Welcome to our Pesach Bitachon series. We continue with another thought on the portion of Maaseh B'BRibi Eliezer Bribi Yehoshua…. discussing how they spent the whole night talking about Yetzyat Mitzrayim . The Sefer Ateret Yeshua says that these Hachamim taught us that even in the exile, (which is compared to night), we have Yetziat Mitzrayim , because Mitzrayim refers to the Yetzer Hara which is always out to ambush a person. And every time we overcome our Yetzer Hara , that's a Yetziat Mitzrayim . That's what it means that they were telling the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim that whole night. So even at night, which is the Galut , the entire night, we have a responsibility to uproot the Mitzrayim inside of us. That's why we have a commandment to get rid of the Chametz before Pesach - because the Chametz refers to the Yetzer Hara . That is why the students came and said the time of Shacharit has come. The ultimate goal of Keriat Shema shel Shaharit is to gain the clarity of Hashem Echad and overcome the Yetzer Hara . He says something unbelievable, that the pasuk Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad has the same numerical value as Srefat Chametz (I didn't add it up). So when it says we reached Kriyat Shema shel Shacharit , it means that we've reached the point, through telling the story of the night, that we've gotten rid of the Yetzer Hara . That's the goal of the night of the seder -to reach the concept of Hashem Echad . That's why the sefarim say that at the end of the Seder , we say Echad Mi Yodea / Who knows One? Hashem is One . The goal of the night is to get that clarity, which we call Yechudo Yitbarach , the Oneness of God. As long as there are other forces, God is, so to say, not One. But in the future, Hashem Echad U'shmo Echad . The goal of the Yetziat Mitzrayim is to reach Hashem Echad U'shmo Echad , which was the level of Adam HaRishon before the sin, and it's the level that the Jewish people reached at Matan Torah , if not for the sin of the golden calf, which eradicated it. The point is to realize the power of telling the story that night; it rids us of our Yetzer Hara , because although we thimk of the Yetzer Hara as out to do evil (and all the other things, which is true) the fundamental point of the Yetzer Hara is denying God's Oneness. That's why the snake said, " God ate from the tree, so can you eat from the tree. " It's denying God's Oneness. Kriyat Shema shel Shachrit , is God's Oneness. Kriyat Shema throughout the year is actually a continuation of the message of Yetziat Mitzrayim . It's not a coincidence that we talk about Yetziat Mitzrayim in our Kriyat Shema . The end of Kriyat Shema talks about Anochi Hashem Elokecha Asher Hotzeticha M'Eretz Mitzrayim . We talk all about the Geula , and all about Mitzrayim every single night in connection with Kriyat Shema . It's not just a side point. Yetziat Mitzrayim is the source for Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad . The Ramban says that when we say Hashem Elokenu , how do we know He's our God? We know He's our God from Yetziat Mitzrayim . This was not just a haphazard, random wake up call for the rabbis, telling them it was time for Kriyat Shema shel Shachrit , as if they were saying the rooster is crowing or something like that. No. Reaching Kriyat Shema shel Shachrit means we've reached that revelation, that clarity, which is the goal of the night. The sefer Imrei Emet says a similar thought: that Kriyat Shema shel Shachrit symbolizes the Geula of the future- LeHagid Ba'boker Chasdecha . Ba'boker Chasdecha is the Kriyat Shema of the morning, which is light and Geula . We're currently in the era of Kriyat Shema shel Arbit , which is Emunatcha Ba'lelot . Throughout the night, we need to have Emunah . The ultimate is the time of Kriyat Shema shel Shachrit , when, as the Gemara says, Misheyakir Ben T'chelet Lavan , you can differentiate between T'chelet and Lavan . T'chelet symbolizes the heavens and brings us up to the Kisei HaKavod , up to God. So the Kriyat Shema shel Shachrit , the morning Kriyat Shema is said when there is clarity, when there is light. Many of the mefarashim say the word Sipur is fr the lashon of Safir , which means sapphire . The Or HaChaim HaKadosh says this on Sefirat HaOmer , that when you count the Omer , it causes the person to shine. Similarly, the Imre Emet says, they were Misaprim B'Yetzyat Mitzrayim , and the Safir is the shining ; that through the telling of the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim , we're turning the lights on, lighting up the night, and that clarity comes by telling over the stories and the Nissim . Getting back to where we started, although we're in Galut now, even in Galut you can bring the light in- the light of clarity that can give us the ability to survive the Galut , and this is what happens on the night of the Seder . We have to appreciate what these great rabbis were doing, spending the entire night on all these details of the miracle. The Chida, in his sefer Simchat HaRegel points out that these rabbis knew Kol HaTorah Kula , and yet they spent the entire night staying up, not sleeping. We should get Chizuk from this, that we also have to strengthen ourselves and put all our energy in giving over this message and gain the clarity that we can attain on this one night a year. Bezrat Hashem , we will all be successful.

Welcome to our daily bitachon Haggadah Shel Pesach series . We're up to the piece of Maaseh , which lists many great Tanaim , Rebbe Eliezer , Rebbe Yehoshua , Rebbe Elazar ben Azariah Rebbe Akiva and Rebbe Tarfon who were all together in Bnei Brak one Pesach , and spent the whole night talking about Yetziyat Mitzrayim. Rebbe Yechiel Michel Epstein , better known as the Aruch HaShulchan, writes in his commentary on the Haggadah , that he's bothered by a few questions. Firstly,Rebbe Eliezer lived in a town called Lod , Rebbe Yehoshua lived in a town called Peki'in and Rebbe Akiva lived in Bnei Brak , as the Gemara in Sanhedrin 32a tells us. ( Rebbe Eliezer and Rebbe Yehoshua were teachers of Rebbe Akiva .) Why were they all by Rabbi Akiva for the holiday? Especially Rebbe Eliezer , as he is the one that holds (see Sukkah 27b), that one is supposed to stay home for the holiday. So why was he leaving his home on Pesach to go to his student, Rebbe Akiva ? He answers based on a Gemara in Mesechet Makkot 25b, that Raban Gamliel , Rebbe Elazar ben Azariah , Rebbe Yehoshua and Rebbe Akiva were all on the road, and heard a tremendous ruckus of partying coming from Rome. They started to cry, and Rabbi Akiva started to laugh. Rabbi Akiva asked, " Why are you crying ?" And they said, "They're sitting in serenity and confidence. They destroyed the Bet HaMikdash, and here we are. " They asked why he was laughing, and he said, "That's why I'm laughing. If this is what happens to those that go against God's will, imagine what's going to happen to those that fulfill God's will!" And he explains that Rabbi Akiva was telling them an important principle, that after someone goes through Midat HaDin , after there's justice on someone, the chesed that comes out is tremendous. Rabbi Akiva was trying to tell them was that if the Babylonians, who had no judgment on them, and thus no purification on them, merited so much kindness from Hashem , because Hashem's kindness is never-ending, imagine how much we, who went through (and are going through) this tremendous justice and judgment and purification by God, are going to be enveloped in God's tremendous kindness. Because of Rabbi Akiva's chizuk , and new way of looking at things, says the Aruch HaShulchan , they felt indebted to him. He strengthened their hope in the Jewish people, at a point in history, after the Chorban when they were suffering through so much. So they all came to his house, in his city (except for Rabban Gamliel , who was the Nasi , and didn't come), to spend the night with Rabbi Akiva, talking about Yetziyat Mitzrayim . Because Yetziyat Mitzrayim is the time that we get clear on the Nitzchiyut , the everlasting state of the Jewish people, that no one could destroy them. Rabbi Akiva was the expert on this, so they spent the night working on this concept of Nitzchiyut Yisrael , the eternal state of the Jewish people . That, he says, is the purpose of the night of Yetziyat Mitzrayim . Because Bechol Dor Vador , Omdim Alenu .. In every generation, they try to destroy us. Therefore, they felt the best way to gain this clarity, in the post-destruction era that they were in, was to go to Rebbe Akiva , who had this understanding. So they went firstly, as a token of appreciation and respect Rabbi Akiva , for what he did for them, and also for the chizuk that they would get from being at his seder . He doesn't say this, but Rabbi Akiva is known as the one who, while they're tearing his skin off, was saying My whole life I've been preparing for this. Rabbi Akiva was was able to go through tremendously challenging situations and stick with the attitude of Kol ma d'avid Rachmana latav , whatever God does is for the good . He was a student of Nachum Ish Gamzu, who said Gamzu L'Tovah , and the Yerushalmi cites a fascinating discussion between between them. Nachum Ish Gamzu, after not taking care of a poor man fast enough, asked God to give him a severe punishment. When Rebbe Akiva saw his Rebbe like that, he said, "Oy li / Woe onto me that I see you like this!" And Nachum told Rabbi Akiva , " Oy li, Woe onto me if I don't see you like this!" Rabbi Akiva said, Are you cursing me? And Nachum Ish Gamzu said, " No, I'm not cursing you." He saw what Rabbi Akiva would go through at the hand of the Romans in the future, and how it would bring him to his greatness. Rabbi Akiva is the quintessential picture of resilience. 24,000 of his students died, and he picked himself up, found five new students, and all the Torah Sh'beAl/all the oral law that we have, came from him. The Aruch Hashulchan says that they spent the whole night on this concept, until their students came and said, our Rabbotenu / Our Rabbis , the time of Kriyat Shema Shel Shachrit has come. Kriyat Shema Shel Shachrit symbolizes the upbeat attitude, as we say, Magen U'Moshiach , God is a shield and a protection, , bechol dor vador , in every generation. Kriyat Shema is our promise from Hashem that we're going to last forever. Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad . Interestingly enough, Rabbotenu , Higiya HaZman Kriyat Shema Shel Shachrit , were the final of Rebbe Akiva , as it said, fortunate is Akiva , that his soul departed, as he was saying, Echad . So this was the place, and this was the night, to get that chizuk from Rabbi Akiva .

Welcome to our Haggadah/Bitachon series. We're now up to the unit of Avadim Hayeenu . The Ritva writes that this is the beginning of the Haggadah - the answer to the son's question. And as the Gemara says, we start with the negative and end with the positive. And the reason is , says the Ritva in his beautiful words, לתת שבח והודאת לה׳ יתברך המאשפות ירים אביון To praise and thank Hashem Yitbarach , that H e lifts up the destitute from the dumps. This is an important part of our theme- we're not just telling the story, we're supposed to be feeling Hakarat HaTov and say Thank You to Hashem for what He has done for us. The Rambam, in his sefer Moreh Nebuchim section 3, chapter 43, when going through certain mitzvot , says that holidays of Sukkot and Pesach teach us De'ot and Middot . De'ot are the proper mindsets, and Middot are the proper character traits. The De'ot / mindsets of Pesach is to mention the miracles of Mitzrayim and realize hatmadatah l'dorot (this is an important line) that it's not enough to say that miracles happen, but rather that miracles continue to happen. (We see that in the V'hi She'amda , which we'll get to later on). So the Rambam , in his very succinct way, encapsulates the cognitive message of Pesach - הזכרת אותות מצרים / Remembering, mentioning the miracles, the signs, and התמדה לדורות /its continuation for generations. And what is the midah one should have? That a person should remember the bad days during the good days. We're in the good days now, so remember the bad days. Why? בעבור שירבה להודות לה׳ so that you will increase your thanks to God. And, what's the purpose of the thanks? V'shalumad midat anava v'shiflut , to teach you the trait of humility. As we mentioned in Ha Lachma Anya , anya is humility . The Rambam is telling us the purpose is to remember. Avadim Hayeenu -We have to remember the bad times in the good, and thank Him, and ultimately come to the anava v'shiflut . And we eat the matzah and maror to remember what happened to us. Remember what he says, the chesed Elohah , the kindness of God and the promise He made to our forefathers because they were Anashim shleimim b'deotam u'midotam . They were men full of De'ot and Middot Who are those forefathers? Avraham , Yitzhak , and Yaakov . He says this is one of the fundamentals of Torah Tiluyah Alav , that the Torah depends on. שכל טוב שהטיב ה׳ לנו / All of the goodness is that God ever did to us , ויטיב / and will do good for us , is in the merit of the Avot . That's why he talked about the Brit Ben HaBe'tarim , it's all about Avraham Avinu; and it says Yaakov Avinu goes down, Yitzhak Avinu is also mentioned in the Haggadah , when it says, I chose Yitzhak . This is where the humility comes in as well, to realize that it's in the merit of our forefathers that we're here, not because of what we did. Thanks, praise, humility, remembering where we came from- that is the beginnings of Avadim Hayeenu . The Avudarham says that's why we say in Avadim Hayeenu , ' Kulanu Zekeinim , even if we're old men,' and we heard this for years already and we know everything, we still have to say it, because you have to arouse your happiness and your thanks. This is not a cognitive experience; it's not just to tell me something that I don't know. No. I have to get myself to thank Hashem and be happy for what He has done for us to drive in the Hakarat HaTov . If HaKadosh Baruch Hu did not take us out, we would not be out! That's a fact. Nothing else could have gotten us out. He quotes the Midrash that says that it's like an embryo that's stuck inside its mother's womb. It's stuck there and it can't get out. It has to be pulled it out. Likewise, we would still be there, and we would have become entangled in the Egyptian culture and mindset. Therefore, God took us out and created a whole new existence. A new birth. So we thank Him for that fact on this night. We became a whole new nation- and that never would have happened. It's impossible. Even in the greatest dreams, it's could not happen. Only God can make it happen. In a mashal , in the sefer Zevach Pesach , he says, Maybe 600,000 people could not have been let out, but what if it had been just us and our children, and our grandchildren? Who knows, could we have gotten out? No. He says, Can millions of sheep fight off a lion ? No. Millions of sheep can't fight off a lion. There are certain things that just can't happen. Therefore, he says, there's only one way out of this, Yecholet Eloki Urtzonot / The ability of God and the will of God . He says the purpose of this is not to make you feel like you got out. We'll talk about that later in the Haggadah . The purpose now is to tell us Gevurat Hashem Yitbarach V'chasdoh , God's strength, His power, and the kindness that He did , to humble ourselves to the One that saved us, and only He could have saved us. No one else. It's like the patient that there was only one doctor in the world that could perform this life-saving operation and no one can else do it. That's the feeling that we're supposed have on the night of the Seder .

Welcome to our class on Bitachon . Today we continue our Haggadah series and we are up to Ma Nishtana . The Sefer Shibbolei HaLeket , one of the Rishonim , quotes his brother, Rabi Binyamin , who explains that the Ma Nishtana question is based on the pasuk of Vehiggadatah lebincha . Ve higgada tah is the source for the term Haggadah / tell your child . And in that statement, it says, ba'avur zeh / because of this , which means I'm pointing to something as I say this . What am I pointing to? I'm pointing to the matzah and maror that's in front of me. So the son asks a question about the maror . Why do we eat maror instead of other things? He also asks about the matzah - Why are we eating matzah and not chametz? In the times of the Bet HaMikdash , the son would ask Why are we eating the korban Pesach, roasted , different than all the rest of the year? Now we don't ask that question, we ask about the leaning, and we only respond to the question of leaning, which is Avadim Hayinu / We were slaves, we got out, and that's why we're leaning tonight. So we lean as free men because we were freed tonight. But where is the answer to the rest of the questions? Those come only at the end of the Haggadah , when Rabban Gamaliel says that we have to discuss these three things- Pesach , matzah , and maror , and that's really the answer to the boy's questions. A question is asked- Why did the Baal HaHaggadah /the author of the Haggadah , set it up that we ask the questions at the beginning of the meal, but not answer them until way later? One of the answers, given by the Chatam Sofer , is that it's to show us that we need to have patience. The reason the night of the Seder is so dragged out (Come on, let's finish already), is because we are in Galut , and we need to wait. We're not always going to have the answers right away. We're not always going to get out of the difficulty right away. We have to wait. There's a Yiddish saying that I learned when I was in Mir Yeshiva High School. When you're learning Gemara and you have a question and there's no answer, the line that my teacher in high school used to say was is Fun a kasha shtarbt men nisht , which means you don't die from a question. In other words, don't worry, you're not going to die because you have a question. You'll survive. You learn a Gemara and you have a question, and go further and keep the question in your mind. You don't die from the question. So we start off the night of the Haggadah with a question. What's the answer? I don't know the answer necessarily, so I'll be patient and the answer will come- in a year or two or three or five or ten, but we can continue with the questions. We can live with questions. That's one of the lessons built into the Haggadah - that you're not going to have all the answers right away. You have to learn patience and wait for the answers. There's a story they tell about a man who lived a long life. They asked him, What was your secret for a long life ? The Gemara talks about how when people lived a long life, they used to ask them, What did you do? And this man said, Well, a lot of people have questions. And God says, 'Oh you have questions? Okay, come up. I'll give you the answers.' I don't have any questions, or better yet, I'm patient and I'll wait for my answers. It's okay. I'll wait. I have patience. I don't need the answers right away, Hashem, I could live a life that has a lot of questions. Moshe Rabbeinu would question, Tzaddik v'Ra Lo, Rasha v'Tov lo- Why do bad things happen to good people and vice versa ? What's the answer? Hashem didn't really give an answer. Why? Because we don't always have the answers. That's an important lesson. Another point, many years ago in the Deal Synagogue in Deal, New Jersey, Rabbi Ezrachi was there, and he was walking by our room while we were in the middle of a difficult Gemara . We had a question, so we shared it him. He really liked the question. And he said over the question in his powerful, booming voice, Rav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi, and we didn't have an answer, and he didn't have an answer. And he said, " You don't need an answer. Enjoy the question." Relish the question. The main thing is the question.The answer is secondary. Live with the question. Chew on the question. Enjoy the question. Delve into the question. That is our opening lesson. It's a night of Chinuch. It's a night of lessons. "Father, I have questions." And we say, " Sonny boy, you're not going to get all the answers. You're going to have to wait." And eventually, the answers will come.

Welcome to our new Haggada series. We started with Ha Lachma Ania and the second stanza is כל דכפין ייתי ויכול, כל דצריך ייתי ויפסח let all those who are hungry come and eat, all those who are in need, come and partake That's a strange statement. We're inviting everyone in to eat. It's a nice, open house, if someone gets stuck last minute. But, how real is this? How honest and sincere are we? If someone were to actually knock at your door, would you let them in? If a family comes, will you let them in? The sefer Hochmat Shlomo by Rav Shlomo Kluger, in his commentary on Shulchan Aruch, siman 429, discusses Minhag L'K'not Hitim / the custom of buying wheat to distribute to the poor for Pesach . It's called kimcha D'Pischa , which literally means kemach/flour for Pesach, flour for the Matzot on Pesach. Why is this more relevant to Pesach than Shavuot or Succot? Succot is an expensive holiday. What's special about this holiday? Rav Shlomo Kluger says that on the night of the Seder, we are going to say Ha Lachma Ania, and we're going to invite in all those who are poor, and say anyone that wants to come in can come in, but will we really take them in? If not, it's like we're lying in front of God. Therefore, he says, the rabbis established to give out Maot Hittim. That way, if someone knocks at the door, you say can " Look, I said anyone that's hungry, anyone that's needy, but you shouldn't be hungry and needy. We have a community pot. If you were aware of it, and we gave you the money, and you spent it, then technically you caused it. I'm ready to take in anybody that didn't do it themselves, " so to say. We want to make sure that we're clean, so we give Kimcha D'Pischa so that the statement shouldn't be a false statement, but we have to go a step further. Why don't we make the same statement on Succot and invite everyone into our Succahs? And if we did that, we'd have to say Ha Lachma then as well. So we shifted the question a little further. We have Kimcha D'Pischa , we're raising funds for the wheat because we don't want to make a false statement when we invite the guests. Well, why don't we invite the guests on Succot also? The answer goes a little further. We go to the שער Shaar Hatziyun, also known as the Mishna Berurah Chafetz Chaim, in the same chapter in letter 10. He says, Pesach is special in that is we call it Zman Herut/ A time of freedom . And everybody sits by their table, הוא וביתו ברוב שמחה, he's there with his household full of happiness. אין זה כבוד לה׳, it's a lack of respect to God that His children, the poor, are hungry and thirsty. And therefore we give them flour, not just day by day, but for the כל ימי פסח, all the days of Pesach , enough to last them through the holiday, that he can also tell the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim B'Simcha. This is important. Not only do I want to be happy at the Seder , but it's my responsibility to make others happy as well. It's interesting that the concept of giving the Kimcha D'Pischa/wheat or flour for the poor, is not necessarily a Sedaka concept. It's not about charity, but it has to do with your responsibility to make people happy. And the Rambam in the laws of Yom Tov , chapter 6, Halacha 18, tells us that when you're eating and happy on the holiday, you also have to make the convert, the widow and the orphan happy along with other poor, unprivileged people. He says that if a person doesn't do that, then his simcha is not truly the simcha of a holiday. It's a simcha of his own stomach. So it ends up that in order for your holiday simcha to be a proper simcha , you have to make the poor people happy as well. Thhat's why the Rambam doesn't mention this in the laws of charity. It's in the laws of the holiday. To properly fulfill your holiday and have the true Simchat Chag, you have to make other people happy. That's why the sefer Mishneh Yaavetz says, an explanation why, if you look at Mishna Berurah, letter 6 this concept of קמחא Kimcha D'Pischa, says that even someone that's exempt from other types of charities has to give this charity . Because this is not a charity law, it's a happiness law. Literally one of the first laws, if you go through volume 5 of Mishna Berurah one of the first laws is this law of making sure to give קמחא דפסחא Kimcha D'Pischa. How does one fulfill this? There are different customs. Kemach means flour . Why flour? Why not money? Why not give them actual Matzot ? I saw an explanation once that it's because in those days it was considered normal and respectable to go to the Matzah bakery, like today you have חבורה מצה. Getting a box of finished matzot was not the way respectable people acted. We want to give him his provisions in a respectable fashion and let him go like everyone else (not stand out) and be able to actually bake his own I matzot . Fascinating. With this, we go a step further. What do we fulfill this mitzva with? Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach in sefer Arichat Shlomo Letter 2 in the laws of Nissan says that it's not only food. He says, כל צרכי החג, all needs, including clothing. Why? Because that's what he needs. And again, דרך חרות, if everyone is sitting around the table with their new clothing, shouldn't he also have new clothing? So when it says anything you need , that doesn't just mean, as we said, whoever's hungry, come and eat. כל דצריך, means whoever has needs , Rav Dovid Feinstein ztl says it means, any Pesach need. That means if you need clothing, come now. But what if I don't have any clothing to give? You can give out clothing cards before the holiday? And with that, we switch gears into our annual Lev Chana appeal. We do this every single year at this time of the year, where we reach out to you to give out clothing cards for families in need. The families receive a card that works like a gift card for multiple stores, so they can shop like everybody else. Not, " Oh, we're going to send you some clothing and see if it fits your children." They can be a person and walk into a clothing store like anybody else, shop in dignity and be happy. And as always, we end off with powerful words of רש״י in Parashat Re'eh , where Hashem says, , אם אתה משמח את שלי, אני משמח את שלך/ If you make My children happy, I'll make your children happy. And that's what we're doing. We're selling happiness insurance. If you want to be insured that you're going to have happiness over the holiday. Rav Chaim Pilaggi says he knows many people who spent a lot of money and the house is full of arguments and contention, because they didn't follow this Rashi. So we're giving you that opportunity to buy happiness insurance. It's very easy. You can: Send an email to [email protected] with a pledge and I'll bill you, or send a donation via Zelle to [email protected] , or go to https://www.rayze.it/levchanazm/ If you're a JCF person, search CON506. Lastly, if you're a person that likes to write checks, you can send a check to Rabbi David Sutton 1059 East 10th Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11230 and make the check out to Lev Chana Tizke Lemitzvot

Welcome to our Daily Bitachon lesson. We are starting a new, pre-Pesach Hagadah series. We're going to start with Ha Lachma Anya, which is divided into three units. Unit number one is, הא לחמא עניא דיאכלו אבהתנא בארעא דמצרים/ This is the bread of of affliction that our forefathers ate and lay on the land of Mitzrayim . Unit number two is כל דכפין ייתי ויכול. Anyone that's hungry should come and eat. כל דצריך. Anyone that has any other Passover needs. ייתי ויפסח should come and fulfill his Passover needs. Unit three, השתא הכא. השתא, This year. לשנה הבאה בארעא דישראל. Next year we're going to be in ארץ ישראל. השתא עבדי, this year we are slaves. לשנה הבאה בני חורין, next year we're going to be free. Unit number one is about humility. הא לחמא עניא. Ha Lachma Anya i s the Lashon of Anava. The goal of Galut Mitzrayim , was to make us humbled. We spoke about this at length when we spoke about humility. The goal of the Galut is to humble ourselves. Matzah represents humility . Chametz , which grows and is bloated, represents Arrogance . Therefore the first step we need to make towards our ultimate redemption is to become humble. There is a famous midrash that says, ענוים ענוים, הגיע זמן גאולתכם. Humble ones, oh humble ones, the time of redemption has come. The redemption will come when we are humble. The Mashiach is referred to as Ani, a poor or humble man that's riding on a donkey. Humility is a prerequisite for the Geula . The Chida speaks about this at length and tells us that in order to receive the Torah we have to be humble. Har Sinai is low and humble. He says that the level of Torah that's going to be revealed in the time of Mashiach is so great that we have to go through these centuries of Galut to further humble ourselves in preparation or that great revelation of the times of Mashiach. That's unit one- humility. Unit two is אהבת ישראל. כל דכפין, ייתי ויכול. Anyone that's hungry, come in and eat. כל דכפין, anyone that's needy, come and get your meal. It's not enough for us just to be humble. We also have to be giving and take care of our fellow man. Of course, humility will bring one to get along with other people but we have to take the humility to the next stage. Humility brings about two things. Number one is, getting along with people. But that's not enough. We also need to have Bitachon. We have to rely on Hashem. When a person is humble, he realizes he's not in charge. The person who's a Baal Ga'ava cannot rely on Hashem, because he's relying on himself. He thinks he can do everything. He thinks he doesn't need any help. But the humble man can rely on Hashem. Therefore, after this unit on the bread of affliction, it branches off into two roads. Firstly, humility brings us to Ahavat Yisrael . We're able to invite in those that are needy. Additionally, humility brings us to rely on Hashem and have Bitachon and say This year we are here, this year we are servants. Next year we'll be in Eretz Yisrael. Next year we'll be free. That's Bitachon , because we realize we're not in charge, and that was the whole message of the Matzah . The reason we have Matzah, and the reason everything is centered around the Matzah is that we didn't have a chance for the bread to rise. We rushed out. When you rush out, it's because you're not in control. When you're in control, you plan. But we rushed out because we were not in control of anything. Hashem did it all. And so too, with the final Geula ,. The Navi uses the phrase Pit'om Yavo / It will come suddenly. It's going to happen with speed because we're not in charge. The Rambam starts off his Hagaddah with the words בבהילו / In a rush. We rushed out. And we're going to rush out of this Galut as well. That is the opening paragraph. We're setting the stage. It's a stage of humility. And out of humility is born Ahavat Yisrael and Bitachon . And for all those Bet Halevi enthusiasts, you know that he wrote three essays. One of them was on Bitachon , one of them was on Ahavat Yisrael , and one of them is on Anava - and that's because these three points are all interrelated. And they're all necessary for the Geula. Rav Yaakov Hillel shlita says that these essays were hiding until our generation, the final generation, to help us get us ready for the Geula -with these three fundamental points: Bitachon , Ahavat Yisrael and Anava - and those are the three fundamental points that the Haggadah of Pesach starts with.

To reflect on what we've spoken about, we have a problem. We are bothered by the dog singing a song, and yet not by the snake singing a song. In truth, both the dog and the snake represent Amalek. So why is the dog a bigger question for Rav Yeshaya than the snake? We see that the snake represents Amalek from a pasuk in Yeshaya that says, מִשֹּׁ֤רֶשׁ נָחָשׁ֙ יֵ֣צֵא צֶ֔פַע/ From the roots of the snake came out a viper. The Mekubalim say that the / צפע viper , is has same numerical value as עמלק /Amalek , which means that Amalek is a continuation, or manifestation of the snake. Thus, Haman, who came from Amalek, is also rooted in the snake. And Haman המן / is Rasheh Tevot/ an acronym for ה וא מ שרש נ חש / He is from the root of the snake . So we have an Amalek/Haman source in the snake . We also have a source that Amalek is represented by the dog , as we said, that God puts the Jewish people down, and the dog, who's Amalek, comes to bite. Furthermore, when Esther Hamalka is praying to be saved, she says (Tehilim 22) מִיַּד־כֶּ֝֗לֶב יְחִידָתִֽי׃ /from the clutches of the dog. And we said, the dog is Haman, and the dog is Amalek. So is the Amalek the dog, or is it the snake? And why are we okay with a song from the snake but we're not okay with the song of the dog? And we have another question. As we said in our lesson on the snake, the snake says, Somech Hashem L'Kol Noflim/God will pick up those that fall down, which refers to the snake, whose legs were cut off. We were bothered by this. Isn't there no hope for the snake? The snake is Amalek, and it says that eventually he's going to be totally wiped out. The answer we said was that there were two punishments that happened to the snake. One of them was that his legs were cut off, and he's now flat on his face, because he refused to bow to God, and recognize His Hashgacha Pratit, which is the opposite of Modim. The other punishment was that he eats the dust of the earth, which was because of his sin of speaking Lashon Hara against God. One of these sins will be fixed in the future, and he will no longer be bent over. The sin of not recognizing God's Hashgacha will be fixed, and he will stand up straight. He will bow and recognize God. That's the snake-like aspect of Amalek. The dog-like aspect of Amalek is the fact that Amalek barks and speaks Lashon Hara. And that is where Rabi Yeshaya had the question. We can understand that the aspect of Amalek, that he doesn't believe in Hashgacha Pratit was fixed. But the fact of his Lashon Hara, barking like the dog, the brazenness, the עזות דטומאה, Azut D'Tumah/the brazenness of contamination that Amalek had, שמעו עמים ירגזון, when the whole world was petrified, and Amalek just jumped into the boiling bath and cooled it off, that is called an Azut of Tumah/, brazenness of Tumah , that he doesn't bend and doesn't give in. That Azut can't be fixed. That ttrait of Azut is unfixable. That's why it says say, עז פנים לגיהנום. The Brazen- faced goes to Gehinom. So there was an aspect of Amalek that could be fixed. We could fix the fact that he denies God's presence. That's fixable. The kofer/the heretic , we can fix him. That is the snake-like aspect of Amalek. But the dog-like, the barking, there's no hope for that. And that's what Rabi Yeshaya was questioning. How could it be that the brazenness was being fixed? Interestingly, as we have said, the Germans represent Amalek, as it says in the Gemara , in Masechet Megillah, that Yaakov Avinu prayed, Hold back the desires of Esav , referring to a part of Esav called Garmamiah , which Rabbi Yaakov Emden says is is Germania ,. The Germans were from Amalek. The Germans were that aspect that wanted out to wipe out the Jewish people. And part of the German sadism was using barking dogs. That brazenness will never be fixed. It's interesting that Guard your tongue is the end of that Rav Yeshaya piece, where he says, Now that you asked, go back and don't ask about it again. Don't ask any more about the dogs or Amalek . As it says, One who guards his mouth and tongue, protects himself from any evil. So we see that this final discussion of the dog connects back to Lashon Hara That is the trait of the snake that can't be fixed. He spoke Lashon Hara against God. He told us that God doesn't want to do good for you. God doesn't want you to enjoy this world. God doesn't want you to eat from the tree, because He ate from the tree. That's the Lashon Hara of the snake. And we also have Lashon Hara from Haman. It says, in Masechet Megila, No one knew how to speak Lashon Hara better than Haman, He claimed, " The Jews are not worth keeping. Every day is a holiday by them..." That's the trait of Haman. As we said, the dog's song is, בֹּאוּ נִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה וְנִכְרָעָה נִבְרְכָה לִפְנֵי יְיָ עֹשֵׂנוּ: (תהילים צה ו) The dog song is all about bowing , which means Amalek says, OK, I'm bowing, I'm good. And we tell him, You're bowing? That's not enough. Yes, you fixed the fact that you realize God's in charge of the world. That's fine. But your brazenness, the עזות הטומאה, the brazenness that you don't want to change, that, we can't fix. That's why Yeshaya was so bothered. And it's only due to once in their history, when the dogs didn't bark as Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim, that dogs have the zechut to do even a little bit of praising. So what exactly is this concept of Azut D'Tumah/ brazenness that can't be fixed? Rav Wolbe discusses the concept of Azut D'Kedusha- Jewish people are brazen in a positive way . We don't give up, we keep on doing the right thing. But Amalek is Azut D'Tumah. They're brazen in the fact that they won't give up on Tumah/impurity So even though there might be a momentary blip, where the dog doesn't bark, as happened at Yetziat Mitzrayim, they always come back to their regular trait of Azut/brazenness . That is the negativity of Amalek. That's why it says when we come to fight against Amalek, it's מחר , Machar/ tomorrow . Why tomorrow ? Because we know that maybe for a second they're going to be good, but by tomorrow it's gone. It says that similarly about Izevel, when she fought against Eliyahu, Eliyahu HaNavi had this great revelation and surge, but she said, let's wait until tomorrow and see what's going to happen tomorrow . Amalek has an Azut . They might be momentarily impacted, but they keep their Azut going, and that can't be fixed.

"Welcome to our final class on Pirkei Shira . The student of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa, Rabbi Yeshaya, fasted 85 times because of a profound question: Dogs, described as 'brazen of spirit' and 'insatiable,' are granted the merit to recite shira (song). How could dogs, of all creatures, deserve the zechut (merit) to sing a song, especially the final song in Pirkei Shira ? An angel appeared to Rabbi Yeshaya and said, 'Yeshaya, how much longer will you fast over this matter? I swear that since this was revealed to the prophet Chavakuk, it has not been revealed to anyone else. I am telling you now because you are a student of a great man, Chanina ben Dosa. I have been sent from Heaven to reveal the answer.' The answer is: Dogs are granted this merit because they did not bark when the Jewish people left Egypt. Furthermore, they are rewarded by having their excrement used in tanning hides, which are essential for writing Sefer Torah scrolls. This explanation seems cryptic. Why are dogs considered worse than other animals? Many unkosher animals sing songs in Pirkei Shira . What is so problematic about the dog? Rav David Cohen, the Rosh Yeshiva of Chevron, explains in his book Mizmor LeDavid (page 201) that shira is fundamentally an act of praise and Hallel (glorification) to Hashem. Brazenness is the antithesis of praise, as praise inherently involves hoda'ah (acknowledgment), which means admitting that someone else is greater than you. The opposite of modeh (one who admits) is me'eiz panav (one who is brazen). The Gemara in Bava Metzia 3a states that denying a debt is an act of brazenness. Someone who borrows money and denies it is the opposite of someone who admits their debt, whether fully or partially. Therefore, dogs, known for their ultimate brazenness, seem incompatible with the concept of shira . However, there is a deeper understanding. The Zohar (volume 2, 61a) states that the dog represents Amalek. This is echoed by Rashi, who, in his commentary on Shemot, connects Amalek's attack to the Jewish people's doubt about God's presence. Rashi uses the analogy of a father carrying his son, who then questions the father's whereabouts, leading to a dog biting him. Similarly, when the Jewish people questioned God's presence after leaving Egypt, Amalek attacked. Amalek is the dog, representing fundamental evil. The question remains: how can these brazen dogs sing a song? It seems contradictory. Interestingly, this class is being recorded on Ta'anit Esther, when we recite Psalm 22, Lamnatzeach al Ayelet Hashachar , which speaks of Esther's prayers and challenges. In Psalm 22:21, Esther prays to be saved from the dog, which the Sefer Toldot Yaakov Yosef identifies as Amalek. The incredible revelation is that the dogs did not bark on the night of Yetziat Mitzrayim (the Exodus from Egypt) because the revelation of God was so immense. We recite Hallel Hagadol (the full Hallel) on this night, which is the antithesis of Amalek. The profound revelation silenced Amalek. The dog could not bark. This was the one positive action Amalek performed. However, this silence was fleeting. Rav David Cohen explains that in Az Yashir , it says, ' Azi v'zimrat Yah ' (My strength and song come from God), using only a partial name of Hashem. He explains that Amalek's existence prevents the full manifestation of God's name, as stated in Shemot, ' Ki yad al kes Yah ' (God's hand is on His throne), where 'kes' is spelled out as 'kisei' (throne), representing an incomplete name. This is particularly relevant in Az Yashir because Amalek opposes shira , attempting to undermine it. Only for a brief moment in history was Amalek silent, allowing the dog to not bark. The Chatam Sofer, in his Drashot , adds that contentment leads to praise and gratitude, while spiritual growth requires continuous seeking. We say Modim (thanks) without asking for more, but we strive for more in avodat Hashem (divine service). The dog, known for its insatiability, sings shira only for the one moment when it was silenced by divine revelation. It celebrates this single instance of restraint. This insight is particularly relevant to a student of Chanina ben Dosa, who was content with little. The student struggled to understand how the dog, the antithesis of his rebbe's contentment, could sing shira . This reveals the paradox: the dog celebrates the one moment it mirrored Chanina ben Dosa's contentment. This concludes our study of Pirkei Shira . The dog represents the antithesis of praise, while our goal is to praise Hashem. In physicality, we should be content, but in spirituality, we should always strive for more. The Zohar, quoted by Rav Chaim Palagi, notes that on Rosh Hashanah, some people only ask for material blessings, exhibiting the brazenness of dogs. Instead, they should humble themselves before Hashem. This is the essence of Pirkei Shira : to reach the level of bowing in humility, which the dog fails to do. Finally, Chanina ben Dosa was also the antithesis of Amalek, who was powerful in black magic ( kishuf ). When Yehoshua fought Amalek, he brought those who could undo kishuf . Chanina ben Dosa, however, demonstrated that ' ein od milvado ' (there is none besides Him), as even witches could not cast spells on him. This is the final message of Pirkei Shira and the dogs. It connects beautifully to Purim, where we overcome the brazenness of Haman, who represents Amalek, with hoda'ah (acknowledgment and gratitude)."

Welcome to our class on Perek Shira. We're now up to the song of the ant. There are two versions on what the pasuk of the ant is. One says it's Mishlei , 6,6, which is quite apropos. Shlomo HaMelech tells the lazy man, לֵֽךְ־אֶל־נְמָלָ֥ה עָצֵ֑ל רְאֵ֖ה דְרָכֶ֣יהָ וַחֲכָֽם Lech el nemalah atzel. Go (look at) the ant. Re'ei deracheha/ look at its ways, v'chacham/and you will become wise. There's another version that says the ant says a pasuk in Tehillim 136:25. נֹתֵ֣ן לֶ֭חֶם לְכׇל־בָּשָׂ֑ר כִּ֖י לְעוֹלָ֣ם חַסְדּֽוֹ׃ The Mabit says that, " Lechol basar " refers to creatures that have only flesh and no bones , one of them being the ant , and that's why, as we'll see, the ant doesn't live such a long time. The sefer Knaf Renanim says that both versions are true. We learn 2 lessons from the ant. One is not to be lazy, and we also see how careful they are not to steal. The Midrash Rabbah in Devarim 5:2, tells us that the ant builds three stories in his dwelling. He doesn't store his wheat in the top story because of the dripping of the rain, and he doesn't put it in the bottom because it could get too moist. He puts in the middle. And he only lives for six months because he has no bones and he has no sinews. He hardly eats in that amount of time, and yet he keeps storing and storing food. Why? Because he thinks maybe Hashem will give him life and he'll have a little bit more time. Rav Shimon Bar Yochai says he once went to a certain ant colony and found 300 kur (a large amount) of wheat! Furthermore, Re'ei deracheha/ look at its ways, v'chacham/and you will become wise- the rabbis say the ant has Derech Eretz, it stays away from thievery. They describe how an ant once dropped a wheat kernel. The other ants passed by and smelled that it wasn't theirs and so they stayed away. These are the two major lessons we learned from the ants, and therefore both pesukim are apropos. The Gaon of Vilna analyzes the pesukim . There are actually three things he says: One is, Lech el nemalah atzel. If you're lazy from doing mitzvot and ma'asim tovim, look at how fast and zariz the ant is. It gathers and gathers, even though it only needs a little, That's a lesson for us. We should be gathering for Olam Haba. Regarding Re'ei deracheha, see his ways, the word Derech refers to Middot . V'halakhta bidrachav, means It goes in G-d's ways, and follows His Middot. So what's its Midah ? We just said it has good Middot , it doesn't steal. It's careful to follow the Derech Eretz. V'chacham means he's wise – he knows how to properly store his wheat. The second pasuk, Noten lechem lechol basar, ki le'olam chasdo is saying the ant understands that G -d is the One that provides and therefore I don't have to grab, I'll get what's mine. The whole Perek Shira is about the lessons we learned from the animal kingdom, but the Malbim says we learn specifically from this pasuk, in which Shlomo HaMelech actually says, Go to the ant and learn from it. That's the ant song. The ant is there to teach us. And as we've said in the past about all the animal traits, Na'aseh Adam , G-d said to all of creation Let's make man. So we all have those traits inside of us. We just have to channel them or unleash them. That's why עַז כַּנָּמֵר, וְקַל כַּנֶּשֶׁר, וְרָץ כַּצְּבִי, וְגִבּוֹר כָּאֲרִי, לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹן אָבִיךָ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמָיִם We have to be brazen like a leopard, strong like a lion, run like a deer. How could you ask that from me? The answer is, you have that ability. And therefore Shlomo HaMelech is saying look at that ant, look how fast he is, look what he can do- and you can do it too!

Today's Perek Shira is the Song of the Snail. It's a pasuk in Tehillim 59,9 , where David HaMelech is cursing the wicked, and he says כְּמוֹ שַׁבְּלוּל תֶּמֶס יַהֲלֹךְ נֵפֶל אֵשֶׁת בַּל חָזוּ שָׁמֶשׁ: / Like the snail that melts and slithers away. the stillborn of a mole, that never saw the sun. So, the mole (which we're not going to talk about) and the snail have in common that the sun is not good for them. And , now lets explain the pasuk : What does it mean that the snail that melts and slithers away ? Simply, it means that it dies when it leaves its shell, so it slithers away. But the Seforno says that a snail has a certain mucus, and it creates a slimy trail that makes it appear like it's melting away. So David HaMelech is saying that the wicked should continually melt away and disappear in a similar fashion. The Midrash adds a point that just like the snail disappears but leaves behind a visible trail, so too with evil slander, long after the actual sound of the words vanish, the damage they cause remains. So, that's the pasuk. What is the snail's message about not seeing the sun? The sefer Kanaf Rananim explains that the wicked are compared to the snail, because just like the snail is always in his shell, hiding himself from the sun, so too, the wicked don't want to see the sun and light of the Torah. They avoid the light and stay in their shells. That's one explanation. The sefer Yismach Yehuda explains beautifully that the Gemara in Nidarim 8b tells us that there's no difference between Gehinom and Olam HaBa . The sun is really not at full force presently, but when Hashem takes the sun out of its sheath, the righteous are healed and the wicked are judged. And not only the righteous are healed , but they enjoy it. They're dancing and the wicked are melting away. That's why the wicked are like the snail, that can't come in contact with the sun. This is an important lesson- the snail symbolizes the inability to deal with the Torah. So the Resha'im avoid the sun, the light of Torah and Godliness in this world, and therefore, they can't handle it in the next world. Basically, this world is, like the Mesilat Yesharim tells us, A place to delight in God. Not just the next world, but this world. And with that enjoyment and delight that we develop in this world for spirituality, we'll continue in the world to come. That's an important concept. Just like when it comes to drinking scotch, you have to develop a taste, you have to develop a taste for spirituality. Somebody that has no appreciation for spirituality will not enjoy it at all. In fact, it's the opposite-it will be painful for them.So, the wicked, snail-like people who avoid the sun, will not be able to ever enjoy the sun. Our job in this world is to develop that taste. A certain rabbi once said jokingly (although there's more than a grain of truth in this humorous remark), that Gan Eden and Gehinom are really the same thing. It's a huge Bet Midrash with bookshelves lining the walls from one end to the other, and people have nowhere else to go- forever. For the righteous person, this is Gan Eden . What more could you ask for? But for the person with no connection to Torah, this is Gehinom - like sitting through a boring speech for eternity. Rav Wolbe said that the time in our lives that we're supposed to develop this taste for spirituality is Shabbat. That's the litmus test. How much do you appreciate Shabbat? Shabbat is Me'en Olam Haba/ a microcosm of Olam Haba. Shabbat is created for Oneg , Oneg Shabbat . Like the Pele Yoetz writes on the topic of Rosh Hashanah, that there are many levels of Oneg . Enjoying your piece of chicken is not the ultimate . That's where it starts. You might say, Oh wow, this is what chicken tastes like, so imagine what Olam Haba tastes like! But the ultimate goal is to get to a spiritual flavor and appreciation. Rav Shach once commented that Gan Eden is the experience of a long Friday night in the winter, learning Gemara by candlelight. You have a long candle, and you sit there with the Gemara and you're great. And you know what Gehinom is? It's the feeling one experiences when the candle is suddenly extinguished and one can no longer study! A more modern example that has happened to me more than once is when you have a 45- minute free Zoom account, and you're in the middle of an exciting shiur . Then suddenly, bing, the 45 minute mark comes and that's it. That's Gehinom if you're in the middle of the class. The experience of Gan Eden and Gehinom depends on one's connection to Torah learning- something that we develop here. And that's the message of the snail: Do not be of those creatures that avoid the sun. Develop a taste for the sun and you will enjoy Olam HaBa.