Aish Kodesh - Bo

2:32 In Bifrat At the very end of the drasha, we'll skip just to the last five words. Es heißt: „Yesser dvarenu bze eni zeicher.“ I don't remember anything more than I said. Meaning, this is a Cut off piece. The Rebbe did not finish it. He didn't complete the transcription of the piece. Or the scribe who wrote it didn't complete the finishing of the piece. Clearly, because they were not in the headspace to remember what was written. Or that which was said. The Lubavitcher Rebbe Ze'ev HaDik LeVracha used to speak for many hours on Shabbos. And if you've ever seen the Rebbe's Torah, the Rebbe spoke in such a way that the words poured out of his mouth. You ever see the videos online? It's Kadai. They have Jem has wonderful videos. And the Rebbe spoke in a way that was like a waterfall of words, not in a natural way.

3:33 And in Chabad B'frat, they write down everything that the Rebbe said. Not just the last rebbe, but also the rebbes before that, including what nigunim the rebbe asked to be sung after he said certain things. They write down everything. And to record what the rebbe said over Shabbos, sometimes the rebbe could speak for eight, ten, or twelve hours over a Shabbos. So they had people whose job was to memorize everything that the rebbe said. Some of you probably know Rabbi Jacobson. His brother of Simin Jacobson, so they were memorizers. So I once heard that to be a memorizer. I think I heard this from Rav Yai Jacobson that to be a memorizer did not require being a genius. It did require being a genius. It's nice that Rav Yai would say that, but of course he is being humble. He is obviously a man of great intellect.

4:33 In addition to being a very talented Marbets Torah. But he said, I believe it was either Rav Yair or Siman. I heard him say that when a person is so focused and so in love with what is being said. So it's not hard to remember it. It's like a lahvdel. Obviously, I don't mean it this way, but it's like a girl who comes back from an exciting date. And I don't know if you had this. The difference between how a boy comes back from a date and a girl comes back from a date. A girl comes back from a date. And she can go through berachol b'tchitana every single thing that the boy said And I don't know exactly what he meant by this. And they darshan and they become big lumdim. These girls in Stern are tremendous tamiy, they chachamos. They're really able to darshan every ice, every single thing the boy said, every vov, every you know like every.

5:29 And I see about him that he likes this, and they can go through maybe a five-hour date like it's nothing. Why? Because when we're emotionally very into it, we can repeat every single thing. Of course, when a boy comes back from a date and his roommate asks him how it was, he says good. That's the whole conversation. He was like, "You like her? I think so." That's the whole conversation. I've seen it many times. I've been a part of it many times. Jacobson was saying that they were so in love, there was such humility, such spotless to the rabba that it wasn't so difficult. It wasn't just the two of them; they had ten, twelve of these chaver that were just memorizing everything. So it wasn't so difficult to be able to remember eight, ten, twelve hours of what the rabba said. It's still very difficult.

6:18 And then the rabba would go over and he would mark it up and make any corrections that needed to be made. The fact that here. It's written yesser dvarenu beze eini zoicher. One imagines it is not the product of a lack of remembering on an intellectual level. We're talking about very bright people. We're talking about geniuses. Certainly, one can already see the depth, the profundity of thought that the Eish Kodesh had from the learnings that we've had together. But it's clearly a state of psychological turbulence. There was he couldn't hold cup with everything that was going on. To hear that they were going to be deported for two years and who knew what was going to be. So bearing this in mind when we read this piece to try to understand what it was about. That on the one hand he gave it in but on the other hand he crossed it out.

7:19 So we all know in Parshas Bo, Moshe Rabbeinu says, 'Come to Paro.' All the mafarshim already speak about what it means. Bo el Paro and not Lech el Paro. Hesalalti be Mitzrayim. What does that mean? So Rashi says, "I'm toying around." I'm playing with Mitzrayim. It's a very strange thing for the Rebbeinu Sholom to say. I'm playing around in Eretz Yisrael. This is not times of fun and games. Even again, a lot of us don't internalize these things. The pesukim are not really so like detailed about the torture of 210 years of slavery. But if you look in the medrashim And there are first of all wonderful svarim. They have what's that book? Let my nation go. Read all the Medrashim, he brought down and he told it over in a beautiful story format. And my wife uses the Gadi Palik Hagada every year. This Hagada is highly recommended.

8:28 Very, very detailed. It really makes it come to life to think about the suffering these people had. This is not a time to say Sachakti. The Rebbeinu Shlom was playing around. 210 years of slavery. Millions upon millions of Jewish deaths. That Hakadosh Baruch Hu sees this as a game, Chas V'Shalom. What does this mean? The Efsir Ki Biyam Sharatzu Malachim Asharis Lemirshira. We know that when it came to Kriyas Yamsuf We all know the Medrash that the Malachim desired to sing as the Egyptians were being drowned. So Amr Hakadosh Baruch Hu Masayadai. We all know the Medrash says that Hakadosh Baruch Hu turned to the Mitzrayim and he said, 'My creations, are drowning in the water, and you're going to sing Shirah.' Hakadosh Baruch Hu cannot rejoice in the downfall of Rishayim. So on the one hand, we see that Hakadosh Baruch Hu, even if Chas v'Shalom a Nazi Or an Egyptian, and certainly the Egyptians were at least as bad as the Nazis. Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not rejoice in the downfall of Rasha.

9:41 The can hisalalti sachakti b'mapalasan, and here bo el paro hisalalti that there seems to be a level of playing games, of rejoicing in the downfall of the Rishayim. So we have a contradiction when it comes to Kriyas Yamsuf. Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells the Malachim we don't celebrate the downfall of the Rishayim. But here the Rebbeinu Shlom seems to be celebrating the downfall of the Rishayim. So we have a contradiction. And so he begins to bring an answer. He says, "Kisham k'siv v'yeshuv v'yachnu v'yedu mitsrayim ki ani Hashem. V'kain v'yedatem sheyisrael yedu ki ani Hashem. There is a major difference here. To whom is Hakadosh Baruch Hu addressing himself? Who does Hakadosh Baruch Hu want to create awareness? So here it says, "V'yedu mitsrayim ki ani Hashem." I want that Mitzrayim should know that I am Hakadosh Baruch Hu, but over there it says I want Klal Yisrael to know that I am Hakadosh Baruch. So there's a difference. If Hakadosh Baruch Hu is communicating to the world, we know that by Yitzchias Mitzrayim Hakadosh Baruch Hu wasn't just speaking to Klal Yisrael, but he wanted the entire world to know that he was Hashem.

11:01 So this is Harbei Pa'amim Yesh Shei Yisrael. These are very difficult words to understand, and I don't know that we'll understand them, but we'll try. He says many times, this is a very daring statement. Jews suffer in order to cleanse them and to awaken them to greater levels of Yerusha'aim. So that's a very big thing to say because really when a person suffers We don't know why a person suffers. But here, the Eish Kodesh says. That on some level there's a purification process, which we'll explain in a moment And on some level there's an awakening of Yirashemayim in a person when they suffer. What does that mean? First of all The body Just to give some background, the body must go through a purification process. And the soul must go through a purification process after leaving this world. Why? Because the body involved itself in sin, it needs to be addressed through the process of chibut hakaver.

12:09 The body has to go through decomposition in the ground, and that creates a purifying process for the body. Trias amesim, the body is reborn as an adam rishon type of body because it's been cleansed. The body of adam rishon, of course, is a very important part of the body. That's why Chazal tell us that the body of adam rishon was made completely from fingernails, which means to say that it was transparent. Kedusha means transparency. So it used to be in the times of Adam Rishon that you could see through; things were transparent. You could see through to their inner essence. The body of Adam Rishon before he sinned. It was completely see through, so you could see through to his inner essence. Our bodies only became opaque, so that we can't see through to the essence, after the sin of Adam and Eve. The fingernails, which is the secret of the fingernails by Havdala, remain somewhat translucent, so that a person could see through.

13:02 Which is why, as Shabbos is leaving and we're returning to our state of Eilema Ze, which is the broken state after other Marishon. So we look deep through the fire, right? And we can see through to the inner essence of our Guf, and that's a message that we take with us into the week. The soul also requires a purification process. Of course, Alakain the Shama Shana Sata Bitayrei The soul always remains pure, no matter what a person does. But the soul has become accustomed to being in this world. And the soul has become accustomed to being, of course, not involved in an avera. The godly soul, at the moment of an avera, a godly soul wants no part of an avera. Nevertheless, the godly soul is part of the avera because it's there and it's become accustomed to such a world. So the godly soul goes through a process called Gehenna.

13:55 Gehenna is, of course, not the Gehenna of Christianity. It's no pitchforks, no Satan. Nothing chas v'shala, or anything like that. It's a cleansing process. It's a statement of the soul's worthiness. For example, if you have a shirt and the shirt gets a stain on it And you wash the shirt, if it could speak, it would say 'ouch,' because it has all these suds on it and it's going through this hot water and then it's being spun and then it's being dried. So the shirt is in pain. But of course, the only reason that you're washing the shirt is because the stain is superficial and the stain can be removed. But if the stain were Chas v'Shalom part of the shirt, so then we wouldn't bother to go through that process. We're all going to go to Gehenna, but not Gehenna in the way that you've thought about it until now, which is a very Christian concept. Gehenna in the very beautiful way of Hakadosh Baruch Hu reacclimating the soul to Olam Haba.

14:53 The soul can be compared to a diamond ring. There's a diamond ring in the mud, and the diamond ring doesn't feel like a diamond. There's a diamond ring in a Tiffany's box. Which the diamond feels very much like a diamond. But the diamond ring in the Tiffany's box also doesn't feel like it's fulfilling its tafkid. Because a diamond ring is meant to be on somebody's finger. So those are the three stages. First, in olam aneshamos, before our soul is born, that's like a diamond ring in a Tiffany's box. Then the soul is born into this world, and that's where the soul feels like it's on somebody's finger. But then, of course, because we do aviras, the soul feels like it's been thrown into the mud. It doesn't feel like a soul. So the soul, in order to re-enter, is almost like imagining a person who's going into a fancy restaurant for a fancy dinner. You can't show up dressed as a homeless person.

15:50 You have to be cleansed first. The cleansing process is not a bad process. The fact that we go to Gehenna is a natural process. That's why Moshe Rabbeinu doesn't have to go to Gehenna. Moshe Rabbeinu, the soul Never experienced any difference between the kisei akvod and Moshe Abenu's body. So the Gemara says that at the time Moshe Rabbeinu was meant to die, the malchamavas came to extract the soul from Moshe Rabbeinu, and the soul refused to go. Because the soul said, "Why should I go?" And Malchamav said, 'What do you mean? You have a special place.' The soul said, 'I don't see any difference between Meisharabenu's body and the Kisiyakavut.' Ultimately, they forced the soul to go. That's what Gemara speaks about. There are different types of death that a person could draw a feather from tar. Or a person could draw a feather from milk.

16:39 So when a person draws a feather from tar, two things: first of all, the extraction process is painful. And second of all, the lichluch of the tar remains on the feather even afterwards. Maseh inkin, if a person draws a feather from milk, there's no pain to the extraction process. It simply comes out, and all the water and milk wash away. You can't tell the difference because the feather is white and the milk is white. So it's just a plain extraction process. So this idea that a person goes through yisurin in order to cleanse ourselves, what does that mean? It means to the degree that we become less aware of our own yeshus, less aware of our own ego, which is what naturally happens when a person suffers. Because you come in contact with the essence, so there's a purifying process there. Because as long as we have what we'll call a body consciousness, it's very difficult for a person to feel their soul.

17:35 Which is why suffering changes a person tremendously. When my closest friends in the world told me that he can tell in a very short amount of time when he's speaking to somebody if they've suffered or not Because he himself is a person that suffered tremendously in his life He lost both of his parents at a very young age to various diseases. He himself had to undergo a terrible procedure and lost his leg. Got cancer when he was just a little boy. So he's been through suffering, so he knows if he meets somebody who speaks in a certain way, you can tell that's a person that suffered. It's like Kavyyachal. If you meet an addict who's gone through recovery, they speak with very spiritual terminology. It changes a person. When a person suffers, it changes you. You stop identifying as your body, and you start identifying more by the essence. So that part is a little bit clear to us. The idea that Yisurin could create a cleansing process. Here, the Eish Kodesh says something very daring. He says sometimes a person suffers just to awaken within them a sense of Yirah Hashem. In other words, a person could be suffering and they didn't deserve any of that suffering.

18:45 But a person could undergo suffering in their life just to bring them closer to Hashem because in their state of pain they cry out to Hashem. This is, of course, a very daring statement. Then he says, 'va'az.' Kish neskarvul higayil amar Hashem simcha veschoyku lefanai kish eiser veech asa Mitzrayim v'lo Yisrael. What happened? Klal Yisrael's in Mitzrayim. And Klal Yisrael's suffering terribly. Why are they suffering terribly? Two reasons. Number one, they should have this cleansing. Purification process. They were in Mitzrayim suffering to become aware of Hashem's presence. And now that the Geulah is coming. Hashem is so happy, and he's laughing. Why? Because he's doing it through hitting the mitzrim, and not through hitting the Jews. The ayedzei asigul Yisrael yedias Hashem. So now Hakadosh Baruch Hu is saying, 'Look, I'm hitting the mitzrim ba'al paro. I'm going to hit the mitzrim, and I'm going to awaken your awareness of your Shamayim, not through hitting you.'

19:56 I'm going to awaken your awareness. Dafka through hitting the Mitzrayim. Mashe'een kain biyam. However, this is not true by Kriyas Yamsuf anymore. Shahaya k'deisha yidu Mitzrayim ki ani Hashem, because the point of Kriyas Yam Suf was not for Klal Yisrael. Klal Yisrael had already been saved. Klal Yisrael is already on the other side. The shibud is over. The shibud really was over. After again, different mepharshim, but certainly the shibud was over by Makas Chosha already. So the shevat was already over. He says, but now the point was to teach Mitzrayim a lesson. This is a big deal. What the Rebbe is saying over here, he's saying when it comes to the Mitzrim Hashem cares, But not so much if the Mitzrim know Him. Meaning. The whole purpose of creation, as we're going to see in a moment, he says it. What's the whole point of creation? Again, you can answer this in many ways, but we've said it before. The point of creation is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to be known. To who? To Klal Yisrael.

21:19 Everything is for a relationship with Klal Yisrael. Even I think we mentioned once that the Medrash in Parshas Naso says "Nisaveh Hakadosh Baruch Hu lios lo yisbarach dir betachtonim." That Hakadosh Baruch Hu desires a dwelling place in the world down below. So that creates an uncomfortable question for us. Hakadosh Baruch Hu desires to have a dwelling place in the world down below. Then does Hakadosh Baruch Hu really care about Jews? Or does He really care about the world? So it almost feels to us, if you're paying careful attention, it almost feels like we're just a vehicle to bridge the gap between Hashem and the world. Hashem doesn't really care about us; He cares about the world. That can't be. It must be that when we say Hakadosh Baruch Hu cares about derech betachtonim, it's a way of creating a relationship with us. In other words, it's impossible that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is using us. If you really look at Chazal, it's impossible that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is using us just to. Because Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to be with the world, Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to be with the yid. This is everything that we know. We know that yidden are the tachlis abria.

22:31 Even according to that pshat, yidden are obviously the tachlis abria. But according to this, which is the one that the Eish Kodesh speaks about, that the purpose of creation was that he should be known to us. It's obvious that the purpose of creation was for us to have a relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. I but you'll say, God Hashem Baruch Hu also wants the world to know that He's Hashem. He also wants the mitzrim to know that He's Hashem. To what can we compare this? The Eish Kodesh doesn't say this, but this is what I believe. The thing that every one of us wants is to be known. That's what we want. That's why When you have a couple that's either married and struggling. Or when a couple is dating and it's not going so well, and they've reached a certain stage, what will one side inevitably say to the other?

23:20 I feel like you don't know me Or a wife will say to her husband, I feel like you're not listening. I feel like you're not paying attention to what I want. You're not hearing me. What Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants is to be known. That means to be in a relationship with somebody. Now there are different levels of knowledge. Let's say you're working in an office for forty years. You have people who work in the same office for forty years. I know a certain secretary who works for a certain Rosh Yeshiva since the eighties. So it's for sure forty years that they've been working together. I imagine that he knows her very well and she knows him very well. In fact, if you look at it, it could very well be that who spends more time—the rishivah spends more time with his wife, or the rishivah spends more time with the secretary. Knowing this rishivah, knowing how hard he works I'm confident that in terms of waking hours, he has more conversations with the secretary than he does with his wife.

24:30 And I know for a fact that when you speak to the secretary and you say, do you think the rishiva would want this or do you think the rishiva would want that? She always knows the answer. She goes, he doesn't like that. Just do this. Certain people work together for forty years. You know that person. That knowledge is not the same knowledge as the husband and the wife. It could be that the husband spends more waking hours, more time, and more conversation with that secretary. But the knowledge that she has of him. While certainly deep and comprehensive, it is not intimate. She doesn't know his essence. She knows what he likes. She knows a lot about him. She doesn't know him. He, she only knows what he reveals to her. The difference between a wife and a secretary And you know this intuitively now. Your husband's better than anybody. In fact, you know the things even your husbands don't want you to know. That's why it drives men crazy when their wives notice things. I told you this about one of my talmidim after he got married. He's like the sweetest, nicest guy in the world, and he calls me up and he says, 'Marriage is hard.'

25:38 So I said, 'Yeah.' I said, 'But what do you mean?' He goes, 'Rebbe, these girls notice everything.' So I said, 'Right. That's what women do. They notice things.' She's and she even asked him. She's like, "You don't notice things about me?" He's like, "No, I don't notice things about you because what man notices anything? I told you when I came to pick up my wife when we were engaged, we were going out on a date. And she showed up at the front door, and I didn't make any comments. She said, "Not gonna, you're not gonna comment." I asked, "Comment on what?" She said, "I'm wearing a sheitel." I had no idea. I wasn't looking. I was looking. I said I thought you did your hair nicely. What do I, a 21 year old kid? I don't know the difference between this hair and that hair. I don't like. Also, I'm smart enough to know not to comment because in case you get it wrong, it's never kedai to say anything. It's never kedai to guess at anything. I've learned this very much the hard way. But the idea that Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to have yedioh with us is not the same as He wants to have yedioh with Mitzrayim. Does He want Mitzrayim to know Him? Yes. So by Kriyas Yamsof, the purpose was that Mitzrayim should know Me.

26:49 But He's not laughing over that. It's not gishmak for Him. That's not that doesn't excite Hakadosh Baruch Hu that the world should know Him. But when it comes to the fact that he's going to hit the Mitzrim, and that it's going to be hitting the Mitzrim and not Klal Yisrael that's going to awaken their Yerusha Shamayim, that's going to create the relationship, that's going to build a sense of Yiddia That is an exciting prospect to our Kadosh Baruch Hu. That's something to laugh about. That's the Eish Kodesh split here. We say ube prasha ben kachu ben kach lo hayi Yisrael kvar misyastrim b'shazuk l'chein ena Kadosh Baruch Hu sameach b'mapalasen. Klal Yisrael was already on the other side of the river. So there's nothing to worry about. Meaning, he's not celebrating the downfall of the Rishayim, right? He's, I'm sorry, he's not right. He's not celebrating the downfall of the Rishayim because they're already on the other side.

27:40 And then he says an interesting thing. He says, "B'zem muvanu shasalu kan monenu lama nenesh paral halohaisalo bechira ken yechbadati." We all know the famous kasha. Everybody deals with this kasha. How could Paral be punished? How many times? Did Hakadosh Baruch Hu say, "I'm hardening Paro's heart"? Of course, you have the famous answer of some Rishanim that Paro made decisions that ultimately led to his lack of bechira, and he's punished for those initial decisions. But here, the Eish Kodesh gives a fascinating answer. He says, "Ulan now" Im Yisrael ne'enoshim kama pumim avshe fish veloy matza rak kadei lahisav b'hem yedias. He said, "Okay, I think this is the main point." That Kli Yisrael could be punished even though they did nothing wrong. That Kli Yisrael could suffer even though they did nothing wrong, and the only reason they're suffering is to increase their awareness and Yirah Shamayim. Again, it's a very bold statement that a person suffers. It's like keilu, like it's hard for us to understand. What does that mean? Would we shake a child and make them suffer just to become aware of the presence of their father?

28:48 Chasra Shalom to say such a thing, but here the Eish Kodesh says that when it comes to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, sometimes we suffer for no other reason than to turn up to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and say, 'I am aware of Your presence in the world.' Such a musiq like that. So He says, and we did nothing to deserve it. He said, if that's the case, Paro can suffer also, so that Klal Yisrael can know Hashem. In other words, if there are times that Hakadosh Baruch Hu could shake His beloved children. And make us suffer in order to become aware of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's presence and to build Yerushalayim. It's certainly true that Hakadosh Baruch Hu could punish Paro and shake Paro up just to get us to pay attention. A very daring, very beautiful, very bold answer from the Eish Kodesh And that's what he says. Ba'al Paro V'inteichoshev echis yaser halo enol bechira kaniach badatil lemanshasi esalati simchov yadatem kaniy Hashem. So he says it could be punished because the entire reason of Paro being punished, even though he had no bechira, is just to awaken our awareness. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu is besimcha over this because it means that Klal Yisrael will not need to be punished.

30:10 "Yesir, I can't remember anything else," and he crossed it out. So what's the pshat? So I think again, you could offer many answers and we'll never know. But I think that perhaps we could and should say as follows: In a certain sense The Eish Kodesh just got done giving a drasha that Hakadosh Baruch Hu cares about the Nazis too. That there's a time when Hakadosh Baruch Hu will turn to the Malachim Asharim and say, 'Masa yaday Tova bayam va'atem im Rishira.' These are also my creations And he's worked hard to make a split now. There's a time that Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not split. And he does not. There's a time that Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not celebrate the destruction of Eretz Yisrael. And given what had just been decreed, and given what was happening in the Warsaw Ghetto at that time. It could very well be that the Eish Kodesh crossed this out.

31:13 And he said, "I can't remember anything more what I said" Because to speak this idea out that has even the slightest amount of compassion for these Rishayim Gemurim that were tearing these families apart And that were murdering people left and right To say these words, it could be the Eish Kodesh felt very uncomfortable, and so he crossed it out. Although he ultimately felt the idea was true, he included it in the manuscript, and therefore it got into the archives. That's how we got it today. Nevertheless, a person can sense the hesitancy on the part of the Eish Kodesh to say anything positive about these Rishayim Gemurim. The entire theme of what we just learned is these Yidden in the Warsaw Ghetto that were wondering. Where is Hakadosh Baruch Hu? What's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's attitude right now toward these rishayim that are destroying us? Is Hakadosh Baruch Hu going to destroy them? And when Hakadosh Baruch Hu destroys them, will he be happy, or will he treat them as masayadai tava bayam vaatemayim rishira?

32:18 And so the Eish Kodesh is in a certain sense restoring Jewish pride. And he's telling them, no, there will be a time where Hakadosh Baruch Hu comes after these Nazis imach shemam, and he makes them suffer, and he turns the entire thing around. And in that time, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will be totally besimcha, because now the suffering that will awaken our years Hashem will not be ours; it will be their suffering. And if we're totally not part of the picture, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu is just making those Nazis suffer so that the world will know that there is a God. Hakadosh Baruch Hu only celebrates our knowing. So there's a restoration of Jewish pride. But still, even that, the Eish Kodesh had a problem to say that these are Eishayim that Hakadosh Baruch Hu won't be besimcha over the fact that these Nazis, these horrific people, will ultimately be destroyed. He didn't feel that it was. I think we could say that the Eish Kodesh did not feel that it was appropriate to say these words at this time. I think that could be the pshat in the Eish Kodesh.