"If Rebecca Had One More Jar

Before you is the full daily lesson as delivered by our teacher, the Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a—yesterday after the Maariv (evening) prayer, Sunday night, the 9th of Tammuz, Parshas Balak:

"The daughter of Jephthah (Bas Yiftach) said, 'Father, I will not give up on anything for you.' She did not give in to her father; even though he was her father, she didn't yield. She cried out to him—'Do what you said! Lay me upon the mizbe'ach (altar), take the knife!' She brought him the ma'acheles (slaughtering knife)—the knife dripped with blood. Therefore, this occurred on the 17th of Tammuz, and that is why it is forbidden to drink any water then, because the drops of blood became mixed with all the waters in the world. Then a Bas Kol (Heavenly voice) went forth and said, 'Do not stretch out your hand against the lad,' just as it was said regarding Isaac. And to this day, she is only dancing; she went out with drums and dances, and until today she is only dancing and only singing. She lives forever because a woman must only sing and dance day and night, just like Serach bat Asher, who only sang and danced. She came to Jacob and said that even if I die [I will tell the truth]. For anyone who would have said that Joseph was alive would have died on the spot. Therefore, Joseph did not meet with his father, so as not to cause the death of his brothers; he was afraid he would kill the brothers if he knew what happened. He [Jacob] thought that the Jihad had kidnapped him, or Black September, or that Hamas had kidnapped him. But that the brothers had kidnapped him—this never entered Jacob's mind. If he had known, not a trace would have remained of all the brothers. Serach said, 'I am prepared for him to slaughter me or curse me,' and then she was truly in a state of cherem (excommunication) with her father. This is referred to in Parshas Vayechi and Parshas V'Zos HaBerachah. They were in cherem for two hundred and fifty years until Moses came and revealed the truth—not that he revealed the secret [directly], but rather, conversely, once every daughter was a nevi'ah (prophetess), sixty ribo (600,000) prophetesses. The daughters of Jacob were prophetesses, all the granddaughters; [Serach was] the granddaughter of Jacob. Throughout the entire period of the First Temple, there were prophetesses, sixty ribo prophetesses. Every girl knew all the calculations until the end of generations. As Rashi says, one must know how to calculate the accounts (Chapter 24, Verse 3). Every girl needs to know all the calculations: that two is four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, one hundred twenty-eight, two hundred fifty-six, five hundred twelve, one thousand twenty-four. We already reached one thousand twenty-four after ten seconds. Every ten seconds is another thousand—that's a million, a trillion. Sixty ribo is already a trillion, seventy is already a thousand trillion, eighty is already a million trillion, ninety is a billion trillion, until you reach a hundred, which is a thousand billion trillion. More than Moses our Teacher; Moses said only 'a thousand times.' Yoav, who was the general, the army commander, an officer—he could bless, and every blessing of his was a thousand billion trillion. Why? Because he would distribute cans [of soda] to all the babies in Jerusalem, and popsicles and ice creams; therefore, his blessing [was powerful]. That is why he conquered Jerusalem. Because at the time Abraham bought the Cave of the Patriarchs (Me'aras HaMachpelah), he swore to the children of Heth (Bnei Ches) that he would not conquer Jerusalem. Everyone knew the prophecies of Abraham; it was publicized throughout the world that Abraham was destined to inherit the land in another four hundred years. And then the children of Heth made him swear that he would not conquer it. They wrote this oath across the entire wall; every meter stood an idol with a sign saying 'The Oath of Abraham.' David said, 'Who is not afraid of the oath of Abraham?' Yoav said, 'Only I.' For Yoav was a thousand billion trillion times greater than Abraham in chassadim (acts of kindness) and in hospitality (hachnasas orchim). He would distribute cans and popsicles to all the children, and every child in Jerusalem received an ice cream and a can. Without crying—because the word 'pachis' (can) has the same letters as 'bachis' (you cried). But it's only among the Arabs that one needs to cry; by us, we don't need to cry—we receive cans without crying. And every girl needs to know all the calculations in Eiruvin (the laws of Sabbath boundaries), how to make a circle. We learn how to make a circle: if the diameter is one tefach (handbreadth), the circumference is three tefachim. Two tefachim is six tefachim, three tefachim is nine tefachim. Then the Gemara says 'it is not exact' (v'lo dak); if you want it exact, it is 3.14. So if it's one tefach, it's 3.14; if it's two tefachim, it's 6.28; if it's three tefachim, it's 9.42—the Name of 42 (Mem-Bet). If it's four tefachim, it's 12.56. This is regarding the circle, how much the circumference is more than the diameter. But regarding the square root, how do we know 'seventy amos (cubits) and a remainder'? We know that any house within seventy amos and a remainder is considered part of the city, and we extend the boundary by seventy amos and a remainder. So every chapter of Eiruvin speaks about seventy amos and a remainder. If there are two cities and there are twice seventy amos and a remainder—which is one hundred forty-one and one tefach, because the 'remainder' is called four tefachim and this is two tefachim—one hundred forty-one and two tefachim. Then the two cities connect into one city, and one can measure the boundary. All of this, one needs to know all these calculations. From where do we learn this root? This 'seventy and a remainder' is learned from the courtyard of two se'ahs, from the courtyard of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Now we learned about the Mishkan, because Moses had to bring them all the Ten Commandments. The Chiddushei HaRim says on the word 'before their eyes' (le'eineihem)—we read the Ten Commandments in Parshas Va'eschanan, but we should really read them in Parshas Chukas. Now that we are entering the Land, we need to hear the Ten Commandments with voices and lightning; but everyone cried 'water, water, water,' so they lost the Ten Commandments. The Chiddushei HaRim says that Moses wanted to let them hear everything with voices and lightning—every moment hearing the Ten Commandments with voices and lightning. 'Shuvu Banim' (Return, O children)—we hear this with voices and lightning. Therefore, a thirteen-year-old girl needs to know all the calculations. Every thirteen-year-old girl has an IQ a million times higher than a boy of the same age—thirteen. The IQ of a girl is always a million times higher. Moses said 'a thousand times,' so we said a thousand times a thousand is a million, and so you multiply and multiply until you reach a thousand billion trillion. And if we reach one hundred twenty, then it's a trillion trillion, and if we reach two hundred forty, it's a trillion trillion trillion trillion—four times trillion, which is seventy-two zeros, corresponding to the numerical value of Chessed (Kindness). For if Rebecca (Rivka) had one more jar, she would have had nine jars. If she had one more jar—the acronym for Esau is 'v'chadah al shikmah' (and her jar was on her shoulder)—then she would have subdued Esau and the complete Geulah (Redemption) would have come speedily in our days, Amen!"