Yom HaBotai, welcome. We’re learning early Haftarah (reading from the Prophets). That’s what we do on Fridays. This series has been dedicated by our good friend Mr. Freddy Kasab and his wife. The dedication is for their success. And I do Nishmat Yaakov ben Sarani, Yitzhak ben Mazav, Rav HaShem, Tanechem, Begin Eden. Amen.
We’re learning Parashat Re'eh, Haftarah Re'eh. It’s one of the seven Haftarot of Shiv'a d'Nechemta (seven of consolation). It’s actually the third one in the series. Today’s Haftarah once again comes from the book of Yeshayah. It’s chapter 54. The Ashkenazim actually read this Haftarah twice a year. They also read this Haftarah on Parashat Noach. We do not; we read Roni Akarah. We read a different one during Pesach, which will come up anyway.
The Haftarah continues the theme of consolation. This is a futuristic Haftarah; it talks about what the world is going to look like when Mashiach (Messiah) comes. So we have something to look forward to. Keep in mind, whatever you’re reading here is factual, so it’s going to happen. It’s not an exaggeration.
So the Nabi (prophet) starts to open up the Ben Ish Chai so we can have it in front of us when we read these Haftarot. And he has some beautiful insights as well.
So we start the Haftarah: Aniyah So'arah. Bnei Yisrael is referred to as Aniyah, Yerushalayim. Aniyah is impoverished. So'arah means in pain, in trouble, without any salvation, because of its impoverished state. The Jewish people, Aniyah So'arah. Lo nuchama means we didn’t receive any consolation, the tzarot (troubles) of Galut (exile) from one place to the other, and we still didn’t get consolation.
Now, this Aniyah So'arah—the prophet comes along and says, “You’re going to get your consolation.” Good news. God is talking: Hinei Anochi marbitz ba'puch avanayich (Behold, I lay your stones in antimony). When the Mashiach comes, at the time of the Geulah (redemption), Anochi is Hashem. Marbitz sounds like He’s going to tile, like when you put marble on the floor. So God says that the stones of Yerushalayim and Eretz Yisrael are going to be tiled ba'puch (antimony). These are very, very expensive tiles—expensive, you know, pearls exactly. You have English over there? Beauty. I love it. Pearls. And the foundations of your buildings are going to be upon sapir (sapphire). That means there’s going to be a tremendous amount of wealth and Beracha (blessing).
But it’s not done. There are two more stones that the Pasuk (verse) mentions. Kadkod also is a precious stone. Rubies. Shimshotayich, Shimshotayich is your windows. The reason why they call a window Shimshotayich is because the sun pierces through the windows. So embedded around the windows is going to be this Kadkod, which you call the ruby. It’s going to be shining. Usharayich, and your gates, avnei ekdach (stones of shining brilliance)—literally, it means shining bright stones. V'chol gevulech (and all your borders), throughout the borders of Eretz Yisrael, le'avnei chefetz (with precious stones). Le'avnei chefetz is stones that are wanted, stones that there is a demand for, so precious stones. Huzar Baruch Hu. Stones—what is that there? Sounds magnificent. It’s unbelievable, and there is going to be a tremendous amount of Beracha.
So the Ben Ish Chai over here says, “Beautiful.” He notices that there are four stones that are mentioned: puch, sapir, kadkod, and ekdach. Those are the four stones. He says it’s connected to the four chalakim (parts) of the Torah, which is Pardes (four levels of Torah study). So besides the reality that there’s going to be Beracha, there’s going to be Parnassah (livelihood), stones, precious stones like nothing. But of course, we know the real precious stone is the spirituality. So these represent Pardes HaTorah. So this is going to come because we study Pardes HaTorah. Those that study the Pardes, they’re going to get these four different stones.
Let’s review: echsof, ekdach, kadkod, sapir, puch. Echsof comes from the lashon (language) nichsefa vegam kalta nafshi (my soul longs and faints). Nichsefa is to anticipate or to desire or to have a wanting. So therefore, you have to learn with a yearning, with a desire. Not just, you know, you have to learn it with a cheshek (desire), as they call it. So therefore—and that’s why, right after it mentions all these stones, we’re going to learn the—what’s the next Pasuk?
So what’s the connection between the Pasuk telling us over here that all of your children are going to be Limudei Hashem, all are going to study Torah, everybody is going to have wisdom, like it says in the prophet Yirmiya, from the oldest to the youngest people? They are all going to have brilliance of Torah. V'rav shalom banayich (and great shall be the peace of your children): there is going to be peace and prosperity amongst the Jewish people.
So says the Ben Ish Chai, kelomar (that is to say), V'chol banayich limudei Hashem (and all your children shall be taught by God), kelomar, V'chol banayich limudei Hashem. In what zechut (merit) are you going to get these four stones of precious pearls and jewels? So all the spiritual is going to turn into physical.
Furthermore, the Ben Ish Chai says, on the stone that’s called kadkod—I think you call that a ruby—he says kadkod is 24, and 24, kad, kad, kadkod. He says 24 times 24 equals—which actually is 576, 24 times 24.
Furthermore, the Rav comes along and says something beautiful. He says that from Rav Chaim Palachi, Rav Chaim Palachi brings down that the Gemara in Ben Achot says that sometimes a person is considered a gazlan (robber)—not a gazlan who steals money, but the Gemara says, “What can you steal from the ani (poor person)?” You steal from him a shalom (peace). You don’t tell him shalom when the ani comes and says “Good morning”; you don’t say anything.
So the rabbi comes along and says, “Why wouldn’t you tell the ani shalom?” So he says, Ma'aseh, there was a story of a fellow who used to have a vineyard. And he used to work in the vineyard, twelve months a year, in the winter and in the summer months. Whenever anybody came in the winter and passed by the vineyard and told him good morning, he would tell them, “Good morning, how are you doing?” He’d talk to them, and he’d be very, very personable. In the summer, if anybody came along and said good morning, he wouldn’t even give him the time of day.
So somebody came to him and said, “I don’t understand you. Why are you so personable in the winter and so cold in the summer?” He said, “In the winter there are no grapes in the field, so I don’t have to worry that they’re going to ask me to have some grapes. So I might talk to the guy. But in the summer, all the grapes are there; the more I talk, the more chance there is that the guy’s going to ask, ‘Oh, can I taste the grapes?’ So therefore I don’t give him the time of day.”
So therefore that’s why they don’t say hello to the ani. Because once you say hello to the ani, what’s the next question? The ani is going to say, “Oh, I’m making a wedding, I have a son, I need medicine.” So therefore they don’t say hello to the ani because it will cost them money to say hello. It’s a pricely.
So therefore the Ben Ish Chai comes along and says that we’re not going to have that problem. There are going to be so many blessings, like we said, all the four precious stones that we’re going to get. And as a result, everybody’s going to learn Torah, and not for money, because nobody’s going to need any money. And as a result, everybody’s going to say Shalom to each other, because now that everybody has money, you can afford to be nice. Everybody’s going to say Shalom. Why is it so nice? But fore Mashiach came and didn't say hello to me, fore Mashiach came and didn't have any doubt in your pocket. That was where it’s going to cost me. That’s going to cause shalom amongst the people. A nice pshat.
Ben Ish Chai says further, he says over here, let’s read the next Pasuk first. The Pasuk comes along and says, so again, the future will be very, very abundant. Everybody has been learning Torah. There’s not going to be any jealousy. Everybody is going to be peaceful with each other. The tzedakah (charity) that Bnei Yisrael gave during the Galut is the zechut for this. Tikonani means you’re going to be established, which means you’re going to be distanced from all those who are oppressing you. There are not going to be any more people oppressing you, no more anti-Semitism, no more oppression. There’s nothing to be afraid of, from the attacks of your enemies. They’re not going to come close to you, so we don’t have to worry about any of that.
And the Nabi comes along and says you’re not going to have to be worried about your enemies, which means they’re going to be afraid. Hen gor yagur (Behold, one may gather together), the Goyim (nations), Edom is going to be very, very, very fearful of the punishments that G-d is going to bring on them. Efes me'oti (it is not from Me), which means he’s going to be alone. Mi gar itach alayich yipol (whoever gathers against you shall fall). Anybody that comes to attack you, alayich yipol—G-d predicts they’re going to fall.
And then G-d comes along and says, “I created the smith, the blacksmith.” What does the blacksmith do? He works with metal. He says, “Who created that craft? I did. I created the fellow who blows with the bellows on the coals in order to make them hot.” So what does he kill? And as a result, what does he do? He makes vessels out of it. He makes weapons. You know, they take the metal, they put it in the hot coals, and they make weapons out of it. The ma'asehu (his work), in order to prepare things that he can use. The Anochi—God says, “Don’t worry, I’m the same God. Barati mashchit lechabel (I created the destroyer to wreak havoc). I created the kelim (vessels) of destruction. What? To destroy their weapons. Which means I put in their hearts for them to fight against you. And don’t worry: just like they’re going to fight against you, I can create a stronger weapon than whatever they have. I created their weapon, and I created a stronger weapon to overpower them.”
Does this mean that they had a desire to try and attack? Definitely. Definitely. Even after Mashiach? No, no, no. At the time of the Mashiach, this was the war. So he said, “But don’t worry. Whatever weapons they made, I created those weapons. And I also created a greater weapon in order to neutralize the weapons that they’re going to bring over here.”
Here’s what G-d says: Any weapon of destruction that they created against you is not going to succeed. Any tongue, any words that they’re going to speak against you in court—this could be in the United Nations, by the way. This could be the verbal abuse that we get in the international court. This could be in the court of the newspapers or the newscasts. Any tongue that rises against you, that judges you, at the end they’re going to be guilty. Anybody that speaks against the Jewish people—the Jewish people are going to come out and they’re going to be—they’re going to be harmed, they’re going to be damaged. This is the goodness of the share of the share of God, which is the Jewish people, as a result of the kindness that they did.
So this is a beautiful, beautiful Pasuk over here. On this Pasuk there’s a Midrash Rabbah. We say this Pasuk when we’re on the High Holidays because it’s talking about the megatregim (accusers), that any megatreg (accuse) that comes in the heavens on Yom Kippur and wants to prosecute against the Jewish people, we say any lashon of the megatreg that comes against you, they’re going to become guilty, and the Jewish people will come out innocent.
So the Midrash I’m going to quote you is beautiful. Yom Ha'Ras, says Midrash, says Midrash Rabbah, Bereshit, perek lamed bet (chapter thirty-two): V'hamayim gavru me'od me'od al ha'aretz (the waters prevailed greatly upon the earth). Rabbi Yonatan salik lemitzle, Rabbi Yonatan went to pray in Yerushalayim. Abad Bahadim Platanis Behamateh Ad Shamre.
So he walked by a Samaritan—remember the Samaritans, the Shomronim (Samaritans). These are the guys that didn’t believe in God; they worshipped Avodah Zarah (idolatry), and they worshipped Har Gerizim. They’re still around today, the Samaritans. So he met one of these guys. Amar lei, so the Samaritan tells Rabbi Yonatan, leheichan azil, you know, where are you going? Amar lei, the Mesach, the Meslech, Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim. Amar lei, latavlach, the Meslech, Tuna, Bericha. What’s your friend, one of these mountains over here, Har Eval? Why do you think these mountains are blessed? They were never affected by the waters of the Mabul (flood). The Mabul came over the whole world but did not affect Har Gerizim. That’s what the Samaritans are telling Rabbi Yonatan.
Rabbi Yonatan, he didn’t have to answer; he couldn’t answer the Samaritan. He says, “You’re going to go through Shalayim, we have a big mountain that I’m blessed.” Amar lei hamareh, his donkey driver, Rabbi Yonatan’s donkey driver, says, “Rabbi, tarshini, give me a chance, ve'ani meshivo, I’ll answer the guy for you.” Amar lei, hein, “You can answer the guy; answer him.” Amar lei, ein min turayah lemayahu, this is a very tall mountain, and the Torah says clearly—
So basically, the hamare tells the guy, “You’re a liar. You’re talking stam.” The Pasuk says that the waters of the floods covered the highest of the mountains, and this is a high mountain. So he says, “We don’t pay attention to the pesukim. The pesukim don’t mean anything to you.” One of you at that time heard this, and the Samaritan couldn’t say anything.
Miyad yaradu Rabbi Yonatan ma'al ha'hamor v'hem kibosh shalosha milin. Rabbi Yonatan says, “I’m your driver; you go sit in the back and I’m going to drive you.” He drove him on the car, on the wagon, three miles. V'kara alav shalosh mikra'ot (and he recited three verses about him). He said, “On you I say three pesukim from the Tanakh. Number one, lo yihyeh vecha akar va'akarah u-vivhemtecha (there shall be no barren male or female among you or your livestock). There will not be anyone barren, not from you and not from your animals,” which means even the wagon driver of the hamor is not going to be barren from Torah. Second one, he said that even the empty one in Bnei Yisrael has answers like the pomegranate has seeds. And then he said he had the final answer: Kol keli yutzar alayich lo yitzlach (no weapon formed against you shall prosper), v'chol lashon takum itach lamishpat tarshi'i (every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn). Zot nachalat avdei Hashem (This is the inheritance of the servants of Hashem). That kol lashon, any lashon, even of your antagonist that comes along and tries to disprove the Torah, tarshi'i. What’s going to end up happening to them? They’re not going to succeed. They’re going to be condemned. You will condemn them.
So Rav Pam comes along and says over here that you see tremendous mussar (ethical instruction). Rabbi Yonatan honored the simple donkey driver for his response to the taunts of the Samaritan at a time when he himself was speechless. But what do you see from here? The problem is, the unbelievable mussar says, why did Rabbi Yonatan come along and say, “For such a Torah, I’m going to—I’m going to drive you”? It’s tremendous humility.
So he comes along and says, “Beautiful. Eizehu chacham? Halomed mikol adam (Who is wise? One who learns from everyone).” Rabbi Yonatan was grateful for this Torah insight and truly felt a debt of gratitude to the amei ha'aretz (unlearned people). There are many who mistakenly think that greatness in Torah knowledge depends on photographic memory or extraordinary inborn powers of concentration and comprehension that are a divine gift, not something that can be developed through effort. This may be true for some great people, but throughout the generations there have been great people who were not endowed with these heavenly gifts. They became great because they treasured every brekkala, a crumb, every crumb of Torah knowledge that they attained. Memory is often dependent on the impression a specific matter or incident makes on a person. That’s the key, which means the reaction to that one little Torah: Why did he make such a thing? “You go in the back; I’m going to drive you.” That impression, even for a small little Pasuk that he forgot, caused such a drama in the rabbi’s life, he’ll never forget it. That’s why the banim don’t forget their Torah. That was their best memory. But every time they hear the Torah, it makes such an impact on them that the excitement of the moment causes them to remember what they’re learning. So that’s a great lesson that you learn from Rabbi Yonatan. That’s why he became great in the Torah.
Every Torah that he got—there’s a famous story that happened in the Telzer Yeshiva with Rav Mordechai Gifter. Rav Mordechai Gifter, alav hashalom (peace be upon him), was in the middle of the winter, you know, Cleveland over there, and he’s giving the shi'ur (lecture), and all of a sudden he was able to say a tremendous sevarah (reasoning) in the middle of the shi'ur. And Rav Mordechai Gifter was so happy that he was able to—he said, “Rav Mordechai, such a Devar Torah (Torah teaching)! We have to, we have to dance for such a chiddush (novel insight).” All the Yeshiva guys are in the middle of the Midrash and they start dancing. And Rabbi Gifter said, “It’s some hot Torah in the middle of winter and all the money in the yeshiva. What’s going on with you?” They broke out into a... The whole yeshiva now is just dancing. “What are you dancing about?” Rabbi Gifter said, “Over sevarah and Finesh.” You think anybody ever forgot that sevarah? But what made Rabbi Gifter so good? Every Torah has such a reaction.
I once learned by a great rabbi in the Kazah Torah, Rabbi Rotman. He was a student of Rav Chaim Kreiswirth. Both of them—Rabbi Rotman told us a story once that he was in yeshiva with Rabbi Rotman in Chicago, and Rabbi Rotman says, “Rabbi Rotman came in and he said, ‘I have a chiddush, a tremendous chiddush. But to hear such a chiddush, you have to pay a thousand dollars,’ and those days a thousand dollars was a lot of money. He says, ‘Who’s willing to pay?’” Rabbi Rotman got a check out of his pocket. He says, “Good, now I’ll tell you the chiddush.” And he says he was trying to show us, it’s one chiddush, it’s half a thousand bucks. Okay, pass, not worth it. He said, “No, he’s trying to teach you: your Torah is worth more to me than all the gold in the world. Okay, put your money where your mouth is. Here, give us a thousand bucks.” He said, “I wrote him the check.” He says, “You think I ever forgot that chiddush that he told me for that thousand bucks? He was trying to teach you, you have to make a fuss. If you make—but if you just listen to the Torah casually, okay, entertainment, Rabbi’s talking, okay, very nice, nod your head, fall asleep, drool on yourself for a couple of minutes, but it comes out very nice. So therefore, you’re more excited to watch a movie, or watch a TV show, God forbid, or listen to music, so it’s not going to make the impression on you.”
So according to Rav Pam, he says the reason why he got on the back and drove him is to—“For this we make a, you know, for this, when we used to be in the shi'ur with him in Magen David, when one of the students would say a good Torah, or if we would ask a good question, he would walk around from his desk and kiss you on the forehead and say, ‘You asked a good question.’” Why is he being so dramatic? Because we’re still talking about it, that’s why. In order to show, even for a question of an eighth grader, you make a fuss out of it. The problem is, we make a fuss out of everything else, all the nonsense. A guy tells you a good joke, you make a fuss out of it. A guy gives you a piece of steak, you make a fuss out of it. Okay, humdrum. That’s what the Rav says: it’s not necessarily the best memory that causes you to retain Torah, but it’s the reaction that you have to the Torah that sometimes causes the person.
Anyway, that says, Kol keli yutzar alayich lo yitzlach.
The next Pasuk: Hoy kol tzamei lechu lamayim (Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters), all you thirsty people, go to the water. V'asher ein lo kesef (and whoever has no money), and even if you don’t have any money, lechu shivru velo kesef (come, buy without money). You don’t have any money, we’re not any exchange, the Torah that I gave you, which is better than milk and wine. Obviously, this is referring to over here that there’s going to be a tremendous amount of Torah in the world. So the Pasuk is talking to the Jewish people: all you thirsty people, go study Torah, and you don’t need any money. You just have to go and study. There’s going to be a tremendous amount of propagation of Torah in the world at the time.
So the Ben Ish Chai, this Pasuk comes along and he says beautifully, he says the following. He quotes from Rav Yonatan Eibeschutz. There’s nothing that’s easier to conquer than fire. Fire is the easiest thing to conquer. Why? Everything puts it out. Whatever you throw on the fire—water, dirt, dust—the fire extinguishes very easily. They always say water is more damaging than fire. Water creates great damage. Water is able to knock down mountains. It’s able to knock down stones. It’s able to destroy cities, is able to bring down buildings. And he comes along and says, what’s the reason? Anything that has ga'avah, it’s easy to knock down. The fire is ga'avah; it goes up. Anything that goes up, which is ga'avah, you cannot get down easily. Anything that goes down, like water, always goes to the lowest level, it’s very, very powerful, and you can’t extinguish it. Therefore, he says, the most humble person is the strongest one. They can fight him, but nobody can bring him down.
Remember when the rabbi was climbing up to go with the girls who were on the second floor. And he said, “Fire, fire.” And he saw Rav Amram. The Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) is compared to fire. The Gemara says, the Yetzer Hara, its image is like a fire. And the Yetzer Hara loves to trap the person and to put ga'avah into the person. It actually goes into domains that it’s not allowed to go. It tries to bring the person into areas where he shouldn’t go. I try to bring him up into a place where he shouldn’t be. Why do you think the poison of a nahash (snake) is called like fire? Because the poison of the snake, that’s what he is. Some of this is what happens to him: he gets bitten by the snake because the snake’s poison is considered like fire. What’s going to happen? And so no one will fall from the hand of man. If there is a man, he acts against the nature of water. So the way you fight fire is in the nature of water. We saw in the commandment of the anavah (humility). A humble person makes it very hard for the Yetzer Hara to attack. Because the water puts out the fire. And so the Yetzer Hara and all the other Gumbaddi, they will not be able to, because the man will destroy them, because through the water they destroy.
And here we know that the Yetzer Hara is called tzamei. Why is the Yetzer Hara called tzamei? Because he is thirsty. He never gets satiated; he is always thirsty. Ohev kesef lo yisba kesef (one who loves money is not satisfied with money). The guy who is hungry for money never gets safe, always wants more. No matter what you give him, he tells you, “Just give me this and I’ll be happy.” The second you give it to him, he wants the next item, and therefore he’s called tzamei.
I also refer to you that the tzamei is gematria 131, which is the gematria of the Samech Mem Aleph and Lamed, is also the gematria of the Yetzer Hara. So therefore he says, Kol keli yutzar alayich. Who’s that? That’s the megatregim. Lo yitzlach. Then I can succeed. V'chol lashon takum itach lamishpat. And all those that come and want to vilify you in court, tarshi'i (you shall condemn). They will be condemned.
Ki Ploni Shusar Esav Ka'ashet Mekatrig Ar Yisrael. When he comes to be megatreg, yitten al roshot aveirot (sins) Yisrael, Yom Kippurim. In the end we take all the aveirot, we put them on him. He comes along to have claims. What do we say? “It’s your fault that they’re doing aveirot. You taught them all the aveirot. Your culture taught them to make the aveirot.” So Esav comes to be megatreg on Yom Kippur, and he ends up becoming the condemned one. He figures he’s going to get us. And what does Yoram do? He takes all the aveirot, puts them on the head of Esav, and we throw him off the mound. That’s a sa'ir la'Azazel (scapegoat). Qiyu yit hayat b'rish'a, qidu wa'asa.
So he says, and he said, “Oh, all the good things,” which means, my friends, good things are the bad things. “Oh, all the good things.” If we take on the bad things, and also buy good things that are almost like the cup of the moon, and almost like the happy man, what will you do? You will go to the water. Which means, be like the water. Which is, anavah.
Comes to the humble one, he cannot get you. And then the Pasuk comes along and says, Lamah tishkelu kesef belo lechem (Why spend money for what is not bread?) Oh, beautiful Pasuk. What are you going to pay all these taxes? All we’re doing is paying taxes. Lamah tishkelu kesef? Why are you paying taxes to your enemies? And what do you get for it? Belo lechem. You get nothing in return. Vigi'achem belo lesova (and your labor for what does not satisfy). You work your whole life to pay taxes to the government, and you’re not satiated from it. They give you nothing back in return.
You know what the best investment is? Shamoa shimu elai (Listen carefully to Me). Listen to the word of God. And when you put your energies in the Torah, put your energies in business, you’re not having to give it all to the government. Put your business in Torah, you’re going to get satiated.
So the Ben Ish Chai writes like this: What happens to the food that he eats after an hour? What are you paying so much money for food? You get such a temporary—why are you spending money? You’re spending all this money on food, but what do you end up with? No meat, no meat, because physical meat is not important. If you say, “How do you say no meat? I bought meat.” It’s not satiating you; you’ll get hungry again. Physical meat can’t satiate a person. So he says that’s the meat of Torah and mitzvot (commandments). It’s the best investment. Listen to the word of God. You’ll be satiated. You never digest. You never expel it. You’ll have eternity. And as a result, you’ll have—you’ll have—
The Pasuk continues. What’s the goal? Turn your ear to go study my Torah. Listen to my Torah, listen and your spirit will live in the times of the Mashiach. God says, “I will make a covenant with you of love forever, like the covenant which is going to be the Mashiach. So too I’ll make the same covenant with you.” Chasdei David hane'emanim (the faithful mercies of David). Ed le'umim netativ (I made him a witness to the peoples). I gave the Redeemer for the Zerah of David that is going to come and testify against all the Goyim on their actions. Ed le'umim is going to be a witness against the Goyim. nagid umetzaveh le'umim (a leader and commander of peoples), and it’s going to have rulership and dominance in order to tell the Goyim what to do.
If you just listen to the word of God, which means the Goyim who are so far away from you that you never heard of them, you’re going to call them and they’re going to come serve you. The Goyim that never heard about the Jewish people, they’re going to come running from all over the world, not because of pahad (fear), they’re going to come because they’re going to want to serve the nation that is the nation of God. And they’re going to come because of the Kedosh Yisrael (Holy One of Israel). Why? Because He elevated. We’re going to come out of the respect of God in order to serve the chosen people.
So you have over here, rabotai, in conclusion, a piece over here in the Haftarah from Rabbi Zajic. Rabbi Zajic, alav hashalom, comes along and says a very, very, very important yesod (foundation). He says we read in the Pasuk, “I created all these powerful weapons, but I also created a powerful weapon to neutralize.” And if all the weapons are going to rise against you—so he says a beautiful example. What are his weapons? He says anytime Klal Yisrael does a mitzvah (commandment), he creates a weapon that’s going to protect him from a later situation.
He gives an unbelievable mashal (parable). The Pasuk comes along and says, Paro came to try to kill Moshe Rabbeinu. What does the Pasuk say? Vayivrach Moshe mipnei Par'oh (Moses fled from Pharaoh). Paro is the king. Moshe Rabbeinu is running away because he killed the Egyptian. What’s the zechut? Not only that, Paro took his sword to kill the Jewish people when they came out of Egypt. What does the Pasuk say? Ali Kharbi. He took out his sword to kill. He didn’t kill anybody. Why? He says because already Avraham Avinu created a mitzvah with a sword, and therefore, as a result of it, Barati mashchit lechabel. What was that? On that day that Avraham Avinu took the sword, we beat you to it already. Avraham Avinu says, “I took the sword in order to sacrifice my son.” That neutralizes every sword of Paro. If he asked why Paro wasn’t successful, we say, “We beat you to it. Our sword beat your sword.”
He comes along and says, Im Avraham Abiru shalat alahomer. He was sure to take the sword and as if to kill the new son. For the son of Hashem, Kabash letzono be'hotor rega. The second he put his hand on that sword, all the swords are Paro of Mishumat Avraham Avinu. Barati keli. That’s what the Pasuk means. Barati mashchit lechabel.
He gives another example. He says, he quotes from the Midrash, he quotes from the Midrash that when Zeresh was telling Haman, “How are we going to get Mordechai?” they went through many different ways to get Mordechai, and every method they came along with, they said, “No, the Jews already used this for a mitzvah,” until they came to a tree and they couldn’t find anything that was done with a tree. It means even the Goyim understood that every time a Jew does something good with a physical item, it neutralizes that physical item that the Goyim want to use against us.
And he quotes and continues, and I read it: Ein biycholet ha'umot lishtol al Yisrael badavar shehem kidshu Shem Shamayim bo (The nations cannot rule Israel through something with which they sanctified Heaven). Anything that you use in this world, that you mekadesh Shem Shamayim (Name of Heaven), they can’t use against you. Why? Hem na'asu shalitim alav (they became its rulers). You own that item. Aval im nichshalu (they stumbled), if Bnei Yisrael succumb to a certain item, then the Goyim have power on that item to go against us.
He says sometimes you have these not religious people that make fun of talmidei chachamim (Torah scholars). How does it happen? He says when the talmidei chachamim themselves don’t get along with each other, when the talmidei chachamim take the power of Torah, that causes the enemy to come along and knock them. So therefore, you never look at the person who’s doing this. I must have brought this weapon against him because I didn’t neutralize it. So therefore any weakness that we have in our own middot (character traits), it’s going to come against us from the outside.
So he says, he quotes from Sefer Chasidim, we’ll stop here. Im ter'ebet bayit shel beit keneset (synagogue). Beit keneset, halet, it gets destroyed. O reshaim dalimu, reshaim muventerebet kineset. Da she Israel hayu dalimu must be they were there in the Beit Midrash and they were treating him, so you can’t come up and say, “If you would have made that synagogue a weapon, you would have neutralized it.” You could have touched it, but you didn’t use it as a weapon. You dulled the blade, you dulled the blade of your weapon. The enemy is going to end up taking over. If we’re going to sacrifice ourselves, the Salim have no, no power on the—it’s all revolving around us, and that’s the way he learns the Pasuk: kol keli lo yutzar alayich, kol keli yutzar alayich lo yitzlach. Any vessel that the Goyim are going to try upon you, lo yitzlach. But what? Lo yitzlach, if we take that same item and we’re able to decommission ourselves, and the tzaddikim (righteous people) of course do that.
Okay, another parasha, another Haftarah with tremendous mussarim (ethical lessons) and tremendous lessons. We’ll stop over here. Amen. Remember that, gentlemen. Beautiful learning.