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The shiur in English
The Yanuka’s own words in this shiur, translated into English by Lehallel · 2,786 words · 16:10. Press a time to hear it said.
0:00 I had no answer. No one could tell me an answer. How does one come to understand the answer...? But... Today an answer reached me. Where is the letter? The son, Yosef. My letter, I have it. Who has it? — I think Yosef. Yosef, the son.
0:26 Ah, Yosef. This is the answer. These are the details. Go on, you have a minute, baruch Hashem. That's not the one from the fellows to me. I also know the verse... Yes, may I also tell the Rav that...
0:58 I asked why — it is written, 'Moshe received the Torah from Sinai, and handed it to Yehoshua, Yehoshua to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets.' So I said: it begins with the language of a place, and continues with the language of persons. Persons. It should have said 'Moshe received the Torah from the mouth of...' — as the Rambam writes in his introduction, Rav Ashi from Rava, Rava received from Rabbah, from Rabbi Yochanan, the whole order of how the Torah was handed down.
1:23 Why doesn't it say 'Moshe received the Torah from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He', as the Rambam writes explicitly, that he received it from the mouth of the Almighty, and then he begins to set out the order of the handing down. Why say 'Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and handed it to Yehoshua, and Yehoshua to the Elders', changing from the name of a place to the names of persons? One can say this: the name of a place — because the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to Moshe Rabbeinu at Mount Sinai for the sake of gratitude toward the Jewish people — He revealed Himself to him in that setting, at the mountain, to take away his sorrow, from the pain of seeing the affliction, the suffering of the Jewish people,
1:57 for he saw the pain — 'and he saw their burdens.' He saw their pain. That was at the bush — seven kinds of shades of fire were there. He would sit there, in pain over the Jewish people. He would see the suffering that weighed on them. It is written that he saw several birds standing, sitting on the mountain, and it struck him as a strange thing. So he went up the mountain, and all the birds there flew off. And then he saw the seven kinds of fire, as it is written there, seven kinds of fire, and then the Holy One, blessed be He, began to speak with him.
2:25 So I said that the reason it says 'Moshe received the Torah from Sinai' is to remind us of the first revelation to Moshe Rabbeinu, which was from within the bush that he saw. That is, the whole revelation of the Holy One, blessed be He, the receiving of the Torah, was because he was in the pain of the Jewish people. When one does not grieve over the Jewish people and does not ache for the Jewish people, it is impossible to receive the Torah. That is the reason it begins with Sinai and afterward moves on to persons. It should have said 'from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He'.
Read the whole shiur in English (29 more parts)
2:50 The Sages... it's that kind of question, and... What I had already thought to answer on this is — because the Rambam explicitly begins to say: Rav Ashi received from Rava, Rava from Rabbah, from Rabbi Yochanan... Yirmiyah, Yirmiyah from Tzefanyah — all the names, up to Moshe Rabbeinu. I said, perhaps it was... One can say that. 'And he saw their burdens' — that is the foundation.
3:15 To receive the Torah — as the Rav says, how to receive the Torah — that the Rav is in such pain, the Rav is in sorrow from this, so, on the contrary, this... Does the Rav know the story of Rabbi Akiva Eiger and the Chasam Sofer — that the daughter passed away and he didn't see her? — No, he didn't reveal it to him. He didn't reveal it to him. He also told her, 'Say a few words' — since Father, he doesn't look at it.
3:40 Because of that he didn't see. And he sat in sorrow. And the story of Rabbi Nosson Adler, who was told that his daughter had passed away at age eleven? Who is that? Rabbi Nosson Adler — his daughter passed away at age eleven, an only daughter. Yes, yes. One has to find some...? Yes. He made the blessing with such joy — no one had ever seen him in such joy. Who has that? The Vilna Gaon too. The Gaon also had such a story. That his daughter passed away.
4:05 Yes? — Yes. He too made the blessing... Yes, the Vilna Gaon as well — there is such a story about him. Afterward, when he went to his mother's grave, he said — Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin told him that it does her good. He said: it doesn't do good. He saw that grave. — Yes, I'm still listening. 'So it does good — but for me, no.' He didn't want to. He didn't want to. Now everything begins; there, life...
4:30 There, there it begins. There it begins. There life begins. You eat the fruits of what one does in life. That's how it is — our days are like a passing shadow. There, by the way... And the Gaon told his mother that she should say there that she was a widow — had been a widow for so many years. That is her merit; nothing more is needed. No need to say she was the Gaon's mother. Yes — only say, 'I suffered afflictions in this world,' and you will be acquitted.
4:59 The Rav knows — Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, the Rebbe of Chabad, the one before the last Rebbe. Soldiers seized him, tortured him, beat him — yes. It was antisemitism — because the Rebbe... They rolled him down the stairs, covered him with blows and bruises. They persecuted him. The Communists made a mockery of him.
5:24 Then they saw that he wasn't shaken; he got up, stood, and went on praying, learning, stood up and went on. One day they — since they had one — took out a pistol, put it to his head. He wanted to see how he would react — his body. He was strong the whole time, so he smiled. They looked at him, with that pistol at his head, and said to him, 'What do you have to say? Aren't you afraid?' So he said: 'This toy frightens someone who has one world.
5:51 You press here — I go there. You don't frighten me. Someone who has one world is afraid of this toy. Someone who has two worlds is not afraid of this toy.' That was Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak — his strength. And how did they react? What? How did they react? They left him alone. They left him alone. They didn't shoot him, nothing. It's the Gemara in Taanis, with Pappus and Lulianus. Right. Pappus and Lulianus — on giving up one's life.
6:17 I also said something more about this — that one can also see from this that in the Akeidah of Yitzchak, everyone sees the Akeidah of Yitzchak, but in the Akeidah there was a greater test for Avraham Avinu that no one talks about: Avraham Avinu had, after all, taught all of creation — what will they say about him? Now what will they say about him? Now the whole world will come, everyone will talk, and they will stone him, they will want to murder him, and beat him, and persecute him — and he was in great fear of this.
7:04 Even so he goes, and he doesn't care what they will say, and it concludes with this: 'and the two of them walked together.' In the end, after such a revelation and such a test, he should have said, 'I am exalted above them all — who are they at all to speak with me, after Hashem has spoken with me?' Yet 'the two walked together' — it ends as if to say: 'I am like everyone else; nothing sets me apart' — despite this pain, despite the slaughter and everything he went through there. That a revi'is of blood came out; after that he went up — he flew off to Gan Eden. So when she said, 'Who is that man?' — the Tosafos in Daas Zekeinim say that...
7:31 Yitzchak — Yitzchak was coming down upside down... He said the blessing 'Who revives the dead' — Yitzchak. Now, that is the first thing, that is the first thing. Yes. The test of Avraham — one is moved by what was asked of him. Yes. A person is ready to give himself up for the sanctification of Hashem's Name — but why slaughter the son? So it won't be blemished — you won't move?
7:57 Yes, everyone needs to awaken in teshuvah. A Sefer Torah is steeped in sorrow. The Rav... Yes... Children of the world. What belongs here, or doesn't it belong above? What belongs here?
8:22 What belongs to the Jewish people? Yes. We need tzaddikim here, in our generation. We need tzaddikim here, who were with us, who taught kedushah and Torah and showed tefillah here in the world. He gave his very soul for tefillah, praying for the Jewish people. Whole hours in tefillah — hours.
8:49 May the Holy One, blessed be He, give the Rav strength, hope and comfort from Heaven. We love the Rav; we are praying for you. 'As in the days of your going out of the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders.' 'He will swallow up death forever, and Hashem G-d will wipe away tears from every face.' So yes, He will redeem... and the cynicism of the government, the situation...
9:15 'The thousand is yours, Shlomo' — that is the seventh millennium. 'And two hundred for those who guard its fruit'? That is two hundred years before then... So he says. And even before that — and Rabbeinu Bachya says... six years earlier. So we are already holding there — so you're right. The Gra too, in Sifra diTzniusa — it is earlier. If you understood the intent — that is what he says. In the commentary on Daniel too, at the end of chapter 12.
9:41 But they say that this — Sanhedrin, page 94, the Gemara says: 'My secret is Mine, My secret is Mine.' It is Hashem's secret. It is a secret — only the Holy One, blessed be He — when it comes. For Rabbi Yochanan said: 'May the spirit of those who calculate the end expire.' If the time comes, they will have worked it out... Hashem must always bring it when the mind is turned away from it. So that it won't be... Eruvin, page 43, where the Gemara says: 'I am hereby a nazir on the day the son of David comes' — he is permitted on Shabbosos and Yamim Tovim; every other day — forbidden.
10:10 It has to be that he won't come then. — Yes. The Baal HaTanya says that he will come specifically on Shabbos. Because that is when the mind is turned away — as if he cannot come. Every day he is forbidden to drink wine; on Shabbos and Yom Tov there is no concern that he will come. So that itself is the turning away of the mind — the Gemara turning the mind away from it, and the Alter Rebbe explains that he can indeed come — specifically, he will come on Shabbos. As if — he will come to them once it has turned their minds away from it. So he says. The Divrei Chaim of Sanz — he said, saving a life overrides Shabbos.
10:38 He used to hold brisos late — not doing the bris early; he would hold the bris close to sunset. So they said to him: it is written, 'And Avraham rose early in the morning.' He said: but it is not written how long it took him to saddle his donkey. That is not written. He was strict about it, by Rabbeinu Tam's time — even with a cigarette. The rabbis disagreed with him. And he said there... May the Rav be strong — the Jewish people need you, Rav.
11:04 May the Rav be strong. We all love the Rav; we are praying for the Rav. The Rav is a great strength, a gift to the Jewish people — the Rav's Torah. May the Rav be filled with hope and strength. You have merited — you are privileged here to serve in holiness. Every success to the Rav.
11:30 Amen. Much help from Heaven, much help from Heaven. Standing. There are many troubles here, right? Yes. A bit of darkness. A bit of darkness.
11:57 Things, truly — 'you will be driven mad by the sight that your eyes will see.' The things I see, what people tell — hard things. Hard, hard. It breaks the heart. It breaks it. We pray, we wait for Hashem to save. May He redeem us, may He declare an end and a finish to all our troubles. Let there be an end and a finish to all our troubles.
12:24 May He redeem us, may He redeem us — the Jewish people. When there is unity here, and love for no reason, it removes the baseless hatred from among us, all the evil that there is here in this world. It reveals a better world, with the revelation of His G-dliness, blessed be He. That is the purpose.
12:57 May Hashem strengthen you, Rav. We love the Rav and bless him: 'May You add days to the days of the king.' May the Rav succeed. May the Rav rejoice and be glad; may the Holy One, blessed be He, give the Rav strength and hope, and may we merit, with Hashem's help, to gather only at joyous occasions. And may Hashem keep you. Thank you very much. May Hashem watch over the world.
13:33 The most precious thing there is... A pillar of Torah. May the Rav succeed, and go on magnifying Torah here in this city — a city of Torah, of kedushah — one feels something special here. You give out a fire of Torah here. A pillar of fire. A pillar of fire. A pillar of fire. For many more years to come.
13:59 With Hashem's help, may you succeed. Unity — standing against everything — that is the thing, and the strongest power. The Yerushalmi in Peah, chapter 1, halachah 1, says: the generation of Achav had idol worshipers among them, yet there were no informers among them — they would go out and win at every kind of thing. They would win at everything. That is the greatest power. May the Rav continue with this, even victory, always — what He really wants is that there be unity and no baseless hatred among the Jewish people. That is what pains Hashem the most.
14:30 'My son, My firstborn, Israel.' A great yasher koach, Rav. A great Yom Tov, Rav — a great Yom Tov, Rav. May it shine brightly, so as to receive the Torah in wholeness, in kedushah, in purity, in joy. May Hashem give you strength and vitality from Heaven. To the Rav — strength and hope and only joys, a settled mind and mochin d'gadlus, greatness of mind, to shine the Torah of Hashem, blessed be He, in the world.
14:59 'May your wellsprings spread outward.' 'And Hashem is with him' — that the halachah follows him. Be strong, be strong, be strong. ...to magnify the Torah and make it glorious. Amen, amen. The last mitzvah in the Torah — why was it said...? Because the Rambam... to write it is a full obligation... Many discuss this. That is also why not...
15:28 As the Rambam writes... One could picture it like... but I want to say that it is precious, one could leap at it, to write a Sefer Torah, because it is such a great thing. I would be glad... at the end of the shloshim. ...in his honor, right? Thank you very much. May He watch over you. Keep going from strength to strength — 'and you shall spread out west and east, north and south.' Yasher koach — the honor... the honor of the Torah, with thunder and lightning, with joy and love, and good tidings from Heaven.
15:57 Yasher koach to you. Be strong, be strong — be strong and take courage. Thank you all very much. Thank you very much, thank you.
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