Words on the Parasha from The Rav shlit"a

Words on the Parasha from our Teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

"Speak to the Kohanim... for a [dead] soul he shall not defile himself among his people." Hashem said, "For a soul, he shall not defile himself." Moses asked Hashem, "And what will happen if he does become defiled?" Hashem did not answer him. regarding what will happen if he becomes defiled, Hashem does not tell him. Since Hashem says, "For a soul, he shall not defile himself," I am telling you not to become defiled; I do not know what will happen if he becomes defiled. "He shall not defile himself among his people."

So, how does a person reach the level where "for a soul he shall not defile himself among his people"? Hashem did not want to tell him anything at the beginning at all. I told you, "for a soul he shall not defile himself among his people"—if He said he shall not defile himself, then it is forbidden to become defiled. This is because wisdom is impurity; [relying solely on human] wisdom is impurity.

The Chiddushei HaRim explains that a person's entire service is to reach this level. This was the mistake of King Solomon, who began to understand; he wanted to understand the reasons behind the Torah. He said, "I will expound upon the reason of the verse." Regarding every single matter, he sought the reason. He said, "I am the wisest of all men. I built the Holy Temple. What relevance does money have to me?" As it is written, "And Solomon made silver like stones." For me, money is like stones. He would throw the money out of the windows. He waited until it turned into gold, then he threw the silver and gold came. Throw the gold, and diamonds will come. He would throw it out of the windows, because the more you throw away, a million times more comes back to you, endlessly.

So, what does it matter if I have a lot of money? In any case, I throw it out the window. But the moment he held onto the money, it was over—"Let Solomon and a thousand like him perish, but let not one letter of the Torah be moved." If you throw the money away, fine. But if you are already hoarding money... it should not be significant to you. As long as you are in this world, money is just money. Until the very last day, one must throw the money away; until the very last second, throw the money away. And if you owe money, pay your debts. You could be a millionaire, you could have a billion dollars in the bank, you could distribute half a billion—but right now you are a debtor, so pay back your debts! Go make raffles, go pay back your debts, look for standing bank orders, look for all sorts of ways.

Consider a person after Yom Kippur, after the peak of dveikus (clinging to God). He was at the height of spiritual attachment. The High Priest had already entered the Holy of Holies, between the staves of the Ark; he heard the song of the Cherubim. Then, after the conclusion of Yom Kippur, they tell him: "Now you have eaten the break-fast meal. Go out to the balcony, climb up to the roof, or go down four floors or up four floors. Hammer in a nail, place a wooden board [for the Sukkah]." After this wondrous dveikus where a person merited the peak of attachment, they tell him that the first mitzvah after finishing the meal—the meal at the end of the fast—is to do something physical in the Sukkah.

There were Tzaddikim (righteous ones) who would do something in the Sukkah every single day. They had a permanent Sukkah, either in the yard, on the balcony, or on the roof. Every day they would put up a picture, a decoration, something—every day they did something in the Sukkah. Hashem arranges it for a person: Every day, when you are at the peak of spiritual attachment, throw away your intellect and do something in the Sukkah. You are not just in a state of abstract attachment; you are still within a body. You need to sanctify the body, sanctify the nails, sanctify the beams. Hammer in a nail with holiness and purity. Recite "Leshem Yichud Kudsha Brich Hu u'Shechintei" (For the sake of the unification of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and His Divine Presence). Do the simple tasks, the simple labors, with holiness, with purity.

Now, this connects to the previous Commandment. What do we learn from this? That honoring one's father and mother is adjacent to the previous Commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it," and immediately after that, "Honor your father and your mother so that your days may be lengthened." What is the connection between honoring parents and "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it"? Why did Hashem place them together—immediately after "Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it" comes "Honor your father and your mother"?

This resonated throughout the entire world, in 70 languages. The whole world trembled; angels sang songs. The angels heard, "I am Hashem your God." [They thought:] "This is someone seeking honor. He is seeking honor. There are idols; there are idols." Every idol—there is one of fire, one of water—every idol seeks its own honor. Fire wants to rule the world, and wants the idol of the heavens to bow to it. The idol of water wants to rule the world so that the idol of fire will bow to it. Those who worship the idol of fire say everyone must worship fire; there is nothing but fire. And the idol of water says everyone must serve water; there is nothing but water. Water is the strongest; water extinguishes fire. And fire says, no, the opposite is true, [fire evaporates water].

The angels of fire standing at all the corners said, "Oh, fine, He is the strongest in the world. Fine, there are many idols, and now He too is shouting 'I am Hashem your God,' just like the fire shouts, Heaven forbid." The fire, to distinguish [between the holy and profane], says, "You shall have no other gods before me." It is the same thing—it is forbidden to bow to anyone but me. The angels of fire know this and say it is forbidden to bow to water; the angels of water say it is forbidden to bow to fire. They are familiar with this. What is different here?

Those who say "Do not take the name of Hashem your God in vain" [might think] it is forbidden to just say Hashem's name casually. No, [they thought] He wants so much honor that it is forbidden to even carry His name in vain. He wants so much honor that one day a week He wants only to be served. But then came "Honor your father and your mother." They had to offer song. Now, now, now—this is a True God. Now this is a True God. "Then all the kings of the earth wandered," for they heard the words of Your mouth.

It is written regarding the mules in Perek Shira (Chapter of Song), that the mules recite the verse: "All the kings of the earth shall give You thanks, Hashem, for they have heard the words of Your mouth." How is this relevant to mules? It is explained that kings ride upon mules. It is written that it is forbidden to ride on the king's mule, and because the mule is stronger than a horse, kings are accustomed to riding on a mule. The mules were present at the Giving of the Torah. They heard. They heard "I am Hashem your God." They heard [the king riding them] say, "Ho! Oh! Another idol, Heaven forbid. 'You shall have no other gods before Me'—Ho! Oh! Just like fire. Fire also says you must bow to it [and not] water. He wants a lot of honor. He wants that no one should say His name in vain. 'The Sabbath day to sanctify it'—He wants one day where they only serve Him, sing to Him, praise Him."

But then they heard: "Honor your father and your mother." Then all the mules heard how the kings were singing praises. Therefore, the mules recite this verse, "All the kings of the earth shall give You thanks... for they have heard the words of Your mouth." For then, the kings of the earth sang and said, "This is a True God." If He says to honor father and mother, it means He does not want the honor for Himself before others; father and mother come before everyone. One must honor his father and mother. Bein HaZmanim (the intersession break) is two weeks where everyone must run to honor his father and mother. Happy is the person who does this.

Haftarah

"And My Sabbaths they shall sanctify."

(If a person possesses) humility and lowliness, then he will be able to attain the delight of Shabbat, the light of Shabbat.

When we reach the moment of lighting the candles, we will come after a full week in which we saw all the wonders of creation, the miracles of creation, all the wonders Hashem created. We will arrive at Shabbat with such amazement, with such excitement of the soul, with such elevation. After the secrets of all the details of creation have been revealed to us, it is all for the sake of Shabbat. And Shabbat is heaven and earth; it is from the World of Souls. There will be a world that is entirely Shabbat, and there they will attain the Divine flow properly.

In order to attain Hashem, may He be blessed, one needs to know all the secrets of every single detail of creation, because everything is Godliness. To know the Tzaddik, one needs to love all of Am Yisrael (the Jewish people), every single Jew, all the Tzaddikim, all the Admorim (Chassidic Masters)—everyone, everyone, with all their specific details. Perhaps then we will have some attainment of this hidden and concealed Tzaddik. So, all the details of creation are a preparation for Shabbat.

Then, suddenly, they will attain Hashem, may He be blessed, without any screen, without any obstruction, because everything is one unity. All the souls, all the people, all the Tzaddikim, all of Am Yisrael, together with all the details of creation—it is all one unity. All the animals, all the birds, all the fowl, all the grasses, all the flowers, all the trees, all the inanimate objects, diamonds, stones, all kinds of properties—there are all kinds of new metals they discover every time they combine elements. Everything is the wonder of wonders of creation. Everything is a preparation for Shabbat. Everything is a preparation to reveal the greatness of Hashem. Perhaps, just perhaps, we will recognize the greatness of Hashem.