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The Kli Yakar - Parshat Shemini

30/3/2016

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

"....הוּא אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר ה' לֵאמֹר בִּקְרֹבַי אֶקָּדֵשׁ ...."

"....This is what Hashem spoke, saying, 'I will be sanctified by those close to me'...." (10:3)

As our Sages said (Bava Kama 60): "Tribulation doesn't come to the world except for the sake of the evil-doers. And it [tribulation] only starts with tzaddikim, etc."

And to clarify the matter: It [tribulation] happens to tzaddikim in order for the evil-doers to learn a lesson.

As it says, "And your brothers, the entire House of Yisrael, will weep, etc;" they [the evil-doers] shall become afraid for and worry about their own souls, so it won't happen to them as what happened to those [the tzaddikim] as they [the evil-doers] see that Hashem will not spare anyone.

And this is a precious explanation. [V'zeh peirush yakar.]

There are some other pretty powerful insights packed into this short paragraph:

It provides insight into one of the reasons why bad things can happen to good people.

Even if you don't care enough about yourself, you can still care enough about the truly righteous people as to watch your own behavior to minimize the chance of harm coming to them.

יַיִן וְשֵׁכָר אַל תֵּשְׁתּ

"Do not drink wine and intoxicating beverages...." (10:9)

The Kli Yakar offers several insights into the whole episode of the Heavenly deaths of Aharon HaKohen's sons and Aharon's silence. Here, we'll only look at a couple of those insights:

There can be some doubt as to the meaning of such silence.

Is he silent, but distressed and resentful in his heart regarding the Judgements of Hashem?

Or does he remain silent while rejoicing in his heart according to the trait of tzaddikim, who rejoice in their afflictions?

Therefore, Hashem spoke with him personally in order to make known the purity of [Aharon's] thoughts because Hashem only rests his Shechinah [on a person who is] within a state of joy.

And this terminology means that the Shechinah rested upon him [Aharon HaKohen] because of his heartfelt joy.

And with this, it became known to all that [Aharon HaKohen] experienced joy within his afflictions as per the trait of tzaddikim.

Needless to say, this is an incredible level to be on.

I think it also demonstrates part of the necessity of trials and one of the reasons people need to be tried and tested by God.

Aharon HaKohen was certainly on an exalted level before this occurred, but until he was actually thrown into this potentially devastating nisayon (trial), this particular level of righteousness could not completely come to fruition.

The Kli Yakar continues:

Another thing: This silence shows how he [Aharon HaKohen] was not perturbed by all the temporal events.

And certainly, he was totally "seichli" (שכלי) just as if he was one of the Heavenly beings. For from the seichel's side, a person is not taken aback by such things.

Therefore, the decreed result was that Hashem would relate to him personally without any intermediary because he [Aharon HaKohen] was made as spiritual (ruchani) as Moshe due to his [Aharon HaKohen's] silence.

Seichel / seichli was hard to translate here because it doesn't really mean the intellect or one's level of intelligence or the rational mind in this case.

It's more that Aharon HaKohen so wholly trusted in Hashem that he didn't have any emotional investment or self-interest in the outcomes because Hashem can only do Good, so Aharon HaKohen saw everything as Good by virtue of the fact that it was Hashem's Will — whatever it may be — and so it was automatically the desire of Aharon HaKohen, too.

And this is also apparently the way angels are.

In general, they have no yetzer hara, so everything is clear to them.

Thus, they never lose their composure, regardless of what Hashem does or what they themselves are made to do.

(If anyone has a suggestion as to translation of seichel here, please feel free to leave it in the comments.)

And just to reiterate, Aharon HaKohen could not have reached Moshe Rabbeinu's level without going through this nisayon. His silence in this specific situation, which would be devastating and shocking for anyone else, and to remain silent for exactly the above reasons, were specifically what propelled him up to such an exalted spiritual level.

Using Alcoholic Beverages Non-Alcoholically

It also bears pointing out that the Kli Yakar uses this episode to discuss the importance of using intoxicating beverages in a purely non-intoxicating manner.

He exhorts us to never drink so much that it prevents us from being able to pray properly, including maintaining the state of mind that enables us to listen to what Hashem wants to tell us, even in the case where it is useful for consoling mourners (Eruvin 65).

He emphasizes that while it's important to use wine for Kiddush and Havdalah, one should never become drunk from it.

According to the Kli Yakar, excessive drinking leads to excessive chattering, while sober silence leads to the ability to receive Hashem speaking to you.

The Kli Yakar also adds at length that all this is in addition to the well-known problems of inebriation that lead to all the worst kinds of transgressions.

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The Kli Yakar - Parshat Tzav

24/3/2016

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How the Korbanot Brought about True Self-Transformation after Transgression

צַו אֶת אַהֲרֹן וְאֶת בָּנָיו לֵאמֹר זֹאת תּוֹרַת הָעֹלָה הִוא הָעֹלָה עַל מוֹקְדָה עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ כָּל הַלַּיְלָה עַד הַבֹּקֶר וְאֵשׁ הַמִּזְבֵּחַ תּוּקַד בּו

"Command Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is the law of the burnt offering: That is the burnt offering which burns on the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall burn within it'." (6:2)

The Hebrew word used here (bo) is translated as "within it," but it also means "within him."

And the Kli Yakar explains that both after and because of the initial psychological effect upon the sinner, the sacrifice performs an actual spiritual cleansing of the person from within.

And it says, "And the fire of the Altar shall burn within it."

If it refers to a regular fire, it means to say that it "shall burn within him"—meaning, within the person who offers the sacrifice because the fire burns in His Wrath from the point of view that his [the sinner's] whole being is panicked and recoiling backwards as if to say:

"What is this I have done? For I have made my deeds evil and forfeited my life and therefore, I am deserving of all these repercussions [dinim]."

And in reality, the fire of the Altar acts within him and causes him to do teshuvah [repentance].

And if it is speaking of the fire of Torah Law [Dat Torah], its simple meaning is that it actually burns within him and incinerates every bad thought and all the animalistic qualities that are within him.

In this way, offering a sacrifice literally renewed the person on a spiritual level, making him not only as if he never sinned, but also as if he won't sin!

As the Kli Yakar says, all one's bad or sinful thoughts and all the animalistic qualities that drive a person to sin...the Altar's fire consumes them along with the physical sacrifice.

How to Activate that Process Today

This is an incredible Kindness on God's Part.

And while we don't have the Beit Hamikdash, the Mizbe'ach (the Altar), and the sacrifices today, our Sages have emphasized how merely reciting the sacrificial reading (called Korbanot) can have the same effect as actually offering the sacrifices.

The Korbanot reading can be found in every Orthodox Jewish siddur/prayerbook toward the very beginning, somewhat after the morning blessings and before Pesukei D'Zimra.

It starts with Ketoret/The Incense Offering and continues into Korbanot/The Sacrifices.

You can find links to the Ketoret and Korbanot readings, either separately or together, here, Hebrew only. An English translation of the reading as it appears in the siddur, starting with Korbanot, is here. But if you want to start with Ketoret, then you can start here.

Yet the Kli Yakar notes that a significant part of the fire's purifying process was due to the accompanying emotion of the person who offered the sacrifice.

So we can glean from this that while reading the Korbanot, it is important to visualize the scenes described within and also to realize that we deserve to undergo this process, too.

However, Hashem in His Great Mercy, decided to use an animal in our stead — and not just as a superficial tit-for-tat, but to actually cleanse us from within, giving us a perfectly New Beginning that will hopefully lead to success on our spiritual mission and enable us to fulfill our innate potential to the maximum.

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Joy and Light: A Purim Dictionary

23/3/2016

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The underlying theme of Purim is one of joy and light, and such terms are mentioned often.

English translations can only go so far as to the real meaning of the Hebrew word.

Because knowing the detailed meaning of the words helps me to better understand what I'm praying or learning about, I ended up collecting a list of words defined by the Malbim.

For people with a name derived from one of the following, the Malbim’s descriptions can give you insight into your true essence.

And maybe you know the following already, but if you don’t, I hope you’ll find it helpful, too.

May we all merit joy and light in all their forms.

Donations for the poor

"Happy Purim" on Israeli bus

Megillat Esther

Mishloach Manot

עַלִּיז

גִּיל

אֹשֶׁר

רִינָּה

שָׂשׂוֹן

שִׂמְחָה

_____________

אוֹר

הִילָּה

נְהָרָה

נוֹגָהּ

Joy
aliz
Trembling with joy (other derivatives include alizut or the name Aliza)

gil
A joyful heart resulting from sudden glad tidings, joy over something new or renewed (the feminine form is gila)

osher
Spiritual happiness, vision, multiple happiness (names derived from this are the masculine Asher and the feminine Oshrah or Oshrat)

rina
Joy expressed in a loud voice (words or names like rohn or rahn or Ronen or Rinat or l’ranen also contain this meaning)

sasson
The external expression of joy

simcha
A perpetual state of spiritual joy
_____________________
Light

ohr
Something that provides illumination from itself, like the Sun (the feminine form is orah)

hila
Something that shines and sparkles, but gives no light to others (this word is often translated as "halo")

neharah
Light that bursts forth when something is constrained at one point, like at the end of a tunnel; the Heavenly Divine light from above that is poured down on one specific point below.

nogah
Something that reflects light, like the Moon or precious metals (this is also the name of the planet Venus, which also reflects light)

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How to Avoid being a Pathological Pollyanna

22/3/2016

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Unfortunately, Pollyanna has received a bad rap as a sort of brainless hyper-optimist, even though the actual book makes it clear that she was merely seeking the good in even the worst situation—and according to Torah, it is correct to do so.

However, many people misunderstand the obligation to give the benefit of the doubt, causing harm to themselves and others, and transgressing other serious prohibitions.

At one point, I caught myself doing it and noticed many others doing it, so I looked to our Sages for advice.

Doing so clarified what really needed to be done and enabled me to live a more honest, more balanced, and overall better life.

Rebbi Levi & the Kli Yakar vs. Malignant Optimists & Flying Monkeys

Torah lectures and literature contain countless admonitions and stories illustrating how vitally important—and correct—it is to give the benefit of the doubt.

Unfortunately, doing so in the wrong way leads to a severe transgression of the Torah prohibition of chanifah (among other severe transgressions, such as "standing in the blood of your neighbor" and believing lashon hara and placing "a stumbling block before the blind," and more).

But let's focus on chanifah.

Commonly translated as "flattery," our Sages define chanifah as a form of falsehood. Orchot HaTzaddikim (Ways of the Righteous) and Shaarei Teshuvah (Gates of Repentance) both elaborate on what constitutes chanifah.

Essentially, chanifah is:

any behavior or speech that implies a forbidden behavior is permitted, or even praiseworthy

behaving or speaking in a way which implies that an evil or sinning person is perfectly okay, or even righteous, whether only to others or to the sinning person directly

In the field of Narcissism, some forms of chanifah are known as "malignant optimism" and "flying monkeys."

The Malignant Optimist: This is the ever hopeful victim who always sees the innocent intentions and the good potential in their abuser.

Flying Monkeys: Named after the winged primates who enthusiastically did the bidding of the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, "flying monkeys" follow the abuser's bidding, which the abuser uses to increase the torment of his or her targeted victim. "Flying monkeys" may act out of loyalty or misguided "good" intentions or out of fear, not realizing that the abuser will scapegoat them whenever necessary without a second thought or any remorse.

Flying monkeys and malignant optimists are the "nice," well-meaning people who enable the worst atrocities in history as exemplified by the everyday Communists, civilian Nazis, Left-Wing citizens in Western countries and Israel today, and more.

I guess we've all seen very nice and well-intentioned people stubbornly defend and rationalize the actions and intentions of very harmful people—and they tend to pressure others to do the same.

The rationalizations are always given under the misguided notion that it's obligated by the Torah as the mitzvah of giving the benefit of the doubt and seeing others in a positive light (AKA, an ayin tovah).

Flying Monkeys

Malignant Optimist

For many decent people, it is hard to accept that some people they know and even like do consistently hurt others and actually mean to.

Such people may even enjoy it.

These types consistently behave badly with bad intentions (even as they often feel totally justified and will indeed offer convincing rationalizations for their harmful behavior. Again. And again. And again.)

Even their good deeds are usually done for negative reasons.

It is not giving the benefit of the doubt to encourage oneself or others to assume ignorance or lack of intention when there is a pattern of awareness and bad intention.

(Just to be clear: When this topic refers to bad or abusive people, it does not mean basically decent people who are going through a temporarily hard time (exhausted, stressed, or sick) or who make mistakes or who possess one or two traits that regularly mess them up in certain areas. Bad or abusive people consistently behave harmfully over the long term and even their good behavior tends to be motivated by negative intentions.)

So how can we focus on the good in others and give the benefit of the doubt without becoming malignant optimists or flying monkeys?

To start with, we have the timeless example of Rebbi Levi of Berditchev (1740-1809).

Rebbi Levi‘s Do’s and Don’ts
Many of us know the story of how Rebbi Levi approached a Jew who was smoking on Shabbat. Rebbi Levi first inquired as to whether the Jew knew it was Shabbat. Perhaps the Jew didn’t realize that smoking was forbidden on Shabbat? Perhaps the Jew had some legitimate reason for smoking on Shabbat?

When the Jew’s answers showed that he certainly knew exactly what he was doing, Rebbi Levi then proclaimed: "Lord of the Universe, see the holiness of your people! They’d rather declare themselves sinners than utter a lie!"

Note what Rebbi Levi did not do:

He did not express any opinion indicating that it was okay, understandable, funny, or "cute" to be smoking on Shabbat.

He didn’t insist that the Jew was violating Shabbat by accident after the Jew clearly showed that he was violating Shabbat with full knowledge and intent.

He didn’t rationalize that the smoking Jew's possibly "difficult childhood" or "having a bad day" as a justification of the Shabbat violation. (Meaning, Rebbi Levi did not say it's okay or permissible to violate Shabbat because of a mood or certain feelings.)

Instead, Rebbi Levi completely sidelined the Jew’s Shabbat behavior and detoured around to another quality within that same Jew: honesty.

And Rebbi Levi also paused from interacting directly with the willfully sinning Jew and instead turned to address Hashem.

(Meaning, Rebbi Levi didn’t tell that Jew nor did he say to others, "Well, violating Shabbat isn’t so great, but at least he’s honest about it.")

It is true that the Jew was intentionally violating Shabbat.

It is also true that the Jew refused to lie about it.

There is no, "Yes, but...."

Rebbi Levi did not in any way justify this very public and willful transgression. Instead, he found something else positive to say about his fellow Jew and then re-routed it to Hashem.

He also prayed for people--even the most horrible people.

Of course, this example doesn't totally address the issue of dealing with a very harmful person. Someone can violate Shabbat, yet behave well in other areas.

And the opposite is also true.

So this brings us to the Kli Yakar’s discussion of King Achashverosh (a truly bad person) in Parshat Titzaveh 28:39 (which in non-leap years, comes out right before Purim, so the Kli Yakar found the Torah portion's connection to the Purim story).

Azamra! Finding the Diamond Chip Floating around in the Mountain of Sludge

Mountain of Sludge

The Kli Yakar describes Achashverosh as karov l’shogeg—"close to being an unintentional sinner."

This is a radical statement considering how many Sages consider Achashverosh to have been even more evil and more of a Jew-hater than Haman.

Likewise, the Kli Yakar also calls Achashverosh "that rasha"—a wicked person who sins intentionally against both people and God. The Kli Yakar also quotes Megillah 12, in which the angels themselves refer to Achashverosh as "the rasha."
(Just so there's no room for doubt.)

Furthermore, the Kli Yakar explains that Achashverosh even consulted with the Jewish Sages of his time as to the holy symbolism of the Priestly Garments and holy vessels.

And those Sages, in addition to explaining the symbolism, also clearly told him that wearing these garments was absolutely forbidden for anyone other than the Kohen Gadol—the High Priest.

Nahafochu—Twist!
Yet the Kli Yakar also explains that the appallingly blasphemous things done by Achashverosh—like wearing the Priestly Garments, holding a feast using the holy vessels from the Beit Hamikdash, and even symbolically acting out parts of the Priestly Service with his servants—were meant by Achashverosh as an atonement for himself!

(See the Kli Yakar on Parshat Titzaveh for the exact atonements rendered by the different garments.)

As the Kli Yakar explains,

His main intention was to wear the Priestly Garments to be an atonement for him….he thought that all this would ascend as [God’s] Will, as if everything was performed on the actual Altar….he said:

"I will use these vessels in their prescribed manner, with the eating exceeding the drinking. Then I will not desecrate their holiness."

Achashverosh also wanted to avoid the punishment meted out to Belshatzar, who also abused the sanctity of the holy items.

And this explanation demonstrates one of the spectacular things about Judaism and the secret to greatness: the ability to embrace paradox.

Finding a Couple of Diamond Chips Does Not Mean the Mountain of Sludge is a Hidden Diamond Mine
Achashverosh had a couple of good intentions—after all, if he craved atonement (no matter how superficial), he must have had some awareness that he was doing the wrong thing and that there is Din (judgment) and that there is a Dayan (a Judge), whom he wanted to appease.

And so the Kli Yakar, in the same passage where he twice refers to Achashverosh as a rasha, also deems him as "karov l’shogeg—close to being an unintentional sinner"—close, but not quite.

And he thought he would be exempt [from sin]....[But] all this was just a fantasy and there was no actual avodah….for there was nothing in all his deeds except fantasy alone.

At the end of the day, Achashverosh was still a hopeless rasha.

Even Mordechai HaYehudi, the spiritual giant of that generation who saved Achashverosh’s life, didn’t try to change him.

Furthermore, being married to Queen Esther, a paragon of emuna and everything good, had no effect on the degenerate king.

And yes, Achashverosh also did some other really nice and merciful things, like glorifying Mordechai for saving his life, and not killing Queen Esther for going against serious protocol, and also by sending out an edict that encouraged the Jews to defend themselves against his previous edict, thereby discouraging the Jew-haters from killing Jews.

(Although this wasn't him so much as Hashem orchestrating angels and events behind the scenes.)

Despite these good deeds and despite his desire to preserve the sanctity of the Temple vessels and despite his admittedly superficial desire for personal atonement...

...Achashverosh was still NOT "basically good underneath it all."

Some people aren’t. Really.

But they still have their random good points.

No justifications, no excuses, no rationalizations, no validations, and no white-washing.

Just a couple of good points.

And that’s all we need to acknowledge in such people.

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The Kli Yakar - Parshat Vayikra

16/3/2016

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The Necessity of Humility in Order to Truly Learn

The last letter of the first word of Parshat Vayikra, the alef, is written in miniature.

There are several reasons for this, many of which have to do with Moshe Rabbeinu’s great humility.

Seeing as the word l’alef means “to teach,” the Kli Yakar combines the letter’s diminutive size and meaning by stating:

It hints that learning does not exist other than in he who makes himself small.

And therefore, it hints at how Moshe made himself small and fled from power and said, “I am not a man of words” (Shemot 4:10)….

This possibly explains the common observation that the innately clever students who excel in all their studies often do not make the best spouses or parents, even when those students also reach the top of their class in Torah studies (which should indicate exceptionally fine character, but sometimes the Torah knowledge is intellectualized rather than internalized).

This is not always true, of course.

Yet many (but not all!) people who possess high scholastic aptitude tend to also feel innately better and smarter than the average person—even though many geniuses obviously make foolish mistakes in both their personal and professional lives, and can behave with far less integrity, too.

Yet because they are often given the message since childhood that they are innately better & smarter than others, many academically intelligent people seem to feel this is true without reservation.

But the small alef here indicates that, on the contrary, people cannot internalize what they learn unless they humble themselves from within.

This explains why those who consider themselves superior often behave with such a lack of intelligence.

And this explains why those who only intellectualize their Torah knowledge behave as if they lack Torah knowledge. Their lack of humility actually blocks them from truly absorbing all the Torah they learn.

Or perhaps in other words, for better or for worse, a person's absorption of Torah values parallels one's level of humility.

Greater Power Means Greater Responsibility

In the following verse, the Kli Yakar discusses the reasons for the variety of sacrifices necessary according to one’s means.

The practical reasons are clear, but there are also spiritual reasons as to why wealthier transgressors need to sacrifice a bull, while the poorer ones need to sacrifice birds, and impoverished need to sacrifice simple grains.

First of all, the Kli Yakar points out that the wealthier one is, the more prominence, power, and influence one has.

A wealthier person also has access to a better Torah education.

(Especially in the Kli Yakar’s times, books and tutors were the luxury of the rich.)

Therefore, a transgression on the part of a wealthy person contains a similar quality to that of a horned animal who can gore at Heaven, so to speak.

"But the poor man’s power is weaker and therefore his “goring” is not as great and resembles the bird who strikes with his wing….and thus, his sacrifice is turtledoves or young doves because he himself is among the pursued…."

Finally, an utterly impoverished person, who would sometimes go without food the whole day, no matter how taxing his or her physical work was (and even drinkable water could be hard to come by), who suffered weakness, feelings of despondency, and the other physiological effects of poverty, would feel dead inside.

And so, the Kli Yakar explains, this person's sacrifice consisted of something lacking the spark of life.

Finding the Balance Between the Extremes

“….because you shall not cause to ascend in smoke any leavening and any honey as a fire-offering to Hashem.” (2:11)

The Kli Yakar explains the necessity of physical desires and how to balance these physical desires with spiritual desires:

Each person has his desire for all the delights of This World as symbolized by honey because just as the honey is sweet to the palate and too much causes harm, then likewise are the delights of This World; they are necessary and too much of them causes harm.

So this is the counsel that is advised:

A person should utilize that which is necessary and that which is extraneous, he should deny himself.

And the leavening represents the yetzer hara [evil inclination] and like Rebbi Alexandri said in his prayer, “Our will is to do Your Will, but the leavening that is in the dough is obstructing” (Brachot 17).

And these two are necessary for the existence of Man because if he wouldn’t attend to his essential needs—which are symbolized by honey—he would die.

And he wouldn’t live and his limbs wouldn’t be strong and healthy to toil in the mitzvot of Hashem.

And if there was no yetzer hara, a man wouldn’t marry a woman and he wouldn’t build a house and the world would be desolate.

And these two things precede time-wise to occupying oneself with Torah and mitzvot because if a person wouldn’t first eat flour, there wouldn’t be Torah.

But occupying oneself with Torah should be one’s first intention and priority because just as the leavening and the honey that we mentioned lack the totality [shleimut] on their own to raise a pleasant aroma [rei’ach nicho’ach] to Hashem, yet they are a priority and come first for a person, because through them, he can attain spiritual perfection [shleimut hanefesh].

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The Kli Yakar - Parshat Pikudei

10/3/2016

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We have some encouraging words from the Kli Yakar again this week, which are found toward the end of his commentary on verse 39:43.

"And Moshe saw all the craftwork and behold, they performed it as Hashem commanded, so they did, and Moshe blessed them."

And in doing this, Hashem gave a voice to baalei teshuvah (penitents), as our Sages wrote in Avodah Zara 4:

Yisrael did not make the [golden] calf for any other reason than to grant a voice to baalei teshuvah....for in the incident of the [golden] calf, they [as a collective] transgressed on those three [the three major sins for which one must die rather than commit: murder, illicit relations, and occult worship]....

....God wanted to grant a voice to the baalei teshuvah [who have transgressed] these three.

Therefore, it says, "And you shall say, 'Return, sons of Man; from here on you have nothing to prevent repentance (teshuvah) because if teshuvah was useful for those three transgressions, then all the more so, it will be effective for transgressions lighter than these.

If you've been following this series, then you've noticed that this is a consistent theme with the Kli Yakar, an idea that is found throughout the Torah:

You can always change for the better.

No matter what you did, Hashem is always ready and even yearning to accept your repentance and bring you back into the fold.

Another thing to remember is that the Sin of the Golden Calf was committed after having witnessed major miracles and after having experienced the closest possible interaction with Hashem.

Yet they still fell off the wagon.

And they still could get back on.

In our generation, I see so many signs of people carrying around toxic shame within them.

And usually, it's not even that they've done anything so bad or unforgivable, it's more that other messed-up people in their life have effectively and wrongly shamed them for basically not being perfect.

Carrying around all that toxic shame turns people harsh, unforgiving, depressed, or bitter, both toward themselves and others.

People don't like themselves, don't want to be with themselves, and despair of themselves.

In addition, they also turn to all sorts of escapes and distractions.

But the Kli Yakar basically reassures us that look, you probably didn't do anything as bad as everything that occurred during the episode with the Golden Calf.

And even if you have committed murder, or engaged in severe immorality or occult worship, you probably haven't done all of these Big Three Sins.

And heck! Even if you have done all three, you can still come back to the right path.

And even more so, Hashem Himself wants you to come back and is always willing to lovingly accept the new, improved, penitent you.

And even if you "should have known better" and "could have known better," you certainly could not have "known better" (regardless of how frum your upbringing was) than the generation who sinned with the calf not long after having had an incredible show of God's Existence and His Will, who still sinned terribly — and were STILL forgiven!

And then even blessed.

May we all merit to joyfully do complete teshuvah from love.

Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim of Luntschitz (1550-1619) lived in Bohemia (which is today Poland and Czechoslovakia). He served as rabbi and dayan and wrote several books, the most well-known being his commentary on the Chumash known as the Kli Yakar.
Although I did borrow a few terms here and there from Rabbi Elihu Levine's translation, this is primarily my own translation and any errors are also mine.
For a wonderful rendering of the Kli Yakar into English, including helpful footnotes, please see Rabbi Elihu Levine's translation.

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The Kli Yakar - Parshat Vayakhel

6/3/2016

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Here's just one proof that when there is a clash of wills between a husband and God, a true "isha kashera — a kosher woman" fulfills the Will of her Creator over the will of her husband.

The Torah teaches blind obedience to Hashem and not to anyone else.

Hashem's Brave and Steadfast Women

"And the men came, accompanying the women...." (Shemot 35:22)
The Kli Yakar explains:

And the commentators said that it means "with the women."

So, it declares the righteousness of the women, who agreed to give of their jewelry.

And it seems to explain that it is truly praise for them because according to the law, they didn't need to give of their jewelry because it was the men who removed their own rings and produced from those the [golden] calf. It is necessary for them [the men] to give of their own rings and their own jewelry to atone for their souls.

But the women, who didn't want to give of their jewelry during the episode with the calf, therefore do not need to atone for [that deed].

Nevertheless, due to their great affection for the holy object [i.e. the Tabernacle/Mishkan] they did not stop themselves from giving.

Yet nonetheless, the women didn't want to bring the donation to Moshe with their own hands so that Moshe wouldn't think they had a part in the transgression [of producing the golden calf] — as it says: "....every generous heart shall bring...."

But the women didn't bring.

Instead, they gave of their jewelry [i.e., to the men and then the men brought the women's jewelry to Moshe].

Yet because the words say "al hanashim — 'upon' the women," it makes sense to explain it in that they [the men] came upon the women with great force because the women didn't want to give all the gold, so people shouldn't say that they had a part in the gold of the calf.

Therefore, the men came upon them and took all the gold from them in a strong-armed manner.

And that is why, in the bringing of the gold, it mentions the men only.

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