Shemos - Illuminating Emunah: Confronting the Nachash HaKadmoni With the Staff of Moshe Rabbeinu

2:31 As Hashem, we should be so comfortable that we must take it for granted. Without taking it for granted, I don't know how to say that in a normal way but I think that's the truth. The avoda in the times of Mashiach Which we are certainly in The avoda in the times of Mashiach is emuna. Rabbi Nachman writes that in the end of days. All that's left is emuna. Why? Where does this come from? What does it mean? And bechla, we see that that's what's happening in the world today. Everybody, all the svarim, everybody's talking about emuna. Everyone's trying to figure out what emuna is and where emuna comes from. What we need to do to build our emuna. There's emuna svarim coming out left and right, English, Hebrew. Everybody's talking about emuna all the time. What is the avoda of emuna? Why is the avoda of Mashiach the avoda of emuna? What does emuna mean?

3:41 A strange story that goes overlooked in this parsha. We're already holding by parsha Shmaysit. It's already Matzah Shabbos Kaddish, so we're already holding by the Irus of the next week. Is a strange conversation between Moshe Rabbeinu and the Rebbeinu Shalom by the Sneh. Kadosh Baruch Hu charges Moshe Rabbeinu. With taking Kalal Yisrael out of Mitzrayim, we would have expected that Moshe Abenu's response would have been, of course. But there's a conversation And in the conversation, Moshe Rabbeinu asks the Rebbeinu Shalom a very strange question. Moshe Rabbeinu says Vayan Moshe. Moshe Rabbeinu responds to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, vayomer Vehenya Aminuli V'yishmau B'Kali. They're not going to believe me. They're not going to listen to my voice. They're going to say he didn't hear Hashem speak. This is a strange thing for Meir Shabenu to say. Bishlema, if a leader today would get up and be mitzi lasevot klal yisrael and say that klal yisrael is not going to have emuna It's also a terrible thing.

4:54 It's more understandable because the Rebbeinu Sholom is not speaking to them. In a moment where a leader in Klal Yisrael could be confused by the darkness, where he thinks that Klal Yisrael could lose their emuna, I could understand. I could be malamed zchus why a leader would speak that way. But Moshe Rabbeinu is speaking to Hakadosh Baruch Hu And Hakadosh Baruch Hu is telling him, "Take them out." That obviously means they have enough emuna to leave. And Moshe Rabbeinu comes along and he says. Maybe they're not going to believe me. Maybe they're going to be lacking emuna in their tzaddikim. Maybe they're not going to think that what's happening here between you and I, the Rebbeinu Shlom, is happening. How could Moshe Rabbeinu have said such a thing? Anachnu maminim b'nei maminim. The nature of a yid is the irreducible, inextinguishable point of emuna that lives inside of every single one of us.

5:46 Moshe Rabbeinu must have known that. He must have known that. He must have understood that. And the Rebbeinu Shlom was saying it's time to take Klal Yisrael out of Mitzrayim, which means the Rebbeinu Shlom is being made that our emuna is there and it's ready to come out. How could Moshe Rabbeinu have said? You'll forgive me for speaking this way, but Moshe Rabbeinu, how could he have said such a terrible thing about Klal Yisrael that we wouldn't have emuna to believe that Hakadosh Baruch Hu spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu? It's impossible to understand. How could Moshe Rabbeinu have said such a thing? And the Rebbeinu Shlom responds in a very strange way. Vayomer Elav Hashem, Maza Biyad. What are you holding in your hand? The Rebbeinu Shlom didn't know what Meishar Rabenu was holding in his hand. Of course, the Rebbeinu Shlom knew. What is Meishar Rabenu asking? What's right? What is Hakadosh Baruch Hu asking of Meishar Rabenu? And what does Meishar Rabenu respond? He says, Vayomer Mata. I'm holding my staff.

6:37 And then we know the story that Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells him to take the staff to throw it on the ground, and he throws it on the ground, and it turns into a snake. And then Moshe Rabbeinu runs away from the snake. That's also very strange. Why would Moshe Rabbeinu run away from the snake if Moshe Rabbeinu was standing by the snake and the Nachash comes? So Moshe Rabbeinu is not going to be protected by Adonai in that moment. Also very difficult to understand. But this is what the Torah says: Vayanos Moshe Rabbeinu ran away. Vayemer Hashem al Moshe, y luego Al Kadosh Baruch Hu le dice a Moshe. We all know the story. Hold on to the tail of the snake, and the snake will turn back into your mata. And then he says, 'Leman Ya Aminu.' This is how you're going to tell Klal Yisrael that they should have Amuna in you, that you're going to perform this miracle and tell them that this story happened.

7:25 How is this going to convince Klal Yisrael? What is the message that Hakadosh Baruch Hu was sending to Moshe Rabbeinu to send to Klal Yisrael? Take your staff, throw it on the ground. It turns into a snake. Pick it up by its tail—a very strange detail. Why not pick it up by its head? Dafka, pick it by its tail, and then you'll see. Once you pick it up by the tail, everything's going to be okay. Mamish a paledikah story. The problem is, a lot of us stopped learning Chumash when we were When we were too young. At some point, you move on and you never learn the stories in a deep way. We have the little medrash says version of Judaism. At least that's what I had growing up. It was like stories. At some point, it's even hard to know. If you haven't learned Chumash well, I have talmidim that say this to me all the time. They tell me, Rebbe, it's a pasuk in Chumash. It's a medrash. They think it's a pasuk in Chumash.

8:12 And a lot of times, things that they think are medrashim are pesukim mechumis, and things that they think are pesukim mechumis are medrashim because we stopped learning chumis well. And it's not to be mizalzal chas v'shalom in the boys that are mamish learning Torah Sheba'al Peh, and it's beautiful and it's wonderful, and every boy should learn Gemara be'i and they should learn a tremendous amount, and they should finish shas. There's something very precious about learning chumis with Rashi, simple. Mamish simple. I have Baruch Hashem two son-in-laws that are real flourishing talmidei chachamim. My daughters say they have a special seder and shnayim mikra ve'eched targum every single week. How could it be that a boy should become a tamachachem and he shouldn't know basic chumash? He should know. By the big tzaddikim, they were bekiim in Tanach, mamish bekiim in Tanach. I had rebbeim who were mamish new Tanach cold beir. That's the way it always was. So tonight, let's try al pisoit, al pikabala, al pichasidus to try to get a deeper explanation of what's going on over here. A lot of what I am going to share with you tonight is from the Shvilei Pinchas Shlita. It's a tremendous guy, a tremendous tzaddik, a tremendous talmuchach.

9:14 Some of it's my own, but most of it's from the Shvilei Pinchas. Why does Klal Yisrael go down to Mitzrayim? Why is this whole process necessary? Adam Rishon was not a Jew. People think Adam Rishon was a Jew. I've had guys come to ask me the question. They're like, 'How come Noach wasn't a Jew? Adam Rishon was a Jew. Adam Rishon was not a Jew. When does Yiddishkeit start? Yiddishkeit, again, I don't mean to say it exactly like this. I'm going to say it in an exaggerated way. Yiddishkeit is an accident of history. If Adam Harishon never would have sinned, there would be no such thing as Judaism. Yadus wouldn't exist. The reason that we exist is to rectify the sin of Adam Harishon. So until the times of Avram Avinu, there were tzaddikim, but there was no tzaddik that was makabel on himself. In the way that Avram Avinu was makabel on himself to rectify the sin of Adam Rishon.

10:07 It's too long to get into tonight exactly what Avram Avinu did and why it transmits to his children Ladayre Dairus. The nature of Yiddishkeit is to rectify the sin of Adam Rishon. Adam Rishon contained within himself the neshama of every single person that would ever exist in the history of the world. When Adam Rishon sinned, not only did he bring destruction to the entire world. He also brought what's called zuhama. Have you ever heard of the phrase zuhama? Zuhama means like a poison to all of the neshamas that lived inside of him. All of the neshamas that lived inside of him were tainted with a poison that the Gemara tells us was not eradicated until Matan Torah. Until Matan Torah, that poison lived within society. And then from the chet ha'egel it was brought back. But at Matan Torah, the sin of Adam Harishon was rectified. The zuhama, the poison that infected every aspect of Adam Harishon, not only the physical world, but every single neshama that would ever be in the world was not rectified until the time of Matan Torah. Everything until Matan Torah was part of a long process meant to be metakin the chait of Adam Harishon.

11:20 So the Arizal writes that the neshamos that were inside of Adam Harishon reincarnated several times before Yitzchias Mitzrayim. The first time they reincarnated was by the Dara Mabul. And at that time the Torah we know that Chazal say the Torah could have been brought into the world but they didn't reach the level to be mekabel the Torah so they were destroyed by water ain Torah elamaya mayim is Torah so they were destroyed by the water that could have been the Torah the second iteration was the dar haflaga and they also had this notion of achdos that's a part of the tikkun of Adam Harishon they had this notion of achdos but it was distorted and again Hakadosh Baruch Hu dispersed They came again to Sodom. We learn in our lifetimes growing up that Sodom were a bunch of Rishaim. Sodom was an area that required the Tikkun, and that's why Avram Avinu was so interested in saving Sodom because he understood that the neshamas that were inside of Adam Arishon came to Sodom. That's why they were acting in such a perverse way, and that's why he was davening that maybe there'll be a tzaddik there that could turn them around.

12:26 But ultimately, all of those iterations failed, and so it became the job of Klal Yisrael that the neshamas that were inside of Adam Harishon ultimately went into Mitzrayim. And by pulling out the neshamas from Mitzrayim, we were going to rectify the sin of Adam Harishon. This is what's going on behind the scenes. Once you know this Yosef, everything starts to click into place. Who was Parum? Paro, the Zayin Hakadosh writes, was the Nachash Hakadmoni. Paro was the Nachash. We're going to see that the story of Mitzrayim is a replay of the story of the Nachash and Adam and Chava. Paro represents the Nachash Hakadmoni. That's why the pasuk in Yecheskel says, 'Koy Amar Hashem Elokim Hinini Alecha Paro im Melach Mitzrayim Hatanim Hagadol.' What does the pasuk refer to Paro as? The great and mighty serpent. That's who he is. He's literally described as the Nachash Kadmoni. That's who Paro is.

13:27 What was the feature of the Nachash Kadmoni? The feature of the Nachash Kadmoni is that he was the wisest of all the animals. This is why, in the beginning of this week's parsha When Paro forgets Yosef at Tzadik, when the Tzadik no longer has an impact on the Nachash Kadmoni, what does Paro say? Hava Neschak Maloi. Now we have to use our own wisdom in order to defeat Klal Yisrael. This is why the Nachash is described as the wisest of all of the beasts in the field. And Paro is now going to deploy his wisdom the same way that he did to convince Chava to eat from the Eitz Hadas. Ultimately, who gave it to Adam Harishon to eat from the Eitz Hadas? Paro says once again, in order for me to continue the sin of Adam Harishon, I need to use my chokhmah to trap Klal Yisrael in Mitzrayim because Paro understood that all the yidden that were in Mitzrayim were the neshamas that came from Adam Harishon.

14:24 There's a certain irony But there's a certain spiritual precision that we were trapped by the Nachash Kadmoni in Mitzrayim. Why? There's a halacha kibolo kach polta The way that a pot absorbs. Let's say it's trephus. If something treph falls into a pot, the way that the baliyas get into the pot, kach palto. That's the way it gets out. In order for the halacha, you learned the halacha this year? Girls, it's an important thing. You don't have to get smicha, but you have to know basic halachas of kashrus. It's important. You have to make sure that you are learning halachas of kashrus to run a kosher kitchen. Kabbalo kach palto. The way that something gets in is the way that something gets out. So it makes sense. The way the chait happened to Adam and Chava through the Nachash Kadmoni is only going to be through the Nachash Kadmoni that we could rectify the sin of Adam Arishah. Paro represents the Nachash Kadmoni.

15:28 Who's Moshe Rabbeinu? So Moshe Rabbeinu was a Gilgul of Adam But when we were growing up, we learned that Gilgulim mean that the soul comes back, and that's not always true. Sometimes what a Gilgul means is that a Gilgal could come from a certain part of a person's life. Adam had different kufas of his life. Moshe Rabbeinu is the Gilgal of a very specific time period in Adam Harishon's life. After Adam Harishon ate from the Eitz Hadass, ultimately he did tshuva. When did he learn to do tshuva? Who taught Adam Harishon how to do tshuva? Tayan. Kayin taught Adam Harishon how to do tshuva. That's the aside of Shabbos. Shabbos is the same ayshas of tshuva. Kayin taught Adam Harishon how to do tshuva. So ultimately Adam Harishon does tshuva. How did Adam Harishon do tshuva? So we know that the Gemara in Eireven says that after realizing that he did this terrible avera, Adam Harishon fasted for a hundred and thirty years. That's what the Gemara in Eireven says.

16:31 When was Moshe Rabbeinu born? 130 years after the slavery began in Mitzrayim, that's when Moshe Rabbeinu was born. Because Moshe Rabbeinu is the bechina of tshuva that Adam Rishon did. Adam Rishon ate from the Eitz Hadas toiv v'ra. Moshe Rabbeinu does not have any of the ra from the Eitz Hadas inside of him. Moshe Rabbeinu is kulo toiv. That's why when Moshe Rabbeinu was born, what does his mother say about him? It says, 'Vatah raisha vateled bein vateira also kitovhu.' What did his mother see? What did Yochaveh see when she looked at Moshe Rabbeinu? She looked at the neshama of Moshe Rabbeinu, and she said, 'This child has no ra from the sin of the Eitz Hadas. He's kulo tayv, and that's why.' What does Rashi say? Rashi quotes Chazal that the entire house was shining with light. Meaning there was nothing to obfuscate, there was nothing to obscure. The light that came from Adam Harishon, because Moshe Rabenu had none of that ra inside of him.

17:33 And of course it makes sense that if Adam Harishon is going to now re-wage war with the Nachash Kadmoni, whose house would Moshe Rabenu have to grow up in? Obviously, he's going to have to grow up in the house of the Nachash Kadmoni. So it's not an accident that Moshe Rabenu finds himself in the river. And who draws Moshe Rabenu out of the river? We know that it's Basi. And who was Basia? So we say Basia was the daughter of Paro, right? It's not true. There was another Basia. There was another Basia in the Torah before Basia. Who was the first Basia in the Torah? Chava's name was also Basia. Because she was literally the daughter, handcrafted by Hashem Himself. Chava's name was Basia. She comes back as a Gilgal, literally as the daughter of the Nachash Kadmoni, which makes sense because what did the Nachash Kadmoni want? He really desired to have a relationship with Chava. And why did the Nachash have a desire to have a relationship with Chava? Because he was spurned by Adam Arishon. We know that Adam Arishon mated with all of the animals in the world before Chava.

18:38 Who of all the creatures in the world would have been the natural zivug for Adam Arishon? The first Shidach. It was the first Shidach crisis. I just thought of that. If only there were mishpacha articles about Shidach crises back then. Other Marishim would have lived in fear that maybe I'm never going to find my zivug. Baruch Hashem, we didn't have magazine articles back then to make the girls of Klaliyosr be terrified that they won't find their shiduch. Even though the Gemara says that before you were born, a baskal came out and said Plonis will marry Ploni, somehow we lost our emunah and we have a shiduch crisis. Even though almost everybody we know is married, because we know a couple of people that are not, there's a shiduch crisis. I triggered myself. I can't even blame you for that. So of course the Nachash Akadmi, who made it with Adam Rishon, and he said, "I am the perfect mate for Adam Rishon because I am a room mikol chayes asada. I'm the most intelligent of all the animals." The Nachash Akadmi spoke and he walked on two legs and he ate human food and he was a genius. He was a real genius. He tricked Chavu.

19:49 So he said, "Who would be the natural mate for Adam Rishon? Would be me." And of course, Adam Rishon spurned him and said, "You're not my mate." So what does Rashi tell us? Rashi tells us that Adam the Nachash was upset at Adam Rishon, so he wanted to kill off Adam Rishon. So that he could marry Chava. And so he said, "I'm going to get Chava to touch the Eitz Hadass, and then Adam Rishon is going to eat from the Eitz Hadass. Adam Rishon is going to die, and of course, I'm going to have a relationship with Chava." It didn't go according to the Nachash Kadmoni's plan, but in a certain way it did go according to the Nachash Kadmoni's plan. Because many years later, when Paro the Nachash Kadmoni has a daughter, who is that daughter? That daughter is none other than Chava. But when Chava is living in the house of that great Tannimagadol, that great serpent, that is the Nachash Kadmoni, what does she do? She goes to mikva. She goes to mikva. Why does Chava go to mikva? Why does Basia go to mikva? She goes to mikva because she's trying to cleanse herself.

20:40 From the impurities of living with the Nachash Kadmoni, that's why she went to mikvah. She was converting. Chazal say she wanted to become a Yid. That's the nature of Chavos. She's trying to attach herself to Yiddishkeit. Keep this in mind. Just as we get into the future, what's the minimum amount that a mikvah has to have to be kosher? Who said? You don't have to be embarrassed. What's the minimum amount? Forty saw. Very good. Makes sense. This is my old friend. So she goes down to this mikvah of Fortisah, and who does she find? She finds Meisher Abenu. So Chava in the mikvah rediscovers Adamarishon. Unbelievable! And by the way, what's Meisher Abenu in? He's in a teva. Remember what we said? What's the first iteration, the first gilgal of those neshamas that came out of Adamarishon after the chayt? The first was the Dara Mabul.

21:42 So now, Moshe Rabbeinu. That look right there is the whole reason to give the shir. I just want to say something. I mean this sincerely. The nature of a yid, when we see all the connections, when we see the yichud of all of the Torah, where our mouth is open, we say, "Oh, there's a story behind the story." That's why we do this. We do this to show ourselves. It's the natural language of the neshama to be flabbergasted. How everything in the Torah is one. Moshe Rabbeinu comes in a teva. Also in the river, except this time, Basia Chava is there to take Adam Rishon out. What does the pasuk say? Vatishlach es amasa. What does she do? She stretches out her hand. It's Machlokas exactly what she did. Did she send someone or did she stretch out her hand? We all know the story from the little madjar says. She was a Mr. Fantastic and her hand stretched forever and she was able to pull it back. Why doesn't it say vatishlach es yada? Why does it say vatishlach es amasa?

22:34 Where else do we find that Chava sticks out her hand to do something? We know v'atikach miperiav. The last time that Chava stuck out her hand, what did she do? She took a fruit and she handed that fruit to Adamarishon. Now v'atishlah chasamasa, she sends out her hand a tikkun for the chait of giving Adamarishon that fruit, and she pulls Adamarishon close. It's an unbelievable thing. Why Amasa? Why not Yada? The gematria of Amasa is four hundred and forty-six, which is the same gematria as Maves. The Medrash in Mislech says that Basia never died. This Basia, Paro's daughter, she never died. Because when was Misa brought into the world? Misa was brought into the world from the chet of Adam Arishon. But now that Basia slash Chava has repaired the chet of Adam Arishon by drawing Adam Arishon close. She's no longer shyach to misa So now that Chava has repaired herself, she sends out her amasa, her hand, same gematria as Maves. She's now totally purified from the chet of Adam Rishon, and that's why she never dies.

23:44 Of course, we know that she did one more thing. What did Chava do? Chava gave Adam Rishon to eat. What happens this time is Basia Basparo sticks out her hand. She draws my shabino close. Miriam comes and says, "It's a Jewish child." You have to give the child to me to nurse the child. So what does Basia do? The child can only eat from a Jewish mother. The last time Chava gave Adam Harishon something to eat, it destroyed the entire world. This time Chava is making the sin of Adam Harishon by giving him to a Jewish mother. And that's why the halacha is that a baby is not allowed to eat even though a baby in theory is just milk, but a baby should eat only from a Jewish mother. That's where this halacha comes from. So now we know what's the inner story that's really going on. All the neshamos from other marishon are in Mitzrayim.

24:38 Moshe Abeno, as other marishon, after he did tshuva without any ra, is in Mitzrayim. Bas Paro, which is really Chava, is in Mitzrayim. And what are we going to confront? We're going to confront the Nachash Akamoni. So now we can start to understand a little bit that's going on. Moshe Rabbeinu is saying to Hakadosh Baruch Hu These Jews that are in Mitzrayim that represent the Jews that were from that period when other Marishon sinned, do they have the emuna to be able to come out of Mitzrayim? At least now we start to get a little bit of texture, a little bit of depth to understanding Moshe Rabbeinu's question. What's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's answer? Hakadosh Baruch Hu's answer—it's rhetorical. He's saying, 'What are you holding in your hand? How could you come to me with such a kasha? If you knew what you were holding in your hand, you would never ask such a question.'

25:34 What is Moshe Rabbeinu holding in his hand? He is holding the matzah. Let's learn a little bit about the staff of Moshe Rabbeinu. When is the first time in Chazal that we discover the inner story of the staff of Moshe Rabbeinu? Of course, everybody here knows it's a Mishnah Avos. What does the Mishnah Avos say? When was the staff of Moshe Rabbeinu created? It was created by Ashmashos. It was created on the twilight erev Shabbos of the sixth day of creation. What's the significance of the fact that the staff was created on the sixth day of creation? That it was created after the chet of Adam Harishon, which means if everything in the world became poisoned by the chet of Adam Harishon, the things that were created afterwards are the only things that are completely pure. The staff of Moshe Rabenu is not affected by the chet of Adam Harishon.

26:31 Rashi says that what was written on the staff of Moshe Rabenu, the Shem Hashem. But if we look at Chazal a little bit deeper, you'll see that the story is even much more impressive. Medrash and Shmays Raba says, "What was the weight of Moshe Rabbeinu's staff?" You could probably guess that the weight of Moshe Rabbeinu's staff was forty saw. That's what the Medrash says. Why? Because Moshe Rabbeinu's staff had the ability to purify just like a mikvah anything that it came in contact with. And what was it made of? Says the Medrash, it was made of sapphire. What is the nature of sapphire? Sapphire in the Torah is an illuminating light. It's a stone that shines so brightly that it's almost like it generates its own light. So Moshe Abenu's staff is the staff that has the ability to purify and illuminate. Let's look a little bit deeper. Yalkut Shemoni says as follows: Moshe Rabbeinu said, 'What if they don't listen to my voice? Listen to what the Yalkut says. Unbelievable.' Reish Lakish explains, if they don't listen to your voice, this is mamish blow away.

27:43 If they don't listen to your voice, they'll listen to the voice of the staff. The staff itself can speak, and if they don't listen to your voice, says Reish Lakish, don't worry, just hold up the staff, and the staff will tell the story that you threw me down into the ground, that I turned into a snake, and the Ma'ish Abinu picked me up by my tail. The staff itself talks. It was that shocking to us. Because when Moshe Rabbeinu throws the staff down, what does it become? It becomes a snake. In the Torah, what do snakes do? Specifically, one snake The snake speaks. The Nachash Kadmoni spoke So it's not at all radical to think that Moshe Rabbeinu's staff, in a certain way, was the antidote to the Nachash Kadmoni. And just like the Nachash Kadmoni could speak, so too Moshe Rabbeinu's staff, the Yalkut Shemani says, can speak. Because it's the antidote of the Nachash Kadmoni.

28:38 Let's go even further. In Perkei Derav Lazar We learn that this staff had a journey. We know that the staff originally belonged to Adam Harishon. When did Adam Harishon get this staff? When Adam Harishon was being expelled from Gan Eden, Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave him this staff. Moshe Rabbeinu, Adam Harishon goes out into the world with this staff. We're going to see why that's important soon. The Perk of the Rabbis says that Adam passed it on to Chanoch, Chanoch passed it to Noach, Noach passed it to Shem, Shem passed it to Avram, Avram to Yitzchok, Yitzchok to Yaakov, Yaakov to Yosef, and Yosef had it with him when he went down to Mitzrayim. He took the staff with him, and when Yosef HaTzaddik died Not surprisingly, Paro sent his army to plunder the house of Yosef HaTzaddik and took specifically the staff. Why would Paro be so interested in this staff?

29:33 On a simple level, you'll say it's probably worth a lot of money. It's a staff made of sapphire. But on a deeper level, why would the Nachash Kadmani be so nervous about this staff? Because this staff is the antidote to the Nachash Kadmani. So Paro specifically went and he hid this staff away. Now Yisro Yisro was one of Paro's advisors, and we know that Yisro advised Paro not to enslave Kallah. And because of this, he had to run away from Paro, and he had to become the chief of Midyan. But before Yisro left He took something with him. What did he take? He took this staff. Now let's think about this for a second. Of all the things that Yisro could have taken, why take this staff? If I'm running away for my life from Paro, why would I take this staff? What's the only thing that's going to protect me from Paro?

30:24 It's the antidote to Paro. It's this staff that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave to Adam Harishon after Adam Harishon is expelled from Gan Eden, and now he's going out into the world, which was infected with the zuama, with the poison of the Nachash Karmani. Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives him the antidote because, after all, if you're going to go out into the world, you have to have the. If you're going to walk into, I don't know, like some third world country, and there some HIV, SARS, coronavirus is going to get you, you have to have the shot that's going to protect you. So Yisro says, "How could I possibly protect myself from Paro?" So before he leaves, he takes the staff of Adomarishon The staff of Yosef HaTzaddik And again, it makes sense that Yosef HaTzaddik, we'll see soon, makes sense that Yosef HaTzaddik has the staff and he takes it with him to protect himself, and that's why Paro doesn't chase him. If Paro says, 'I'm going to go to Midyan,' and I'm because certainly Paro was more powerful than Yisro, how come Paro doesn't chase Yisro and kill off Yisro? Teret says he can't because Yisro has the antidote to Paro And what does he do with the staff? Unbelievable medrash.

31:23 He planted it in his garden. Isn't that interesting, Mamish? If you're reading the story with all of the backstory, it's literally like a garden, like Gan Eden, and he's planted a staff in the garden. What does this remind us of? It reminds us of the Eitz Hadas. He Mamish plants a staff in a garden. And all people wanted a married Zippora. Zippora was exceptionally beautiful. Everybody wanted a married Zippora. This part of the story probably sounds familiar to you. Because it's become a part of mythical lore. People would come and they would come to Yisro and they would say, "I want to marry your daughter." He would say, "No problem. Take the staff out of the ground. If you can take it out of the ground, you can marry my daughter." What is that story? That story eventually became King Arthur and the Sword and the Stone.

32:09 This is where it comes from. This is the source for it. This is the source of King Arthur. So everybody would come from all around the world and they would come to take out the staff from the gun, and they couldn't do it. Until Moshe Rabbeinu came And Moshe Rabbeinu takes the staff out of the ground, and Yisroel says to him, 'You can marry my daughter, and you will be the redeemer of all Israel.' How did Yisroel know that Moshe Rabbeinu was going to be the redeemer of all Israel? Because Moshe Rabbeinu, who was born after the chait. Of Adomarishon in the midst of Adomarishon's tshuva, which means he was never afflicted with the ra from the zuama of Adomarishon. Moshe Rabbeinu was the one who had shayches to the staff, the antidote to the nachash hakadmoni. So Yisro understood this is going to be the one to be the redeemer of Klal Yisroel. Melech, he wanted his daughter to marry Moshe Rabbeinu so that she could be a part of the rectification of the entire world.

32:58 Who held the staff throughout history? Another medrash, another yalkut. The staff was held by Yaakov. The staff was held by Yehuda. The staff was held by Moshe Rabbeinu. The staff was held by Aaron Kohen. The staff was held by David Melech. Ultimately, every single Melech until the times of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash held this staff of Adomarishon. But it was buried with the Beis Hamikdash. It was hidden away for Melech Hamashiach. When Melech Hamashiach comes, he's going to take this staff, which is buried a stone's throw from here. He's going to take this staff out of the ground, and he's going to wipe out all of the idolatry in the world with this staff. What's the significance of knowing that this staff comes from Lavan? It's an unbelievable medrash. How many sheep did Lavan have before Yaakov Avinu came down to Lavan? What would you guess? If you had to guess a number Forty would be a good one.

33:56 Forty would definitely fit in line with the year. In this case, a little bit more than that, seventy. Interesting. Where else do we see the number seventy in our parsha? How many Yidden came down to Mitzrayim? And how many sheep were left by the time that Yaakov Avinu left the house of Lavan? Six hundred thousand. That's what the Medrash says. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't Hashem's Torah beautiful? Hashem's Torah is so beautiful that the Medrash tells us that the same way that Klal Yisrael went down to Mitzrayim with seventy and we ended up being six hundred thousand by Kabbalah Satora. Lavan had seventy sheep, which ended up being six hundred thousand, because the Arizal writes, the Nezer Hakodesh explains that the whole Yosef of Yaakov Avinu being by the house of Lavan was to rectify the sin of Adam Rishon. So when Yaakov Avinu went with his staff down to the house of Lavan, what did he do? He turned seventy into six hundred thousand. He took a family and he made it into a nation that was Roi for Kabbalah Satora.

34:51 And this is how Yaakov Avinu became wealthy. Yaakov Avinu wasn't interested in material wealth. He wasn't interested in buying the latest Tesla. He wasn't interested in going out to the fanciest restaurants. He was interested in the tikkun of the chait of Adam and Chava. So Mameila, he went in with seventy. He left with six hundred thousand. This is why Yaakov Avinu makes such a big deal about his staff. Yaakov Avinu davens to the Rebbeinu Sholom. He says the chesed that you did for me, the Rebbeinu Sholom, it's unbelievable. Asher asisa as avadi. Because I crossed the yarden with my staff. Why is he putting such a dogish on the staff? What happened to the rest of Yaakov Avinu's stuff? We know what happened to the rest of Yaakov Avinu's stuff. Who stole his stuff? Eliphaz. When a Malik came to Eliphaz, the child of a Malik. When a Malik came to attack Yaakov Avinu, he said, 'Take my stuff, leave my staff.' Why was Yaakov Avinu so obsessed with the staff?

35:54 Because he said the stuff I can replace, but the staff is the tikkun for the nachash kadmoni. So we see that the staff of Yaakov Avinu, and we'll see why this is important in a moment. The staff of Yaakov Avinu was the yisoid of everything. He said, take everything, but don't take my staff. But there's a good kasha in the hands of Yaakov Avinu. What's the staff called? A makel. In the staff of Moshe Rabbeinu It's called a matte. What's the difference between a makel and a matzah? So the yisoid is as follows: the yisoid of this staff, we already said it's forty saw. It has the unbelievable power of purification. The staff is a sapphire. It also has the power of illumination. The yisoid of this staff is emuna. Anybody that came in contact with this staff was connected in their source to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. They felt connected to their source. That's what emuna means. Emuna is the conscious reality that my soul is connected to the Rebbeinu Shalom. That I am a chelek alokami mal mamish. That I am a ray to Hakadosh Baruch Hu's sign. That's what Emuna means. When you came in contact with the staff of Moshe Rabbeinu, with the staff of Avda Marisham, with the staff of Yaakov It clarified everything. All shfakos, all darkness, all the sheker in the world washed away.

37:15 That's why Makel is Rashi Tevus. The Malach said this right. For me'olam kivinu lach Eternally we have hope, we have emuna in you. But in the hands of Moshe Rabbeinu, it's not just personal. For Yaakov v'ino, it was personal. Me'olam kivinu lach. For Moshe Rabbeinu, what does Moshe Rabbeinu have this staff for? He has the staff not just for himself. He has the staff in order to influence all of Klal Yisrael to be able to come out of Mitzrayim. Mate is from a loshon of lahatos. To impact, to turn. In the hands of Yaakov Avinu, emuna is turned inwards. In the hands of Moshe Rabbeinu, the staff is turned outwards. It has the power to go down into Mitzrayim to illuminate all of Klal Yisrael, to connect all of Klal Yisrael to their source. This is the yosoid of emuna, and to be able to take Klal Yisrael out of Mitzrayim.

38:10 This is what it means to be a tzaddik. Tzaddik be emunoscha yichya. The nature of a tzaddik is emuna. Tzaddik lives with his emuna. Who is the torchbearer of this staff in Mitzrayim? It's Yosef Hatzadik. Because Yosef Hatzadik comes into Mitzrayim with his emuna, and Paro can't touch him. And that's why everything that happens, every conversation between Paro and Yosef Hatzadik is always about emuna. Paro says, 'Interpret my dreams.' Yosef says, 'It's not mine to interpret. I can't tell you anything. Everything is the Eved She'er. Everything is the Rebbeinu Shalom. And what did Yosef HaTzaddik do? He made sure that every single person in Mitzrayim had a Bris Milah. He connected all of the Mitzrim, all of the Klipas, back to the Rebbeinu Shalom.' VaYakum Melech Hod Shal Mitzrayim A new king arises. What does he not know? He says, 'No more of these tzaddikim. Yosef HaTzaddik is dead.' So immediately he steals the weapon of the tzaddik. Yisro steals the weapon of the tzaddik and gives it back to Moshe Rabbeinu. That Moshe Rabbeinu should be the tzaddik that could take Klal Yisrael out of Mitzrayim. Memele, we understand what is Moshe Rabbeinu busy with at the very At the very end of the story, when everybody is leaving Mitzrayim and everybody is going to get all the physical wealth, what is Moshe Rabbeinu doing? He's collecting the bones of Yosef Hatsadik.

39:19 Because Moshe Rabbeinu is the tzaddik taking over the place of Yosef Hatsadik. That's why Yosef Hatsadik was in the house of Paro and Moshe Rabbeinu is in the house of Paro. This is the Yoseid of the tzaddik. Memele, we can understand what Hakadosh Baruch Hu's response is. To my shabenu, you're coming to me and you're saying these are the souls that were born from the sin of Adam Harishon. They're not going to believe me. This is their chisar and their chisar, and as they're disconnected from their emuna, Hakadosh Baruch Hu says to him, "Look what you have in your hand. You're holding the matzah. You have the antidote to all of this." So now let me teach you how to use it. The Rebbeinu Sholom says. So what do you do? So the Rebbeinu Sholom says, throw it down to the ground. Why? Because the nature of throwing the staff down to the ground is, you'll see that it's the antidote to the Nachash Kadmoni. It turns into the Nachash Kadmoni. Why is Moshe Rabbeinu so afraid? The answer is because Moshe Rabbeinu had never seen anything like that before. Because Moshe Rabbeinu was born, remember, from which period? Not from the period before Admorishon said, but only from the period of Tshuva. Moshe Rabbeinu had never confronted the pure evil of the Nachash Kadmoni. So he runs away not because he's afraid of being bitten by a snake. Moshe Rabbeinu's essence

40:37 I have nothing to do with the zuama of the Nachash Kadmoni. Rebbeinu, what are you asking me to get involved in? Hakadosh Baruch Hu then tells him the secret, and this is the secret: pick it up from its tail. What does it mean to pick it up from its tail? Pick it up from its tail, says the Toldos Aaron. You have to teach these people how to see the end. This is your side. It'll be good in the end, and if it's not good, it's not the end. Emuna means it'll be good in the end, and if it's not good, it's not in the end. A yid lives with this knowledge of, and we don't mean this chassvasholom in a kitschy way. When we say things are going great. When we say gam zula tova, kol mand avid rachmanu le'tav avid, it's not a joke.

41:31 A yid knows how to see the worst things in the world, and no, just because it's bad right now doesn't mean it's bad at all. It means it's the process of unfolding, which is often painful, but it's never bad. If you had told us See, we used to be able in our lives to bring, like in the times of the Holocaust, if you would have said that right after the Holocaust we're going to be zayecha to come back to Eretz Yisrael in droves. So that would have been an unbelievable expression of emuna. But Baruch Hashem, for us living in our times, we are mamish living this. If you would have told us on October sixth that we would be sitting here, Matzei Shabbos. Two years later, if you would have told us on October sixth when this country was on the verge of civil war And by the way, that's not an exaggeration. They were literally talking about civil war. The left wingers were dropping out of the army. They were making havkanot. It's the only time the left wingers and the charedim had a lot in common.

42:31 They were both dropping out of the army and they were both making havkanot. It was an unbelievable thing. And they were mamish talking about there's going to be violence. Mamish talking about violence in the streets. Then October seventh happened And it was the worst day in the history of klal yisrael living in this country since 1948. I don't imagine. I don't know if any of you were here. Were you here for October? It was unbelievable. The news that trickled in. I have a daughter, who that year was learning in Ofakim. Just for those of you that don't know, Ofakim is ten minutes away from Gaza. Baruch Hashem, she was with me Simchas Torah in yeshiva. But the Arabs, those murderous barians, we don't even call them animals because it would be kind to animals. Those murderous barians that came, they mamish drove down her street. The story of Safdarachel, the story of that woman that was like baking cookies for these terrorists. Yimachshamam.

43:34 That woman lives two blocks from my daughter's seminary. Two blocks from my daughter's seminary. When I went Because I wasn't going to send her back to Tofa Kim. At the time to get into the, they don't even have miklatot in Tofa Kim. Because by the time a rocket lands, you're not going to get there in time. The time from when they shoot off a rocket until landing is 45 seconds. 45 seconds. When I drove to go pick up her stuff, I took my daughter a week later. I was going to find a different seminary for her. So when I drove to go pick her up, I put the seminary into Ways. I've never had this since. Ways said, "Are you sure you want to go? This is a dangerous area." I didn't even know that Ways had a feature like that. It flashed like a red hazard light, and I felt very uncomfortable. I said yes.

44:24 Yes, I want to go into this dangerous area. What am I doing? I drove to Ofakim a week after October 7th. And I was driving behind an Israeli army van And there were kids, your age, 18 year olds, on this van, holding off the back. I was driving on the highway, holding off the back of the van, waving at me like little children. They were in their madim, in their uniforms, on the back of this van. I felt like it was a scene out of Vietnam. I was crying as we were driving to Ofakim. Look what they're about to do to our children. Now we have to go to war because of these animals. This is, and then I went. We were in Ofakim the entire time, telling my daughter, because not only did she pack up for herself, she packed up for all of her roommates, whose parents weren't driving her back, maybe because they were more normal, just leave the stuff there.

45:16 I'm not going to leave anything behind. I'm in Chinuch. We need pachim ketanim. So we packed up her room. We packed up all of her roommates. And the entire time, I'm looking at my watch, we got to go. We bought. I remember we went to the bakery. There were soldiers all over Ofakim, like guarding. Because at that time, I don't know if you've seen the pictures now, but there's no more Gaza over there. It's a beach. It's mamusha. There's nothing left. There's nothing left. Baruch Hashem. Halvai vaiter. Nothing left. So at the time, there was plenty left. And you understand these animals that lived on the border. Every one of them had posters in their house. I told them that they were there. Every one of these lunatics had posters in their house of these terrorists. My talmid told me there was not a building that didn't have access to a tunnel or weapons caches. The amount that they had to do to clean that area out, you can't possibly imagine.

46:18 So we went to the bakery and we bought out the bakery for all the soldiers that were there. Hundreds of shekels. And I brought all the baked goods to the soldiers, thinking I'm such a tzaddik. I got there and the soldiers said we can't eat anymore. They had a mountain of baked goods. The bakery was making a fortune from every yid that was like. How Jewish is that? They're going to war. They probably need a snack. You know what I'm saying? That's mamish, the most Jewish thing in the world. That's why there were all these beef jerky-like incentives. It was like he's gonna get hungry. Like Jewish mothers. If you had told us on October 6th that Hamas would almost be destroyed, I say almost because we didn't finish the job. That Hezbollah was basically going to be destroyed. That Nasrallah and al-Shamah would be killed.

47:11 That the beepers would blow up in their faces. That their walkie-talkies would blow up in their faces. If you had told us that Syria is going to be under a new regime If you had told us that Iran would lose all of its nuclear capacity And that Trump would be in a position to finish the job. Let's think about the Ashkalha practice of that. Trump won. He won the first election. And then he lost the second election. But this lunatic Achashverosh Who he thought he won the election, he did not win the election. They did all the studies. He did not win the election. He's in the whole time. I won the election. And he's a zoy lunatic that likes to speak as if something is true And people go Listen to this orange-haired guy. And it's mamish not true. He lost the election, but because he's such a balgaiva. He says he has to run again.

48:10 Nobody ever did that before in the history of American presidency. He ran again and he won. And now we look back on it, we go, of course he needed to lose the second election because we needed this lunatic in place to be behind Klal Yisrael when we needed it most. And his daughter is Jewish. It's mamish achashverosh, no? And remember that it was the grandchildren of achashverosh that rebuilt the Beis Hamikdash. This is a wild story. If you're paying attention in history, it's a wild story. If you would have told us on October sixth, Hamas would basically be wiped out, Hezbollah would basically be wiped out. Syria would be under a new regime, Iran would be wiped out, Saudi Arabia is on the verge of joining the Abraham Accords. First of all, they're called the Abraham Accords. How messianic is that? That the children of Avram Avinu, just like it says in Chumash, that Yisrael is going to recognize that Yitzchak has his place and that they're going to bury Avram Avinu together, but that Yitzchak is going to go first. And that Yisrael is going to allow Yitzchak to come first. This is the craziest thing. We're mamish living in a time where the children of Yisrael are joining in an accord called the Abraham Accords to recognize that this is our land.

49:12 That's an unbelievable thing. And that this lunatic Hashfero is just doing the entire thing. He's making it happen. When you were growing up, again, thousand years ago, they would have said, 'How's history going to unfold?' We are living it. October seventh was the worst day in modern Israeli history. It's good in the end, and if it's not good, it's not the end, and it's not yet good. It's not yet good. You're going to see that the end is going to be even better. What does the Toldos Arin say? The secret of emuna is to grab the Nachash Kadmoni by its tail. Because the Nachash Kadmoni says that you should have no emuna And we grab the Nachash Kadmoni and we say we believe in ikves of the Mashiach, we believe in the heal, we believe in the very end. That's why Yaakov Avinu grabs onto the heel of Esav. A yid lives in the darkness. We believe in the koyach that in the end everything is going to reveal. Baruch Hu.

50:08 And this is why Melech Hamashiach has to lead us out of this gullis, holding onto the staff of Avadmarishon, holding onto the staff of Yaakov Avinu, holding onto the staff of Meishar Rabenu, holding onto the staff of David Malchus Hamashiach. Because the nature of this staff is the antidote to the Nachash Shachamoni. The nature of this staff is that it reminds us that we are a chelak elokam mimal mamish, and that this world is operating exactly according to plan, and that we believe in the end—that's how we're able to survive all these harsh exiles. How is the yid able to survive? Because implanted in our DNA is we know that things are going to be good. That's why when tragedy strikes, what does the yid do? We go, this doesn't seem right. We rebel. We rebel against tragedy. Whenever the Rebbeinu Shalom brings tragedy into the world, a yid knows soon it's going to be good.

50:55 Soon it's going to be good, and we don't understand how it cannot be good right now. I have a Talmud who nebach. Lo alainu mamish. A terrible thing happened to me. I don't even get into the details. A terrible thing happened to him, and it mamish shook him to the core, and he was so angry. And for months now, I've been encouraging him to express his anger. And he's like, am I supposed to have emunah? This is your emunah. Your anger is your emunah because you're saying this doesn't feel like the Rebbeinu Shlom. How could the Rebbeinu Shlom do this to me? And he's right because he's living with the pain of this moment. But Tzaddik be emunas Rayaechia means that the tzaddik understands that I'm living with my emunah right now in the times that things are terrible, and I know things are supposed to be good. All I want is for things to be revealed good.

51:42 We know the pasuk says ki meitzesim eretz mitsrayim erenin nuflos that the way that we left mitsrayim is going to be erenin nuflos. It's going to be the way that mashiach takes us out. In the same way that Moshe Rabbeinu took us out with that matzah lahatos, that he inspired all of klal yisrael to connect to their inner emuna and to be able to reach that inner dimension of me'olam kivinu lach, that Moshe Rabbeinu inspires hope in klal yisrael. That's the same way a yid has to live right now. We must live with the inextinguishable hope of what it means to be a yid. That even when things seem hopeless, that even when things seem dark and irreparable A yid has to know that things are about to be unbelievable and amazing. In the world today, there's a phrase called toxic positivity. The world is a sick place, and if you're positive today, even that's toxic.

52:39 And the hashkafas of the world today are beyond insane. Beyond insane. My wife, when we were dating, she used to tell me The world is an insane asylum. We have to live in Eretz Yisrael because Eretz Yisrael is the last place of sanity. It wasn't so pashat that we were going to live in Eretz Yisrael. My wife was the one that forced us to live in Eretz Yisrael. I almost got stuck there. I had a steller there. We have to live in Eretz Yisrael. The world has become an insane asylum. That which is healthy and normal is now considered toxic, and that which is so sick, so psychologically deviant, is normal. We're just living in oylam hafok, the craziest world that's ever been. But a yid lives with the positivity, not toxic positivity, the normal, natural positivity that things are going according to plan. Be'ez Hashem, everything is going to be good. Be'ez Hashem, Mashiach is going to come. He's going to dig deep into the roots of Har Abayis. He's going to pull out the staff, that shining sapphire of Moshe Rabbeinu, and he's going to inspire us to greater hope. And Be'ez Hashem, we're going to build this world into a d'ir b'tachtonim for the Rebbeinu. A good avach.