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3:58 As it says [unclear] Avraham, [unclear] for example, [unclear] He said: now go, be a wanderer in every place in the world, so that everyone will benefit from your [unclear]. [unclear] Avraham Avinu, your [unclear] [unclear] the whole world benefited from [unclear], That was his humility.

4:41 Why [unclear]? [unclear] I could think so that they should not say there was someone else who received [unclear] Moshe [unclear]. That is — why specifically? If you say so — why specifically should they say "Moshe"? That is to say, [unclear].

5:07 No — it was only Moshe. "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai." He taught it to Yehoshua bin Nun. That is, [unclear] Moshe: "Write this as a remembrance in the book, and place it in the ears of Yehoshua" — that is, Yehoshua was the student who handed it on. To Yehoshua he [unclear], His student who handed it on was Pinchas, and he handed it on to Pinchas, and he handed it on to [unclear].

5:44 [unclear] at least four times. Three, three. Not worthy. The greatest of the generation. The greatest of the generation, the greatest of the generation. [unclear] [unclear] Moshe [unclear].

6:24 Shmuel, Shmuel. [unclear] four thousand new teachings I will tell you what I think: [unclear], He was in Egypt, [unclear] There are people who go through something, He looked into the creation and understands that there is [unclear].

9:38 What did they say? They said — as they said — the Men of the Great Assembly taught all the teachers of halachah, all those who spread Torah among the Jewish people, [unclear] three things, to strengthen the Jewish people in Torah. They called out to them the things that are the most important. Notice how important: "Be deliberate in judgment," [unclear] to think and to look into it, as I mentioned earlier about [unclear], when he was [unclear], that, again, when he would appoint the dayanim, Torah scholars for judgment, so that they would sit in his courts of halachic ruling, he would test who knows how to rule and who does not. And when one came in, [unclear] he could settle his mind, [unclear].

10:38 This one got in and that one did not. Why did this one get in and that one not? Afterwards they asked him, they saw that he does not know as much [unclear]. He said to them, [unclear]. They asked him, "Why did you choose [unclear]?" He said to them, "Gentlemen, [unclear] when I asked him questions, [unclear] he told me, 'It is written here, it is written here,' [unclear]. I asked him — he told me, 'I do not know, but [unclear].

11:04 I will go and check, I will look into it, I will check the sefarim, I will learn,' [unclear] say it quickly, and decide the ruling quickly." [unclear] — not to rush to decide the ruling. [unclear] Let us hear this side, let us hear that side. Not to rush to decide and say right away, "I know," [unclear].

11:31 Say [unclear] — "No" — and then he looks for reasons why not. [unclear] Like those who go to a shidduch: they suggest a shidduch to a person, and right away he says, "This isn't it." Right away he [unclear], "This isn't it." And then he goes, and he says, "What am I going for? To [unclear] all the faults, so that I can say, 'It's no good,' and then I will be at peace with myself."

11:57 He does not say, "Here, Hashem sent me this; let us see [unclear]." He comes straight in with the approach, "This is a no, and I am going to see why it is a no." To justify the "no." There are those who speak lashon hara, who behave badly, who say many things, and they justify themselves: why one should speak lashon hara, why [unclear]. They wrap up the arguments for why to do the wrong thing.

12:26 And that is the gravest thing there is. And what are they telling us here? A great principle in the Torah [unclear]. And the first thing they say: "Be deliberate in judgment." Every matter — slowly, slowly. [unclear] some way to judge favorably. Look into things, do not rush, [unclear]. Every matter — look into it, think it over well.

12:53 "Be deliberate in judgment" — [unclear] a settled mind. "And raise up many students" — how important it is to raise up students. The students [unclear], to raise up students, to teach Torah — everything depends on the students. "Raise up many students" — I say it all the time — that is the second thing. Everything depends on the students, There are [unclear] students. I mean, there is a student who hears what he wants to hear from his rav, and there is a student who wants to do what his rav says: he sets himself aside for his rav's view; he does not do what he would like to find.

13:27 Or there is the one who — what you say does not seem right to him, so he changes [unclear]. People who are not [unclear], those are the students of [unclear]. People who are holy and pure, [unclear] a student who comes to receive from his rav what he wants to receive [unclear]. I will give you here [unclear] a question and an answer, and we will see whether you [unclear]. Rabbi Akiva — what does Rabbi Akiva say? "Love your fellow as yourself" — "a great principle in the Torah," right?

14:01 A great principle in the Torah. The Gemara in Yevamos [unclear] says, [unclear]: "They said: Rabbi Akiva had 12,000 pairs, from Gevas to Antipras," and all of them [unclear], "because they did not treat one another with respect, and the world was desolate," [unclear] Torah [unclear] our Rabbis in the south, [unclear] Rabbi Elazar, Rabbi Yose, and so on. [unclear] And I ask [unclear]: First of all, "12,000 pairs" — do you know what that means? It says "zugim," not "zugos." "Zugim" means that he took a great one and put him with a small one; he said, surely they will learn from each other.

14:39 He took [unclear]; he said, this way they will learn from each other. "Zugim," not "zugos" — that is, I will put together two who are not equal, and I will bring it about that this one teaches [unclear], and [unclear] will learn, and there will be calm, [unclear] learn from each other. And even that did not help. And so, 12,000 pairs. The Gemara does not write "24,000 students." Why this change of wording? 12,000 pairs — and I, from that, understand that it is 24,000. 12,000 pairs, times two, 24,000. And everyone says "24,000 students." But here, look at the Gemara: it is not written "24,000 students," it is written "12,000 pairs."

15:19 And the wording of the Gemara — when you look closely at [unclear], it teaches you. And even so, a great one beside a small one, [unclear] that the small one does not learn [unclear]. And notice one more thing, a most wondrous one. The students of Rabbi Akiva all [unclear] because they did not treat one another with respect. Right? They did not treat one another with respect. And what did Rabbi Akiva say? What was Rabbi Akiva's [unclear]?

15:45 "Love your fellow as yourself." That is, Rabbi Akiva — the essence of Rabbi Akiva, and his root, was love for everyone. Like that, of course. All the students of Rabbi Akiva [unclear] one another. Friends, the question here is how it can be that what Rabbi Akiva taught — exactly his own essence — with his own students what happened, happened?

16:13 And I'll make the difficulty even stronger for you. It's as if we saw, let's say for example, some holy Rebbe who was, like [unclear], holy in his eyes — he did not look at anything his whole life, and he was strict about the holiness of the eyes — and all the students of that holy Rebbe, Heaven forbid — because they did not guard the holiness of the eyes. Holiness of the eyes — and his students, because of holiness of the eyes?

16:38 It doesn't fit. The essence of Rabbi Akiva was "Love your fellow as yourself" — that is what he taught, that is what he said. It doesn't matter when he said it. The moment it came out of him, it was in his root. There is no time in [unclear]. Whatever a person says — this thing was already in his essence, in his root. It's like when you set down a barrel of wine, and a drop of the wine drips out — what would you say is inside? Wine.

17:03 If it were milk, what would we say is inside? Milk. What came out of here? Tell me, what was the drop? "Love your fellow as yourself." So it was already in the root [unclear]. So the students [unclear] — what do you all say to the question? - [unclear] [unclear] one from the other. [unclear] tried to take over his leadership. [unclear] guarding the eyes, many times, before they went out [unclear], and afterward they would increase.

17:33 So, if so, from level to level [unclear], everything then, among the Jewish people, at their level too, with their level — and however much the two of them [unclear], they did not reach the level. So to reach that [unclear], but they can no longer reach it [unclear], it's not so much [unclear], it's not so [unclear], but there are such strengths [unclear], - I'd say that too is an answer of yours, but — it's not enough. I'll tell you the answer that I think.

18:10 I'll tell you the answer that I think. - There is one that I know, [unclear], - You have an answer? - Maybe it was not [unclear] in the question, like you [unclear], so that the strong one would strengthen the weak one. But "they did not show respect to one another" — he did teach him, but he feels [unclear], he feels that he isn't really helping him.

18:35 He feels as if — what, [unclear]. So he did give to the lesser one, he feels that [unclear]. [unclear] respect, [unclear], if you were [unclear], you would think they'd teach you gladly — not gladly, but [unclear]. So if they don't [unclear] — [unclear] such a thing. Really, in this matter, [unclear], it gives the feeling that [unclear] the Torah [unclear] at all. - Very nice. - There is a very similar case in history, in the Beis HaMikdash.

19:03 [unclear] they had a revelation of G-dliness [unclear], and still they reached a state where they [unclear]. There we understand that they thought that since they were at the holy Beis HaMikdash, [unclear], they cut themselves off from the kedushah. Here too it was the same idea. - No, I understand. Here I'm speaking of all your answers. Of course. Look, I want to say: when a person goes like this — everyone comes — why does he pray, "and grant our portion in Your Torah"?

19:50 Each one of you has a portion in the Torah. When you come [unclear], you can come and say: "I've come to receive the Torah — I've come to receive my portion in the Torah." When you come to a tzaddik, when you come to a Rav, [unclear] and receive from him what he wants [unclear], and to guide you, and his own view. The moment you come with your own view [unclear], instead of leaving it behind, wanting to get from him what you want to get — it's just like those who once came to the Rebbe [unclear].

20:21 He looked at them, he looked at them, they looked at him, and he looked at them. They said to him: "We want you to be our Rebbe." He said to them: "I don't find you to be chassidim." He said: "I am looking for chassidim to lead. You are looking for a Rebbe to lead. If you have comments about my way, if you already have objections to my approach, [unclear] be your Rebbe.

20:47 Go find a Rebbe and lead him, however you want, the way you want, the way you think. You'll have a Rebbe like that — lead him. I cannot be the Rebbe [unclear]. You are looking for a Rebbe to lead; I need [unclear] and to lead them. It doesn't work between us." I'll tell you another story, about the Rebbe of [unclear]. A certain Rebbe, the Rebbe of [unclear]: there were some chassidim who came to him [unclear] — some of them got up on the wagon — and one said: "If he knows my thought, he will be my Rebbe."

21:22 The second said: "My wife has been having difficulty giving birth [unclear]; if he brings about a salvation for my wife, he will be my Rebbe." [unclear] "he will be my Rebbe." Oh — what happened to him? I was saying: Rabbi Akiva said, "Love your fellow as yourself," which is something... simple — even though he set up twelve thousand — we have a Gemara in Yevamos — now you're talking about them — "zugim," pairs, not "zugos" — [unclear].

22:16 So why "zugim"? Because he put a greater one with a lesser one, to teach him, and then naturally he would respect him — and even that did not help. And I asked: how could Rabbi Akiva, who said [unclear] — [unclear] and his students [unclear] because they did not show respect to one another. I also said that it doesn't matter when it was; rather, in his essence — one who said such a thing... it is in his essence and in his root.

22:47 Whether it was said [unclear], or it was said [unclear] — it doesn't matter. [unclear] It was already there [unclear]. Why? There is the one who said it — his essence was "Love your fellow as yourself." And as I said, [unclear] was holy in his eyes, such a holy man — and his students, [unclear] because they did not guard their eyes?

23:11 His essence was — his [unclear] was the eyes. Rabbi Akiva — his was love of his fellow Jews. One whose whole essence was not to speak lashon hara — the students of [unclear] — it happened to them because they spoke lashon hara? - I also have another question. - Why another question? We don't know, as they say, [unclear]. - I also have another question. - Give the question on the question. We are usually used to learning with a question.

23:36 Nu? - You said that they say, - Yes. - for this question, so this is what he said, [unclear] when he was [unclear]. - But I [unclear]. The root [unclear] of the Jewish people — that is what they did there. What Rabbi Akiva said — it seems he was not yet [unclear]. He was not yet [unclear] of the Torah, of the kedushah.

24:01 But at the root, at the root, he was not like that, That he hated Torah scholars — "and I would bite him like a donkey" — [unclear] yes, that came from the hatred [unclear]. But in Rabbi Akiva's essence — if he had truly been that bad, gripped by evil, he would not have become Rabbi Akiva. That he said that [unclear], at that time when he hated Torah scholars — and once his mind opened up [unclear] and the drawing close And his true root was revealed: that his root is "Love your fellow as yourself."

24:39 What shall I answer you? [unclear] a sin between man and his fellow [unclear]. He saw that what is between man and his fellow is severe. But come, I'll answer you. We won't go on long, because we are still before Maariv, and also [unclear] and so on. So [unclear] the Mishnah [unclear], and the Mishnah [unclear] is a Mishnah — not yet in the Mishnah — still at the Mishnah [unclear].

25:05 We began [unclear]: why did they say this Mishnah, every chapter [unclear], [unclear] the Mishnah is from Sanhedrin, it is not [unclear], That is, the meaning is: since there are so many [unclear] here that are hard to fulfill, which could [unclear] a person, [unclear] that everyone has a share [unclear].

25:35 I'll explain. Ah, you want the story about Rav Yitzchak of [unclear]? Rav Yitzchak — once, some chassidim said to him: Oh — "You be the Rebbe for us." He said to them: "I cannot be a Rebbe for you." They said to him: [unclear] He said to them: "You are looking for a Rebbe to lead, and I am looking for chassidim to lead." Nu, [unclear]. Now, as you say — we spoke of the Rebbe of [unclear]. The Rebbe of [unclear] — [unclear] in a certain place [unclear], and there were some chassidim who wanted to come to him.

26:09 So on the way, one said: "If he knows my thought, he will be my Rebbe." The second said: "If he brings about, for my wife who is having difficulty giving birth, the salvation, he will be my Rebbe." The second said: "If he knows my question on Tosafos, and the answer that I need, he will be my Rebbe." Fine. They traveled by wagon and reached the Rebbe of [unclear].

26:35 As soon as they come in to the Rebbe of [unclear] — the Ateres Tzvi, the prince of the house of the Zohar — [unclear] the first one. As soon as they came in to him, he looked at [unclear] and said to him: "You — you came by wagon, and you spoke [unclear]. You are thinking such-and-such, and I know [unclear]. The Tosafos [unclear] — that is your answer." "You — your wife, Baruch Hashem — mazal tov — your wife is no longer having difficulty giving birth; a son has been born to you, mazal tov."

27:05 "And now go back, because I do not want to be your Rebbe." You think [unclear] — if I am to be the Rebbe of [unclear], We always have to look at what the intention truly is [unclear], in a true way. [unclear] he will say: "Yes, of course, my student." [unclear] But a student is called a student when the Rav teaches his student and [unclear].

27:34 It is a level — it is a level to be a student. It is a level; not everyone is that — a student. A student is a level. And there is, as it were, a bond between the one who gives and the one who receives. When a person behaves with faithfulness, when he behaves with integrity, behaves in a way that sanctifies Hashem's Name, behaves well, behaves with derech eretz, and all these things — that is called one who receives [unclear]. But when he behaves [unclear], that is not a student. It's the same thing, exactly as we see: "Be deliberate," and "raise up many students."

28:05 "And raise up many students." Why? Because the students are meant to bring the geulah. The geulah depends on the students. The geulah depends on students with integrity, with kedushah, who keep the form of their Rav — then the geulah can come. How much it is bound up with keeping to the path and to the kedushah [unclear], and that a person be able to receive from his Rav, not come and say what he himself wants. All the [unclear] there were — who needed to be students, who are faithful [unclear] those who had objections [unclear].

28:36 [unclear] one who does not want, every time, to bring out his own [unclear], [unclear] sets aside [unclear] and sets aside [unclear], [unclear] — if that is what he says, that is what is true — he does not come and add anything [unclear]. The Rebbe [unclear] said that there are chassidim who try with all their might to bind themselves to the Rebbe, and there are chassidim who try with all their might to bind the Rebbe to themselves.

29:02 The Rebbe [unclear] said that there are chassidim who try — who try with all their might to bind themselves to the Rebbe, and there are chassidim who try with all their might to bind the Rebbe to themselves. I won't say such a thing. Rabbi Akiva — what was the [unclear] there? What happened with Rabbi Akiva? I'll tell you. Everyone comes and prays, "and grant our portion in Your Torah." Everyone comes to the Torah — he comes [unclear] a portion of the Torah. [unclear] to learn [unclear], and [unclear] to learn the plain meaning, Gemara; there is [unclear] halachah, there is also Midrash — [unclear] — he has a portion of the Torah.

29:36 When they came to Rabbi Akiva — why did they [unclear]? Because each one came to take what he wanted to take from him. But not one came who wanted to take what Rabbi Akiva wanted to give. If they had all come to learn Torah from Rabbi Akiva — what Rabbi Akiva wants to teach, not what we feel like receiving [unclear] — "we have come to be led, not to lead" — That is to say: what does his Rav's outlook say? One who thinks he already has the levels of his Rav — one like that can never be a student.

30:07 He has his own outlook and his own reasoning. So he wants to lead; he builds himself his own Rebbe, he wants to draw his own leader, and he will accept it from no one. And the opposite: one who accepts his Rav's outlook is one who wants to be led and not to lead. He receives from his Rav's outlook. So that is what is meant about Rabbi Akiva; that is the meaning of [unclear]. He wanted to teach love for everyone.

30:32 He also set up 12,000 pairs, so you see that from the very start — and it strengthens what I said — that in his essence there was [unclear] love of his fellow Jews. And why did they [unclear]? Because they did not come to receive the outlook of Rabbi Akiva. You can be a student of Rabbi Akiva, but you do not have the outlook of Rabbi Akiva. Students need to come and receive: "What do you want to teach? What is the true path that you want to pass on to me?" — not "what do I want to receive."

30:59 [unclear] to see what he wants — the path that you intend to pass on — that is the path. And then, "raise up many students" — [unclear] from among them, one could say, [unclear] from among them, there will arise those who will truly guard [unclear]. "Raise up many students." How? What did they say?

31:26 And what they lacked was self-nullification to their Rav. One who nullifies himself before his Rav merits a double portion. The difference between a person who holds on to his own opinion and one who nullifies himself — he merits far more. What does the Satan do? He gives a person [unclear] — a difficulty — and not to nullify himself. [unclear] He gives the person his own opinion and all of it. That is why there is this difficulty.

31:54 - Rabbi Shimon, in greatness — was he more [unclear] than all the students Rabbi Akiva had? Rabbi Meir. - It's not a matter of... I'll explain something to you. When there are many — as it says: "the smallest of them all was Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai," and the greatest, Yonasan ben Uzziel — a bird that flew over him [unclear]. "the smallest of them all," "the greatest of them all" — it does not mean small and great in the simple way you picture it, small and great — it refers to the tradition handed on and to his influence and his ability to give to the world.

32:32 Whether one is great and one small — whether one gives over, one great and one small — there is no such thing as a great tzaddik and a small tzaddik. The tzaddikim are all great. There are levels and differences among them. This one's level is far greater than that one's. You cannot compare this one with that one. But it is not a relation of great and small the way we picture it. Each one has his own power, his own abilities and his own strength. That is to say, all the holy forefathers, [unclear] Moshe, Aharon, [unclear], Shimshon ben Manoach, all the Judges, all the holy ones the Jewish people had — each one was unique. The Holy One, blessed be He, gave him his stage, his kingship, and did not take him down from his stage.

33:11 He gave him the stage, the kingship, his part. As if — now you are in the time of Shimshon, and only Shimshon is spoken of, and that bothers no one. There is Shmuel the prophet — only Shmuel the prophet. [unclear] It is not as if the Holy One, blessed be He, [unclear]. With Shaul — He is only with King Shaul. That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, gives the light to each one [unclear] that suits him. Noach the tzaddik — some expound it as praise, some expound it as criticism — Noach: "Noach walked with G-d."

33:39 The Holy One, blessed be He, gives the stage as is fitting for each. It takes nothing away and holds nothing back [unclear]. In holiness there is room without end. Millions can fit into six hundred meters in the Beis HaMikdash. [unclear] it is a miracle, miracles, above nature, spirituality, all those millions of people in the same building. The Holy One, blessed be He, does the miracle that they all get in, [unclear] — holiness is not by measure.

34:08 Holiness is above measure. When you rise and grow, [unclear] a relation of great and small — there are levels among them, as I said: the difference between one tzaddik and another is like a Jew and one who is not a Jew. Among the tzaddikim there are levels, and [unclear]. What this one attains, that one cannot attain. I gave this as an example: there is a holiness that [unclear] attains, such that at the start of Ne'ilah on Yom Kippur he is at the peak of holiness and has such great fear of Heaven — and the other tzaddik [unclear] in the yeshiva, [unclear].

34:42 And what this one [unclear] to attain at that time, [unclear] on Yom Kippur — the holiness he attains on Yom Kippur, when he thinks he is rising — that one [unclear] is so much greater than he [unclear] of the year, in the yeshiva, in the beis midrash. Those are the differences between the tzaddikim. That is, between the tzaddikim there are gaps. And that is why they said "raise up many students" — because the students, [unclear], through them [unclear] the Torah. As an explicit verse in the Torah says: "And Hashem said to Moshe: 'Write this as a remembrance in the book, and place it in the ears of Yehoshua.'" Here you see that the Holy One, blessed be He, points to him — [unclear] to teach that in every generation they tried to guard the Torah and [unclear].

35:27 In every generation there were students — or [unclear]? There always were [unclear]. [unclear] faithful ones from among the students. [unclear] And here it is not difficult. [unclear] It was not enough — they did not always do what the Rav really taught, but we did not say that [unclear]. But since not all of them will always stay worthy, I need to bring more students for that — so that some stay worthy in the way of Hashem. And likewise [unclear], the Holy One, blessed be He, [unclear] a person: not only a son and a daughter — even though that is the mitzvah — to go on, for surely not all of them will go in the way of [unclear] the Torah.

36:04 What is "make a fence for the Torah"? What is "make a fence for the Torah"? To make fences and enactments so that people will not come to [unclear] on Shabbos, [unclear] — yes — [unclear]. But I will give you an example, for instance. I will give you an example of [unclear] that the Sages gave us. Say a person who knows — there is a person who, Heaven forbid, could be drawn into some particular sin, of some particular [unclear], he undertakes to make himself a fence, [unclear], and then he surely will not come to [unclear] [unclear], Heaven forbid.

36:42 Listen — [unclear]. It is simply a fence for the Torah. That is, we really, really [unclear] fences. And you make fences for all the things that are hard for you, that [unclear] you — there you put up the barriers, and these are the things that will bring you to holiness. So a person who knows he has reached such a level that if he has, Heaven forbid, a thought that is not good, he will do teshuvah for it, and [unclear] — a fast, a tikkun and tefillah — as though, Heaven forbid, [unclear], like the Tikkun HaKlali — and that is only for even one single thought.

37:17 And that is the reason the sin of thought is more severe than the transgression. That is — why are they "harder than the transgression"? A person who [unclear] a transgression never does teshuvah. "No, I did not commit a transgression." But the fact that he thought about it — he does not know that this too — [unclear], [unclear] a good thought is counted with the deed, a thought that is not good He does not join to the deed, and [unclear] He does join it to the deed; with us, He does not join it to the deed.

37:44 That is a kindness of Hashem. But still, it does [unclear] above, And we know that a holy thought [unclear] all the troubles and sufferings there are in the world. When [unclear] and made kiddush [unclear], and there was [unclear]. He said to him: [unclear] a little l'chaim. So he said to him: "You were [unclear] today, you heard so many troubles of the Jewish people [unclear]." Okay. But know that with a holy thought one can act to be saved from all of this. How does one stay with the holy thought?

38:11 How does one stay [unclear]? When we now learn Torah, delve into Torah, think in Torah — one can learn about the Beis HaMikdash, learn about the Beis HaMikdash, look in books with drawings of the Beis HaMikdash, at the pictures of the Beis HaMikdash, and the same with the faces of tzaddikim. [unclear] Yeshayahu, chapter [unclear] — [unclear] Look at the faces of the wise, look at pictures of tzaddikim. Because [unclear] say: one who looks at a Sefer Torah and looks at [unclear], it gives him healthy thoughts; one who looks at the sky sanctifies the eyes, sanctifies the thought. Looking at the tzitzis is a segulah for holiness of thought. This sets the holy image right, it sets a person's mind right, and wonderful things come of it.

38:53 So, up to here we have learned chapter 1, Mishnah 1. With Hashem's help, next time we are at chapter 1, Mishnah 2. Yes. - [unclear] Rabbi Akiva [unclear], if these students were looking at [unclear], when it was Rabbi Akiva, and nullifying themselves to him — [unclear] what the Rav said. - Rav, I don't [unclear] — "thoughts of transgression are harder than the transgression."

39:18 Thoughts of transgression are only [unclear]; the transgression is [unclear] together with the transgression. After all, Jerusalem [unclear] — the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, [unclear] — so why [unclear]? - [unclear] There is no calamity — do you think that the day of the calamity — when was it?

39:48 With a transgression — [unclear] — it goes by the beginning. He thought about it; he began because of this [unclear], and began [unclear] to come to something. The opposite. It is because of the beginning. It is because of [unclear] [unclear] the first thought, which begets what follows. There is the father, the offspring, and [unclear].

40:14 That is one thing. And a second thing: according to the hidden teaching, the Kabbalah, a person who [unclear], Heaven forbid, he too, at once, That is the highest [unclear]. [unclear] It is very severe. Once [unclear] a story He says that he [unclear] himself [unclear] as well.

40:43 [unclear] and the like, he did not speak at all. From this — how severe it is, even for a thought. [unclear] to understand how severe it is even in thought. [unclear] because of this — and that is what is called [unclear] "a fence for the Torah." What is the fence that we learned? This fence is to put up the barriers so that a person will not come to a transgression. And that is what [unclear] about all the enactments, [unclear] Rabbinic law, and so on.

41:15 [unclear] the Rambam and [unclear], [unclear], [unclear] Shabbos [unclear]. What is that called? [unclear] or things like that? What are these distinctions? [unclear] "This thing is permitted, this thing is permitted" — what are all their fences? They are fences: lest through this you come to [unclear]; lest through this one come to [unclear]. That is, "lest through this you come to..." — the fence. That is called a fence for the Torah.

41:50 Everything where you [unclear] and see various [unclear] like these, [unclear] — it is because of the fences they wanted to give us, so that we not come to stumble, and keep far from [unclear]. [unclear] Up to here. May we have good tidings. Clear. "All Israel have a share in the World to Come, as it is said: 'And Your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever — the shoot of My planting, the work of My hands, in which to take pride.'" We are now at Mishnah 2.

42:22 Last time, in the previous shiur, we learned chapter 1, Mishnah 1. Now we are at chapter 1, Mishnah 2. "Shimon HaTzaddik was one of the last of the Men of the Great Assembly." He lived longer than all of them. So the generation after the Men of the Great Assembly — he handed the Torah on to them.

42:47 He merited a most exceptionally long life. "He used to say: On three things the world stands: on the Torah" — when a person learns Torah, [unclear] in Torah — "and on the service" — the service of the offerings. But today we do not have the service of the offerings; for us there is tefillah, the service of tefillah. "And on acts of kindness." When people do acts of kindness with one another — on that the world stands.

43:16 "Antigonus of Socho" — the Sages used to be called by the name of their town. He lived in a town called Socho, and so he was called "of Socho." There was the town of Sukkos — again, not Sukkos — again: it is the town of Socho. "He received from Shimon HaTzaddik. He used to say: Do not be like servants who serve the master in order to receive a reward."

43:41 The meaning, of course, is also toward Heaven, of course — a person who serves the Holy One, blessed be He: not to expect to get something — say, to get that his tefillah be accepted, or to get anything of one kind or another. And toward one's Rav too, the same thing. These are simple and clear things. The meaning is the Creator. "Rather, be like servants who serve the master not in order to receive a reward." Not to expect, to look for the World to Come, to look for Him to give me this, to give me that. The meaning is: I serve Hashem without getting any favors from Heaven.

44:15 Not Gan Eden either, not anything. I serve because I love the Creator, blessed be He. I do not expect to get anything from Him; I serve my Creator and my Maker out of love and joy, not in order to receive a reward from Him. I have no aim of receiving any reward at all, of this world or of the World to Come. "And let the fear of Heaven be upon you" — this way you will merit a lofty and pure fear of Heaven. "Yosef ben Yoezer of Tzeredah" — Tzeredah — again, that means the name of a town, a place called Tzeredah. "And Yosef ben Yochanan of Yerushalayim received from them."

44:50 From whom did they receive? From Shimon HaTzaddik and from Antigonus. "Yosef ben Yoezer says: Let your house be a meeting place for the sages." Meaning — here they teach us that your friends, your acquaintances, should all be wise men. "Let your house be a meeting place for the sages" — and all [unclear] the sages, those who come, who stay in your house, who live with you. Sit in the dust of their feet — so that you learn from them. "And sit in the dust of their feet" — learn wisdom from them, learn Torah from them. Once, in their time, they would sit and learn on the floor by the sage, and the sage sits on the chair, and the students sit on the floor.

45:26 "And drink in their words with thirst" — everything you hear from them, words of Torah, take it in with thirst. For know that there is nothing above this thing; there is nothing greater than this. "Yosef ben Yochanan of Yerushalayim says: Let your house be open wide" — your whole house should be like the house of Avraham Avinu: wherever you go, people come and can enter from here, from here, from here. Meaning: someone comes in from the road, a person comes — give him food and drink.

45:52 Today the car, too, is a kind of hospitality to guests. The car, too, is hospitality to guests. In Tractate Shabbos, page 127a, the Gemara says: "Great is hospitality to guests, more than receiving the face of the Shechinah." "Let the poor be members of your household" — the poor: honor them, let them feel at home, let them be able to feel joy. You know, Rabbi Akiva Eiger once hosted someone in his home, and something slipped at the table — he did something that was not nice.

46:20 He — not on purpose — knocked something over. He felt bad — uncomfortable, that at the meal he had knocked over a bottle, and the wine spilled. So he felt bad. He felt, "What I did was not nice." He felt ashamed of himself. Rabbi Akiva Eiger knocked something over as well, himself, and said: "Oy, this table is wobbly, the table here is no good — fix the table."

46:45 That is Rabbi Akiva Eiger — so that he would not be so embarrassed, he even broke one too. "And do not talk much with the woman." Why? Because talking with the woman takes time away from Torah. "They said this about one's own wife — all the more so about his fellow's wife." Pay attention. They tell that the tzaddik of [unclear], after he passed on to his eternal home — they came to the Rebbetzin, his wife: "Tell us — was there something he spoke with you about? What did he say to you?"

47:17 "Seven years we were married. Each year he said one word to me. Seven words and seven years." There is the Gemara in Tractate Eruvin, page 53b, about Rabbi Yose with Beruriah, the wife of Rabbi Meir. When he asked her "by which road," the answer to him was: "You should have said: 'By which to Lod?'" Right. Not to say "by which road to Lod" — to say "by which to Lod."

47:47 So it means to keep it short — but it does not mean not to speak. Like, suddenly you need something, suddenly this or that. "I'm ordering this." "By which to Lod," you should have said. "By which." Conversation — that's anything. I'll simply tell you what the problem is: because any small thing can start a conversation.

48:17 That's usually how a conversation between people starts. A person wants to go on his way, he met someone in the street, he only said hello to him. That little hello — suddenly [unclear], they're talking in the street. The small thing ends up becoming a conversation. The Sages warned us, in the precision of their wording, about "conversation." They said, as it were: so keep away from even getting to that. "From here the Sages said: whenever a man talks much with the woman, he brings evil upon himself, neglects words of Torah, and in the end inherits Gehinnom."

48:51 Mishnah 6: Yehoshua ben Perachyah and Nittai HaArbeli — they apparently came from Arbel, that's the place there — "received from them." From whom did they receive? From Yosef ben Yoezer, they received from Yosef ben Yochanan. Yehoshua ben Perachyah says: "Make for yourself a rav" — you want to learn Torah? Don't learn according to your own mind; learn, receive from sages, learn Torah from the mouths of sages.

49:18 "Make for yourself a rav," "and acquire for yourself a friend." You see, Rabbi Nosson of Breslov, Rabbi Nosson [unclear], once explained "and acquire for yourself a friend": "and acquire for yourself a friend" — your friend should be the book. From the rav you learn Torah; "and acquire for yourself a friend" — the kaneh, the quill, will be your friend — the quill that books are written with — it will be your friend; learn from books all the time. A book is a person's best friend. In the end, yes — "and acquire for yourself a friend."

49:44 "And judge every person favorably" — because you don't know what this one did, what this one did, what that one did; with everyone — look, judge him favorably. And in the end, a person is judging himself, in the end. The way we judge — we are judging ourselves, as Rabbi Nachman says in Torah 282 of Likutei Moharan. Nittai HaArbeli says: "Distance yourself from a bad neighbor."

50:16 This is said about the grave too, yes — that a person should not dwell, should not be buried [unclear]; it is permitted to take him out of his place of burial. "And do not join up with a wicked person" — don't attach yourself to a wicked person either. "And do not despair of retribution." What does "do not despair of retribution" mean? You see wicked people who are very far from the Holy One, blessed be He, and things go well for them; whatever they do in the world, people speak of them as a success, they're given some advancement, just advancement — "do not despair of retribution."

50:43 Know this: in the end their time will come, their moment. There is judgment and there is a Judge in the world, so it isn't a free-for-all. But don't let it get to you that they're succeeding. Yes — "do not despair of retribution." If you say: what, these suffer and those are like that — what, these... Everything has its time. But you — don't occupy yourself with that. Hashem carries out judgment, and He is the Judge; He judges. Don't get involved. You see. - Who's a bad neighbor? He's my neighbor. [unclear] those are my neighbors. The apartment is in the land registry. What now [unclear]?

51:11 - That's not what it means either, to say it like that. Look... - I'm asking: what? Anything to do with neighbors? - What is being a neighbor? A neighbor — it's in the sense that you'll come to talk with him, come to know him, come to be friends with him, come to learn from him. In the end, it's a certain kind of friendship. So get close to someone who will be good for you. Because if in the end he's not a good person, if he's that kind of person, then put up your wall, your fence, your own affairs — but for you to get into a back-and-forth with him — the whole concern is that you'll come to something that in the end will distance you from Hashem.

51:43 It's telling you: your neighbor is the tzaddik — you'll be a tzaddik. Yehudah ben Tabbai and Shimon ben Shetach "received from them." From whom did they receive? From Yehoshua ben Perachyah and Nittai HaArbeli. Yehudah ben Tabbai says: "Do not make yourself like the advocates before the judges." The advocates before the judges — they lay out their arguments, they're constantly bending the judgment.

52:10 They don't do justice; they turn everything into a crooked judgment, a judgment that isn't straight. "And when the litigants are standing before you, let them be in your eyes as wicked." Just so — because you have to understand why: because they certainly... something here is standing behind their case, it isn't... They know the lie, and they come as if to argue for it, as if it were truth, as if it were something good. Be careful, look closely, be wise.

52:38 "And when they leave your presence, let them be in your eyes as innocent" — look at them as righteous people, who surely explained things properly, and then you'll always be able to keep to true judgment. Because a person who is biased, who judges reality by what people say, can never be truthful. Reality always has to be weighed — not by the world's opinions, not by what we received.

53:05 "once they have accepted the judgment upon themselves." Shimon ben Shetach says: "Examine the witnesses thoroughly." Check the witnesses well. Why? Look out for false witnesses, for scheming witnesses. Check who these witnesses are, what they want, why they came to testify, what the reason is that they came to testify — whether they have jealousy, whether they have hatred, whether they have a connection to something in particular. What's the reason, what makes it so important to them to come and testify? There's something here — check. "And be careful with your words" — be careful when you speak, that they shouldn't pick up from your words — "lest from them they learn to lie." Be careful with your words: they'll know how to read from your words that you aren't managing to catch their lie, and then they'll lie to you with whatever it is you're trying to bring out,

53:45 and so it turns out they'll slip away from the punishment. So you, the wise one, must always discern, and also be careful with your words in these matters. And one can also learn from this: always be careful with your words, too, "lest from them they learn to lie" — also in a somewhat more inward sense: lest from the things you teach, from these things you say — you don't notice, and people go wrong through your words and grow distant from the Holy One, blessed be He. So one must always teach the Torah correctly, orderly and clean, so that people won't go wrong.

54:14 - So is it a mitzvah to testify, to help that person? - A mitzvah to testify? Yes, certainly, if you know... if you know [unclear]... - Why do I testify? Seemingly I'm [unclear] who says that I have a mitzvah. - Rashi in Kesubos, page 52, side a — Rashi. Shemayah and Avtalyon "received from them." Shemayah says: "Love work" — engage in work — "and hate positions of authority." Don't love being in greatness, in power, in being big.

54:40 "And hate positions of authority," "and do not become familiar with the ruling power" — don't be someone who seeks closeness to the authorities and to power. Why? Because that pride can in the end bring a person to — drive him out of his mind, when in the end, from so much pride, he'll go crazy, and in the end he'll want the chair, and instead of occupying himself with what benefits the world, he'll only be chasing after his chair.

55:11 Be happy with what you have, with what you're occupied in. Don't try to be dependent on friends' table, on another person's table. Be happy with what you have — simplicity, that is. It's good to serve Hashem in truth, in joy, with uprightness, doing business in good faith, with integrity, with decency — those are the things. Because when a person has bread in his basket, he'll serve Hashem with focus. When a person sometimes doesn't keep the Torah — he has no bread in his basket, so his head starts finding all kinds of leniencies and all kinds of things.

55:40 In the end they drive him out of his right mind. Avtalyon says: "Sages, be careful with your words" — you teach Torah, the students need to understand very, very well what you're teaching — "lest you incur the penalty of exile," lest, Heaven forbid, a decree is decreed and they have to go into exile, "and you are exiled to a place of evil waters" — Heaven forbid; that means views of denial, apikorsus, people who distance themselves from the Holy One, blessed be He. Beware of this, Heaven forbid.

56:09 "And the students who come after you will drink" — those students will come "and die, and the Name of Heaven will be found desecrated." There is a very great responsibility on the sages, on the rabbis who teach, to teach the Torah precisely, correctly, and to stick to what is written. As you know, I always remind you that what I teach is very, very clean and is what I see written in the book, according to the books and the sages — only what was written and said, changing nothing.

56:38 Everything is according to the view of our Rabbis, may their merit protect us. - But they themselves should die — if they're drinking evil waters, why don't they themselves die? Why is it that their students die? - Because the responsibility is on the rav. - He himself is also supposed to die — he passed on bad things, right? He himself should die. - That's not the meaning — that he would say things. The "evil waters" means heretical views, but sometimes it depends very much on the student's understanding and on the rav's explanation.

57:06 I'll give you an example — I won't name the book, yes, but you can come up with it yourself — there are books that deal with philosophical inquiry, that great sages composed, and many people who read them grew distant from Hashem. They grew distant. All kinds of denial entered them, and they were exiled to the place of the evil waters — the students who read the Torah words of the Rambam.

57:33 He tried to explain some lofty matter; a student didn't understand. The student was exiled to the place of the evil waters. It's not a matter of [unclear]; these things had to be expounded. In the end [unclear] had to teach, because there's nothing to be done — there are heretics and apikorsim. It depends very much on understanding. One must always sharpen it, see what the student understood, what the rav is teaching, and see that it suits each level. Why were there once "masters of Kabbalah," "masters of Scripture," "masters of Mishnah"?

58:05 What is this "masters of," "masters of," "masters of"? What did it mean, "masters of Mishnah," "masters of Scripture"? Mishnah is that kind of learning. One has to see who is suited to Mishnah. You don't teach Kabbalah out of the blue to anyone who wants it, just like that. In the end someone comes along who doesn't understand Kabbalah. He can learn, hear the things, and already imagine things that are things that can confuse him, until he comes to deny the hidden Torah and to belittle many things.

58:33 And why was it called the hidden Torah? Because it is very modest, very much stored away, so you must teach it only by transmission, one man from the mouth of another. There's a very beautiful responsum of our Rabbi Yosef Chaim, in Rav Pe'alim, part 1, siman 1, that explains about the Shechinah and so on — very beautiful things — for people who didn't understand at all what this concept is. See how beautifully he writes there — how much one must come with knowledge and understanding and pure fear of Hashem to these matters.

59:01 People come to learn — one must know to give each one the answer that suits him, and not to bring people who are small to great levels that are not their levels. One must know each person's level, to be built up in a fitting way. And so, when expounding in public and teaching, one must know that there are a great, great many kinds and levels of people. There's one who is on a very high level, who knows a lot and already understands his rav's words; he knows Kabbalah.

59:31 The second knows Talmud, and this one knows Mishnah, and this one knows halachah but not Mishnah, and this one Mishnah yes but Kabbalah no, and this one doesn't know Kabbalah but knows Gemara. Each one knows something; and there's one who doesn't know this and doesn't know that, and one who's very far, and one who's a sinner, and each one who's far — [unclear] must always know how to fit everything that is said, so that no one, Heaven forbid, goes wrong with something. It's a very, very great responsibility to expound, to teach Torah; it's a great danger to say Torah.

1:00:00 One must know, because people, Heaven forbid — lest other students drink "and die, and the Name of Heaven be found desecrated" — a very great responsibility for what comes out of the mouth. One must be exact and precise. It's always good to stick to the words of the Sages and to teach from the Torah of our Rabbis, and with that one fulfills one's obligation. We don't have much time left to get through everything. - What, "they will die" — is it really die, or [unclear]? - No, "they will die" doesn't mean literally die.

1:00:28 What does "they will die" mean? You know, Heaven forbid — in this world, in the World to Come. [unclear]. In the end, a person who grows distant from Hashem — there's no death harsher than that. He's considered as dead — what is there to do in the world? There is no poverty except in knowledge. Hillel and Shammai "received from them." Hillel says: "Be among the students of Aharon" — learn from Aharon's ways — "loving peace and pursuing peace," "loving people and bringing them close to the Torah."

1:00:57 Pay attention. It's written of Aharon that he would bring them close to the Torah — not take the Torah and bring it close to the people. Today people want to fit the Torah to people who are far. They take this off for a person, take that off for him, and tell him: here, do only this. Instead of the opposite — telling the person the truth: keep it. And should one change the Torah for people? "Loving people and bringing them close to the Torah."

1:01:23 It doesn't say "bringing the Torah close to the people." If it had said "he brings the Torah close to the people," I would understand. "Loving people and bringing them close to the Torah" — take the people and bring them, nicely, close to the Torah. This is the Torah scroll; the rule is that it is not to be changed. People must be told the truth: this is how it must be kept. Whoever wants to will take it upon himself; whoever can't — let him struggle with it. But there's no such thing as coming and changing the Torah, telling people things and saying it's like this and like this and like this. One must keep a light mitzvah like a severe one, and be exact and precise with the words of our Rabbis. That is the Torah.

1:01:54 One must say the truth, what is written in the Torah. A person should know what he needs, what he's required to do; let him do it, let it be explained to him — but not to come and say: "Listen, you don't need anything, everything's fine; stay just the way you are, very far from Hashem, and even so He is with you and loves you." Hashem loves us, and He is with all of us, with us — but each one of us is required to learn and to grow stronger in Torah and to come close to Hashem. You have no exemption of any kind from this.

1:02:23 There's no exemption. Of Aharon: "loving people and bringing them close to the Torah." It doesn't say that he brings the Torah close to the people. - Rav, so according to that — when they hold Torah classes for outreach, and afterwards make a meal, and there are men and women, and something that isn't good. Even for outreach, for [unclear]. - Once again, it has to be judged, you know, each case on its own merits.

1:02:54 Where it is, what time it is, who they are, what state they're coming from — how far, how close, what state they're in: deniers, not deniers, close, not close, believers, not believers, they do deny this but don't deny that, they do believe in this — it very, very much depends. - [unclear], honored Rav, that people who... it's better that they learn Torah than be somewhere else, right? That's better, like — that's what I'm trying to say. Better that they already be there, learn at least something small in Torah, but they wouldn't be somewhere else. Right.

1:03:25 [unclear], and that's it. Yes, that's for sure, because today there are methods where, so to speak, they bring food, and then, so to speak, along the way they both bring and eat. Yes. And then, so to speak, a person comes and doesn't bring food at all. - I'm speaking now simply about the main thing; right now I'm speaking about the content that will be said. The content that's said has to bring them back in teshuvah to Hashem, blessed be He. "He used to say" — pay attention. What is it?

1:03:50 [unclear] "He used to say:" "One who makes his name great" — whoever makes his name grow — "negad," like raising himself up high, raising up his name — "loses his name": in the end he will be lost from the world. "And one who does not add" — whoever doesn't strive to add all the time, to grow stronger, to sanctify himself, to learn Torah, to rise in kedushah — "will come to an end," Heaven forbid.

1:04:19 In the end he'll forget what he learned; and when the learning isn't reviewed, in the end it flies away. One must always review the learning. "And one who does not learn" — whoever doesn't learn at all, Heaven forbid — "deserves death": liable to death; he deserves to be killed — one who doesn't learn. These are the words of the Sages; this is "He used to say." That is Hillel the Elder. "And one who makes use of the crown" — whoever makes use of the crown of Torah, who uses that honor on account of the Torah — "passes away," Heaven forbid: he will die, may Hashem protect us.

1:04:51 How careful one must be not to use the crown of Torah for anything. He used to say: "If I am not for myself" — pay attention, everyone knows this — "who is for me?" Right? Who will help me if I don't help myself? "And when I am for myself" — if I can rely on myself — "what am I?" Because a person knows that it really isn't him; it's all Hashem, blessed be He, who does it. He has no power at all on his own. "And if not now" — now is the time to wake up — "when?"

1:05:19 When will you do it [unclear]? No one knows when the time will come that there's no more time. So one must always wake up — and "if I am not for myself, who is for me?" — because no one does it for you. "If not now," then when — and teshuvah. But you also know, there are those who think, as time goes by, and they say, "A time will come when I'll do, and do, and do."

1:05:44 Meanwhile time goes by and it doesn't happen. Because they tell themselves, "Maybe this way, maybe that way — that one will do it for me. That one will do it for me: I have a son who's a tzaddik, who learns, I have a brother who's a tzaddik, I have a father who's a tzaddik; and as for myself, slowly, slowly — I say, at some point I'll be free, I'll learn, I'll return." No! Because a person doesn't know when his time will come, and he himself has to take care of himself — of his true purpose.

1:06:09 Shammai says: "Make your Torah a fixed thing" — occupy yourself with learning Torah. "Say little and do much" — what you carry out, carry out. "And receive every person with a pleasant face" — always show a shining face, smile, show a pleasant, smiling face to every person, and always be happy, and light up people's eyes, strengthen them. You know, so many people — people are broken and [unclear] here in the world, and when you go and you strengthen them and encourage them, show them a shining face, you give them hope, you give them strength, you give them joy.

1:06:46 A broken person comes like that, suddenly he comes — you don't know where each one is coming from, from what situation, and what story he has, what life story, what hardship, what situation — and suddenly he gets a smile, he gets a shining face, and he's truly filled with joy, just from a shining face. This is what the Sages said in Kesubos, on page 11, that "greater is one who whitens his teeth to his friend than one who gives him milk to drink." How important it is that you "whiten your teeth" to a friend — smile at him, give him strength, give him hope, give him life, give him enthusiasm.

1:07:17 "Make for yourself a rav" — whenever you ask a question, have one rav whom you follow, and don't be left in doubt among all kinds of opinions, because in the end, at the end of the day, it's very, very heavy on a person who has lots of opinions, a multitude of opinions. And this way, what happens? "Remove yourself from doubt." Well, we'll have to finish here. We'd start explaining all of this, what "make for yourself a rav" is — there are many things here to expand on.

1:07:44 Ah, there's a lot to expand on this. There's a lot, a lot to expand on this. - On one foot. - And this has no "on one foot." - The whole Torah has one and this doesn't? - Of course. If you knew how important this is — I'll explain to you why. The sin of Adam HaRishon began from advice, right? The sin of Adam HaRishon — the Torah tells in Bereishis: "The serpent deceived me."

1:08:10 Chavah gave advice. Adam HaRishon received advice. The serpent gave advice. There was advice. Advice between the serpent, Adam HaRishon and Chavah. They spoke advice among themselves, conversing and advising one another what to do with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And in the end, this sin came out of advice.

1:08:35 As if to say, it was only advice — there wasn't some sin here, someone the sin came out of. It's a sin that began from advice. Everything begins from advice. And if you have a true, wise rav who has good and proper advice, then you can know that you are going on the straight path. But today the advice is very spoiled and very crooked and very wrong, and there is so much in this — responsibility, and influence on a person's true purpose and on his path — and there's a great, great deal to expand on in this.

1:09:06 And why does it also say, "Make for yourself a rav and acquire for yourself a friend," as we learned earlier? Why not "acquire for yourself a rav and make for yourself a friend"? Why, like, is there such a switch of wording between "make for yourself a rav" and "acquire for yourself a friend" — to change between these wordings? There's a great, great, great deal to expand on in this. Bli neder, maybe we'll merit it next time — to stop here — and I'll just finish this: "Make for yourself a rav and remove yourself from doubt, and do not tithe by estimate too much."

1:09:34 Your tithes — don't do them roughly, like that, by estimate. Tithe properly. Regarding produce — the tithes, everything there is — and also regarding the tithes of money, one must tithe so that a person gives exactly. It's always good — no, one can also come out with more, that's not terrible, but one must fulfill the obligation of the tithe, and whatever is above that goes to tzedakah, but a person should always know about the tithe. May we all have good tidings, and bli neder, we'll expand on "make for yourself a rav."

1:10:04 May we have good tidings. We're at Mishnah 17, Mishnah 17 — chapter 1, Mishnah 17. Chapter 1, Mishnah 17. "Shimon his son says:" Shimon his son was the son of Rabban Gamliel. "All my days I grew up among the Sages."

1:10:39 When he says this — "All my days I grew up among the Sages" — he's coming to tell us something very deep here. Do you know what he's coming to tell us? He's coming to tell us: "I was among them, I know how they behave, you can rely on me. I grew up among the Sages. Listen to what I'm about to tell you." Why did he say "I grew up among the Sages"? What do you need to say that for? Isn't it enough for him to come and tell us, "I received from..." What is this "I grew up among the Sages"?

1:11:07 He wants to tell you: "Listen, what I'm going to tell you now is the main thing." "And I have found nothing better for the body than silence." The best thing, the most right thing, is to be silent. To speak as little as possible, not to speak, to know how to be in silence — "and whoever talks too much brings sin" — to know how to take things in with wisdom, precisely. That is the very best thing. When a person talks a lot of nonsense, in the end his ignorance shows from it.

1:11:36 It's the opposite — silence: "A fence for wisdom is silence." And what's the proof? And the main thing — "and it is not the study that is the main thing, but the deed." When we learn Torah — we learn, learn, learn. What do we learn for? In order to fulfill it. So the whole point of what we learn from the Torah is in order to bring us to action. It doesn't matter — we, baruch Hashem, learn, and that's good, but the main thing is the deed: that we merit to draw out and learn the holy Torah out of what we learned — everything we learned — that we merit to join it together, to connect it, and come to deed and action, to keeping the Torah and the mitzvos.

1:12:14 Baruch Hashem, one can learn Torah — one can learn, learn, learn — but in the end a person walks out of the beis midrash and fulfills nothing of what he learns. He learns all the laws of Shabbos but he desecrates Shabbos — a pity. So "it is not the study that is the main thing, but the deed" — that you come to keeping Shabbos, come to observing Shabbos, and you keep the tefillah, the kedushah — that is the main thing. "And whoever talks too much brings sin." Heaven forbid, in the end, when a person adds a multitude of words, then in the end the result is that it causes sins to multiply more. Therefore one must always know to be precise, not to add and not to multiply, but to be exactly precise in what the Sages taught us,

1:12:53 and these are the things "that a person shall do and live by them." "Make for yourself a rav" — with Hashem's help, you'll see, that's Mishnah 16, so, "make for yourself a rav" — regarding "make for yourself a rav," I said: why is it written "make for yourself a rav" and not "acquire for yourself a rav" — like the wording reversed? "Acquire for yourself a friend" and "make for yourself a rav" — the opposite: "acquire for yourself a rav and make for yourself a friend." - To acquire a friend you have to work hard, - Why?

1:13:33 It depends which rav. I want to ask you a question. When you go to the supermarket and you go to buy groceries, do you check that the kashrus is good? Do you check that the things are kosher, that they're fresh, that they're not spoiled? So what do you do? You buy, right? In buying, when you buy something, you're meticulous, right?

1:14:00 Is there anything you need to be more meticulous about than a rav? The rav teaches you, the rav guides you, so why wouldn't you need to be meticulous? - To hear the rav's [unclear] you don't need [unclear]; it's enough that I start to listen and [unclear] your Torah from you — unlike a friend, who has to become loyal to... - And how do you know that I'm true and right? So come, I'll explain to you. Look, I once said several explanations.

1:14:25 One of the things I once said: "Aseh lecha rav," make for yourself a rav — "aseh": cling to a rav who causes you to fulfill the mitzvos aseh, the positive mitzvos. "Aseh lecha rav" — a rav who causes you to fulfill the mitzvos aseh. "Aseh lecha rav" — so this rav — make him one who brings close, who brings you close to the Holy One, blessed be He. Now I'll explain to you what is meant. That is, "make for yourself a rav and acquire for yourself a friend": when you come to friends, with a friend, you don't have something eternal with him.

1:14:55 You have something that is — you're with him for a certain time; it's not eternal with him. You do business with him, you learn from him, you go... Where is there anything like an eternal matter? Right? With a friend. Right or not? That's the way of the world. Each one with his own path. A friend is not one who has influence — he does have influence on a person, but it's not like what a person receives — he has his rav's words and a friend's words: whose words does one listen to?

1:15:23 The rav's words. So that's why the wording "make" is a very, very important and very lofty wording. This wording comes to tell you: try to build, and to make an effort with all the definitions you have, in order to know how to receive the truth of the rav, who wants to teach it. Because, if you remember, I taught you that a person can receive from a wise man what he wants to receive.

1:15:48 You say, "I want to hear from him what I feel like hearing." Then you're not making yourself a rav. When I say "make for yourself a rav," it means: make an effort to nullify your will, your knowledge, what you know — to nullify it and accept his view. That is, you have to make an effort to do this. That is, you can't buy this, because you have to set aside your feelings and set aside your ability, and understand that his wisdom is greater than yours, and that by connecting to his wisdom and throwing down your own intellect before him, you'll be twice as much; you won't be just one.

1:16:26 So that's why you have merit in doing this thing. [unclear] So that's why it's called "make for yourself a rav." Because the fact that you, in practice, receive from him doesn't mean that now you — it's not a matter of who's greater or who's more. You, in fact, rise entirely through him. It's like, for example — a parable, what is it like? Like, say, a person has a house and the ceiling is high, the ceiling is very high and the stack of books is very high.

1:16:50 To reach the volumes of Gemara on the top shelves, I need the ladder. I come to climb the ladder, I climb the ladder. Would it occur to anyone that this ladder would say, "Why are you climbing on me?" Yes, when you climb on me — fine, fine. The ladder is a link by which I go up and by which I come down. That's exactly the rav. The rav is meant — "rav" is from the word for abundance, from the word for wisdom — he's meant to teach me with wisdom and bring me close to the Holy One, blessed be He, and raise me up to the Holy One, blessed be He. When I receive from the rav, I'm not making myself small.

1:17:23 On the contrary, I go up through him, on a ladder, upward. That's the sentence. How? One rises. One only rises. - Rav, the nullifying [unclear]? - Right. Exactly, that's what I explained. - Rav, the nullifying [unclear] — is that a process that gets built [unclear]? - Exactly, yes. It gets built, and it's work, it's teshuvah. When a person thinks of his own intellect, thinks that he is the truth and he understands and he knows, then many times he goes backward in his life.

1:17:51 That's why this is emunas chachamim, faith in the Sages: to know that if a wise man did it this way, you can't ask — know that this is what the wise man decided, and with that it's finished. It's not for nothing that the Sages said: emunas chachamim, faith in the Sages. Sometimes a wise man can't explain to you why he does what he does. He can't. He has his reasons, he understands what he understands; he can't come now and work out for you why. But you have to rely on him, that what he does is right. And that's what "make for yourself a rav" means — because sometimes you have to nullify and remove many desires and opinions you had before, in the face of the deed of that rav, that wise man.

1:18:25 Now we're at Mishnah 18. "Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: On three things the world stands." These are things without which this whole world can't exist. This holds up the whole world. "On justice" — that when there is — you see — a judgment between a man and his fellow, this is also what the nations of the world have to set up for themselves: judges — the seven mitzvos of the sons of Noach — they too must heed this. It can't be that there is no justice, no system of justice in the world.

1:18:52 And everyone must have justice in the world. The world exists on justice — that there be judgment — because if not, "each man would swallow his fellow alive." Each one would devour the other, and nothing would be able to last. - "I grew up" and "I was raised" — there are two... there, like, behind it, "I grew up" or "I was raised" — what actually [unclear]... - "I grew up." Where is "I was raised"? Where is "I was raised"? I know that... - No, it's in the tradition, as it were, there's... - Yes, there's "I grew up" and "I was raised."

1:19:18 "I grew up" and "I was raised" — it doesn't matter. It's, as it were, between their having raised him and his having grown up on his own. But I would go more with "I grew up," because it shows his own will, and not that, as it were, his will was forced. That is, it's much greater on his part, that it was he who said this. - Isn't this a place of humility? He doesn't say, "I'm wise, listen to me," but "I grew up among them." "I'm telling you what other Sages said" — isn't that a place of humility?

1:19:45 - It is a kind of humility, but it's also a kind of authority, that he's coming to tell you: "Listen, I was with them, I was with the strongest lions and tigers. I know exactly that this essence is the formula for reaching high." That's what he's coming to say, in other words. That is, when I say "I grew up," it's as if: I grew up of my own will to be among them. That is, "I was raised" — my father put me there among them.

1:20:10 That's why I would expound "I grew up" more, because you can also learn many more things from it — that a person should want to grow up among Sages — rather than saying "I was raised": "Well, he was raised among Sages, I wasn't, so what — I don't need to learn anymore." So it's more correct to say "I grew up." Well, so "on three things the world stands: on justice, and on truth" — of course, there are business dealings and there is [unclear], so that a transaction be proper and everything be honest, as it should be — "on truth, and on peace" — because of course, as you see, if there is no peace, then in the end — you see how many wars and how many riots there are in the whole world, and the root of all the wars and disputes that you see is because of pride.

1:20:55 If we could settle down, we would see that there is room in this whole world for all people — for all of humanity there is room. But the world — how do they say — everyone, they fight, they fight. In the end there's room, the whole world is very big, but the created beings want the honor and the control. In the end that's what causes all the disputes and the wars. But if there were peace, then we could live here in tranquility; we wouldn't need a sword anymore, or weapons of war.

1:21:20 Only, with Hashem's help: "At that time there will be neither famine nor jealousy, but only to know Hashem," and so on. The Rambam, at the end of Hilchos Melachim. As it says: "Truth and a judgment of peace shall you judge in your gates." These are the things without which the world cannot exist — these traits and virtues. Up to here is chapter 1; we have finished chapter 1.