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Why Did Blood Flow When Titus Stabbed the Holy Curtain?

The Yetzer Hara of Our Times: Who Do I Think I Am?

1 hr 12 min

Class Summary:

This is a text-based class by Rabbi YY Jacobson, on a Maamar, a Chassidic discourse by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Maamar V'hikrisem, presented by the Rebbe on Shabbos Parshas Matos-Masei, 26 Tammuz, 5712, July 19, 1952.

The class was presented on Thursday, Parshas Pinchas, 17 Tammuz, 5780, July 9, 2020, streaming live from Rabbi Jacobson's home in Monsey, NY 

Please leave your comment below!

  • H

    harvey -3 years ago

    Rabbi, you explained how the Yetzer Horah (or the Klippah) is the voice inside of us that says, I’m no good, I’m not worthy, I’m a sinner, I did so many things wrong, who am I to think that I can approach the RBS”O and for forgiveness, and ask for a good year , and for parnassah?!

    Rabbi Sinmcha Weinberg Shlit’a says, on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, in every Sh’moneh Esrei, we say “U’v’chein, tayn pachdechah . . . “ and “U’v’chein, tayn kavod . . .”, and “U’v’chein, Tzadidkim . . . “ What’s this “U’v’chein”?

    He says, that in Megillas Esther, 4:16 לֵךְ כְּנוֹס אֶת-כָּל-הַיְּהוּדִים הַנִּמְצְאִים בְּשׁוּשָׁן, וְצוּמוּ עָלַי וְאַל-תֹּאכְלוּ וְאַל-תִּשְׁתּוּ שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים לַיְלָה וָיוֹם--גַּם-אֲנִי וְנַעֲרֹתַי, אָצוּם כֵּן; וּבְכֵן אָבוֹא אֶל-הַמֶּלֶךְ, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-כַדָּת, וְכַאֲשֶׁר אָבַדְתִּי, אָבָדְתִּי.16 'Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.'

    Rabbi Weinberg explains, Esther said to Mordechai, let all the Jews in Shushan fast for me for 3 days and nights, and I and my maidens, too, will fast for 3 days and nights. After the 3 days, I will have not showered, not washed my hair, not changed my clothes and I’m gonna stink and look all disheveled . . . וּבְכֵן אָבוֹא אֶל-הַמֶּלֶךְ

    That’s is what it means when we say 3 times in each Shmoneh Esrei, וּבְכֵן  -->I am soiled, I am no good, I have made so many mistakes and sins, some intentionally and some by accident, I said bad things to, and about, people, and I stink and look disheveled and feel unworthy . . . וּבְכֵן אָבוֹא אֶל-הַמֶּלֶךְ –

    Nonetheless, I come before you to do teshuva.

    And My thought is that teshuva does not mean repentance, it comes from the shoresh la’shuv – to return, which means to return to the relationship that I had with you Hashem, before I messed up.

    Kol Tuv!Warmly,

    Harvey (Heshie) Klein, MD,

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  • S

    Sara -3 years ago

    You cracked me up with the story

    Of the boy who was singing his own song. That happens 😊

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  • M

    Molly -3 years ago

    WOW !!!!!

    Dear Rabbi. 

    Thank you for today's class. It was so deep and yet basic ! It was so fundamental. an absolute 101 life class. It also gives another whole understanding to free will because when you understand a Mitzva vs a sin your starting point is different. 
    It felt like one of the classes from basics of Emuna !

    Even after hearing the class of does HaShem need you, today's class added more deeptg and explanation.
    A very special class ! 

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  • Anonymous -3 years ago

    The idea the Rebbe makes is found in the great Mussar sefarim, for example, in Rabenu Yonah in Yesod Hateshuva

     

    Smiliarly in Mesilas Yesharim (19) regarding Davening:

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  • Anonymous -3 years ago

    The Tzemech Tzedek writes תמונה

    תמונה

    it seems that only a talmid chacham needs this yeshus NS THE WAY WE ARE SAYING - IT IS THE OPPOSITE SOMEONE WHO IS NOT A TALMID CHACHAM NEEDS IT?

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  • M

    Moshe -3 years ago

    Question for Rabbi YY

    Can it be said, then, that the yetzer hora has many weapons at his disposal. Some weapons are actually opposite one to the other. E.g. to one person he convinces him he's a nothing, worthless etc (and so this person needs a but of self esteem, yeshus); whereas to another person he convinces him that he's G-ds gift to mankind, the greatest the best (and conversely, this person needs to be lowered)?

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  • A

    Aharon -3 years ago

    I think the real secret is not to put the shiur on double speed rather to put it on 1/2 speed!

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  • M

    Moshe -3 years ago

    Question for Rabbi YY

    The Divine Energy is in the blood. We deal with the blood of korbonos and meat to be eaten in very particular ways. We are not to cause blood to flow out of living beings, certainly not humans, wantonly. How does this fit with the old (and maybe current) practice of bloodletting and the modern blood transfusions?

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  • M

    Moshe -3 years ago

    Question for Rabbi YY

    Hashem conveying a message to the yidden with the blood that its painful for Him as well. But, this is the second churban, perhaps the pain was attenuated by the historical fact that this destruction has occured before and yet, there was a geula from that golus and a rebuilding of the Beis hamigdash.

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  • NB

    nunya bizness -3 years ago

    Question for Rabbi YY

    its interesting to think about the correlation of the 17 tamuz and the cessation of the daily Tamid in relation to the depth of the relationship expressed through the tamid (based on your class earlier this week and last year's Women's class on the same topic) Also, the line about the therapist saying a healthy relationship requires checking in every 3 hours is fascinating.

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  • S

    Sara -3 years ago

    Thoughts and Questions

    These are the things/thoughts;questions I got out of the First Class on Monday.

     

    1.  Gd has been compassionate from the beginning because HE knew that HE created us with flaws that HE wanted us to overcome. HE gives us and keeps giving us many  opportunities to do that, to overcome our challenges and to work on making ourselves better. One of the reasons we are still here is because of HIS compassion. 

     

    2. Adam and Chava did not die immediately after they ate from the Tree, but they did eventually die. Could not that be the meaning of “you shall die”? that instead of living  forever, we will all die eventually because of their act. But I keep thinking that is the way HE wanted it in the first place. There was no intent for us to live forever?

     

    3.   Besides the creation of the cities of refuge for those who kill by accident as well as when HE “decides” that we did something inadvertently, there must be other examples of HIM saying you will die and we didn't because of HIS compassion? Where is such. behavior of Him judging that it was an inadvertent  sin and giving us a pass so to speak? Itt's in almost everything  we do wrong, no?  Accident vs on purpose  Gd compassionate either way in most cases.? If on purpose, more of a consequence?

     

    4. Committing an averah... passing blood from one to another, like murder . The cosmic explanation of transporting energy of holiness into the domain of unholiness. Holiness is therefore destroyed or is it blocked (from us)?  This is a whole new way for me  to see what exactly an averah is, what it causes, what it does ! Flip side when you do a mitzvah it benefits the world. Can it be said that it is like murdering your chances of “living” ? Serving Gd is living.

     

    5. Always thought klippa was a negative concept, no?  You said yourself that we talk about klippa as a “horrible thing”. Where did we get that idea from? You said it is a concealment from oneness. Seems convoluted. Klippa starts off good and ends up not so much. uch!!

     

    6. Yetzer Harah created by Gd too. Another way for Gd ensure that we are constantly being challenged and hopefully growing. 

     

    7. Self confident better word than arrogance, at least for me. Arrogance seems like a derogatory characteristic. . So many people appear to not have the self confidence, either in general but definitely in moments of their/our lives. Constantly have to work on it.

     

    All of this makes me understand/be more aware of how we’re supposed to make ourselves better, every day. And that we collectively and individually mess up a lot and Gd is here to help us through it all.. 

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  • M

    Moshe -3 years ago

    Came late to class. Comments from previous class.

    1. "On the day you eat of the tree you shall die". But he didn't.  Change of mind? Or was the concept of  death in  general and the eventual death of  Adam the  result,  the consequence  the punishment, fir disobeying?

    2. Was Adam caught between a rock (Hashem often called a rock) and a hard place (wife)? Hashem said "don't eat". Chava said "eat". What to do? Moreover Adam was unaware of what had never existed before, namely the  concept of  sin and  punishment and death.  So either way it can be seen as "accidental" and the thus the fact that death was brought into the world by this act, it was "accidental murder". So he was banished from Gan Eden like later accidental murderers  were banished to  orey miklot.  

    3. We know that  the concept of  "ben sorer u'morer" never actually happened. Do we know if any accidental murderers  were ever actually banished to  an orey miklot  (with their teachers)? 

    4. Excuse me, but I've heard that there are  movies where the audience is  given the choice of  two endings, tragedy or  happy. Hashem gives free choice yet knows our choices in advance. Past, present and future all the same to Him. Here, before the chait aitz hadaas, there were two possible trajectories the world could take and it depended upon Adam's choice. As usual Hashem knew his choice in advance.  If He had wanted a different result He could have made the  circumstances less enticing and convincing.  So somehow we must say that He wanted this choice, this trajectory for the world,  the possibility of  death,  etc. 

    5. It was said that Cain and Hevel were sin #1. Wasn't the eating from the tree and the passing of  the  blame the first sins? 

    6. A talmud chocham must have an eighth of an eigth of gayva. One sixty fourth. Notice that is less than the one sixtieth we consider "bottel b'shimshin".

    7. A Bt must have a little arrogance to keep his individuality at first. Later on a talmud chocham doesn't even need that. Notice that the teeny bit of arrogance,  the fact that Har Sinai was the lowest of mountains,  but a mountain it was, one spice out of the eleven was foul, and the shell/kelipa that protects the immature fruit until its ripe, all have this "a little bit to the side of 'bad' "' in common.

    8. This maamer says a new bt must have a teeny bit of yeshus to keep his individuality,  etc. Yet, some in the musser movement try to make him a complete low shmatta.  They have bocherim go into a bakery e ask for a  pound of nails.  Obviously a very different approach.  

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Chassidus: Maamer V'hikrisem, Matos-Masei 5712 #2

Rabbi YY Jacobson

  • July 9, 2020
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  • 17 Tamuz 5780
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  • 850 views

Dedicated by Liz and Dr. Michael Muschel in memory of his father, HaRav Nachum ben Meir, for the 5th yahrzeit, 18 Tamuz.
Born in Tarnov, Poland, escaping the Germans to Siberia, he ultimately arrived in the US and received semicha from the renowned  Reb Yisroel Gutsman. For more than 50 years Rabbi Muschel headed the ASHAR Yeshiva day school in Monsey, mentoring thousands of students, inspiring hundreds of families, instilling in his disciples love for Torah, Yiddishkeit, and Israel. A teacher to his very core, Rabbi Muschel continued to teach each Tuesday a Navi class for women until his final days.

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