צו תשפ״ו

00:04 Welcome to tonight's Shiur Motzaei Shabbos-Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim, going into Yahrzeit Nisán. And so we're gonna start off with a vort of the Rebbe, but first, this, uh, Shiur has been dedicated by family Odds, the children, in honor of their parents, Rabaim and Mrs. Lillian Odds. So starting off, as I said, with a vort of the Rebbe, and this is gonna be a little bit of repetition what I said this afternoon, Shabbos Hagadol, so my apologies to those who have heard it already. So we have here what I find a, an amazing vort of the Rebbe, and that is about lifting the karaites at the, at l'chaim anya. So in the Haggadah, it says that you should lift the karaites when we say l'chaim anya. Separately, we have misalkin hakara by Manishtana. These are two separate things. And the Rebbe in his Haggadah points out that it looks like in a, uh, Seudah, got a bit confused between the two. Two separate things. One is to demonstrate or lift up the karaites to show this is the bread which-- of poverty which our forefathers had in Mitzrayim. The second one is to take away the karaites and then to simulate the children's wonderment, "How come you're taking it away? We haven't eaten yet." So coming back to the one which we are focusing on, on and, um, l'chaim anya, lifting the karaites. And we don't lift it, and nor do we take away the karaites by, by Manishtana. What we do is we uncover the matzah

01:52 by l'chaim anya, and then we cover the matzah. It's very less... very much less dramatic. So that's why the kids don't say anything. Um, they hardly see it the first time, but okay. So now what's this business of l'chaim anya of lifting the karaites and yet we don't? So here you have from the Siddur HaAriza"l and we say l'chaim anya rather than ho l'chaim anya. Not this is the bread of poverty, but here you have. And as you can see, hei has got to do with milo. That's what Ariza"l is saying, got to do with milo, and it's got to do with zerah. And when... Just digress for a moment. When Rochel Imenu was barren for so many years, and then she looked around and she saw that her, well, grandmother-in-law, or Sara, had previously been Sarai, and she was barren, and she was-- her name was changed to Sara. And through the hei she became blessed with a son, Yitzchak. Rivka has a hei, Leah has a hei. She, Rochel, does not have a hei, and so she felt, uh, possibly that's what she's missing. And then she realizes that her maid, Bilha, has got a spare hei. So she says, "Hei." Sorry. Um, she asks-- says to her husband, , "If you, um, marry my maid, then there'll be a spare hei for me also." So there is this... This is written in Rishonim, this, this which I just said. But coming back to the Ariza"l, then Yosef when he was, uh, confronted

03:42 by the Egyptians who were, uh, starving and they didn't have any more assets to pay for their food, so then he says they should have a bris. And they weren't very, uh, excited, and they came to Paroh complaining, and he says, , "You have to listen to..." He's the manager, you have to follow the rules. And so he-- Yo-Yosef succeeded in giving, giving the Egyptians a bris. Well, actually, that actually gave them a spiritual advantage. And so when it came after Yosef's passing and the Egyptians were now in a position to, to enslave the Yiden, the fact that they had the merit of Bris Milah was actually to their advantage and to our disadvantage. And that he says, that came, caused the... He says, is the same as, uh, same as lachma, and that's got to do with the, the poverty in Mitzrayim. L'chaim anya is actually thanks to Yosef giving them the privilege of bris. So at this point, at the Seder, we lift the karaites as if to isolate that we don't want to have the Mitzrayim having the merit of Bris Milah. And so that's the masal that we lift up the karaites. That's, that's the, the, the deeper idea in the lifting the karaites. So now let's look at the Rebbe's comment. In the, the Siddur Ariza"l of Rabbi Shabsai of Rashkal, that's what you just saw, he says, explains the reason for lifting the karaites to atone for the sin of Yosef who im-im-im-im-im-imprinted the Ois Bris Kodesh, which is

05:33 the letter hei, and brought it down onto the Egyptians. And now we're trying to lift it and to elevate this. So now we have this idea of lifting the karaites is to reverse the, the benefit which Yosef gave to the Mitzrayim. And despite this, that the Ariza"l says so, and the Alter Rebbe also writes in the siddur to lift the karaites, We didn't-- we don't have this minhag on lifting the chatzerah, but merely to expose the matzahs. And here's what the Rebbe says the following. Because of the mission of hafatzat sabat yonat chutza, of reaching the wi- wellsprings of Torah and previous Torah to bring them out, there's-- it's inappropriate to lift the chatzerah up, and the table and the floor where the table is standing should remain as they were. That's not appropriate. In earlier generations, that was appropriate to isolate the chatzerah. But when Hashem Hasvei Hakadshi, Kevyochel Hashem bears his holy arm, meaning brought the light of the Baal Shem Tov, which is the beginning of the mission of hafatzat sabat yonat chutza, especially from the time of the Alter Rebbe. So we have to reach out to the chutza as it is chutza. So then we don't isolate the chatzerah. We don't lift it up. No, we expose. We expose the matzahs to bring light to the table and to bring light to the floor where the table is. So here is a, I find, a dramatic, uh, change, a significant, a change in the practice. Instead of the Haggadah, magbien.

07:21 And no, no, not magbien, because we have a mission to reach out, not to isolate. And therefore, the practice was, was, was modified. Fine. We're going to go on to various random questions. That's where we get the name panorama. It's a nice word for random. Um, okay. So someone asked me in the past week, when, when you have the baal chatzerah is being honored by to have an aliyah, the Torah. So it's standing right next to the Sefer Torah. Does the gabba say, "Ya amoid"? So some pedantic fellow says, "What are you saying, ya amoid? You're standing here already." So what are you meant to do? Just say, "Oh, Yankel ben Yosef." Yeah, what? Mishaberach. Okay. Um, doesn't make sense, yeah? At any rate, so do you not call them up by name altogether? So this is, you have Netur, and shema shirim kof lam bet. There are those who don't even call up with a name. They just, you know, you come over and... I was once in a Yekkeh shul, and they gave everyone a little, um, uh, a metal slip, a disc, which said on it, "Shlishi revi," or whatever. And it was all very mesurah. But I think they still called us by the names, but just helped them keep, keep people in track. Um, but anyway, so they, there are those who don't call up with names. Says the Ramoh, this is the Darkei Moshe in his commentary on The Tour, "Min hogedidan," that no one goes up to have

08:55 an al-- to the, to the Torah without being called by the shliach tzibur. And the shliach tzibur, he's the, what we would call the baal chatzerah. He doesn't call up unless he is told by the, the sgan. "Hamishit mitav lecha koina sgan." Not sure how that works. Perhaps they bought the privilege. I don't know. So you've got the gabba, and you've got the, the baal chatzerah, the baal chatzerah, the shliach tzibur. "Uche sheloitze ha'sgan sheya'ala ha'shliach tzibur." If the gabba wants the baal chatzerah to have an aliyah, "Oimer hu le'shliach tzibur la'alot." He says to the shliach tzibur, "Arise." So he says, "Ya amoid," and he gives him his name. "Limgen gam ha'shliach tzibur einer oive ole beleirosot." So this sgan, the gabba, he is telling the shliach tzibur, "La'alot." He's telling him, "Arise or go up." So he's telling him, "Ya amoid." So although pedantically you might say he's already standing there, but possibly we're going to say ya amoid is also a figurative elevating to higher madrega, whatever, however you want to lump shat. So say, you say, but you see he does say ya amoid, and we, we know that. We've been around for a few years, and we've seen that the... But what happens is you say ya amoid even though he's standing right there. I want to just mention in passing that my father, alav ha-shalom, when it came to Hagba and Gelilah, he would not say ya amoid. He would say, "Mishaberach," So that was on Shabbos. They, they,

10:36 they wouldn't do a ya amoid for Hagba and Gelilah. It's a different type of thing. So it's a privilege, but it's not a ya amoid privilege. Uh, so to distinguish, he would... I'm sure he saw this previous generations. Right. Let's go on to the next thing we have, and that is can I... Oh, can I leave chametz in a sealed bag? It's become a fad in the last s- decade of sourdough, which is choviv beYosef, and people are very concerned that they can't get rid of it and they have to start all over again. Can I have my sourdough wrapped in a bag, a black bag, and it's gonna ra- be written on it in kiddush levana isius. It's, um, it's chametz, sold chametz, and I want to leave it in the corner of my fridge or my freezer. So I, I, um, I, I tell them, "No, that's not okay." And this picture on, on the screen is not of a sourdough. It's, as you can see, it's about thirty, um, bottles of Scotch whiskey in various types of canisters. And, uh, they were asking do they-- can they just cover them with a sheet? And the answer is no, that's not good enough. And that is because we have a halacha that if a goy leaves chametz in your possession on Pesach, you're gonna have to put up a mechitza of ten tefachim. Now we have... This is from, uh, the Sefer Shenitete Gabriel. It's written, written in Shechinach, Shin Siman Tof, Tof

12:08 Mem. But that's talking about a goy who left a bo- a chametz in your possession and went off in his merry way. But we also apply that to sold chametz, and this is what he writes here. "The chametz which is sold has to have a mechitza of ten tefachim in front of it." And that would-- and just a curtain, a sheet will not be enough because you can just lift it and walk through it, et cetera, unless it's pinned down below as well as above. Okay, so just to throw a sheet over these bottles of whiskey would not be enough. Now, then we're coming to, then what about stuff in the, in the, in a bag in the, in the freezer? Well, in the freez-freezer or the fridge, well, you don't have a, a thing of ten tefachim, so it doesn't work. So now I want to share with you something which Shlomo Zalman is quoted in. This is a paper called Halichos Shlomo. It was written by his talmidim. He says the requirement of ten tefachim is if you're putting up a screen, a barrier, that has to be ten tefachim. But if it's in a cupboard, the main thing is that there is a separation from the goy's stuff from your own stuff. Therefore, if the goy's stuff is in the regular place in y-your cupboard, and this, in our case, the fridge, together with the, your own stuff, so then there's no mechitza. And even if the cupboard is ten tefachim high,

13:35 but if it's accessible to you because you've got your own stuff which you're using, as in the case of the fridge and the freezer, that doesn't work. Then he says, whatever you're going to sell to the goy, you have to put it in a place which is just for the sold stuff. But then he says the following, the, that if you put it in a separate cupboard, even if the cupboard is not ten-- the doors of the cupboard are not ten tefachim high, he says that's also okay. So that's why I find it interesting. So he's saying if you lock up the, the cupboard, and this is where he's coming back to this opening statement, that the requirement of ten tefachim is when it's a screen. But if it's a closed cupboard, he feels that that's enough if it's just the chametz stuff. So a chametz freezer, even, even if the door isn't ten tefachim, if it's a compartment sealed, okay, that's okay. But to have the same, the same cupboard, the same area which is both sold chametz and your own stuff, that he also agrees is not okay. And you see there's a couple of chats here. I'm gonna look at them now. Um, so now... Right. So one is about, what about Kohen Ben Kohen Levi? Um, I think they also use the word... I'm not sure actually. Um, they, they-- I think they don't use the word Yamui. Some places they just say Ben Kohen Levi, and they don't say Yamui.

15:06 I guess because it's standing there already, and they've already Yamaied him already. So yeah. Fine. Um, right. Sealed drawer in a freezer. And again, I think, I think that's not good enough. Yeah. Okay. Let's move on. We have here... I've got this following question from overseas. A chazan who is a Kohen, and it's coming Yom Tov. And there's enough chazanim in that shul, and there's enough Kohanim in that shul. Is it okay for him to be chazan for Musaf, which would mean as a Kohen to be moving around from his place to face, about face to face the Kehillah for Birkat Kohanim, or should he not be chazan? That's the question. So this is from Siman Kuf Kof Ches, Sif Lammed Gimel, and he says, "Im yesh Kohanim acheirim," if there are other Kohanim who are capable of giving the Sius, um, Duchening, even if you are as a chazan, you're confident that you'll be able to resume your davening without confusion because you've got a siddur, you shouldn't li-- you're not allowed to lift your feet to, to do Birkat Kohanim. So this is the first opinion, that, uh, if there are-- if there's the, he's the chazan and the only Kohen, then he is allowed to turn around and someone else will do the prompting. But if there are other Kohanim, so then he would not be allowed to join in the Birkat Kohanim. Then there's a second opinion which says that a chazan who is a Kohen is allowed to leave his

16:55 place and f-face the Kehillah to Duchan, even if there are other Kohanim. And the fact that he's moving from his spa- his place in the middle of davening, that doesn't matter because it's a Devar Mitzvah. And since nowadays we're davening from a siddur, therefore it's quite safe that he'll get, be able to resume Sim Shalom when it's finished. Therefore, it's in many places that a chazan who is a Kohen will do Birkat Kohanim. So the primary guidance is, no, that the chazan Kohen should not be turning around. And I must say like this, that in Eretz Yisrael, I don't know about Sephardim in Chutz La'aretz, but in Eretz Yisrael, there's Birkat Kohanim every Shabbos, Ma'asharay and Musaf some place every day. And to say that a chazan cannot, uh, cannot join in Birkat Kohanim is effectively saying that a Kohen cannot be a chazan, cannot be a chazan for Shacharit, cannot be a chazan for Musaf, because if you follow that opinion, the first opinion. And therefore, possibly because of that, in Eretz Yisrael, it's common to commonly follow the, the second opinion, the P'ri Chadash, who says that the Kohen chazan is allowed to join in Birkat Kohanim. In Chutz La'aretz, the- The opportunity of chazonus is there all year round and for shacharis without v'chas chaim. And therefore, I think the guidance would be better that he shouldn't be chazon and let someone else do the chazoning because otherwise he'll have an issue of turning around unless he's the only kohen, which then

18:46 he is allowed to turn around. That seems to be from the Alter Rebbe, as I said, Siman Kuf Chof Ches, Seif Lamed Gimel. Let's move on to the next question. And that is also timely because people are now, before Pesach, people spend money on new clothes if they have a need for them. And so is it a virtue to have a new fresh talus or perhaps is it a virtue to have a well-used talus? Perhaps the more Zeyor Shel Mitzvah it's absorbed, the more perspiration and discoloration for years of Yegiyah Shel Mitzvah is a mailorach sorn. So we have in Siman Chof Dalet, that's in Erech Haim, the end of Echatzitzis. We have the famous loshen, the Gemara, Zekheli Vanveyu, Yisnoel Afon of the Mitzvahs, Talus Noa ve'Tzitzis Noa, to have a nice talus, a good-looking talus, good-looking tzitzis, and so for that matter, other mitzvahs too. And therefore, yes, it should be the talus should look, should be looking good in Gashmius. And that is covert to Hashem. And certainly it should be clean and shouldn't be torn. And for that matter, the talus cotton, which is not so visible also, Shelo Yemluchlech BeYoser. Well, that's interesting. BeYoser. But if it's a garment which is there for a mitzvah, so it should be kept clean. Now, in the notes, he brings I somehow lost this. Lost something. Oh, yeah. So here in the notes, he brings from the talus, who didn't want to accept a new talus as a gift because he felt he

20:53 liked, he preferred his old talus with all the tefillahs which he's davened, similar to the Esther, which has been discolored because so many people are using it for a mitzvah. It says in the Chasam Sofer, that is, that's the Hashiva Sukah Gardume Mitzvah. That's got an interesting loshen. Gardume Mitzvah means when your tzitzis have been kind of snapped short, but they're still part of the mitzvah. Achposhut SheYesh Li Zohar should be careful that it shouldn't be dirty and shouldn't be Derch Bizoyim. I'm addressing this because there seems to be a certain mentality that it's okay that the talus looks shabby and it's torn because it's only a shul and it's, you know. And so then he also, this Piskei Chuvahs refers us to the Pele Yoyetz, which is an early Sefer. And he says about the tzitzis to fulfill the Inyan of Zekheli Vanveyu. And he says, if the talus which you're wearing over your garments is torn and worn out and your own clothes are Begodim Nois, you're wearing a finely tailored suit and your tie is immaculate and your talus looks a mess, well, that is a Busha Ba'el Mazer and Ba'el Mabah. So to say that for davening and for talus, it's okay to have something shabby. But for what you're wearing in public, your suit or your coat, you are careful about the way you look. That seems to be a distorted, distortion of values. So, yeah. So we should be trying to have our talus looking presentable. Yeah. I mean,

22:42 just think if your mechutim will be impressed with your talus. And so then if you won't be impressed, so then think about Hashem too. I must share with you whilst I'm on this. I heard the following. I had once a, I was at a conference, the grandson of the late Rav Mordechai Eliyahu. And he said that, you know, he was chief rabbi in Por, had this, as Rishon LeTzion, he had this fancy gelaba, whatever it's called. And often he had, as is in Israel, the politicians would come and visit. And they often asked him, you know, Harav, Harav, could you put on the, you know, all the garments? And he was just in a sweater or something, relaxing at home. And they asked him, could he put it for a Photoshop? You know, it looks better that he should be wearing all of these fancy stuff. And he says, no, no. He says, if he would put on his fancy clothes for every politician who comes, then every time he does a Shacharis Mincha Ma'ariv, he has to put them on. He can't give the politicians more cover than he gives the Ebres to Shacharis Mincha Ma'ariv. So he refused the opportunity for them to be photographed with him in his fancy clothes. Right. Okay. So now, whilst we're on this, I came across an interesting thing. Oh, do you make a, since we're talking about possibly buying a new talus, do you say Shechiyanu? So here you have on, this is in, that's Shul

24:22 Chon Menachem, in the Hilchas Shechiyanu, this end of Pei Shem Mem Tes, in volume Aleph, about saying Shechiyanu on a new talus. Lo Heroisi No HaGin Kein. I haven't seen people make a Shechiyanu on a new talus. On the Chala Yoser, Yochal L'Tzarev L'Achilas Pri Chodos. Avaloi B'Loi Ze. So this is quoting the Rebbe, but you see it's not from Igress Kodesh, it's from his Kasrus. It says some less authentic source quoting the Rebbe saying that you can't make a Brocha Shechiyanu on a new talus. But by Pri Chodos, now I find this quite surprising because nowadays I find a problem with making a Brocha on a Pri Chodos in this part of the world where we've got stuff available the whole year round from different parts of the world. So there's no, there's no Chadash. Everything's available the whole time. Costs a bit more, a bit less. Kol Podim. So I'm not so happy bechal about making a brach on Pri Chadash, and here he's saying that there's a problem making a tallis. So I wonder, I'm, I'm, I'm curious, what's the reason not to make Shehecheyanu on a tallis? So now, what you have now on the left of the screen is from Rabbi Hadakov's memory, memoirs when he was got, got married in Riga, and he went into Yechidus, or he had conversations with the Friediker Rebbe. And there was a conversation there when to say Shehecheyanu and Malbeish Rumim on a new garment, before putting it on or afterwards. And the

26:02 Rebbe answered that bechal, by, by, by them, as in Chabad, it wasn't common, it wasn't, uh, done to say Shehecheyanu on new garments. So now that we know it's not, not common for us to say Shehecheyanu because possibly because it's not such a big deal. Um, then he says, the Friediker Rebbe says, on his chasuna, when he put on a Shabes dekehitel, I presume that means a kind of shtreimel. So then his father said he should say, should say Shehecheyanu. I don't know whether the kavana was, was to say Shehecheyanu on the new shtreimel, or it was on the fact he's getting married. Okay, so that's, that's... This is from Rabbi Hadakov's thing, so not necessarily from the same source. We have here some kind of thing about not saying a Shehecheyanu on a new tallis. So I did a little bit more research over Shabbos. And now this is from the Sefer Tzitzis Halacha Lemaisah from Rabbi Yecheza Garari. And he writes here, "L'minech Chabad is not... We don't say Shehecheyanu on a tallis, even a tallis gadol." And this is a guidance of the Friediker Rebbe to our Rebbe, quoted by Rabbi Groner, as quoted in Kfar Chabad in this, in this issue. Now, what's the logic of not saying Shehecheyanu on a new tallis? So he quotes here from Rabbi Yekusiel Green, alav hashalom. In his Bir, he do, he put out two volume Bir on Sefer Birchas HaMinim. He says, "Possibly that is because..." Here's a very interesting. You know, the

27:42 Alter Rebbe published two versions of Birchas HaMinim, in addition to the Shecheianu, which he didn't publish bechaiyov. But he published early a Luach Birchas HaMinim, and later he published the Seder Birchas HaMinim, and there are significant changes between them, and one of them i- is in the dinim of Shehecheyanu. If you buy a new, new piece of silverware, we don't say Shehecheyanu on keilim. What about new sfarim? So in the earlier print, the Alter Rebbe had said that one does say a Shehecheyanu on new sfarim. In the later print, he says you don't say Shehecheyanu on new sfarim. So you buy a new sefer, and you're very excited. You still don't say Shehecheyanu. Why not? So he says, "Mitzvah is lav lehonos nitnu." A mitzvah is done out of obedience rather than as an indulgence. And so Rabbi Green wants to suggest that this is the same thing over here, that the reason for not saying Shehecheyanu on your new tallis is because the tallis is primarily for a mitzvah rather than an indulgence. And that would be his logic for this shmuah, Hashem, the Rebbe, about not saying Shehecheyanu on a new tallis. As I say, over Shabbos, I was looking around a little bit more about this. I've got two other sources which comment on this. I have a Sefer called Hachonas Tochasuna, written by Reb Dovid Kratz, and he has here, he brings this story about the Shehecheyanu. He quotes the Rabbi Groner, et cetera. He writes that something about Pes-- Shvi'i

29:38 shel Pesach, the Rebbe said something, uh, lav davka. He has a, he... So he has a little bit of discussions, not so sure how to rely, about relying on this, on this shmuah. And then I have another Sefer called Minhogim Vohanogos L'Chasidei Chabad, published by Reb Nachum Fahaba, and he also addresses this Shehecheyanu story. Um, I'm looking where it is. Sorry. Um, no. All right. At any rate, it's, it's, it's not a clear story, and I guess needs a bit more work on that. I just, by mentioning that there is a, such a hirhur, I also wanted to mention it's not so clear that that is the final word. Okay, let's go on. So now, practical shailah. Are you allowed to use a filter for water on Pesach, or is that considered straining, which we don't use a, a sieve on Shabbos or Yom Tov? So here we have a ruling, which is based upon the Gemara, that a drink which most people are able to drink it without straining it, and you're also accustomed to drink it without straining, so you are allowed to strain it because it's just a mild enhancement. He goes into some detail if you have milk which has got little bits of fat. Since most people will drink it as is, therefore, you are allowed to strain it if you yourself will drink it-- would have drank, drunk it without straining. So then you can strain it just to enjoy it that more, much more. Then he goes further,

31:24 and he says that you are allowed to use a strainer to strain fruit juice, obviously squeezed before Shabbos or Yom Tov, to remove the pulp. Because most people and you yourself will drink the fruit juice with the pulp, so to strain it, to strain out the pulp is considered a mild enhancement, and therefore, you are allowed to do that on Shabbos and Yom Tov. I just want to point out that the Shemiras Shabbos K'Halacha had the rare zechus of publishing his Sefer in three editions, which were significantly different from one another. And in... This is from the third edition, as you can see, Maadurei Chadashah. And in his notes, he says, actually, this is a change from what he'd written in his second edition. There he'd said that you wouldn't be allowed to strain a fruit juice from the pulp. And in his later edition, he, he took the view that you are allowed to, as I said, since especially nowadays, actually, the, the companies which produce orange juice, hamgehaptzach, they can sell the stuff with the pulp and, uh, not lose the money and the, the volume of all that pulp. And they tell people it's more natural, and people buy it. So yeah. So it's, um, orange juice with pulp is, is considered quite drinkable, and therefore, straining it would be allowed. And back to the water, obviously, that is allowed. Okay. A fairly simple question someone's asking, are you allowed to... They'd heard something about not using scented candles for Shabbos. Why

32:58 would, why would people have scented candles? Probably like people use air freshener in, or to make the room smell better. Maybe reasons why it's a challenge is they have a scented candle. So can you use scented candles for Neret Shabbos? So you do have in the Mishnah, ba-me madlikim, ba-me ein madlikim, and it does mention, Gemara perhaps, about tzrim, which is a perfume, uh, or perfumed oil. So you wouldn't be allowed to use that for Ne- Neret Shabbos, for your Shabbos lights. The one reason is because of its strong, uh, fragrance, you might be tempted to put your finger in and take a bit of the fragrance of the oil and put it on yourself. And taking oil from a burning flame, from a burning lamp is considered extinguishing because you're shortening its burning life. Another reason is because that this oil, this fragrant oil, had a tendency to fly, to jump, and that would cause, uh, worry of, of, of fire, and so it might be tempting you to put it out. So those are two reasons given not to use a fragrant oil, lest you will partake of it, or lest it'll cause, uh, it'll j- it'll jump around. Neither of those apply to a scented candle, and therefore, I remain that bepashtit there's no question at all, and you, if you wanted to use scented candles for, uh, for, for Neret Shabbos, Neret Yom Tov, I think that it's quite okay. Um, it just brings me to mind whilst I'm speaking, someone

34:41 came up with an idea of Hiddur Mitzvah to use, um, fragrant water for washing the hands of the Korbanim be- on, on Yom Tov before they bench Birkat Korbanim. And then that would make Birkat Korbanim a multi-sensory, uh, experience because the Korbanim would be waving their hands, and the whole place would smell of this nice smell. And so they thought it's gonna be a major Hiddur Mitzvah, and then some Rabbanim said, "No, no, no, you can't do that. You can't put on perfume on Yom Tov because of moledet." And so, lepoel, that was sh-shelved. Right. Let's move on. This was actually a very beautiful shailah. A, a Ger Tzedek asked me, could he make a Siyum on Erev Pesach on the fifty-three Perakim of Tanya? So I said yes, um, because I know that in Igrot Moshe, he talks about someone studied a Sefer Ha'Novi. And he says, "If you learned it beIyun, so then you can make a Sa- Siyum on a Sefer Ha'Novi." And I don't think learn- learning Tanya is anything less than that. Learn through the whole fifty-three Perakim of Tanya, probably in a Mesoratic way. So I said yes. But then I was thinking, does it, does, does it make sense that a Ger should make a... Does he need to fast on Erev, uh, Erev Pesach? Is he a Bechor Echad Betrad? Because the, he's not, he's... As far as Peter Echad beYisrael, his mother wasn't Jewish, so he's not Peter Echad beYisrael. As far as Yerusha, when he's

36:12 with Megaya, he, he loses the affinity of, of, uh, to be, uh, he's got katun Shenoy, he just doesn't have Yerusha. So he's not Bechor Halacha. So why should he have to fast in the first place to have to make a Siyum? So that was my reaction, but I didn't say anything. And I looked around, and I saw actually here Pesach Shavuot he brings from Shevet HaLevi from Rav Osner. The Pashtis is pater, but he says, "If he had been in Mitzrayim, and he had been Megaya before Makat Bechorot, so he would have been saved." So then he's, he's got reason to be, to be grateful, um, to Hashem for not having been punished in Mitzrayim. So that's his, his take that perhaps he should, he should be, uh, participating in the town as Bechorot if he's a Bechor. Uh, although Rav Yashuv says he doesn't need to, et cetera, et cetera. Okay. Let's move on. I just shared it because I think it's such a beautiful, uh, shailah. Right. So we're on for point number nine. So this is a, a boy who's coming home for a Yom Tov, and his parents', uh, Chabad house, they don't have a daily minyan. They have on Mondays and Thursdays, but on the other days they don't have. And he's asking, he could get onto his bike, and within about a quarter of an hour he'll be at another place, and he can daven there with a minyan. So sh- does he have an obligation to do

37:47 so? See, it's interesting. So in other words, what are the parameters that a person should be, uh, obliged to daven with a minyan? So here we have in Shulchan Aruch this is Siman Tzadik. A person is traveling and he's come to a place where he can spend the night. But if he pushes off, pushes on another four milin, another four kilometers, and then he'll be able to find a place where there is a minyan, and he'll find there a, a, a place to spend, spend the night there. So then if he could travel and get there in good time, he shouldn't have to travel on his own, then he should. So he has to go out of his way. Sorry, he has to continue on his journey an extra dalet milin in order to be able to daven with a minyan. Then he says, if it's le'acharo, if it means to go out of your way, then you'd need to go at maximum, you're obliged a shir of a mil, one kilometer out of your way to daven with a minyan. Now, then the Alter Rebbe adds in brackets. This is what I found interesting. Vehu ha-din hador ve'yeshuv. Someone who's living in a built-up area within a mil, within a kilometer of a place where there's a minyan. Chayav leilech bechol yom bocher ve'erev lehispalel ba'tzar. See, if you live in a built-up area... So whereas till now we're talking about journeying. You ready, you already got your coat on, yeah? You got another

39:21 mil. No, even if you're living at home, and still you have a duty to get out of your home to go to a minyan, if it's, uh, within, within one kilometer or c- in time, that's within eighteen or twenty-four minutes, one would be obliged to go bocher ve'erev. Very interesting. So now what I find more interesting, then go, go on. We go... It's brought in the Mishna Berura. He says like this, Hador ve'al kein. Hador ve'yeshuv. Ah, so, ah, first of all, he writes, Vayoshuv bebeiseh dino ke'mil acharo. If you're home, so like you have to go out of your way whilst you're traveling, also if you're staying home, also you have to go a shir mil. And he quotes that from Chayei Adam, which I looked for it in Chayei Adam, I couldn't find. Okay. Then he goes on, Hador ve'yeshuv within a mil from where there's a minyan, one has to go out every day ba'bocher to daven with a minyan. Ava lo ba'erev because you don't have to go at night ba'derech bishvil minyan. And then he finishes off, this is toichachos megullah rebuke for those people who are in a town, and they are... they couldn't be bothered going out to shul to daven Mincha and Ma'ariv. So before going to the Mishna Berura a bit more carefully, but what I see here is Mem Hei is quoting from Shulchan Aruch HaGra. In other words, this is from the Alter Rebbe. This Chiddash that even if you are at home, you

40:56 need to get out of your, um, house to go to a minyan with... if it's within a shir mil, he brings it from the Alter Rebbe. But what I find interesting is that he changes because the Alter Rebbe had said bocher ve'erev, and here the Mishna Berura changed, and he says, "Ve'erev, you don't need to." And this is quoting the Alter Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe said bocher ve'erev, and he's changed, "No, you don't need to." But then he goes on, he says, "Toichachos megullah for people who, who don't go to shul Mincha or Ma'ariv." So I think he's differentiating whether you're living near, whether, whether your journey would have to go through countryside, and then he says, "You don't have to go for the evening." And whether you're living in built-up area, and then you should have to go the same chirur applies in the evening. I think that's what he's trying to differentiate. So he quotes the Alter Rebbe, Hador ve'yeshuv, and yet he's kind of modifying it. Okay. But meanwhile, so we do have here fairly straightforward Halakha. If it is... I-if the minyan is within a shir hilch mil, which would mean, according to the Alter Rebbe, in case Pesach is twenty-four minutes, that's how much you'd have to go out of your way to daven with a minyan. Now, uh, discussing this afternoon in shul, um, what does it mean to go to the... Does it mean to go to the shul and be there whilst they say Kidusha? L'cho it

42:24 means... No, it means actually to daven with a minyan. So it's, uh, some people fi-find this quite challenging to, to do this. But it means coming to the shul and, yeah, being there on time, in, in enough time to be able to daven Shmoneh Esrei with a minyan. That's what means fillo ve'lispalel ba'tzaroh. To be there and answer Kidusha, uh, no, that's not exactly that. Just one more comment, and, and perhaps I've said this before. There is this thing of people coming late and catch, and skipping, and that's, you know, a babazh, you know. We don't skip, yeah? And now coming late and, and rushing through davening, is that any better than skipping? I know that's moish-- mashpia shailah. Is, is rushing davening more Hasidish than skipping in davening? No. Okay. Um, I have here- Rabbe Naftali says he was an oven at Yisroel, and he davened every-- he duchaned every day. And yeah, so necessary to do that, yeah. Um, and Reuben Cohen's asking, you know, oven and duchaning. Okay, I don't know what Minichan is in Yisroel. Perhaps they don't have this, um... it's just Chutz Lar, it's that an averus one doesn't do duchaning. Then, then Reverend Naftali is asking that didn't the Rebbe wear a new scarf with something the second day of Rosh Hashanah, um, to wear to in order to... Yes, so the Rebbe did make a Shehecheyanu on a new garment, and that's why he comes to the talis, which I was so surprised. And that's this smora

43:55 to say, as I said already earlier, perhaps the talis is called a Begged Shel Mitzvah, and therefore, because a mitzvah is lav lechan is nidnu is in a way a disadvantage in relation to saying Shehecheyanu. Okay, sorry about jumping back to some earlier chats. Right, um, we have another few minutes. So now we have a few points about the Haggadah. So now, V'hi She'amda. At V'hi She'amda, we raise up the cup of wine, and because of this, we cover the matzahs. But why do we re-lift the cup at V'hi She'amda? So kas sevar haReKEach, because so, so wrote the ReKEach. So now, what did the ReKEach actually write? So he writes the following, "I, Elazar Hakatan, saw my father, Rab Yehuda ben Kalonymus, that he would raise his cup by V'hi She'amda." And I asked him, and he said, "That's the Minich of my fathers." "Refi shume davi v'hatzalah" because it talks about salvation, and it says, "Ko yeshuas eso." So when it comes about salvation, ko yeshuas eso. All right, that is the ReKEach. And now we have the Arizal. This is from the Siddur Arizal, Rab Shabsi. Kas sevar haReKEach that you should lift the c-the, the cup here. Ki malkhus something, yikach kois brocho. He emoni b'golas v'afgam zechus. I'm gonna explain this now. V'hi She'amda, v'hi refers to the cup. And the cup has got to do with the inyun of malkhus. And on a... let's say a little bit deeper. Earlier, we said, "Baruch Sheim hahavtojos el Yisroel." The Aibishter

45:43 with Eden has a special relationship. And that v'hi, that awareness that we have this special relationship with Hashem, that is V'hi She'amda that gave us the ability to withstand, to, to, to endure and prevail in all the challenging circumstances, uh, in, in Galus. That's V'hi She'amda. So there's malkhus and there's zo-- or there's a chason and kalo. The chason is the mashpia, the kalo is the mekabel. And what we're saying is we, Bnei Yisroel, are the kalo of the Aibishter. And that's where we have that special relationship. And for that reason, we li-lift the cup. Um, Reb Mendel Futerfas apparently had a Minich to say V'hi She'amda referring to the cup as ich sid in zogen l'chaim and farbrengen. Well, that's on, on that, on a Chassidisha level. And now on a Kabbalah level, the cup is malkhus, and that's got to do with Eden being a mekabel, and the Aibishter is the mashpia. And here, M-Arizal brings a remez to this re-relationship where we have a pasuk in the end of the toch achar. "V'yaav gam zoos v'yosom be'eretz oiveyhem," when they were... well, they are or will be in the lands of their enemies. "Lo imas tim v'lo geal tim," I did not despise them, I will not despise them. "V'lo geal tim," not reject them. "L'chalosom," to annihilate them. "L'hofer britziytom," to annul my covenant with them. So he says the word l'chalosom is written with the out of vav. I think the kometz which is under the kof should be under

47:27 the lamed, and the cha-pasuk should be also moved over. "L'chalosom k'sif," that they are my bride. Hashem says, "When they are in, in the Eretz oiveyhem, I will not despise them, will not reject them, l'chalosom because they are my bride." So then we can then read into sh-that when V'hi She'amda, "Laveisenu l'shlo echab livad om am adoleinu," you know why they om adoleinu. You know why they just... they wanted to do harm us. "L'chaloiseinu," because we are the Aibishter's kalo. "Sheb'chol devar deu eim demoreinu l'chaloiseinu" because we're the Aibishter's kalo. They-- That's why they hate us, because we're Aibishter. We have a special relationship with the Aibishter. V'hi She'amda, that special relationship, knowing that we have that special relationship with the Aibishter, that has given us the, the strength to withstand, uh, and to, uh, prevail despite all of the persecution, uh, nitan gedacht. So that's the why we lift the cup by V'hi She'amda because of this and that special relationship of Eden being the Aibishter's kalo. Two more points we have on our list, and one is, I may have shared this before, but it's something which is very special to me. The Haggadah is a commentary on four pesukim. When a Jew brings Bikkurim, and he says, "Arami oved avi vaner mistreimo," you know. And then i-the, the, uh, the Haggadah takes each two, three words and corroborate, corroborates this with a pasuk. So the Tzemach Tzedek, Sefardi Rebbe says him, his father told him that Tzemach Tzedek generally did not use

49:06 Kabbalah ma'asis, that's practical Kabbalah, which can bring practical results. Nor did he use the concept of Sha'alas Chalom to ask for a answer to your queries in a dream. That's probably how the Alter Rebbe would come to him, but that's a different thing. There's a thing of, uh, uh, of Sha'alas Chalom. However, once he was a young man, and he had a problem. In the pasuk, in the Haggadah, it says, "VaNitzach el Hashem eleinu," and it bring... he corroborates it, the Haggadah corroborates it with the pasuk, "Vayizaku." Uh, the, the Vayizaku Yisroel b'nehem in ha'avodah. So he asks, and he asks, "How can you bring a support from zaku to tsaku?" These are two separate sharashim. And to explain the question, zaku means a cry of alarm. As in the modern Hebrew, they use for an alarm, they call it a zaka. We have to run here, raise, do whatever. Perhaps the word alarm comes from the word of arms. Pull out your armor, your, uh, your arms to yourself. By Yazig Baruch, uh, uh, it's the lotion. Azakah is a call to arms. Tzakah is a cry of desperation. And this is the Tzemach Tzedek's question. When the Pasuk says, "Vanitzak," we cried out to Hashem in desperation. How do you bring a proof from the word Vayizaku? And in desperation, he made a shalosh cholim. And he was told in his dream, "Look up the Zohar in Parashat Shmoys, Esdav Chof." And it says that Tzakah... The Zohar asked this very question. And

50:52 the Zohar says, "Tzakah v'Zakah in yonom echad." It's the same thing, Tzakah v'Zakah. And you ask, "What's going on here?" He asked a question that Tzakah and Zakah are two separate sharashim and mean separate meanings. And then the Zohar says it's the same. So is it the same or is it different? So what's, what's the conversation here? So yours truly wants to suggest the following. That there, there is a, uh, the Rebbe would talk very often about a Jewish farmer, and he plants seed. He plants seed like a goyishe farmer, lehavdil. But he plants seed with a prayer that Hashem will make his- give him success. A Yid goes to a doctor. Has an ailment, goes to a doctor. He has a tefillah. The Rebbe should, should give him a refuah. I went to a doctor, but he's, he's, he's... That's the chitsonyus. The primius is asking Hashem. So that's the Zakah, a call to arms, and Tzakah, a cry in desperation to Hashem. They are chaduhu because although on the outside you are taking a Tzakah, you're saying, "I have to do this, I have to do that," but the primius is actually a Tzakah. Hashem, look, look after me. Give me... Send me a Yeshua. Last thing which we have on our list is about the Makas and about the minhag of some use their fingers. And I mentioned today, I heard from... When, when, when, when... Some use their finger to, to pour out the wine. And also provide the three words

52:40 of Dom, Ve'esh, and well, Simas Oshen is, is like the three, three en-entities. And altogether you have sixteen pourings. And that is corres- relating to the sword of Hashem called Yud-Vav-Heh-Chof. And that's the Malach, the angel, who is in, in charge with meting out r-revenge. So Yud-Vav-Heh. We're doing that out. And then in, see on the next slide, you've got this name Yud-Vav-Heh-Chof is also used for Shemira, the sword for protection. And you take a look at the Pasuk, Ki Malach Av Yatzav Elok. So the last letters of those four words is Yud-Vav-Heh-Chof. That Hashem protects you, Ki Malach Av Yatzav Elok, Lishmoko Bechol Derechecha. So the, this, this name, Yud-Vav-Heh-Chof, has got to do with, it's a sword, which is a revenge, and at the same time a protection. So that's the significance of pouring sixteen times. Some do it with the finger. They'd use the finger nearest to the thumb, which is called Etzbah. And that's because Hashem, the, the Mitzrim acknowledged Etzbah Elokim Hi. Others use the small finger, the Kamitza, because that's the finger with which Hashem smote the Mitzrim. Uh, why, why that finger? Well, possibly because by saying it's Hashem's small finger, Kiv Yochol, that makes the, the, the miracle greater. Then, Yesh Nehagi Matam HaYadu Alhem, to pour directly from the cup without a finger. And that's where our minhag comes from, of pouring directly. Before finishing off on that, the, the acknowledgment of the Egyptian sorcerers to say Etzbah Elokim Hi was after Makas, uh, Kinim, with

54:36 the lice. And they were-- They tried, VeLo Yochlu. They had, they, the, the Chartubi Mitzraim weren't able to produce the Maka of lice. They weren't able to replicate this. And Rashi tells us that because they, they don't have the, the Ruachot do not have the ability to control something which is smaller than the size of a lentil. So I heard from Rav Nachman Yosef Wilhelm here, has been... I'm sure he got it from somewhere. It says in the Gemara Gittin that the, the, the spirits, Ashmedai, et cetera, have webbed feet. Now, if you have experience of having webbed feet, you'll see that to pick up a small thing is difficult because you can't get it, you can't get the grip on it. And so the, the Chai- the Sheidim, they weren't able to bring the... They weren't able to import lice because it's so small, and with webbed feet, they cannot bring it together. So therefore, when they saw that some power is bringing them, Etzbah Elokim Hi, this is a, a, a godly, this is a divine finger. The fact that they, they are able to bring such small things must be that God has a finger, two fingers, whatever, to bring them together, to bring them over. So that's the, uh, why then they said, said Etzbah Elokim Hi. Now, coming back to our minhag of not using fingers, but instead- And, uh, before that, and as we did the Havdalah Meyuna today in shul, I realized right after the, when we do

56:14 the, the Makos, then there's a whole discussion of Yosef Lily and, uh, Kiva, et cetera, of, um, one Maka and five Makos, yeah? Because Etzba and Beyad, it makes very much sense if you use your finger. We just talked about using the finger as for, for, for the Makos. Then it goes, "Oh, oh, finger. Oh, five times as much," et cetera. ""Yeah, because Yad Hashem is five times a finger. So just... If you just use the fingers, it f- the, the flow is better. Uh, according to our, um, Nusach, our Minhag of not using the fingers, so the flow is only from the cup. Yeah. Um, so now here we have in the Pri Etz Chaim, and the Pri Etz Chaim was written by Rabbi Chaim Vital, and he has a Talmud or Talmud of a Talmud called the Biachav Yosef Tzemach. Um, I think that was his name. And he also wrote other Seforim. We have a Sefer, uh, Nogeied Hametzavah, but he has notes on the Pri Etz Chaim. So, When you come to the Makos, we pour directly from the cup, not like those who pour with the finger. Possibly the reason is a Remez, that the Makos come from Malchus, which is Koiseh Brocha, So that's relating before we talk about the cup is called Malchus. It relates to Malchus, and to have the Makos, uh, coming direct from the cup, that's the reason, pouring directly from the cup. I had heard from a Ish Vera of Ashalem that in the

57:49 Rebbe's house, the very upstairs, where the Frederick Rebbe's, uh, apartment, for Ma- for the Makos, it says you should have a Kli Shavor. You should use a, uh... Because it's pouring off to Klipa, and that's why we don't use the wine. We pour it away. So there they used to have Negel Vaser bowls. On the floor, they had Ne- bowls like, uh, Negel Vaser bowls. So the main th- the main thing point here is whether it's broken or not. The main thing is it should not Choshuf. Um, so, uh, it doesn't, doesn't matter whether it's a cracked dish or a Negel Vaser bowl, just to show we're pouring off to Klipa some kind of energy, and they should have theirs. And, uh, l- let, let us continue and refill the Seder with the Koiseh Brocha. And this Brocha should be a Brocha to bring the Geulah, Amitas, and the Hashlemo. We should celebrate this Pesach in the Beis Hamikdash with, uh, Good to go. Good to go.