Parshas Behar-Bechukosai 5785 - "Vechi Simkeru Mimkar La'amisecha Vegomer" - buying/selling and ona'ah (fraud) in the service of Hashem

00:00 This happened in the town of Lubavitch, in the days of the Rebbe Rashab. At that time, the Rebbe Rashab and the Frierdiker Rebbe were in Lubavitch. The Frierdiker Rebbe had three daughters. Also living there, in the Rebbe’s court, was the well-known chossid Reb Chanya Morozov. Reb Chanya Morozov was one of the mashpi’im and also one of the Rebbe Rashab’s attendants. He lived there with his family and had children, including daughters. One of Reb Chanya’s daughters told the story I’m about to tell you. The girls were children and played together. In the evenings, when they had time, they would play in the courtyard. One of their games involved tying a piece of cloth around someone’s eyes so that they couldn’t see. The person whose eyes were covered had to find the other children. They would walk around, feeling their way: not knowing where they were going, they had to feel for a wall, a table, anything in their path. When they felt around and touched someone, that child had to tie the cloth over their eyes, walk around and do the same thing—look for the others. She relates that once, when the children were playing, she—

01:47 was walking around the room like that. And they played a little trick. What did they do? One of the girls tied the cloth over her eyes and went around looking for the others, while all the children left the room and hid outside. She was left alone and kept walking around. She thought there were people there, but she couldn’t see. Suddenly, the Frierdiker Rebbe came downstairs and entered the room. She couldn’t see what she was doing, of course, and as she went along, she happened to touch his hand and said, “Ah, I caught you.” She took the cloth off her eyes and saw the Frierdiker Rebbe standing there. Of course, this was while the Rebbe Rashab was still alive. The Frierdiker Rebbe was the father of the girls. She was very embarrassed by what she had done and asked forgiveness. But the Frierdiker Rebbe wanted to forgive the children and said, “No, a game is a game. You caught me, so we have to keep playing.” By then all the children had come back into the room, and she felt a little uncomfortable. But the Frierdiker Rebbe said, “I’m going to keep playing. A game is a game.” Naturally, she wanted to put an end to it. He tied the cloth over his eyes, covered

03:30 his eyes and said, “Well, now I have to go catch someone.” The girls didn’t feel entirely comfortable, as you can imagine, but they were happy; there was a joyful atmosphere among them. The Frierdiker Rebbe walked around, feeling his way and searching, trying to catch the children. Meanwhile, Reb Chanya came in. Reb Chanya entered the room and saw what was happening: the Frierdiker Rebbe was walking around with a cloth over his eyes, and the children were running around him. He called out to him, “What are you doing here now? Father is looking for you.” That is what he said to the Frierdiker Rebbe, the Rebbe Rashab’s son. “What are you doing like this?” The Frierdiker Rebbe removed the cloth and said, [unclear] “It’s the children. You see, the children.” What was his answer? Those words can be understood another way. When Father is looking for you—it’s the children. In other words, the Rebbe Rashab was looking for him. But these were Reb Chanya’s children. And he says: his children. [unclear] It was a game with the children. But of course, he wanted to bring out the inner meaning of it: it’s the children, [unclear]. Yes, it was a game, and it was a lovely thing. But the children had left the room; they wanted to make sure they weren’t there. That made it easy to catch someone, so the game could continue with the children. What is the inner meaning of this game? In the combined parsha of Behar-Bechukosai—

05:26 both Parshas Behar and Parshas Bechukosai deal with a number of laws of acquisition. There are laws and mitzvos, and the parsha contains the verses dealing with buying and selling: “When you sell something to your fellow or buy from your fellow, do not wrong one another.” From here we learn the mitzvah governing transactions, and the Rambam says there is a positive mitzvah to adjudicate according to the laws of buying and selling. In other words, these are the halachic laws of transactions: how one can acquire an object, how one acquires land, how one effects an acquisition—all the laws of sale and acquisition. We also learn from here the laws of ona’ah, “Do not wrong your fellow”: how a sale must be conducted and how an acquisition must be made without wronging anyone—whether through monetary exploitation or hurtful words, and all the related laws. More generally, Parshas Behar, and Parshas Bechukosai as well, deal with a number of matters connected to the laws of acquisition: acquiring movable property, courtyards and houses. These are discussed later in the parsha. It is known that every subject in the Torah that finds expression in halachah also has an interpretation in the service of Hashem. As is well known, every subject in the Torah, every halachah, has both a plain meaning and an inner meaning. The author of Tanya says that this is actually already written in the Rambam. It is not only an innovation of Chassidus; the Rambam states it explicitly. The Rambam says that the purpose of all the Torah’s laws is to correct our beliefs and set all our actions straight. In other words, from every halachah we can derive a lesson for our own service: to set our beliefs straight and correct our actions, and in this way

07:25 to live with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. We therefore find a maamar in Chassidus by the Alter Rebbe, followed by one from the Tzemach Tzedek that addresses several details, as well as other maamarim by the Rebbe, our Nasi, explaining the meaning of selling and acquiring in the service of Hashem. There are also maamarim by the Rebbe connected with the Giving of the Torah. The Rebbe spoke about this in 5710, and on one occasion delivered two maamarim on “Five possessions Hakadosh Boruch Hu acquired in His world,” as stated in the mishnah at the end of Pirkei Avos. He spoke at length about the meaning of acquisition. First we’ll discuss acquisition in general, as explained in the maamarim of Chassidus, and then we’ll discuss ona’ah and how it, too, is addressed on the basis of what the maamar alludes to. Regarding acquisition in general, Chassidus explains that there is a seller and a buyer. “When you sell something to your fellow”—this refers to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and the Jewish people: Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the buyer. “Your fellow” is Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Yes, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is called “your fellow.” This appears in several teachings of our Sages. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the buyer, and a Jew is the seller. Of Hakadosh Boruch Hu as a buyer, we say: “Blessed is He who makes, blessed is He who forms, blessed is He who creates, blessed is He who acquires.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu is called the One who acquires. Along these lines, we find the well-known teaching of our Sages: “I was created only to serve the One who acquired me.” A Jew was created in this world to serve the One who acquired him. That is, we call Hakadosh Boruch Hu “the One who acquired me.” So Hakadosh Boruch Hu

09:21 is the buyer, and the Jews are the sellers. How does that work? How do these acquisitions and sales take place? As explained in the maamarim of Chassidus, when Hakadosh Boruch Hu sends a Jewish soul into the world—a soul that is “truly a part of G-d above”—the soul, which was above in Gan Eden enjoying the radiance of the Shechinah, descends into this physical world and engages in physical matters. The purpose of the soul’s descent is to elevate the things of this world and give them to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. With every bite a person eats for the sake of Heaven, they refine the spark within that physical thing, elevate it and give it to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “Possessor of heaven and earth”—this is said in connection with Avraham Avinu, who is one of the five possessions. “Blessed is Hashem, G-d of the world, Possessor of heaven and earth.” In other words, through their service, a Jew transfers ownership to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So to speak, Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world as a separate existence, this physical world; indeed, it is “filled with kelipos and the sitra achra.” A world of soul, of selfhood and materiality, seemingly disconnected from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And a Jew, through their service, through “All your deeds should be for the sake of Heaven” and “In all your ways, know Him”—in everything they do, in their eating, drinking, acquisitions and business dealings—in every physical thing, the person is, so to speak, the seller. They give their own existence to Hakadosh Boruch Hu,

11:03 his life, his physical possessions, and his affairs, and raises them into the domain of holiness. He makes them holy, turns them into a mitzvah, an object used for a mitzvah, an object of holiness, a sacred article—he makes the world a dwelling place for Hashem. And that is the whole purpose of the Giving of the Torah. As is well known, Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave the Jews the Torah so that through it they would refine and purify the world, making it a dwelling place for Him. And what does the seller give in exchange for this? Ah, what does the buyer give? He gives money. [unclear] And this is the idea of money, of kesef. The Gemara says in Bava Metzia, in the chapter Hazahav, that money is what passes from one person’s domain to another’s to effect a purchase. That is the idea of money. And they explain what kesef means: Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives the Jews kesef, and the Jews give Hakadosh Boruch Hu the physicality of this world. They explain that kesef is related to love, as in the words, “For you longed so deeply.” “You longed so deeply”—that is the idea of kesef: longing, love, desire, thirst, and attachment. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives the Jews the kesef, [unclear] from above, [unclear] of love. Hakadosh Boruch Hu shines within the Jews [unclear] the love He places in them. And because of that love, desire and thirst awaken within the Jews: “The soul of man is the lamp of Hashem.”

12:42 And the Rebbe says in Tanya that a flame always strives upward. Hakadosh Boruch Hu places longing—the kesef, the love and desire—within the Jews. And through that love, by the power of a Jew’s love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the Jew raises the world to Him. But the Gemara says that meshichah, drawing an object into one’s possession, is also necessary. What is meshichah? It means drawing the thing out—pulling it. One must take it out of the domain of kelipah and bring it into the domain of holiness, taking it out of the world as it is and bringing it into a higher world. This is meshichah: taking something from the public domain and transferring it to the private domain. The public domain is the realm of multiplicity; [unclear] the world and its physicality and materiality, which are a public domain, a world of separation, separate things. A Jew draws up and raises the affairs of the world, taking them out and bringing them into the private domain, to the One Who is alone in His world, giving them to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is the order of a Jew’s avodah: seller and purchase. A transaction is taking place here: Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives a Jew kesef, gives him love, gives him attachment; and the Jew gives to Hakadosh Boruch Hu from below, raising the physical and making spirituality out of physicality. This is the saying of the Alter Rebbe: Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives the Jews physicality, and the Jews make spirituality out of physicality. Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates the world from nothing into something, and the Jews make that something into nothingness, raising the world and making

14:19 the world a dwelling place for Him. And this is [unclear], and this is why Eretz Yisroel is called the land of Canaan. For the Alter Rebbe, as he calls it several times, calls Eretz Yisroel the land of Canaan. Yes, because Canaan, as Rashi says, refers to trade. A “Canaanite man” means a merchant, a trader. In other words, trade involves acquisition and purchase. That is why Eretz Yisroel is called “the land of Canaan,” because that is what Eretz Yisroel is about. The soul descends below to accomplish this aspect of Canaan, of buying and selling. We receive from Hakadosh Boruch Hu the kesef, all these things from above—love and awe—and Jews give Hakadosh Boruch Hu the physicality from below, making the world a dwelling place for Him. And this is the purpose of the soul’s descent below, the idea of acquisition: “I was created to serve my Creator.” To [unclear] acquisition, to make the world, to transform the world into a dwelling place for Him, to make the world [unclear]. And regarding this, Chassidus says: “When you sell something to your fellow or buy from your fellow’s hand.” Concerning this work a Jew does in the world, of selling and buying, the Torah continues: “Do not wrong one another.” There must be no deception. What is the meaning of deception? On this there is a wonderful explanation by the Alter Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe said it in the maamar “Kamti Ani Liftoach Ledodi,” [unclear] maamar, which explains the entire purpose of the soul’s descent below, [unclear] the explanation of the Rebbe Rashab [unclear].

16:02 Chassidus contains an interpretation, additional points, details, and explanations concerning deception. What does “Do not wrong one another” mean? The Rebbe brings a wonderful explanation of this. In Shir Hashirim, Knesses Yisroel calls Hakadosh Boruch Hu “my dove.” The verse says: “I am asleep, but my heart is awake. The voice of my beloved knocks: Open for me, my sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one.” Several times Knesses Yisroel calls Hakadosh Boruch Hu “my dove.” The Rebbe says that “my dove” can be understood in two ways: a positive meaning and a negative meaning. One relates to the soul as it is in its essence, and the other to the soul as it is clothed in the body and the animal soul. What does “my dove” mean with regard to the soul? It is called a dove, which points to Knesses Yisroel and its love for the Master of the World. The Midrash says: “My dove”—like a dove. The dove represents gazing. The Midrash says that a dove has great love and affection. This is an analogy for the bond between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and Knesses Yisroel: the love and affection Knesses Yisroel has for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It gazes at Him, contemplates the greatness of the Master of the World, and this is a gaze of deep attachment. That is one meaning of “my dove,” from the word for dove. And what is the second meaning of “my dove”? Why is the soul called “my dove”? Because the body and the animal soul deceive it—ona’ah, spelled with an alef. They mislead it. And what analogy does the Rebbe give for this? It is like a person whose eyes are covered with a rag. The Rebbe gives this analogy: Sometimes a person is, in essence, intelligent—very intelligent—

18:07 and also has fine qualities, talents, and keen senses. But if you take away his ability to see where he is going and where he is standing, cover his eyes with a rag, take away the glasses that enable him to see, and darken his vision, then the person gets swept along. The people around him drag him wherever they want: they lead him here, they lead him there, this way and that, in every direction. It leaves a person who is really very intelligent confused and tossed about. The Rebbe says: This is what happens when the soul is clothed in the body and the animal soul. The soul is literally a part of G-d above. The soul—“its spiritual source sees”; the soul sees G-dliness, the soul wants G-dliness, and the soul has an inherent, simple faith in G-dliness, as the Rebbe says in Tanya. All this is true of the soul itself. But when the soul descends below and is clothed in the body and the animal soul, the body and the animal soul conceal the soul’s light. And what are the body and animal soul drawn to then? They are drawn more to materiality, physicality, and worldly matters. The yetzer hara covers his eyes, obscures his view, and dazzles him with everything forbidden—and even with things that are permitted, but not done for the sake of Heaven. The person gets swept along after the yetzer hara, while thinking he is acting of his own accord. He says, “I have to deal with this—with this food, this drink, this livelihood, these matters”—and in this way he forgets the Master of the World. As a result, he falls, loses his way, and forgets the Master of the World. This is the deception of this world, the deception of kelipah. And this is what the parsha comes to tell us: A Jew must know that the soul came down into this world with a mission. And chassidim come with

20:03 [unclear]. Jews came into the world to know that here, in this world, there is a mission of buying and selling. He buys from the Master of the World the silver and gold, the [unclear], and the Master of the World gives him something in return. His avodah is to hand something over to Hakadosh Boruch Hu; he sells. The avodah is to make the world, and everything belonging to the affairs of this world, into a G-dly world. About this it says, “Do not wrong one another.” A person must not let the yetzer hara and the animal soul deceive and mislead him. Instead, he must see the true Divine will. He must see the truth and remember the truth, know why he came into the world and what his mission is. And when he needs to make the world a dwelling place for G-dliness, he must not let the animal soul’s foolish notions deceive him into thinking that other pursuits bring in so much livelihood that there is no time to daven, no time to learn, and so on. “Do not wrong one another”—do not give deception any place. And as chassidim say, the prohibition against deception does not only mean not deceiving someone else; it also means not deceiving yourself. For sometimes a person deceives only himself, with all kinds of excuses and explanations. He thinks everything he is doing is holy, and he can deceive himself in this way while seeking to be a servant of Hashem. About this it says, “Do not wrong one another.” A person needs clear eyes so that he can see.

21:30 the truth, its true desire, and always remember why the soul descended below: to make the world a dwelling place for Him. This is the meaning of “The Torah of Your mouth is better for me than thousands of gold and silver.” Chassidus explains that “thousands of gold and silver” refers to love and awe. Silver is associated with “I have yearned deeply”—love; and gold is associated with awe. “Gold comes from the north”—strength, awe. The Rebbe explained the concepts of love and awe, silver and gold, in Tanya. “Thousands of gold and silver” refers to what the soul learned above: the word for “thousands” can also mean “I will teach,” as in “I will teach you wisdom; I will teach you understanding.” The love and awe the soul has above are [unclear] love and awe. But we say that “the Torah of Your mouth”—precisely here below, in this physical world, when a Jew sits and studies Torah in physical circumstances—“is better for me” than “thousands of gold and silver,” because through it, a Jew makes a dwelling place for Him. And that is the true ascent: through entering a body and an animal soul, transforming them into a dwelling place for Him, and selling them and transferring ownership of them to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In other words, turning the land of Canaan into the Land of Israel. Then we reach the true ascent [unclear] the giving of the Torah. This is the work of the days of Sefiras HaOmer: “Draw me after You; we will run. The King has brought me into His chambers; we will rejoice and be glad in You.” “Draw me” means drawing something into one’s possession: Hakadosh Boruch Hu draws the Jewish people into His domain, like acquisition by drawing an object. This is how Hakadosh Boruch Hu draws the Jewish people toward

23:01 G-dliness. “We will run after You” is in the plural, because both the G-dly soul and the animal soul are drawn along and refined, and change to become vessels for G-dliness. Then, “The King has brought me into His chambers”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu takes the Jewish people and brings them into a chamber. This is the giving of the Torah, when Hakadosh Boruch Hu brought the Jewish people into a chamber and gave us the Torah, so that we could make the world a dwelling place for Him and bring the entire world into Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s domain, as the verse says, “This people You acquired.” That was said about the revelation of the Exodus from Egypt. And as it says concerning the time to come: “On that day Hashem will again extend His hand to acquire the remnant of His people.” “The remnant of His people”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu [unclear] the acquisition among the Jewish people, the true acquisition, so that the Jewish people will be united with Hakadosh Boruch Hu: Yisroel, the Torah, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu are all one.