Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael

Nevertheless, from all this, we have learned that the Torah's intention was not merely that we produce the sound of the Truah, rather its purpose is to awaken us to repentance, right? So this all comes to show us that the mitzvah itself is not just play the sound or produce the sound, but rather to awaken us actually to repentance, at least in its intention, not maybe in the actions in which it needs to happen, but at least Within the intention of what is trying to be, it is to awaken us to repentance.

And thus we find in the Mechilta, which is the Halachic Midrash in the book of Exodus, in the seventh month, renew yourself, right? So it says in the seventh month in the Torah about the mitzvah playing shofar and Rosh Hashanah.

and it uses the word chodesh for month, right? And they're drashing on chodesh to be chadash, to renew yourself.

And when it mentions shofar, the Mechilta drashes on this and interprets this homiletically and says, shofar means l'shaper, which in Hebrew means to improve.

And so therefore you need to improve your deeds.

And all these things that we do, these mitzvot, these obligations that we're supposed to take on for this holiday are actually supposed to have a spiritual impact on us and actually improving ourselves and improving our lives and improving how we behave in this world.

Another midrash takes this imagery even further while commenting on the blood of the Paschal lamb smeared on the doorposts of the people of Israel in Egypt.

The Mechilta explains that when God sees the blood and passes over, it is actually, quote, the blood of the binding of Isaac, end quote, that God sees.

For those who have eyes to see it, Messiah is boldly shining forth from every text.

On the journey to his own sacrifice, when Isaac inquires regarding the animal to be sacrificed, Abraham tells him that God will provide a lamb.

But it has to be that way around.

And as it says in the Mechilta, Accept, receive my kingship, and then you can accept my decrees.

We're moving over to the next page.

What are we fixing when we do tshuva? Everything that we didn't do right.

Okay, good.

Now comes the Mechilta.

Go ahead.

Okay.

... ... ...

Okay, that's fine.

That's their Mechilta, correct? Good.

Well, what do I want from the Ramban? This is the one right here.

It's not just bringing back from mistakes that you've made, surmeira, but it's also asitov.

And really what we are striving to be is devoted to Hashem at such a level that we are totally... accepted Hashem as our master and we do whatever Hashem wants us to do and we give up our own self, our own selfish, our own egos, our own self and we subjugate ourselves to Hashem and therefore we no longer have our own desires but we only want to do In the Mechilta that it's not enough just to learn Torah.

We have to be owned by Hashem.

Hashem should own us.

But some of the Rishonim like didn't believe it or couldn't believe it or refused to believe it.

And therefore they invoke the position of the Mechilta, which is something a little bit different.

We'll get to it in a minute.

But which is what? It could be I didn't give it to you.

Okay, so we want to pick up, I didn't read that.

If you get a chance to look at this ptosis.

and the Mechilta, and if you look at the Ramban also, just get a chance on that, about the Mechilta Havamina, as opposed to the Havamina, that there's no Hila, the Malachos is Rashi, and as I said, the Mechilta has this very, I want to talk about that, what are the implications of that, that you have to do all the Malachos, aside from like, you know, the good news for the Avaryonim, but the bad news, because we don't pass them that way,

but

So that is the bris in this week's parasha that it's going to say, is referring to Tarshav Ha'apet.

And then he brings a fascinating Mechilta.

The Mechilta says, Why does it say three times? The three brisim that HaKadosh Baruch Hu was cursed with Klal Yisrael.

And so Shmuel Yankov says, he says that the Gemara says, it says it three times, one for Isser Achila, one for Isser Hanah, and the Pashto one for Isser Bishel, for cooking.

So he says that Bishol, that the Pesach says, but Achila and Hanah, that we need Tarshav Al-Peth.

So Zachter Shmuel Yankiv, that is the Mechilta saying that there's three brises and the Shtim Zveri Gishmak with the Goyen and the Ramban, that the bris over here was Tarshav Al-Peth.

So...

The Pashup Shat is that, like Shmuel Yankov is saying, that there was a bris here, just like there was a bris by Harsinai.

Yeah, it says like this, the passage says, And then it says, And the question the Sufis ask, why do we have to have, again, the is all the same thing.

So he says, he quotes, excuse me, it's not a Sufi, it's a Mechilta in Shmais.

There was a king which conquered a city-state.

His servants told him, Decree, decree, sit down the law.