The Secret of Perfection: The Virtue of Rejoicing with a Bride and Groom and the Secret of the Five Voices

Lesson No. 259 | Cassette 259 Tuesday morning, Parashas Re'eh, 21 Menachem Av 5760 - at the Yeshiva / Wednesday morning, Parashas Re'eh, 22 Menachem Av 5760 - at the Yeshiva / Thursday morning, Parashas Re'eh, 23 Menachem Av 5760 - at the Yeshiva / Monday morning, Parashas Shoftim, 27 Menachem Av 5760 - at the Yeshiva

According to the teachings of the Maharal, there is no greater perfection in the world than a chassan and kallah (bride and groom), who correspond to the Giving of the Torah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. This article explains the secret of the five voices, the transformation of chametz (leavened bread) into matzah (unleavened bread) through the secret of the Korban Todah (Thanksgiving Offering), and the immense obligation to rejoice and dance at a wedding in order to bring the entire creation to completion.

It is written: "The pregnant woman and the one giving birth together" (Yirmiyahu 31:7) - in the future to come, all physical bodies will be transformed. A chassan and kallah merit having their bodies completely transformed. The Maharal (Tiferes Yisrael, Chapter 30) says: There is no perfection in the world like the perfection of a chassan and kallah. There is nothing else like this in all of creation. The seven days of feasting are at the peak of perfection, and therefore they are blessed with five voices, which allude to the entire reality of the world - the four directions and the center point.

Three Things About Rejoicing with a Bride and Groom

The Gemara in Tractate Berachos (6b) states three things regarding the joy of a chassan and kallah, due to the immense perfection it contains. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said:

"Anyone who benefits from a groom's wedding feast and does not bring him joy transgresses the five voices... And if he does bring him joy, what is his reward? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He merits the Torah, which was given with five voices... Rabbi Abbahu said: It is as if he rebuilt one of the ruins of Jerusalem... Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said: It is as if he offered a Thanksgiving Offering."

This applies to one who truly brings joy to the chassan and kallah, who comes and rejoices and dances with the groom - not someone who just comes to the chuppah (wedding canopy) and immediately runs away. There are rabbis who come to the chuppah and immediately flee. If you add the Hebrew letter 'Ches' to the word 'Rav' (Rabbi), it becomes 'Barach' (fled) - he flees because of his many sins. But the truth is that one must stay for the dancing with the groom, to dance until one o'clock in the morning!

The Groom Sheds His Physicality and Merits the Torah

The chassan elevates everyone. The groom completely sheds his physical body and can now study Torah until he is a hundred and twenty years old, sixteen hours a day. And the kallah agrees and wants him to learn for sixteen hours, because if he learns any less, it is a mistaken transaction.

There is a sixteen-year-old boy here who has already finished the entire Shas (Talmud)! This obligates all of us; it is simply a slap in the face to us all. Instead of sitting and learning Gemara for ten hours a day, there are those who wander around in despair, broken, eating cake, drinking cola, and speaking lashon hara (evil speech) about the yeshiva and the administration. A person needs to sit and learn, to finish the entire Shas every month like the Torah giants of Israel, like the Rogatchover Gaon zt"l who said he didn't have a special memory, but rather he simply reviewed the entire Shas every single day. Whoever constantly sees flaws and seeks to be the "State Comptroller" cannot learn Torah.

The Secret of the Thanksgiving Offering: The Chametz Turns into Matzah

The third blessing mentioned in the Gemara is: "It is as if he offered a Thanksgiving Offering." The Maharal asks: What does a Thanksgiving Offering have to do with this?

With a Thanksgiving Offering, one brings both chametz bread and matzah. When else do we bring chametz? Only on Shavuos, which is the Giving of the Torah. A wedding is also an aspect of the Giving of the Torah. When there is a Giving of the Torah, one can bring chametz, because the chametz is transformed into matzah.

During a wedding, all physical bodies are transformed. A person who crossed the sea, or who was released from a gentile prison which is akin to death, or who was dangerously ill and was healed - out of sheer joy, he can now bring chametz. Shavuos, a chassan and kallah, and the Thanksgiving Offering are all one and the same concept. All the chametz and the physical body are transformed into matzah and pure soul. Therefore, one can hear the voices of the Giving of the Torah at a wedding.

The Five Voices and the Expansion of Godliness

The Torah is a complete reality, and a chassan and kallah correspond to the entire world. The five voices demonstrate the expansion of Godliness throughout all of creation - from the middle line to all four directions of the world. Through a chassan and kallah, Godliness spreads to all created beings: north, south, east, and west.

This is why people travel from the ends of the earth, from New York and Miami, to participate in a wedding. The moment there is a chassan and kallah, it creates the perfect unification that completely binds together the Name of Hashem. A person alone is only a half, and only when male and female are together are they called "Adam" (Man) - two that are one. This is the perfection of all creation.

An Awesome Secret from the Mouth of the Almighty

The Maharal writes about this: "This is an awesome secret that was revealed to me from the mouth of the Almighty." It is so immense that he asks why it wasn't written among the forty-eight ways through which the Torah is acquired. The answer is that this is the very root of all 48 ways. Whoever brings joy to a chassan and kallah and completes their unification for them is included in this perfect reality, and all his sins are forgiven.

The moment one person becomes complete, the reality of the entire world is completed, and the whole world cries out: "Hashem reigns, Hashem has reigned, Hashem shall reign for all eternity." The chassan and kallah cry out "Who has created everything for His glory" - they do not belong to us at all; they exist in the supernal worlds, in the heavens. Therefore, when we bring joy to a chassan and kallah, we complete the reality of the entire world, and we merit the Torah that was given with five voices, and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple, speedily in our days.

Part 3 of 4 — Lesson No. 259

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