Acharei Mos-Kedoshim 5785: Escaping Immorality Through Kedusha

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Shiurim given in 5782 & 5772

• Part 1: Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim: Escaping Immorality Through Kedusha (5782)
• Part 2: Shabbos: The Ideal Shabbos (5772)

Part 1: Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim: Escaping Immorality Through Kedusha (5782)

In the past, we discussed how the days of the Sefirah have a tremendous power to ‘turn people around.’ In the beginning of this week’s parshah it says, וידבר ה’ אל משה לאמר דבר אל כל עדת בני ישראל ואמרת אליהם, “Moshe, speak to the entire Jewish nation,” and what should you say to them? Say to them that קדושים תהיו, “you should be holy” (Vayikra 19:2). This wasn’t something that was said only for yechidim. Moshe Rabbeinu taught the other mitzvos to everyone as well, but here, all of Klal Yisrael gathered together simultaneously to hear this parshah from Moshe. What’s unique about this parshah? Rashi explains רוב גופי תורה תלוים בה, most of the fundamental principles of the Torah are contained in this parshah. The first mitzvah Hashem tells Moshe to say over to gantz Klal Yisrael is קדושים תהיו. Rashi comes and says what does that mean? What does it mean קדושים תהיו? He says הוו פרושים מן העריות, separate yourself from forbidden relations. It’s amazing that the first mitzvah of all the mitzvos that Hashem commands Moshe to speak to gantz Kal Yisrael, the first of all the fundamental principles is what? Be parush min ha’arayos.

Now, this is not teaching me the prohibition of arayos. You know what it’s teaching me? Be פרושים מן העריות. The prohibitions of arayos were spoken of in the last parshah. Now Hashem is giving a new mitzvah regarding arayos, that when it comes to the parshah of arayos, a person has to go out of his way to be parush from that aveirah,and from other aveiros that I’m now introducing you to. I want you to understand that you have a mitzvah to be kedoshim. שכל מקום, Rashi says, any place שאתה מוצא גדר ערוה אתה מוצא לשון קדושה.

I’m just trying to imagine Moshe Rabeinu speaking. Gantz Klal Yisrael is there. Moshe Rabeinu had a miracle. He was able to talk to Klal Yisrael in a way that everybody could hear him. Unbelievable, it was mamash a miracle. And the first thing he talks about is about prishus min ha’arayos. That means a person has to make gedarim, he has to create fences, how to create distance between himself and arayos. We’re not talking about not doing the arayos. We’re talking about there being a special mitzvah to create distance because any place you find a commandment to make fences to prevent you from getting close to the aveirah, you have to know that’s related to kedushah. And all kedushah relates to arayos.

Talking About Arayos Publicly?

I imagine there were some very frumme Yidden at that speech, and they got upset. Vus? Arayos? Who talks about arayos? You don’t talk about arayos. You’re not supposed to talk about that publicly. But in the Torah, you see that it’s not like that.

My Zeida (Rav Avigdor Miller) once told me a very interesting yesod. He told me an interesting gemara (Brachos 62a). The gemara says how a talmid was shocked at the conduct of his rebbi and thought that his rebbi acted in a way that was unbecoming for the rebbi. The gemara says the story over. My Zeida said to me, “Why do you think the gemara brings that story?” He said: The gemara brings that story to let you know that sometimes there are certain matters, like kedushah matters, where the talmid may think that he understands more than the rebbi. So the gemara brings out a story like that, where the talmid actually gave the rebbi mussar. But we have no doubt and no safek that the rebbi was 100% correct. We see the gemara give an example to guide us, so if the Torah says קדושים תהיו, you should be parush min ha’arayos, that’s a very important thing to publicize.

Everybody Needs Gedarim

Now, this is a chiddush of unbelievable proportions. What’s the chiddush in this parshah? The first chiddush is that the only way a person could overcome the challenge of arayos – and every single person, if he’s a human being, is faced with a challenge of ta’avah – the only way to face that challenge is through kedushah. You can’t do it by learning mussar. You can’t do it by reading about the prohibitions involved. You must engage in kedushah. It means you have to engage in creating fences. It doesn’t say this by any other aveirah.

Everybody understands if he has seichel and he’s not totally contaminated, that arayos is shmutz and arayos is unbecoming. It’s not befitting for a regular person to engage in that. He knows it’s treif. I even remember once asking my grandfather this question: “Zeida,” I said, “don’t you have a yetzer hara?” because he always spoke about arayos like he couldn’t fathom it. He never spoke about it in terms of ‘we understand, like it’s very normal.’I said, “What’s the pshat?” So he told me, “It’s totally disgusting, mi’us, ti’uv, fooyah!”I was thinking, “Boy, I’ve got a long way to go.”Afterward, I was thinking, does he taka feel like that, or is he just trying to mechanech me like that? I don’t know exactly. But whatever it was, you have to know that the only way is to engage in kedushah. Ta’avah is something that’s universal. Little beards, big beards, black hats, no hats, shtreimlach, spodiks – it doesn’t make a difference. Lange peyos, kotzer peyos – every single person comes to this world with a challenge of ta’avah. כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו. From one’s early youth, he faces this challenge. And ra means arayos. The Torah is telling us here the only way to stand up and be able to defend yourself is by creating prishus. You create gedarim. And without that, you’re toast. You’re not going to succeed in overcoming this.

Now let’s take gezel for example. We know people like to steal. People like money, chemdas hamamon. It’s a major, major challenge. The gemara (Bava Basra 165a)^[i]says that almost every day, people are nichshal in gezel. The gemara in Avodah Zarah (70a)^[ii]talks about what the goyim say about the Jews. You know what they say? That they don’t believe Jews keep Shabbos. You know why? The gemara says: A wallet full of money that’s in a reshus harabim on Shabbos, is it possible that a Yid wouldn’t take it? The goy can’t even fathom such a thing. So we see it’s a big challenge, but it doesn’t say anywhere that in order to overcome this challenge, you have to create gedarim and fences and walls to prevent you from getting to that point. But it says if you want to deal with the challenge of ta’avah, you must create a geder. That’s one major chiddush we see here.

You Are Called A Kadosh Only Here

The second amazing chiddush is that generally for not doing aveiros, you’re not called a kodesh. If a person doesn’t steal, we don’t find him being called a ‘kadosh’. If you steal, they call you a bum. They call you a ganev. It’s not a veryhonorable term to call you, but you’re not called a kodesh if you don’t steal. Yet, if a person doesn’t do arayos,he’s called a kadosh. You know why? Because it’s so natural, and it’s so ingrained. Ta’avah is a middah b’adam, it’s a middah ra’ah that’s in the heart of a man. And to break this middah, you’re not just called ‘not-a-shmutzige-mentch.’ You’re called a kadosh! You need kedushah to overcome this ta’avah, and if you overcome it, you are a kodesh because you overcame an inbred, natural middah that everybody has to fight with. But for everything else in the Torah, it doesn’t say that. Yes, it says, don’t desire things of others. What’s that called? לא תחמוד. It’s one of the Ten Commandments. And it’s not easy. If you’re chomed something, you covet something, you desire something, it’s not easy to just say goodbye. But it doesn’t say you’re a kadosh when you do that.

We see over here the power of ta’avah, and we see that the only thing that could help you overcome it – is kedushah. Working on kedusha shows that a person is working on himself. This is one of the big yesodos that we have to remember.

When The Situation Calls For Gedarim

Now, everybody thinks, “Take it slow. Think slow. Don’t become an extremist.” But in matters of kedushah you have to do behavior that appears extreme.

I remember we had a family simchah, and it was, mamash, a very personal, private simchah. It was in a shul basement. My grandfather saw a young girl, maybe aged six, walking around not 100% tzenuah.He got very upset. He insisted that they put up a mechitzah,right there and then in the middle of the simchah. In the middle of the simchah! No one listened to him. He got up and he said, “This demands tznius. We need a mechitzah.” Some people snickered, “Nu, okay. We don’t have any strangers. Nobody is frie here. It’s just mishpachah.”My Zeidagot up. He got two coat racks. He put them between the men and the ladies. He got some tablecloths. He placed the tablecloths over them by himself. He made a mechitzah. “I saw the snickering,” he said afterward. “It doesn’t bother me at all.” He had tremendous strength to make gedarim for the sake of kedushah.

I told you the ma’aseh when my Zeida was in his upper 80s? I once drove by his shul in the summer, and I noticed that the few windows that he had in the front of the shul were open, and the door was wide open. Now, it wasn’t the time when the shul was in use, and I knew my Zeida was very careful about keeping the windows and the doors closed. There was no such metzius for him of not checking to make sure the doors and windows were closed. So I pulled up onto the sidewalk. I said, “I have to check this out. What’s going on?” I walked into the ezras nashim. The front door opened up to the ezras nashim. The entrance to the beis medrash was on the side. And I walk in, and I see a lady sitting in the middle of the ezras nashim. A tzniusdike lady. I wondered, what in the world is she doing here? I said, “Excuse me, could I help you? Could I give you some assistance? What are you seeking?” She turned around. She says, “I’m talking to the Rav.” I said to myself, “Oh, it’s another one of these characters, one of these Miller nuts.” And I said to myself, “Who knows what this is here?” I said, “I’m the rabbi’s grandson. What are you doing here? What’s pshat?” All of a sudden, I hear my grandfather say,“Ver is dorten, who is there?” I walked through the ezras nashim. I walked around the mechitzah and into the beis medrash. My Zeida was sitting on a folding chair facing the ezras nashim and he had a Mesillas Yesharim open in his lap to the first perek. I said, “Oh, you’re learning with her?” He said, “No, I’m talking with her.” So I went out. I went home. The next time I met my Zeida, I said, “What was the pshat in that ma’aseh? All the doors were open. All the windows were open. A Mesillas Yesharim on your lap?” He told me, “You could never be too careful. You could never be too careful.” He was sitting on the closed men’s side. The mechitzah was completely closed. (During the week, they didn’t keep the mechitzah closed because there were no women there. They used to put the top part of the curtains to the side). Kedushah. Geder ervah is kedushah.

I’ll never forget the following story. I was a little boy and I had an appointment with my grandfather. When I came to speak with him, at that very moment, a young lady who was a ba’alas teshuvah arrived with her mother to speak to my grandfather, and the mother was wearing a pantsuit. The young lady was dressed frum. They came to speak to my grandfather. My grandfather said to me, “Would you mind if you wait for our appointment until I finish with them?” I figured I wanted to find out what’s going on, what’s cooking, so I said, “Okay.” I went to the other side of the door and made sure I was looking very carefully through the keyhole. The lady was sitting there, and my grandfather walked into the room. In one flash, he took off his hat and covered his face with it, and he said, “Lady, how can I help you?” She said, “Are you all right?” He said, “Oh, I’m very fine. How can I help you?” So she started to say that her daughter became religious, and her daughter is young, and she doesn’t understand and grasp the definition of love. “I found a man, a good man who wants to marry me, and I’d like the rabbi to explain to my daughter what love is about, to understand that love conquers all challenges.” My grandfather asked her, “What needs to be conquered?” He didn’t take his hat away for a second.

What needed to be conquered was that the man was a gentile. When my Zeida heard that, he said, “Lady, if you marry the gentile, you’re going to drop dead!” I asked him afterwards if he meant it. He said, “100%. That’s what’s going to happen to her.” So she got very angry. She blew her top, and she started blowing off some steam at my grandfather. My grandfather stood up at that moment and he said, “Lady, for your own good, it behooves you to keep quiet. Don’t say anything more, because if you say more, even if you don’t marry him, it’s going to be very costly. Hold your tongue.” And then the lady ran out of the house. The younger lady stood there. My grandfather put his hat back on like a regular hat. He said, “You’re a special, young Bas Yisrael. What you did, you tried to help your mother in the best way you can, and Hashem should send you the right shidduch at the right time.” He gave her a very warm, generous brachah. That was it.

But a mentch has to know that if you don’t make gedarim you don’t stand a chance.

The Gains of Shemiras Ha’einayim

Now, one of the great things we have to know is that one of the great kedushos and one of the greatest gedarim that we can create for ourselves is watching and conducting ourselves with shemiras ha’einayim. Chazal tell us in mesechta Derech Eretz (1:20): רבי מיאשה בר בריה דרבי יהושע בן לוי אומר כל הרואה דבר ערוה, anybody who sees a devar ervah, he’s exposed to it, ואינו זן עיניו ממנה, and he doesn’t allow his eyes to be satiated from it, he doesn’t enjoy it, זוכה ומקבל פני השכינה. Why is that, מאי טעמא? Because it says in the passuk in Yeshayah (33:15-17), עוצם עיניו מראות ברע, somebody who covers his eyes from seeing ra. What does it say in the next passuk? הוא מרומים ישכון, he will live in the upper worlds, and מלך ביפיו תחזינה עיניך, the King in His glory, your eyes will behold. You hear that?

You have to know, the mefarshim explain that there’s something unique about the eyes of the person. The eye works on its own. My hand doesn’t move on its own. My hand only moves if I command it to move. If I command my legs to move, my legs move. Eyes are something that are not in the control of a person. A person could see something that he doesn’t want to see. That’s why it says: If a person is exposed to a devar ervah that he couldn’t prevent himself from seeing. He bumped into it. He came across it. But he doesn’t enjoy it, he closes his eyes. He goes against his nature, and he puts a lid on it. He’s זוכה ומקבל פני השכינה. That means even though he began to see, even though he initially had the exposure, but he forcibly closed his eyes and turned away from it, that person will be zocheh to see the pnei haShechinah hakedoshah. You hear what it says?! It says הוא מרומים ישכון, that means l’asid lavo that person won’t dwell amongst anashim peshutim, he will be amongst the tzaddikim and the kedoshei eretz. He’s going to be among the greatest of the great!

A person has to understand that the zechus of a person who goes out of his way to be shomer einav properly and prevent himself from coming to any evil thoughts, is that the koach of kedushah will rest upon him forever and ever, and he’s going to be zocheh to mekabel great things that others will not be given.

You have to know that the Shomer Emunim writes in a letter that somebody who is shomer his eyes from sin is zocheh to arouse a ‘special eye’ from Hashem. That means he has special hashgachah elyonah from Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and he has special hashgachah pratis, more so than all the other people in that generation – middah keneged middah, he says, and that’s why it says עין ה’ אל יראיו, Hashem’s eye is on those who fear Him. And afterwards it says להציל ממות נפשם ולחיותם ברעב, to save them from death, to sustain them in famine (Tehillim 33:18).

The Lev Eliyahu (vol 1, p. 260)^[iii] says that if a person wants to feel a chiyus in his avodas Hashem, you know what he should do? He should be shomer his einayim like it says in the passuk. Dovid Hamelech says, העבר עיני מראות שוא, take away my eyes from looking at garbage, and then בדרכך חיני, then I will live in Your derachim. You have to know, the Sefer Chassidim (אות תצה) says, that if a person closes his eyes from seeing evil, so any tza’ar that the person experienced because of that shemirah, he will do a tovah, he will bring benefit to his children. It says יראה זרע יאריך ימים אשרי בניו אחריו.^[iv]

Being Misgaber Bring An Eis Ratzon

There are tremendous, tremendous benefits of this avodah. Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein, the brother-in-law of Rav Chaim Kanievsky, says that he once heard directly from the famous tzaddik Rav Ahrele, the founder of the Toldos Aharon chassidim, that a person who goes in the street and there comes before him a prohibited thing, and he’s mesgaber on his yetzer and he closes his eyes and doesn’t look, you should know, he says, that moment is a tremendous eis ratzon for himself in Shamayim, and that whatever he’s going to be mespallel and be mevakesh from Hashem, at that moment, there’s a segulah that his tefilah will be miskabel beratzon. You don’t have to find somebody being shamed publicly and not answering back. If you walk in the street and shut your eyes and you prevent yourself from seeing what you’re not supposed to see, that’s a tremendous eis ratzon.

He said over a story that there was a yungerman, a talmid chacham, that had to go to Tel Aviv because of his sick daughter who was in a hospital in Be’er Sheva, and the doctor sent him to Tel Aviv to bring a special refuah that was available in Tel Aviv. When he went to Tel Aviv, he was accosted with something that was not tznius but Hashem helped him, that at that moment he remembered what Rav Ahrele said. So what did he do? He was mesgaber on himself and immediately, he shut his eyes, turned away his head and he was matzliach to pass through this challenge with peace. At that moment, he began crying in the street. With tears he turned to Hashem that He should save his daughter from this evil decree and send her a refuah shelaimah. And he felt a tremendous kirvas Elokim. Then he continued on his way to the pharmacy to pick up the medicine, and as he walked in the door, his phone rang and he picked it up. His wife was on the phone. She was in the hospital with their daughter, and she said with a lot of emotion that there had been a sudden change in the daughter’s condition l’tovah,and the doctors had come running. They were shocked. They said that the medicine was not needed anymore. The yungerman said, “I feel like I’m being a kafoy tov if I’m not mefarsem, if I don’t publicize this chessed of Hashem.” It’s brought down in the sefer Aleinu Leshabeach.

A person has to know that. You have to understand that this is the time, if you want to make changes and you want to affect changes, work hard on yourself to ensure that you have and acquire some level of kedushah.

Part 2: Shabbos: The Ideal Shabbos (5772)

Learn Torah – Except When You Work

There is a machlokes between R’ Shimon Bar Yochai and R’ Yishmael in the gemara Brachos (35b). The passuk says ואספת דגנך – and you will gather in your grain. Why does it have to say that? R’ Yishmael explains that since it says לא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך – the Torah should not leave your mouth, you might think that דברים ככתבן – it’s to be taken as it’s written, i.e., that one has to literally spend all his days exclusively immersed in the Torah study. So to teach me otherwise, the passuk states ואספת דגנך – you have to gather in your grain, i.e., you have to go out to work as well, הנהג בהן מנהג דרך ארץ – conduct yourself “like the way of the world,” and set aside time for work, and not only for Torah study. R’ Yishmael is the lenient opinion in the gemara.  Pashtus, what he means is that you have to learn Torah as much as you can, except for when you need to be ואספת דגנך, and during that time, you are allowed to be oseik in your parnassah instead. People tend to take this very lightly. ^[v] 

Learn Torah Even While You Are Working

Now, R’ Chaim Volozhiner (Nefesh Chaim 1:8) has a pshat on this gemara that kind of blows any leniency out of the water.^[vi] He is medayeik that the gemara says הנהג בהן מנהג דרך ארץ. He says, what kind of lashon is הנהג בהן מנהג דרך ארץ? He says it means that even in that little time that you’re allowed to work, it has to be such work that in your thoughts and your machshavos,you are being meharher b’divrei Torah. That’s the pshat inהנהג בהן – it’s together with them; you’re not poreish from Torah when you work. Rather, when you need to be ואספת דגנך, you’re allowed to be arein geton in your machshavah in divrei Torah and be involved in some parnassah. But that’s a chumrah to say that. I’m not going to argue with R’ Chaim Volozhiner, but I hope other people don’t learn that pshat in the gemara.

Either way, the lenient opinion in the gemara is that a person is allowed to work and learn. But as much as he is able to learn, he should do so, and that’s how the din of ולא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך is fulfilled.

The Ideal: Only Learning Torah

R’ Shimon Ben Yochai says a more stringent shittah. He holds that if a person is going to go do charishah, zeriyah, and ketzirah, what is going to be with his Torah? So he says: בזמן שישראל עושין רצונו של מקום, when Yidden do the will of Hashem, other people do their melachah. And that’s how לא ימוש הספר התורה מפיך is fullfiled; it’s without any involvement in parnassah. That means that a person has to aspire to the ideal of learning all the time. Abaye says, הרבה עשו כר’ ישמעאל, many people have tried to abide by R’ Yishmael’s dictum, and they were matzliach, and many people tried R’ Shimon Bar Yochai’s mehalech ולא עלתה בידן, and they weren’t matzliach.

We see over here a viewpoint, a Torah hashkafah on eisek in parnassah and eisek haTorah. This is a set of guidelines for us. We are so veit (far away) from this because we are oisek in chol, in devarim beteilim, and we try to be הנהג בהם in the divrei chol, try to chap arein in there a little divrei Torah. But you have to understand that what a Yid is, is not like that, it’s the opposite. You have to rearrange your brain to think and to know that the tafkid of the Yid is to be ולא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך. That’s alef.

The Obligation To Learn Torah On Shabbos

Now, the whole machlokes between these Tannaim is based on the passuk of ואספת דגנך. Now, if for whatever reason, there’s no ואספת דגנך, then, is there any shaaleh that the din is לא ימוש ספר התורה הזה בפיך? There would be no machlokes at all, and both would agree that you have to sit and learn! So, it follows that on Shabbos, when there is an issur of ואספת דגנך, everyone would takke agree! And it’s more than that, it’s because Shabbos is excluded. Where does the ואספת דגנך come from? It came as a result of the klalah of בזיעת אפיך תאכל לחם from Adam Harishon. But on Shabbos, the klalah wasn’t chal. So klapei Shabbos there’s no shaaleh that everybody agrees that there’s no heter for not being mekayim the passuk of ולא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך literally! You hear that? A gevaldige zach, a gevaldige, gevaldige, shtarke zach!!

With this we can understand a teaching from Eliyahu Hanavi in Tanna D’bei Eliyahu (1:2).^[vii] אמר להם הקב”ה לישראל – Hakodosh Boruch Hu said to Klal Yisrael, לא כתבתי לכם בתורתי – did I not write in My Torah for you a directive of לא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך? Didn’t I tell you that? אף על פי שאתם עושים מלאכה כל ששת ימים שבת יעשה כולו תורה – even though you work all six days, dedicate Shabbos for learning, מכאן אמרו ישכים אדם – from here they said that a person should wake up early, וישנה בשבת – andd learn on Shabbos. And he should always do that. Shabbos is a vort of יעשה כולו תורה.

Now this is a frightening thing because we like to think of ourselves as frum Yidden. And the chiyuv to make Shabbos כולו תורה, shteit in Tanna D’bei Eliyahu is not a din of Shabbos, it’s a din of לא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך. That’s the ikker din of talmud Torah. It’s nothing to do with Shabbos in particular; it’s because on Shabbos there’s no din of ואספת דגנך, so it’s pashut that everybody is modeh that this is the law on Shabbos.

There is another Midrash. The Tur brings it in Ohr Hachaim סימן רצ. The Midrash states: אמרה תורה ריבונו של עולם כשישראל נכנסין לארץ מה תהא עלי. The Torah says, “Ribbono Shel Olam, when the Yidden enter Eretz Yisrael, what will be with me?” The Yidden were in the midbar, and in the midbar, Hashem took care of them. They didn’t have to work, they didn’t have to worry about anything, Hashem did it all. So everything was taken care of. And therefore they learned Torah all day long, but only in the midbar.^[viii]

They weren’t hunting in the midbar. They weren’t rattlesnake hunting. Somebody just called me from a certain yeshiva and told me he caught a rattlesnake and a kingsnake. I said, “That’s what you’re in yeshiva for?” He said, “Our yeshiva is the most geshmake yeshiva, there are a lot of rattlesnakes around, so one of the big pastimes is holding rattlesnakes!” But, in the midbar, they didn’t have rattlesnakes or kingsnakes, or garden snakes. They sat and learned Torah day and night. That’s what they did. So the Torah said to Hakodosh Boruch Hu: What is going to be when Klal Yisroel entersinto Eretz Yisrael? Every one of the Yidden is going to go and take care of his field and vineyard. מה תהא עלי, what is going to be with me? אמר לה – Hashem said to the Torah, יש לי בן זוג שאני נותן לך – I am giving you a ben zug. You know what that is? זהו יום השבת שישראל בטלים מהם מלאכה והם נכנסים לבתי כנסיות ובתי מדרשות ועוסקים בתורה, that’s Shabbos, when Klal Yisrael don’t work, and they go to the Beis Hakenesses and Beis Medrash to learn Torah

Now, you have to understand that this is the pshat – Shabbos is a ben zug of Torah. Why is Shabbos the mate of Torah? Because there’s no interference, there’s no melachah on Shabbos. Because that’s the day that the chiyuv of talmud Torah is niskayeim b’sheleimus. Then it’s לא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך mamash. So therefore we have to understand that this is a clear indication of how we should be using our Shabosos.

Raise Up Your Weekday Work Activities

With this, we could understand what the Pele Yoetz (R’ Eliezer Papo, 1785-1828) writes.^[ix] He says וצריך לעסוק בשבת בתורה שבכתב ובתורה שבעל פה. He says ומי שמאבד הזמן ואינו עוסק בתורה בשבתות ובמועדים – and somebody who wastes his time and is not oseik in Torah on Shabbos and Yom Tov, ענוש יענש – he is going to be punished, גם על ימי החול שאין לו מקום פטור – also for the weekdays, because he loses his whole excuse. What’s his excuse? באמרו שהיה טרוד על המחיה ועל הכלכלה – he says he was busy during the weekday with his parnassah so he couldn’t learn then. So they’re going to tell him שבת ומועדים יוכיחו, Shabbos and Moadim are mochiach, כי אין בפיהו נכונה – ehr redts nisht emes, he’s not talking the truth because he doesn’t learn on Shabbos either The whole heter l’tzorchei parnassah, is that even though there’s a chiyuv of ולא ימוש you also have a chovah of hishtadlus. When Shabbos comes, a person decides whether he will learn or take it easy. And  when a person is mekadeish Shabbos properly with limud haTorah, he is mekadesh his whole work that he does during sheishes yemei hamaaseh.

Commit to Gradual Improvement

Rabbosai, we have to become frum. Now, how do you become frum? You take a small step. The first step you have to do is, you have to tell yourself: “My goal is that on Shabbos יעשה כולו תורה. This is my aspiration for life. That’s my chov. That’s what the Ribbono Shel Olam wants me to do.” Now, of course the Ribbono Shel Olam wants you to be involved with seudas Shabbos, with tefillos on Shabbos. But most of us look forward to ויעשה כולה שינה. That’s what you want to do, we like to do that. There are people who sleep on Shabbos more than they would ever dream of sleeping on any other day. Now, could a person untrain himself in one Shabbos? It’s not possible. But like a baal teshuvah who becomes frum – does he become frum in one day? No. Once he decides to become frum, he knows he is committing himself to a kabbalah of kol haTorah kulah. Will the entire kabbalah start tomorrow? No, he starts to take small steps.

But let’s say you have a baal teshuvah who says: “I’m not going to be mekabel this mitzvah. I am not going to be mekabel this mitzvah in the future either. I am not being mekabel this forever.” I told a guy who said this, “You’re a rashah. Your mitzvos are worth zero, you have to know that, because you’re not saying that, ‘Right now, I can’t commit, but I understand what I’m aiming for.’” You have to know if a person is a mumar l’davar echad, he is a mumar l’kol haTorah kulah. He is not mekabel Torah. You can’t be mekabel six hundred and twelve and a half mitzvos, it has got to be six thirteen. Whether you do it or not, you know you’re a rashah, you know you’re a posheiah, you know you’re a shogeg – whatever you are. But you have to acknowledge you are doing something wrong by not doing those mitzvos.

So the fact that everybody else doesn’t care about Shabbos doesn’t change the facts. You read about the sedarim on Shabbos in the Chofetz Chaim’s yeshiva. It’s mind-boggling! Take a look in the מאיר עיני ישראל, you can’t figure out how from 12:30pm (after davening and after the seudah), they were learning straight till Minchah. Unbelievable! We can’t expect that from you. But you have to understand, you have to be mechavein to what your goal is. Most people feel that they’re doing a tremendous mitzvah, they say they are going to learn a few minutes on Shabbos. “I am going to give Hashem some time out of my day of oneg, out of my day of menuchah. I’ll try to give Hashem a few minutes.” You have to know that that’s nothing to do with Torah.

So we have a mitzvah here, it’s called a mitzvah yesomah. Not a lot of people realize it. We are learning about  the seriousness of talmud Torah. Im yirtzeh Hashem, we will tell you another time about what R’ Yisrael says. R’ Yisrael Salanter is mechadesh a noradikker chiddush in limud haTorah b’Shabbos. He says mamash frightening things. Limud haTorah on Shabbos is different than during the week, and so is bittul Torah on Shabbos,it’s eino domeh, it’s very different.

Make a Self-Assessment

So therefore let us start to recalibrate our brains. Even if you are tired, I’ll tell you what you have to do. You have to make a cheshbon: Is it takke because of the tiredness that you are sleeping when you want to learn Torah, or is it because you don’t want to learn Torah, and therefore you’re tired? I remember thinking about that – why do they need to sleep late? I remember in yeshiva, when I was a bochur, I was thinking: Why do I need to sleep late on Shabbos? Why did I want to sleep as much as I could on Shabbos? Was it because I was toreach and amul b’Torah the whole week? Unfortunately, that wasn’t the problem. Yes, I went to sleep late on Shabbos, but during the week, I also went to sleep late. If you shmooze late, or you learn late – whatever you did, there was no chiluk.

I was omeid on this nekudah,that a person is so afraid of having nothing to do, that’s why he wants to sleep. That’s why depressed people sleep, because they have nothing to wake up for in the morning. They have nothing to look forward to in the day; depression means that you have nothing to do. And since the tefillah doesn’t turn most people on, getting out of bed doesn’t make much sense. Unfortunately, Torah doesn’t turn people on either. But a person may think it’s a midas chassidus. It’s not chassidus. This is something that is very basic. This is a fundamental mitzvah – talmud Torah k’neged kulo. And therefore it behooves us to start to recalibrate our thinking. We have to rest? Okay. You have to take care of other things? Okay, take care of other things. There is very little to take care of. Not יעשה כולה שבת, rather, you have to embark on a career of making Shabbos synonymous with talmud Torah, with the fulfilment of the great mitzvah of לא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך.

Let us undertake this, let us start to recalibrate our brains. Let us start אורך חיים למעלה, let us start to walk up the highway of life and be koneh olam habah. When we come to the Next World, the Ribbono Shel Olam will say, or the first question they will ask you is: Did you learn Torah? You’ll say, “Sure.”

They’ll say, “How about Shabbos?” You’ll say, “Shabbos? Shabbos is a day of rest, Hashem, You said it!” Hashem says: I sent you a message – יעשה כולו תורה, that’s what Shabbos is. “What? I don’t like that message. I deleted that message from my email, Hashem. I wasn’t interested in that message.” “What about לא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך?” “What? What is that? Don’t we pasken like R’ Yishmael? R’ Yishmael’s opinion of ואספת דגנך, everybody knows that, Hashem. I am not such a big machmir of R’ Shimon Bar Yochai, he was a major tzaddik, the Zohar and all that!” Hashem will say: “But the whole heter is אספת דגנך, on Shabbos there is no ואספת דגנך, there’s no work on Shabbos! “Oh, is that so? But I was tired from the ואספת דגנך!” Hashem will say: Drei nisht a kop!

^[i] אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב: רוֹב בְּגָזֵל, וּמִיעוּט בַּעֲרָיוֹת, וְהַכֹּל בְּלָשׁוֹן הָרָע. בְּלָשׁוֹן הָרָע סָלְקָא דַּעְתָּךְ?! אֶלָּא אֲבַק לָשׁוֹן הָרָע.

^[ii] הָהוּא יִשְׂרָאֵל וְגוֹי דַּהֲווֹ יָתְבִי בְּאַרְבָּא, שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל קָל שִׁיפּוּרֵי דְּבֵי שִׁימְשֵׁי, נְפַק וַאֲזַל. אֲמַר רָבָא: חַמְרָא שְׁרֵי, מֵימָר אָמַר: הַשְׁתָּא מִדְּכַר לֵיהּ לְחַמְרֵיהּ וְהָדַר אָתֵי. וְאִי מִשּׁוּם שַׁבְּתָא, הָאָמַר רָבָא: אֲמַר לִי אִיסּוּר גִּיּוֹרָא, כִּי הֲוֵינַן בְּאַרְמָיוּתַן אָמְרִינַן: יְהוּדָאֵי לָא מְנַטְּרִי שַׁבְּתָא, דְּאִי מְנַטְּרִי שַׁבְּתָא כַּמָּה כִּיסֵי קָא מִשְׁתַּכְחִי בְּשׁוּקָא. וְלָא יָדַעְנָא דִּסְבִירָא לַן כְּרַבִּי יִצְחָק, דְּאָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: הַמּוֹצֵא כִּיס בְּשַׁבָּת מוֹלִיכוֹ פָּחוֹת פָּחוֹת מֵאַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת.

^[iii] (תהילים קי”ט ל”ז) “העבר עיני מראות שוא -בדרכיך חייני”. אם רוצה אדם שיהיה לו חיות בדרכי עבודת השי”ת – יעבר עיניו מראות שוא, וזהו מה שאמר דוד המע”ה: “העבר עיני מראות שוא” – וע”י זה “בדרכיך חייני”.

^[iv] אחד אהב אשה אחת ושאל אם מותר לראותה לפי שהגידו לו למה אתה אוהב אותה הלא אינה יפה כל כך אם היית מביט בה לא היה לבך רודף אחריה ואסרו לו כי מביאה לידי קושי ערוה ולידי קרי אם יראנה. ועוד זכות ושכר גדול יש לו שנפשו וכל מחשבותיו עליה ואף על פי כך עוצם עיניו מראות ברע כל דבר צער שאדם סובל באותו ענין עושים טובה לזרעו שנאמר (ישעיהו נג י) יראה זרע יאריך ימים וכתיב (משלי כ ז) אשרי בניו אחריו.

^[v] תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: ״וְאָסַפְתָּ דְגָנֶךָ״ מָה תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר? – לְפִי שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״לֹא יָמוּשׁ סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֶּה מִפִּיךָ״ – יָכוֹל דְּבָרִים כִּכְתָבָן, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: ״וְאָסַפְתָּ דְגָנֶךָ״ – הַנְהֵג בָּהֶן מִנְהַג דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחַאי אוֹמֵר: אֶפְשָׁר אָדָם חוֹרֵשׁ בִּשְׁעַת חֲרִישָׁה, וְזוֹרֵעַ בִּשְׁעַת זְרִיעָה, וְקוֹצֵר בִּשְׁעַת קְצִירָה, וְדָשׁ בִּשְׁעַת דִּישָׁה, וְזוֹרֶה בִּשְׁעַת הָרוּחַ, תּוֹרָה מַה תְּהֵא עָלֶיהָ? אֶלָּא בִּזְמַן שֶׁיִּשְׂרָאֵל עוֹשִׂין רְצוֹנוֹ שֶׁל מָקוֹם – מְלַאכְתָּן נַעֲשֵׂית עַל יְדֵי אֲחֵרִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְעָמְדוּ זָרִים וְרָעוּ צֹאנְכֶם וְגוֹ׳״, וּבִזְמַן שֶׁאֵין יִשְׂרָאֵל עוֹשִׂין רְצוֹנוֹ שֶׁל מָקוֹם – מְלַאכְתָּן נַעֲשֵׂית עַל יְדֵי עַצְמָן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְאָסַפְתָּ דְגָנֶךָ״. וְלֹא עוֹד אֶלָּא שֶׁמְּלֶאכֶת אֲחֵרִים נַעֲשֵׂית עַל יָדָן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְעָבַדְתָּ אֶת אוֹיְבֶךָ וְגוֹ׳״.

^[vi] והענין הוא. כמ״ש פ’ כיצד מברכין (ברכות לה ב’) ת״ר ואספת דגנך כו’ לפי שנאמר לא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך גו’ יכול דברים ככתבן ת״ל ואספת דגנך הנהג בהן מנהג ד״א דברי ר’ ישמעאל רשב״י אומר אפשר אדם חורש בשעת חרישה כו’ תורה מה תהא עליה אלא בזמן שישראל עושין רצונו של מקום מלאכתן נעשית ע״י אחרים כו’ ובזמן שאין ישראל עושין רש״מ מלאכתן נעשית ע״י עצמן שנאמר ואספת דגנך. ולכאורה תמוה דמוקי לקרא דואספת דגנך כשאין עושין רש״מ והא לעיל מינה כתיב והיה אם שמוע תשמעו אל מצותי וגו’ לאהבה וגו’ ולעבדו בכל לבבכם וגו’. ועלה קאמר ואספת דגנך אבל הענין כי ודאי שאין דעת ר’ ישמעאל שיהא הרשות נתונה לאדם לפרוש ח״ו אף זמן מועט מעסק התורה ולעסוק בפרנסה ויהי’ בטל אותו העת מעסק התורה לגמרי ח״ו. אמנם רמזו ר״י בלשונו הק’ הנהג בהן מנהג ד״א ר״ל עמהן עם הד״ת היינו שגם באותו העת ושעה מועטת שאתה עוסק בפרנסה כדי הצורך וההכרח לחיות נפש עכ״פ ברעיוני מחשבתך תהא מהרהר רק בד״ת.

^[vii] ימים יוצרו ולא אחד בהם (תהילים קל״ט:ט״ז) זה יום השבת לישראל כיצד אדם עושה מלאכה כל ששה ונח בשביעי נתרצה עם בניו ועם בני ביתו שוב אדם עושה מלאכה בפני אויביו כל ששה ימים ונח בשביעי שוכח כל צער שהיה לו כך הוא מדתו של אדם יום טובה משכח יום רעה. יום רעה משכח יום טובה. אמר להם הקב”ה לישראל לא כתבתי לכם בתורתי לא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך (יהושע א׳:ח׳) אע”פ שאתם עושים מלאכה כל ששה ימים שבת יעשה כולו תורה. מכאן אמרו ישכים אדם וישנה בשבת וילך לבית הכנסת ולבית המדרש. ויקרא בתורה וישנה בנביאים ואח”כ ילך לביתו ויאכל וישתה לקיים מה שנאמר לך אכול בשמחה לחמך ושתה בלב טוב יינך (קהלת ט׳:ז׳) לפי שאין לו מנוחה להקב”ה אלא עם עושי תורה בלבד לפי שנאמר ואת כל אלה ידי עשתה וגו’ ואל זה אביט אל עני ונכה רוח וחרד על דברי (ישעיהו ס״ו:ב׳). מכאן אמרו שיקרא אדם שיהא תפוס בידו כדי שלא תשיגנו בושה וכלימה בשעה שאומרים לו עמוד וערוך מקרא שקרית וערוך משנה ששנית וכך הוא מפורש בקבלה על ידי דוד מלך ישראל ה’ בוקר תשמע קולי וגו’ (תהילים ה׳:ד׳).

^[viii] ויכוין להרבות בפירות ומגדים כל היום כדי להשלים מנין ק’ ברכות שחסרים בתפלת י”ח ואם רגיל בשינת הצהרים אל יבטלה כי עונג הוא לו ואחר השינה קובעין מדרש כדאיתא במדרש אמרה תורה לפני הקב”ה רבש”ע כשיכנסו ישראל לארץ זה רץ לכרמו וזה רץ לשדהו ואני מה תהא עלי אמר לה יש לי זוג שאני מזווג לך ושבת שמו שהם בטלים ממלאכתם ויכולין לעסוק בך ע”כ צריך שיקבעו מדרש להודיע לעם את חוקי האלהים ואת תורותיו ואסור לקבוע סעודה בזמן בית המדרש כדאי’ בגיטין בפרק השולח (גיטין לח:) אמר רבה בהני תלת מילי נחתי בעלי בתים מנכסייהו וחד מינייהו דקבעי סעודתא בשבתא בעידן בי מדרשא (טור, אורח חיים ר״צ:א׳)

^[ix] ואל השלשה שלא מדבר דברי תורה ומוציא היום הקדוש בדברים בטלים וטיולים, ולא נתנו שבתות אלא לעסוק בתורה, וידוע מה שפי’ הקדמונים על הפסוק, כי אקח מועד אני משרים אשפוט, שמי שמאבד הזמן ואינו עוסק בתורה בשבתות ובמועדים, ענוש יענש גם על ימי החול ואין לו מקום פטור לומר שהי’ טרוד על המחי’ ועל הכלכלה, שהרי שבתות ומועדים יוכיחו כי אין בפיהו נכונה, וצריך לעסוק בשבת בתורה שבכתב ובתורה שבע”פ, שהם רומזים לקבה”ו ובשבת יחוד קובה”ו, וגם בזכות התורה אנו נגאלין, כי גאולה זו היא בזכות משה רבינו ע”ה והוא תבע יקרא דאורייתא. אלו הן ג’ פשעי ישראל בענין חלול שבת בדבור, ועל ארבעה מה שאינם שואלים ודורשים בהלכות שבת, מפי ספרים או מפי סופרים, המה כשלו ונפלו בהרבה איסורי שבת, ומחללין שבת גם בלי לדעת, כגון באיסור שבות ואיסורי מוקצה ואיסור צידה ואיסור בורר ואיסור ליבון וכן בענין חימום המאכל, ובפרט בשמחות וגיל רבה המכשלה וצריכים מנהיגי הקהילות לעמוד בפרץ, וכהנה רבות אשר מי שלא יבא לדרוש אלקים גם יזקין לא ידע שיש איסור בדבר, וכבר כתב בספר החסידים, כשם שאמרו שואלין ודורשין בהלכות פסח, כך חיובא רמיא לדרוש ולתור לדעת הלכות שבת, ולעבור עליהם לפחות פעם אחת בשנה וחיובא רמיא על הדרשנים לדרוש לעם את חוקי האלקים ואת תורותיו, ולשומעים ומקיימים ינעם ועליהם תבא ברכת טוב.