Meshech Chochmah

I'm sure most of them were given close to a hundred years ago, and have been written, and Rabbi Brodt has done research and looked into them.

And also focus on the Sefer Meshech Chochmah, how it was written, the style that it was written, what's unique about it, why it's been a sefer that's been in his kabbal since his petirah, one of the foremost Chumash svarim that are out there.

So without further ado, it's Erev Shabbos, close to Shabbos in Eretz Yisrael.

Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Brodt, take it away.

Okay, anyway, so now [coughs] these are just some of the brief points of historical things, and one could glean from all the different Hespedim [coughs] and accounts other pieces of information, which maybe we will get to.

Amirtz Hashem, we hope to record one last episode on Ramar Simcha shortly.

But today, I would like to focus on the work called the Meshech Chochmah.

Meshech Chochmah, for many people, you sh- even people who learned in yeshiva, not always did you learn Oros Meir or are able to understand Oros Meir, but at some point in your life, even after you left, uh, some-- maybe a rav, somewhat you come across, you heard a good var from the Meshech Chochmah.

The Rambam places free will in Hilchot Teshuvah because without free choice, reward and punishment and Teshuvah make no sense.

If you can't choose whether you choose good or evil, how can you have Teshuvah? The Meshech Chochmah, he says that when the Torah says, let us make man in our image and Parshat Bereshit, The divine image is Bechira Hoshis, is free will.

Therefore, mankind is able to choose good or evil.

The Meshe Chochma then goes on to explain this means mankind is capable of acting against his natural disposition.

I'm not a learner, that's who I am.

I'm just not that religious, that's who I am.

The Meshech Chochmah says, precisely because you are human, Because precisely you are made B'Tselem Elohim, you can change.

Even if I'm naturally impatient or angry or lazy or materialistic or not religious enough or not good at governing, that doesn't have to be who you are.

The Ramban is clear there is a mitzvah of Teshuva, and in Rambam there's a Machloket HaAcharonim whether there's a mitzvah how to Ɣim shat in the Rambam.

The way that it's usually phrased is that the Teshuva-- This is the way the, the-- I think the Meshech Chochmah phrased it.

Uh, according to-- If you hold there's no mitzvah of Teshuva in Rambam, uh, if you're holding those Acharonim, so then it means that Teshuva is a chessed.

The, the obligation of a Teshuva is integral to every mitzvah.

So over here, there's a mitzvah of Bishaf.

So that means that the Ramban is holding that when a person is nichshal L'Chai, so then the Kadosh Baruch Hu said, "Avva, leave it." In addition to listening to this mitzvahs that you had before you were nichshal, there's now another mitzvah to be Misbonen and to figure out what happened.

According to Rambam, if I wanna be Mezakeh, according to the Meshech Chochmah's understanding of Rambam, Machloket, 'cause it's hard-- uh, 'cause there are different Nusachot in the Rambam.

The Rambam held very strong.

Can we say Rabbi Yehuda Hequer, the Ra- the, the Rambam, the Abarbanel, the Rama, all these gr- gedolim, Amoraim who lived in Bavel their whole lives didn't have a God, didn't have a-- didn't-- they served Avodah Zarah and based on a pasuk, "Ki gershuni hayom yistapeach nachlas Hashem leim olei chaval alim acheirim," said by David, it's like an asmachta.

What's, what's, what's happening over here? How do we understand this? But Chazal tell us a fundamental yisod, and we find it in R-- Mor Umos, the Meshech Chochmah says it by regarding the ephod.

It says, "V'cheit sheva ephod kimaasehu." Chazal tells, the Gemara says in Kidushin and other places that by Avodah Zarah is the only lav in the Torah, the only isur that machshava is mestaref as li'maaseh.

Obviously, we have "Lo sisuru achari v'acharei ineichem" 'cause that is the isur, to have immoral thoughts.

Chazal said that it could end up that a person can blow Shofar on Shabbos.

The Meshech Chochmah is the halacha klal in, uh, many places in his Pirush that Klal Yisroel and HaKadosh Baruch Hu are-- make sacrifices for each other.

So classic, he doesn't...

I don't know if he says this, this HaKadosh Baruch Hu mitzaming himself, comes into Beis Hamikdash.

So the Meshech Chochmah says that Klal Yisroel comes to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and says, "We, we have a, we have a Shofar, and the Shofar is gonna be ma'aleh zechuyot uneh mitzvot.

And the Shofar," the Midrash says, "is HaKadosh Baruch Hu b'kisei ad din kisei rachamim, and we are willing to give that up because we don't want your Shabbos to get messed up." So that's a huge chutzpah.

That's the, that is the yivarech es ha'az.

The Or HaChaim said, he was before the Meshech Chochmah.

And then he ends off with a sipur diffly.

He quotes it's, uh, a story of Rav Shvatya Seagal, right, the ta-ta-talmid of the Ohr Someach, right? We just had a few weeks ago, the Meshech Chochmah's one hundred yahrtzeit.

So the, uh, the Meshech Choch, talmid of the Ohr Someach, one time it was the night of Rosh Hashanah, and in the house of the Meshech Chochmah, they gave out, uh, as is the minhag, the Rosh Hadag.

Right, the Rosh Hadag, everybody got a little piece of the, of the Rosh Hadag.

So they could say, "Leil ha-rosh lo la-zanav." And when Shvatya, when this talmid came, he looked at his, his plate and he saw he had the tail.

[Hebrew] Which, which are there because those are, you know, the small tables which are there all the time, right? That's what he says.

The Meshech Chochmah tells us, that the 19th interpretation, the house should look neat.

[Hebrew] It's only there when? Betaruch Hu Balaila.

What a beautiful answer.