A lesson delivered by our teacher, the honorable holy tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, on the night of 7 Adar I 5782, broadcast from his home, a holy abode, for the residents of Givat Olga

The lesson is on the yahrtzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu—7 Adar, 7 Adar is the yahrtzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu—and according to the Yalkut Shimoni it is 7 Shevat. Now, 7 Adar is five weeks before Purim.

“May it be Your will, Hashem my God and God of my fathers, that You enlighten my eyes with the light of Your Torah, and save me from every stumbling and error—whether in the laws of prohibition and permission, whether in monetary laws, whether in rendering halachic rulings, whether in study—so that no mishap comes about through me, and I not stumble in a matter of halacha and my colleagues rejoice in me. And that I not declare the impure pure, nor the pure impure; nor the permitted forbidden, nor the forbidden permitted; and that my colleagues not stumble in a matter of halacha and I rejoice in them. Uncover my eyes and I will behold wonders from Your Torah. And what I have already erred in, set me upon the truth. And do not withhold a word of truth from my mouth exceedingly, for Hashem gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

Bring also a Chumash Bereishit—yes, a Chumash Bereishit like this, of this type—there is one here behind you.

Behold, I bind myself in my study to all the true tzaddikim of our generation, and to all the true tzaddikim who dwell in the dust—“the holy ones who are in the earth.” And in particular to the true and holy tzaddik, the tzaddik who is the foundation of the world, a flowing river, a source of wisdom and simcha (joy) and emunah (faith)—our master Rebbe Nachman ben Simcha ben Feige. May their merit protect us and all of Israel, amen.

Behold, I am learning, with teshuvah (repentance), with awe, with love, with humility, with simcha (joy), with emunah (faith), to raise up the Shechinah from the dust; study for its own sake; to bring contentment to Hashem; to bring contentment to our master; study that leads to action—leading to guarding the eyes, leading to guarding the ears, leading to guarding speech, leading to guarding thought; study through whose merit we will merit to love all our friends with true love, with a whole heart and a willing soul. And we will not come to any anger, and not to any resentment even in the heart. Study through whose merit we will merit to judge all our friends favorably, and through this to bring the entire world back in teshuvah (repentance); and through this we will merit the building of our Holy Temple, and the coming of our righteous Mashiach, and the revelation of our holy master, and complete redemption speedily in our days, amen.

Where you are standing there is a Zohar, Terumah—three Zohars. Bring them from downstairs—simple Zohars. Three Zohars—bring them and put them here.

So now we are learning about the yahrtzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu: “If he came by himself, he shall go out by himself; if his master gives him a wife…”—all of this goes on the neshamah (soul). “According to the law of the daughters he shall do to her”—the Zohar says: according to the law of the neshamot, that the neshamot descended to the world. (The Rav sings:) “For what reason and for what purpose did a neshamah descend below? A descent for the sake of ascent—a neshamah descended below.”

So “when the wicked sprout like grass,” because everything Hashem wants is that we elevate the souls of the wicked. We were born tzaddikim—you were born a tzaddik, I was born a tzaddik. My mother kept Shabbat; she said, “Here we keep Shabbat.” My father was the only one who listened to his wife. Everyone laughed at my father: “Why do you listen to your wife? Why are you such a nebech, why are you such a dreamer, what? Travel, come.” “No, there’s no way—I’m not traveling.” Sometimes he traveled to work when there was no choice, but that’s how I was born as a religious child, keeping Shabbat. In my life I never took off my kippah. Once they saw me in the street and told me: “If we see you with a kippah we’ll break all your bones.” I was the only one on the whole street—Zevulun Street, you know that street, it’s a street of secular people—with a kippah, the only one. After that I took out tzitzit, and the rosh yeshivah yelled at me—Rav Mishkovski: “Why do you need to be the only one who needs…? Why are you demonstrating your religion? Why are you showing the religion?” A yeshivah bochur—the first who walked with tzitzit outside. It was simple—[—] I replaced the tefillin, and my mother cried: “What, my tefillin aren’t kosher?” No— a yeshivah bochur needs real tefillin, not tefillin that were made like that, written like that…

So they say that everything we came to this world for is to elevate the souls of the wicked—this is what the Ari explains: “When the wicked sprout like grass and all the workers of iniquity flourish, it is to destroy them forever.” We do not say full Hallel—do you say Hallel on Pesach? You say it, right? He says it? But only half he says—only half. Why do we say only half? Because “My handiwork are drowning in the sea,” so we do not say song. “And one did not come near the other all night”—one did not call to the other—because the angels wanted to say song, and Hashem said: “You will not say song, for My handiwork are drowning in the sea…”

The morning watch—these are the angels. All these birds that chirp—these are angels clothing themselves in them. One needs to hear the song of the birds—when it becomes light-blue, one must sing the morning melodies, and then the prayer rises. Only through the morning melodies does it rise. When they do not sing the morning melodies, the prayer does not rise at all—it is not accepted at all without the morning melodies; it does not rise at all; it is not accepted at all. One must sing the morning melodies, or connect with those who sing the morning melodies. If he is hurrying to work or something—the sunrise is only at six-thirty already, and everyone is at work at six-thirty—so they pray a bit before that, but with the melodies and everything.

In any case, what we are learning in Lech Lecha—Avraham at age 90… Here the Zohar is found here in volume 3; this is Lech Lecha but it’s in volume 3. One needs to gather all the Zohars on the parshiyot, according to the parshiyot, because it is scattered everywhere, and that is how we grew up, and we were always religious, always… After that we were in a religious society and everything, and we said: if we need to go out to war, we will go out to war. That’s how we spoke as children. Haifa was already completely red; Haifa was already… aside from a few old men there was nothing. I was the only one of my age in the synagogue—going to the synagogue, the only one—and I went with tefillin. After that more religious people came, but I didn’t see them—[—] religious Haredi families—they didn’t arrive. I was the only one. From age 13 I already prayed with a minyan; from age 50 I already pray at home, because there are murderous blows and pushing there, and literally people go there for Kiddush Hashem simply, from the pushing and the blows. Dovaleh gets hit, this one gets hit—whoever stands next to me. All the older people, the younger ones—the children—throw them; they literally go there… It is literally pikuach nefesh to stand on the platform there.

Now Tazria will come out as Purim—Purim is Tzav—and Pesach is in Tazria. Tazria–Metzora is Pesach, Acharei Mot. Metzora is the metzora’im, who revealed the whole great miracle of the streams of Arnon.

Because the streams of Arnon were even greater miracles—Rashi says the streams of Arnon were greater miracles than the Exodus from Egypt: “Until Your people pass, Hashem, until this people You acquired pass.” |Rashi says these are cliffs like these—height a kilometer, width 300 meters|.

So we are speaking here: Tazria–Metzora this year will be on Pesach, because I thought that in Tetzaveh it would be Purim—I hoped. In the end they told me no. I don’t know why—why not Tetzaveh on Purim? Every year Purim is in Tetzaveh. This year I don’t know who changed it—maybe Shuvu Banim? Maybe Givat Olga changed it? Ah! Maybe because of the goblet? Because of the goblet they pushed Purim to Parshat Tzav—today Purim is Parshat Tzav instead of Parshat Tetzaveh.

In Parshat Tetzaveh there is no name of Moshe, and there is no name of Hashem in the Megillah—only acronyms—because the Megillah is such a thing… Achashverosh says to Esther: “Forgive me, a law is a law!” What, now they are making laws that there will be civil marriages, and that all the gentiles can be Jews? A gentile says: “I want to be Jewish—why shouldn’t I be Jewish?” He says [—] it’s nothing; they can make as many laws as they make. Also tomorrow when they go to sit on the new law that one can marry—everyone can marry. First of all they are married without a wedding; yes they marry, they don’t marry—who does it change for?!

All this Achashverosh tells her; he explains to her: “I understand it’s not pleasant for you. I understand that you are my precious wife.” Every time a man needs to tell his wife, “My precious wife.” If you want to change a law—so Achashverosh says to her: “My precious wife, you are my eyes, you are my crown.” In Yemenite they say “ala’eini”—“you are my eyes.” Always tell a woman, “You are my eyes,” always tell her—sit with her all day and tell her: “Now I was at the Rav’s lesson; they spoke that you are our eyes, you are our crown.” He said, R’ Baruch’l about his wife, “mein kroyn”—that is the speech of R’ Baruch. R’ Baruch was the most forceful and the most harsh; he almost cursed everyone, but what—my wife, she is my crown!

There was R’ Shmuel of Teplik—he arrived exactly to R’ Baruch, and R’ Baruch asked him what the Plumenik is doing—Plumenik is my nephew; the rebbe was a nephew of R’ Baruch. Feige was R’ Baruch’s sister—Feige, the mother of our master. And at the brit she asked: “R’ Baruch, pray that they won’t argue with him.” The moment he was born she already knew they would argue with him, that everyone argues. So already no chassidut remained—none remained.

So all this we are speaking: that a person is… that the first thing is to travel to Meron. After the lesson they will travel to Meron—7 Adar, Adar I. One needs to travel twice to Meron—both 7 Adar I and also Adar II.

So here at the end of Tazria—on page 52—here he brings on page 52 what is the meaning that Avraham takes Sarah to such a place (Egypt)? What—people didn’t remain On Lag BaOmer one must specifically go up. Aside from Shuvu Banim, no one will be able to go up above. Instead of blaming the police, now they blame us. The police didn’t let them pass; it was a narrow passage. I wasn’t there; I didn’t see that passage. There was a narrow passage there and people arrived—400,000 people arrived—and they didn’t let them pass. The police blocked the passage. It is simply a crime of the police. Instead of blaming the police, and instead of the investigators blaming themselves… maybe the investigators should blame themselves—they say: “No, the Haredim are guilty,” and everything. Now they won’t allow anyone to arrive. But Shuvu Banim will succeed in arriving, no matter what. They said there will be a mess this year and so on—this is still three months away.

In the land? They were—ate grasses, ate what they ate, ate radish, drank tomatoes—whatever is possible. What is the meaning that they go to Egypt? What, there was famine in the land so they go to Egypt—where have we heard such a thing? The Zohar asks: Avraham, who is the greatest God-fearing…

A man needs an intelligent wife—a sharp woman. A man is obligated to have a sharp wife, because if not—the children will come out dull, foolish, simply. Because the child is nine months in the woman’s womb; two years he nurses her milk, so he nurses her intellect. 90% of the intellect he receives from the woman—90%. And therefore “A man shall fear his mother and his father”—first thing, “his mother,” because a man receives the intellect from his wife. A man needs his wife to be sharp, an understanding woman, a woman who knows—she reads the parsha. By us, girls learn the parsha every week; they know the parsha by heart; they know the parsha, what is written in the parsha—and “And you shall command…”

And after that there are the mirrors of the women who assembled—Moshe said to break their legs (i.e., the women’s). Moshe said first thing: everyone should now buy a stick—there is a store here for building materials, Tambour—buy an iron rod a meter, two meters—break your wife’s legs. That is the first obligation. There is a Midrash Tanchuma—behind you there below, Midrash Tanchuma below on the side. Midrash Tanchuma in Shemot—here, Shemot—Moshe says to break the legs of all the women; that is the first obligation. Or bring the goblet—yes there is [—]—or bring their jewelry; bring it. They already finished the jewelry; they already gave the jewelry, gave the gold, gave everything—so what remained? To bring the mirrors, the looking-glass.

Now we are in Tetzaveh, in the Mishkan—the mirrors of the women who assembled. This is the self-sacrifice of the woman. The woman did not stop praying. The Zionists did not allow reaching the Kotel then; it was a problem. They did not allow reaching Meron. To the Cave of Machpelah they did allow reaching, but how is it possible to get from the Sinai Desert to the Cave of Machpelah? There was not yet a Mercedes, there was not yet this… They went with donkeys; it would take a year to reach the Cave of Machpelah—so they went to the Mishkan. The mirrors of the women who assembled are women who were all day in the Mishkan, running to the Mishkan. [—] in the Mishkan. So in Pekudei it is written that they brought mirrors. Moshe saw the mirrors; he said to take sticks to break the legs of the woman, of the girls, of the daughters, of the sisters, of the grandmother, of the mother—to break the legs. That is the first obligation. People come here to lessons—they need to know what is written. So what is written? A bat kol came out and said to him: God forbid, God forbid, Moshe—this is the most precious of all. Because the men had already divorced; the men fell into such despair—“Every son that is born you shall cast into the river”—so they lost all motivation to bring children. They said every woman should go to her parents’ house, or rent herself a room; we will pay her rent… So the Midrash brings here at the end of Vayakhel—almost the last Rashi, almost the last Rashi, almost the last Rashi—Rashi before the end, a long long Rashi. I don’t know if there is strength to read such a long Rashi, but whoever can, whoever will succeed… Everyone should try to read this Rashi when he returns home. A very long Rashi. I do not obligate reading it; everyone should read one line…

In short: Moshe saw the mirrors and he was alarmed. Therefore Nadav and Avihu did not want to wash their hands from the mirrors—meaning from the laver that was made from the mirrors—they did not want to. They said: What, we will wash our hands from mirrors? How many mirrors—20? 600,000 mirrors they brought—600,000. How many mirrors is it possible to make? And they hid them all away; they hid them all away. So they took thirty mirrors—what is this? Of women who every day were in the Mishkan, assembled at the Mishkan. They did not stop praying; they said Tehillim there.

Tehillim—Adam HaRishon already revealed this, and after that Moshe revealed it and Yaakov revealed it. All night Yaakov would say Tehillim. They had Tehillim; they had it. After that it was forgotten—David came and renewed it.

These mirrors of the women who assembled are the women who did not leave the Kotel for a second. They ran to the Kotel, ran to the Mishkan, and they did not stop praying for a second. So they established kosher sons—kosher generations who will stand in trials, because every generation has a new trial.

King David wanted to conquer up to Rome: “Who will bring me to the fortified city”—the fortified city is Rome—“who will lead me to Edom.” This is written twice: once in Psalm 60 and once in 108—“who will lead me to Edom.” Edom is Rome; it is Italy; this is the true Edom. Here there is Ma’ale Adumim—this is also Edom. Edom at first lived here until he decided to flee. He heard there is an Exodus from Egypt—“I’m fleeing.” He fled to Italy—to the Vatican. All this is the Abarbanel in chapter 35 of Isaiah. He brings that Genoa—there is Genoa and there is Geneva. Geneva is in Switzerland; there is the UN center in Geneva. There is a lake they call Geneva, and there is Genoa on the seashore, on the Mediterranean seashore—Genoa—because [—] this is another sea, this is the Adriatic Sea [—?]. So there is Genoa, and Genoa is named for Tzepho. That is how the Abarbanel explains, because he was in Italy, he was in Rome. The Abarbanel says: Genoa is named for Tzepho, that he received the name Genoa.

Because Tzepho was in prison; he was in jail, like we were in jail. I saw his cell once; they told me, “This is Tzepho’s cell.” The third son of Eliphaz—he took the goblet in the end. So Yosef put him in prison; כך it is written in the Yalkut Shimoni: Yosef put him in prison, because he [Tzepho] said: What, Yosef will be king over Egypt, king over the whole world? Whoever rules Egypt rules the whole world—rules the whole world. So Tzepho came to fight him; he brought soldiers. He said: I am a descendant of Yitzchak; it belongs to me. So Yosef put him in prison until he died. When he died they released him at age 110, and then he went to be king in Carthage—in Tunisia. All this the Targum brings on Tzo’an—Tzo’an is Tunisia, he says; Tzo’an is Tunisia—Tzo’an of Egypt.

Here in Tehillim, once it is “a fortified city” with a b, once it is “a besieged city” with a v—here in Tehillim in Psalm 60 and in Psalm 108, where he repeats twice “Who will lead me to Edom.” David sought to conquer Edom—this is Italy; there is the Vatican. This is the center of impurity, the center of the world’s impurity is the Vatican. There they make all the decrees against the Jews. David conquered Aram Tzovah; he conquered up to the Euphrates, and he struck Edom in the Valley of Salt. Edom was here at first and after that they fled—they drove them out. It is written that Shimon drove out Edom, drove out Amalek: “When he fought Aram Naharayim and Aram Tzovah, Yoav returned and struck Edom in the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand”—because he had kefitzat ha-derech; the sun did not set for 36 hours, it did not set so that he could fight.

“You have made the earth tremble; You have split it; heal its fractures, for it has tottered. You have given those who fear You a banner to be raised”—if a person sees one miracle, he will see more miracles. A person sees one miracle and says: “No—who says there will be another miracle?” The opposite: you saw one miracle—there will be another miracle! A banner to be raised—did you see miracles? There will be more miracles! I want to conquer Edom, to conquer Italy, the Vatican: “That Your beloved ones may be rescued, save with Your right hand and answer me”—Hashem, help me conquer the Vatican—Rome.

God spoke in His holiness: I will exult; I will divide Shechem and measure the Valley of Sukkot. I was in Shechem—on Wednesday morning I was in Shechem, and there was shooting there, so they didn’t let us pass—the army. Exactly then shooting began; as soon as we arrived we entered Shechem. But our driver ran straight away from them, until they looked right and left and already… We drove through a neighborhood of terrorists. I know that neighborhood; I used to go there for 20 years—on foot I would go. When we lived in Bnei Brak I would go to Jabotinsky Street and travel to Kfar Saba and from there to Kalkilya—there is Binyamin HaTzaddik there—and after that to Shechem, over six hours. The Rebbetzin was [—] and I was in Shechem—like that until 5749, when the intifada began. It was possible to walk all of Shechem on foot.

“Over me, Philistia, shout in triumph”—David said: I want to conquer now. So “a besieged city” is Rome—“who will lead me to Edom.” So it is written here. After that it is written “a fortified city,” because in the meantime it already became a fortified city, because at the beginning it was not yet a city—only Romulus and Remus built that city. The whole matter is to conquer Edom—that is the matter—to conquer Italy. Here in Psalm 108 it is written—Psalm 138: “I will lift the wings of dawn; I will dwell at the end of the sea…” “I will lift the wings of dawn; I will dwell at the end of the sea.” So in 108 this chapter—Psalm 60 returns with several changes. “A song, a psalm of David: My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music, even my glory. Awake, harp and lyre; I will awaken the dawn. I will thank You among the peoples, Hashem, and I will sing to You among the nations. For Your kindness is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches the skies. Be exalted above the heavens, O God, and over all the earth be Your glory. That Your beloved ones may be rescued, save with Your right hand and answer me.” I want to conquer Rome, Italy, the Vatican. “God spoke in His holiness: I will exult; I will divide Shechem”—I already conquered Shechem—“and measure the Valley of Sukkot. Gilead is Mine”—I conquered Gilead—“Manasseh is Mine”—I conquered the Golan—“Ephraim is the stronghold of My head; Judah is My lawgiver. Moab is My washpot”—because Moab killed Ruth, and killed Yishai, killed his father—David’s—killed everyone, killed all his brothers—so “Moab is My washpot.” It is written “two mules.” [—] “Over Edom I will cast my shoe”—the main thing is the shoe, the main thing is the shoe. A person comes into the world for the sake of shoes. They sold Yosef for the sake of shoes. So what is the meaning that tzaddikim sew shoes? Chanoch was a shoemaker (Ram"a of Fano—Ma’amar Me’ah Keshitah). First thing is: we open a shoemaking shop in Givat Olga. We started building a shoemaking shop. There is a big building there for everyone—for a thousand families. We are coming to live in Givat Olga. Your sons will know how to make sandals… Now, the first thing is to open a shoemaking shop—before everything. Here it is impossible to support people endlessly, so each one will make a pair of shoes. You will make two pairs; I will teach you how to do it. You take leather—listen—first you make the heels, and after that the sole; after that leather on top, leather on bottom, and leather inside to pad it. And after that the tongue needs to be arranged—the tongue needs very soft leather,

Now I read about Auschwitz—how they made shoes there in Auschwitz. There was a shoemaking shop there; they made 600,000 shoes there. When they invaded Russia they needed to arrange 600,000 shoes. They invaded with some two million people—Nazis to Russia—so [—] they made the heels first, after that the upper leather and the lower leather—each part is a different type of leather—and the sole, and the padding inside the sole. They needed to supply 600,000 shoes within a month.

They took the greatest experts. The greatest expert there was דווקא a Haredi man—there was a Haredi who was a Gur chassid, some chassid. He was an expert. He would make leather belts from leftovers he found in garbage cans. After they conquered Warsaw there was already no food, so he would make leather belts from the… He learned to connect pieces of leather.

And they make loops for laces—and this is what Chanoch did. Chanoch sews shoes. So what—was Chanoch a shoemaker? What? Chanoch was…? It is written in the Midrash: Chanoch was the head of everything; he ascended with his body to Gan Eden.

The Sifri says about Chanoch: “quick to convict.” What is this “quick to convict”? What is the meaning “quick to convict”? Quick to convict—what is this? “Quick to convict” means that he taught merit on all the wicked. That is called “quick to convict.” He said all the wicked are coerced; whoever has the evil inclination is coerced. But why do you continue? You know it’s not good; you see it’s all nonsense; you see it dulls you—so stop with these foolish things. Stop—get out of it. You have a wife, you have children—get out of the…

A person needs to know that for what he does, Hashem will not punish him; He punishes him for the continuation. Now this is the yahrtzeit of the Kotzker—22 Shevat. They say the Kotzker said that for the sin itself a person is not punished—he is punished for continuing; he is punished for the continuation.

So “when the wicked sprout like grass”—now Chanoch, Chanoch’s avodah was to bring all the wicked back in teshuvah (repentance). That was his avodah, but they did not want. It is written: “And they said to God: Depart from us; we do not desire knowledge of Your ways.” Hashem wanted to give Torah to the generation of the Flood—they did not want Torah, did not want Torah; they wanted to do transgressions. A person has a wife—so okay, that’s once a month. A person can do transgressions every day; it’s easier. You need to return to your wife—there is no choice, no choice. You need to throw away the klipah; it is klipah, it is impurity. Throw away the klipah—throw it away, throw away all the klipot.

Therefore today Givat Olga—everyone is already doing teshuvah (repentance), everyone. Once Givat Olga was a center of impurity. When I was a bochur at age 20 it was a center of impurity; everyone married Arab women there. And now it has already turned into a center of kedushah (holiness). So with Hashem’s help everyone will go there with beards and peyot—all of Givat Olga. We are now going to open a shoemaking shop. Yes—whoever already learned how to make shoes will be the manager of it; they will be the managers of the shoemaking shop.

The question is: what do we mean by “Chanoch sews shoes,” “Over Edom I will cast my shoe”—specifically the shoe? Why not my spear, my lance—why? Rather, the whole matter is the shoes. The whole matter is that Leah’s shoes become Rachel’s crown. There is Rachel’s crown, and from this become Leah’s shoes.

All of a person’s avodah is: how do we turn Rachel’s crown—this is all of Tetzaveh, all of the ephod, the shoham stones—how do we turn Rachel’s crown into Leah’s shoes? Because Leah’s shoes are found in Rachel’s crown. And this is the avodah—this is the avodah of Avraham Avinu, that he went down to Egypt: it is to sew shoes. Simply, he went to learn how to sew shoes.

Therefore Chanoch… therefore with Hashem’s help, from this coming Sunday we are all moving to Givat Olga—the entire yeshivah. You don’t need to… You come for Shabbat; you leave the wife, the children, everything, the father—right, you are looking for the goblet—but I tell you, the goblet is already by your father in the drawer there. I saw it in the drawer… Yosef wants the goblet back.

(HaGavia shlit"a: The Rav wrote in his book that the goblet is found by Chanan’s father.)

By Chanan’s father—yes, that’s where the goblet is found. You know from this? Are you a partner with your father in this theft? I don’t want to get entangled with the State Attorney’s Office; I want them to return the goblet without getting entangled.

(HaGavia shlit"a: When the Rav arrives in Givat Olga we will bring him not one goblet but two [redemptions???].)

So we’re done—tomorrow we travel to Givat Olga; we will receive two goblets. The State Attorney’s Office already came to me: they received a complaint from the Egyptians. The Egyptians claim that this is their goblet; it was stolen from Pharaoh’s house, so they demand the goblet as well. Both Yosef HaTzaddik demands the goblet and the Egyptians too. Now they are taking what they took—“and you shall put [them] on your sons and on your daughters.”

[When they left Egypt] Hashem said: I do not want them to leave like slaves; you will leave like princes. The daughters will leave like princesses—not like lowly maidservants, like that out of slavery—because the slavery stopped; it already stopped 12 months before the Exodus from Egypt. You will leave like princes: “and you shall put [them] on your sons and on your daughters”—Hashem said exactly how you go out. Take the most beautiful garments—put them on the daughters; the most beautiful clothes, the most beautiful coats—and that they should go to Givat Olga—so that everyone will dress in the most beautiful coats, so that everyone will go in the most beautiful coats—your sons and your daughters. You will go out like kings. The Egyptians saw that everyone was dressed in such splendid garments—what did we do? We thought they were just foolish, dull slaves. In the end we see that they are the wisest, the most… because in truth the Jews…

All these souls are the souls of the 130 years, because 130 years they were in bondage—in the essence of the bondage… Levi died at age 93, because when Levi was 44 he went down to Egypt, and the additional 93 years he lived in Egypt is exactly 137. Levi 137, Amram 133, Kehat 137. Rivkah lived like Amram—133. Tosafot in Yevamot says: if Rivkah died at age 133, Yaakov was age 99. Yaakov was born when Yitzchak was 60. At age 60 he was born. He married Rivkah at age 40. So Yaakov was born 20 years after Yitzchak and Rivkah’s marriage. So from Yaakov’s birth until Rivkah’s passing is 99; we add to this 20 [= 119 + 14], so it comes out 133. So now Tosafot proves that Rivkah was 14 when she married Yitzchak, and not three as Rashi holds. How was Rivkah…? It is written: “And Devorah, Rivkah’s nurse, died,” which hints also to Rivkah’s own passing.

Because Rivkah married when Yitzchak was 40, and she gave birth to Yaakov after 20 years. So 20 years plus 99 is 119, so to reach 133 we have 14 years remaining—showing she was 14. All this Tosafot brings; it is a simple calculation: 99 plus 20 is 119; we have 14 years remaining to 133.

Because it is written in the Sifri that Rivkah lived like Amram. Amram is written that he lived 133; Kehat 137; Levi 137. As long as Levi was alive they did not dare enslave the people of Israel; only when Levi died did the bondage begin. So if Levi was 44 when he went down to Egypt, and there he lived 93 years—since he lived 137 years—then now this is called 94; 116 years remained for the bondage, since they were in Egypt 210 years, minus 93—meaning the entire bondage was 116 years.

And Yocheved gave birth to Moshe at age 130. So Adam HaRishon had sparks—he had emissions for 130 years. Each emission is 400,000,000 souls—each emission. In each emission there are 400,000,000 seeds—400,000,000 microscopic seeds. And every emission that a person releases in vain deliberately, he creates 400,000,000 destroyers—millions. This is all the Meretz and all the Liebermans—we create them, and we destroy them only through prayer, only through prayer.

So this is what Avraham says: “So that it will go well with me because of you, and my soul will live because of you.” What is the meaning? That he says her angel did not leave her. This he brings in the Zohar on Lech Lecha: that Sarah’s angel did not go. Sarah had four: “Michael to my right, Gabriel to my left, Uriel before me, and Raphael behind me, and above my head the Shechinah of God.” Each person has four angels. But if he sins with wasting seed, sins with a blemish of the covenant, the angels leave him. This is what is written here in Lech Lecha: that the angels left Avraham because he went down to Egypt, but not Sarah. Here in Lech Lecha he brings… “And Avram went down to Egypt to sojourn there.” There they descended from the Pishon. It is written in Chayei Sarah that every day 48 drops descend, and this descends to the Pishon, and from this was the wisdom of Egypt. Chayei Sarah 122: forty-eight prophets receive one drop from Gan Eden—forty-eight prophets. Corresponding to this, every day 48 drops descend corresponding to 48 prophets. And those drops of Eden—48 drops—and just as each prophet, his entire prophecy was drawn from one drop— all of Isaiah is one drop, Jeremiah one drop, Ezekiel one drop, Hosea one drop, Joel one drop, Nahum one drop, Amos… So Adam HaRishon, who lived 930 years, every day received all 48 drops—what prophecy did he merit…

This is the wisdom of Adam HaRishon: that he saw from one end of the world to the other. He saw Rabbi Akiva. He asked Hashem: “This is Torah and this is its reward?” Hashem said to him: Yes—this is Torah and this is its reward; thus it arose first in thought. So all those drops—from each drop comes forth a spirit of wisdom. And this was the prophecy of all the prophets—from one drop. Adam HaRishon had 930 years of all the drops—so what wisdom he had… He saw from one end of the world to the other, every day.

Rabbi Abbahu said: Forty-eight prophets arose for Israel, and each took in his portion the essence of one drop of Gan Eden. From where do they descend? They descend, and from this becomes a great river; from this become four rivers—from the drops. Each drop is greater than the entire globe. “Give thanks to Hashem, call in His Name, make His deeds known among the peoples.” What are “His deeds”? This is Gan Eden—these are the drops that descend from Gan Eden. From each drop a river is formed. And these 48 drops come from above, from Aravot. There is a firmament above Aravot; from there the drops descend. Now…

And all this was for Avraham Avinu. All the abundance is here in the land— all the abundance. So he went down to Egypt, and there was the wisdom of Egypt, and then Hashem took the wisdom from them, and the wisdom of Egypt was lost.

Now we return to the Zohar in Tazria: how does Avraham take Sarah to such a place? “Say, please, you are my sister”—what is the meaning? Avraham, who is God-fearing—you take your wife to such a place, you know they will kidnap her—so what? “There will be miracles”? How do you rely on a miracle? Rather, therefore he says: “So that it will go well with me because of you, and my soul will live because of you”—that the Shechinah left him; only by the woman does it remain. The Shechinah remains only by the woman. A person needs to know that the Shechinah is by the woman—“my soul”… because he went down to Egypt without permission.

The Ramban also brings: “Avraham sinned a great sin.” The Ramban in Lech Lecha—there is a blue Chumash Bereishit here—he says Avraham Avinu sinned a great sin by going down to Egypt, because he needed to believe in Hashem as everyone believed in Hashem. Everyone remained; no one went to Egypt—only Avraham Avinu: “And Avram went.”

It is written: “You shall not return again by this way,” because then Egypt was the nakedness of the land. Today it is New York, it is Paris, it is Moscow, but then Egypt was the nakedness of the land—there was the greatest impurity. So why do you go down to Egypt? The Ramban says: “And there was a famine in the land”—and know that Avraham Avinu sinned a great sin. He calls it a great sin—the greatest sin is to go down to Egypt. This is the greatest sin—unintentionally.

And this is what the Zohar says: how does he take his wife to such a place? You know the king will take her. You say: “Say, please, you are my sister”—what is this? The king will take you—“so that it will go well with me because of you”—I will have masses of money, masses of gold. What? You sell your wife for money?! An Arab wouldn’t do this, a Cushite wouldn’t do this; even the most corrupt person wouldn’t do such a thing—to sell a woman for money?! “So that it will go well with me because of you, and my soul will live because of you”—what words are these?! So the Zohar says: Avraham spoke with the angel; therefore he says four things: “it will go well with me because of you”—two; “and my soul will live”—that is three; “because of you”—that is four. He spoke with the four angels, because the angels went with her together. Those angels did not leave her; they left him, because he went without permission—this was truly a sin. The Ramban says: “Avraham sinned a great sin”—that he did not have bitachon (trust in Hashem), so the angels left him.

When the man commits a sin, the angels leave him; they remain by the woman. Now he lives in the merit of the woman. All this we are learning now about the mirrors of the women who assembled, that Moshe said to buy sticks. Now you are leaving here—there is a Tambour store opposite here, at Shivtei Yisrael on the corner. You go here through the buildings, go out, straight you have a Tambour store—buy iron rods, or iron rods from the building opposite, from the building opposite. But it should not be theft. We will arrange that it not be theft; we will ask permission from the contractor. Everyone should buy a stick, take a stick, travel home, and show there the stick. But a bat kol came out and said—everyone should read the bat kol—a bat kol came out and said: No, this is more beloved than everything (see the words of the Midrash Tanchuma in the note at the beginning of the lesson).

Because the Midrash Tanchuma says that all the men had already divorced the women, and thus they returned to the women afterward, in the merit of the mirrors of the women who assembled. And through this the people of Israel stood at Mount Sinai and received the Torah. And today is 7 Adar—today we receive the Torah anew.