‫תשפ׳ד‬ ‫בס׳ד‬

‫מסכת מחנך הכוכבים‬

74.

Everything before ‫ אברהם‬displayed failures in relationships. Every single relationship was a

failure before ‫וארא‬. Everything changes after the ‫ברית מילה‬. After this point, there are struggles
and lows in every relationship. But every single relationship we see ends in a positive way. So
what is so significant about a ‫ ?ברית מילה‬One of the main words we see over and over again in
‫ לך לך‬is the word ‫רשות‬. Avraham came to Israel with ‫רשות‬. He left when there was a famine. He
and ‫ לוט‬separate because of ‫רשות‬. But afterwards, we see an entirely different focus. The
problem with ‫ אברם‬was because he was focused on his external world. And the ‫ חידוש‬of ‫אברהם‬
was developing his internal world. And what revealed the internal world was removing the ‫ערלה‬.
Since an ‫ ערלה‬is the covering of the most physical organ. And there is an idea that having an
‫ ערלה‬leads to more stimulation and therefore more pleasure. But the ‫ ערלה‬is literally blocking the
connection between a man and wife. So the idea of an ‫ ערלה‬is more pleasure, and less
connection. So the idea of a ‫ ברית מילה‬is to uncover this barrier, and be focused on building
relationships rather than personal pleasure. Once this barrier is broken, their internal greatness
can sprout out.

75.

This is why ‫ פסח‬is connected to Avraham. ‫ סוכות‬is connected to ‫יצחק‬. And ‫ שבועות‬is connected
to ‫יעקב‬.

76.

There are two types of ‫תלמידים‬. One that gets excited about questions, and one that wants to
jump to the conclusion of a topic. These are both important traits to have, but the first student
will almost always have more joy then the second student. When you truly fall in love with
questions, you will realize that everything has depths, and there is not just one answer. Instead
you will realize every answer will open the door for ten other questions. And this is the energy
and passion that a student needs for ‫תלמוד תורה‬. Because the second ‫ תלמיד‬will find the
answers he is looking for and then be satisfied with what he has learnt. But the reality is that
‫ תורה‬is infinite, and any real ‫ תלמיד‬understands that ‫ תלמוד תורה‬is an eternal journey. This is why
the Gemara poses so many questions that end with ‫תיקו‬. This is why questions are the most
important thing for a ‫תלמיד‬.

77.

‫דף ג‬: of ‫ חגיגה‬perfectly explains this concept of ‫חידוש‬. Rebbi Eliezer, asks Rebbi Yosi what
‫ חידושים‬were made in the ‫בית מדרש‬. Rebbi Yosi replies by explaining how the ‫ בית מדרש‬decided
that Amon and Moav should give ‫ מעשר‬during a ‫ שמיטה‬year. Rebbi Eliezer then blinds Rebbi
Yosi and chastises him by explaining how this idea was passed down from his Rabbis all the
way back to Moshe Rabbeinu. The message is that no one discovers something new. This is
not our goal. We are purely meant to reveal Hashem’s Torah.

79.

This is a huge idea that definitely works well with many other concepts. Mankind is for sure
meant to be revealers. But is there not the concept that we are meant to be creators like
Hashem? Is the first ‫ מצווה‬of mankind not to create a child? There must be a deep answer. But
this is very difficult to me. My only thought is that this is the one exception to the rule. With
everything in life we are purely revealers. But if we are just revealers, while Hashem is just a
creator, then there would be a disconnect between ‫ שמים‬and ‫ארץ‬. So to connect the two, we
must realize that we came into the world because of a creation with both Hashem and mankind.
And once we have this prerequisite understanding, then we can go on to reveal Hashem’s
creations.

84.

Hiding brokenness is the most destructive thing in the world. Sedom was broken, but they
wouldn’t express it. They hid their brokenness and put on a facade of being strong. This led to
the city being consumed by their fire. Since this is what happens to people that hide their
brokenness. It eventually consumes them.

88.

This ‫ שיעור‬has so many parts and so much depth, that it feels indigestible. What a beautiful way
to illustrate the entire concept of the ‫שיעור‬. The ‫ שיעור‬starts with the difference between the two
‫לוחות‬. Then it talks about the duality of mankind compared to the oneness of Hashem. Then it
talks about how brokenness is not ‫ בדיעבד‬but rather the ideal. Then it starts comparing the ‫משכן‬
with ‫הר סיני‬. And then the ‫ שיעור‬finishes up by discussing breaking things up to be digestible.
This ‫ שיעור‬covers an insane amount of ‫תורה‬, so I feel there is nothing to comment. So now that it
is broken up, I hope it can be developed.

90.

What’s interesting is that on ‫ דף פג‬of ‫בבא קמא‬, paying back damages is referred to as ‫תשלומין‬.
The gemara always has referred to paying back damages as ‫משלם‬. But the specific phrase of
‫תשלומין‬, is only said in this sugiya about ‫עין תחת עין‬. And the ‫ מחלוקת‬of this sugiya is if the
punishment for blinding someone is they are blinded, or if they pay compensations to the person
they blinded. The real ‫ מחלוקת‬is if punishments are meant for the offender to feel the pain they
caused, or if they are meant to correct the mistake they made. And we hold “ ‫מה מכה בהמה‬
‫ אף מכה אדם לתשלומין‬,‫לתשלומין‬.” The conclusion is we hold punishments are ‫תשלומין‬. But with this
sugiya in mind, we can understand ‫ תשלומין‬on a different level. This sugiya shows that ‫ תשלומין‬is
about correcting a mistake. And we are holding that ‫ תשלומין‬for ‫ תפילה‬is connected to our desire.
But in this sugiya of ‫עין תחת עין‬, there is no person who desires to pay the person. They likely
have a feeling of guilt and therefore, they want to make things right. But they definitely don’t
desire to pay money. I think this is actually the same thing with ‫תפילה‬. When someone misses
‫שחרית‬, they probably feel some guilt. And they have a desire to “correct” their mistake. But a
person would say ‫ תשלומין‬for ‫ שחרית‬right after davening ‫מנחה‬. So how many people truly desire
to daven ‫ תשלומין‬right after finishing ‫ עמידה‬for ‫ ?מנחה‬Rather, I think the idea of ‫תשלומין‬, is that
the desire is a deep desire to be connected with Hashem. The beauty is that it isn’t from a fiery
desire. People aren’t excited about davening ‫תשלומין‬. Rather, this desire stems from a yearning
to build a relationship with Hashem. Since a healthy relationship has certain expectations. So if I
hurt someone, I naturally want to correct my mistake. So how much more so with Hashem,
where we want the deepest relationship.

95.

There are two experiences when thinking about the future that are detrimental. The lazy mindset
or the stressed and anxious mindset. People will either not demand much from themselves, and
push off working hard; which will often lead to depression. Or they will feel immense pressure to
constantly be working and doing the most they can; which will often lead to crippling anxiety.
These two mindsets are infused in the very creation of mankind. I think if we understand this on
a deep level, we can learn how to have the healthiest mindset for the future. Man was created
‫בצלם אלוקים‬. But man was also created from ‫עפר מן האדמה‬. I think of this duality on two levels.
First, is that on the one hand, we are made of dust. We are nothing, and therefore must always
be working hard. But on the other hand, we are made in Hashem’s image. We are already
perfect the way we are. The second level of this duality is that on the one hand we are ‫בצלם‬
‫אלוקים‬, and therefore have the ability and responsibility to completely change the world. But on
the other hand, we are specks of dust. We are completely meaningless, and shouldn’t take
ourselves so seriously. With this in mind, I think we are meant to both work hard to build a
future, but also understand the perfection of the present. Intellectually, we must think of the
world’s flaws and our responsibility to improve the world. But emotionally, we must have a deep
appreciation for how perfect the world already is and how great we already are.

105.

So why would I learn anything, if we can never truly know and we will always be wrong? Why
would all these scientists dedicate their life to understanding the universe, if they all know how
impossible of a task it is and that everything they will ever say will eventually be proven wrong?
The answer is because the goal is ‫ השתלמות‬and not ‫שלמות‬. Our goal is not to be perfect and
find the answers. Our goal is just to be better, continue to grow, and continue to better our
understanding and deepen our understanding. This is why we still learn Aristotle and Plato and
we still learn Newton’s physics. Even though their ideas are primitive and are very often
incorrect, by learning their ideas we deepen our understanding of the same questions they
addressed. This is what makes Gemara so beautiful. It includes opinions that the gemara itself
calls stupid. It includes primitive ideas, and ideas that are very clearly wrong. Since once we
embrace the unknown then we can enjoy the journey of each topic. And we can continue to
enhance and deepen our understanding of life through everything we learn. ‫ הלומד‬,‫איזה הוא חכם‬
‫מכל אדם‬.

108.

This is the difference between ‫ אברהם‬and ‫אברם‬. Avram was connected with success. The word
‫ רכוש‬is always mentioned around him. The reason given for ‫לך לך‬, was because it would be
good for him. Hashem always tells ‫ אברם‬to do something because it will be good for him. And
for every test, ‫ אברם‬is just focusing on passing the test. He “succeeds,” but by the end of the
parsha ‫ אברם‬is barely different from the beginning of the parsha. Since none of ‫’אברם‬s journeys
truly affected him. ‫ אברם‬enters Israel in the beginning of the parsha and by the end the only
difference is he now has even more money and ‫ישמעאל‬. He had so many opportunities. He
could have unified Israel, ruled over the country, and brought them all to be servants of
Hashem. He passes on this. But the other effects of Avram’s actions are separating with Lot,
and ignoring Sarai’s fighting with Hagar. On the basic requests of Hashem, Avram always
succeeded. So why did he need to change his name?
The name change revealed the inner ‫ה‬, inside ‫אברם‬. The externals stayed the same, but this
time he gained an internal purpose in addition to passing Hashem’s test. This internal purpose
was to build relationships with people. ‫ אברהם‬has very similar challenges that face him. But this
time, the effect was building a relationship with Avimelech, enhancing his relationship with
Sarah, and facing and figuring out the problems with his relationship with Yitchak. ‫ אברהם‬is the
father of the Jewish people. ‫ אברם‬is irrelevant and ignored.

112.

This is similar to the idea of string theory. That the entire universe is created from either open
strings, or closed strings. These strings are either lines or circles.

114.

In Masechet Shabbat, the gemara explains that when BNY got the Torah, the angels argued
with Hashem. They asked how the Torah could be given to mankind; they are only going to
disgrace it. Moshe responds to the angels and asks if any of the ‫ דיברות‬are relevant for angels.
The point he is making is that the entire purpose of Torah is to elevate the ‫ארץ‬. It would defeat
the entire purpose of the Torah to be sitting in ‫ שמים‬with angels. So too, a ‫ נ‬that isn’t bound to a
‫ס‬, would be completely irrelevant.

115.

This is scientifically sound, according to the understanding of modern physicists. Recent

discoveries explain how the universe was opaque for hundreds of thousands of years. At the
moment of the big bang, the universe was incredibly hot and dense. So much so, that photons
couldn't rest and create light. It was only after almost half a million years, that there was a
separation between light and dark and the universe became transparent. And in terms of our
lives on Earth, the sun/‫אור שני‬, was the light that allowed us to see. What’s important to
understand from this is that rationalism and mysticism are really two sides of the same coin.
They explain the same phenomena, just in different languages. And because there is immense
depth to our universe, every language needs to be understood.

142.

We can see this same idea by comparing Avraham and Bilaam. We know ‫ פרק ה‬of ‫פרקי אבות‬
compares Avraham with Bilaam. Where is this comparison from? When Bilaam wants to ask
Hashem to curse BNY, he keeps failing. Every time he tries, he keeps going to a new location.
When Avraham davens for Sedom, he fails and then “‫וישכם אברהם בבקר אל המקום אשר עמד שם‬.”
The first time he was fighting Hashem and spent 30 pesukim trying to convince Hashem. After
he fails, he returns to the same place, and changes his method. This time, he just stands in front
of Hashem. Nothing else is said. Bilaam does the opposite. Bilaam keeps the exact same
approach of sacrificing 7 bulls and 7 rams every time. Bilaam changes the external location.
Avraham changes his internal vision. So the Mishna makes a lot of sense when it says that
Avraham’s students have an ‫עין טובה‬, a ‫רוח נמוכה‬, and a ‫נפש שפלה‬. And Bilaam’s students are
the exact opposite.

149.

If you have a student that got really inspired, and wants to become more religious and start
keeping every single halacha. But just a week before, he wasn’t keeping any halacha. Should
you suggest he keeps everything right away? Or would you suggest that he should go slowly.
Obviously keeping everything right away is very dangerous and can lead towards resentment
and hatred. But what if you teach him the deeper meaning of every halacha, and the right way
to approach it. The real question is if there is ever a time that it is the right thing to not keep
halacha. The answer is for sure no. But this doesn’t answer if the child should keep everything
or not. Since the world of halacha is all encompassing. And this is why there are concepts like
‫פיקוח נפש דוחה שבת‬. There are extreme instances where even a massive ‫ מצוה‬like ‫ שבת‬is
obligated to be violated. Rav Yair said that when Tanya was dealing with her first treatment, his
rav told him he shouldn’t go to minyan, because his wife needs him. This made sense to me,
but it is still a scary sentence. So I asked him when is it ok to break Halacha? And he said
never. That when his rav told him to be with his wife, it was in accordance with halacha. He
explained that in a ‫ פיקוח נפש‬situation, you aren’t violated a mitzvah in order to do something
more important. You are observing the ‫ מצוה‬and fully observing halacha. And if you don’t break
‫ שבת‬in that case, then you would be violating halacha. And Rav Yair explained that he would
never do something controversial like that, without be told specifically by his ‫פוסק‬, who has a
deep understanding of Halacha, Rav Yair and the situation.
So I think the answer to the question is that if you don’t have a deep understanding of the
person, situation and the world of halacha, then you can never know what people should be
doing. So when someone isn’t keeping halacha, it is very likely that they are doing something
bad for them. But because we don’t know for sure, our job is not to question their actions. Our
job is to notice their actions, realize that it is indicative of an underlying issue, and try to address
that underlying issue. And this is something that requires a lot of time and effort, and therefore
can only be done out of love.
This is why the best way to actually help someone isn’t through rebuke. It’s to be a good role
model. This is why everyone is blessed through Avraham, and this is why a ‫ צדיק‬like Yaakov lifts
up an entire city. This is what we learn from our ‫אבות‬.

156.

People think that Yeshiva is the year to be selfish. It’s the one year where you get to truly focus
on yourself and shouldn't worry about other people. This has a lot of truth to it, but is also very
clearly the most twisted and backwards idea. This all stems from misunderstanding what being
alone means. Hashem starts the Torah by saying everything is good, and mankind is very good.
Hashem never says anything is ‫רע‬. The one thing Hashem says is not good, is ‫לא טוב אדם להיות‬
‫לבדו‬. The one thing that is not good is to be alone. Being selfish and self focused is the biggest
cancer to the world, to a community and most importantly to oneself. Constantly thinking about
yourself is what causes stress, anxiety, and depression. Since this mentality leads to people
constantly chasing how they can achieve more. Doing ‫ חסד‬for others is the greatest thing
someone can do for themselves. The idea of meditation, ‫התבודדות‬, or any other practice where
you are alone is not about isolating yourself. The goal is to be ok with being alone. In a world
where everyone is saying you need to accomplish more, and that you’re not good enough,
meditation allows us to appreciate the unbelievable beauty of the present moment. But ‫התבודדות‬
is not the goal of life. It is the fuel that allows us to excel in life. Once we truly feel the ‫ ברכה‬of
life, then we can always reignite this feeling when life gets difficult. This is what makes
mediation so beautiful. Mediation and ‫ התבודדות‬are unbelievable, like ‫שבת‬. But someone who
lives in ‫ שבת‬all week, is irrelevant to life. Because ‫ שבת‬all week is just living in ‫שמים‬. The goal of
‫ שבת‬is to uplift the rest of the week, so if ‫ שבת‬is causing you to ignore the world, then it defeats
the entire purpose of ‫שבת‬.

159.

This same concept applies in so many areas. In niddah, the disconnect between a husband and
wife is obviously not the goal. It's an incredibly necessary tool that enables the connection to be
much stronger. Same thing with Shabbat. Anyone who has experienced Shabbat, understands
how incredible it is to be disconnected. But anyone who thinks Shabbat is the goal, is no
different than the Meraglim. The same is true with Mashiach. People think that Mashiach is the
goal. That once we have Mashiach, we will have reached the goal. All the suffering will be
finished. And then we can finally rest and stop working hard. But this is the exact mentality that
will prevent Mashiach and instead bring the ‫מבול‬. Since Noach’s generation was all about
comfort. This explains why the midrash says that the water of the ‫ מבול‬was ‫זרע‬. And we can see
this in everything about Noach. His name means comfort. ‫ למך‬says at his birth that Noach will
comfort them from their struggles. The Mabul started when Noach was 600. Noach experienced
‫ששת ימים תעבוד‬. He had 600 years of struggle, and then he assumed the comfort was finally
coming, so now he’s done. This is why he doesn’t try to save anyone. He instead sits in his
Teva, which is the exact same as Rashbi’s cave, or the Midbar. We must realize that Mashiach
is really just the beginning. ‫ שבת‬is the 7th day. ‫ שמיטה‬is the 7th year. And Mashiach will be the
7th millennium. But we have to remember that after Shabbat there is the next week. Every
generation always thinks they are ‫דור משיח‬, and the end of the story. Secular Jews and non
Jews as well. Everyone thinks that this is the end. But once we realize that our generation is
really the beginning of an eternal journey, only then will we finally bring Mashiach. Perhaps, with
this mindset we will stop polluting the Earth. And maybe people will start to realize that all of
humanity is working towards the same goal. But the secret to get to this deep place of
connection comes first through disconnecting.

160.

This is the idea of the first generation of BNY and the second generation. The first generation
received everything from Hashem and they didn’t want to be creators, they wanted to be
receivers, which is why they couldn’t go to Israel. The second generation didn’t receive
anything. They fought wars, created a nation in Israel, and created ‫תורה שבעל פה‬. The first
generation experienced Har Sinai where Moshe was on top of the mountain and BNY received
the Torah from the bottom of the mountain as Hashem spoke to them. The second generation
created the experience of Har Grizim and Har Eval, where BNY were on top of the mountain as
the whole nation conversed. The two methods of teaching are Har Sinai and Har Grizim. Har
Sinai is a moment of inspiration that is extremely necessary. It is planting a seed. But Hashem
tells Moshe in ‫וילך‬, when he’s about to die, that everything he has worked on will be for nothing.
That the nation is going to abandon Him, and worship idols. Since Moshe just planted and cared
for the seed. A seed is just potential that needs Har Grizim. Any Torah that you just hear in a
lecture and merely receive, will eventually be forgotten. This is why ‫ תורה שבעל פה‬is absolutely
vital. The Torah is not written in a straightforward and simple way, forcing us to take part in the
conversation. To be a part of the Torah. This is why the Gemara is written as conversations. It
enabled the entire future of Am Yisrael to continue to take part in this conversation of our nation.
169 ‫ חובת‬will touch on this.
So to understand both methods of teaching, we need to understand Har Sinai and Har Grizim.
Har Sinai is one mountain and had lightning and shofars blowing. Hashem spoke directly to
BNY, and caused panic and chaos in the nation. Har Grizim is a conversation with all of BNY on
two different mountains. Hashem is not mentioned at all. And opposed to the chaos of Har
Sinai, Har Grizim has nothing special going on. If you want to plant a seed then you need to
take the inspirational route of Har Sinai. This experience must be taught through fire, passion,
and chaos. The goal is for the students to be speechless by the end. But every single
inspirational event is forgotten. It is absolutely necessary that some sort of notes are taken or
there is a follow up after the Har Sinai moment. Har Sinai means nothing if Har Grizim doesn’t
continue it. For Har Grizim, an educator must remove himself as much as possible from the
conversation. This is what creates independent learners. Har Grizim is a chaburah with the
students conversing with each other about Torah. This is the highest level of education. With
Har Grizim there was also Har Eval. In a ‫ חבורה‬there will be ‫מחלקות‬. This is why the essence of
Mishna is ‫מחלוקת‬. This is very scary when you are coming from the place of lecturing and Har
Sinai. But when on Har Grizim, and the entire goal is the conversation, then the ‫ מחלוקת‬is
absolutely essential and unbelievably beautiful.
161.

I agree with this idea. But if Hashem wanted the first generation to be independent, why does he
split the ‫ ?ים סוף‬And maybe you can say that we had to initiate it, with Nachshon running in, or
Moshe putting his staff down. But there are so many more contradictions. Why does he provide
us with Maan? Why does he cover us with the ‫ ?ענני הכבוד‬Why is there a constant stream of
water provided for us? Why is the Torah given to us? The entire story of the first generation was
about being given everything from Hashem. And it’s possible to say that this is just because the
reality was BNY needed this. And that ideally BNY would be completely independent. I would
want to agree with this, and it is very possible this is true. But at the same time, it seems to me
that Hashem wants BNY to be reliant on Him. That the goal of the Midbar is for the first
generation to recognize that they need Hashem and they need Torah. And only after Har Sinai,
does Hashem want BNY to become independent. To start developing ‫תורה שבעל פה‬. To start
becoming creators. But we constantly see the opposite, where they want to be dependent. They
want to go back to Mitzrayim. And the Meraglim want to stay in the desert. This is why the first
generation needs to completely die out, and then the second generation enters Israel and gets
married to Hashem at Har Grizim. And it is the second generation where independence
becomes their essence.

162.

There is another aspect of ‫אכילה‬. Being fed is the biggest act of dependency possible. The first
generation were constantly fed by Hashem. When we experience Pesach every year, our job is
to take the other approach of ‫אכילה‬. The approach that Rav Yair talks about. When we re-
experience ‫ יציאת מצרים‬every year, we experience it from the lens of the second generation.
During ‫יציאת מצרים‬, the first generation “ate” and enjoyed the salvation from Hashem. But now,
we eat from a different place. A place of individualized and personalized experience, that opens
the world of independence. It is from this aspect of ‫אכילה‬, that Rav Yair is highlighting.

164.

This idea is very nice and accurate. You can learn this from ‫ נדב‬and ‫אביהו‬, but it is very difficult
to say this is the lesson from their story. It is very hard for me to not think the message of their
story is teaching the dangers of ‫ התבודדות‬with no boundaries. Being a circle with no restrictions.
Experiencing ‫ שפע‬with no ‫צמצום‬. We know that there is a major ‫ איסור‬to make ‫במות‬. But why? It’s
such a beautiful idea to serve Hashem wherever we want and whenever we want. But the ‫הלכה‬
is that we can only bring ‫ קרבנות‬at the Beit Hamikdash. Serving Hashem in the fiery way of
bringing a ‫ קרבן‬can only be done in a very specific way. So Rav Yair’s commentary that the
lesson of ‫ נדב‬and ‫ אביהו‬is that we shouldn’t abandon serving Hashem in a fiery way, is very
problematic to me. The imagery of ‫ נדב‬and ‫ אביהו‬being consumed by the fire they made seems
to paint the perfect picture of the danger of giving korbanot without the framework of Halacha.
‫ נדב‬and ‫ אביהו‬are clearly at a very high level, and it should not be thought that they aren’t ‫צדיקים‬.
But the lesson from their story must be about the danger of passion with no system. That a ‫נ‬
with no ‫ס‬, is just a ‫נופל‬.

166.

This might connect to the ‫ מחלוקת‬in Brachot about if ‫ תפילה‬is established on the ‫ אבות‬or ‫קרבנות‬.
The ‫ תפילה‬of the ‫ אבות‬came entirely from a personal and individualized place. But the ‫ תפילה‬of
‫ קורבנות‬was very structured and had a very strict and clear system. The conclusion of the
Gemara is that ‫ תפילה‬is established on the principles of the ‫ אבות‬and the ‫ חכמים‬made an ‫אסמכת‬
to ‫קרבנות‬. What this seems to suggest is that the idea of our ‫ תפילה‬is that its essence is an
individualized and personalized prayer, similar to ‫ התבודדות‬and ‫ נדב‬and ‫אביהו‬. But the
experience and structure come from the system of ‫קרבנות‬. This acts as a ‫ סומך‬to the ‫נופלים‬. It
provides structure and focus for the inherent freedom of ‫תפילה‬. This prevents the fire and
passion to consume you like it did with ‫ נדב‬and ‫אביהו‬. But what Rav Yair is highlighting is that
the inherent aspect of ‫ תפילה‬is this prayer. It comes from a place of personalized passion. The
internal is individual and personalized, but the external is communal and systematic.

169.

This is also why the bracha on Torah is in present tense. ‫ברוך אתה ה׳ נותן התורה‬. Hashem is
continuously revealing the torah.

176.

Isn’t this idea completely contradictory to the previous shiur on second chances? We say here
that the internal must always be the same, we just need to present it differently to different types
of people. But this is the exact opposite concept of what Hashem does with second chances.
That the difference between the first and second is only about the internal vision. This is
because there are two things to be done to explain an idea. The first is to present an idea in a
way that connects to the person you are speaking with. And the way we accomplish this is
merely by altering the presentation, but keeping the same internal lesson. This is the idea Rav
Yair is explaining here. The second is what is done with ‫פסח‬, the ‫לוחות‬, and ‫תפילה‬. The other
approach is changing the external environment of the person you are dealing with, which results
in an internal change. In both of these approaches, the only thing we can change is the external
presentation. The first is changing the presentation of the material being explained. And the
second is changing the atmosphere so the material can be seen in a different light. Both of
these methods are necessary to explain an idea.

178.

It seems like the relationships are actually improved here and not shattered. When the snake is
punished by eating dirt, this actually seems like a reward. The snake will never have to work for
food. It has an unlimited supply of food and can eat anywhere at any time. The analogy to this is
a father kicking out his child but giving him a credit card to buy whatever he wants. While the
child can buy anything, the relationship between him and his father completely ended. So then
there’s a huge question. Isn’t ‫’אדם‬s punishment of cursing the land really a reward? ‫ אדם‬is now
forced to work harder for the land. Before the sin, he had unlimited food at his disposal, and now
he has no choice but to work for his food; therefore, forcing him to have a stronger relationship
with the land. I think the answer is that these “punishments” were really just ways Hashem
forced people to work harder on relationships. In the beginning, the snake could talk, walk and
was ‫ערום מכל חית השדה‬, it was so similar to a person. Therefore, there isn’t so much effort
needed for a relationship. Now, the snake is in a position where it is much more difficult for
relationships to form. ‫ חוה‬was originally an ‫עזר כנגדו‬. With her and Adam on equal playing fields,
it is easy to have a mutual respect for each other. Before the sin, relationships required very
minimal effort. It was almost a given that in ‫ גן עדן‬everything was connected. But things that are
easy and require minimal effort, often end up being executed in a less than ideal way. So after
the sin, Hashem teaches that relationships can only be made through effort. Mankind needs to
put in effort to have a relationship with animals. Mankind needs to put in effort to have a
relationship with land. And mankind needs to put in effort to have relationships with each other.
It’s very easy to have a relationship with someone similar to you. It’s much more difficult to have
a relationship with someone with a completely different background. It’s even more difficult to
have a relationship with someone who is meant to be ‫ימשל בו‬. It is nearly impossible to try to
form a relationship with your enemies. Or with inferiors. Or with animals. With plants or land.
And it is laughable to think about having a relationship with a rock. But Hashem made it difficult
for real relationships to form, so when they do form, they will have a much deeper and
meaningful bond. To make our world into more of an ideal world, we must push hard to form
deep relationships with ourselves. People very different from us. People with different statuses
in life. Animals. Any form of life. Land. And really everything in the universe.

179.

The head is ‫מוח‬, the heart is ‫לב‬, and your desires/feet are ‫כבד‬. When working from our desires
first, then our emotions and then rationalization we end up disconnecting the world like ‫ אדם‬and
‫חוה‬. This is ‫כֹוָלם כלּום‬. Everyone is nothing, because everything is disconnected. But when we do
the opposite. And work first from our ‫מוח‬, then connecting our ideas with our emotions, and then
working with our desires, we live life at the highest level. This is being a ‫מלך‬.

‫הדרן עלך מסכת מחנך הכוכבים‬