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The shiur in English
The Yanuka’s own words in this shiur, translated into English by Lehallel · 2,532 words · 11:32. Press a time to hear it said.
0:00 Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli says: there is a very, very great secret here. It is not... There is something standing hidden behind this wording. It was not said for nothing twice, this doubled wording. There is something here that is not the usual way of speaking, when he said, 'Eli, Eli — my G-d, my G-d — why have You forsaken me?' No. Come and hear what stands behind it. He says that there remained, Heaven forbid — this is in euphemism, I am saying — the 'enemies of Israel.'
0:27 In Heaven there is an angel for every nation and tongue, its own. Every nation and tongue has its own sar, its heavenly prince. For example, Egypt has a prince, and every nation in the world has a prince. And when the Holy One, blessed be He, truly wants, say, to bring the geulah near — as we once spoke about — so, say, those who said, let's say, about what happened — last year they thought Mashiach would come.
0:57 Because of what happened in Gaza, they said right away that Mashiach would come, because of what happened with Hamas and all that. And as soon as they asked me, I said right away: Not at all! Mashiach will not come this year, and what happened there has nothing to do with the geulah at all. So they said to me: How do I know? Why did I answer so quickly? And what if Mashiach suddenly comes in a week, after Simchas Torah? How can you say such a thing?
1:23 I said: from a simple thing. Because before the Holy One, blessed be He, brings the geulah, He brings down the prince of the nation. Do you think these little Hamas people have a prince? And that the Holy One, blessed be He, in order to bring it, needs to bring down a prince of Hamas up above? Is that not a disgrace? So what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? When is it truly a sign? Like it was in Egypt, like it was with the wicked Haman, with Achashverosh: when there is a king who rules over almost the whole world, and he rises up, Heaven forbid, against — then the Holy One, blessed be He, brings down that prince, and then, so to speak...
2:01 So that would be a disgrace, say. So I said: do you think that all we have been waiting for is that there come some little prince of theirs above, and that is the one He will bring down? And who is that? That is how I knew, and that was the answer. Not because of some — they thought — ruach hakodesh. No. Because it was said with certainty, they thought that... Yes, even by plain human understanding, yes. Or that Mashiach would come in a week, because they said, 'Surely in a week we will be redeemed, and all that.' No. One must look at things in a very simple way. For the Holy One, blessed be He — whatever He does, He does on the greatest scale. That is why there was the downfall of the prince of the nation of Egypt. You know what Egypt was! When the Holy One, blessed be He, shows His power and nullifies, He does it to the very greatest there are.
2:37 That was Egypt, the downfall of Egypt. But pay attention to a very beautiful thing that Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli writes. He truly... The Midrash Peliah, the wondrous midrash, says that the 'enemies of Israel' were left mach and rash — brought low and poor. What does it mean, 'the enemies of Israel were left mach and rash'? That is by way of euphemism. What is 'mach and rash'? What does it mean? What is this 'mach and rash' that it says? Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli asks — and it is a wonder, it is a puzzle — what is this?
Read the whole shiur in English (19 more parts)
3:04 Something that, by its plain meaning, is not understood. What is the connection? What is this 'mach and rash'? What is 'mach'? 'Rash,' poor, we can understand. But 'mach' — what is this 'mach and rash'? See what a beautiful thing Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli says. Rabbi Shimshon says that the Jewish people — if you look, we have the letters yud, shin, reish, alef, lamed — and yud.
3:34 And if we take out the alef, lamed, yud, which is the word Eli, 'my G-d,' then you see that what remains is the letters reish-shin, rash, from Yisrael. If Eli, Heaven forbid, leaves Yisrael — the Name Eli, G-d — if He leaves, so to speak, Heaven forbid, then out of Yisrael, Heaven forbid, comes rash — poor. We are nothing.
3:58 We crash at once; we cannot exist. This nation has endured through all the years because G-d is with us. So this is the secret of Yisrael. Either G-d is with you, or you are, Heaven forbid, paupers. You can never credit anything to yourself. The whole name Yisrael is Eli and rash. That is it: either you are rash, or you are with Eli. You have no middle.
4:23 You cannot make it be both this and that; rather, it is only Eli. So when we are Eli, what is fulfilled in us? Yisrael. And how was it with Yaakov? 'For you have striven with the Divine and with men, and you have prevailed.' Yaakov Avinu wrestled with that man, 'as he wrestled with him,' until the break of dawn. What is 'as he wrestled with him, until the break of dawn'? This is the secret of the angel Samech-Mem, who fought and wrestled with him, and then he defeated him: 'For you have striven with the Divine and with men, and you have prevailed.'
4:55 What is said right away? You have merited the level of Yisrael. Yisrael is Eli and rash. So when we are only with the Eli, we cancel all the poverty, and then there is abundance, and the Jewish people is victorious. That is Yisrael. But when, Heaven forbid, the Jewish people are not good, Heaven forbid — yes, let us put it that way — then our angel above is the angel Michael.
5:25 So when, Heaven forbid, it departs — we are not doing good — then the Eli departs from Michael, and it becomes mach. And that is why King David said 'Eli, Eli' — Eli twice: one Eli to complete the mach, so that it be Michael, and one Eli to complete the rash, so that it be Yisrael. And now it is understood why he said 'Eli, Eli.' That is why he pleaded: 'Eli, Eli, why have You forsaken me?' King David says — he already saw with ruach hakodesh all that Mordechai the Jew would do.
5:54 And then Mordechai says, he says to the Holy One, blessed be He: What? Will there now be mach and rash? Is that what You want, Master of the world — that there be mach and rash? This is what Queen Esther — Mordechai the Jew and Queen Esther — knew. That is it: if You now carry out this decree, then she weeps, she says: Will mach and rash remain? That is what will remain. That is why she began to weep at once. 'Ayeles HaShachar' — pay attention — 'a psalm of David.' And then Esther says, she pleads: 'Eli, Eli' — Eli twice. One would depart from mach, one would depart from rash: from Yisrael, Eli would depart; from Michael, Eli would depart; and all that remains is rash and mach.
6:34 And so she says: 'Eli, Eli, why have You forsaken me?' Why did Eli, Eli forsake the Yisrael and the Michael? And then: 'Far from my salvation are the words of my roar.' And right away she pleads: 'My G-d, I call by day and You do not answer' — this is the reason — 'and by night, and there is no silence for me.' This is the reason we pray and are not answered. But notice what is said right after: 'Yet You are holy, enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
7:00 In You our fathers trusted; in You they trusted, and You rescued them. To You they cried out and escaped; in You they trusted and were not shamed.' Right away Queen Esther pleads, and shows the Holy One, blessed be He, that the way to bring back these letters to the name is the trait of bitachon: that we trust solely in the Holy One, blessed be He, and credit ourselves with no power or importance at all — that we are nothing.
7:26 'But let him who glories glory in this: understanding and knowing Me.' And so this is what Queen Esther said. And notice: then King David goes on and begins to pray in words of very great submission and lowliness. See what he says: 'But I am a worm and not a man, the scorn of men, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they curl their lip, they shake their head. Cast it upon Hashem — He will rescue him, He will save him, for He delights in him. For You drew me from the womb; You made me trust at my mother's breasts.
7:51 Upon You I was cast from birth; from my mother's womb, Eli atah — You are my G-d.' Notice: he brought back 'Eli atah.' He brought back the 'Eli atah' further on. What I am completing for you here is an explanation of my own on the words of the Maharash of Ostropoli, because there it already ended earlier, right? Rabbi Shimshon does not, he does not continue. But from here I see where he brings back the letters: 'Eli atah.' When he mentioned the trait of bitachon, he prayed to the Holy One, blessed be He, and then the Jewish people — when 'in You our fathers trusted, in You they trusted, and You rescued them.'
8:19 What is the connection, 'in You they trusted, and You rescued them'? From what do You need to rescue them? What do we have to be saved from? Rather, our greatest rescue is from that angel, Samech-Mem. And when we nullify him, we take from him the letters alef-lamed, and when we are lacking, we complete them into our name. You nullify the Satan.
8:44 And when can the Satan be Samech-Mem with the rest of his name? When we leave E-l, G-d, he has power, and it becomes his name. When we cling to E-l, he is left as Samech-Mem. That is why in the time to come the Holy One, blessed be He, slaughters him, and all that remains is a holy angel, because the Holy One, blessed be He, nullifies him. And that is why she said here 'Eli atah' — she brought back the 'Eli atah.' For notice: we have only one. 'Do not be far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help.
9:09 Many bulls surround me; the mighty ones of Bashan encircle me. They open their mouths at me, like a tearing, roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are pulled apart; my heart is like wax, melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, my tongue cleaves to my palate, and You lay me in the dust of death. For dogs surround me; a band of evildoers closes in on me — like a lion, at my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; they look on and stare at me. They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. But You, Hashem, do not be far; my strength, hurry to my help. Save my soul from the sword, my only one from the grip of the dog.'
9:35 Notice that he says 'al tirchak' — 'do not be far.' He does not say 'Eli, al tirchak,' but 'al tirchak.' Why this alef-lamed? It corresponds to what I explained to you before: because it is to take the alef-lamed from Samech-Mem. To take from him — 'al tirchak.' She said: 'Do not be far; my strength, hurry to my help. Save my soul from the sword.' Whose is this sword? Samech-Mem's. The Satan's. That is why she said 'al tirchak.' 'Al tirchak' — in order to take back the alef-lamed of Samech-Mem, to take that away from him.
10:02 That is why right away she says: 'Save my soul from the sword.' What does a sword have to do with it? Because who has this sword? It is that angel, the one who is the master of the sword. '...my only one from the grip of the dog.' That is what is written in the teaching of Rabbi Yishmael: from what does his face turn green — from this his face turns green, from this his face turns green, from this his face turns yellow, from this he is defiled — from that very sword that Rabbi Yishmael speaks of. 'Save me from the lion's mouth; from the horns of the wild oxen You have answered me.' This corresponds to the Megillah, which is read with ten, with the blessings — 'in the midst of the congregation' — the way it is read in public.
10:31 'In the midst of the congregation I will praise You' — this corresponds to the Megillah. 'You who fear Hashem, praise Him! All you seed of Yaakov, honor Him; stand in awe of Him, all you seed of Israel. For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the poor, nor has He hidden His face from him' — 'nor has He hidden His face from him' — this corresponds to Megillas Esther: 'He has not hidden His face from him.' 'And when he cried out to Him, He heard. From You comes my praise in the great congregation; I will pay my vows before those who fear Him. The humble shall eat and be satisfied' — this corresponds to the feast — 'the humble shall eat and be satisfied,' of the feast. 'Those who seek Hashem shall praise Him; may your hearts live forever.
10:57 All the ends of the earth shall remember and return to Hashem, and all the families of the nations shall bow down before You. For kingship is Hashem's, and He rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and bow down; before Him shall kneel all who go down to the dust' — this corresponds to Haman's kneeling: he knelt to Mordechai; in the end he bowed down to him. Everyone knelt before Mordechai the Jew. '...and whose soul cannot stay alive. Seed shall serve Him' — this corresponds to 'and speaking peace to all his seed.' There the Megillah ends. 'It shall be told of the L-rd to the generation. They shall come and tell His righteousness to a people yet to be born, that He has done it.'
11:25 That is it, with Hashem's help. This is a kind of hint that one can explain, a new insight, on the Maharash of Ostropoli.
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