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Part I. Hashem Created the WorldTHE MISHKAN OR THE SHABBOS?\u05d5\u05d9\u05e7\u05d4\u05dc \u05de\u05e9\u05d4 \u05d0\u05ea \u05db\u05dc \u05e2\u05d3\u05ea \u05d1\u05e0\u05d9 \u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc \u05d5\u05d9\u05d0\u05de\u05e8 \u05d0\u05dc\u05d9\u05d4\u05dd \u2013 \u201cAnd Moshe assembled the entire congregation of the Bnei Yisroel and he said to them\u2026\u201dParshasVayakhelbegins with Moshe Rabeinu gathering together theAm Yisroelin order to instruct them in all the details of the making of the Mishkan; everything we read inTerumahandTetzavehwas said to Moshe on Har Sinai, and now Moshe is preparing to teach the nation what he received from Hashem. And yet we find something out of the ordinary here: Because we expect now to hear about the Mishkan, about thebigdei kehunah,and thekeilim. After all, that\u2019s what they were gathered for. And yet, what do we find? Moshe Rabeinu veers off course and introduces the Mishkan with a different subject altogether. \u05d0\u05dc\u05d4 \u05d4\u05d3\u05d1\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd \u05d0\u05e9\u05e8 \u05e6\u05d5\u05d4 \u05d4\u05e9\u05dd \u05dc\u05e2\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea \u05d0\u05d5\u05ea\u05dd \u2013 \u201cThese are the matters that Hashem commanded you to do, \u05e9\u05e9\u05ea \u05d9\u05de\u05d9\u05dd \u05ea\u05e2\u05e9\u05d4 \u05de\u05dc\u05d0\u05db\u05d4 \u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05d5\u05dd \u05d4\u05e9\u05d1\u05d9\u05e2\u05d9 \u05d9\u05d4\u05d9\u05d4 \u05dc\u05db\u05dd \u05e7\u05d5\u05d3\u05e9 \u05e9\u05d1\u05ea \u05e9\u05d1\u05ea\u05d5\u05df \u05dc\u05d4\u05e9\u05dd \u2013 Six days work may be done, and on the seventh day shall be for you a holiness ofShabbos Shabbosonto Hashem\u201d (Shemos 35:2). Before we hear about the Mishkan, about building the home for the presence of Hashem among us, Moshe Rabeinu instructs us about keeping the Shabbos day holy.Now, that\u2019s a question, because what is Shabbos doing here? We gathered around Moshe Rabeinu to begin our preparations for building the Mishkan, not to hear about Shabbos. So we\u2019ll say thatthis detour of Moshe Rabeinu was intended to demonstrate that despite the vast importance of building a Mishkan where Hashem\u2019s Presence would reside, theAm Yisroelwas required to understand thatit is the Shabbos that is the first and most important \u201cSanctuary\u201d to be built.Unlike the Sanctuary of the Mishkan, which was to be limited to a single location in the encampment, the Sanctuary of Shabbos was going to be erected in every Jewish home, wherever they would reside. \u05d1\u05db\u05dc \u05de\u05d5\u05e9\u05d1\u05d5\u05ea\u05d9\u05db\u05dd, said Moshe Rabeinu, \u201cIn all your habitations,\u201d (ibid. 35:3) you will celebrate Shabbos, forever. And it was the Sanctuary of Shabbos that would be our greatest opportunity for achievement, even more than the Mishkan itself.Now, there\u2019s no doubt that our ceasing of all work on Shabbos comes to memorialize Hakodosh Boruch Hu\u2019s resting from creation on the Shabbos. However, equally important, is theopportunityfor achievement that theshvisahof Shabbos provides. It\u2019s the cessation from involvement in this world on the Shabbos that opens before us a wide panorama, the one day a week when we can dedicate our minds to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Becauseamong the many benefits that we gain by stopping to work on Shabbos, the most important one is the opportunity to acquire a Torah mind; \u201cDon\u2019t busy yourself with the work of material creation on the Shabbos,\u201d declares Hashem. \u201cI have something that I want you to build that is more important even than the Mishkan; I want you to build a Torah mind.\u201dHOW TO REALLY KEEP SHABBOSBecause \u201ckeeping Shabbos\u201d doesn\u2019t mean merely to refrain from doingmelacha. Shabbos is actual intended to be much more than that; it\u2019s a goldmine of understanding that can transform your mind. But sadly the Shabbos is not utilized as it should be. Even those who are meticulous in the performance of thismitzvah, people who are careful to avoid any semblance of work, are in most cases unaware of the wealth that this day can bestow upon them with even just a little bit of thinking and effort.And therefore, when Shabbos is about to enter, and we turn around and say \u05d1\u05d5\u05d0\u05d9 \u05db\u05dc\u05d4 \u05d1\u05d5\u05d0\u05d9 \u05db\u05dc\u05d4, \u201cCome in O\u2019 Shabbos,\u201d welcoming this great day ofmachshava, ofda\u2019as Hashem, we must do it with the understanding that Shabbos is going to change us \u2013 if only we would be willing to cooperate. Now comes the one time a week dedicated to putting into our thoughts the permanent attitudes which the Shabbos helps us gain. And by doing so, we are going to live all the days between theShabbososwith a different form of mental attitude. And that\u2019s your preparation for happiness in the World to Come, because your portion in the next world will be in accordance with the degree of clarity of Torah attitudes that you achieve in this world.SWEEPING UP THE DIAMOND DUST ON SHABBOSAnd so our subject now will be how to make use of the Shabbos. And you should know, it\u2019s a very big subject, with many facets that have to be studied. But right now we\u2019re going to study one aspect of the creation of the Shabbos mind, and we should be sure to practice it. Even though you won\u2019t be able to practice everything all at once, but if you utilize a minute here and a minute there, then little by little you tap into the goldmine that the Shabbos can be. You know, in a diamond shop the rich diamond merchant gets down on his hands and knees at the end of the day. And with a whiskbroom he brushes together the dust from under the tables. So a visitor once said, \u201cWhat\u2019s this? You, under the table sweeping up dust?!\u201d So he said, \u201cThis dust is diamond dust. And therefore it\u2019s worth my while to sit on my knees and collect dust that comes from diamonds.\u201dAnd because the lessons of Shabbos are so important, even the dust of these principles is worth everything. Because when a principle is so valuable every grain of it is precious. Every achievement ofda\u2019asis worth much more than diamonds, and even the tiniest particles ofda\u2019asare valuable too. And therefore it\u2019s worth our while, to study just one detail of how to utilize the Shabbos. And a lifetime of utilizing the Shabbos in that way will result in a benefit that will transform your life.THE ANGELS COME TO VISITAnd so we\u2019ll begin withVayichulu. When we stand up inshemonah esreiandinkiddushand say, \u05d5\u05d9\u05db\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5 \u05d4\u05e9\u05de\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5 \u05d5\u05db\u05dc \u05e6\u05d1\u05d0\u05dd \u2013 \u201cThe heavens and the earth and all their hosts were finished at the end of six days,\u201d to our surprise it\u2019s such an important declaration that thegemara(Shabbos 119b) says: \u05d1\u05e9\u05e2\u05d4 \u05e9\u05d0\u05d5\u05de\u05e8 \u05d5\u05d9\u05db\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5 \u2013 \u201cAt that time when a person saysVayichulu, \u05e9\u05e0\u05d9 \u05de\u05dc\u05d0\u05db\u05d9 \u05d4\u05e9\u05e8\u05ea \u05d4\u05de\u05dc\u05d5\u05d5\u05d9\u05df \u05dc\u05d5 \u05dc\u05d0\u05d3\u05dd \u05de\u05e0\u05d9\u05d7\u05d9\u05df \u05d9\u05d3\u05d9\u05d4\u05df \u05e2\u05dc \u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d5, so two angels come \u2013 , and they put their hands on this man\u2019s head. \u05d5\u05d0\u05d5\u05de\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd \u05dc\u05d5, and they say to him, \u05d5\u05e1\u05e8 \u05e2\u05d5\u05d5\u05e0\u05d9\u05da \u05d5\u05d7\u05d8\u05d0\u05ea\u05da \u05ea\u05db\u05d5\u05e4\u05e8, \u201cYour iniquity will depart and your sins will be forgiven.\u201dSo this coming Friday night make sure to be aware of what\u2019s happening to you. You\u2019re going to sayVayichulu,and then you\u2019re going to be visited by twomalachim.Now you\u2019ll be saying it more than once, and which of the times the angels will come, I don\u2019t know. But absolutely it will happen, so be ready for it.KLAPPING AL CHEITBEFORE KIDDUSHThe angels will put their hands on your head and they\u2019ll say: \u201cYour sins will now depart, and your iniquity will be atoned.\u201d Now, isn\u2019t that a great opportunity?! You thought that you were going to have to wait another half a year for Yom Kippur to come, and meanwhile you can have a Yom Kippur every Friday night! That\u2019s how great that moment ofVayichuluis \u2013 it\u2019s like Yom Kippur. Of course it requires at least a thought of repentance. So you think of one incident over the past week, one wrong word you said, or one carelessness inshmiras hamitzvos,and use that opportunity; because it\u2019s at this moment when you sayVayichuluthat the angels lay their hands on your head and tell you that all will be forgiven.Now, to us that seems to be a very queer statement. Because we thought that we were just sayingVayichulu,and now we\u2019re being told that it\u2019s something like a Yom Kippur! So we\u2019ll have to study what it is that makes this occasion of sayingVayichuluso important. Because it doesn\u2019t say that as soon as the sun sets and the Shabbos comes in, that themalachimput their hands on your head. No! It\u2019s when you make that declaration ofVayichulu, or you listen to your husband making the declaration \u2013that\u2019swhen it happens. And that\u2019s a question: What great change has been affected in you by the words ofVayichuluthat makes you deserving ofa specialkaparahwithmalachim?THE MOST SPECTACULAR MIRACLESo we\u2019ll say that when you say the words \u05d5\u05d9\u05db\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5 \u05d4\u05e9\u05de\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5 \u05d5\u05db\u05dc \u05e6\u05d1\u05d0\u05dd, you\u2019re saying that the whole universe was completed at this moment in time, as the Shabbos came in. The first thirty-onepesukimin the Torah describe the most spectacular miracle ever performed by Hashem, the process ofbriyah yeish mei\u2019ayin, creation out of nothing, andVayichuluwas the culmination of that great miracle.Now this is a startling idea that has no equal; here the Torah tells us a statement which is so revolutionary that it has no equal in all the statements and writings since the beginning of time. And never again will another statement be made that has the same impact. And that is that Hashem createdfrom nothing.SOMETHING FROM NOTHINGYou know that you can make skyscrapers out of dust; it\u2019s possible. If you take dust and mix the right chemicals into it, you can amalgamate it until it becomes bricks and building blocks. But when you sayVayichulu, you\u2019re declaring thatthere were no building blocks in the beginning, that the world was created out ofnothing. BeforeBereishis,nothingexisted. There was no Big Bang, and there was no Little Bang. There were no black holes and no explosions of stars. There was nothing to explode. There was zero.Nothing at all existed except for theruachElokim, the spirit of Hashem which pervaded all space \u2013 I don\u2019t want to say space because there was no space yet \u2013 but Hashem pervaded All. There was only Hashem and nothing else.And then, from absolutely nothing, \u05d4\u05d5\u05d0 \u05d0\u05de\u05e8 \u05d5\u05d9\u05d4\u05d9 \u2013 \u201cHashem said, and it came into being\u201d (Tehillim 33:9). Hashem created everything, He willed space into existence; and then He willed that the space should be filled with heavenly bodies; and that there should be one planet that should have an atmosphere, that should have hydrosphere, that means water; that it should have a lithosphere, soil; and that it should have all living things. He willed that everything should come into existence including Man. And never again will there be a creation of something from nothing. It\u2019s a stunning idea, that something can come from nothing, and it\u2019s something that we are expected to labor all of our lives in order to gain a little bit of its impact in our minds. That\u2019s what Shabbos is, the \u05d6\u05db\u05e8 \u05dc\u05de\u05e2\u05e9\u05d4 \u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea. Now this is a stretch of the imagination beyond what we are actually capable of picturing. But we have to say it week after week until finally it begins to penetrate, thatthe world was made out of nothing but the word of Hashem.THE BIG APPLEI\u2019ll give you amashal. Let\u2019s say you\u2019re going to imagine in your head right now a big apple, a big beautiful apple. And it will be the size of this room. There\u2019s a stem protruding from the top as thick as a cane. And the apple is striped red, with delicate tints of yellow. It has beauty spots all over it like a real apple. And underneath will be dimples; and it will be begging you to sink your teeth into it. Now, as you imagine this apple that I\u2019m describing, you\u2019re creating a picture in your mind. It\u2019s entering into your consciousness and your thoughts are creating a picture of a big beautiful apple in your head.And while you think about this big beautiful apple, to some extent, the apple is really alive in your mind; your imagination is creating real images. Now, when you move onto some other thought and you\u2019ll stop thinking about the apple, so you\u2019ll say nothing remains of that apple. \u201cIt was only a dream in my head, my imagination, and it\u2019s gone now.\u201d But actually that\u2019s untrue \u2013 it\u2019ll remain forever. That daydream, that imagination that I caused in your head just now was a creation, the creation of a picture in your mind.And that picture is not just imagination. We call it \u2018imagination\u2019 \u2013 making an image, but actually it\u2019s a fact. Suppose you young fellows, forty years from now, will be walking down the street and you\u2019ll pass a fruit stand on the sidewalk displaying big beautiful red apples. And you\u2019ll say, \u201cI remember when I was a youth I attended a lecture and somebody was talking about an apple like these as big as a house.\u201d And suddenly there springs forth before your mind\u2019s eye the picture of the apple from this evening. Now where was it for forty years? It was lost and you recreated it? No, you\u2019re not recreating it! It was there all the time, but it was filed away somewhere in a back office of your mind, in your memory. Once it entered, once you created that picture, it remainsforever. And that\u2019s why forty years from now, when something will press the button, this picture will leap out of the file, and come before your eyes and there it is \u2013 it\u2019s that apple that you created many years before.IMAGINATION IS REAL!What we\u2019re saying now is that our imagination is a reality. Only that it\u2019s a different kind of reality. You can\u2019t touch it. You can\u2019t make it alive, but it\u2019s a creation, you can see it with your mind\u2019s eye. Now, Hakodosh Boruch Hu also imagined things. But His imagination is much more powerful than ours. And He imagined a universe \u2013 and since He imagined a universe, here it is!And that\u2019s what Shabbos comes to tell us. That the whole universe with all its diverse forms of matter and energy is basically nothing but a form of the will of the Creator. It\u2019s a bomb! And only because \u05d4\u05d5\u05d0 \u05d0\u05de\u05e8 \u05d5\u05d9\u05d4\u05d9, only because \u201cHe said,\u201d because \u201cHe commanded,\u201d something came into existence from nothing. And that\u2019s one of the most important functions of Shabbos, to impress upon ourselves thisyesodha\u2019yesodos, the most fundamental principle of all, that Hashem\u2019s thoughts brought everything into existence. And so when you sayVayichulu, you\u2019re declaring to yourself and to your family that greatest miracle in the history of the world,the creation of everything from nothing.Part II. Hashem isStillCreating the WorldTHE ANCIENT BENCHBut actuallyVayichuluis much more than that. The lesson ofbriyah yeish mei\u2019ayinis much more important than everything we\u2019ve said up until now. Because really that first and most remarkable miraclenever ended.When a carpenter makes a bench, and then he walks away, the bench is still there. The carpenter doesn\u2019t think about the bench anymore. He could die, he could be dead many years already, and the bench is still being used. But that\u2019s not theBereishis baraof Hakodosh Boruch Hu, that\u2019s not the creation of Hashem. No! \u05d4\u05d5\u05d0 \u05e6\u05d5\u05d4 \u05d5\u05d9\u05e2\u05de\u05d5\u05d3,The universe continues to existby the word of Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Every second, He\u2019s creating it all over again.Like it says \u05e2\u05d5\u05e9\u05d4 \u05e9\u05de\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5 \u05d0\u05ea \u05d4\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05d0\u05ea \u05db\u05dc \u05d0\u05e9\u05e8 \u05d1\u05dd \u2013 \u201cHe made the heavens and the earth; He made the sea and all that is therein.\u201d And then right away it states \u05d4\u05e9\u05d5\u05de\u05e8 \u05d0\u05de\u05ea \u05dc\u05e2\u05d5\u05dc\u05dd \u2013 \u201cHe keeps His truth forever\u201d (Tehillim 146:6).What\u2019s the connection between these two statements? He made heaven and earth, and He keeps His truth forever? It\u2019s anon sequitur. How does one follow the other?And the answer is that they\u2019re both the same. He made heaven and earth; but not only did He will heaven and earth into existence with the energy of His imagination, butright now He continues to will everything into existence.Every second, He is keeping His word, He\u2019s maintaining His word. \u05d4\u05e9\u05d5\u05de\u05e8 \u05d0\u05de\u05ea \u2013 \u201cHe keeps His steadfastness.\u201d He doesn\u2019t take it back. So not only did He create the world out of nothing, \u05d4\u05d5\u05d0 \u05d0\u05de\u05e8 \u05d5\u05d9\u05d4\u05d9, but, \u05d4\u05d5\u05d0 \u05e6\u05d5\u05d4 \u05d5\u05d9\u05e2\u05de\u05d5\u05d3, He keeps the world and everything in existence only by His will. And He continues to imagine it right now. And because He\u2019s imagining it now, here it is!PAINFUL IMAGININGSDo you know what that means? That means that we are nothing but imagination. Even if you take a pin and you pierce your skin, and you shout, \u201cOuch!\u201d it\u2019s all imagination. But it\u2019s Hashem\u2019s imagination. And that kind of imagination hurts. And if you\u2019ll sink your teeth into an apple, it\u2019s also imagination. But the pleasure of that bite, Hashem willed into existence by His superlative imagination.I always tell you that even a big truck driving down the street is only the imagination of Hashem. Only that Hashem\u2019s imagination is much more real than ours, and because He established a law that two things cannot occupy one space at the same time, you\u2019d better be sure not to get in the way of Hashem\u2019s imagination when He\u2019s imagining a truck!THE SCIENTIFIC LAWS OF CONSERVATIONAnd the truth is that today it was made so much easier to acquire such an attitude because if you study the sciences you see that\u2019s it\u2019s almost the same. I\u2019ll explain that. Many years ago everybody thought that all matter was something that was indestructible; there was a law of the Conservation of Matter. And even if you could chop up material until it became so fine that it became atoms, but it still was something substantial, it was still matter, just smaller pieces. And if you could chop up atoms into even smaller pieces, it would be a still finer powder. But you couldn\u2019t destroy matter. It was accepted science that matter was around forever. If it\u2019s matter now, then it had to be matter always. That\u2019s how they always learned \u201cpshat.\u201dOnly fairly recently did the world learn that matter can be destroyed and revert to energy; even today people are not yet aware of the enormity of this discovery. It is the consensus today that matter can be transformedone hundred percentinto energy. Matter can explode so thatnothingis left. No powder, no dust, no atoms. Matter can turn into energy one hundred percent if you have the proper apparatus. And even more startling is the idea that energy can be transformed into matter. So now they say that there is a Law of Conservation of Energy-Matter. It\u2019s one or the other; if you destroy matter it will become energy, and energy can be transformed into matter.E = mc2If you want a demonstration of matter being transformed into energy, when you\u2019ll eat breakfast tomorrow, and then you\u2019ll go out to work; so you\u2019re going to work from nine to one, or maybe you\u2019re going to loaf from nine till one. You know it takes a lot of energy to loaf. Because your heart is beating all the time, your metabolism is working; your body is consuming energy even though you\u2019re sitting at a desk twirling a pencil. Where did that energy come from? It came from the food you ate at breakfast. Food is material, it\u2019s matter, and breakfast turns into four or five hours of work. So it\u2019s matter turning into energy!And I\u2019ll give you an example of the reverse, of energy being transformed into matter. Tomorrow morning walk out on the street and look at any tree. Take a look at the sunlight shining down on the leaves. What is sunlight? Try to capture some sunlight in a bottle, and then try to weigh it. The bottle will weigh the same now as it weighed before the sunlight entered. You can\u2019t weigh sunlight \u2013 it\u2019s not matter, it has no mass. Sunlight is energy.But when the sunlight hits the leaf \u2013 the green leaf that has chlorophyll \u2013 so the sunlight begins to manufacture starch. Don\u2019t think that the sunlight changes the materials in the leaf into starch. No, it\u2019s the sunlight itself, the energy of the sunlight, that combines with the materials and it creates starch; it makes food. The sunlight becomes matter. So here we have an open example of energy being transformed into matter.WHERE DO APPLES COME FROM?!It\u2019s a miracle. You know I explained this to you recently. They once planted an apple tree in a tub full of earth, a very large tub. And they weighed the tree and they weighed the earth. And every year the tree produced apples. Year after year the tree was producing apples and they weighed the apples every year and added it up. At the end of ten years they again weighed the tree and the earth, and they discovered that the earth had diminished by only a couple of ounces! The earth was only a couple of ounces in weight lighter than it had been ten years ago. So the question is where did the apples come from? For ten years many pounds of apples had come off this tree, and the tree had drawn its nourishment from the ground. And the answer is that the apples take very little from the earth. This little bit is important but by weight it\u2019s only a tiny fraction of the fruit. The fruit is almost entirely water, airand sunlight. When you\u2019re eating an apple, you\u2019re eating sunlight!But how does sunlight, which is nothing but energy, become apples? It\u2019s a marvel!Energy is ayeish,not anayin. It is something that was created, but for us it\u2019s a goodmashal. Because it\u2019s just as difficult to pictureenergybecoming matter, as it is to picturenothingbecoming energy. Imagine sunlight streaming through the atmosphere, and you see in the sunlight potatoes and apples! You see human beings! Is that what sunlight becomes? And the answer is yes. So if sunlight can become something material, then you begin to fathom the great truth that thedvar Hashembecame energy and also something material.EVERYTHING IS NOTHING!!!And the real secret of thebriyah yeish mei\u2019ayinis that not only are matter and energy interchangeable but thatthey are one and the same thing.Because actually even what we consider matter is mostly energy. Today the scientists know that the atom, the building block of all matter, is mostly empty space. With the electron microscope you can see the atom, and it has been discovered that the nucleus, where the mass of the atom is concentrated, occupies less than one trillionth of the volume of an atom. And what that means is that the building blocks of everything around us actually contain nothing but empty space and energy.The common factor of all matter and energy istheir basic nothingness.The hidden force of all things is the commandYehi, \u201cLet there be!\u201dAnd it is only Hashem\u2019s word that is the existenceof all the phenomena of this world. And so when you pick up yourbecherfilled with wine to sayVayichulu, you are actually holding thedvar Hashemin your hand \u2013 it\u2019s a bundle of energy being sustained only by the word of Hashem, \u05d4\u05d5\u05d0 \u05e6\u05d5\u05d4 \u05d5\u05d9\u05e2\u05de\u05d5\u05d3, only because He is giving the command, does that energy take the form of a silver cup full of wine.And the only difference between the wine, the challah, and your children is the form that Hashem commands the energy particles to take. All the varied forms of matter and energy in this world are but different manifestations of the Creator\u2019s will. Everything is the imagination of Hashem. The tangible universe is real only to us, but to Hashem it is all His imagination \u2013 it was created by means of His imagination and it continues to exist only because of His imagination. And thus all phenomena is nothing other than the concretized will of Hashem. Matter and energy in all of their forms are merely forms of His will. Now once a person understands that everything he sees is a manifestation of \u05d4\u05d5\u05d0 \u05e6\u05d5\u05d4 \u05d5\u05d9\u05e2\u05de\u05d5\u05d3, so his whole life becomes completely transformed.Part III. Let\u2019s Make KiddushOPTOMETRY 101And it\u2019s with this understanding of whatVayichulumeans that we can understand thema\u2019amar chazal(Berachos 43b) that \u05e4\u05e1\u05d9\u05e2\u05d4 \u05d2\u05e1\u05d4 \u05e0\u05d5\u05d8\u05dc\u05ea \u05d0\u05d7\u05d3 \u05de\u05d7\u05de\u05e9 \u05de\u05d0\u05d5\u05ea \u05de\u05de\u05d0\u05d5\u05e8 \u05e2\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5 \u05e9\u05dc \u05d0\u05d3\u05dd \u2013 \u201cA hasty step takes away one five hundredth of a man\u2019s eyesight.\u201d And when does it return? \u05dc\u05d4\u05d3\u05e8\u05d9\u05d4 \u05d1\u05e7\u05d3\u05d5\u05e9\u05d0 \u05d3\u05d1\u05d9 \u05e9\u05de\u05e9\u05d9 \u2013 \u201cIt returns when you makekiddushas the sun goes down.\u201d Now, thegemarasays one five hundredth, but it\u2019s not measured with a caliper; it means that it takes away a little bit of a man\u2019s eyesight. If you walkwith anxiety, if you hurry, you take big stepsbecause you\u2019re worried, you\u2019re afraid you\u2019ll be late, so you must know that it\u2019s going to affect your eyesight.You didn\u2019t know that? Eye specialists will tell you that \u2013 many times excitement will affect your eyes. It\u2019s a fact; anxiety, hurrying, haste, tension, it affects the eyes. Like Dovid Hamelech said: \u05e2\u05e9\u05e9\u05d4 \u05de\u05db\u05e2\u05e1 \u05e2\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9 \u2013 \u201cMy eye became worn out from the excitement of anger.\u201d So be careful against anger; it can ruin your eyes. I once visited a man who was blind, and it was a result ofka\u2019as. Yes; emotions like fright and anxiety can affect the function of the eye nerves.Now eyesight is very important; nobody wants to lose the ability to see; and yet people are always taking hasty steps; everyone is busily hurrying through life taking \u05e4\u05e1\u05d9\u05e2\u05d5\u05ea \u05d2\u05e1\u05d5\u05ea. So the hasty steps that you take all week \u2013 all week we\u2019re full of anxiety, we\u2019re worried about this and that and everything. So thegemaraasks: \u05de\u05d0\u05d9 \u05ea\u05e7\u05e0\u05ea\u05d9\u05d4 \u2013 \u201cHow do you remedy that?\u201d What can you do about your eyesight that is slowly going lost? And thegemarasays: \u05dc\u05d4\u05d3\u05e8\u05d9\u05d4 \u05d1\u05e7\u05d3\u05d5\u05e9\u05d0 \u05d3\u05d1\u05d9 \u05e9\u05de\u05e9\u05d9 \u2013 \u201cIt returns when you makekiddushas the sun goes down.\u201d You can restore your eyesight atkiddushFriday night. That\u2019s a very interesting statement, that when you stand forkiddushat the Shabbos table, that\u2019s the time to regain your eyesight.THE WEEKDAYS WEAR US DOWNNow let\u2019s understand this as simply as we can. Thegemarais revealing to us that life during the week has an effect on us. It has a physical effect; there\u2019s wear and tear on the body. Little by little there is a wearing down of the body tissue and even the best metabolism does not completely restore all of that depletion.In addition, the weekday hurry, the weekday occupation, dims ourmentaleyesight, our ability to see things clearly. There\u2019s no question about it, that when you\u2019re busy all week with this world \u2013 you have to make a living after all \u2013all week long you\u2019re losing sight of the great principles of truth. That\u2019s what involvement withgashmiyus,even if it\u2019s glatt koshergashmiyus, does to you. It\u2019s amechitzahbetween you and the truth, between you and Hakodosh Boruch Hu.And therefore a person begins to have hisspiritualeyesight diminished, it\u2019s dimmed somewhat. You become more materialistic, you think everything depends on you. Making aparnasa, accomplishing this and that \u2013 you think thatyou\u2019rethe one doing in this world,you\u2019rethe one creating. And so you run and you do \u2013 you take a big step running here, and a hasty step running there. You\u2019re anxious, under pressure and you worry. And all that is bad for your eyes \u2013 your physical eyes, as well as your eyes ofda\u2019as \u2013your ability to \u201csee\u201d Who isreallyin control, Whoreallyis themacherin your life.THE RX FOR ALL WORRIESAnd so when you don\u2019t see as clearly as you did before, \u05de\u05d0\u05d9 \u05ea\u05e7\u05e0\u05ea\u05d9\u05d4, what\u2019s the remedy? \u05dc\u05d4\u05d3\u05e8\u05d9\u05d4 \u05d1\u05e7\u05d3\u05d5\u05e9\u05d0 \u05d3\u05d1\u05d9 \u05e9\u05de\u05e9\u05d9 \u2013 \u201cHe can restore his eyesight atkiddushFriday night.\u201d We have to listen to that. It means that when you makekiddush, orkiddushis being made, it\u2019s an opportunity to restore the health of your body and the sharpness of your mental vision. And so now it\u2019s Friday night; you finally made it \u2013 you didn\u2019t think you were going to make it. You were so tired and so worried and now you\u2019re dressed in yourbigdei Shabbos,you\u2019re standing with the wine in your hand, and it\u2019s all behind you. You\u2019re standing and declaring that it was all a waste of worries, a waste of anxiety. \u05d5\u05d9\u05db\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5 \u05d4\u05e9\u05de\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5.\u201cEverything was done by Hashem until now and He\u2019s still in charge. He\u2019s still in charge conducting our affairs.\u201dShabbos is the great consolation for the one who thinks when he saysVayichulu. Your nerves relax on Shabbos under the calming influence of that great principle that everything is thedvar Hashem. It\u2019s a whole new attitude that is now washing over your mind \u2013 Hashem is everything! He\u2019s in charge! And so you can sit back at the Shabbos table and relax now. It was all a waste of worries, a waste of emotions and anxiety. Shabbos is the great consolation of life! Because when we sayVayichulu, Hashem says, \u201cDon\u2019t worry; I\u2019ll take care of everything. You keep on doing what you\u2019re supposed to be doing, and leave the worrying to Me. Everything in the world is only My imagination, so you can leave it up to Me; I can do the worrying for you.\u201d That\u2019s what Shabbos tells us, and that\u2019s the way to achieve the calmness of truebitachonthat restores your dimmed mental eyesight, and makes you aware of the great principles of truth.And if you make use of the Shabbos to think about these concepts, so your entire life becomes a life of confidence in Hakodosh Boruch Hu and you do away with all anxiety. There is no need for anxiety; everything is under control. Hakodosh Boruch Hu is the cause of everything \u2013 every atom in the universe is being sustained by His word right now and therefore He is in full control.WHO NEEDS A PLUMBER?And so when sometimes things seem to be going awry, everything seems to be going wrong \u2013 here it iserev Shabbosand the toilet is running over and the lady of the house is trying to mop up the floor.The children are running around sliding on the slippery floor and she still has to put the kugel into the oven. She should be on the verge of losing her mind. And now the the husband walks in from work tired and excited, he\u2019s full of worries. \u201cWhat\u2019s this?\u201d he might say. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you call the plumber?!\u201d It\u2019s an opportunity for a flare up.But no, he doesn\u2019t say that. And his wife is calm too. Why? Because they both learned the lessons ofVayichulufromkiddushlast Friday night. They\u2019ve built the Mishkan of Shabbos in their minds that lasts from Shabbos to Shabbos. They keep quiet, they keep calm, because they know that everything is under control. In the end everything will be alright. Eventually the floor will be dry; Shabbos will be nice and happy eventually.Because Shabbos means that Hashem says: \u201cChildren, I\u2019ll take care of everything! The toilet is overflowing? I\u2019ll take care of that too. You do whatever you can, and it will be all good in the end.\u201d And even if you didn\u2019t learn that lesson, you opened your big mouth, and now she hit you in the face with that soiled mop, so what should be your reaction? At leastnowbe aVayichuluJew. Think, \u201cShabbos is coming; Hashem is in charge.\u201d Don\u2019t get excited! You can swallow down your indignation if you know that Hashem is in control. You can be aShabbosdikehperson always, even on Friday afternoon when the toilet is overflowing.READING TORAS AVIGDOR MAKES YOU A MILLIONAIREVayichulutells us that there is nothing in the universe except for thedvar Hashem.Wherever you look, wherever you see anything, you are being reminded of Hashem, it\u2019s \u05de\u05dc\u05d0 \u05db\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5 \u05db\u05d1\u05d5\u05d3\u05d5 \u2013 \u201cThe universe is full of His glory.\u201d There\u2019s nothing in this world except for Hakodosh Boruch Hu, the Creator, He is everywhere and there is nothing but His will, His imagination. If Hakodosh Boruch Hu would take His mind off us, off this universe, everything would disappear into nothing. Not into dust or into atoms. Intonothingat all! And that has to sink into our heads because that is the foundation of everything \u2013 not only of Shabbos.What you\u2019re hearing now is the greatest wealth you could ever acquire, because Torah attitudes are the most valuable wealth in the world; it\u2019s diamonds and gems, all types of precious stones. And now you\u2019ll be going home a millionaire. You\u2019re leaving here with the knowledge thatyou are only the word of Hashem. And even those of you who already knew this have to study it again and again because each additional time is another diamond. And once a person begins to think these ideas, he becomes a changed person. His whole way of looking at the world is transformed completely.And because this attitude is a gem, a diamond, for a person\u2019s mind, so even if we have been saying it for years, it\u2019s never enough. And so when you sayVayichuluone more time, you gain a tiny grain of more awareness. By repeating it, it becomes a little more clear to you. And so, even though you might have said it thousands of times, if you say it one more time it becomes more and more firmly embedded in his mind.IGNITING A HYDROGEN BOMB ONSHABBOSAnd the truth is that when a man makes this declaration of \u05d5\u05d9\u05db\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5 \u05d4\u05e9\u05de\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5with thought,if he thinks about the things we said here, then he has put into his mind not just a bit of important information, not just a particle of diamond dust, but he has actually put a hydrogen bomb into his head. It\u2019s an explosion ofda\u2019asin his head because the results of this idea are incalculable. When a man declares that Hashem created this world from nothing, and that He continues to sustain everything by His word, so in effect he is saying that there is nothing in the world except for Hakodosh Boruch Hu, and he begins to live with Awareness of Hashem wherever he goes, whatever he does, whatever he sees.And now we come back to the \u201cYom Kippur\u201d that falls out every Shabbos. We asked in the beginning of our talk, what is so important about sayingVayichuluthat it makes you worthy of a mini Yom Kippur, that your sins are being forgiven? And it\u2019s a good question: After all, when a man stands up on Friday night and he makes this declaration, or when you stand around the Shabbos table and you listen to your husband or your father make the declaration, what really are you learning that you didn\u2019t know before? There\u2019s nothing new here! This is a Jew who has been sayingVayichuluevery Friday night for years; what new information has he gained tonight by standing up and saying it once more? What great change has been affected in him that he deserves a specialkaparahtonight withmalachim?THE REAL TESHUVAAnd the answer is that it is the biggest kind ofteshuvathere is! There is no bigger repentance than sayingVayichulu! If you would fast for twenty-five hours, and stand all day in the synagogue in prayer; even if you would take upon yourself not to do any more sins \u2013 and you meant it sincerely \u2013 it\u2019s still nowhere near the purification that you get from sayingVayichulu.And that\u2019s because the lesson ofVayichuluis a return to theyesodha\u2019yesodos, the foundation upon which all foundations are built, that everything is Hakodosh Boruch Hu. And just sayingVayichuluis so important, because it affects a change in your mind. That declaration, and the impression that it makes on your mind is so great, that you have already changed your entire nature; the entire way you view the world has changed. There\u2019s no such thing as nature anymore;mthere is nothing but thedvar Hashem.Everything is but the various manifestations of Hashem\u2019s will. And that\u2019s such a fundamental impression on the mind, that everything about him is now different, and it becomes for him a Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur!DON\u2019T BE A FRUM COWRecognizing Hashem in this world is the real return to Hashem, and all other things that a Jew can do are only subdivisions of that.Yeish mei\u2019ayinis so important to understand, that if you don\u2019t understand it, then it is a waste of time doingteshuva. Look, I say waste of time \u2013 of course, it\u2019s better doteshuva. It\u2019s better to doteshuvafrom your sins and be a frum ignoramus, absolutely. It\u2019s better to be a frum cow than to be a wicked cow! But to remain a cow by living without realteshuva, without returning to the true attitudes of the mind that you must achieve in this world is a tragedy. A person who doesn\u2019t utilize his mind, if he doesn\u2019t think, so he becomes similar to abeheima. And if you don\u2019t want to spend your life being a frum cow, so you\u2019d better get busy utilizing the Shabbos to impress into your mind that Hashem created the world out of nothing and He continues to keep it in existence only with His will. It\u2019s His imagination and He continues to imagine it and that\u2019s why it continues to be.And that\u2019s such an important attitude, that just the thought of it, just the fact thatyou say the words one more time, so you deserve that messengers should come and make a declaration by putting hands on your head and saying: \u05d5\u05e1\u05e8 \u05e2\u05d5\u05d5\u05e0\u05d9\u05da \u05d5\u05d7\u05d8\u05d0\u05ea\u05da \u05d9\u05db\u05d5\u05e4\u05e8. Why are your sins forgiven? Because you have brought the most important of allkarbonos\u2013 thekorbanof the mind. You thought about that great principle that the world isyeish mei\u2019ayin, and by doing that you brought your mind as an offering to Hashem.THE #1 REQUIREMENT OF SHABBOSNow, when you hear that you think it\u2019s just an exaggeration, but it\u2019s not so. When a man thinks about this principle even for a little moment, it\u2019s a change of attitude, and that\u2019s the Yom Kippur of a Jew; to recognize what Hakodosh Boruch Hu really is in this world, to understand that His will is causing everything to existyeishmei\u2019ayinat this very moment, that is the greatest form ofteshuva. Only that people don\u2019t understand what is the meaning ofteshuva.Teshuvafor all the sins in the world, as important as it is, is nowhere as important as the fundamentalteshuvaof recognizing Hashem\u2019s place in this world, the fundamental principle that the world was created out of nothing.Now isn\u2019t it a pity that so many people who areshomer Shabbosdon\u2019t ever think about that? It\u2019s the number one requirement of Shabbos, but they go through Shabbos after Shabbos, week after week, and nothing! They keep everything, but they are missing out on the great opportunity that Shabbos provides.And therefore, let\u2019s keep in mind, from now on, every Shabbos, as much as possible, that whatever you see in the world is nothing but the imagination of Hakodosh Boruch Hu concretized into physical form. And every moment, it continues in existence only because He continues to will it to exist. And therefore everything that you see wherever you go, while you walk to shul, while you walk back from shul, everything you see on your Shabbos table, thebecherholding the wine, your children sitting around the table, it\u2019s all only the vapories, so to speak, from His mind. When you\u2019re walking down the street , you\u2019re walking on the energy of Hashem\u2019s imagination. And when you look around, what you\u2019re seeing is Hashem\u2019s imagination. He created it all with His word and that\u2019s why we see things \u2013 but actually it\u2019s nothing but Hakodosh Boruch Hu in all the forms of matter that the universe contains.THE PATH TO TRUE AWARENESSAnd that\u2019s why no principle in the Torah is given as much attention as the principle of Creation from Nothing. \u201cIn the beginning Hashem created the heavens and the earth,\u201d are the most important words that were ever spoken and that ever will be spoken, and they are therefore placed in the position of greatest importance, at the very beginning of the Torah. And although we celebrate our Exodus from Mitzrayim with great fanfare on Pesach, and the Giving of the Torah is commemorated on Shavuos with remarkable excitement,the Creation of the World yeish mei\u2019ayin, because of its importance, is celebrated not once a year, but every week.And so, when Moshe Rabeinu gathered the nation to instruct them in the building of the Mishkan, he made sure to first declare the importance of Shabbos. Because although the residence of Hashem among His people in a physical tabernacle would certainly ignite the tangible Awareness of Hashem among the nation, that Awarenesscan be even more readily achieved in the Shabbos home of every Jew.And therefore the nation was told that the building of theMishkanwas suspended on the day of Shabbos, and theAmYisroelthereby learned the eternal lesson that even the enthusiasm for building the house of Hashem must yield for the building of the Shabbos home.And on what foundation is the Shabbos home to be constructed? It is the tremendous declaration ofVayichulu; the internalizing of the Creation from nothing, that is the bedrock of the Jew, the foundation for all your thoughts. And it is of such vast importance that its repetition on Friday night causes the occasion to resemble Yom Kippur. Although no new knowledge is gained, the added awareness of Creation by a Creator brings blessings and atonement, because it is theyesod hayesodos. And when that declaration is absorbed by those who hear it, it becomes the paramount foundation in the creation of the Torah mind that prepares you for the World to Come.HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOS See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.