‫תשפ׳ד‬ ‫בס׳ד‬

‫מסכת ביטוי כנה‬

387.

The externals of ‫ אדם‬is merely earth. Humans are externally no different from animals. But the
internals of a human is ‫מתפלל‬. This is what differentiates us from animals.

389.

As we get closer to ‫ימות משיח‬, this notion of enjoying life is becoming much more universally
accepted. And also in the religious world, the same is true. The idea that ‫ מצוות‬are for our
benefit, is becoming extremely normalized and accepted. This was a fundamental belief of Rav
Kook and the Piaseczna Rebbe. And I struggle to understand why this is not a universally
accepted notion.

390.

Why does the ‫ קודש קודשים‬have the ‫כרובים‬, this seems no different to idols. How can this be the
highest level in the world? I think the idea of the ‫ משכן‬is that it redefines what worship looks like.
BNY only knew ‫עבודה זרה‬, so to combat this, we have the organized worship of the ‫משכן‬. And
we see the introduction to the ‫ משכן‬is giving a donation to Hashem. This combats the self
serving goal of ‫עבודה זרה‬, and the purely emotional drive of ‫עבודה זרה‬. But I think the message
of the ‫כרובים‬, is that there is a higher level. The ‫ קודש קודשים‬is to channel the passionate energy
of ‫ עבודה זרה‬into our organized worship of Hashem. And what is crucial is that the root is a
relationship with Hashem. The root can not be receiving from Hashem.

394.

The first Halacha of the ‫ שולחן ערוך‬is to wake up the sun. This is the experience of the morning
and of ‫שחרית‬.

396.

What is so bad with randomness? There are 3 answers. The practical answer is that we are less
efficient. No thought, means no planning. And if there is no plan, then we are decreasing the
amount we can accomplish. Additionally, any creation that has randomness as its foundation
will easily collapse. This is the weakest answer, since most people who live with randomness
are not concerned about having accomplishments. The ideological answer is that it creates a
toxic culture. Randomness creates a culture where nothing matters. And this notion leads to
complete chaos and destruction. The final answer is the emotional answer. Even if everything
seems inherently meaningless, we must create our own purpose. Since caring about life creates
joy. There is a direct correlation between the level of meaning in something and the joy you get
from it. So anyone that wants to enjoy life, must learn how to infuse their actions with meaning.
402.

‫ אלוקים‬represents nature itself. The first ‫ פרק‬of breshit only uses the word ‫אלוקים‬, because ‫אלוקים‬
is connected to the laws of physics and the presentation of the universe. This is why it is
connected to 6. But the four letter name of ‫ ה׳‬is above the universe. This is the name that is
used by all of the ‫מכות‬. While ‫ אלוקים‬is more associated with the world we understand, ‫ יקוק‬is
associated with miracles, and 8. And this is why the ‫ חרטומים‬said to Paroah that the plagues
were ‫אצבע אלוקים‬, and then Paroah hardened his heart. Since they thought this was something
they could explain and replicate. Now the deep question is that we know ‫ה׳ אלוקינו ה׳ אחד‬. On
the one hand we have the ability to explain everything. Through Torah, we can slowly
understand more and more about the universe. And through science, we have the ability to
understand Hashem on a deeper level. But on the other hand, everything is miraculous and not
explainable. This is because ‫ יקוק‬and ‫ אלוקים‬are one being. The 6 and the 8 are really both 7.

404.

We can really see this lesson from ‫יעקב אבינו‬. In the end of ‫ וישלך‬and the beginning of ‫וישב‬, we
see Yaakov’s children causing problems. Shimon and Levi kill all of ‫שכם‬. Reuven sleeps with
Bilha. Yosef is dreaming about his brothers worshiping him. A lot of messed up things. So why
is Yaakov not taking more control of his wild children? After all of these events, it always says
that Yaakov takes note. He is aware of the actions of his children. But instead of reacting
strongly right away, and disciplining immediately, he has patience.

409.

We can see this with ‫ קין‬and ‫לוי‬. After ‫ קין‬kills his brother, Hashem forces ‫ קין‬to never have his
own land, and He makes it essentially impossible for him to become a farmer. The only other
murder in all of Bereshit is with ‫ לוי‬and ‫ שמעון‬when they kill all of ‫שכם‬. And the result is that they
are scattered amongst Israel, and have no land of their own. And the connections continue
further with ‫’קין‬s children. Two of his descendants are the brothers ‫ יבל‬and ‫יובל‬. Phonetically,
they have the opposite name of ‫לוי‬. The description of ‫ יבל‬is the father of music. And ‫ יובל‬is the
father of ‫ יושב אוהל‬and ‫מקנה‬. These are the exact same jobs that ‫ לוי‬eventually has. The ‫לויים‬
play music and the ‫ כהנים‬live in the ‫ מקדש‬and give ‫קרבנות‬. So what’s the difference between
them? How is that ‫ קין‬is the lowest level and ‫ לוי‬is the highest? The difference is how they
expressed their passion. The first story of both ‫ קין‬and ‫ לוי‬are introduced with killing people out
of anger. We then see Hashem guide ‫ קין‬and ‫ יעקב‬guiding ‫ לוי‬by forcing them to be creative.
Hashem curses the land for ‫ קין‬because He doesn’t want him to be a farmer. Since ‫ קין‬has this
unique passion, Hashem wants ‫ קין‬to channel his passion into a creative outlet that can create
innovation for mankind. And this is exactly what we see happens with ‫ קין‬building the first city,
and all his children continue to be innovative. And ‫ יעקב‬sends the same message for ‫לוי‬. But
there is one other aspect of their punishments. And this is what differentiated ‫ לוי‬from ‫קין‬. After
‫ קין‬is told not to have any permanent dwelling and own land, we see him build a city. This is the
exact opposite of Hashem’s “punishment.” And a city is deeply connected to the ego. Cities are
not about building communities and relationships. They are about building personal success.
Both ‫ קין‬and ‫ לוי‬channeled their passion towards a creative outlet. But ‫ קין‬corrupted this creativity
by utilizing it for personal gain. ‫ לוי‬is the exact opposite. He removes his ego, and channels his
passionate energy to become a permanent ‫עבד ה׳‬. And the end of ‫’לוי‬s story is working in the
‫בית המקדש‬. But the end of ‫’קין‬s story is ‫תובל קין‬, who is the inventor of bronze weapons and
warfare. And I think the idea is that the difference between serving Hashem in the highest way
and bringing the biggest destruction on to the world is how you express your inner fire. Is the
ego controlling the fire, or does the fire control the ego?

410.

Moshe’s decision to break the ‫ לוחות‬was not a spur of the moment, emotional decision. In fact, it
wasn’t even a result of the ‫עגל הזהב‬. After Hashem tells BNY the ‫עשרת הדברות‬, the Torah says
BNY saw the thunder and heard the noises from before the ‫דברות‬, and were petrified. Even
before Hashem started speaking, BNY already couldn’t handle the ‫דברות‬. Since the idea of the
first ‫ לוחות‬is that they were so elevated, they had no relationship with BNY. This is the reason
the ‫ לוחות‬had to break. The only way BNY were able to relate to the ‫ לוחות‬was if they broke.
Which is why this decision by Moshe was decided far before the ‫עגל‬.

‫הדרן עלך מסכת ביטוי כנה‬