has the eternal punishment of Tsaraat/ leprosy , a type of skin ailment which is spiritual. As we know, the snake sheds his skin constantly because he is the eternal leper.) Back to our story: The snake sells Chava and Adam on Eat from the tree, you'll be a creator. What does that mean? It means that man, because he's so great, he was created the image of God, he really is Godly. Not in the sense that he's in competition with God, but in that he has powers in this world. Man is powerful. Man impacts the world. But he has to know, at the end of the day, that he's a creation, and therefore he has to humble himself to God. But the snake was selling this concept to man and man bought into it because we have that nature of gaava/hautiness . We want to be in control but we have to humble that to God. Interestingly, The Gemara in Masechet Chulin says on the pasuk in Devarim when God describes why he loves the Jewish people, לֹ֣א מֵֽרֻבְּכֶ֞ם מִכׇּל־הָֽעַמִּ֗ים חָשַׁ֧ק יְהֹוָ֛ה בָּכֶ֖ם וַיִּבְחַ֣ר בָּכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־אַתֶּ֥ם הַמְעַ֖ט מִכׇּל־הָעַמִּֽים׃ / God doesn't love you because you are so great in numbers. We're not so great in numbers. Rather, He chose you because you're less than all the nations . You have a smaller populatio n, simply speaking. But the Gemara says that's not what it means. Chulin 89A tells us, Hashem says, You know why I love you? Because even when I give you greatness, you humble yourselves. I gave greatness to Abraham, and what did he say? 'I'm ash and dust.' I gave greatness to Moshe and Aharon, and what did they say? ' What are we?' I have gave greatness to David Hamelech and what did he say? ' I'm a worm not a man.' The three greats were all tremendously humble, and that's why God loves us. The Shelah HaKadosh adds that the word Adam אדם , stands for the three people that reached humility and fixed that fundamental sin of man A vraham, D avid and M oshe . And that's why it says in Pirkei Avot, be extremely humble. מאד מאד - and the word מאד has the same letters, M em A lef and D aled- Moshe Avraham and David! Moshe was the most humble of men and so on. So people have a built-in struggle between being humble and arrogant. The Shelah Hakadosh says ( Parashat Ekev ) that is why Adam was called Adam - Adama /dirt, Like it says, נפשי כעפר לכל תהיה My soul should be dust to everybody. We say that every day in our Amida before we walk back our three steps. So God built into man, so to say, an advantage by calling him Adam . ' You come from an adama and therefore don't become arrogant. ' And yet the snake was able to convince him. So how do we fix this? God punished Adam and Chava, but he didn't punish them because he wanted to take revenge. Punishments from God are intended to fix us. So man's, so to say, punishment was ' You're going to eat from the ground through hard work, your whole life.' You're going to work hard at the land. As for Chava, ' You're going to have a difficulty in childbirth. You're going to have difficulty in pregnancy. You're going to have difficulty in raising your children.' How is that measure for measure? The answer is, when are man and his wife closest to being creators? Man is a creator when he puts a seed in the ground and it grows fruit. When is woman a creator? When she gives birth to the fruit of her womb. Children are called the fruit of the womb. And when a man and his wife are close to becoming creators, Hashem makes it difficult. A lady goes through a difficult childbirth and says, Please Hashem, help me get this baby out. Hashem says, " One more time, what'd you say? " I need you. "Aha, you need Me? You can't do it on your own. You're not a creator." And man, whether he is in the office or on the field, says, ' Hashem, I need you. I need the order to go through. I need the order to get here. I need them to pay. I need you. ' That is the humbling experience of childbirth, child rearing and bringing home a livelihood. And the purpose of it all is to fix the original sin of man, which is the thought that I'm in control and I'm in charge. Interestingly, the snake who came to Adam and Chava stood upright. He didn't want to bow down to God. He didn't want to humble himself to God. That's why the Gemara in Bava Kama 16A says that the spine of a deceased person, after seven years, become a snake. But the Gemara says this only happens to someone that did not bow down in his prayers when he said, Modim . What exactly is the connection between the two things? The Torat Chaim says that we bow at Modim because the purpose of it is to humble ourselves. We thank Hashem for all the wondrous things that God does us every single day. The snake is the antithesis of this. So that person who doesn't bow at Modim is following in the ways of the snake, who didn't want to humble himself to God, and he sells that attitude to humanity as well. So the job of each one of us, individually, throughout these 6,000 or so years- is to fix that sin of Adam. And we do that by working on our humility.

Today we continue with the Song of the Mouse , but on a deeper level. The עכבר / mouse says says, אֲרוֹמִמְךָ יְיָ כִּי דִלִּיתָנִי וְלֹא־שִׂמַּחְתָּ אֹיְבַי לִי׃ (תהלים ל ב) I'm going to lift up Hashem because He drew me up from the depths, There's an interesting story in the Navi, in Shemuel א . It was a horrible day, when the Pelishtim took the Aron Elokim , as the Navi reports, The glory has been exiled from Israel for the Ark of Hashem has been captured. But Hashem immediately made a miracle and the idol of that town came crashing down, so they decide to do something. And the first thing is Hashem struck the people of Ashdod with hemorrhoids. They got scared and decided to move the Aron to the town of Gat, but again there is a great commotion. Why? Because again the people of the city, from small to great were afflicted with internal hemorrhoids. So they decided to move the Aron to the town of Echron. And those people said, " They brought it here because they want to kill us ?" Finally, the leaders got together and decided, " Let's send it back. It's going to kill our people." There was a panic of death in the whole city. The hand of Hashem was very heavy there. And the people who did not die were stricken with hemorrhoids and the outcry of the city ascended to heaven. Horrific punishments were coming onto them. And when they were ready to send back the Ark, they said, " We'll send it back with a gift. " What did they send? They were five Philistine governors, and they sent five golden images of hemorrhoids and five golden mice. Very strange. Make your images of hemorrhoids and images of mice which are demolishing the country and give them his homage to the God of Israel.. Perhaps He will alleviate His hand from upon you and your gods and your land. What in the world is going on with this story? We turn to the Yalkut Shemoni Bamidbar chapter 11, which tells us that the people of Pelishtim said, God brought 10 plagues on the Egyptians. He ran out of plagues . So God said, I ran out of plagues?! I'm going to give you something you never saw before ! And so when every one of them sat down to relieve themselves, God sent mice from the depths to nibble away at them and cause hemorrhoidal pains. So it wasn't just the hemorrhoids, as the pasuk says, but the mice that caused the hemorrhoids. That is why, when they wanted to do teshuva they sent back, in homage, the image of mice and hemorrhoids. And therefore it says the sefer Siach Yitzchak that the mice say, אֲרוֹמִמְךָ יְיָ כִּי דִלִּיתָנִי וְלֹא־שִׂמַּחְתָּ אֹיְבַי לִי׃ (תהלים ל ב) / I want to praise Hashem. He drew me up from the depths, like with a pail And the enemies did not rejoice over me. We overtook the Pelishtim . And the mouse is happy to say, I caused a Kiddush Hashem, I caused the Aron to go back to the Mishkan. The Gemara in Masechet Yoma , 52 B says that in the Kodesh HaKodashim of the first Bet Hamikdash, originally there was the Aron , the manna , the oil, the staff of Aharon, and the box that the Pelishtim sent the 'gift' in! Th Ben Ish Chai is bothered- You're putting that gift- with these mice- in the Holy of Holies? The Ben Ish Chai explains that they removed all the gold mice and hemorrhoids, and just left the box there to remember the miracle that had happened. But the sefer Lekutei Amarim says in the name of an elder , who wrote the book Nefesh David , that the mice were there in the Aron . And that's why he says the mouse's song is אֲרוֹמִמְךָ יְיָ כִּי דִלִּיתָנִי וְלֹא־שִׂמַּחְתָּ אֹיְבַי לִי׃ (תהלים ל ב / You lift me up from the depths and You put me in the Holy of Holies. That's the song of the mice. The Gemara in Horaot 13A says, why is everyone controlling the mice? Rashi asks, Why is it that everybody is chasing mice, with mousetraps, etc… The answer is, Their makeup is bad. Rashi says that their Yetzer , their inclination, is really bad because they eat through things that they have no pleasure from, and they destroy them. That's why the Yerushalmi in Baba Metzia ( perek ג Halacha ה , cited by Rav Chaim Kanievsky, says the mice are wicked and that's why they're chased. As we know, everything in the world can be channeled or used for the good. And this wicked mouse, who bites and eats, was used on a mission to protect the Kavod of the Aron , which shows us that even someone with bad tendencies can channel them and use them, and say, אֲרוֹמִמְךָ יְיָ כִּי דִלִּיתָנִי וְלֹא־שִׂמַּחְתָּ אֹיְבַי לִי׃ (תהלים ל ב) You lifted me up, and my enemies were not happy. This is a song that was sung for David Hamelech when he went into the Bet Hamikdash. David also, it says, had seeming negative tendencies. It says is he was a redhead. And when Shemuel saw him, he said, He's a redhead. He can't be anointed. But no, Tov Ro'ee/he has good eyes. The Gemara says even though he was aggressive, he asked permission from the Sanhedrin. So certain people might have Achbar-like traits, and you might think the man is going to end up being totally wicked, but in the end, if he's channeled properly, he'll be able to sing that song of the mice, because they were the ones that brought Kavod Hashem, by bringing the Aron back to the Mishkan .

Welcome to our class on Perek Shira . Today's song is the Song of the Zarzir . There are actually two Zarzirs in Perek Shira . One of them showed up in the list of birds as a starling , and today's Zarzir , among the animals, is translated as a greyhound . What is the song of this zarzir ? זַרְזִיר אוֹמֵר. רַנְּנוּ צַדִּיקִים בַּיְיָ לַיְשָׁרִים נָאוָה תְהִלָּה: (תהילים לג א) Sing joyfully, righteous people, because of Hashem. For the upright, praise is befitting. What does this song have to do with the greyhound? The greyhound is known from a pasuk in Mishleh 30,29 שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה הֵ֭מָּה מֵיטִ֣יבֵי צָ֑עַד / There are three that step securely. Mishleh is describing certain animals that are powerful, and one of them is called the Zarzir Motnaim/thigh-belted greyhound, meaning that the greyhound has very strong thighs and powerful legs. They're able to reach speeds of 40 miles an hour, and they're used as hunters. Most people know greyhounds as the symbol of the Greyhound bus company, because they claim they move fast. But greyhounds are historically known as hunting animals. They would hunt rabbits and different small creatures. So what do we learn from the greyhound? The greyhound chases and runs and sweats for what? Not for itself. It doesn't eat those rabbits or whatever the prey may be. It works for its master, for its owners riding on the horses. And he's sweating away, chasing and proud to bring the prey to his owner. So the greyhound symbolizes a selfless servant, working for his master. That's the difference between the term Sadik and Yashar . A Sadik is someone who does what's right, even though he might have some ulterior motives. The Yashar , who's straight and upright, is doing things totally for his master. And that's why the pasuk says, Or Zaruah L'Sadik / the light is planted for the Sadik which means right now, he's not doing it totally for the sake of his master. He is not enjoying the work for itself. He's waiting for something in the future. So the light is planted for the Sadik. But the Yishreh Lev, those who are upright of heart, they have simcha , they have happiness right now because right now they're like that selfless greyhound who's serving and working for his boss. That's why the song of the greyhound is רַנְּנוּ צַדִּיקִים בַּיְיָ / the righteous will sing joyfully to Hashem because they're looking forward to what they're going to get. לַיְשָׁרִים נָאוָה תְהִלָּה: (תהילים לג א) / But the upright, they're deserving of praise because they're doing it for selfless reasons. So the message of the greyhound is, Be like me. Work hard for your Master selflessly. Rav Chaim Kanievsky adds another reason the greyhound sings this song: In the Yerushalmi in Shevi'it , chapter nine, Halacha א Rav Shimon Bar Yochai tells that when he was captured, he was listening outside his cave one day and he saw hunters. And every time a bird was captured, he heard a heavenly echo say it should be captured. And when the bird escaped capture, he heard an heavenly echo that said, have mercy on it. So the greyhound is privy to the Hashgacha of Hashem- he knows what he can and can't capture. Therefore he sings a song of, Sing to Hashem because you sadikim know what's going on. You could rely on Hashem and you know nothing evil will happen. So the greyhound is giving us some inside information: that in the end everything happens with Hashem's Hashgacha. It's interesting that the greyhound has two different pesukim that are brought down. Another one is Yeshaya 61,9, וְנוֹדַ֤ע בַּגּוֹיִם֙ זַרְעָ֔ם וְצֶאֱצָאֵיהֶ֖ם בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעַמִּ֑ים כׇּל־רֹֽאֵיהֶם֙ יַכִּיר֔וּם כִּ֛י הֵ֥ם זֶ֖רַע בֵּרַ֥ךְ יְהֹוָֽה׃ Their offspring will be known amongst the nation and their descendants among the people, all who see them will recognize them, for they are the seed that Hashem has blessed. This refers to the future, when the Jewish people will stand out from amongst the nations and everyone that sees them will say, Wow, look how special these people are. Rav Shmuel Kimchi says that this pasuk is befitting of the greyhound, because it's a loyal, dedicated servant to its master, as the Gemara says, The dog knows its master. As we know, dogs are man's best friend. People don't have the same relationship with their cows or their donkeys or their camels. Dogs know who their masters are. You walk inside the door and he is licking your feet. The Jewish people have that trait as well. We also recognize our Master, more than any other nation. And just like the dog is clear, and knows who its master is, walking together every day, so too the Jewish person stands out because he's praying and connected to his Creator, to his Master. Therefore, the second song of the greyhound is that the Jewish people be recognized and outstanding for their connection to Hashem.

Today's class is about what we'll call the cat and mouse game . It's a back and forth between the songs of the mouse and cat during a chase. עַכְבָּר אוֹמֵר The mouse says, אֲרוֹמִמְךָ יְיָ כִּי דִלִּיתָנִי וְלֹא־שִׂמַּחְתָּ אֹיְבַי לִי׃ (תהלים ל ב) I uplift You Hashem because you lifted me up, and my enemies were not happy. Simply, the cat chases the mouse and the mouse sings before he is attacked. Hashem, my enemy won't get me. You'll protect me, you'll get me out of this. And the cat responds, חָתוּל אוֹמֵר. אִם־תַּגְבִּיהַּ כַּנֶּשֶׁר וְאִם־בֵּין כּֽוֹכָבִים שִׂים קִנֶּךָ מִשָּׁם אוֹרִֽידְךָ נְאֻם־יְיָ׃ (עובדיה א ד) If you lift yourself up like an eagle, and you place your nest among the stars, from there, we'll take you down, says Hashem. So, the cat responds, Don't think you can get away from me. Then, when he gets a little closer to the mouse, the cat says, אֶרְדּוֹף אוֹיְבַי וְאַשִּׂיגֵם וְלֹא־אָשׁוּב עַד־כַּלּוֹתָם׃ (תהלים יח לח) / I will chase my enemy and I'll catch him. I will not turn back until I destroy them. And finally, when the mouse is caught, the mouse says, וְאַתָּה צַדִּיק עַל כׇּל־הַבָּא עָלַי כִּי־אֱמֶת עָשִׂיתָ וַאֲנִי הִרְשָֽׁעְתִּי׃ (ע"פ נחמיה ט לג) God, You are righteous in everything that comes upon me, You did correctly and I have sinned. This is a beautiful give and take, although of course they're not singing as this is happening- it's their ministering angels. But it is not a simple cat and mouse chase. There is a deeper give and take going on. The sefer Shirat Chaim tells us that in the word for mouse / עכבר , the outer letters are ר and ע , which is / רע , meaning the mouse is evil because he's attacking and eating our food. Baruch Hashem, we have cats to eat the mice. That is the way Hashem made the world. *Fun fact: Why are there so many cats in Eretz Yisrael ? Because when the British came, there were a lot of mice so they brought cats in from England to fight the mice. But Hashem created an ecosystem where there's a right amount of everything, and if you mess with the equilibrium, It doesn't work. We're supposed to have mice and we're supposed to have cats. Now I understand that we are supposed to have cats to eat the mice, but what are the mice doing there? Here we go: עכבר like we said , the outer letters are רע evil- which indicates the evil mouse, but the inner letters are כב which is 22, the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. So, are the mice good or bad? There is a story in the Yerushalmi Demai perek א Halacha ג , that tells us there was a certain town that had an attack of mice. When Rav Pinchas ben Yair came to the town he said, what's going on? The mice were making sounds that Rav Pinchas was able to understand and he told the people, " They're saying you're not taking your Ma'aser, you're not taking your 10%. Fix it and take Ma'aser . When they did, the mice went away. There are similar stories about Rav Chaim Kanievsky- where people had mice, and he said the only way to fix the mice is to take Ma'aser . When you don't take Ma'aser , your food rots; your assets rot. That's the job of the mice. Therefore, externally , the mouse is bad. But he is really good because he's following the 22 letters of the Torah. He's sent on a mission. His job is, If you're not taking Ma'aser out, I'm going to eat it. That's why mouse's song is וְאַתָּה צַדִּיק עַל כׇּל־הַבָּא עָלַי I accept everything that happened. Not only does he mean to say that he accepts that the cat is chasing him, but also that the person now accepted and did teshuva , and so the mouse goes away. He is expressing the important lesson of Hashem is righteous in what He did. And the person says, The reason the mouse attacked my food was because I wasn't taking the Ma'aser properly. I'll fix that and the problem will go away. So not only does the mouse say Hashem is righteous , but the person says Hashem is righteous, and that's why the mouse goes away. Additionally, the mouse says, Hashem, you are good and I'm a sinner, because at the beginning of the story, the mouse says, I'm going to lift You up because You protected me, and my enemy's not happy with me. But at the end of the day, the mouse got caught. He was hopeful, but what happened? The answer is, the mouse admits, Hashem, it's not Your fault. You gave me the ability to run away. You gave me the ability to hide, but I messed up. I didn't run fast enough, I didn't do enough hishtadlut. It's my fault. And therefore, the mouse takes responsibility for getting caught. That's a nice lesson for us. There is a pasuk in Mishleh , אִוֶּ֣לֶת אָ֭דָם תְּסַלֵּ֣ף דַּרְכּ֑וֹ וְעַל־יְ֝הֹוָ֗ה יִזְעַ֥ף לִבּֽוֹ׃ / Man's foolishness causes his path to become crooked, and he gets upset at Hashem. He says , Hashem, why did You do this? And Hashem says, I didn't do it. You did it. It was your foolishness. Rav Wolbe used to quote the Gaon of Vilna on this pasuk, where it says on one hand, When someone wants to become pure, Hashem helps him. Sometimes the person starts learning Torah and keeping mitzvot, but it doesn't work. It's very hard. He doesn't feel like he is getting helped. So he complains to Hashem, Why didn't You help me? But the truth is, it's his own fault. Says the Gaon of Vilna, You have to go according to your level and not jump . The person blames Hashem for his lack of success, but in truth, it was the person's lack of understanding and lack of proper guidance properly that possibly caused him to take the wrong track. So when things don't work, don't say, "I tried really hard and it didn't work. I'm giving up- it's Hashem's fault." No, take some responsibility. That's the lesson of the mouse. He went in positive, and he messed up, but he's not going to blame Hashem.

Today we study the song of the Fox הוֹי בֹּנֶה בֵיתוֹ בְּלֹא צֶדֶק וַעֲלִיּוֹתָיו בְּלֹא מִשְׁפָּט בְּרֵעֵהוּ יַעֲבֹד חִנָּם וּפֹעֲלוֹ לֹא יִתֶּן לוֹ: (ירמיה כב יג) / Woe to the one who builds his house without righteousness, and his upper stories (or attics) without justice, and who works his fellow without payment, and does not give him his wages. This is the Song of the Fox, talking about the man who's dishonest in his building and dishonest with his workers. Why is this the song of the Fox? Because the fox is known as a sly creature. The Gemara mentions many parables of foxes and they're always sly. The Sefer Lekutei Amarim quotes something fascinating from the Gemara, at the end of Masechet Makot : When the rabbis were going past Mount Scopus, they saw a fox coming out of the Holy of Holies and they started to cry, for how could it be that a fox entered a place where no human was allowed ? Why was it so terrible about the fox, that the pasuk says, עַ֤ל הַר־צִיּוֹן֙ שֶׁשָּׁמֵ֔ם שׁוּעָלִ֖ים הִלְּכוּ־בֽוֹ׃ {פ} On the Temple Mount that is desolate, the foxes went in it ( Eicha 5,18)? We cry over the foxes that went there. But what's so bad about foxes? The commentary Yefeh Anaf on Eicha tells us, because the fox symbolizes trickery and slyness and the Gemara tells us, Yerushalayim was destroyed because people are no longer honest in business (Terumah in Sotah 48B). So if the foxes are coming out, it's symbolic of the fact that the Bet Hamikdash was destroyed because of the fox-like behavior of the people. That's why they cried. That's why the fox says, " Woe onto the one that builds his house without righteousness, referring to the Bet Hamikdash. If you build your house without righteousness, it's not going to last. There's another beautiful lesson of a fox that has to do with dishonesty. The Midrash Raba in Kohelet (5,25) tells of a fox that found a vineyard that was fenced on all sides. He saw a small hole in the fence and wanted to get in, but he couldn't because he was too big to fit through the small hole. So he fasted for three days, became very thin and weak and snuck through the hole. After he ate and became fat, he wanted to get out, but he couldn't because he was too big. So again, he fasted for three days, until he got thin and weak again, and he got out. Ultimately, he went in and came out the same way. Then he looked over at the vineyard and said, " Vineyard, vineyard, what are you worth? What are you worth? All beautiful fruit- But what did I gain from it? " That is man in this world. Rav Matityahu Salomon says we tell the fox, " You should have thrown the grapes over and saved them for later, and not eaten them now." That's a message for man in this world. Sometimes we have to prepare and think about the long term, not just the pleasure of the moment. That's one of the mistakes that the fox, so to say, preaches about. He's sly. Additionally, the Gemara in Sanhedrin 39A mentions stories of foxes. And it's elaborated more by Teshuvot Rav Chai Gaon who says there was a story of a fox who was attacked by a lion that wanted to eat it. So the fox said, " What do you want from me? I'm just a little, thin guy! I'll take you someplace where you'll see a nice, fat man and you can eat him instead, okay?" The lion answered, " I'm afraid- what if the man prays? Maybe I'll stumble and I'll get into trouble. " But the fox said, " Don't worry. Your sin won't come to you, or to your son. It'll come to your grandson, so don't worry about it until then! Enjoy, enjoy!" The fox preached, and spoke until, finally, the lion agreed. So, the lion approached the man. But it seems the man's prayers helped, because there was a hole in the ground, with a mat on top of it, and the lion fell right in. The lion looked up at the fox and said, " Fox, what happened? Didn't you tell me that it's not going to come onto me, it's going to come onto my grandson" The fox answered, " Yes, that's true, but your grandfather also sinned, and you are the grandson." So the lion said, " That's not fair! Why should I get punished for his sins?" To which the the fox said, " Why didn't you think about that when you attacked?" The Baaleh Mussar , say, What exactly is the message here? The message is that we live life and we get stuck in the moment, and we don't realize it. When we see something enticing, our brains shut off. We say, "Yeah, of course what the fox says makes a lot of sense. They're not going to get me, they're not going to get my kids…" But then when you are full, you say, Hey, that doesn't make any sense. It made sense when you were blinded, but when you start thinking straight, it doesn't make sense .

Today is the song of the Wolf, from Shemot 22,8. Before we read the pasuk , we need a little context. It's talking about a person who steals money and is found as a thief. He has to pay double. זְאֵב אוֹמֵר. עַל כָּל דְּבַר פֶּשַׁע עַל שׁוֹר עַל חֲמוֹר עַל שֶׂה עַל שַׂלְמָה עַל כָּל אֲבֵדָה אֲשֶׁר יֹאמַר כִּי הוּא זֶה עַד הָאֱלֹהִים יָבֹא דְּבַר שְׁנֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר יַרְשִׁיעֻן אֱלֹהִים יְשַׁלֵּם שְׁנַיִם לְרֵעֵהוּ: (שמות כב ח) Every item of liability, whether an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or a garment regarding any lost item about which he says, this is it, to the court shall come both their claims. Whoever the court finds guilty shall pay double to his fellow. What does this have to do with the wolf? We have two beautiful explanations, one on a simple level and one on a deeper level. But in order to understand this, we have to know that in our Torah, there is are two terms for a thief- the Ganav and the Gazlan . When a ganav is caught, he pays double. When a gazlan is caught he pays face value. A ganav is someone that steals stealthily. He comes at night, he hides and he steals. The gazlan goes out in the open; he doesn't care. He comes out in the open and mugs the guy and takes his wallet. If anything, one would think the gazlan should be worse. He's the one who's out in the open. But the Gemara in Bava Kama 79B says, No . Students asked Rabbi Yochanan ben Zachai why it's stricter on the Ganav than the Gazlan , and the answer was, the Gazlan doesn't care about anybody. He equates the respect of people with the respect of God . But the Ganav says, I'm afraid of people but I'm not afraid of God. I do it in hiding . That is worse. So, what does this have to do with our wolf? The Gemara in Taanit 8A says there's a difference between a lion and a wolf in how they attack. A lion attacks in the open. He grabs and devours his prey. The lion is not afraid of people.The wolf first kills his prey, then drags it away to his den and eats it there. Rashi says this is because he's afraid of people. The wolf knows the shepherd can come and hit him over the head with a stick, so he must hide. Therefore, the wolf is like the Ganav that pays double. So, he's telling those thieves out there, let me sing you the song, because his essence is the essence of the ganav . All people have all the different creatures are inside of us, with all their different tendencies. The tendency of the thief is wolf like , and therefore the song of the wolf is about stealing and paying double. That's the simple, beautiful explanation on how we connect the Ganav to the pasuk , cited in sefer Shira HaShalem, from Sefer HaMeir. The next explanation is a little deeper. As we may know, the Jewish people are compared to a sheep that's surrounded by seventy wolves. Wolves symbolize the negative, destructive forces in the world. What is the cause of these destructive forces? זְאֵב אוֹמֵר the wolf says, . עַל כָּל דְּבַר פֶּשַׁע On any liability - and in this context, liability could mean a sin … So the song of the wolf is saying, I'm doing what I'm doing, but don't blame me. It's due to somebody's sins . I'm just a messenger. What ever happens to a person, they have to understand it's due to their sins . That might not be popular, but that's the fact. Until when is this going to continue? Simply, we're talking about two people that are arguing over how much they owe each other. But in this deeper way of reading it, the problems are going to continue, the wolves are going to come until you say, Ki Hu Zeh/ This is it. I know why it's happening. I did something wrong . Middah Kneged Middah. I did this sin . When that happens, then it says, אֲשֶׁר יַרְשִׁיעֻן אֱלֹהִים יְשַׁלֵּם שְׁנַיִם לְרֵעֵהוּ: you pay double. That means you paid off your sins. Why double? There's a famous explanation, the pasuk in the Haftara of VaetHanan , the famous Nachamu Nachamu that comes after Tisha B'Av, that says, " Speak on the heart of Yerushalayim, calm her down and say she has received from the hand of Hashem, double for all her sins." That's why it says twice, Nachumu, Nachamu/ be comforted, be comforted. Because you got a double punishment. The Midrash Raba in Eicha 1,57 asks, What's going on? Double comfort for double sins? The pasuk says in Eicha , 1,8A חֵ֤טְא חָֽטְאָה֙ יְר֣וּשָׁלַ֔͏ִם Again a double sin. Double comfort , double punishment. The Chida says in sefer Savareh Shalal on the Haftara of VaetHanan that when a person sins a sin between man and man, it's really a double sin, because he's also ignoring God. This is the Ganav . He stole from his fellow man and he also showed that he doesn't care about God. It's a double sin. And therefore, he gets a double punishment. He gets kefel , for his double sin. But when he realizes Ki Hu Zeh , when he realizes his sins, it says, He pays two to his friend, The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat 31A, in the famous statement of Hillel to the one who said Pur the whole Torah one foot, answered What you hate, don't do to your friend- What does that have to do with God? Rashi says Your friend can also refer to God . Like a pasuk in Mishleh 27 says, Your friend, the friend of your father, al Taazov, which refers to God. He's your friend and your father's friend. So V'Ahavta L'Reecha Kamocha is the two friends. The two friends that you sin towards. And when you get the punishment, God is called your friend again. This is the beautiful song of the wolf. The wolf is the attacker, and he tells us, I'm not attacking you. Don't look at me. I'm only the stick. Look back at the cause. And the cause isn't God. Like the pasuk says, What should a living man complain about? A man on his sins. That's the message of the wolf. Don't blame me. Don't blame God. Take responsibility. Figure out what's wrong, fix it, and repair the relationship.

Today's class is the Song of the Lion. It's a pasuk from Yeshaya 42,13 יְיָ כַּגִּבּוֹר יֵצֵא כְּאִישׁ מִלְחָמוֹת יָעִיר קִנְאָה יָרִיעַ אַף יַצְרִיחַ עַל אֹיְבָיו יִתְגַּבָּר: Hashem goes out like a mighty warrior. He's going to arouse vengeance, He will shout, He will even roar above His enemies. He will be powerful. This refers to Hashem, Who will, in the future, go out and fight the enemies of the Jews like a roaring lion, a man of war. The comparison to the lion is obvious, as it's a roaring, powerful, ferocious animal. The sefer Kol Rina points out something very interesting. As strong as they are, lions don't kill unless they're hungry. They sleep most of the day. When they do kill, it's for a cause, because they're hungry, as it says, They roar to eat and they want to take from God their food. That means they're doing it just to eat, to survive. And when the morning comes, it says, they, so to say, calm down. They relax and go back to their den. That why we say, Gibbor K'Ari/ be strong like a lion. Because the lion's nature is that although he is strong and gets angry when he needs to, it's controlled. He's not always roaring and killing. It's what we call a targeted attack . And he says that in Yuma 69B, it says Hashem is also a Gibbor , just like we say in Pirkei Avot , Ezeh Hu Gibbor/who is someone that strong? Someone that controls his in this Yetzer Hara, which in this case is anger . The Gemara says that's the strength of Hashem. Every day we say, HaEl HaGibbor/God is strong. His strength is that He holds back and doesn't just destroy the world. So a lion is not just a symbol of strength, it's also a symbol of self-control. And Hashem is that lion-Just because He's not exercising his strength right now for whatever measured reason He has, that doesn't mean He isn't able to do so. The sefer Lekutei Amarim says this is the song of the lion, the king of the wild animals, because he says, Even though I'm so strong, and even though my roar is so powerful, the ultimate might comes from Hashem. So the lion's song is, You think I'm powerful? Listen to the power of Hashem. Realize how strong and powerful He is. The sefer Perek Bashir adds that the song and message of the lion comes to counter another lion- Nebuchadnezzar, who is compared to a lion, as it says in Yirmiyah 4,7, The lion has come out of his lair. Rashi says this refers to Nebuchadnezzar. He was the lion. His symbol was a lion and his strength was the month of Av, which has the symbol and horoscope of Leo the lion . So his power was the power of the lion. And that's why the Bet Hamikdash was destroyed in Av. That's the power of the lion. But there's a counter force. There's a pasuk in Bereshit 40,9 that says Yehuda is compared to a lion. Mashiach comes from Yehuda. So it's one lion against another. God is also compared to a lion, as it says, אַרְיֵ֥ה שָׁאָ֖ג מִ֣י לֹ֣א יִירָ֑א / A lion has roared, who's not afraid. So the lion's song is saying, Realize that the lion that will win in the end is the positive lion, not the negative. There's a beautiful Midrash Agadda Bereshit Perek 56 , that says Hashem is called Aryeh , like we said in Amos 3,8 אַרְיֵ֥ה שָׁאָ֖ג מִ֣י לֹ֣א יִירָ֑א And Nevuchadnezzar, who was called an Aryeh, like we said, עָלָ֤ה אַרְיֵה֙ מִֽסֻּבְּכ֔וֹ the lion comes out of his lair, (Yirmiyah 4,7) in the month of the Aryeh, Av, destroys the Bet Hamikdash, that's also called Aryeh , like it says ה֚וֹי אֲרִיאֵ֣ל אֲרִיאֵל֔ / Woe to Ariel ( which refers to the Bet Hamikdash (Yeshaya 29,1) And he's going to control Yehuda, also called a lion, as it says, גּ֤וּר אַרְיֵה֙ יְהוּדָ֔ה . (Bereshit49,9) Furthermore, the Gemara in Chulin 59B says, the Caesar asked Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Chananya, Your God is compared to a lion, but what's the big deal? A hunter can kill a lion . And he answered, That's not the kind of lion we're talking about. We're talking about a superpower lion. So the Caesar said he wanted to see that lion. The rabbi said, You're not going to be able to survive . The Caesar persisted so the Rabbi prayed that this powerful, super lion would reveal itself. And it says, when he was 400 parsa (about 400 miles) away, the lion roared and the wall of Rome fell. Them he got a little closer and roared, and it says that the king fell off his chair. The king then told the rabbi, Please pray for me that he should go back, And the lion left. The sefer Pi Eliyahu says, when we talk about Hashem as a lion, we can't even fathom the strength of the war. I remember when I was in Israel over 40 years ago, the Biblical Zoo was in the neighborhood of Mattersdorf. I remember clearly that when the lion roared, we felt the vibrations even blocks away. It was something so powerful. And that's just a mashal We can't even fathom who gave the lion the strength. The strength God is mind boggling. And now we think we're dealing with Iran or Iraq, but whatever we are dealing with, Hashem says, Do you know what strength I have? When I come out as a warrior, I'm unstoppable, but it's not the right time. I'm holding back . That's the song with the lion.