Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hello, my friends, and welcome back to this week's episode of the Practical Parsha Podcast. This is Rabbi Shlomo Cohen, and I hope you are well.
[00:00:08] This week's parasha is Parshas mishpatim.
[00:00:12] But before we begin this week's episode, I have a special announcement.
[00:00:17] You probably are wondering, where was last week's episode?
[00:00:21] Where was I? Did I go awol? Did I just go on vacation?
[00:00:26] Did I forget to produce an episode for last week's parsha? I'm sure you were thinking about it, but the answer to that question is that last week, thank God, my wife, she should be well, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.
[00:00:45] Actually, it was on Sunday evening right after sunset.
[00:00:51] And the bris for this baby boy was this past Monday.
[00:00:59] And the baby's doing great. Mommy's doing great. The baby's name is Eliyahu. We're just going to call him Ellie, after my grandfather, my mother's father.
[00:01:12] And that's.
[00:01:14] I hope that's a valid excuse, a valid reason that I can miss a week of the podcast. But I didn't want to leave you guys hanging that you missed all the action and feel bad about it.
[00:01:25] So I decided that for this week's episode, we'll talk about the parasha, of course, but I'll also talk to you to give the same speech that I gave at Elio's Bris, which was, uh, this Monday, so that you, hopefully you should not be mad at me that you missed the bris, that you did not hear about it sooner. You will feel like you are part of the action. I want to fill you in. It is a beautiful thought I wanted to share with you today and also g d willing, hopefully we will have some time. We will talk about the parsha as well.
[00:02:00] And another announcement before we begin this week's parsha. Many, many mitzvos in this week's Torah portion. I think it's the most mitzvos in any parsha.
[00:02:12] One of the mitzvahs in this week's parasha is the idea of giving tzedakah, taking care of those who are in need.
[00:02:20] And we know a central concept in Judaism is this idea of hakaras hatov, to have gratitude, to be grateful.
[00:02:31] And for me personally, there's obviously so many things in life that I'm grateful for. Hashem, you know, gave me a brand new baby boy. And thank God everyone's doing well. All the siblings are super excited.
[00:02:44] And aside from that, all the good things in my life, thank God I also have to be thankful to the people.
[00:02:53] And the yeshiva that's helped me get to the place where I am today, my yeshiva, Yeshiva Derechaim, it's in Brooklyn, New York. I studied there for about eight, eight years.
[00:03:05] Really helped me become who I am.
[00:03:09] And as an alumni, the way that yeshivas, many of yeshivas are supported is through their alumni who still feel connected to the yeshiva, um, that they undertake upon themselves to help raise funds for the yeshiva. And this coming week, they're going to be having this campaign which is already live now, where we all have the opportunity to give back to those who have given so much to us. So in extension to you as well, someone, if you enjoy this podcast and the Torah that, thank God I'm giving over, it comes from the yeshiva years that I experienced in Yeshiva Derechayim. So if I could ask, make a request today that if you feel grateful for this podcast and you know, you feel that maybe you want to give back to the podcast, I would request of you if you could make a donation to my yeshiva right now, you could put the episode on pause. The link is in the show notes so that this campaign should be successful. And God willing, they're going to continue training the next generation of Torah scholars.
[00:04:24] Thank you.
[00:04:25] And before we begin, as always, the usual spiel.
[00:04:30] If you want to say mazel tov, you want to see how everyone's doing, say hello, don't be shy, send me email Rabbi Shlomo konkohnmail.com I'd love to hear from you.
[00:04:45] This week's parsha is Parshas mishpatim.
[00:04:49] Now Parsha's mishpatim is, you know, follows last week's Parasha, where the Jewish people have just received the Torah. And it's a continuation, right in this week's parasha talks about the civil law and the different mitzvahs. There's many, many, many mitzvahs here that are given to the Jewish people.
[00:05:13] Talks about murder, manslaughter.
[00:05:16] The Torah portion talks about penalty for bodily injury if someone's animal causes death to someone else.
[00:05:25] If a person is irresponsible and leaves a pit and someone falls into it and gets damaged, someone who steals.
[00:05:32] Talks about self defense, the laws of a watchman, borrower to be careful and sensitive to those who don't have as much as you.
[00:05:48] The mitzvah to extend free loans. So many mitzvahs we have here. And the parsha continues with the mitzvah of Shabbos on a weekly basis, right the seventh day and as well as the seventh year.
[00:06:01] And finally, the parsha concludes with the, uh, commandment for the Shloish Regalim, the three pilgrimages to Eretz Yisrael. And in this week's Torah portion, it also says the famous lines of Na' ase vinishma that the Jewish people do, and they will listen.
[00:06:20] Now, the first idea I want to share with you today is the speech that I gave at my son Eleaz.
[00:06:27] And really, the talk I gave the DVAR Torah has to do with last week's parasha, but is also connected to this week's parsha. In last week's parsha, Parshas Yisroel, it says when Hashem is talking to Moshe Rabbeinu about the giving of the Torah, it says, va' atem shama shamayatishmu bekoyli ushvishamartem esbrisi vayeesem li segulam y kola amim kili kala aretz. And I'm going to translate part of the pasig. It says, and.
[00:07:01] And if you will listen to my voice and you will guard my covenant, you will be the treasured of all people, the most treasured people am um segula, treasured nation.
[00:07:14] Now, it's very interesting, the Mechilta explains on this verse that when it says in the posse, in the verse, ushmartem esbrisi, and you will guard my my bris, which literally means covenant, the Mechilta says that says Mila.
[00:07:35] This is referring to the Mitzvah of circumcision, that when the Torah says, we're going to be a treasured people, the Jewish nation, it's referring to the mitzvah Mila, that if we observe, if we follow the mitzvah of circumcision, we're going to be the most treasured of all nations. That's what it's referring to in the pasuk. That's how we understand it. Based on this Mechilta, we know that the Jewish people have this special opportunity, this special power, that it's called the Mitzvah of Teshuvah.
[00:08:13] That a Yid, a Jewish person, we have a concept that we can return, that even if a person, no matter how far a Jewish person is Yidiz from Hashem, there's a special concept of teshuvah that we can do. Now, it's very interesting, Teshuva, this concept of fixing up something that we did wrong was something that Hashem created before he even created the world.
[00:08:43] So it comes out that before we even did Anything wrong.
[00:08:47] Hashem made the medicine. He made the medicine before he made the actual affliction, right before we even had a chance to mess things up, Hashem set into motion or before creation, this concept of chuva, of fixing, of returning.
[00:09:08] Now, we see this, a very interesting concept here. It's brought down from the Medjeshtan, Chuma and other sources that this concept of teshuvah, in the sense that we could change our life around in a split moment to be back to our true essence, is something which is only relevant to the Jewish people.
[00:09:29] Sure, the nations of the world, everyone's able to become a better person. That's for everybody. But in the sense that a Jew, that a Yid, has this power to. To accomplish teshuva is only something which is unique to the Jewish people.
[00:09:45] And the question is, why is it. Why is it that this is something which is unique to Am Yisrael, to the Jewish nation?
[00:09:57] The answer is that when a person does teshuvah, uh, the fact that a person can do it so fast to change things around is because their essence is good.
[00:10:14] That deep down there's a concept called a, uh, pintalyid. There's a spark inside every single person, right? There's a godliness in every single person in the world. But when it comes to the Jewish people, there's a certain, you know, inner essence and drive to do what God wants that's deep inside the recesses of their soul.
[00:10:42] And that's why when it comes to teshuvah, when it comes to returning, that the Jewish people have this power to turn everything around in a moment, to get back to being the right way.
[00:10:57] Because the essence, deep down, what he or she really wants is to do what Hashem wants. That's something which is unique to Klal Yisrael, to the Jewish people.
[00:11:09] Now, not to say that people, that no matter who you are and what nationality you are, uh, everyone could always change their actions around. But it's not as easy, it's not as fast as this special ability that the Jewish nation has.
[00:11:26] This is this concept of chuva, this mitzvah of chuvah, which Hashem gave to the Jewish people.
[00:11:31] Just to focus in on this a little bit more.
[00:11:34] We know that the Rambam tells us, and he actually rules this way in halacha, Jewish law, that koifen oi so yae mereitzani, that we can force a person to do a mitzvah because his inner essence wants to do that mitzvah.
[00:11:50] That's what he really wants to do. Deep down just that there's other things that are blocking him from making that decision.
[00:11:57] And this is really. This brings us back to this idea again, because that's how we can tap back into this power of Teshuva, because that's our inner essence.
[00:12:06] Now the question remains is that where does it come from?
[00:12:10] Where does it come from that. The inner yearning, that spark, that fire, that desire inside the soul of each and every one of us to do what Hashem wants? Where does it come from?
[00:12:25] And I saw it brought down in Sefer Avnei Chifetz. He brings down from the Rambam, from Maimonides, that Maimonides says in his work, the Murray Nevuchem, he brings down a reason for the mitzvah, uh, of Bismillah, for the mitzvah of circumcision.
[00:12:43] And he says that the mitzvah of circumcision, Mitzvah of Bismillah was given Lahatish koyach ha Taiva, to weaken the drive for desire, that it was to break our drive for pleasure, for desire, for taiva, right? That's the Hebrew word for desire.
[00:13:07] And the Svarmachdeoshim, the Great, you know, I'm sure there's deep levels for this. The Merne Vuchem was a very deep sefer. And the commentaries explain on this, on his work, the Rambam, on Maimonides work, that the Rambam is telling us here that when a child is born, the first thing, what do we do? Eight days after the child is born, we give him a brismila, we give him a circumcision, meaning we do an action to take him away from bad, to take him away from evil, to weaken his evil inclination. We're doing an action right away at the beginning of life to implant in him goodness, to implant in him, to do the right thing.
[00:13:58] And this from here, we see, based on this Rambam, that from this moment, it sprouts inside each person this power to do what Hashem wants to do it. And that's what his inner essence, inner core is.
[00:14:17] Now, just to take this idea one step further into this week's Parasha. We know in this week's Parasha, it says that the Jews, they accepted the Torah upon themselves even before they knew what was in the Torah.
[00:14:32] And the commentaries ask a lot of questions on this. And in fact, the Gemara brings down a story that a certain, um, Sadducee, a certain heretic, asks one of the Tanoim. He says, oh, the Jewish people were very rash people. They made a decision without knowing what they accepted upon themselves. Right. We don't make decisions before we know what we're going to do. We first want to know what we're going to do, then we'll decide if we want to do it.
[00:15:01] But the Jewish people, they said Naasev and Nishmah, we will do and we will hear. Meaning, they accepted the Torah before they knew what was in the Torah. Right. So how does it seem like a rash decision?
[00:15:14] And the Avnei Chavetz explains, based on our understanding here of what we're saying here about the mitzvah of Bismillah and the mitzvah of Chuvah, and this inner essence is that the. The Jewish people have inside of them the desire to do what Hashem wants. That is what they really want in their heart, to connect to Hashem, to go up and up. Just that there's sometimes things in the way.
[00:15:40] So it makes sense now that the Jewish nation, that when Hashem gave them the opportunity to accept the Torah, they said yes right away.
[00:15:49] It didn't matter what was in it, because we're going to do it. If that's what Hashem wants us to do, we're going to do it no matter what.
[00:15:56] Nothing is going to hold us back. So therefore, it makes sense that they didn't do a rash decision.
[00:16:01] They didn't do something irresponsibly. They knew implanted within them was the desire to do good, to do Hashem's will. So therefore, it didn't make a difference afterwards what would be in there. It's Hashem's will, and we're going to do it. And I think this ties very well into who my son Elio is named after.
[00:16:22] My son Elio is named after my grandfather, my mother's father.
[00:16:28] And he was somebody who didn't necessarily have a regular yeshiva, uh, education. He was someone who learned, obviously.
[00:16:35] But he came to this country, came to the United States from Dvinsk, uh, Latvia.
[00:16:41] And he came here, he didn't have much like most of our, uh, grandparents who came to this country.
[00:16:48] And he. At a certain point, he came in and he didn't speak English, he didn't read English. And he was working in a cousin's business, a trucking business.
[00:16:59] And one of the stories they say about him, right, obviously later on his life, he became a shohit, a slaughterer. And he was also taught bar mitzvah lessons. He was a chazin. But when he just came, he was working with these cousins, and they were on a truck in New York City.
[00:17:15] And it was getting closer to Shabbos.
[00:17:19] And you could just imagine for a moment, he's a new immigrant, doesn't speak English, doesn't read English.
[00:17:25] And now the sun is setting. What should he do? Should he stay on the truck and, you know, God forbid, desecrate the Shabbos?
[00:17:34] What should he do? What would we do? And he decided. He's like, let me off the truck. That's it. Shabbos is coming. I'll figure out how to get home. It didn't matter to him. I don't know how to read English. I don't speak English. I don't know where I am. And I'm in a strange country, a strange city.
[00:17:52] Shabbos was Shabbos. Hashem wants me to keep Shabbos. So I'm going to do it. And that's it. He very much, um, emulated this idea that we're saying of Naasemah, that we will do and we will hear, because you wanted to do what Hashem wanted, period.
[00:18:09] That's my blessing for my son, God willing, and for all of us, that we should always be able to be in tune within ourselves with that inner yearning, that inner voice, that inner goodness that's driving us to do the will of God. That's something we should all be able to connect with, God willing. The second idea I want to share with you today takes us into Parshas Mishpatim, really the civil laws that Parshas mishpatim discusses. So that's what, you know, probably what makes Parshas mishpatim most famous is Tzedek. Tzedek Tiridov, right? We talk about the judicial system, that righteousness, righteousness, you shall pursue, that you have to have a judicial system, has to be honest. You have to have integrity. You can't take bribes.
[00:18:55] This is probably one of the most famous aspects of this week's parasha.
[00:19:00] So when the parsha talks about the judicial process, it says as well, it says, Do not be a follower of the majority for evil, and do not respond to a grievance by yielding to the majority to pervert the law.
[00:19:20] So on a simple understanding, the pasig is telling us that you don't just go after the majority.
[00:19:26] And, you know, you don't just.
[00:19:28] You have to do what's right, obviously, on a legal level. And the Rabbeinu Bach explains on this pasik that it's not just referring to the judicial process, that when judges rule, they just follow the majority.
[00:19:42] It's referring to the actions that each and every one of us do.
[00:19:48] After 120 years, God willing, we live a full life, we're all going to have an accounting of the things we did or didn't do. God willing, it'll be good things that we did.
[00:20:00] But at the same time, we have to remember the answer that just everyone else is doing it is not a valid answer when it comes to Hashem, the fact that everyone's doing something doesn't make something right. Now, granted, it's difficult to stand up to pressure.
[00:20:23] It's difficult to stand up to peer pressure. When everyone, everyone, uh, is doing something.
[00:20:29] You have to have the inner fortitude to do what's right. But the Torah is telling us very clearly here, the standards of the Torah are clear, that it says, Do not be a follower, uh, of the majority for evil.
[00:20:46] That means when other people are doing something bad, even if it's the majority of people, many people, the overwhelming majority of people, and they're doing it, you can't, you know, just do it because everyone else is. That's not a valid answer when it comes to hashem, um, the Torah tells us what's the right answer. The right answer is in the Torah, right? If something is correct, we need to stand up for it. If it's wrong, we cannot be followers. I think it's a very important concept because we live in a world today where it's herd mentality, everyone's looking at the next guy, and we're always keeping up with the Joneses or the Cohens, no pun intended, over there. But the point is that we have to know what's right. We have to know what's wrong.
[00:21:37] And if other people are doing things, what's wrong? I'm not saying at this moment you have to go calling them out or not. That's probably. That's a separate discussion of how you do that. But the point is that you have to know for yourselves. I'm talking, me included. I'm talking to myself. I have to know that I can't make a decision and justify it because of the fact that everyone else is doing it. That's a very important, uh, idea we see from this week's Parsha.
[00:22:04] To have the inner strength, the inner fortitude to know what's right.
[00:22:10] And that's something we see clearly from the Torah. And that's the standards that Hashem, uh, is going to judge us against. Not against how everyone else acted. It's how we acted against the Torah's values, or not against, but in accordance with the Torah's. Values. So that's a very powerful idea we see from this week's Parsha. Tell us how we should act in our lives. To stand up, to have that backbone, to do what's right. So with that, I'm going to vision for today's podcast. I hope you enjoyed. If you have any questions, comments, or would like to reach out, feel free to send me an email at Rabbi Shlomo konkohnmail.com I'd love to hear from you.
