Arba Parshios: The Four Stages

Chazal instituted that on the first week of Chodesh Adar we read about the Shkalim. This small reading discusses how the Jews donated to the Mishkan. On the Shabbos Kodesh before Purim we read Parshas Zachor, a reminder of our eternal struggle with Amalek. This week, the week after Purim we read Parshas Para in which we learn about the Para Adumah the laws and details of a fully red cow which is completely burnt and whose ashes are used to purify those who are under the status of Tamei Meis, meaning that they have contracted a certain type of intense impurity via contact with a corpse. The ashes of the Para Adumah nullify this impurity. The week after Parshas Para, which is the week before Rosh Chodesh Nisan we read Parshas HaChodesh, in which Moshe Rabbeinu is commanded by HaKadosh Baruch Hu in regards to the first Mitzva given to the Jewish people - Kiddush HaChodesh, the obligation to organize the beginning of the months around the discovery of the new moon every thirty days or so.

These four special readings: Shkalim, Zachor, Para and HaChodesh are called the Arba Parshios.

If we can analyze each one by itself, maybe we will see how they work as a unit.

Parshas Shkalim represents the intrinsic holiness and pure intentions inherit to every Jew. The Jews were commanded to give the Shkalim to the Mishkan, but when they did so it wasn’t merely a monetary donation, it was an investment of self, of personal devotion to the cause of what the Mishkan represents. And the Mishkan stands for living with the reality that Hashem really dwells within our lives. How do we know? A possible hint is given to us by the Ba’al HaTurim who points out that Shekel is the same numerical value as the word Nefesh, which means soul. When the Jews gave to the Mishkan they were really giving of themselves.

Then comes Parshas Zachor which reminds us of our eternal battle with Amalek. Amalek is more than just a physical people who we are at odds with. Amalek embodies all of the struggles that the Jewish people as a whole go through and on a deeper level they are the spiritual source from which all of the struggles that every individual undergoes.

Rav Yitzchak Hutner Zatz’al explains this based on the Passuk which describes Amalek. The verse says, “Reishis Goyim Amalek” - Amalek is the first of the nations. What does it mean that they are the first of the nations? Every nation serves in some way as a counterforce to the growth of the Jewish people. Amalek was the first nation to attack the Jewish people, as the Torah describes their ambush upon our exodus from Mitzrayim. Therefore, them, being the Reishis - the first, they serve as the prototype to this counterforce. Thus, in both the physical and spiritual realm, they set the mold for all the challenges to spiritual growth.

Amalek contains a very intense spiritual impurity, and it leaves a mark on everything it comes in contact with. The same is true with their attack on the Jewish people when they left Egypt. The sources bring down that via spiritual-cause-and-effect, the ‘spiritual dirt’ that Amalek left behind eventually caused Cheit Ha’Egel - the sin of the golden calf, an offense which left a heavy claim in heaven against the Jewish people.

This is where Parshas Para comes in. The Midrash explains that the Para Adumah was a Tikun - a rectification for the Cheit Ha’Egel, and therefore it’s also a tool used to battle Amalek’s effects on us.

Amalek comes to sever our relationship with the Divine. They try to get us to believe that we don’t need the Torah and that really we can make it on our own. That’s where all our problems start. Para Adumah represents the opposite. The Torah describes the Para Adumah as a Chok, a Mitzvah without a rational explanation. As we explained, Para Adumah comes to extract a person from the deepest impurity - Tumas Meis. Says the Para Aduma - You think can get out of Tumas Meis with your own formula? That’s Amalek thinking. The only way to escape Tumas Meis is by forfeiting your knowledge to God. This is very anti-Amalek.

This brings us to the fourth stage. This is Parshas HaChodesh - HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem - This renewal shall be for you, the Sanctification of the new moon. The Sfas Emes explains that the hidden meaning. The moon whittles down and diminishes, and then just as it hits rock bottom it begins to grow back. But it’s not really that simple, because the moment that we notice its renewal it takes on a new identity, one step, one month higher in the cycle. It was the moon of Chodesh Adar, but now it’s the moon of Chodesh Nisan. Once a struggle is met and subsequently overcome, the combatant is not the same person he was before hand – he’s stronger, he’s more experienced, but most importantly he’s ready to take on a new, stronger adversary.

These four special readings are the path of how we grow: Shkalim - Things are going well. Zachor - A Challenge comes. Para - We grapple with the difficulty. HaChodesh - We overcome and take on a new, stronger persona; ready to repeat the process on a higher level.

When we are living in a Shkalim state of mind, we need to know that it’s possible to reach a level of HaChodesh if we just fight Zachor with Para. When we feel like we are cruising in our Avodas Hashem, and then a struggle hits the most inspiring thing that we can know is that we will be we won’t just be back to where when we started once we overcome, rather we will be exponentially stronger because of it.

This is really the depth of what Chazal say, “B’Makom She’Ba’alei Teshuva Omdim, Ain Tzadikim Gemurim Omdim.” – In the place where a Ba’al TeShuva stands, a complete Tzadik doesn’t reach a level. Because even though the Shkalim level is nice, he who falls and gets back up is even higher – and this what the process of Shkalim, Zachor, Para, HaChodesh is coming to teach us.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha that we should be able to live with the inspiration needed to overcome the challenges that He sends us, and that we should have the awareness to appreciate the growth that we do achieve. If we can do this, there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus, moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!

Parshas Shkalim: A New Lease on Life

Am Yisrael enters into Adar (this year Adar Sheini) by reading what is called Parshas Shkalim. Parshas Shkalim is a small portion found in the beginning of Parshas Ki Sisa where HaKadosh Baruch Hu commands Moshe Rabbeinu to take a census of the people via each one donating a Machatzis HaShekel - One half of a Shekel coin to the creation of the Mishan.

Why do we read about Shkalim when Adar begins? Chazal base this custom off the first Mishna found in Messeches Shkalim. The Messeches begins, “B’Echad Ba’Adar Mashmi’in Al HaShkalim” – ‘On the first day of Adar they proclaim about the Shkalim.’ In the times of the Beis HaMikdash, in similar fashion to what we described by the Mishkan, there was a year donation from the people of a half-Shekel. This money was used to pay for Korbanos (sacrifices) and the general upkeep of the Beis HaMikdash. The announcement to bring in these Shkalim was released on the first day of Adar.

We also know the famous Ma’amar Chazal (and catchy song) MiShe’Nichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha - When Adar enters, we increase the happiness level.

What emerges is that Chazal tell us about to spiritual realities that occur simultaneously. The announcement of the Shkalim (based on the Shkalim of the Mishkan) and the amplification of Simcha both emerge from Adar’s arrival.

It would be impossible to say that these two realities - Mashmi’in Al HaShkalim and Marbin B’Simcha - are disconnected. The Jewish approach to spirituality is too sensitive and too nuanced to let such an overlap lay unclarified. The question is: What about Shkalim brings us to a place of Marbin B’Simcha?

We need to begin by first clarifying the nature of the Simcha of Adar. It can’t simply be that there is a holiday – practically every month has some sort of holiday in it. Pesach we celebrate our liberty. Chanuka we celebrate religious dedication. Shavuos commemorates the accaptence of the Torah HaKedosha. Yet none of the months associated with any of these holidays see a clearly stated augmentation of joyfulness. What makes the holiday of Purim unique that it causes a reality of Marbin B’Simcha?

We can answer with a parable that I heard from my dear Rebbe, Rav Elchanan Ehrman Shlit’a: Skydiving. During the drive there…Worry. Suiting up in the equipment…Panic. On the plane-ride up…Terror. As you bullet towards the ground…shock. And then you land safely. You get in your car and go home. The emotions used to describe that car ride are different than that of the others…Bliss. A new lease on life. Pure, unadulterated exhilaration.

Why is this so? The answer is that there are all sorts of joys in life and then there is one happiness that rises above all others, and that is the joy of simply being alive. When my life is put in danger, where there is a chance I just might not make it - and then I get through, I get to approach life with a totally new appreciation. Colors become brighter. Food tastes more flavored. Music is more harmonious. The simple fact that I’m alive on the canvas of the possibility that for a brief moment I almost wasn’t, gives me the ability to live with vitality impossible without such a climactic moment.

This is what sets Purim apart from all other holidays. Like we said, every holiday celebrates a very specific point: Mitzvah-observance, the Torah HaKedosha, freedom. On Purim we are celebrating something qualitatively different. We are celebrating the fact that (to quote my dear grandmother) it’s good be above the ground as opposed to in it.

Haman sought to kill out every last Yiddaleh (Jew in Yiddish) on one day. In the month of Nisan the decree was put out that eleven months later in Adar all of Am Yisrael would be slaughtered. Eleven months. Eleven months of dread. Eleven months of being taunted – “I’m gonna get you.” And then…and the last second…Venahafoch Hu! Everything got turned upside-down and we were saved. Sounds a little like skydiving.

But what caused us to be saved? The Midrash tells us that Haman saught to bribe Achashverosh by paying him ten-thousand silver pieces. When this was happening, HaKadosh Baruch Hu said in Shamayim - “Fool! You think you will decree against them with your money? They already have a Zechus, a merit of money that has far preempted yours!” Which money is that? The Machatzis HaShekel that was used in the desert, the one that we read about on Parshas Shkalim, the entryway into MiShe’Nichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha.

Now things are clear. There is an intrinsic connection between the reading of Parshas Shkalim and MiShe’Nichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha because what granted us the Simchas HaChayim, the joy of simply being alive, was the fact that we donated the Machatzis HaShekel to the Mishkan. In other words, without Parshas Shkalim there would be no possibility for MiShe’Nichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha.

But nowadays in order to experience this spiritual reality we need to take a slightly different root, because – to our great distress – there is no Beis HaMikdash do donate to.

However there is another way other than a monetary donation. That is the donation of my effort, my energy, my emotions. How is a personal investment as good as a monetary one? Because as the Ba’al HaTurim points out, Shekel shares the same Gematria (numerical value) as Nefesh - Soul.

The investment of my Kishkes, of making my Avodas Hashem the central, most important factor in my life is the way that we make our way to Simchas HaChayim. In order to achieve the feeling that life is vibrant we need to be appreciative of the very fact that we are alive, and that is only done by becoming to the root of all life in the universe.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to be Zocheh, meritorious enough to experience MiShe’Nichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha in the light of B’Echad Ba’Adar Mashmi’in Al HaShkalim, meaning that on the first of Adar a proclamation is made to each Shekel, each Nefesh that now is the time to become fully alive. If we can life in the context of all of its beauty, if we can experience Avodas Hashem as the life-changing experience that it is, if we can fully invest ourselves there is no doubt that we will live lives full of Simcha and Shleimus, moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!

Ki Sisa/Purim - United We Stand

Please feel free to print this out and read it on Shabbos Kodesh, just please not during Tefilah.

In the beginning of this week’s Parsha we learn about the census of the Jewish people. “Ki Sisa Es Rosh Bnei Yisrael LiFkudeihem” – When you tally up the Jewish people in accordance with their numbers… Everyone who passes through the count shall give a Machatzis HaShekel, one half of a Shekel coin. And who is obligated in the count? MiBen Esrim Shanah VaMala - all people over the age of twenty. And what is the result of such a tally? V’Lo Yihiyeh Bahem Negef - Plague will not come upon the Jewish people.

The command to calculate the census was in essence a command to solidify the Jewish people as a national entity. A whole unit whose parts were all accounted for. From this fact arises the possibility to learn about the fundamentals that make the Jewish people a nation and where that brings us. And if we fully transform the individuals into a living, breathing unit, then we can receive the blessing of V’Lo Yihiyeh Bahem Negef. Let’s try to understand how this is so.

The language used for the tally is ‘Ki Sisa’ When you tally, or count. It’s brought down that the root of this word comes from the root which means to lift up, or possibly is rooted in Si (pronounced See) which means a Record High. What emerges from this is that Ki Sisa Es Rosh Bnei Yisrael literally means “When you lift up the heads of the Jewish people.”

When do you tell someone to lift up his or her head? “Pick your chin up ; it’s going to be alright.” We lift someone’s head to give them Chizuk, give them inner-strength, an emotional boost, a sense of pride. Through what ever the goal of the census is – Hashem is commanding Moshe to inspire the people.

In his Sefer Binayahu, the Ben Ish Chai brings this concept the next step forward. He points out two connected references to an uplifted spiritual unity within the Jewish people within the Passuk.

The first is the word he analyzes is “Rosh” – meaning head (the head being a parable here for purpose and direction). Rosh, he says is the Roshei Teivos (acronym) for Shishim Rubah Osiyos - Six-Hundred-Thousand Letters. What are the six-hundred-thousand letters? Chazal tell us in many places that there are six-hundred-thousand root letters that make up the Torah. Thus the Shishim Rubah Osiyos - the Torah is the Rosh, the top priority, the head, the leading cause of Jewish unity.

The second reference to the same concept is in the word Yisrael. He brings from Chazal that Yisrael is also an acronym for the ‘full-version’ of the previously mentioned phrase, “Yesh Shishim Rubah Osiyos LaTorah” – ‘The Torah is comprised of Six-Hundred-Thousand letters.

But why is this fact contained in the word Yisrael? The answer is the famous line from the Zohar, that Yisrael V’Oraisa Kula Chad - The Torah and the Jewish people are one inseparable entity. And for that reason, the famous Kabalistic concept that there are Six-Hundred-Thousand root souls of the Jewish people is completely parallel to the letters of the Torah. Each Jewish soul is an expression of one letter in the Torah. Each Jew represents the coming into fruition of another detail in the larger picture of the Jewish goal – which is bringing Ratzon Hashem (the Torah) to the entire world - Tikkun Olam.

The goal of the census is to connect this concept of Rosh - the Torah, to Yisrael, the manifestation of the Torah’s message in the world. When the concept of the Shishim Rubah Osiyos finds it’s context with in the Roshei Teivos of Yisrael - when each Jew, finds his or her unique role, identifying with their unique place in the world which stems from their letter in the Torah – only then will the count be L’Fkudeihem, which comes from the word Tafkid, purpose, role, destiny.

And as we know, if a Torah is missing a single letter, the whole thing is invalidated, and so too with the Jewish people’s national mission. We each have our unique niche in Avodas Hashem, and we also share the common goal of spreading the Knowledge of God. This means that I am not only living on an island with my “Letter”, it means that I have my friends for inspiration and means that it’s my responsibility to awaken others to their calling as well.

And this itself is the encouragement of Ki Sisa Es Rosh Bnei Yisrael. The essence of the Jewish people’s inspiration comes from the fact that all of these Shishim Rubah Osiyos make up one whole and all these individuals together create a community which is designed to support all of it’s members.

The words of the Ba’al HaTurim will bring us to the next level. He points out that the Sofei Teivos (acronym from the final letters in a word) of the phrase Ben Esrim Shanah spell the word Haman, the antagonist of the Purim-story.

He explains that this is a reference to the Gemara in Messeches Megilah (13b) that tells us that Hashem knew full well that Haman would try to buy the destruction of the Jewish people by paying off Achashveirosh, so Hashem pre-empted Haman’s Shkalim with the Shkalim donated in this week’s Parsha (Tosfos does the equation to show that the two sums were in fact equal).

But we need to understand, what is the significance of the Machatzis HaShekel that it was able to over-power the force of Haman’s wicked decree?

The Sefer Amudei Hod explains that the answer comes from the essence of what the Machatzis HaShekel is all about. Each person was commanded to bring specifically a half of a Shekel, not a whole coin, to signify the dependence of each Jew on every other. No person alone was able to donate a full unit to the cause, rather each Jew was totally reliant on another Jew to fill his coin. The Machatzis HaShekel is the theme of Achdus - Jewish unity.

Amalek, the forbearer to Haman, is the opposite. They are power of Pirud - separation and disassociation. The Passuk says about them that they are the ones Asher Karcha BaDerech, They happened upon, they interrupted the Jewish people on the way. Derech, a path, is a complete route from A to B. Amalek seeks to break up that wholesomeness.

This was exactly how Haman convinced Achashveirosh (and the Heavenly Court) to lay down the decree to destroy the Jewish people. “Yeshno Am Echad Mifuzar U’Miphurad” There is a nation, a dispersed and scattered - they have no unity - divided and conquerable. And to bring ensure his control, Haman bribed Achashveirosh with money, but that power was over come by the money that we gave, in the form of the Machatzis HaShekel - the symbol and the expression of our Achdus. And through that we were saved from Haman, thereby fulfilling the Passuk in our Parsha, V’Lo Yihiyeh Bahem Negef - Plague will not come upon the Jewish people.

The Sfas Emes and Rebbe Shlomo Alkabetz explain that the turning point in the Megilah also comes from this same point. Ester. After Haman initiates and decrees doom over the Jews, Ester commands Mordechai, “Lech Knos Kol HaYehudim” Go an assemble all of the Jewish people. Bring them together. Unify them.

From that unity came the prayers which empowered Ester to go into see Achashverosh, which arranged the party, which led to Haman’s demise and the salvation of the Jewish people.

From the census of Am Yisrael and the MAchatzis HaShekel we learn that the Jewish people are only able to remain on this earth and carry out their mission if there is Achdus. Only when the Rosh is connected to Yisrael will we have the inspiration and the drive to energize the universe with Ratzon Hashem. And when there is Achdus, we receive the blessing of V’Lo Yihiyeh Bahem Negef - Plague will not come upon the Jewish people.

We should be Zocheh to live a life where we are constantly bringing all the Jewish within our reach closer to one another. We should be Zocheh to have the sensitivity to Daven for the individuals who make up Klal Yisrael. If we do there is no doubt that we will live lives of Shleimus and Simcha moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ultimately to the Geulah Sheleimah!

Mishpatim: Land of the Free

After an emotionally charged and very dramatic Parshas Yisro, Am Yisrael figuratively descends Mount Sinai and enters into the world of nitty-gritty monetary laws. But these seemingly mundane, physical and financial ordinances contain within them deep secrets and relevant messages in Avodas Hashem.

The first set of laws discussed in the Parsha are the details of the Eved Ivri - a Jew, who for one reason or another becomes a slave. Torah says that he serves his master for six years. After his term as a slave he has one of two options: he can either go free, or he can choose to give himself over to his master for life.

Let’s first discuss going free. After his six years of service the Passuk tells us that he is released Chofshi Chinam - ‘Free; for no charge.’ Why does the Torah employ the repetitious terminology (‘double-Lahon’) of Chofshi Chinam? What do we learn from the fact that he leaves both Chofshi, free and Chinam which also means free? And while Chazal do learn out more monetary nuances from this double-Lashon, nowadays, when we don’t have the concept of Eved-Ivri, how does this apply to me?

But like we said, there is a second possibility. He can give himself over to his master forever. Why would he want to indenture himself forever? Simply because his master has to treat him really well. His master gives him a wife. If there is one bed, the master sleeps on the floor (the list of perks goes on). The downside is that at the end of the day, it’s still slavery, and the spiritual realities that are intrinsically rooted into the life of a slave are far from the best.

Hashem wants us to be His servants, Ovdei Hashem. He doesn’t want us to give ourselves over to human beings. He wants us to be , to accept the Yolk of Heaven, not Ol Basar Va’Dam, the yolk of another human. So if he does choose to give himself over there are consequences. The slave is taken to court and (take a deep breath) the officials take his ear and nail it into a doorpost. Not pleasant. The tool used is some sort of spike called a Martze’a.

With this information we have to add another question: Why smash his ear? What connection does his handing himself over have to his ear? He’s giving over his whole being!

Our answer begins by a seemingly ambiguous line in the Ba’al HaTurim. He reveals to us the hidden secret of the Martze’a. This word’s Gematria (numerical value) is four hundred. This corresponds to the fact that after four hundred years Hashem redeemed us from Egypt. After such redemption, this man wants to re-enter slavery from his own free will? So we smash his ear in with a Martze’a, the four hundred corresponds to the four hundred years of the long awaited redemption which he is now proactively rejecting.

This cute correspondence of four hundreds has a tremendous depth, revealed to us in the Sefer Amudei Hod in the name of HaGaon Rav Yitzchak Hutner and Rav Moshe Shapira Shlita.

Every year at the Pesach Seder we sing the song of Echad Mi Yode’a, commonly known as “Who knows one?” Every number is linked to a fundamental Jewish statistic. Three are the forefathers (Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov. and four are the mothers. (Sarah, Rivka, Rachel, and Leah.) The goal of the fathers was to generate the progeny, to make the nation. The goal of the mothers, and therefore intrinsically the essence of the number four, was to remove the bad from within the nation. Sarah Imeinu kicked out Yishma’el. Rivka took the blessings away from Eisav as to weaken him. Rachel and Leah convinced Yaakov Avinu to finally distance himself from Lavan so that he would not be able to leach off of Yaakov’s incredible holiness. So we see that four, when dealing with the realm of holiness is there to push away impurities that hold us back from taking upon ourselves Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim - the acceptance of the Yolk of Heaven (Living with the reality that God is running the show).

And the same applies in the realm of the opposite of holiness – in Tumah - as well. There are four nations which exile us, and there goal is to remove our ability to draw godliness into the world. When Yaakov Avinu was making his way to Eretz Yisrael, the path was blocked by Eisav, who came with four hundred men (The Maharal explains that the as any number grows by one decimal [four to forty, forty to four hundred] the meaning, significance and theme of that number grows with it. Thus the four hundred men is an exponential continuation of the theme of four.) And so too when Avraham tried to purchase Ma’aras HaMachpela, the gateway to Gan Eden, he had to pay four hundred silver pieces to gain entry. If four within the context of holiness represents the removal of blockages between man and godliness, then four within the realm of impurity represents the removal of Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim - Acceptance of the Yolk of Heaven.

Therefore when Hashem wanted to prepare us for Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim He brought the holy Jewish people to the most unholy place in the world - Mitzrayim. And He did so for specifically four hundred years. Why? Because this sets up the ultimate challenge to Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim. Anyone who can survive this is ready to go to the ultimate Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayaim at Har Sinai. And therefore he who willingly re-enters slavery is actively removing his Ol Malchus Shamayim and therefore rejecting everything that the whole Egyptian exile and redemption was all about! Therefore the rejection of four hundred comes back to smash him in the form of four hundred - the Gematria of Martze’a.

In short, this man who is choosing to re-enter slavery is rejecting Ol Malchus Shamayim, because by being a servant of a human being, it is automatically impossible to fully be a servant of Hashem. (One example: A slave is exempt from the twice daily recitation of Shema, which is our daily Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim.)

Perhaps with this in mind, we can bring forward the words of the holy Sfas Emes to explain why we specifically smash his ear. The answer is that Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim is done with hearing.

How do we know? From the famous words of this weeks Parsha - Na’aseh V’Nishma - We shall do and we shall listen. The question is famous: How are we going to listen after we’ve already done the action? Says the Rebbe Zatz’al, this is the secret to what Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim is all about. What is the acceptance of a yolk? A yolk on an ox means that it’s always ready to do work. The plow connected to the yolk means that he now has the opportunity to do so. The plow is not always connected, but as long as the yolk is still on, he’s ready. So to by Na’aseh V’Nishma.

Na’aseh means that we will do whenever we can. Whatever opportunity comes our way, we’ll jump on it. And Nishma? That’s how we say that after we do it, or even when there is nothing to do, we are still listening out for the next opportunity. There may be no plow, but I’m waiting with the yolk on. That’s Kabbalas Ol - the Yolk, the essence of being totally ready, fully invested in Avodas Hashem, and that comes specifically through hearing.

Thus, when a person is a slave of another human being there is a certain intrinsic freedom from Kabalas Ol Malchus Shamayaim, because the very nature of his role causes him to be fully invested in the service of something other than God.

Says the Zohar, that this is the depth behind a certain negative spiritual reality, a Klipah called Chinam - freedom (U-S-A! U-S-A!). When a sense of disconnection to Ol Malchus Shamayim enters into a persons heart, because he is enslaved, because he is in servitude to something else, he is under the influence of the impure spirit called Chinam. And therefore when the slave in our Parsha goes free, he goes Chofshi Chinam! Meaning, he is going free from the status called Chinam! He can finally be Mekabel Ol Malchus Shamayim!

And now everything comes together. The value of four hundred that the Martze’a embodies come to strike the ear because this man is showing that he is not interested in his redemption from Egypt, and therefore not interested in Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim and therefore not interested in Nishma - We shall hear.

Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim means that I’m a servant of Hashem and nothing else. I’m always ready. I’m fully and totally invested. I’m focused. Nothing can pull me away. This is my life and I’m sticking to it. No matter what the situation is, I got my yolk on and I’m ready. I’m here to bring holiness into the world, and I’m not going to fail. HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to be Mekabel Ol Malchus Shamayim B’Emes. Because if we can there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus, moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!.