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Asar b'Teves, which is tomorrow, is the day that Nevuchadnetzar surrounded the walls of Yerushalayim in the times of the first Beit Hamikdash. Recording? Don't worry. You can listen to it a different time. It sometimes feels like when it comes to the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, every single step of the way, there's another thing that's happening. So you start to ask yourself, how significant is Asar b'Teves really? Okay, so they laid siege to Yerushalayim. It feels like a. Was that exactly? Who was it? That's a myth. Who was it that was attacking? Nevuha Netzar. I'm sorry, I didn't understand your English. I speak the king's English. I know what you speak. Where are you from?
London, which is different than Manchester. It's a whole different thing. Sometimes feels like these things are a little light. Even like we refer to it as a minor fast day, right? And how seriously do people really take it? So I want to try to understand for tonight the idea of Asar Bateves in a deeper way, so that, Beis Hashem, we could have a more meaningful fast tomorrow. In fact, the Medrash tells us, Medrash Tanhum in Parshas Tazria, says actually the Beis Hamikdash was supposed to be destroyed on Asar B'Tevis, which is fascinating. And the only reason that it wasn't, the Medrash says, was a kindness that Hashem gave that the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed in the summertime and that we went into Gullis in the summer when it was hot outside, because it's easier to go into exile in the summer than it is in the winter. Imagine if it was Asar B'Tevis; it's the middle of the winter right now.
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So if you had to leave your home and trek through the cold, it's bad enough that the Beis Hamikdash is being destroyed. Hashem said, at least it is destroyed. Let it be destroyed in the summer, where it's easier for Klali Yisrael to travel. The point is not to discuss whether why does it really matter when we go into exile? But you see that Asar B'Tevis, the Maggid was pointing out, it's really on some level the day of the spiritual destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. It was meant to be on Asar B'Tevis. The fact that it's not on Asar B'Tevis is only because of Hashem's Rachmanus Amos. But really, the Beis Hamikdash was supposed to be destroyed in Asar B'Tevis, which means that tomorrow, according to the Medrash, is not just the day that Nivuchanetzar laid siege to Yerushalayim, but it's actually the day where the Beis Hamikdash was supposed to be destroyed. One thing that we want to understand is what is the deeper meaning of Asar B'Tevis, so that we could try to connect to it a little bit more tomorrow. That's one question. Second question is actually, I don't know if you girls realize this, but tomorrow is very rare.
A Sarah Betevves falls out on Friday. It's one of the things that actually happens, but it happens rarely. It doesn't happen so often. Does that happen? For example, it's the only one that gets pushed off. Like most fasts get pushed off, right? Like even Tishah B'Av will get pushed off. So there's an amazing Avujaham. You girls know who the Avujaham was. The Avujaham was a Rishon. The Avujaham says. Because the Torah describes Asar B'Tevis as Be'etzam Hayomaze, meaning on that day, if which it won't ever happen in our current construction of the calendar, but if Asar B'Tevis would fall out on Shabbos, we would have to fast on Shabbat, and then the fast would be on Shabbos. Girls, what happens if Tishah B'Av falls out on Shabbos? You push it off.
But the Avudraham says that Asar b'Teves, if it would fall out on Shabbos, you would actually have Asar b'Teves on Shabbos. Rashi and the Rambam disagree. The Beis Yosef is very critical of the Avudraham. He says I don't know where you're getting this from. But it is the Avudraham Shita that if Asar b'Teves would fall out on Shabbos, then we would actually have Asar b'Teves on Shabbos. Was that not in our calendar? The way that our calendar is constructed, it could never happen. But in theory, it could happen. Let's say with the different calendar before the type of calendar that we have today. But lemaisa, we don't pass in that way. But it is the Avudraham shita, and we do need to understand it because there are two basic problems. First of all, the only fast that halachically takes precedence over Shabbos is Yom Kippur. So Yom Kippur, we understand. Yom Kippur is a do raya, so Shabbos is a do raya. So Yom Kippur could overtake Shabbos.
Girls, asar b'thevis daoraisa or derabanan. So how could you ever have a situation where you have a derabanan fast on Shabbos that somehow takes precedence over a daoraisa on Shabbos? You're not going to have kiddush. You're not going to have your suddas on Shabbos. That's crazy. So halachically, the Avudraham's position is very difficult. Asar b'thevis only a derabanan. Shabbos is daoraisa. That's one thing that's a problem. The second thing that's obviously a problem is girls. We said a moment ago that even though spiritually the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed already on Asar B'Teves, lemaisa it doesn't happen until when? Until Tishav. Girls, following me? You familiar with Tishav? Just make sure. It's when you have the plays in camp about Nazis and Crusades and things. So it's a little strange if Tishav, which commemorates the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, can't happen on Shabbos.
Then Asar b'Teves can happen on Shabbos. Asar b'Teves is only the siege of Nevuchadnetzar around Jerusalem. It's only the beginning of the destruction. It's certainly not the end of the destruction. So it's counterintuitive. Tishbub gets pushed off, but according to Avudraham, Asar b'Teves would actually happen on Shabbos. So we have two problems with the Avudraham. Problem number one is halachically it's difficult. Can you write his name on the board? Avudraham. Sound Avudraham. Abu Dracham, yeah. Yeah. Abu Dracham, yeah. Maybe you should say in your English. So we had two problems. Number one, halachically, it's difficult to think that a derabanan could be oker do raisa, that a derabanan of alzar bateves could overcome Shabbos. That's only for Yom Kippur. Number two, it doesn't make any sense. We push off Tishah B'av. That's the day that commemorates the destruction. This is the day that doesn't commemorate. This is the day, just the beginning of the destruction.
That Nevochad Nezar laid seeds to Jerusalem. Those are the two problems with the Avudraham. The third thing that I want to say, this from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. This is a little bit deeper. It's a little bit more of a complex question. So come with me for a moment on a little bit of a journey before we get to the question. It goes something like this. In every lie, there is a kernel of truth. In every aveilus, in every morning, there's a kernel of simcha. There's a kernel of joy, and we want not just to tap into the aveilus, but we want to tap into the simcha. We don't only want to see the lie; we also want to see the truth. So you'll say, "But if I see the truth within the lie, then doesn't that destroy the lie? If I see the simcha, doesn't that destroy the aveilus?" The answer is no. If anything, it's the opposite. Because let's say, for example, let's say a person discovers the joy within the morning. In a certain sense, as I'll give you this example in a moment, you'll see that the morning actually becomes compounded. I'll tell you what I think it means. Something like this: grief is unexpressed love.
Some of you are nodding, so some of you know what I'm talking about. Ninety-five percent of you don't, but for the three of you that just nodded, just know you're my people. If you know what I just said, it means you're a person who's gone through something in your life. Grief is unexpressed love. When we lose a loved one, and we're so brokenhearted because we lost them, so we're terribly sad. It's and sad doesn't even begin to capture the heartbreak that we're experiencing. But if you drill down under that heartbreak, what do you find? What you find is, I have all this love for you, and you're the only one that I want to tell. You, the person who passed away. It's you that I want to tell you that I love. But you're the only one that can't hear it because you're the one that's gone. So there's a tremendous amount. There's a kernel. There's a tremendous amount of mourning of availus, but there's a kernel.
Of joy within that avelus, because you can't mourn somebody who you didn't really love, right? So the fact that you're now tapped into the simcha makes the avelus even more profound, right? Because now that you realize that the whole avelus is really built on that kernel of joy, and the fact that I can't experience that love with you does what to the mourning? It makes the avelus even harsher, even more profound, even more difficult, because I'm tapped into the love, right? So people who like experience avelus, people who go through grief, right? If they're really going through grief, the grief is so painful because they're not just paying attention to the fact that this person isn't there in their life; they're paying attention to the love that they have for this person will never be able to be expressed. Do you see how the kernel of simcha makes the mourning more profound?
If you find the truth within a lie, it makes the lie so much more frustrating because you're like, can't we just strip away the lie and pay attention to the truth? That's very frustrating for us. After October 7th, as people who lived, as people of Kallah Yisrael, we lived. At least for me, we lived through October 7th. We were here last year. And if you go on social media and you hear like, look what they did to Gaza. I saw somebody posted. It was very, very clever. Somebody posted on social media one of these pro-Palestinian people posted on social media like a picture of Gaza, and obviously it's like the devastation is massive. It's wiped out. And they're like, capture this scene in a word. So one of the Hazbora people, one of the pro-Israel people, said, deserved. Because you don't get to kidnap people and murder.
Thousands of people, and then go. Don't hit us back. You don't get to do that. But there's a lie that's being told in the world right now. There's a lie that's being told that you can start a war, and that if chas v'shalom, like we fight back, then it's like no, you're the aggressors. You're more powerful than them. You don't have the right to do it. The lie is so much more painful because we're tapped into the truth. The avelus is more painful because we're tapped into the love. So you always want to be tapped into the inner nature of something because once you can find that kernel of the thing which is true, then the outside of it takes on completely new dimensions. So it's like if you live on a very surface level in life and you don't experience the depth of life, then all you have is that surface, and that's so sad because when a person taps into the pneuma of life, when a person taps into the inner nature of life, then even the surface level takes on brand new dimensions. So the Lubavitcher Rebbe says like this.
And I'm going to phrase it as a question: What's the inner nature of a siege? If you look at a siege, Nevuach Adnetz surrounds Yerushalayim. What would you, how would you describe that? What's the surface of that? The surface of that is you're stuck. The surface of that is you won't get the food that you need to eat. You won't get the medicine that you need to treat sick people. People will die of plagues and starvation. The outer nature, like the aveilus, so to speak, or the lie, the outer nature of a siege is a very painful thing. The question is, what's the inner nature of a siege? Because if we're commemorating tomorrow this siege on Jerusalem.
It must mean that there's something about the nature of a siege, something about the nature of being surrounded by our enemies on all sides that we can't leave. There's some kernel of truth there. There's some kernel of godliness within that concept that we're meant to access. You hear the question? So just to review all the questions, because I know we said a lot. The very beginning of this year, we said we want to make Asar Batevis meaningful to us. How do we make Asar Batevis meaningful to us? That's connected now to what we just said. The only way we're going to make Asar Batevis meaningful is if we tap into the inner nature of what it really means to have our enemies surrounding us on all sides and that they're laying siege upon us. We need to know the inner kernel of truth so that we could attach ourselves to the true nature of Asar Batevis. That was the last question we had.
The first question we had was on the Avudraham, which is how could the Avudraham say that we fast on Shabbos? Doesn't make any sense halachically at first glance, and also hashkafically it doesn't make any sense because we would push off Tish above, which is actually the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, and not push off Asar VeTeves, which is just laying the siege. Of course, I'm sure because your girls are very smart that you could figure out that these three questions really all go together. Because if you know the inner kernel of what it means to lay siege to Yerushalayim, then you could probably understand why, in a certain way, there's something about Asar B'Tevis which perhaps is even more profound than Tishah B'av, which is why we would fast on Shabbos. So you see how it's all going to work out. That's the spoiler line. I won't give you the answer yet, but that's how it all works out. So I want to tell you an amazing Chassam Sofer. Chassam Sofer, if you ever have the opportunity to learn Chassam Sofer in your life, the drushes of the Chassam Sofer are absolutely stunning.
The Chassam Sofer gives the following answer to the Avudraham's question: how is it that we're able to fast on Shabbos? The Avudraham says as follows, and remember, we said really before that Asar B'Tevis was the day that the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash was supposed to happen. The Chassam Sofer says really, it's not the only time that Yerushalayim has been laid siege upon. Why Davka Asar B'Tevis? Do we have a fast day? The Chassam Sofer says you should know that every single year on Asar B'Tevis, the Bes Din Shalmaila, the heavenly court, they don the question of whether or not the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash should continue. That's the question that's happening in Shalmaila.
Every single year, Anasar Bethevis, which makes sense because remember, in the very beginning of the year, we said the Medrash tells when the Beis Hamikdash was supposed to be destroyed? Anasar Bethevis, meaning what happened on the first Anasar Bethevis. On the first Anasar Bethevis, Hashem paskened in the Bezdin Shalmyla that Beis Hamikdash is going to be destroyed. Except why? It's not going to happen today because it's cold outside. We're going to do it on Tishah B'av. But really, the first paskin was the first Anasar Bethevis. That Anasar Bethevis. But the Chassam Sofer says it's not over. It's not like it happened once and then it's over. Every single year since then, on Asar B'Tevis in the Bezdin Shalmaila, Hashem sits and says, "Are we done yet? Should we rebuild or should the Churban continue? Should the Gulas continue?" That's what happens every single year on Asar B'Tevis, which means that tomorrow is a very important day. It's not a negative day. What is it? It's a day where life hangs in the balance.
It's a day where life could go either way. You hear the difference. In other words, Asar b'Teves, according to the Chassam Sofer, it's not like Tishav. Tishav is a negative day because what are we commemorating on Tishav? The destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. Why are we fasting? The Chassam Sofer says we're fasting tomorrow to tap into the korban, not to be sad. In fact, he calls it an oneg. He calls it a day of not joy, but a day of pleasure. Because it's our opportunity tomorrow to say to Hashem, let's be done with this. Paskin for us now. Paskin that the Beis Hamikdash should be rebuilt. It's like a tinyus chalom. You girls know what a tinyus chalom is. There's such a thing that if you have a bad dream, some people give tzedakah, some people take upon themselves something. There's something called fasting. Girls know the halacha is that you're allowed to fast on Shabbos if you have a tinyus chalom. You're allowed to fast on Shabbos. Even how you're allowed to fast on Shabbos because it's not a negative fast; it's a positive fast.
Because what does a person feel when they have a tinyus chalom? What do they feel? It's like, I had a bad dream, but I know the dream isn't shaykh to me, and I feel like I did the right thing, and I've released myself from that dream. So there's a certain delight, there's a certain tainuv, there's a certain pleasure that comes with that fasting, and it's not the opposite of Shabbos. That's what the Chasam Sofer says, asar b'tevis. The reason why the Avudraham could argue that you have asar b'tevis on Shabbos is because it's not going against Shabbos. Remember, we said Asar B'Tevis only the Rabbanon. Shabbos is the Oraisa. Asar B'Tevis like a Tynes Chalom. In a certain sense, it's a joyful day. It doesn't go against Shabbos. It's true, you won't eat, but it's the same type of eating of like a Tynes Chalom. It's a delight that I'm not eating because I feel like I'm releasing myself from that bad dream. I'm releasing myself from the Pesach Din that the Beis Hamikdash is going to be destroyed, and maybe this year the Beis Hamikdash will be rebuilt.
Now we know why it's not like Tishah B'av. Tishah B'av is a sad day. Asar B'Teves tomorrow is not a sad day. Asar B'Teves tomorrow is an opportunity for us to be joyful about the fact that we have the opportunity now. The Pesach is going to happen tomorrow. The Beis Hamikdash in just a couple of hours is going to sit and say, 'This year the Beis Hamikdash will be rebuilt.' Could you imagine if that happens? By the way, how epic would that be? So cool! It'd be the craziest thing ever. It'd be unbelievable. If this year you were in your shul, imagine one random day you're walking along. Not Paran. You're walking along somewhere else in your Shalom. So you're walking along, and all of a sudden, not a siren that the Houthis sent a missile at two thirty in the morning. It's like what was that? Four thirty, two thirty. I guess in Beit Shemesh it comes earlier. Because I think we had more sirens than you. Ours came sometimes different times. All of a sudden you hear a siren, but it's not a siren. It's like a chauffeur siren.
It's not a siren like coming from a Kol Ram, and it's something you feel inside of you, and you just know that's it. You turn to the person next to you, and you're always going to remember forever where you were the moment that you heard Mashiach Shofar. The most epic, and you'll be in your Shalayim Yerakot, you'll be here in Talmud Torah this year, and it'll be like you'll be calling her by Rosenstein with all your shaylos, like ask Rav Asher what I have to do about this, ask her. You have all your Mashiach shaylos. You'll be on the phone with your parents, be like, "Can you get a flight?" Hey, and you'll be like, "No, I'm telling you, I'm going to go to the apartment because, of course, all your parents own apartments here in Israel. I'm right? And if they don't, blessed Hashem, they will. And you're gonna run. You'll be like, "I'm setting up the apartment. People, if you think three-day yom tov shopping is crazy, Mashiach shopping is going to be off the hook. And it's not just going to be in Yesh. It's going to be.
I'm telling you, what's the name of that clothing store? Where do the girls go? Zoya. I have to get special. I think an outfit from. I think I'm a Mashiach outfit. I didn't like the Mashiach outfit that I got. It's for sure. It's like I came to seminary. I had a Mashiach outfit. I don't know if I fit into that Mashiach outfit. I need to get a new Mashiach outfit. I can't believe I just said that. That's a joke that you make in Mivaser, not in Talmud Dvar. The it could be epic. It could be, and it'll be tomorrow. It'll be tomorrow that the psak din happens. It's an unbelievable thing. Asar b'Teves is an amazing day. Asar b'Teves, we get to stand in front of Hashem and go, okay, like we did it, right? We're good. No more. We're done. Beis Hamikdash. We're in. Mashiach. We're in, right? And like Hashem could pass in it tomorrow. So we understand the difference between Tishavah and this day. Tishavah is a sad day. Tomorrow is not a sad day. It's a day of delight. It's a day of oneg. It could even be Oker Shabbos, according to the Avudraham.
So in theory, we could stop the shiur right here, and we answered some of our questions, but we didn't answer what's the inner nature of the siege. And I want to share with you this amazing idea. I saw an unbelievable var from Shlomo Fisher. Shlomo Fisher wrote a sefer called Beis Yishei, and he says as follows: All of the days that we have are all rooted in the stories of Chomish. For example, Tish above. Is the day of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash? That's like an hour times. But what happened in Chumash on Tisha B'Av? That was the day of the Chaytamiraglam. Shiva Asar B'Tamuz, right? In the Chumash is the day of the Egal Hazav. So in Beis Yisheir of Shlomo Fisher says, do you know what happened on Asar B'Teves? Again, I'm not going to get into all the calculations of how he got there. He says that was the day of Mechiras Yosef.
That was the day that Yosef Petzadik was sold. What did you think it was? So that's also very good. That's not what we're going to do now. We're going to do Mechiras Yosef, but excellent. I also saw a shot like that. So that was the date of Mechiras Yosef. So let's talk about Mechiras Yosef for a second. You're going to see how this is going to come for a full circle. It's very cool. The Navi and Amos. I like that I can speak in Navi here. I can't do this in yeshiva. In the Haftorah of Yeshivah, which is the port of course the parsha where Yosef Hatzadik was sold. So the Navi says as follows: Ko Amar Hashem, so says the Almighty, so says God. Al Shlosha Pische Yisrael, val Arba Lo Ashivenu. Three things I could forgive Klal Yisrael for, but on the fourth, I can't forgive them. There's no tshuva for this.
They sold the righteous one for silver and the poor man for a pair of shoes. Who's the poor man that they sold for a pair of shoes? The Medrash Tanhuma in Parshas Vayeshev and Perket Derubelazar in the thirty-seventh chapter says the money that the Shvatim made from the sale of Yosef HaTzaddik went to buy shoes. Whole new shopping—it's a whole new shopping experience. I don't know if I like those shoes. Where'd you get the money from? I sold my sister. That's a whole new level of addiction. What's the pshat in selling the shoes? What's the idea here? Because shoes hold a very real place in the history of Klal Yisrael, right? Gemara in Shabbos 129a says a person should sell the roof beams of his house to buy shoes for his feet. It's very important for us to have shoes.
In fact, Rav Akiva told the Gemara in Pesachim 1:12a. Rav Akiva told his son seven things. One of the seven things that Rav Akiva told Rav Yoshua was never to walk around barefoot. Always have a pair of shoes on. Shoes are a very important thing. What's the inner nature of shoes? In Kabbalah, shoes are described. They bought a pair of shoes. That's the money that it was worth. They used the money to buy shoes. So in Kabbalah, shoes are called. The body to the soul, just like you have a body and you have a soul that's housed within that body. So somehow your shoes like contain you. Like you're contained, so to speak. It's the shoe of the soul. If you think about it, that's what allows us to be mobile. The body allows the soul to be mobile in this world and to walk around. If we didn't have a body, we wouldn't be here in this world. We have shoes. What does it allow you to do? It allows you to go out. It allows you to walk around. A person should wear shoes.
I know there's this very hippy dippy thing that you see now in Israel where people walk around without shoes, almost like flower children from the 60s, people walking around getting on buses without shoes. That's just nasty. Wear shoes, right? But no, shoes are meant to take you around in the world. But we also see an interesting thing. As much as the shoes are important and you should sell the roof beams of your house because you have to be mobile and you have to go out into the world, we also see that Moshe Rabbeinu by the snail, what does Hashem tell him? Take off your shoes. Because shoes create, just like the body creates a separation sometimes between the soul and Hashem. You're not deeply connected to the earth when you're wearing shoes. There's something very special sometimes about taking off your. If you ever sit on a grassy meadow and you take off your shoes and socks and you just play with the grass in your feet, there's a very special pleasure there. It's not the pleasure of TikTok.
Which is, of course, the best pleasure. It's like a pleasure of being deeply connected to the earth. It grounds you. By the way, people have anxiety on planes. What they do? They take off their shoes. Even just having your feet on the floor, just in your socks, it grounds you. So Moshe Rabbeinu is told, if you want to be in a state of kedusha, what do you do? You take off your shoes because when you take off your shoes, that's what Kahanim do. Very good. You're more deeply connected. So I think I even had that year that the Kohanim take off on Yom Kippur. We don't wear leather shoes. We want to be more connected. When we take off our shoes, we're more soulful. When we take off our shoes, which means that if the Shvatim, we just finished the idea. Which means that if the Shvatim bought shoes with the money that they made from Mechiras Yosef, it means that to them the shoes.
We're a state of disconnection. If you're wearing shoes, you can walk around in the world, but you're separated, you're disconnected. So when the Shvatim bought shoes from the money that they made, it's a state of disconnection. So it's an unbelievable part. In other words, when we're in a state of connection, could we ever sell our sibling? And I don't mean just sell. Could we ever? Could how would we treat each other? If we were not wearing shoes, if we were not in a state of disconnection, we would all naturally see ourselves together. The state, really, our true state, is unity. We appear to be different from each other because we're all in separate bodies, and of course, we all have different personalities, and that's good. That's normal. That's healthy. We don't want to be exactly like each other, but really, in our core, in our essence, we are all united. There is no division between us.
Every single Jew is connected to every single other Jew. Kol Yisrael arei v'zalazeh is not just the halacha that we could be guarantors for each other. It's a state of reality. Every single Jew is connected to every single other Jew. When we're in our state of disconnection, when we're in our state of being of wearing shoes, when we're in our state of being a body, then we're disconnected from each other. That's the story of Mechiras Yosef. The story of Mechiras Yosef is not a story about how the brothers had a taina on Yosef HaTzaddik and he had a different way of serving Hashem, and they looked into the future and they saw that idolaters were going to come from Yosef HaTzaddik, so they decided to kill him. That's all the chitzonius of the story, that's all the external aspect of the story. The truth of the story is that if Yosef Atzadik's brothers, if the Shvatim were in a state of connection, if they had their shoes off, so to speak, then they never in a million years would have ever sold him down to Mitzrayim.
So here's where it gets very cool. You ready for this? I love this. What's the inner nature of a siege? Remember, we spoke about the external nature is plague, hunger. The inner nature, that kernel of truth, that kernel of joy within the avelus. The inner nature says the Labavitcher Rebbe: in a siege, everyone is together. In a siege. The fate of one of us is the fate of all of us. None of us can leave. None of us can go anywhere. We're all here together, and our fates are inextricably linked with each other. Anasara beteves, which is the day, as we mentioned, that according to the Chassam Sofer, that the balance could go either way. Hashem's pascaning the case again. Are we going to have the Beis Hamikdash? Are we not going to have the Beis Hamikdash? Is Mashiach going to come? Is Mashiach not going to come? Remember.
Where did this whole thing start? What's Asar B'Tevis? Asar B'Tevis is the date of Mechiras Yosef. And why did they sell Yosef? Because they were in a state of disconnection. Why does Nevuchadnezzar surround us to teach us what lesson? Don't be disconnected from each other. That's how you ended up here to begin with. That's what the Navi says. I could forgive Klal Yisrael, but I can't forgive them for the chait of selling Yosef for a pair of shoes because that chait they have not rectified. Because we're still in a state of disconnection, we're still looking at this Jew and going, that one's reformed and that one's conservative, and that one's conservative and this one's like, okay, this one's Satmarian and this one's Lubavitch and this one's Yeshivish and this one's Modern Orthodox and this one's Dati Lumi and this one's Charedi Dati Lumi and this one's Charedi Beit Shemesh and this one's Charedi Ben Yehudah, which is not the same thing as Charedi Yerushalayim, but there's certain places, certain blocks in Beit Shemesh which are more like Yerushalayim and less like Yerushalayim. It all depends on how much you have to pay for that yeshiva bacher to marry your daughter. It so depends what community you come from.
How do we relate to this? How do we relate to that? As if any of these things define our core unity. That's just a state of wearing shoes. That's a state of mechirah yosef. That's just a way you think you have a good argument with that person. But isn't it true that's the way we should deal with this challenge in the modern world? Isn't it true that's the way we should deal with it? So I have a good reason for behaving the way that I'm behaving that towards that community. Exactly. That's what the shvatim said. We have a very good reason for selling yosef. Comes along the navi and says. You didn't sell Yosef Fattadik for any of those things. You sold Yosef Fattadik because you wanted a pair of shoes. Because you were in a state of disconnection. You're fooling yourself if you think for one moment that your state of disconnection from another Jew has anything to do with politics or another way of seeing the world. It's not true. You're fooling yourself, 100%. We can have legitimate arguments. We can have and there's and there's reasonable arguments on all sides about all the different ways that we treat the world differently.
Some people are more engaged in the world, and some people are less engaged in the world. Some people live in this community, and some people live in that community, and they all have different worldviews. If we sat next to each other and we knew that we were brothers and sisters, we would have those conversations with respect. The proof that we're in a state of disconnection is because we don't have those conversations respectfully, because we just sit and yell at each other as if that's going to ever change anybody's mind. I'll tell you one of my favorite stories of all time. I was going on a plane.
To America, and I was flying. I believe it was United Airlines, and I'm a window seat guy. You know what window seat people mean? There's window seat people. There's aisle seat people. Aisle seat people like to get up and go to the bathroom, and they don't want to be my freya anybody else. They don't want to bother people to get up. Window seat people say, 'I want to go to sleep, and when I want to go to the bathroom, you're going to move for me.' Yeah? There's a lack of middos. I'm a window seat guy. Middle seat people are just the lo yotslachs that bought two seats. Or like, maybe they're just skinny people that don't care. I don't really understand middle seat people. Yeah. No one. We need to do like a study on people that go, 'I don't care where I sit on a plane.' You're strange to me. A team of therapists need to study you. Litzari, I got put in aisle seat. That means you're going to be bothering me to get up. I don't want to get up. Yeah. And not only was I put in aisle seat in the plane that I was on, which is United plane, the old planes, I don't even know if they have this anymore.
It was three, four, three. They still have that. So I was in the aisle seat of the middle, which is like the worst, right? Because there's two. There's no even window. I wasn't even near a window. The window was like way over yonder. That's what I think. But now it was three, four, three, and I just want to like. I'm so annoyed that I'm in a window. That I'm in an aisle seat, and I'm just like. I know what's gonna happen. I'm gonna fall asleep, and my leg's gonna go out, and the drink cart's gonna you know. Need surgery for a torn MCL. It's not gonna go well. And the thing, I'm like, let's just get off the ground. Let's just go and let's arrive and be done with this traumatic experience. And now we have to deal with the chevra that won't sit next to women on the plane. And I'm like, just shoot me in the head, man. Like, let's just go. Just sit down. That's your seat. That's what it says. The number on the seat on the ticket. Just sit there.
And they're not sitting. And now it's like fifteen minutes gone by, and half an hour gone by, and forty-five minutes, and they're refusing to sit down. And they're like, there's all these negotiations on the plane. The stewards and the stewardesses are like sitting there, like maybe you could sit over there, maybe you could sit over there. And I'm just like, dude, come on, man, just sit down. And I'm sitting next to like these like two charedi guys, one from Yerushalayim and the other from Bnei Brak, and they're like crushing under their breath, also. Sit down, man, just sit down. And finally, finally, four Jews that were clearly not observant were sitting in front of us. Got up and went and sat in other seats so that these four guys could sit next to each other. And they sit down. And the guy that's in the other aisle in my four, right? So he's on the far left of me. He taps this guy on the shoulder who's catty cornered to him. So it's this—it's the seat, not in front of him, but the seat like to the right of the guy in front of him, right? And he says, "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" And he said it so respectfully. So the guy turns around and he goes, "Sure." It's like a Chasidish guy like.
Sure, by all means, ask me a question. He said, "Can you help me understand what just happened?" So the guy politely said back to me, "I don't sit next to women because I don't touch women." So this guy, who it turned out afterwards was a conservative rabbi, asked this guy, "He said, but don't you think that maybe that was disrespectful to her?" And this guy responded, "Well, if she knew the halacha, then she would not think that it's disrespectful. She would understand." That is the halacha. I do what Hashem wants. This is my understanding of the halacha. And if you paid me a million dollars, I wouldn't violate the halacha. So this guy, this conservative rabbi, responded back. He said, "I really hear that, and I can appreciate that answer. But we only have d'oraita mos of halacha, and we all need to live within those d'oraita mos. And how do we do that?" And they went and had this super respectful conversation. And I'm watching this whole thing unfold. And I want you to know, on planes, I'm not the guy that wants to talk to you.
I'm the guy that wants to go to sleep, but I'm already in a bad mood because I'm sitting in the aisle and I'm watching this fascinating conversation. Their conversation ends after like five minutes, and I turn to this guy, who again I didn't know at the time was a conservative rabbi. I turn to him and I said, "Can I ask you a question?" So he goes, "Sure." I said, "Can you help me understand why you felt comfortable to have that conversation with him?" So he thought about it and he goes, "I don't know." I said, "If he was Amish. And his halacha of being Amish told him that he's not allowed to sit next to women. Would you have felt comfortable to ask him that question?" So he goes. He thought about it and he goes, No, absolutely not. So I said, So the only reason that you felt comfortable to have that conversation with him is because he's your brother, and it bothers you. And he goes, Yeah, that's true. And he turned to the guy who was sitting next to me and he goes, Can we switch seats?
And he switched seats, and now I've got a friend. We ended up schmoozing for hours and had the most fascinating conversations. He and it was really amazing. When we take down the barriers, we can have unbelievable conversations. When we're not in a state of separation, we can see each other as Jews and relate to each other. And when we do, by the way, that's the ultimate form of kiruv. I'll tell you an amazing story, and I know this story is true. I'll tell you how in a moment. There's a story in a book called The Rebbe's Army. Have you ever heard of this book called The Rebbe's Army? It's a book about Lubavitcher Shluchim. In that book, there's a story about a woman who grew up conservative and was very into her Yiddishkeit. Usually in the conservative movement, you learn till you're bas mitzvah and then you're done. But this girl was very intellectually curious.
And at her bat mitzvah, she said, "I don't want to be done." So she went to her conservative rabbi and she said, "What do I do next?" So he said, "Well, we can continue on. We have a Jewish education program until you're 16." So at 16, she went back to him and she said, "What now?" And he said, "Well, we're done now. The next thing is if you want to become a conservative rabbi and go to JTS, the Jewish Theological Seminary, which is where conservatives get their semicha from." She said, "But in order to do that, you have to go get your undergraduate degree first, and then you could go to JTS." And that was her plan. And she went to Binghamton University. She was eventually supposed to go to Brandeis, which is officially a Jewish college, but she went to Binghamton University. And her friend schlepped her to Chabad. She wanted nothing to do with Chabad. She was like very stark, like I'm going to become a conservative rabbi. But she schlepped her. She said, No, you don't understand. These people are amazing. They're the warmest people in the world. So she went Friday night to Chabad. And this Chabad rabbi, son of Binghamton, was like very famous, and she's known to be like this amazing person.
So she came over and she said, "Good Shabbos," and she said, "What's your plan in life?" And not—I don't want to say violently, but very intensely, this girl said back, "I'm becoming a conservative rabbi." You know, like you know. Come on, let's go. You want to rumble? And the Shabbat rabbi then just turned to her because she was in a very state. She was in a state of deep connection. She just said, "I think that's wonderful." And she said back, really? I think any Jew that dedicates their life to the service of Hashem and to the service of Klal Yisrael, that's so special. And it totally disarmed this girl, and she ended up becoming very close with the Chabad, and she ended up becoming Orthodox. And I know this story is true because right after I read this story, I missed my ride to Mevaseret. I don't remember why.
And I never do this, but I called the financial office of Mevaseret, the woman who runs the financial office of Mevaseret. She lives in Ramat Peishemish, and I called her and I said, 'When are you going into Yeshiva? Can I hop a ride with you?' She said, 'No problem.' So I'm sitting in the front seat of her car, and we're driving to work together. And I said, 'I just heard the most amazing story in the Rebbe's army, and I told her this whole story. And she's sitting there listening to the story, and she goes, 'It's true.' I said, 'Yeah, no, I read it in the book.' She's like, 'That's me.' She's the person who runs the financial office in Mevaser. It was her. I was telling her the story that I read about her, and she told me the story is true. Was she early a financial? No. She's like a from woman. She raised a beautiful family. She's like her children are real bnei Torah. One of her children married Ruchaim Eisenstein's kid.
They're amazing, amazing family, and it was just like when you're in this state of separation, you could find a million things to fight about. When you're in a state of unity, you're not worried about these things anymore. We think we're like no, no, no. Like I believe in Achdus. Do you really? Because you all just laughed when I said conservative rabbi. Maybe that's not the most respectful way of being. I might also not think that it's smicha. I might also not agree with them halachically. But maybe we shouldn't laugh. Maybe that's a conversation to have. Would I laugh at somebody and their ideas? Like, no, that's not the way we behave to people that we love. That's not the way we behave to our brothers and sisters, right? Mechiras Yosef. Something else happened on Asara Bet Teves. Listen to this. This is from a sefer called the Pnei Arizuta. What date did Yosef Hatzadik reveal himself to his brothers? Let's do some math.
The Medrash says that on the day Yehuda was shag, when Yehuda screamed, shag asaray, when Yehuda screamed on that day, it traveled his scream traveled four hundred parsa all the way from Mitsrayim to Eretz Canaan, where Chushim Ben Dan, who was deaf, heard the cry of Yehuda and came to Mitsrayim, and they were ready, Yehuda and Chushim Ben Dan. It was very powerful. They were ready to overturn all of Mitsrayim. That's what the Medrash says. Which means that how far away is Mitzrayim from Eretz Canaan? Four hundred parsa. The Gemara in Pesachim says that you can travel ten parsa a day. Which means how many days would it take to travel from Mitzrayim to Eretz Canaan? Forty days. So Yosef HaTzaddik reveals himself on what, and Yaakov comes down to Mitzrayim. Let's do some math.
Yaakov Avinu came down to Mitzrayim on what date? We know the exact date because 210 years later, to the date Klal Yisrael left Mitzrayim. What date did we leave Mitzrayim? On the fifteenth of Nissan. 210 years later, so Yaakov Avinu comes down to Mitzrayim. 210 years, fifteenth of Nissan. Let's do some math. Yosef HaTzaddik says to his brothers, "Ani Yosef Aoravichai, go get my father." Now, if they go back to get his father, how long is that going to take? Forty days. And if he comes right away, how long is that going to take? Forty days. So now eighty days total. But you can't travel on Shabbos. The Pnei Aryezuta says, if you do the math, you know what date Yosef HaTzaddik revealed himself to his brothers? Tishabov. Can't be Tishabov. We're going backwards in time. But it's a good guess.
I failed math twice, so you don't have to be embarrassed. But that's an amazing thing. You know what it means? According to the Panei Rizuta, if you go with the Beis Yishei and you go with the Panei Rizuta, you know what that means? It means the date that Yosef HaTzaddik was sold was what date? The same date. It was Asar B'Tevis, and then the day that Yosef HaTzaddik revealed himself was Asar B'Tevis, the same date. Which means, remember, we said a moment ago, according to Chassam Sofer, it's not a sad day, it's a joyous day, it's a day that could go either way. It's like a Taina Skaalom, which is why you're allowed to fast on Shabbos. The same duality exists with Yosef HaTzaddik. Either he's going to be sold or revealed on that day. It's either the day that Hashem decrees that the korban is going to continue, or says the day that the revelation of Yosef, the day that Mashiach is going to come, the day that we're going to passim that this is the end. So now we can understand what the Chassam Sofer really means.
It's a joyous day because it can go either way. This is the day not only of a potential korban, it's also the date of a potential revelation. How do we tap into that? How do we tap into the revelation of ani yosef aodavichai? How do we get there? It's very simple. We have to tap into that kernel of truth. What's the kernel of truth of the siege? Every single Jew is in it together. There's no state of separation. There's no selling each other of shoes. You're my brother. You're my sister. There's nothing that could possibly get in the way of our relationship. If we live tomorrow with the mentality that we're all under siege together, as Hashem will be zeicher that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will say, so then there's no reason anymore for you to be under siege, because the only reason that you're under siege to begin with is because you lived in a state of separation. As Hashem, tomorrow will be a tremendous day of atas. Amen.
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