Parshas Mishpatim 5785 - "Al Kol Devar Pesha" - the primary categories of damages in the service of Hashem

00:19 The Frierdiker Rebbe tells a story in one of his accounts in Sefer Hazichronos about a time when word of the holy Baal Shem Tov reached the town of Kharki. He says that a disciple named Rabbi Nissan lived there, one of the Baal Shem Tov’s foremost disciples. In that town lived a landowner who ran all the [unclear]. A man named Pierre Louis, a French name, lived with that landowner. He was always with the young landowner, traveling and going on outings with him. That was how things went. One day, the landowner became very ill. They tried all sorts of remedies, but could not cure him. At the time, Rabbi Nissan was with the holy Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem Tov called Rabbi Nissan and told him to travel to that town. He gave him several ingredients and medicines, things with which to cure the landowner. He told him to go in to the landowner, say that he had come in the Baal Shem Tov’s name, and cure him. He also told him to meet Pierre Louis, tell him that he was Jewish, and tell him who he was. The Baal Shem Tov said that he was

01:53 Jewish, and that his Jewish name was Pesach Tzvi. He told Rabbi Nissan where Pesach Tzvi had come from, and instructed him to speak with him, rescue him from [unclear], and bring him back to Judaism. So Rabbi Nissan traveled there, but they did not want to let him in. Who was this little Jew? All the medicines and all the greatest, most distinguished doctors had been unable to do anything; what could a little Jew like him possibly do? But when the situation became truly life-threatening, they let him in, and the landowner’s condition began improving day by day. There in the palace, while he was with the landowner, Rabbi Nissan met Pierre Louis and awakened his soul. He spoke to him in the Baal Shem Tov’s name and told him, “Your Jewish name is Pesach Tzvi.” Of course, when the man learned that he was Jewish, he was shaken to the core. He remembered that he had been orphaned as a child. Later he had lived among non-Jews and drifted so far away that he had completely forgotten his Jewishness. In this way, the Baal Shem Tov awakened his soul. Rabbi Nissan then returned to the Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem Tov taught him a Torah teaching on a verse and told him to study it first together

03:14 with Pierre Louis, who was Pesach Tzvi. The Baal Shem Tov then taught on the verse: “Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do work in mighty waters.” At first glance, this seems repetitive: “Those who go down to the sea in ships”—they descend into the waters in ships; “who do work in mighty waters”—that sounds like the same thing. What does “who do work in mighty waters” mean? The Baal Shem Tov explained that the verse speaks about the soul. As is known, “Those who go down to the sea in ships”—the Baal Shem Tov explains that the entire chapter, chapter 107, deals with the soul’s descent into this world. So the Baal Shem Tov said that the soul descends here below. The world is a sea—a wild, vast, stormy sea. The mighty waters seek to submerge a person in all the tumult of the world’s great sea. For this purpose, Hakadosh Boruch Hu sends a soul below, places it in a body, and one enters the sea in “ships.” What are the “ships”? They are the structure of the vessel: Torah and mitzvos, and the Shulchan Aruch. When a Jew is in a ship, a sound vessel, within the bounds of the Shulchan Aruch and observing Torah and mitzvos, it protects him. He can cross the stormy sea safely and even emerge from it having risen to a higher level than he was on before his descent. But what do we do, how do we manage

04:39 when the ship breaks apart, when he does not do what he should and does not observe Torah and mitzvos? Clearly, the ship, the vessel that carries him and helps him at sea, then turns from an oniyah, a “ship,” into aniyah va’aniyah, as the Baal Shem Tov explained. Aniyah va’aniyah expresses brokenness, mourning, ruin, and bitterness. Everything becomes bitter. The ship breaks apart, the person sinks into the water, and life becomes hard and bitter for him. He, too, needs to look for a way out of that situation. What can be done? The Baal Shem Tov told him that the answer lies in “those who do work in mighty waters.” The verse continues: There are tzaddikim who can jump into the water, into the mighty waters, and rescue the lost soul from within them. These are “those who do work in mighty waters”—the tzaddikim, the Rebbeim, who enter and send their emissaries, their disciples, to jump into the mighty waters, deep into the water. They do not go there in boats; they enter the water and dive in. Yes, they jump right into the water. These are the tzaddikim who can go in and rescue a soul from there. And this is what the Baal Shem Tov made him understand:

06:02 Rabbi Nissan was one of “those who do work in mighty waters,” and there he saw the soul of Pesach Tzvi, who had fallen into the raging waters. The holy Baal Shem Tov sent him, Rabbi Nissan, to bring Pesach Tzvi out of those raging waters and return him to the path, to a safe shore, to the secure vessel of Torah and mitzvos. And what actually happened? We’ll tell that later. That same day, that same week, Pesach Tzvi fled, disappeared, traveled to other countries, and returned to [unclear]. At any rate, this was the wonder, the story and the wonder, that caused the holy Baal Shem Tov’s name to become known, and an entire community joined the Baal Shem Tov’s chassidim. In this week’s parsha, Parshas Mishpatim, we find a Mishnah that discusses several categories of damages. Parshas Mishpatim is the parsha of damages, and it contains a number of laws concerning them. And what does the Zohar say about this? On the verse “For every matter of wrongdoing, for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a garment, for any lost item,” the Zohar says that the verse refers to matters discussed in the three Bavos—Bava Kama, Bava Metzia, and Bava Basra—which cover all kinds of wrongdoing and damages. What does the Zohar say?

07:28 That this alludes to the exiles. The three Bavos—Bava Kama, Bava Metzia, and Bava Basra—allude to the three exiles: the first exile, the second exile, and the third exile. In simple terms, these are the exile in Egypt, the Babylonian exile, and the exile of Edom. And each exile is also connected with the three Batei Mikdash. Concerning this, it says that the cause of exile, the cause of the destruction, is “for every matter of wrongdoing”—all these forms of damage. It follows that repairing the destruction means correcting all these matters through studying the laws of damages and through our avodah. That is how the damage is repaired. This is work within a person’s soul, as I’ll show in a moment, and through it we bring the Geulah. This is what the Zohar says there: “For every matter of wrongdoing, for an ox, for a donkey”—these are laws of damages. The primary categories of damages—the ox, the pit, the one who causes damage, and the fire—are those damages. Similarly, there are spiritual forms of damage—the yetzer hara, the animal soul—as we’ll discuss in a moment. These are the laws of Bava Kama. Then there are the laws of Bava Metzia, which discuss the “garment” and theft: “Two people are holding a garment.” And then the Zohar says that “for any lost item” refers to Bava Basra. So the question is asked: When I hear “any lost item,” the return of lost property, that is discussed in Bava Metzia.

08:59 After all, the chapters dealing with lost property are in Bava Metzia. So why does the Zohar say that “for any lost item” refers to Bava Basra? There is a beautiful explanation by the Rebbe’s father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, who wrote notes on the Zohar. He explains that here, “any lost item” refers to spiritual matters. He explains that a “lost item” refers to a woman, for the Gemara says that a man seeks a wife as one seeks a lost item. So “for any lost item” concerns the union of husband and wife, who represent Hakadosh Boruch Hu and Knesses Yisroel. Accordingly, he says, Bava Basra discusses the laws of partners, courtyards, and houses, all matters connected with partners. And the partners are Hakadosh Boruch Hu and Knesses Yisroel. The tractate begins, “Partners who wished to build a partition”—the concept of exile. For exile is a partition: “Your sins have separated you from your G-d.” A partition has arisen between husband and wife, between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and Knesses Yisroel. But afterward, throughout the tractate, we see that Bava Basra discusses many matters connected with the Geulah. In Bava Basra we find the teaching of our Sages, “The Jewish people will be redeemed only through tzedakah.” The entire discussion of tzedakah, in whose merit the Geulah comes, appears on pages 9 and 10, in the chapters dealing with the subject. And we also find in the tractate: “Great will be the glory of the house

10:30 the latter from the former.” When we speak about a partition, the Gemara is talking about the amah teraksin, the partition between the Holy and the Holy of Holies. There, too, the discussion concerns the Beis Hamikdash. Later, in the chapter “Hamocheir Es Hasfinah,” there are several teachings of our Sages about matters connected with the Geulah—very rich teachings. Further on, in “Yesh Nochalin,” the inheritance of the Land of Israel is also discussed. So Bava Basra is indeed connected to Parshas Mishpatim, which addresses this subject. This is what the verse says: “Concerning every matter of trespass, concerning an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or a garment, concerning any lost property.” It then continues: “The case of both parties shall come before the judges.” When one goes to beis din, one goes to Moshe Rabbeinu, who was [unclear]. The same is understood regarding the Moshe of every generation—the tzaddikim, the Rebbes. They are the ones who give us guidance and advice on how to guard against the harm found in exile, to leave this exile, until we merit the future Geulah. But what we are learning here concerns matters in a person’s inner service, in spiritual exile. So the work must be to leave spiritual exile and repair all the spiritual damage—the matter of “because of our sins we were exiled from our land.” And in this way we can

12:03 prepare for the complete Geulah, which will come through Moshiach Tzidkeinu speedily in our days, amen. There are four primary categories of damage: the ox, the pit, the tooth, and the fire. The holy Baal Shem Tov explains what they represent spiritually. There are four primary categories of damage: when a person wants to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu, he must know that there are four primary sources of damage that seek to interfere with and obstruct his service of Hashem. What are these sources of damage within the soul? The Baal Shem Tov explains: the ox. The Hebrew word for ox, shor, is related to “ashurenu,” meaning sight. This refers to seeing, to the sights a person takes in—looking at things one is forbidden to see. About this it says, “Do not stray after your hearts and after your eyes,” and this is one of the things that interfere with our service. As the saying goes, “The eye sees”—that is the beginning that leads to all sins. This is “concerning an ox”: it refers to sight, to looking at things with one’s eyes. The pit, the Baal Shem Tov explains, is an empty place. A pit is an empty space. So, too, an empty person, a person who is idle. Someone who wastes his time in idleness: into that emptiness creep vermin, harmful forces, and undesirable things. That is the pit: a person who spends his time on empty pursuits, foolishness and nonsense, mockery and idle talk. The pit, the empty place, becomes a place for kelipah, a place where the external forces can draw sustenance, and all the undesirable things enter there.

13:42 “The pit was empty; there was no water in it”—there was no water, but there were snakes and scorpions. When the water of Torah is absent, it fills with snakes and scorpions. Then comes the tooth, of which the Gemara says, “Maveh is the tooth,” one of the [unclear]. This refers to the desire for food. Yes, the Gemara speaks of [unclear] with a basket of meat—meaning that a person fills himself with cravings. When one is immersed in the desire for food, it makes him more materialistic and distances him from G-dliness. Then comes fire, which represents the force of anger, killing, heat, and passion—expressions of an alien fire, of the opposing side. These are the four primary categories of damage. Yes, especially the trait of anger, which, as is known, is fire that bursts forth and burns the soul. That is anger, and these are the four primary categories of damage that we must work on. The entire tractate, the three Bavos, deals with this in connection with Parshas Mishpatim. There we find the advice and remedies that enable us to repair these sources of damage and guard against them, until, through this, there will be, yes, [unclear] from the darkness. And on the verse “Concerning every matter of trespass, concerning an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or a garment,” the verse we are discussing here, there is an explanation by the Tzemach Tzedek.

15:12 This is the first explanation, which our Rebbes [unclear] at the Simchas Torah farbrengen: the Tzemach Tzedek explains “Concerning every matter of trespass, concerning an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or a garment.” The passage there speaks about something a person entrusts to another. The soul is something Hakadosh Boruch Hu has entrusted to us. Yes, as is known, Hakadosh Boruch Hu entrusts it to us: “Your lamp is in My hand, and My lamp is in your hand.” He entrusts us with the holy soul, which is truly a part of G-d above. We must safeguard what has been entrusted to us in its entirety and return it in a state of complete perfection to its Creator, to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But, he says, something happens to it: instead of safeguarding it, there is “every matter of trespass.” Sins cause damage, a desecration of what is holy in the soul entrusted to us, and a person fails to safeguard the soul for its Creator above. From this comes “concerning an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or a garment,” as the Tzemach Tzedek explains. Here he interprets the ox as a goring ox: the materialism and coarseness of the animal soul. It strikes, pushes, and gores. These are its [unclear] in matters of holiness, and this is the goring ox. The donkey—this is

16:38 coldness. The Gemara says: “A donkey feels cold even in the season of Tammuz.” Yes, this means coldness in the service of Hashem. Then comes the sheep. Here he explains “sheep” according to the verse “Israel is a scattered sheep.” The meaning of “Israel is a scattered sheep” is that a Jew should know that he is part of Israel, like a sheep among seventy wolves that is protected—the Jews are in exile, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu protects us. This is the greatest thing we see: the greatness of the Shepherd, how Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the Shepherd, protects the sheep, the Jews, when they are scattered among the seventy nations. A Jew needs to reflect on this. A Jew must contemplate it. It should awaken in Jews the greatest vitality, the greatest joy, and the greatest strength in the service of Hashem. As the verse says: “I, Hashem, have not changed, and you, the children of Yaakov, have not perished.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu promised to protect us, that “the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps”—and this is the greatness of the Shepherd. “I, Hashem, have not changed”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu has not changed His promise. Hakadosh Boruch Hu has kept His word: “And you, the children of Yaakov, have not perished.” The Jews, G-d forbid, will not be lost; no one will be lost, and no one will be erased from the world. Hakadosh Boruch Hu protects the Jews always, in every place and at every time. And this is what a person should do.

18:04 Jews have the greatest vitality in serving Hashem. And yet, instead, “Israel is a scattered sheep.” They mingle and drift from place to place, mingle among the nations, and adopt their ways. As Haman claimed in the well-known verse: “There is one people, scattered and dispersed among the nations.” A people that is entirely one, that lives with the oneness of Hashem and is connected to the One—and nevertheless it is scattered and dispersed; they run after the non-Jew. As the Rebbe spoke at length at that Simchas Torah farbrengen about “a scattered sheep”: running after the neighbor, running after the non-Jew, wanting to imitate him. Today, where has that [unclear] people gone? Today everyone knows what is happening with the neighbor, what is happening with someone else, and wants to imitate what the other person does. Instead, we should have the resolve, the [?], the strength, and the pride of the “scattered sheep.” Then comes the garment, as in “the treacherous have dealt treacherously.” This refers to garments: the garments of Torah and mitzvos, when a person engages in Torah and mitzvos in order to [?], and they become a garment of kelipah. All these belong to the opposing side. Therefore the verse says: “The case of both parties shall come before the judges.” What is the counsel? To know that despite all these things, “before the judges” here refers to beis din, whose head is Moshe Rabbeinu. And it is understood that this is

19:29 The Moshe of every generation. Through our connection to Moshe Rabbeinu, studying his Torah and following his ways. And in every generation, the Moshe Rabbeinu of that generation, who teaches the people understanding, gives us the strength for “the matter of them both shall come before G-d”—so that a Jew can once again [unclear] himself and receive new strength. This is the meaning of the oath spoken of in the verse: an oath is a giving of strength, as is well known. That is, “They administer an oath to him” is also related to the word for being filled, as the Tzemach Tzedek explains: Hakadosh Boruch Hu fills each person with strength so that he can fulfill the purpose of his soul’s descent below. And this is the good news in today’s Torah reading, as we study Parshas Mishpatim: “And these are the laws that you shall place before them.” Immediately after the Giving of the Torah comes Moshe Rabbeinu. Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells Moshe Rabbeinu: You, Moshe Rabbeinu, must teach them—“place before them.” [unclear] Moshe Rabbeinu, and this refers to the Moshe of every generation: “You shall place” is singular, while “before them” is plural—for every Jew. Moshe Rabbeinu is the one who reveals, explains and brings understanding “before them,” revealing the innermost part of the soul, the innermost part of the person. As the Jerusalem Talmud says, “You shall place” is related to simah, meaning a treasure—with a samech. Simah means a treasure. “Hashem will command the blessing upon you in your storehouses”—the word for “storehouses” is related to simah, a treasure. This is the treasure

21:05 above, the treasure within the soul, the treasure of fear of Heaven—the inner strength a Jew possesses. And through Moshe Rabbeinu, when this is revealed, it emerges from concealment into the open. This gives us the strength to change and transform all these forms of damage, making them into precisely the opposite: the advantage of light that comes from darkness. The ox becomes “like an ox to the yoke and a donkey to its burden”; “Yissachar is a strong-boned donkey”—a donkey of holiness. An ox of kelipah becomes an ox of holiness, like an ox to the yoke and a donkey to its burden. And a donkey of kelipah becomes a donkey bearing a burden in the service of Hashem—“Yissachar is a strong-boned donkey”—in holy service. Likewise, the sheep comes to represent the Jews, the Jewish people, as one flock, whom Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives [unclear], yes, with all these things that He [unclear]. And likewise, the garment becomes holy garments, through which one becomes attached to holiness. They become garments of splendor, garments of glory, garments of strength and glory—the garments through which we can receive Moshiach Tzidkeinu. And so may we merit, here, to leave our own inner exile, and may all the promises be fulfilled. As the Zohar says here, after the entire passage of “for every matter of wrongdoing, concerning an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or a garment,” we will reach the Third Beis Hamikdash, when “the glory of this latter House will be greater than that of the former,

22:34 says Hashem of Hosts.” The Beis Hamikdash below corresponds to the Beis Hamikdash above, as it says in today’s Torah reading. May we merit the building of the Beis Hamikdash here below, speedily in our days. Amen.