The Foundation of Judaism - Parashat Shemot

0:01The foundation of Am Yisrael comes from Yaakov. Why Yaakov? Because Yaakov was kadosh. Everyone that has been, uh, you know, learning with us over the years, anyone that's been learning in general over the years, is very much familiar with the story. This is when, uh, Am Yisrael, in essence, uh, begins becoming Am Yisrael, uh, although it all started with Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Uh, the, uh, next chapter is really when we all became slaves. In Egypt, we suffered tremendously until the salvation eventually came, and Hashem gave us the Torah. But in between the lines, there is a common denominator—a common denominator that you will find across the entire Torah: the message that's between the lines that is teaching us about Kedusha.

1:03...Torah's emphasis on holiness and morality serves as a guiding light for us, reminding us of the importance of these values. The continuous focus on Kedusha underscores its significance as a core element of our faith, ensuring that we remain vigilant against the moral pitfalls prevalent in today's society. The constant teaching, repetition, and reappearance of the teachings of kedusha show us that kedusha is the foundation of Judaism. Achieving holiness, specifically when it comes to morality, is the foundation of Judaism, as the sages repeat over and over again. Now, where do we see the teachings of kedusha in the parsha? That's some of the things we'll discuss tonight, and there are going to be some beautiful insights that we'll bring also from a rabbi that we haven't mentioned in the past, despite the numerous lectures we've given about this topic—insights that are literally earth-shattering.

2:24These are the names of the children of Israel who entered Egypt with Yaakov: each man and the members of his household entered. So here we see that this is all, in essence, taking us a little bit back, giving us a little bit of background. This is how we got to where we are. Yaakov Avinu came down with his family to Egypt. There were 70 souls. And this is specifically counting mainly the men with the exception of two women. So there were more than 70, because of course, everyone was married and so on. But the point is that the 70 souls that are mentioned are repeated several times in the Torah. We discussed this particular point. In last year's lectures, we're not going to repeat why this number 70 is of utmost importance and why it's repeated so many times. But then we see something very interesting that perhaps we missed until now, where we see here that after it's giving the names of the tribes: Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehuda...

3:52All of the persons who emerged from Yaakov's loins and entered Egypt were seventy souls, and this includes Yosef, who was already in Egypt. Now, in today's language or way people speak, generally when you say, "You know, this is Yaakov," you'll say, "This is his sons, this is his daughters, or this is his family." If you're going to say, "Oh, this is what came out of his loins," The way people speak today, generally when you say, "You know, this is Yaakov, and you'll say this is his sons, this is his daughters, or this is his family," and if you're going to say, "Oh, this is what came out of his loins," Average folks out there immediately have inappropriate things coming to mind, inappropriate images forming in their thoughts. If they were connected to artificial intelligence, it might take those thoughts and turn them into images of what would actually emerge. However, our holy Torah repeats this multiple times, where it says...

5:11All the persons who emerge from Yaakov's loins. Why do I need to know this specific detail? Obviously, if they're his sons, that's how they came out. What is this biology lesson that I'm getting here? Know this: Kedusha is highlighted in the Torah. Anytime there is Kedusha, and I don't just mean holiness superficially, like a holy mitzvah or a holy deed, but rather specifically the matters of Kedusha, the matters of morality. That's how it's called in the holy language, Kedusha. Kedusha is highlighted in the Torah because from a Kedush, a Kedush comes out. have a deal just like the Gemara says. I would say something that's unholy creates things that are unholy. But here also, the Torah shows us that holiness can also create holiness—not always, because we see that Avraham, he had Yitzchak, kodesh kodeshim, but he also had Yishmael. Yitzchak...

6:39had Yaakov Kodesh Kodashim, but he also had Esav, as in "Esav saneti." Now, generally speaking, the wickedness of Ishmael or Esav was by their choice. In fact, the Me'am Lo'ez by Rabbi Yaakov Culi, written about 300 years ago... used to fast for one week at a time from Shabbat to Shabbat as he was writing the Ma'alot Leveis, and all this he was doing in hiding. No one knew that he did it until it was disclosed by one of the students who found out, but... Rav Kuli brings up the point that Esav was actually given tools that were even greater than Yaakov, so much so that he was supposed to be the father of half of the tribes, and he had a potential that was even greater than Yaakov.

7:43Initially, they both started on the same righteous path, but then eventually Esav abandoned the world of Torah and followed his desires. Yaakov, on the other hand, became Hashem's favorite, and thereby gave birth to all 12 of the tribes. This is highlighted here specifically in the words of... that all of these holy people, the 12 tribes, emerged from Yaakov's loins. Now, why does the Torah want us to know that this happened specifically this way, even though you can simply understand it on your own? to emphasize the importance of Kedusha. It's not incidental that the time of Shovavim, that is the auspicious time to do teshuva for immorality, specifically wasting seed or anything connected to it, whether it's addiction to pornography or LGBTQ behavior or adultery or promiscuity, both for men and women. This is the auspicious time where HaKadosh Baruch Hu opens up the gates in order to help you do teshuva for it if you simply so try.

8:55This is the auspicious time to do teshuva for immorality, specifically wasting seed or anything connected to it, whether it's addiction to pornography, LGBTQ behavior, adultery, or promiscuity, both for men and women. This is the auspicious time when HaKadosh Baruch Hu opens up the gates to help you do teshuva for it if you simply try. So the book of Shemot that begins this time starts with this first lesson. The foundation of Am Yisrael comes from Yaakov. Why Yaakov? Because Yaakov was Kadosh. Not because he prayed three times a day, not because he learned Torah, rather because Yaakov protected his breed so much so that the first seed that ever came out of his body, as we learned in last week's parashah, was the seed that was used by HaKadosh Baruch Hu to bring Reuven into the world. The first seed that ever came out of his body was at the age of 87 years old. Rather, because Yaakov protected his breed so much so that the first seed that ever came out of his body, as we learned in last week's parashah, was the seed that was used by HaKadosh Baruch Hu to bring Reuven into the world. The first seed that ever came out of his body was at the age of 87 years old.

10:17We are meant to be a light unto the nations, not to follow their misguided practices. Remember, every Jew has to remember that he's a Jew and she's a Jew. We don't celebrate non-Jewish holidays, even if they seem harmless. It's a zilzul, disrespect to the Torah, and can lead to chillul Hashem, desecration of God's name. Stick to our holy Torah and our own holidays. That's the path of a true Jew.