Baruch Yom HaNimsahim, Chahal Kadosh. Once again, it’s a privilege to be here in Muncie. I came tonight to say a big chiddush (life changing). Some will say it’s life changing. So if you don’t want your life to change, put your fingers in your ears, and I’ll tell you when it’s safe to unplug them.
Everybody knows that the halacha (Jewish law) on Yom Tov (festival day) is that it’s permissible to cook. Yom Tov mechin le'atzmo (Yom Tov prepares for itself). A person wants to take raw food and put it on the barbecue, put it on the grill. A person wants to take water and heat it up. Mutar (permitted). Tzorech Ochel Nefesh (for human food needs). Everybody knows that halacha. What they also know is that while Yom Tov prepares for itself, ein Yom Tov mechin leShabbat (Yom Tov does not prepare for Shabbat). That means that when the holiday comes out on Thursday and Friday is Shabbat, as happens many times in a three-dayer, you’re not allowed to prepare food on Friday Yom Tov for Shabbat. For Friday, you can cook as much food as you want if you eat it on Friday. Yom Tov prepares for itself, but Yom Tov does not prepare for Shabbat.
So what are you supposed to do? You have to eat on Shabbat, so you say, “Okay, maybe Rabbi prepare the food from Erev Yom Tov (the eve of Yom Tov),” and you have to have cold food. What are you going to do? Prepare food and eat whatever comes to you.
But the Gemara says, no, there’s a halachic option here called Eruv Tavshilin (joining of cooked foods). I know you know the law of Eruv Tavshilin. The law of Eruv says that if you go on Wednesday, Erev Yom Tov, and take a boiled egg and a piece of bread, and say, “This is my Eruv, b'hadein eruva (with this eruv),” what is Eruv? Somehow the Eruv makes it permissible. What’s the pshat (plain meaning)? The Rabbi said, when is it forbidden to cook from Yom Tov to Shabbat? That’s when you’re starting on Yom Tov. But if you started already before Yom Tov, then you’re continuing. That’s okay. That egg and that bread are considered a hachana (preparation) for Shabbat from before. So as long as you start the preparations for food and want to continue them on Yom Tov, it’s okay, but you cannot start fresh on Yom Tov.
If somebody came to me on Yom Tov and said, “Rabbi, we forgot to make Eruv Tavshilin. It’s not the first time I forgot it. I’m a chronic person who always forgets. What am I supposed to do?” Have an easy fast. There’s nothing you can do. You’re always forgetting. “But what should I do? Should I stop?” No, don’t stop. Don’t forget. Next time, don’t forget. If you don’t make Eruv Tavshilin, you cannot cook. That’s halacha. It’s well-known halacha.
I recently heard from the Gaon (eminent scholar), Rabbi Moshe Shapira. He quoted the Maharal, and I thought it was an incredible Maharal. It’s a big, big chiddush, what the Maharal says. No other sefer says this except the Maharal. This is a signature chiddush. It says we all know a concept called—we’re not too sure exactly what it is, but we know it’s something after this world. What exactly is it? Well, on a very elementary level of explanation, it’s the world of reward, all the good deeds that we accomplish in this world. So it’s the redemption center. We take all our tokens, all our tickets, whatever we collect in our suitcases, and we go to the desk in Olam HaBa, the world of reward, with all the good deeds we accomplished in this world. We say, “This is what we did,” and they calculate how much it’s worth and what its value is. Based on that, they give us the spiritual, endless reward for our deeds. That’s called Olam HaBa.
The Gemara says, “Neshamot yoshvim ve'nehenim miziv haShechinah”—let the Neshamot sit and bask from the light of the Shechinah (Divine Presence). Now, of course, how much you accomplish in this world determines the level you’re going to get in Olam HaBa.
If I were talking to children, I would tell them about when they go play games in the arcades and collect tickets. They work the whole day collecting these tickets, and then they go to the redemption counter. They say, “I have 40,000 tickets. 40,000 tickets? What can I get?” “Oh, you can get this—whatever, a back scratcher or some sort of Chinese yo-yo.” That’s his reward. The reward isn’t physical. It’s a spiritual reward.
Now I must say, some of you will say, “But Rabbi, after a while it’s going to get boring.” No. You see, it’s a reward we’re not used to. It’s a type of panacea we’re not accustomed to. We’re accustomed to physical pleasure. Physical pleasure is finite. How many steaks could you eat? How many watches could you wear? How many suits could you wear? They’re limited. But when you’re dealing with spiritual pleasure, since God is eternal, His reward is also eternal. It’s always exciting, always fresh, and always new.
It’s not like when a person goes on vacation. Even the best vacation, after a certain amount of time, you say, “I want to go home already.” Here in Olam HaBa, it’s eternal bliss. It never becomes monotonous. It’s always mechadesh (refreshing), always refreshing. You don’t have to worry about that. And that’s the goal. The goal is that we came into this world. The destination is not Olam HaZeh (this world). The destination is Olam HaBa. But to get to Olam HaBa, you have to come to this world first, and this is where you collect all the tokens.
So this is what the Mesillat Yesharim taught us. The world is a vestibule. It’s actually the Mishnah, Pirkei Avot: this is a station stop. It’s an important station stop, but the ultimate goal is to get to—that’s why the Zohar HaKadosh refers to this world as—it’s the world of action. This isn’t the world to sit back lazily, with lethargy and lifelessness. This is the world of get up and do. Fill your luggage, overfill it, and then transfer it to Olam HaBa. Then they’ll make the cheshbon (accounting), and then you sit for eternity.
But there’s a rule in Olam HaBa: once you get there, you can’t do anything else. Many people will get to Olam HaBa and say, “Wow, look at this place over here. What is this over here? We didn’t realize its value. Okay, do me a favor, let me do three or four mitzvot (commandments).” No, no, that’s it. Whatever you have in your luggage, that’s it. You cannot transfer anything. There are no more opportunities once you get to Olam HaBa. The bank is closed.
That makes this world that much more important, because there isn’t another place to accomplish what you can accomplish in this world. That’s why the tzaddikim (righteous people) love life. “Yafeh sha'ah achat”—one moment in this world is greater than many moments in the next world, for the simple reason that in this world I can amass the currency I can eventually transfer into eternity. But once you get to eternity, there’s no way to acquire eternity.
So the Maharal—it’s not the Maharal, it’s the Gemara. The Gemara asks, is there any mashal (parable), any parable in this world that we can relate to that has a similarity to Olam HaBa? It’s difficult. If somebody said to me, “Rabbi, I’ve never tasted sugar before. Is there some type of similarity?” I could tell him, “Taste watermelon. The taste you’re tasting in the watermelon is like sugar.” I could give him a good example. But if somebody asked us, “Show me something in this world that’s Olam HaBa,” the Gemara says, “Shabbat me'en Olam HaBa,” Shabbat is a taste of the World to Come. Shabbat. And I know that for some people, Shabbat is like Gehinam (Hell) to them. But the Gemara says you’re doing it wrong, administering it wrong, if it feels like Gehinam.
Shabbat is me'en Olam HaBa. The way I understand it, it has a similar property: once you get to Shabbat, you can’t prepare anymore. Whatever you have, you have. That’s it. This Erev Shabbat, I prepared the crock pot. I put all the goodies in there to prepare the Hamin (Shabbat stew) for Shabbat. I came home Friday night from Beit Knesset (synagogue), and I forgot to plug it in. That’s it. There’s nothing you can do. You’re in Olam HaBa now. But I made a mistake. Don’t make a mistake next time. But that’s it. There’s nothing you can do. You can’t even tell a goya to plug it in for you. It’s finished. That situation is over. You’re in Olam HaBa. There’s no more tikkun (repair) to be done.
Somebody forgot to put the hot water on. That’s it. “Mi she'tarach be'erev Shabbat, yochal be'erev Shabbat. Mi she'lo tarach be'erev Shabbat, mah yochal beShabbat?”—whoever prepared on Friday eats on Shabbat; whoever did not prepare on Friday, what will he eat on Shabbat? So that’s me'en Olam HaBa. Shabbat is also me'en Olam HaBa because it’s out of this world. We have no connection to physicality. The 39 melachot (categories of prohibited labor): you can’t even turn on a light, push a button, send an email, or write two letters. It removes us from this world a little. You’re still in this world, but there’s a little detachment, a disconnect from this world.
That’s why in our Beit Knesset in Brooklyn, since Shabbat is me'en Olam HaBa, we come to Beit Knesset three hours before Shabbat starts. We came to Beit Knesset at 5.15. We have Daf Yomi, limudin, and we end Shabbat late—40 minutes after everybody else. Because we’re in Olam HaBa, we want early check-in and late check-out. We don’t want to take the minimum. This is the greatest feeling we’re going to get toward Olam HaBa.
That’s what the Gemara says, “Shabbat me'en Olam HaBa.” The Maharal says, Shabbat is me'en—what is Yom Tov? Interesting question. He says Yom Tov is Yemot HaMashiach (the days of the Messiah). Now here’s where we get into a subject many people are ignorant about. What exactly are Yemot HaMashiach? Everybody has ideas about what they think Yemot HaMashiach is. Some people are scared of the days of the Mashiach because they heard there’s going to be a terrible war. Some people are happy. They heard Mashiach is going to pay all your bills. Somebody heard that all the hair is going to fall out. Everybody has heard things, but nobody is actually certain what happens in Yemot HaMashiach.
But the Maharal writes that Yom Tov is the analogy to Yemot HaMashiach. So where are you going to find out what happens in Yemot HaMashiach? You need to open the Rambam in the ninth chapter of Hilchot Teshuvah (the laws of repentance). It’s a very important chapter, so important that I’m going to take the liberty of reading it with you tonight. This is mandatory knowledge that every Jew must know. The ninth chapter in Hilchot Teshuvah.
The Rambam already establishes a postulate. It’s known that the reward for mitzvot, if we keep the way of Hashem, is in the next world, as it says. And those who go against the Torah face retribution, and where is that? Also in the next world. So the Rambam says all the reward and all the punishment are over there.
So he has a question. If you open the Torah, the Torah constantly says that if you keep the mitzvot, there’s going to be prosperity. If you keep the mitzvot, there’s going to be peace and rain. He says, “What are you talking about? And if you don’t keep the mitzvot, there’s going to be war and famine and troubles. What are you talking about? I told you the reward is in the next world.”
So the Rambam scratches his head and says, “Make up your mind. Is the reward in the next world, or is the reward in this world?” The pasuk (verse) should say, “If you keep My mitzvot, don’t expect anything in this world. Be patient; the reward is on the way. And if you make—don’t be so nervous either, because the punishment is in the next world anyway.” But the Torah doesn’t say that. Keep the mitzvot, and you get the reward in this world. So the Rambam says, “Hey, make up your mind. The Gemara tells me in one place that reward in this world doesn’t exist, but then I open up the Keriat Shema (the recitation of Shema), and it tells me clearly.” So the Rambam asks, how do you square it off? He says something incredible.
“If you listen, you get this, and if you don’t listen, you get that.”
“Ve'khol otan hadevarim ba'olam hazeh, k'gon sova v'ra'av, milchama v'shalom, yeshivat ha'aretz v'galut, hatzlachat ma'aseh v'hefsedo, u'she'ar kol divrei habrit.” What is this? “Kol otan hadevarim emet hayu v'yihyu,” and it will continue to be emet (true); it will continue to happen. “U'vizman she'anu osim kol mitzvot haTorah,” when we keep all the mitzvot religiously, “yaggi'u eleinu tovot ha'olam hazeh kulan”: you will guarantee yourself all the benefits, perks, and enjoyments of this world. “U'vizman she'anu overim aleihen,” and God forbid, if we transgress, “tikrena otanu hara'ot haketuvot”: whatever is written is going to be fulfilled.
Even so, that’s not the reward, nor is that the punishment. The Rambam is building a strong case here. He’s telling you that everything the Torah says is beautiful. You can take that to the bank. Keep the mitzvot, and all the berachot (blessings) that are written will come to the individual and to the tzibur (community), and vice versa as well. But that’s not the reward for the mitzvot. So then what is it? The reward is Olam HaBa. Maybe it’s a down payment? No, no, it’s not even a down payment. It has nothing to do with the reward of Olam HaBa. That reward is intact, full payment.
So what is this, then? This is how we explain it. God gave us the Torah. It’s a tree of life. He observes it, knows it well, and studies it; he gets eternity. “U'lefi godel ma'aseh u'legodel chochmato hu zocheh”—the more he observes and the more he amasses in his knowledge, the more he merits. “U'vetiknu baTorah” is the key line, “she'im na'aseh otah b'simcha”: if we do them thoughtfully, of course, and with joy; “u'vetovat nefesh,” willingly; “venehegeh b'chochmatah tamid,” we ponder its wisdom always; “she'yasir mimenu,” God will remove from us all the inconveniences, interruptions, and different things that stand in our way of observing.
There’s no sickness. Because if a person is sick, he can’t observe. He can’t go to bed—he cannot study the Gemara if he’s sick. He cannot observe many of the mitzvot when he’s lying in bed. So the Torah says that if you keep the mitzvot and God sees good intention, He’ll take away sickness. That’s not your reward. You’ll be very healthy. Why? So God will give you more opportunities to do more mitzvot, so you can get more Olam HaBa. And God will make it so there’ll be peace in the world. If there’s peace in the world, a person has tranquility and can do more mitzvot. If a person is living in a time of war, he’s frightened; he can’t leave his house, he has no access, and he has fear.
So the Rambam says there’ll be prosperity, there’ll be peace, there’ll be a lot of money. A person with a lot of money doesn’t have to worry about parnassah (livelihood). One of the reasons why we struggle in religion today is that the men have to go to work. They have to leave by 7 o’clock in the morning. So they’re not—they have to sleep, too. They have to get up in the morning, run out of bed to Beit Knesset, because they can stay until the end of Shabbat. The rabbi says, “Why don’t you stay for a shiur (Torah lesson)?” The bus—they have to go to work to make money. “Okay, come back tonight for the shiur.” “I don’t get back to Monsey until 8 o’clock at night, and tomorrow I’m going to have to do the same thing. So Shabbat, Shabbat is my one day off.”
But we can’t blame the person, because all the parnassah is on him. “Well, go tell the electric company I had to do that for me this week. Go tell your mortgage company, ‘I was learning with the rabbi.’” So the Rambam says that if you observe the Torah properly, all that yoke of parnassah, all the taxes and the yoke of government, all that stuff disappears, so you’re free to do more. So the reward is really that God clears away the obstacles, making the path of greater observance easier.
And then once that happens—and vice versa. He says we don’t have to spend all our time in physicality, so we can sit and learn. And then he says the opposite is also true. If a person is delinquent and the Jewish people start to become rebellious, if we make a conscious decision to leave the Torah and get involved in the trivialities and frivolities of this world, God, who is the perfect judge, “yasir min ha'ovdim kol tovot ha'olam”: God will remove all the goods of this world, and now all of a sudden it’s going to be very hard to do the mitzvot. It’s going to be very hard to keep the mitzvot.
He concludes, “Ve'im”—such a beautiful lashon (expression). I know I’m reading an old chapter in front of you, but every word we’re reading is a positive commandment from the Torah. The lashon is the—half of the Rambam: “Nimsa pirush kol otam ha'berachot ve'hakelalot.” What it means, the berachot and the kelalot (curses) of the Torah. “Kelomar, im avadtem et Hashem b'simcha,” and you kept away, “mashpia lachem ha'berachot ha'elu,” these berachot will come upon you, “u'marchikah hakelalot,” and the kelalot will be removed. “Achit you pinoyim,” you’ll be free, “la'asok baTorah” (to study with peace of mind), “ve'la'asok ba keder sh'tesku l'chayei Olam HaBa,” because God is going to give you more opportunities to get to Olam HaBa. “Veyitav lecha le'olam shekulo tov.” You’ll get the reward—or it counts in the upper next world. “Ve'ta'arich yamim le'olam shekulo tov, venimtza'atem zokhim lishnei olamot.” The person who is observant ends up getting two worlds. He gets the best he can get in this world, and he has the opportunities in front of him to get the best of the next world. “Le'chayim tovim ba'olam hazeh hamevi'im lechayei ha'olam haba,” which bring to Olam HaBa.
Because if you don’t buy the tokens, what is he going to have? In the world to come, the suitcase is empty. And if you leave God, you go after your stomach, the eating and the drinking. And God forbid, “vedomeh lahem mevi aleichem kol hakelalot ha'elu,” all the curses come upon a person, “u'mesir kol haberachot.” Now life becomes very difficult, and it’s a vicious cycle. Once life becomes very difficult, you can’t do the mitzvot because you don’t have the wherewithal to do them. Once you can’t do mitzvot, you don’t get a world to come. “Venimtza she'ibadtem shnei olamot,” he loses both worlds, “shebizman she'adam tarud ba'olam hazeh,” because when a person is preoccupied in this world with sickness, war, and famine, we are not engaged in wisdom or in the mitzvah, which contain the reward of the life of the world.
Fundamental, fundamental interpretation, says the Maharal: the blockbuster chiddush. He says Yom Tov is Yemot HaMashiach.
The Gemara, when it talks about Yemot HaMashiach, quotes a pasuk in Kohelet. Shlomo HaMelech calls Yemot HaMashiach “yamim she'ein bahem chefetz” (days in which there is no desire). The days when there’s no more chefetz (desire), no more will. The Gemara says, “Lo zechut ve'lo chovah”—neither merit nor liability. Once Mashiach comes, that’s it. You cannot amass any more merit or any sin.
It seems, from what I told you before, that the redemption center is Olam HaBa, and once you get to Olam HaBa, you can’t amass anymore. It seems that this happens before Olam HaBa. Now, the way Olam HaBa works is that this world is a 6,000-year world, the Gemara says, maximum. Then Yemot HaMashiach is a thousand years. Yemot HaMashiach lasts for a thousand years, and after Yemot HaMashiach, we get to the next level. We move up to the higher levels of Olam HaBa. So it sounds like, from the Gemara, that those thousand years of Yemot HaMashiach are called “yamim she'ein bahem chefetz.” “Lo zechut ve'lo chovah.”
What I mean to say is, if Mashiach comes tomorrow morning, that’s it. Your suitcase is locked. I mean, you can come to Beit Knesset. You can do all the mitzvot, but that’s it. The ticket is zero. Zero value. “Yamim she'ein bahem chefetz.” And we believe Mashiach will come tomorrow morning. So you have to correct, hurry up; there should be a certain sense of urgency.
The Maharal comes and says, “Not so fast.” He says, “You’re right. Yom Tov eino mechin leShabbat.” Yemot HaMashiach cannot prepare for Olam HaBa. However, there’s one case when Yom Tov prepares for Shabbat. That’s if you started before. If you prepared Eruv Tavshilin on Wednesday, then the Chachamim (Sages) said, you started, so you can continue.
So he says whoever started keeping the Torah and mitzvot in this world can continue to amass during Yemot HaMashiach, which is Erev Shabbat. For the thousand years, they can still fill their suitcases with mitzvot. That’s a big chiddush.
But the Gemara says, “yamim she'ein bahem chefetz.” That’s somebody who didn’t make Eruv Tavshilin. Somebody who was a deadbeat in this world, totally delinquent, didn’t want to keep any religion—“That’s not for me, the religion.” Now Yemot HaMashiach comes: “Oh, I’m in.” Now you can’t be in. You didn’t do anything. You didn’t even do a pizza and a piece of bread; you did nothing. No, you cannot prepare now. “Rabbi, I was religious.” Are you religious? You prepared; you came to Yom HaKadosh Baruch Hu?
So in this world we’re making Eruv Tavshilin to allow us, when Yemot HaMashiach comes, to continue. We get a bonus round. When I saw that Maharal, I said, “Wow.” Because we always teach this to kids: once Mashiach comes, game over. He’s taking us all over. It’s over for those who didn’t prepare.
So when we come to a shiur tonight, what are we doing? We’re making Eruv Tavshilin. When we come to Beit Knesset, when the ladies do chesed (kindness), whatever it is we’re involved in, that’s the preparation we do in Olam HaZeh for the main advantage of the thousand years of Yemot HaMashiach.
Why do I call those years the main advantage? Listen to this Rambam now. After giving us the whole build-up of what the sachar (reward) is and what the onesh (punishment) is, he says in halacha—do you understand? All that I just read is one halacha. The whole page is one halacha. Halacha Aleph. We have to learn two halachot. All the other halachot every day.
And because of that, because of what I just told you, he says that the rabbis and the prophets and all of Israel desire the days of Mashiach. Why? So there won’t be any more antisemitism. The governments won’t be down our backs. The tax collector won’t be bothering us in this world. They don’t let us keep—we’re too busy having to run and pay bills, and we’re too busy trying to protect ourselves from the goyim (non-Jews). So the tzaddikim are waiting for Mashiach because when Mashiach comes, nothing is going to change. The world will still continue. The sun is going to rise, the sun is going to set. You’ll still have your house. The apple trees will give apples. But what? Everybody will believe in one God: “Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad,” Hashem our God, Hashem is One. And there won’t be any more antisemitism. And one thing is going to change: Abba Ham will tell you, “No stress.” It’s Olam HaZeh without the stress factor.
And if all of a sudden everybody has peace of mind again, everybody has serenity and tranquility, there are no antidepressants, and all of a sudden it’s just bliss time. That’s why the tzaddikim yearn for that. Why? “Veyimsa'u lahem margowa” (they will find tranquility). You know what margoa is? They will be relaxed: no pressure, no stress, no running. Everything will be at ease. “Veyirbu bechokhmah” (they will increase in wisdom), and then they’ll be able to study. Nobody’s going to have to run to work. Nobody’s going to have to worry about sickness. Nobody’s going to have to worry about wars. It’s just going to be total tranquility. And therefore everybody’s going to be able to study a lot.
Now listen to the next words of the Rambam. He’s talking about Yemot HaMashiach, yes? “Veyirbu bechokhmah kedei sheyizku lechayei Olam HaBa.” “Kedei sheyizku lechayei...” Hey, Rambam, you’re in Yemot HaMashiach. I thought once Mashiach comes, the game is over. What do you mean? So they have peace of mind and tranquility so they can learn more Torah. I thought the Gemara says—You know what they’re waiting for? Because those are the best days. They can serve God without any issues. That’s exactly what the Maharal said.
So it’s not the Maharal, it’s the Rambam. And that’s why the tzaddikim yearn for this moment, because in this world we do the mitzvot, but there’s stress, and therefore we cannot reach our full potential. But in the thousand years of Yemot HaMashiach, all the Maharal added to this was that you have to start in this world. If you prepared Eruv Tavshilin in Olam HaZeh, then this Rambam already applies to you. And it’s a big event, because the main benefits will be during these thousand years. We’re going to be able to stay in synagogue, we won’t have to rush, and we’ll be able to learn. There won’t be a Yetzer Hara (the evil inclination) like we know it. So you won’t have to fight the inclination like we have to fight it today. It’s a win-win for us. There’s no downside. The only one who loses in Yemot HaMashiach is the one who didn’t start preparing in this world. The one who says, “I’ll wait, I’ll wait until Yemot HaMashiach, then I’ll get religious.” Ha ha ha ha, too late.
And supposedly they’re all talking about how we’re in Yemot HaMashiach. You don’t have to be a mekubal (Kabbalist) today to figure that out. Even those rabbis who usually aren’t predictors of Mashiach talk about how Mashiach is already at the doorstep. The Gaon of Vilna said that when Russia invades the Crimea, you’ll already hear the footsteps of Mashiach. That’s what he said many years ago. That’s brought down by his student Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Haber. So you open the news and see Russia invading the Crimea, and it’s a big deal; it doesn’t mean anything to you. But the government doesn’t understand that it’s already a telltale sign. So now is the moment to prepare Eruv Tavshilin.
Now, the Maharal doesn’t get into details. It works by whatever you prepare, you can continue to prepare. Mitzvot you were delinquent in are off the chart when it comes to Yemot HaMashiach. Or do you say, no? Do you say, “Well, since I prepared an egg and a piece of bread, everything...” He doesn’t go into the details. I wanted to say, with your permission, I don’t know if it’s—at least the first time, you can rely on the rabbi. The rabbi makes the—he has the whole congregation in mind. It’s probably important for us to have a rabbi, too, then, because somehow, even if we messed up, if you’re connected to the rabbi, hold on to the rabbi.
The Hasidim believe in this. The Rebbe will help us somehow. I guess it’s a concept. The Rav is the universal Eruv Tavshilin. So you need to have a Rav. I’ll send you a Rav. If you can’t get into your Yemot HaMashiach on your own merits, hold on to the Rav.
If this is true, there’s another Rambam. Another point. The Rambam writes that one of the 13 principles of faith that a Jew must believe in is biat haMashiach, the coming of the Mashiach, and his lashon is, “V'chol mi she'enu ma'amin”—whoever doesn’t believe in Mashiach is a kofer (heretic), is considered an apostate, “lo rak betorat Moshe, but be'Elohim”—it’s considered blasphemy against God. But I didn’t read you the Rambam correctly. The Rambam says it like this, and then he says in the shul—or whoever is not waiting for him or anticipating his coming.
Why, why, why? This is strong language. He asks me, “Do I believe in the principle of Mashiach?” Of course. “Are you mechakeh (waiting expectantly)?” What, am I looking at my watch? I’m not looking at my watch every five minutes: “Did he come yet? Did he come yet?” Is he asking me, “Do I sleep over it? Do I wake up in the morning and say, ‘Did he come?’” No, that’s what mechakeh means. But the Rambam is saying there are two levels—oh no, there aren’t two levels; there are two beliefs. There’s Ani Ma'amin (I believe). I believe most people are. But the question is, we have a problem with the second part of the Rambam’s definition.
There are six questions they’re going to ask us when we go up to Shamayim (Heaven) after 120 years. One of the questions is, “Did you anticipate the yeshuah (salvation)?” Not, “Did you believe in it?” So it seems part of the process is that Am Yisrael (the people of Israel) has to desire it. They have to anticipate it. It doesn’t say in the tefillah (prayer); it’s an inyan (matter) of yearning for it. This is something where we have to take stock of ourselves.
The Rambam is telling you that the whole religion rests on this ikar (principle), and if we take this away, he can’t—the religion falls. Somebody will say, “No, Rabbi, I’m a metzapeh (one who awaits). I’m anticipating.” So I’ll give you the litmus test. If you want to know whether you’re a metzapeh or not, there’s an easy litmus test.
In our country we get two weeks of vacation. Everybody takes their vacation at a different time. A person finally earns his two weeks of vacation, goes to the airport, and has his bags filled with goodies. He’s going to go to whatever destination—Miami, wherever he goes—to escape the cold weather. They announce boarding the plane. He’s going away; he’s going on vacation. The plane gets to the runway. The pilot has an announcement to make: it seems Mashiach just came. Now he came—he has to come now, right before I’m going to Florida? He didn’t come for 2,000 years; now he has to come right before my trip? I thought you were a metzapeh. “I’m a metzapeh” means, “Let him come on your schedule,” meaning let him come on February 3rd at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. I can fit him in between 2 and 3. Don’t let him come on a Sunday; I don’t want him to ruin the weekend. Don’t let him come at night; I want to go to dinner. If he comes in between that time—waiting for you? Are you waiting for me? When you’re on the runway, you say, “I don’t care, let him come. I’m going to Florida anyway.”
So we’re comfortable. Yeah, I believe he’ll come. But I’m good, especially since we live in a comfortable Galut (exile). We don’t need it so much.
So the Rambam said, “And I’m asking a simple question. Wow, what’s the big deal? What is he doing to us?” I’ll tell you the explanation. Big yesod (foundation). HaKadosh Baruch Hu (the Holy One, blessed be He) created the world leheitiv (to do good), for our benefit, to do good for us. God is a metiv (benefactor), and the derech (way) of a metiv is leheitiv. The derech of a good God is to shower or share that good with His creatures. And if we created the world as a place to give us an ultimate life, the plan—the way God wanted the world to look—is the way He created Adam HaRishon. Adam HaRishon was created in Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden). That’s the way God wanted the world to look. That’s the ratzon Hashem (will of God), the metiv, the heitiv. Gan Eden, everything is in front of us. That’s the goal.
But what happened? We couldn’t stay in that state, not even for an hour. Adam HaRishon ate from the tree. He was chased out of Gan Eden, and now all of a sudden, take two. It’s a new world, a world that God did not intend for. This is something that was—it’s bedi'avad (after the fact). Now it’s not what Hashem wanted initially. God wanted everybody to be in Gan Eden. And if Adam HaRishon had made it through Shabbat, game over. That’s it. The world would have reached its perfection.
So Borei Olam (Creator of the World) says, “Okay, we have to bring the world back to perfection.” So it took 2448 years, 26 generations, and all of a sudden we got to Matan Torah (the giving of the Torah), and God says the world has returned to the starting point. The world reached perfection at that moment. The poison of the snake, the venom, dissipated, and the world reached—but all of a sudden, like a fragile glass, boom, it couldn’t hold it, and the world reverted to its corrupt state.
Borei HaOlam said, “Okay, I’m not giving up. I’ve got to bring it back. Build me a Mishkan (Tabernacle).” They built the Mishkan, and the world came back to perfection. A few hours later, Nadav and Avihu sinned. Every time we reach perfection, it gets sabotaged.
Shlomo HaMelech builds the first Beit HaMikdash (Temple). The Gemara says that on the day he built the Beit HaMikdash, it was Tikkun HaOlam (the repair of the world). The world reached the perfection of Adam HaRishon. But what happened on that day? Shlomo HaMelech married the daughter of Paro (Pharaoh), and God said, “What? On this day, tikkun? He married the daughter of Paro.” God tells Gabriel, “Go into the Mediterranean and make a pile of sand over there.” Eventually, that pile of sand would become Rome, Italy, and God already said that the people who would come to this island would eventually destroy the second Beit HaMikdash. The destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash was already decided on the day the first Beit HaMikdash was inaugurated: the day that was supposed to be Tikkun HaOlam.
I ask you a simple question. Even if you know nothing about this topic, do you think God intended the world to look the way it looks today? Could that have been God’s intention? That God created the world with all the decadence and loneliness and degeneracy and crime and loneliness? This is what the world is? Do you think this is Borei Olam’s intention, that the world should look like this? Or maybe there was a different intention? Of course, the intention was Adam HaRishon, Har Sinai (Mount Sinai), Mishkan, Bayit Rishon (First Temple), but it keeps getting sabotaged. But Hashem’s ratzon is to constantly bring it back, and therefore the goal is to bring the world to Yemot HaMashiach. Yemot HaMashiach is like Adam HaRishon kodem hachet (before the sin).
So somebody who doesn’t anticipate this, somebody who doesn’t yearn for this, is saying one of two things. If you don’t yearn for it, that must mean you’re saying Borei Olam can’t do it. If you’re giving up, it’s as if you’re saying, like the Meragelim (spies) said, that it’s impossible, that even Borei Olam cannot remove these inhabitants. And I’m like—as if to say, “Listen, Borei Olam tried a few times, but I’m not hopeful.” You’re not hopeful. The holy books write, “the Hathalab the Mashiach must come from the people.” When the Kaddosh Baruch Hu sees “the son of the people,” that they want it, that already activates it. But when the people say we’re not yearning, as if to say we’re pessimistic, not too hopeful that it will happen, the odds are against it, the world is so low, and already “it’s take four”—well, you’re doubting not only, “kofer in Moshe,” but “kofer in Elohim,” in God Himself.
Those who do not anticipate the Messiah fail to realize the fundamental reason why we were created. We were created to do mitzvot, and the only place you can do mitzvot is this world. But this world isn’t optimal for doing the mitzvot because there are inconveniences. So there’s going to be another place that will be a perfect panacea for fulfilling mitzvot. You’re not waiting for that.
If somebody goes to an amusement park and they make an announcement that at a certain moment very soon all the tickets that come out of the machine are going to be worth a hundred times their value, all the kids are looking at their watches every second. “What are you looking at your watch for?” They say, “Any second, the tickets will be 100 times the value.” The kid knows the reason he came to the arcade is to collect tickets. He knows that if there’s a chance now for extended play and a bonus, this is what he came for. His mother says, “Let’s go home.” “No, no, I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right over here.” So they make an announcement: “Listen, it could be one minute, it could be 10 minutes, it could be 20 minutes, it could be an hour.” “Let it be 10 hours. I’m not going anywhere.” The kid knows what he came to the arcade for. All of a sudden, he dozes off in the arcade. He wakes up: “Did it happen? Did it happen?” “No, no, no, it didn’t happen. Go back to sleep.” We understand that. Everybody understands that mashal (parable).
Take it to the Mashiach. You’re right when it comes to the arcade. We don’t recognize that the whole purpose of this world is to keep the Torah and the mitzvot to get to Olam HaBa. So if they’re telling you there’s a certain moment in life when all this stuff goes away and there’s a clear road to serve God, and that’s why the tzaddikim desired it—look at the Rambam above. That was their desire to come to the days of Mashiach.
And we see today how difficult it is to fulfill the mitzvot. Today there’s no famine, Baruch Hashem, in America; there’s peace, there’s no war. But who said war has to look like somebody standing with a gun and bombs and all sorts of military? People cannot get through a tefillah without playing with their phone. The addiction to a phone, the addiction to a computer, the addiction to drugs and alcohol and gambling—there’s a war. So it’s a different face of war. It’s a war without a military. And our children cannot study in the yeshiva because they’re addicted to eating goblins and shooting landing planes and slicing fruit, eating birds, whatever they’re doing. So this becomes an obsession, and their minds cannot concentrate on the Talmud.
When Mashiach comes, all that, all that goes away. So we should anticipate that world, where all these things we become addicted to won’t bother us anymore.
So I heard that this is how they explained it: there’s a law that says that on Motza'ei Yom Tov (the end of Yom Tov), we don’t make the Beracha (blessing) of Besamim (spices). On Motza'ei Shabbat (the end of Shabbat), we make Besamim. Tosafot explains that on Shabbat we have a Neshama Yeteira (an additional soul), and the Neshama Yeteira leaves on Motza'ei Shabbat. So to replenish the Neshama Yeteira that leaves, we inhale a good fragrance. On Yom Tov, Tosafot says, there’s no Neshama Yeteira, so there’s no need to replenish it.
The Ramban has a difference. Where’s the Ramban? It’s not in the Chosushi Man Shas, but in one of the Sefarim, one of those Sefarim. He says, no, there is a Neshama Yeteira on Yom Tov, and he writes that since Shabbat—Shabbat is connected to the coming world. Once Shabbat is over, you can’t extend the coming world in this world. It’s because of the coming world. If it’s over, it’s over. Mashiach is on Yom Tov, which is because of Yemot HaMashiach. So Yemot HaMashiach doesn’t leave you, because we want Yemot HaMashiach in this world. We want to bring Yemot HaMashiach into this world. So therefore it’s still holding by us.
And that’s how they explain the concept of Isru Chag (the day following a festival). What’s the idea of Isru Chag? You have to have an extra day. What, seven days of Pesach (Passover) isn’t enough? Eight days of Pesach? Nine days of Sukkot (the festival of Sukkot)? An extra one, one for the road. Isru Chag, and the Gemara says, “Oh, whoever keeps Isru Chag, the Bishr of Bar Yohai, wow!” What’s so big about Isru Chag? An extra day of school—what’s the inyan of Isru Chag?
The Mefarshim (commentators) explained that because Yom Tov is Yemot HaMashiach, when a person makes an extra day, he’s showing a hakelo. “I don’t want to leave Yemot HaMashiach so fast. I want to bring Yemot HaMashiach b'toch Olam HaZeh (into this world) already.” Isru Chag is about showing the Kaddosh Baruch Hu, “I don’t want to leave these days so quickly. I want to extend Yemot HaMashiach into this world already, to those great days when the tzaddikim will be there.”
And it says in the Rambam that when Mashiach comes, one of the things he’s going to do is build a Mizbeach (altar) and bring korbanot (offerings). So they say it’s as if you’re involved in that messianic moment.
Why do I speak to you about this tonight? Number one, it’s always good to talk about Olam HaBa. We don’t talk about that often. We’re so busy talking about everything else, we forget the purpose. We get so caught up in talking about every other chiddush, we forget the Takhlit (ultimate purpose), Olam HaBa, what we came into this world for. “Yesod, Asidut, V'shoresh, Aboda.” Like the Mishnah Yishani says in the sefer, “Who shiit baner b'yamet etz l'adamah uvato v'olamo.” What did I come here for? What’s my goal?
But the reason I tell you tonight is that now we’re on the cusp of the summer. Some people think the summer means we do mitzvot 10 months a year, two months a year, and that’s it, it’s finished. There are no opportunities in the summer. Summer is off. They think our Torah is seasonal, a winter Torah, not a summer Torah. Oh, this is a big mistake. Of course, the street doesn’t help us, and the street already tells us that the summer is Yimei Yerida (days of spiritual decline), days of decreasing our observance.
And if a person prepares Eruv Tavshilin, the Eruv Tavshilin has to be in existence going into Yom Tov. Somebody ate the Eruv Tavshilin right before Yom Tov. What’s the halacha? Before Yom Tov, he came down to the kitchen. “Hey, where did the egg go?” “The Shepha ate it.” Shepha ate that egg? Where’s the bread? What if she put the egg in the sandwich? He called the rabbi, and the rabbi said, “You’re stuck.” “But I made the Eruv; she ate it before the holiday.” That means the Eruv Tavshilin has to last until—until Yemot HaMashiach.
Taking off in the summer is like eating the Eruv. You work, you work, you work the whole year; you’re preparing the Eruv Tavshilin. Then summer comes: “I’ll see you later.” Now you come in September. Where’s the Eruv? Two months, it’s spoiled, it’s gone. For all this work we’re talking about tonight, it’s a 12-month service.
I’m not saying you have to have all four engines on in the summer. You don’t have to relax a little, let your hair down, calm down, make a little—no fish, I don’t say no. When the summer becomes when it becomes, when it does whatever they want, and we’ll see you in September—no more pencils, no more books. Our rabbis always tell us, “the vacation from Torah.” Those words always ring in our brains whenever these two months come.
Of course, we have a right to relax a little. Somebody asked me as a teacher, “What are the two greatest things about teaching?” Tell them, “July and August.” It’s good to have a break, but a responsible break. Not from mitzvot, not from Torah, not from minyan (prayer quorum), not from learning, not from Siddur Kavua (fixed prayer schedule), not from—but what we have to work on is to develop what the Rambam says, that’s in the—that there’s two, and even if he’s delayed, the—is just as important as—and once our heads are screwed on straight again, you know the—
It’s easy to be... Yeah, I don’t want to be addicted to all these gadgets anymore. We don’t want to have sickness anymore, so that we can’t concentrate because we’re so preoccupied with all the troubles and the sanat of this world. Of course, we want that to be read, but for what purpose? So we can have clarity, sit, and not have to run out of synagogue every morning. We can come back at night and learn. We can do the mitzvot with clarity of mind.
So, keder, like the Rambam’s beautiful golden language, keder. I know I’m talking to the choir over here. Where am I giving this speech? Somebody doesn’t know where I am—oh, he must have been somewhere, you know, in the village, in the city, talking to some college dropouts. Where am I giving this speech? I’m giving it in Monsey, ir hakodesh (the holy city). I know this is a 12-month town over here. I know you people over here aren’t delinquent when it comes to that. The talk isn’t for you.
But I also say what the Gemara says. It doesn’t make an asterisk, but if it’s Monsey, they don’t need chizuk (strengthening). Those guys are tzaddikim. It doesn’t give me the zip codes that don’t need chizuk. It seems that wherever you are, that’s what allows me to give the chizuk tonight. I’m giving chizuk to myself as well.
That’s why Rabbeinu Ari says—and we’ll conclude—we make Isru Chag, but we don’t make Isru Chag for Shabbat. Every Sunday we have Isru Shabbat. No, because you can’t make it Isru to the next world. The next world is a different game. Isru, no. But for Yom Tov—for Yom Tov, that’s Yemot HaMashiach—we want to bring Yemot HaMashiach into this world. But the next world, that’s the thing: you can’t put something after the next world. So there’s no Isru Shabbat, but there’s Isru Chag.
Not “yamim she'ein bahem chefetz.” We’re not looking for that; we don’t want that merit. “Yamim she'ein bahem chefetz, lo zechut ve'lo chovah.” We’re not interested. We’re interested in “what the tzaddikim et'avu, nevi'ehem ve'chachmehem, Yemot HaMelech HaMashiach, kedei she'yanuchu mimalkhut haresha'ah, la'asot batoranam mitzvot, veyimsa lahem margowa,” and be wise so that he may keep his life alive. Baruch HaRamayim.