The First Meal

In this week's Torah portion, we find a command where the Holy One, blessed be He, commands us regarding the Mitzvah of bringing the Bikkurim (first fruits). And this is how this special Mitzvah—which our holy Rabbis, of blessed memory, taught and said that in the merit of the Mitzvah of Bikkurim we merit the settlement of the Land of Israel—is performed: After a Jew has toiled, labored, and worked hard in the field, he goes down to the field, and as soon as he sees the first fruit, he takes a reed (gemi) and ties it on the fruit, sanctifying this fruit, which is the first of his fruits, the first of the field. This fruit continues to grow and ripen with the reed on it until the Festival. On the Festival, the Jew takes the Bikkurim with joy and praise, and offers them before Hashem.

Now, for many years we have found this difficult: The Mitzvah of Bikkurim begins on a fruit before it is even fit to be eaten; the fruit is still unripe (boser), still green, still small. Why do we place a reed on it now and wait? Why don't we wait until the fruit grows, blossoms, and ripens, and then sanctify it to Hashem? And then we would bring it up for the Pilgrimage Festival and fulfill the Mitzvah of Bikkurim?

This question is also difficult for us regarding the Mitzvah of separating Challah (Hafrashat Challah). Every kosher daughter of Israel, when preparing the Challahs—the double loaves for the holy Shabbat—separates the Challah portion at the time of kneading. Why not perform the separation of Challah after the Challahs, or whatever is being baked, are fit for eating, and then, with proper honor, we take and separate what needs to be separated as holy to Hashem? If so, why do we separate during the kneading and not at the end of the baking? Likewise, why does the Mitzvah of Bikkurim begin when the fruit is unripe, rather than waiting until the fruit is complete?

Rather, hidden here is a great lesson and an immense foundation for every single Jew: Every great thing is started far, far away at the beginning of the path, not at the end. The Challah is started while it is still dough; while kneading the dough, one separates the Challah. The Mitzvah of Bikkurim is started while the fruit is still unripe and green. Thus, in every Mitzvah and good deed, a person should not wait until the end.

This can also be understood regarding the Mitzvah of Tzedakah (charity): "Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him" (Deut 15:10). We need to understand the phrasing "Thou shalt surely give him" (Naton Titen Lo). It can be explained that when a person earns and receives money, he should take upon himself a resolution to calculate in his mind, from the very first moment, how much of the money is his and how much of the money belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He—the tithe (Ma'aser), the fifth (Chomesh), or other vows and donations which he vowed, pledged, and accepted upon himself.

In this way, from the very first moment, he will take all the funds that are for vows and donations and separate them, disconnecting them from his own money. Thus, he will understand, live, and know that he has no connection to this money. This money is merely sitting with him; he is holding onto it, but it is not his. This is "Thou shalt surely give" (Naton - establishing it internally). Immediately upon receiving the money, he gives it over and detaches from this money in every possible way. Then, when he actually gives the money to Tzedakah, which corresponds to "Titen" (thou shalt give), "thine heart shall not be grieved," because it will not hurt the person, for it was never his, and he is already detached from this money.

This is the great foundation of the greatest and most important Mitzvot: that early on at the genesis, at the beginning, the person stands firm and steadfast in his mind and in his thoughts. Therefore, Rosh Chodesh (the New Moon) is a great day, a day of atonement for sins, a day that is special among all the days of the month, because it is the beginning and it sets the direction for the month. Just as separating Challah is the beginning and sets the direction, and just as the Mitzvah of Bikkurim is at the beginning of the sprouting and growth of the fruit.

We are approaching the beginning of the year, the great and important day, the day of Rosh Hashanah, about which we say in the prayers of the High Holy Days: Hayom Harat Olam (Today the world was conceived). We write the following words with trepidation, how with a sober view and feeling, the nation of Israel is a nation of ascents and descents, of times of high tide and times of low ebb, both collectively and individually. And as our Rabbis said, when the nation of Israel is on the rise, the ascent is to the very top, and Heaven forbid, when the nation of Israel is in decline, the descent is also to the very bottom.

We are entering a new era and period in the history of the Jewish people, times in which we need abundant Heavenly mercy. The collective must be united, cleaving to one another, and knowing that we have no one to rely on but our Father in Heaven. "Her adversaries have become the head" (Lamentations 1:5)—we have returned to times where whoever persecutes the nation of Israel and the Torah of Israel becomes the head. And when we enter these times, the verse continues regarding the "Straits" (Bein HaMetzarim), that we will be in times of the Straits.

We have only a few days left until Rosh Hashanah to strengthen ourselves and utilize this special time of "My beloved went down to his garden" (Song of Songs 6:2). And in the time remaining until the Day of Judgment, we must know how to ignite the spark of the glowing coal within the Jewish heart, which is never extinguished and will never be extinguished; this spark is the confidence in the eternity of Israel. Today is a new day, in which the awareness and understanding must be strong and vigilant regarding a beginning, regarding an old war that is renewing itself, and we must do what our ancestors and our Rabbis did.

The Second Meal

In this week's Torah portion, we read about the matter of the curses (Tochecha), terrible and dreadful curses. There is a discussion in the holy books regarding who should go up to the Torah for the curses. Should they call someone up to the Torah for the curses? There are those who have a custom not to call anyone up, but rather whoever wants to go up should come and go up. There are others who say the Rabbi of the synagogue should go up; every place has its own custom on how to handle the Aliyah for the curses.

But the holy Zohar states something that is not simple: The root of all these curses brought in the Parshah are actually blessings. But we must ask: Curses are a harsh thing, and when the curses in the Parshah are read, it is forbidden to speak, and they are read in a slightly lowered voice. Does a person who curses his friend have a root of blessing in it? If so, what does it mean that the root of the curses is a blessing?

Rather, perhaps we can state a great principle: When a person experiences some trouble or problem, the person becomes bitter, the person is angry and blames everyone; "he caused it and this caused it"—a person always has someone to blame. But one must know that at the time a person has a trouble or a problem, a great salvation for the person is hidden within it. There are two reasons why problems and troubles come upon a person in life. One reason is due to a previous incarnation (Gilgul) where things were decreed upon him and he must go through it in this incarnation.

Just before a person's soul descends to this world, the person's soul is in a special room in Heaven, and the Holy One, blessed be He, shows the person many types of people's lives—like, to differentiate, one movie of life, a second movie of life. The Holy One, blessed be He, shows the person movies of lives and gives him the opportunity to choose the type of life he wants. The person chooses his life, and right there is the good and the bad, the less good, the joy, and the sadness; who he will live with and who he will marry—everything is in there.

The life a person has is the life he chose for himself. With all the bad and difficult situations, this is what he chose, and this is the individual's matter. It could be rectifications (Tikkunim), it could be reincarnations, but this is what the person chose, and he has nothing to complain about or ask questions of the Holy One, blessed be He. He chose this! Therefore, a person should be happy that he is paying off and doing what he needs to rectify.

The second reason why a person has a problem or trouble is because the person committed a sin and transgressed. The Holy One, blessed be He, brings him challenges and trials to go through as a rectification and payment for what he did wrong. If a person stole, it is upon him to pay; if a person lied, it is upon him to pay. In this world, there is a payment for what a person does. A person who thinks that in life he will do things and not pay for them makes a grave mistake. Maybe he won't pay today, maybe in another month, maybe in another year, but there is a ledger in Heaven that records everything a person does in this world, everything.

If so, if a person has a problem, it is either from a reincarnation or from a sin that the person is paying for. Both of these things are good, because if a person is paying in this world, he has rectified a matter or paid for a sin he committed; this is a very good thing, and a person should be happy about it, not sad about it. Based on this, we can explain and say: The holy Zohar says the curses written in this week's Torah portion have their root in blessings, because those curses bring down the evil. They cause the rectification for a person—whether it was from a previous reincarnation, it is now sorted out; or if it was a sin the person committed recently and has now rectified, it is sorted out.

When a person has a financial debt and it is hard for him to pay, and he finally pays the debt, that day he paid off the debt is a day of great joy for him, even though it was subtracted from his account and he no longer has that money now; he paid off the debt he owed. There is no joy like the resolution of doubts; when doubts are resolved, when a problem is solved, when a debt is settled—there is no greater day than when a person solves a problem. Therefore, the root of the curses in this week's portion is a root of blessings, because it removes from the person the difficult things he carries.

The Third Meal

The 25th of Elul is the day of the Hillula of Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Rabbi Elazar was holy of holies, possessing unfathomable power and spiritual stature. There is a Torah thought that we have been saying for over twenty years, which provides great strength to our souls. We have reviewed it and repeated it in our souls during difficult days and complicated times. Therefore, we believe that when we share this Torah thought, the lips of Rabbi Elazar move in the grave. As our holy Rabbis say, when a person shares a Torah thought in the name of a Tzaddik, he should picture in his mind the image of the Tzaddik saying the Torah thought to him, and thus the person connects to that Tzaddik and receives spiritual strength from him.

Rabbi Elazar was among the ten companions of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai who wrote the holy Zohar. Rabbi Shimon was the head, Rabbi Elazar was by his side, and Rabbi Abba was the one writing the words—the holy Zohar, the Idra Rabba, and the Idra Zuta—all the words that illuminated a great light unto the world.

The Gemara (Bava Metzia 83b) relates that Rabbi Elazar was appointed to catch thieves and hand them over to the government. One day he met a laundryman who shouted at Rabbi Elazar that he was "Vinegar, son of wine" (Chometz ben Yayin - meaning a bad son of a good father: his father Rabbi Shimon is wine, and Rabbi Elazar is vinegar walking on a bad path). Rabbi Elazar caught that man and handed him over to the government, who took him to be executed.

Rabbi Elazar felt sorrow in his soul that perhaps he did something wrong by sending this Jew to be executed. But later he found out that this man was a wicked adulterer who, together with his son, violated a betrothed maiden on Yom Kippur. Rabbi Elazar said: "Rejoice, my innards, rejoice! If even your doubts result in this, how much more so your certainties." Surely this was the correct punishment and what that man deserved.

And the Gemara says that Rabbi Elazar was still not completely sure he had done the right thing. Sometime later, he cut a piece of his flesh during the months of Tammuz and Av, the hottest months of the year, and tested it. The Gemara says that Rabbi Elazar's flesh did not rot and remained intact.

The Gemara continues and tells (ibid. 84a) that before he passed away from this world, he called his wife, who was a righteous woman, and told her that when he dies, she should not reveal it to anyone and should not hold a funeral for him. After Rabbi Elazar passed away, his wife brought his body up to the attic and covered him with a sheet. For over twenty years he lay there without anyone knowing he had passed, and his body remained completely intact without rotting. One day, his wife saw a worm coming out of his ear and was terribly frightened that Rabbi Elazar was beginning to rot. That night, she dreamt of Rabbi Elazar, who told her that one time he heard someone insulting a Torah scholar and did not protest; therefore, the worm was in his ear. One day, the Gemara says, one of the neighbors fought with Rabbi Elazar's wife and told her that her husband was dead and she didn't even give him a funeral, and this rumor spread in the city. The Sages came and asked his wife where Rabbi Elazar was. She told them he had died twenty years ago. They gave him a great funeral and buried him next to his great father, Rabbi Shimon, in the cave.

Regarding these two stories in the Gemara, we had a very strong question. After all, the Torah commands that when a person dies, he must be buried. Why did Rabbi Elazar request not to be buried? Even Moshe Rabbeinu was buried by the Holy One, blessed be He, and it is the way and nature of the world that one who dies is buried in the earth. If so, why did Rabbi Elazar request not to be buried and to be left as he was? And an additional question: Why did Rabbi Elazar ask to cut a piece of his flesh and place it in the sun during the months of Tammuz and Av? How does this help him, and why would Rabbi Elazar do such a thing?

Rather, perhaps we can explain and state a great principle. It is known that when the Holy One, blessed be He, created Adam the First Man, Adam was perfect and was supposed to live forever. After Adam sinned and ate from the Tree of Knowledge, he brought death into the world. The Holy One, blessed be He, created Adam from four equal elements: earth, wind, water, and fire, and one did not contradict the other. The moment man ate from the Tree of Knowledge, he began to nourish these four elements through physical things. Until man sinned and ate from the Tree of Knowledge, the human body was not sustained by anything and was a holy and exalted entity, receiving its energy solely from the Creator of the Universe without lust for food, without hunger or thirst, without fatigue, without any physical thing. Man was a spiritual and supreme entity, as the Gemara (Sanhedrin 59b) says: Adam the First Man would recline in the Garden of Eden and the ministering angels would roast meat for him and filter wine for him. We must come and ask: Where did he get meat from? Meat was only permitted for Noah to slaughter and eat after he saved the entire universe and all the animals and birds in the Flood! Furthermore, where did the meat and wine come from, since the world was created on the 25th of Elul and man was created after six days? Rather, the angels fed man ancient things that were from before the creation of the world. Adam the First Man was like an Altar, and what they gave him to eat was like a sacrifice on the Altar.

After the Serpent saw Eve and became jealous of Adam—which was the first sin that introduced jealousy into man—and afterward lust, as the Serpent desired Eve, and then honor, as the Serpent wanted the honor that man had and he did not. The Serpent injected into man jealousy, lust, and honor. Man ate from the Tree of Knowledge, and this dismantled the four spiritual elements upon which man relied, lived from, and drew strength from. Man began to eat and drink from physical things, and these four elements began to rely on physical things, and man began to have desires and lusts for eating, drinking, and sleeping.

Since then, if one element is higher or lower than the other elements, a person falls and becomes sick. If one element rises entirely or drops significantly, the person passes away from the world. As long as man had not eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, the four elements did not rely on anything and were holy and pure. But the moment Adam the First Man ate and became flawed, these four elements relied on a physical thing and became subject to ascent and descent; this was no longer a spiritual thing, and since then, there has been death in the world. At the Giving of the Torah, when the Children of Israel received the Torah, they rectified these four elements so they became spiritual again, and once again there was no need for eating and drinking, and no need for anything. But after they sinned with the Golden Calf, they again corrupted these four elements and relied on physical things, and death and evil returned to the world.

According to this, we can explain and say: Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon, was of the highest degree. As our Rabbis say, Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Elazar ate carobs, the depth of which was like Manna from Heaven. Elijah the Prophet would come and study Torah with them. Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Elazar engaged in great asceticism and detached themselves from any physical thing. But Rabbi Elazar was afraid that perhaps people might speak badly of him, saying he possessed jealousy, lust, and honor—traits that remove a person from the world. And jealousy causes a person's body to rot and die, as it is written: "envy is the rottenness of the bones" (Proverbs 14:30), for the Serpent introduced into Adam the first sin of jealousy, which brought death and the rotting of the bones. Therefore, Rabbi Elazar cut a piece of his flesh to test and see if his body was whole, ensuring that he did not have, Heaven forbid, jealousy, lust, or honor, and that his body was preserved and would not fall due to the collapse of the four elements.

When Rabbi Elazar saw that his body did not rot, he was glad and said: "Rejoice, my innards," that he did not fall to the place where physical things control the four elements. He controlled the four elements and they had no trace of the sin of Adam the First Man who sinned, corrupted, and ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Therefore, even before his passing, Rabbi Elazar requested not to be buried, because he wanted the world to know that, Heaven forbid, he had no flaw and did not harbor the jealousy, lust, and honor that entered Adam the First Man. The virtue of Rabbi Elazar is exceedingly high and exalted, and on the day of his Hillula, may immense abundance and influence flow upon the entire holy congregation, that we may all merit greatness, abundance, and success.

And on this day, the 25th of Elul, when the Holy One, blessed be He, began to create the heavens and the earth until Rosh Hashanah when man was created, and upon whom it is said: "You stand this day all of you before the Lord your God" (Deut 29:9), today is the holy day, Hayom Harat Olam (Today the world was conceived). Today stands in judgment all the creatures of the world. May the Holy One, blessed be He, grant each of us the merit to be a vessel for blessings and successes, for the most elevated and sublime things. The Holy One, blessed be He, knows, and so do the holy Tannaim Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon, that in the holy congregation "Shuva Israel", everyone loves the Holy One, blessed be He, and cleaves to Hashem and to the Tzaddikim with fear of Hashem and self-sacrifice (Mesirut Nefesh), and this is deeply ingrained and rooted in the entire holy congregation. In the merit of Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Elazar, whose holy Zohar the holy congregation "Shuva Israel" completes tens of times a year, may the Holy One, blessed be He, sweeten the judgments upon all of us, so that we enter the coming year for good and for blessing. Tichleh shanah ve-kileloteha, tachel shanah u-virchoteha (May the year and its curses end, may the new year and its blessings begin), and may all evil be finished and depart, and may we all be inscribed from here onward for a good life and for peace, abundant success, and salvation.

The Fourth Meal

Every person must, on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, divide the day and divide the time in the most correct manner. This is like a person who was at sea, fishing for fish in the sea at night, and he didn't know what was next to him. He found a bag of stones and was throwing the stones into the water. With every stone thrown into the water, he would hear the stone hit the water and make a splash, and so he made splashes all night. Thus, all night he was throwing stones, throwing stones, trying to fish.

At the end of the night, he looks at the bag and is horrified. What does he find? That the entire bag was full of diamonds! And he threw them just to hear the splash all night. He was left with a few, three or four diamonds, took them, and became rich from it.

The same goes for a person: we have the month of Elul. Every moment in the month of Elul holds the greatest significance; this month is a month of immense meaning. Every minute and every moment in the month of Elul possess tremendous significance, and if a person knows how to utilize the month of Elul in holiness and purity, to take things in the right way, he can achieve the greatest attainments.