Devarim / Tisha B'Av - The Seventy Languages of Finding God Everywhere

2:54 How did that transition happen? And the Medrash picks up on this exact question. The Medrash in Medrash Tanchuma says that Klal Yisrael said to Meisher Abenu, "Yesterday you said you don't know how to speak" And today you're speaking so much. This was the question that Klal Yisrael asked Meisher Abenu. Amar of Yitzchak, the Medrash says, or of Yitzchak said. This is going to put a lot of Jewish women out of business. The Medrash said If you have a speech impediment Learn Taira. Now half the Jewish world just lost their parnas. Every girl that becomes a speech therapist now she'll have to become an occupational therapist or a physical therapist. The Medrash says, "If you have a speech impediment, learn Taira." Gives you the ability to speak. But the medrash continues, fascinating medrash. The medrash gives us a little bit of insight into what Moshe Rabbeinu said when he said, "Lo ish far manochi."

4:02 What was Moshe Rabbeinu concerned about? The medrash says as follows: In the palace of Paro Anyone could come from anywhere in the world. Why was that? Because Mitzrayim was the center of the universe at that time. We all know that Yosef HaTzaddik aggregated all the wealth of the entire world into Mitsrayim. So everyone would come to Mitsrayim. So in Mitsrayim, in the palace in Mitsrayim, they spoke seventy languages. Because whoever would come would need to be spoken to in their language. Says Meisher Abenut to Hakadosh Baruch Hu Loish Tvar Manochi, I don't know how to speak seventy languages. So what's going to happen? I'm going to show up to the palace of Paro. I'm going to say, "I'm the shliach of Hashem. Let His people go." And what are they going to say? They're going to say, "Do you speak Spanish? Do you speak French?"

4:59 Do you speak Armenian? Do you speak Russian? Moshe Rabenu says, "I'm not well versed in the seventy languages." This is what Moshe Rabenu is concerned about. Said they won't accept me as the messenger of Hashem because surely the messenger of Hashem would speak all seventy languages. Hakadosh Baruch Hu answers a very interesting answer, and we're going to go through all our questions in the Medrash in a moment. Hakadosh Baruch Hu answers. Adam named all the animals. The pasuk doesn't say that he gave them one name. It says not shame. It says shemos, which means that Adam named all the animals in all seventy languages. The Medrash says. So Hakadosh Baruch Hu says to meisher abenu. Where did Adam know how to name all the animals in all seventy languages? And you say you don't know how to speak? And now the medrash says you see at the end, Meishar Abenu.

5:59 It's not night seder. I don't need that much more. Oh Joe, so it's chesed from Joe. I appreciate. So now You see the medrash says at the end of forty years in the midbar Meishar Abenu knows how to speak all seventy languages. What does it mean that Moshe was be'er as Torah? What does Rashi say? What does it mean that he explained the Torah? So Rashi says it means that he translated the Torah into all seventy languages. Azoy zok the medrash. Several questions need to be asked on this medrash. The first question is why the medrash only clarifies Moshe Rabbeinu's oratorical skills here in the beginning of Sefer Devarim. Chaver, when should the Medrash have told us that Moshe Rabbeinu learned how to speak? When would you have said? Shemais, by Yikra, by Midbar. Here we are at the end of Moshe Rabbeinu's life. He has five weeks left to live, and the Medrash says you should know that Torah transformed Moshe Rabbeinu's ability to speak.

7:06 I could have used that information by Matan Torah. I could have used that information throughout all of Sefer VaYikra and Sefer Bamidbar. Here now, before Moshe Rabbeinu gives Musar to Klal Yisrael, the Torah needs to tell us: Taka, you should know, Moshe Rabbeinu learned how to speak. He no longer stuttered. No accents. Amen. Another question: Chaver, where did Moshe Rabbeinu grow up? Not just in Mizraim, he grew up in the palace in Mizraim. Ostensibly, Moshe Rabbeinu was well versed in the ways of the palace. So then, Mestama, he knew the seventy languages. I don't think it's such a stretch. He's so nervous. He's the shliach of Hashem, but if he doesn't know the seventy languages. They're not going to accept him. That's the problem. If I walked in It's a funny way to say it. But if I walked in and I said, 'I'm the Mashiach,' I don't think anybody in S. Y. Cole will go.

8:12 He speaks Spanish. The only Spanish I know, I'm not allowed to say in S. Y. Cole. I learned all my Spanish on the New York City subways. Not appropriate. I don't think anybody's worried. I think if I walked in and said I'm the Mashiach of Klal Yisroh, most of you would go, Giver, whatever. We would, you probably wouldn't accept me as Mashiach. I don't think it's the language issue. Klal Yisroh was the Avodim of the Israelites. The problem was the language. It sounds funny, even if you want to say, "Myrsh Abenu" didn't understand all seventy languages. It sounds like a funny tanya. I imagine that Paro didn't want to accept Myrsh Abenu because he didn't want to lose his slaves. Hakadosh Baruch Hu's answer is equally fascinating. What in the world is Hakadosh Baruch Hu talking about Adam Arishon for? Adam Arishon named all the animals in all seventy languages.

9:00 What is? What does Marisha naming the animals have to do with Moshe Rabbeinu walking into the palace of Parum? It's like, but say there. If Hakadosh Baruch Hu's point was I'm God and I could teach you seventy languages, then he should have said that. He should have said, I'm going to tap you on the forehead and now you're going to know all seventy languages. Why is Hakadosh Baruch Hu calling into Moshe Rabbeinu's mind the imagery of other Marisha naming every single animal in all seventy languages? And now we find at the end of the Medrash that what's the great achievement of Meisher Abenu That he gets to the degree where he's able to translate the Torah into all seventy languages. Chaver, tell me This generation that's about to go into Eretz Yisrael, where were they born? Egypt Desert. They weren't born in Egypt. They were born where?

9:56 In the Midbar. What languages did they speak? Clearly, they spoke Lashon Hakodesh. And maybe they spoke Egyptian. So Moshe Rabbeinu, now at the end of his life, translates the Torah into all seventy languages for who? There's no Farsis There's no what was that? Amaretz. They knew Egyptian, they knew Lashon Hakodesh. They didn't know French. They didn't know Spanish. What's the big Grice of Kunz over here? That Moshe Rabbeinu needs to translate the tyrant to all seventy languages. It doesn't make any sense. Who's he doing it for? Okay. One last question, and this is a calendrical question. Tevye, did you know that it always works out that Sefer Dvarim begins right before Tishah B'av? Obviously, this is not an accident. Something about the idea of Sefer Dvarim of Ela Dvarim. Is critical to our understanding of Tisha B'av. So those are the questions we have for tonight.

11:08 I want to share with you a shi'ufic idea. The idea is as follows: the mission statement of Judaism is to find Hakadosh Baruch Hu in every single aspect of creation. There is no aspect of creation that is devoid of God. A person needs to be able to go anywhere in the world and see godliness. And when a Jew uncovers godliness in the farthest flung corners of the world Then Mashiach can come. As the pasuk says, "V'haya bayomahu yeh Hashem echad" 'U'shma echad.' It's not enough that there's Hashem in this world; His name needs to be complete. Right now, is Hashem's name complete in the world? No. Because there are places where Hashem's Truth is not revealed. His presence remains concealed in those places. The job of a Jew is to go anywhere in the world, wherever we find ourselves. And to reveal Hashem in those places.

12:10 Which is why it's fascinating that now, in the final moments before Mashiach comes Hashem shrunk the world Because now a person has access to every single corner of the world. Our products are made in China, Japan, Vietnam, and South Korea. Everywhere in the world, there's some level of engagement that a Jew has. Australia Farthest flung places in the world. This is the question of Moshe Rabbeinu. The question of Moshe Rabbeinu is not technical. The question of Moshe Rabbeinu is hashkafah. Mitzrayim is the center of the world. Myrshabeinu understands if I am going to reveal Hashem in Mitzrayim, what will be the impact of that? Mitzrayim is the place from where everything emanates. All the wealth was in Mitzrayim. Everybody's coming to Mitzrayim. If Myrshabeinu comes into Mitzrayim and he says there is a God And he wants you to let the Jews out of this country so that they can go to Eretz Yisrael, and there is a Rabbanu Shalom in the world.

13:16 That's going to be a serious score for Klal Yisrael. That's a serious win for the Jewish mission. How can I do that? Rashi Abenu says, "Listen carefully. Not technically, Rashi Abenu is not worried about technically that I don't have seventy languages." That was not the problem. Perhaps he even knew seventy languages. He had to more offend the fundamental problem. You see, language is the stuff that the world is made of. As the Mishnah Avot says, 'Ba'asara ma'amaros nivra'ola. The world is created with language. Everything in the world has letters behind it. When we say that Adam Arisho named the animals, he wasn't just dumb coming up with names. He was looking to see the spiritual, godly essence behind all things. Meishar Abenu said, "I don't know the seventy languages. I don't know all the words." I don't. I am not able to articulate how each and every language has godliness in it.

14:19 That was his problem. It wasn't technical. And Mitzrayim would have rejected him for exactly that reason. Mitzrayim didn't need to give him a faher in French; that wasn't what they cared about. If you, Moshe Rabbeinu, are really the emissary of God, then show me how you can find God everywhere. Moshe Rabbeinu said, "I'm kvad pem, kvad lachon. Lo ish devar amanochi." I'm not aware of all the diburim. I'm not aware of all of the essence of every aspect of creation. How can I reveal Hashem in this world if there's even one language that I don't speak? You hear what it really means, Chavra? Makes much more sense now. Our Kadosh Baruch Hu's answer is very logical. He says, when Adam Marishum was created, how do you think Adam Marishum knew how to name all the animals? I told him the language. I taught him the language.

15:13 Other Marisun was born, and I, God, gave him the gift of being able to look at an elephant and to be able, in every dimension of reality, to show how its godliness appears in every single aspect of its being. And you, my shabenu, can do the same. Why? Because I gave you a Torah. Language that's a big deal. We say that we are Romam Tanum Ikol Ashon. That to be a Yid means to have elevated language. What does that mean? Elevated language. Does that mean refined speech? Of course, it means refined speech, but it means much more than that. It doesn't just mean that a Jew watches the way we speak. We watch the way we speak because we know something, and it's our responsibility to teach this to the world. That when you speak, you create worlds. That speech has the capacity to impact somebody.

16:18 They say this foolish line in the Gaonish world. They have a very foolish line: 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt.' It's the complete opposite. Sticks and stones will break your bones, and words will create trauma that will last a lifetime. The wrong words can destroy a person. A kind word goes so far. And a nasty word, a curse word It could destroy. Why does speech have that capacity? Why is it that you could say a nasty thing to somebody, and it can wipe them out? Chevra, sometimes you'll meet a guy. 20 years later. And he's still talking about his fifth grade rebbe and the nasty line that his fifth grade rebbe said. Why do words have such an impact? Because worlds are created with words. To be a Jew doesn't just mean to speak kindly; it means to know that there's elokus in language.

17:23 And that our job through the refined language that we speak. Is to elevate the entire world. We elevate the world through language. It's not an accident. It's not an accident that we're seeing in these final days before Mashiach comes. We're seeing the breakdown of language. People don't know how to speak to each other anymore. There's fractured. Democrats and Republicans can't talk to each other. But it's even more than that. Words don't mean anything anymore. It's hard to know what words mean. I don't even know the word that I'm about to say. I don't even know what it means. But I read that it's a word now. Maybe you guys know this word. That's brat. You know that word? You hear this word? Brat. That's a word now. I don't know what brat means. Have no idea. But it's a thing. Somebody and I understand when words get like shortened. I understand when people go like that's sus. I can't. At least you just shortened the word. I know a rebbe who likes to shorten words. Sometimes words get shortened. I have no problem with shortened words, but today the words are nonsensical.

18:32 That's that cat. What does that mean? You made up a word to sound like something. There's a breakdown in language. Our responsibility is to communicate with each other in a godly way. How many marriages have been lost because husbands and wives don't know how to speak to each other? How many friendships have been destroyed by words that we can't say to each other in a kind way? What does Tyra do? How does Tyra rectify language? In order to understand this, you have to understand that fundamentally, Tyra is the blueprint of creation. Tyra has a body and it has a soul. It has existence and it has life. It has form and it has substance. Tehillah teaches us how to bridge two worlds between the spiritual world and the physical world. Hakadosh Baruch Hu says to Meisher Abenu, "I gave the capacity to Adam Harishon to see through the essence of all things."

19:38 Adam Harishon sinned. Who picked up the mission of Adam Harishon? The Rambam in Derech Hashem says anybody could have picked it up But Avraham Avinu was the only one that did. And because of that, Avraham Avinu started a family that was mekabel upon themselves the mission of other Marishol. We are endowed as Jews with the soul of other Marishol. We have the capacity to see through to the essence of all things and say it's not just the stender. I could see the diburim that are behind the stender. Torah is what gives us the ability to do that. Taira rectifies our language. A Ben Taira speaks differently. You want to know if somebody's a Ben Taira or not? Listen carefully to the way they speak. They're careful about their words. I know a Rebbe who's a real tzaddik, a special person. I don't want to say his name because it could be lashon hara. If I say a nice thing about him, somebody might say a not nice thing about him. This Rebbe is a very special tzaddik.

20:43 It's very hard to talk to. It's very hard to talk to him. You know why? Because you go over to him, you say, 'Rebbe, Shalom Aleichem, how are you doing?' " And he goes like this. He goes like this. I'm good, Baruch Hashem. How are you? You have to learn when speaking to this Rebbe. Thank you. You have to learn when speaking to this Rebbe to become accustomed to the awkward pauses. Because he has a strange midah, you know what he does? He actually thinks before he talks. So when you first meet him, it's super awkward. Because you just ask him a simple thing, like 'Good morning, Rabbi, how are you?' And it might take him thirty seconds to answer And you kind of just have to sit there waiting. And when he answers, it's very thoughtful, and then he'll say back to you, "How are you?" And you go, "Good." He's like, "Quick."

21:45 A bentaira speaks differently. Not only does he speak in a refined way A bentaira speaks to a person's neshama, not to a person's guf. Today, there's such a thing as—it's always been this way. I don't mean like today, like 2024. Today, a person could sit for hours and speak about nothing. You ever do that with your friends? Six hours later, have you ever tried to trace a conversation of how you got somewhere? The funniest thing in the world is the average. How do we get onto this? And then people go like, 'Oh, because you said this word and it reminded somebody of that, and he said that, which remind.' If you try to do it for hours, you'll see you could spend six hours talking about absolutely nothing. But an amazing thing is if you don't do that What happens when two friends actually sit and speak to each other's soul?

22:35 They speak in a way that's vulnerable. They actually connect deeply to other people. Isn't it amazing what happens? What we could do with our words? Words can destroy. Words can always build. A person who learns Torah is seeing through to the essence of creation. He's changing himself because he's connecting to his essence, and it changes the way he engages with the world. A dear friend of mine recently asked me How can I find Godliness in literature? It's a good question. Sometimes it's very hard to do. But really, really You need to be able to find the godliness in everything. I'm not talking about the literature that has very little or no godliness. But great, great literature Great literature, science, history Math, psychology. A person has to be able to find the elokus in these things. These are also Hakadosh Baruch Hu's creations. A person sees a Jew who is very far removed from Judaism.

23:39 How do you speak to them? The way a bentira speaks to that Jew is fundamentally different because he sees through to the essence of that Jew. He's able to see godliness everywhere, even in the craziest places in the world. Now it's the end of Moshe Rabbeinu's life. And Moshe Rabbeinu is a transformed person. For three svarim in chumash, who was Moshe Rabbeinu? He was Biyad Moshe. He reached a level where he was mamish the scribe of Hakadosh Baruch Hu But in Sefer Tvarim, Meisher Abenu unlocks a whole new level. He's no longer the scribe of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He's changed. He's transformed to such a degree that his own words are the words of God. That he's become so nullified before Hashem that when he speaks, it's Taira. It's an unbelievable transformation. Who's he speaking to? He's speaking to a generation that's about to go into Eretz Yisrael.

24:44 Not Mitsrayim. Mitsrayim was the center of the world in practice. For our Kodesh Baruch Hu to send Moshe Rabbeinu into Mitsrayim was going to have an enormous impact on the world. But those Jews that entered into Eretz Yisrael Ki mitsion teitzet Torah from Eretz Yisrael, Torah is going to go out to the entire world. The nature of this land. Listen carefully to this, Rabbeinu. If we would do this right If we would be here in Eretz Yisrael And we would be connected to the essence; this land would shine so brightly that it would illuminate the entire globe. On the eve of Klal Yisrael going into Eretz Yisrael, Moshe Rabbeinu, with his transformed self, reaches a whole new level where his words are Torah themselves. Comes along and says what. Here is Torah in seventy languages. They didn't need it in seventy languages. They didn't speak French and they didn't speak Spanish.

25:44 You know why they needed it in seventy languages? Because the Torah that they were going to receive had to be a Torah that could go out to every single corner of the world. Torah had to be for Australians and for the Brits and for the French and for the Russians. That was the Torah that Meir Shmuel Abenhu gave. As they were entering into Eretz Yisrael, it should be a taira, not just for generations of the midbar; it should be a taira for every single Jew throughout all of history, in every single moment of creation. That was what Moshe Rabbeinu did. And this is why we read Sefer Devarim before our Tishah B'av Because there is a gift of galus. The gift of galus is that Jews had to leave Eretz Yisrael to go to the farthest flung places in the world. And a Jew should never chas v'shalom think that just because I'm in Australia or New Zealand or Russia or Siberia, it doesn't matter where I am.

26:39 A Jew should never think Tyre is in Eretz Yisrael. Tyre is in NCS Yekolla. But how am I going to hold on to NCS Yekolla when I go back to wherever I'm going? If it's Baltimore or Washington Heights or Bergenfield or the Five Towns, it doesn't matter where I'm going. Tyre is everywhere. It's for every generation and every single moment. This was the message that we need to hear before Tishah B'av. If you are in Galus Galus is an opportunity. You are not in Eretz Yisrael; it's not yet the times of Mashiach. Are you revealing Hashem in the farthest, fun places in the world? Are you learning the Torah of Meisher Abenu, Mishnah Torah Not just repetition But R' Salavetsik says Mishnah is from a lashon of the oral tradition, Torah is from a lashon of the written tradition. Meisher Abenu fused both the oral tradition and the written tradition.

27:31 Are you able to take the words that you learned here and transmit them, written and oral, into every single aspect of creation? A guy who comes to the beis medrash who fundamentally remains the same—I mean what I am going to say. I am just saying in a strong way. He wasted his time. A guy who comes to beis medrash who sits and learns a Tefsevah, who sits and learns a Rashi and a Rambam, and he finishes Menachos, whatever he's doing. If he's not a transformed person, if he doesn't see godliness in every aspect of his life, if he doesn't see godliness in every aspect of creation, if he doesn't see godliness in every single Jew, regardless of their denomination I don't know what he's doing. That's not Torah. Maybe that's Torah of one language, but that's not Torah of seventy languages. That's not the mission of Yiddishkeit.

28:25 Rabbi, say we're living in a world of a speech impediment par excellence. This might be the time in creation where the speech is most broken down. But we, in the Jewish community We're stockbrokers. We play the market, Rabboh. When everybody else sees the market crashing, what do Jews do? We buy. We buy because we know the stock's going to go up. All those silly people that speak about—you read the Sedaris. Yeridus Adarus is a time to buy. That's a time to buy in. You found godliness in a time where very few people did. That's Gvuldic. How do we speak? How do we speak about each other? Makes a big difference. These words that we speak. They created worlds and they could destroy them just as easily. It's no small feat to be transformed by Torah. People say, 'Make it practical.' How do you do that? If I'm learning Taisus, how does it make me a better person?

29:38 If I'm learning a Shvera Rambam, how does it make me a better person? Bishleimah, if I'm learning Chumish, I understand Musler. I'm learning Musser's farm. I get it. I'm learning Ashkafa. I understand. How does learning a Taisus make me a better person? One very simple answer. Some people are professors of Tosus. Professors of Tosus, professors of Rambam. Maybe Rambam's better. We find more professors around Rambam. They could sit and have an intellectual conversation about the Rambam. And if I'm being honest, some of these people are brilliant. But these professors of Rambam, they're not our rebbeim. To them, the Rambam is somebody who passed away many years ago. The Rambam is a sefer, and it's being analyzed. They sit and ponder the ideas of the Rambam. Not so when it comes to our tzaddikim, who are trying to give us a message. Roshaloveitchik famously said, "Somebody told him it was the yardside of the Rambam." Roshaloveitchik said, "The Rambam is dead. That's news to me."

30:51 To Roshaloveitchik. The Rambam was alive and well. Every single day, he was in conversation with the Rambam. And when you heard Rav Salavitch give shear It was kolosu brakim. It was alive. It was fiery. Chaver, could you imagine a math professor giving a fiery class about math? Wouldn't make any sense. How could you give a fire? Who could get excited? Who could like? I don't know very much math, so you'll forgive me for saying it like this. But in my life, I never had a professor that got up and was like, "Chaver, do you see the genius of Sokotoa?" I never had a biology professor that said, 'Chaver, do you appreciate that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell? And that's the only thing I know. I didn't listen to anything else he said. Did you hear Rabbi? He's excited about alumdis. There's a couple guys that are sitting here that learned by rebayim who would scream when they were saying a Rambam, and in the beis medrash they're screaming about it And it's like, what are they screaming about?

32:03 Shlomi, it was funny those rebayim screaming at each other. It wasn't funny to them. It was life. I remember one time my rebbe and Shir Somebody said about a Rashi Somebody said to my rebbe, goes, my rebbe was like defending Rashi. One of the boys goes. Maybe Rashi was wrong, and a hush fell over the entire shir. And my rebbe, who was one of the great talmidim of Salivetsik Looked at this boy. His face was like broken. My rebbe's face. He looked at this boy and he goes That's like telling me I'm living a lie. My entire life is about defending Rashi and the Rambam and the Rashba and Taisfos. Why was he so intent on defending them? Because Torah was alive. And if Torah is alive, then it transforms a person. It's not just teshus; it's not academic. That's halacha. That's the will and wisdom of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And my responsibility in this world is to be deeply connected to Hashem, so that I can be deeply connected to every aspect of creation. And yes, if you do it that way, teshus can change a person.

33:06 But if a guy comes and he says I have to know this teshus because I'm taking a test on it And I have to get a good mark so I can get into college. So he turns around. He goes, "Yeah, Torah never transformed me. Why would it?" Why would Torah transform him? Because you happen to be bright, you like to be a professor of Taisus. Torah doesn't transform a person that way. Rabbi said, "The key to learning Torah is connecting to the godliness within it." You find godliness within the Torah, you'll find godliness within yourself. You find godliness in every aspect of creation. If we are sent out of Eretz Yisrael into Galus, it's to find the Kadosh Baruch Hu. Watch your language. The way you speak comes from your soul. The soul has words. The Balatanya says The soul is words. We have to be careful the way we speak. So that we can speak from a place of deep godliness, deep sense of self, finding the godliness in everybody else. And behest of Hashem to unify all of creation, so that we should be able to declare, 'Vahaya b'yomahu yah Hashem echad u'shmayach.' Vice, I have a beautiful shot.