Derashah of Hagaon Harav Yitzchok Sorotzkin shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Telshe and Mesivta d’Lakewood, Dirshu – Prudential Center, 3 Sivan, 5784

Tonight’s Kinus Olam HaTorah and kabalas Shabbos is what Chazal in Maseches Sanhedrin were referring to when they said that kinus l’tzadikim is hana’ah lahem vehana’ah l’olam. When tzadikim and talmidei chachomim get together l’shem Shamayim to see how they can be mischazaik, how they can be mechazaik others, it is beneficial for them and beneficial for the whole world that is mushpah and looks up to these tzadikim and talmidei chachomim, and they want to emulate them. We are mispallel to the Ribono Shel Olam that tonight’s kinus should bring a gevaldige chizuk b’halachah  v’Torah in shmiras Shabbos k’halacha and it should be marbeh k’vod shamayim.

The heilege Chofetz Chaim, when he was very old and very weak, was once literally carried to an asifa that took place in Bialystok. The Chofetz Chaim then said, “Believe me, if this kinus would have been even for 100 mitzvos, I would not have come to the kinus. I am very shvach and it is a sakanah for me to come. But being that it is a kinus for Chizuk HaTorah, how could I not come?” And the Chofetz Chaim said, “I have to be here when it is a chizuk for Torah.”  When Maran HaRav Shach would say over this story, he would add,  “Can we imagine how chashuv one mitzvah was by the Chofetz Chaim? Ver redt duch hundreteh Mitzvos? And if the Chofetz Chaim was so shvach that he couldn’t come even for 100 mitzvos, then we can understand that when it is nogeah to Chizuk HaTorah, it’s a totally different zach. And the Chofetz Chaim said ‘muz men kumin.’  This is the heintigeh kinus. The heintigeh kinus is a chizuk for Torah un aleh dafen kumin. And B”H it is a gevaldige kovod haTorah vos aleh huben du kegumen, eintel nemen in this gevaldige chizuk l’chvodah shel Torah.

Nowadays, when a tzarah happens, we are quick to say the blame is on our deficiency in shmiras Halashon - which the importance of this mitzvah was brought about by the heilege Chofetz Chaim. But the Mashgiach Rav Matisyahu Salamon zecher tzaddik v’kadosh livrachah used to say that when you look through the michtovim of the Chofetz Chaim when he talks about the tzoros of Klal Yisroel, he almost never blames it on lashon horah. He usually blames it on our lack of shmiras Shabbos and limud haTorah. Therefore, let us strengthen our commitment to Torah and shmiras Shabbos and we will be zocheh to all of the brochos that come from Torah and shmiras Shabbos. Torah and Shmiras Shabbos are the mkor of all our Brochos. The Chofetz Chaim writes that Shabbos is the yesod of kol haTorah kulah. Shabbos testifies that the Eibeshter created the world in six days and he was shovas on Yom Hashvi’i.  Chazal tell us kol hamikayem es HaShabbos k’ilu mekayem kol haTorah kulah. V’kol hamechallel es haShabbos Rachmana litzlan k’ilu kofer bchol haTorah kulah.

The Chofetz Chaim points out that the only aveirah besides avodah zorah that if a person is mumar to he is considered as if he is a mumar l’kol haTorah kulah. Because chas v’sholom if a person is kofer in shmiras Shabbos, he is kofer b’Maaseh Breishis, like an oved avodah zarah.

The Rambam in Hilchos Shabbos writes that Shabbos and avodah zarah are both shkulah keneged kol mitzvos haTorah. Shabbos is the heilegeh ois between us and the Ribono Shel Olam. Shabbos is the yesod of emunah that the Eibishter created the world and therefore the Ribono Shel Olam is the Adon of the world, and He chose the Yidden from ala umos haolam. We are mechuyov to do His ratzon and to serve the Eibeshter with all our whole heart and soul, because everything is the Eibeshter’s.

And the Chofetz Chaim says that when a person is missing an eiver, he doesn’t lose his chiyus. But if a person is missing his head, then his whole life is worthless. Shabbos is nimshal in Chazal to the rosh. Every other mitzvah corresponds to a certain eiver, a specific eiver, and if a person is slack in a specific miztvah, he is still considered a part of klal Yisroel. But if person doesn’t observe Shabbos, he is Rachmanah litzlan yotzah m’Klal Yisroel l’gamri. And the Chofetz Chaim says that those people who are mechallel Shabbos are not only destroying themselves but they’re bringing terrible tzaros on all of klal Yisroel.

The Mashgiach, the tzadik Rav Don Segal Shlita, recently started learning hilchos Shabbos b’rabim with the Mishnah Berurah. Rav Don said over that Maran Rav Elyashiv zt”l, before he began Maseches Shabbos, would make a hakdamah. He would say that the Ribono Shel Olam created the world for six days and he rested on Shabbos. The Eibeshter gave us Shabbos kodesh that we should constantly remember that the He created the world and rested on Shabbos. He commanded us on the lamed-tes melochos, so this way we would constantly remember Shabbos.  Rav Elyashiv reiterated this a few times - over and over - before he began Maseches Shabbos.  Rav Don said that from this we can see how chashuv it was by Rav Elyashiv to be mekasher the limud of Maseches Shabbos with the halochos of Shabbos and with the yesodos of Shabbos Kodesh, which is the yesod of emunah.

Someone once asked the Steipler Gaon that there was a yeshivah bochur from a chashuva home that   wanted to have emunah shleimah. However,  he had questions and doubts that made it impossible for him to have Emunah shleimah. The Steipler told that yeshiva bochur to make sure to learn through hilchos Shabbos klor and that’s a segula to dissipate all doubts and questions of Emunah. He told him to learn all the details of hilchos Shabbos and he should see to practice all that he learns.

 The Mashgiach Rav Matisyahu Solomon zt”l used to say that if Shabbos removes doubts of Emunah from somebody, it certainly will be effective in establishing a solid foundation of emunah in the minds of our children.

The Brisker Rav use to say, “Why is Yom Kippur so holy even by the poshei yisroel, yet Shabbos is not so choshuv in the eyes of the fraye to the point that they are mezalzel in Shabbos and are mechalel Shabbos b’farhesya?” And the Brisker Rav used to explain, “It is because Yom Kippur is so holy by us. And when it is holy by us, it’s mashpia on everybody, it is mashpia on the briah, it is mashpia even on those people who are far away from Yiddishkeit. But since Shabbos is not as kodosh as it should be, therefore Shabbos by the fraye is stepped on and mischallel, Rachmana litzlan.”

  Rachmana litzlan, we are witnessing an unprecedented chillul Shabbos b’farhesya in artzeinu hakedoshah, how the fraye are b’reish gli and b’chutzpah gedolah being mechalel Shabbos by allowing public transportation in many cities in Eretz Yisroel, conducting business and opening stores and restaurants like it’s a regular day of chol, against the macha’os and hasra’os of gedolei v’tzadikei Yisroel. These pirtzos are so heartbreaking because it signifies that we - the shomrei Torah u’mitzvos, the bnei Torah - are not properly being shomer kedushas Shabbos.

The Brisker Rav used to say that if there are gezeiros on giyus to bnei hayeshiva to come serve in the army, it’s a siman that we are slackening in Torah and that we have to be mechazek ourselves in Torah. He added that if there are gezeiros against kedushas Shabbos, it’s a siman that there’s a rifyon in the dikduk of Hilchos  Shabbos and the kedushah of Shabbos. And if we will be mechazek ourselves in these areas, then the fraye would have no koach to make any pirtzus and gezeiros.

B’zechus that we will strengthen ourselves in the kedushah and the chashivus of Shabbos, we will be mashpiah on the fraye to come back to the Ribono Shel Olam and not desecrate the heiligeh Shabbos. Therefore, it is mutal on everybody here to strengthen themselves in shmiras Shabbos. It is through the chashuva nasi of Dirshu, Rav Dovid shlita, that he is being me’orer klal Yisroel and he is being mezakeh klal Yisroel to strengthen ourselves in our commitment to Torah and shmiras Shabbos k’halachah.

The Chofetz Chaim in his hakdamah brings down the Ya’aros Devash that it’s not possible to be nizhar in the issurei Shabbos if you don’t learn through the dinim properly, haitev haitev! The Chofetz Chaim says that therefore everyone has to mezarez themselves to learn through hilchos Shabbos and to chazer it constantly, to be able to know what is assur and what is mutar and to be a baki in hilchos Shabbos.

The heiligeh Chofetz Chaim, when he finished writing the Mishna Berurah, when he was mesayem all the chalokim of the Mishna Berurah, he invited numerous talmidei chachomim to come and celebrate with him a seudah for a whole week. The Chofetz Chaim made a seudah for a week long. On yom rishon, the Chofetz Chaim made a siyum and a seudah on the first chelek of Mishna Berurah. On the second day, the Chofetz Chaim made a siyum and a seudah on the second chelek of Mishna Berurah. And they would discuss different halachos that were shayach to that cheleck of Mishna Berurah. And this continued for a whole week, day after day. Every day, a different chelek. When they finished the seudah of erev Shabbos kodesh on the sixth chelek of Mishna Berurah, everyone, including the Chofetz Chaim, thought that they finished.

To their surprise, on Shabbos kodesh after davening, the heiligeh Chofetz Chaim told everybody from the siyum that he wants them to come to his house. When they came to his house, the Chofetz Chaim said to them, “I’m sure you’re wondering why I called you together when we already finished the siyumim on all the chalakim of the Mishneh Berurah.” But he said, “What should I do? Shabbos itself came to me and Shabbos munned me. Shabbos said I should make another siyum especially for cheluk gimel and daled, the chalakim that discuss hilchos Shabbos - you should make another siyum on those chalakim and make it on Shabbos itself.” And therefore, the Chofetz Chaim made another siyum on the chalakim of hilchos Shabbos on Shabbos kodesh.

Now, gedolei yisroel, when they would say over this maaseh, they would say from here we see that Shabbos is a metzius. Shabbos has its own demands from us. It would seem that Shabbos has now come to Harav Rav Dovid again to make this spiritual kinus on being mechazek shmiras Shabbos k’halachah by the limud of amud yomi and daf yomi b’halachah b’hilchos Shabbos.

The Chofetz Chaim writes that Chazal tell us that if Klal Yisroel would keep two shabbosos, m’yad we would be nigal, because shmiras Shabbos is the yesod of kol haTorah and it is mekarev the geulah. But there’s a Midrash in Parshas Beshalach where Rav Levi says that if klal Yisroel would be meshamer Shabbos k’ra’ui - even if they would be meshamer only one Shabbos, Mashiach would come. And the Midrash asks, why one Shabbos? It’s because Shabbos is shkulah k’neged kol hamitzvos, like we say in Tehillim and in Kabalas Shabbos, ‘ki hu Elokeinu v’anachnu am mariso… hayom im b’kolo tishma’u.’ And the Midrash explains what is this is ‘hayom’? Hayom is referring to the day of Shabbos, as it says, ‘zachor es yom haShabbos l’Kadsho.’ If we would keep Shabbos k’ra’ui just one Shabbos, we would be zoche to Mashiach.

There’s a Gemara in Maseches Sanhedrin that they asked Mashiach himself - R’ Yehoshua ben Levi asked Mashiach when is he going to come. And Mashiach answered, ‘hayom im b’kolo tishma’u.’ Nobody understands what the teshuvah was, but from this Midrash we see what Mashiach was saying. If we keep the day of Shabbos b’kedushah k’ra’ui, then Mashiach would come - with one shmiras Shabbos k’ra’ui.

The Bais Yosef in his peirush on the Midrash explains, what does it mean if you keep Shabbos k’ra’ui? So the Bais Yosef says, k’ra’ui, b’chol dikduk halachosav -  if you learn all the halachos of Shabbos and you know all the halochos of Shabbos, that’s what it means to keep Shabbos k’ra’ui. When you’re mekayem all the halachos of Shabbos, when there is a shmiras Shabbos k’halacha like we say ‘Kol Mekadesh Shvi’i k’ra’ui lo’. What does that k’ra’ui lo  mean? It means if we are shomer Shabbos k’halachah.

Dirshu with its programs is bringing us to hilchos Shabbos k’ra’ui. It is bringing us to that one Shabbos that could bring us the geulah. If we could understand what it means shmiras Shabbos k’ra’ui,  Mashiach says to us that we are going to be zoche to the geulah.

I want to share with you a beautiful Michtav M’Eliyohu from Rav Dessler zt”l. He says, what did the Gemara mean, what did Chazal mean when they said if we keep two Shabbosos we would be nigal? He says that two Shabossos means two levels of Shabbos. He refers to them as Shabbos tachtonah and Shabbos elyonah - Shabbos chitzona and Shabbos penimius.

He explains Shabbos chitzonah to mean when a person has not yet reached the ultimate level of ruchniyus in his shemiras Shabbos. He is striving to grow in his Shemiras Shabbos, but his Shabbos is still external, he has not yet internalized it penimusdik.

Shabbos penimius means when Shabbos is in the lev of the person. This level of zochor Hayom l’kadsho is when Shabbos is a ruchniyus Shabbos, when Shabbos is designated for limud haTorah and limud halachah of Shabbos. We know that the Torah was given on Shabbos, because Shabbos is a day which is supposed to be totally dedicated to ruchniyus.

The Ramban in Parshas Yisro explains the Torah wanted that on Shabbos, a person should be totally removed from gashmiyus v’chumriyus. He shouldn’t even think about his parnassa, He has to be shoves from melachah. Not only from his own melachah, but even from his beheimos and avadim. Our minds have to be totally dedicated to think only about Torah and ruchniyus, spending the heiligeh Shabbos in limud haTorah. The Ramban says to go to hear shiurim on Shabbos, and as it says in the Yalkut, specifically shiurim on hilchos Shabbos. This is the true level of Shabbos that can usher us into the geulah. A penimiusdike Shabbos.

There is a striking Meshech Chochmah in sefer Devarim. He says that in Bayis Sheini, the Yidden were learning Torah a lot and they were being mekayem mitzvos. But he says that there was a chisaron in the penimiyus of klal Yisroel.  It was more superficial. Their ahavas HaTorah iz nisht geven b’chol levavam, their ahavas Yisroel was not in their hearts. And the tikkun to get out of galus is to internalize the Torah, to internalize shmiras Shabbos that it should be penimiusdik. This is what Dirshu is working on tirelessly, to instill a tremendous penimusdik  ahavah for Torah, a penimiusdika ahavah for shmiras Shabbos k’ra’ui with all the halachos of Shabbos bdikduk.

I want to share with you the heilege words of the famous mashgiach of Mir, Rav Yerucham zt”l. What does it mean to make a kabalah? We know that by ma’amad Har Sinai, klal Yisroel had to make a kabalah, na’aseh kodem l’nishma. And Chazal tell us that when they made that kabalah it was nechshav by the Ribono Shel Olam as if we were already mekayem the whole Torah.  Shavuos is when we make that kabbalah, it’s a kabalah that makes it nechshav that klal Yisroel. That’s why there is no separate mitzvah on Shavuos, because Shavuos is kol haTorah. With that kabbalah, it’s like we did it.

Now, he explains the sod of a kabbalah. He says the sod of a kabbalah is to make a firm commitment full of ahavah, full of ruach, full of cheifetz, full of ratzon, which will propel the person so that nothing will stand in his way from fulfilling whatever he undertakes. He explains that all the gedolim, when they made a commitment, they made sure to keep their commitment and nothing would stand in their way. And R’ Yerucham writes that the heilige Chofetz Chaim was working on his Mishneh Berurah and the Satan tried very hard to stop the Chofetz Chaim from completing the Mishneh Berurah and he did shrekeleche tzoros to the Chofetz Chaim. And the Chofetz Chaim declared to the Satan, “You will not be able to deter me because I have to complete the gantze Mishnah Berurah.”

 Now, this Shavuos, when klal Yisroel is IY”H going to be mekabel [the Torah] together,  we are going to be mekabel to commit to learn Maseches Shabbos and hilchos Shabbos. It should be with a firm commitment that nothing will deter us from fulfilling our commitment, because we will accept it with a tremendous ahavah, with a tremendous chashek, with a tremendous ratzon. This way, we will elevate our kedushas Shabbos and we will be zocheh to be koneh Torah penimiusdik and we will be koneh hilchos Shabbos and the yesodos of emunah.

Tai’ere chosheve kahala Kadisha alin, everybody here should make upon themselves a firm kabalah: “I am going to be mekabel to learn hilchos Shabbos k’ra’ui.” And when we all will be mekabel, we will be zoche through this to all the brochos of Shabbos - Shabbos is the mekor habrachah. All the brochos of Torah - the Torah is the mekor habrachah. Brachos for yourself, brachos for your family, bringing the shmirah and brocha to all of klal Yisroel.

Ultimately, if we will be shomer that Shabbos k’ra’ui, we will be zocheh to the geulah of what Mashiach told us, that when you will be shomer one Shabbos k’ra’ui, we will be zocheh to bi’as Mashiach tzidkeinu bimheirah b’yomeinu.