Parshas Matos-Masei 5786 - "Ach Es Hazahav Ve'es Hakesef" - The Avodah of Taharas Parah Adumah and Hag'alas Keilim

00:00 In the days of the Alter Rebbe, there was a chossid who had been a follower of Reb Chaykel of Amdur. Reb Chaykel of Amdur was one of the great disciples of the Maggid of Mezritch, and he had a community of chassidim. This chossid had been one of his students. In time, [unclear], he traveled to the Alter Rebbe and studied Chabad Chassidus. When he went into yechidus with the Alter Rebbe, he complained. He said that when he had been with Reb Chaykel of Amdur, he prayed with fiery fervor. Every prayer was full of strength, enthusiasm, and vitality. But after coming to the Alter Rebbe and studying Chabad Chassidus, which is profound Chassidus, when he prayed, he said, he saw more deeply that he was not [unclear]. He wanted to pray, but sometimes it took tremendous effort. The Alter Rebbe replied: “When you were with Reb Chaykel of Amdur and prayed, it was not you who prayed. Reb Chaykel prayed through you. When you studied with Reb Chaykel, it was not you who studied. Reb Chaykel studied through you. In other words, your service of Hashem came from the spiritual power of the tzaddik, who shared his holiness with you. But now, with the Alter Rebbe, you are expected to pray yourself. You must be the one to pray, you must be the one to

01:49 study. It has to come from within you, and that takes this kind of effort.” As is known, the Alter Rebbe and several of the Maggid of Mezritch’s disciples differed about the path of serving Hashem. There is a path in which it comes from above, from the tzaddik. “The tzaddik shall live by his faith”—do not read it as “shall live,” but as “shall give life.” Through his holiness, the tzaddik makes the chossid into a pure vessel so that he can connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu in his service. It is indeed service, but it comes through the power of the tzaddik. The Alter Rebbe, however, wanted you to serve through your own strength: to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu yourself, using your own abilities, faculties, and talents, through exertion of both soul and body. In our parsha, Parshas Matos, the Torah tells of the war against Midian. After the Jewish people returned from the war, Moshe Rabbeinu taught them several laws. The Torah relates that Moshe Rabbeinu told the Jewish people that anyone who had been in the war and had “killed a person” or “touched a corpse,” as well as all the vessels and other things they had used, required purification. That is, they had to be purified from impurity imparted by a corpse and from all the matters involved there. The Torah then continues—that is, it speaks about the red heifer and the laws of purification: how one is purified from impurity imparted by a corpse, that one must be outside

03:22 the camp, [unclear]. In short, the laws of impurity imparted by a corpse, which were taught in Parshas Chukas. Then the Torah says, “And Elazar the kohen said”—Elazar was the Kohen Gadol after Aharon’s passing. Elazar spoke to the men and told them: “This is the statute of the Torah that Hashem commanded Moshe: only the gold and the silver, the copper, the iron, the tin”—that the vessels must be kashered. After the laws of impurity imparted by a corpse and the laws of purification through the red heifer were taught, there is another law. “This is the statute of the Torah that Hashem commanded Moshe”—besides what was taught earlier, there is another law: the laws concerning the kashrus of vessels, kashering vessels. The vessels they had taken were vessels that the non-Jews had used for eating, drinking, and other things. The law of kashering vessels teaches how to do it: what was used with fire must be [unclear] with fire, and what was used with water must be [unclear] with water. Each item and each vessel has its own way of fulfilling the laws of kashering vessels. Rashi asks: What happened here? Moshe Rabbeinu taught the laws of purification from impurity imparted by a corpse, and then Elazar spoke. Rashi explains...

04:58 Rashi says that because Moshe Rabbeinu became angry—at that moment, Moshe Rabbeinu felt a certain anger toward the men who had left the [unclear] alive, and he had reason for his objection—he “became angry”: “Moshe was angry with the officers of the army,” as it says earlier in the parsha. And what does Rashi say? Because he “became angry,” he “fell into error.” An error occurred: “The laws of kashering non-Jewish vessels became hidden from him.” He forgot the laws of kashering non-Jewish vessels, so Elazar came and said, “Only the gold,” and taught those laws. When we study this, two simple questions arise. The first question, on the straightforward meaning of the Torah text, is about “This is the statute of the Torah that Hashem commanded Moshe.” Why does it say “the statute of the Torah” here? Kashering non-Jewish vessels is not a statute. Clearly, its laws are not among the statutes. The reason is understandable: since the vessels were used to cook and roast forbidden foods, the taste—the substance absorbed into them—must be removed. That requires the whole process, all the steps the Torah prescribes to make them fit for use. There is kashering: a vessel that requires fire, a vessel that requires water—how to treat each vessel and remove what it absorbed. So what does the phrase mean here?

06:36 “This is the statute of the Torah that Hashem commanded Moshe.” The second question concerns Rashi’s wording. Rashi says that Moshe Rabbeinu “fell into error.” Seemingly, this was not an error; he “came to forgetfulness”—he forgot. Rashi says, “The laws of kashering non-Jewish vessels became hidden from him.” If he forgot, the word “error” does not fit. An error means that a person gets a law wrong: he says one thing instead of another. Moshe Rabbeinu said only one thing—he taught the laws of purification from impurity imparted by a corpse, which is a mitzvah in its own right—while the laws of kashering non-Jewish vessels slipped his mind. It would have been more fitting for Rashi to say, in the language of our Sages, “He became angry and came to forgetfulness.” But Rashi says, “He fell into error.” Seemingly, Moshe did not make an error; he simply forgot. What, then, does it mean? The truth is that a deeper understanding of what happened between Moshe and Elazar emerges here. When Moshe Rabbeinu told the Jewish people the laws of purification from impurity imparted by a corpse, he intended to say that these laws also included kashering the vessels. In other words, there are two matters here: there are laws of impurity from which one must be purified, and vessels, too, are subject to the laws of impurity. That is one law. For that, the laws of the red heifer must be observed. And there are other matters connected with

08:17 forbidden foods. These are actually two sets of laws: impurity imparted by a corpse, from which purification is achieved by sprinkling water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer; and forbidden foods, which require the laws of kashering non-Jewish vessels. When Moshe Rabbeinu spoke to the Jewish people, he held that purification from impurity imparted by a corpse through the sprinkling of the red-heifer water—the water of purification—would not only remove the impurity but would also make the vessels fit for use by removing what they had absorbed from non-Jewish cooking. That was Moshe Rabbeinu’s reasoning, and it has a very strong logic. What is the logic? Seemingly, when we think about a vessel or a person that has become impure, the impurity extends throughout the entire vessel or person. Yet the Torah says, “This is the statute of the Torah”: when water is sprinkled—two or three drops of water, those few drops mixed with the ashes of the red heifer—the entire person and the entire vessel become pure. [unclear]. Nevertheless, the Torah says that a drop of water must be sprinkled, and through that sprinkling the entire vessel and the entire person become pure. If so,

09:49 Moshe Rabbeinu sees that a single drop, a few drops of sprinkled water, purify the entire vessel and the entire person from impurity imparted by a corpse. Why should it not work the same way for vessels that need kashering? The same water should be sprinkled. After all, there is no rational explanation for this; it is a statute, “the statute of the Torah.” So let us apply that same “statute of the Torah” here as well. By sprinkling the red-heifer water, the water of purification, not only will the impurity imparted by a corpse be removed, but the vessels will also be cleansed of what they absorbed from non-Jewish cooking, without any additional kashering. That, too, would be the law. And this is the meaning: that was Moshe’s error. Elazar the kohen responded to it: “This is the statute of the Torah that Hashem commanded Moshe.” These words do not refer to the laws that follow, but to what was said earlier. What Moshe Rabbeinu said earlier, when he taught us the laws of purification from impurity imparted by a corpse—that is indeed “the statute of the Torah.” It is a statute without a rational explanation; it is “the statute of the Torah.” As is known, the law of the red heifer is called “the statute of the Torah” because it is entirely beyond reason and understanding. That is true of impurity imparted by a corpse, about which the Torah says, “the statute of the Torah that Hashem commanded Moshe.” But to make the vessels fit for use after they have absorbed forbidden foods, after they have absorbed what was cooked in non-Jewish vessels,

11:07 For this, “This is the statute of the Torah that Hashem commanded Moshe” is not enough. “But”—and this is what the word “but” means here—comes to limit what was said. The laws of the red heifer help when it comes to impurity from contact with the dead. But when it comes to utensils that absorbed non-kosher food, a further, complete process is needed: the utensils must be koshered, each according to the way it was used, as the laws that follow explain. This helps us understand Rashi’s statement: “He became angry, and so he came to make a mistake.” Indeed, it was not merely a matter of forgetting; there was also a mistake here. Moshe Rabbeinu held that purification through the red heifer was enough to accomplish both things: while purifying from impurity caused by the dead, it could also kosher the utensils. Elazar the Kohen therefore had to tell him: That is not so. The laws of “the statute of the Torah” apply only to impurity from contact with the dead. But absorbed non-kosher food requires the full process of koshering utensils. That is the straightforward meaning of what took place here between Elazar and Moshe. Now comes the explanation according to Chassidus, of the spiritual meaning of these matters in serving Hashem: What was Moshe’s reasoning, and what was Elazar’s? Chassidus explains the difference between Moshe and Aharon.

12:32 The same distinction applies to Moshe and Elazar. Elazar was the son of Aharon the Kohen, so he shared those qualities. Chassidus explains, based on the Zohar and also in the maamarim at the beginning of Parshas Masei, where it says, “These are the journeys of the children of Israel... by the hand of Moshe and Aharon.” Based on the Zohar, Chassidus explains why both Moshe and Aharon are named there. What is the difference between them? Moshe is called the “shushvina d’malka,” and Aharon is called the “shushvina d’matronisa.” What does that mean? The shushvina d’malka is the attendant who comes on behalf of the king. At a wedding, under the chuppah, some attendants accompany the groom to the bride, while others accompany the bride to the groom. These are the shushvina d’malka and the shushvina d’matronisa. Moshe Rabbeinu is the shushvina d’malka. He leads the groom to the bride. He comes on behalf of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, Who is the groom, and brings the groom down to the bride. That is Moshe’s role: his concern is Torah, from above downward—“From heaven I spoke to you.” He brings the Torah down into this world, to make a dwelling for Him in the lower realms through Torah and mitzvos. That is Moshe Rabbeinu’s role: from above downward. Aharon the Kohen is the shushvina d’matronisa. He comes on behalf of Knesses Yisroel, the collective Jewish people, who are the bride, to elevate the souls. As it says, “When you raise up the lamps”: he elevates and refines the souls of the Jewish people and lifts them higher.

14:03 The Rebbe explains here, in Parshas Masei, the Torah’s words, “These are the journeys of the children of Israel who went out of the land of Egypt,” “by the hand of Moshe and Aharon”: Spiritually, the journeys are the journeys the souls undergo—“these are their journeys according to their departures.” The soul descends here below, into the world, and throughout its journeys it must connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The elevation of the souls that comes through their descent is accomplished through Moshe and Aharon, both of whom do this work: Moshe, the shushvina d’malka, is associated with Torah study; Aharon, the shushvina d’matronisa, with the service of prayer. Torah study proceeds from above downward—“From heaven I spoke to you.” The wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu descends here below and makes a dwelling for Him in the lower realms, bringing about the union of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah. Aharon the Kohen, through the service of prayer, awakens love and yearning, so that the soul is refined through prayer and rises from below upward. That is the difference between Moshe and Aharon in their service. Returning to our parsha, this, we are told, was the inner meaning of the disagreement between Moshe and Aharon. Because Moshe Rabbeinu is the shushvina d’malka, he sees Jews as they are viewed from above. From that perspective, Moshe Rabbeinu argues: Purification is entirely a matter of encompassing light. Purification from impurity caused by the dead is not a matter of

15:29 reason. It is truly an encompassing light, a higher light that comes from above. Since it comes from above, it has no limitations, and in a single movement a person can change from one extreme to the other. Moshe therefore argues: Since this is all a matter of encompassing light, and Moshe Rabbeinu, whose role is to work from above downward, as the shushvina d’malka, sees things from above—and from above everything is infinite and without limit—then with one vessel, in one hour, as in the familiar saying, “One hour of teshuvah and good deeds is better,” in one hour, with one vessel, in a single movement, when a Jew changes through one drop of water—yes, this is the idea of the red heifer, the water of purification: with one drop, with living water, one can change from one extreme to the other. Moshe Rabbeinu argues that this is true in every case, both for impurity from contact with the dead and for koshering utensils. But he is told: No, there is a great difference. There is a difference between impurity from contact with the dead and koshering utensils. Some matters relate to encompassing influences, and others to influences that are internalized. In other words, when it comes to refining one’s character and oneself, matters of impurity and purity are not understood through reason. From the outset, they belong to something higher, something that comes from above. Indeed, as the Rambam says, impurity is among the things that have no rational explanation. What does that mean? Someone touched an object, touched a...

16:52 Since the entire matter of impurity belongs to statutes and decrees, it has no rational explanation. Therefore, purification from impurity caused by the dead—both immersion in a mikveh and, specifically, purification through the red heifer—is a matter of statutes, entirely beyond reason. It is an encompassing influence. An encompassing influence has no rules, no boundaries, and no fixed measure. With one drop of living water, with one vessel, a person can indeed change from one extreme to the other. From the perspective of that encompassing influence, this can be understood. But some matters involve influences that must be internalized. Refining one’s character and oneself, correcting and refining undesirable traits—these are internal matters that touch the inner life of the soul, a person’s inner faculties. Aharon, [unclear], whose role is that of the shushvina d’matronisa, argues that a particular kind of work is needed here: inner work. We can say the same about koshering utensils: each trait and each thing has its own method—one requires fire, another water, cold water, hot water, or fire. It depends on how the influence entered the soul, and accordingly it must be removed. This, then, is the difference between Moshe and Aharon. Moshe sees matters from above downward, and so, through a single movement brought about by Moshe Rabbeinu, through living water, through one drop of water, a person can be changed—not only in what encompasses him, but also in his inner life. For from above downward, everything can be changed.

18:13 But there is another point: encompassing influences are not enough. Some things must be worked through inwardly, from below upward, through inner refinement. This is the path Chabad Chassidus teaches us. There are indeed encompassing influences in serving Hashem, things accomplished through emunah and things accomplished through a segulah. Such things exist in serving Hashem, but alongside them there must also be work done through one’s own efforts, inner work, [unclear] the specific character traits that need correction. Each trait must be corrected in a way that is internalized, so that a person is truly worked on and refined, a vessel for G-dliness. This connects to the next parsha, where the Torah says, “These are the journeys of the children of Israel who went out of the land of Egypt.” Even after they had left the land of Egypt, there were still the forty-two journeys which, the Baal Shem Tov says, are the journeys the soul undergoes in the world. To reach the Jordan at Jericho, which represents the Geulah, the complete Geulah, we must get there “by the hand of Moshe and Aharon”: through both the service from above downward, Torah, and the service from below upward, prayer; both the refinement that comes from above and the inner refinement a Jew must bring about through his own efforts, working on his character from within and becoming a vessel for G-dliness. Through this, we will indeed merit to reach the true and complete Geulah, that Jordan at Jericho. For Jericho alludes to Moshiach the King, who will “judge by scent” in the complete Geulah, which will come

19:36 through Moshiach Tzidkeinu speedily in our days, amen.