In our last shiur we explained concerning Asarah b'Teves why the Abudraham holds that if Asarah b'Teves would come out on Shabbos, then the din would be that we'd have to fast on Shabbos. Because just like by Yom Kippur, it says בעצם היום הזה, by Asarah b'Teves it also says בעצם היום הזה. So just like the din by Yom Kippur is that it's דוחה שבת, that if Yom Kippur comes on Shabbos you have to fast, so too if Asarah b'Teves would come out on Shabbos, you would have to fast on Shabbos. And in the last shiur we explained what is the similarity between Asarah b'Teves and Yom Kippur. And in this shiur we're going to explain why does the chumra of Asarah b'Teves, the strictness of Asarah b'Teves, express itself in the din that it is דוחה שבת, it pushes away Shabbos. We explained the similarity between Asarah b'Teves and Yom Kippur, that just like Yom Kippur is a day when Hashem expresses his essential love between himself and the Yidden, and he also reveals within the Yidden the essential connection that Yidden have to Hashem, and that is the reason why he is מוחל, he forgives for all the aveirot on Yom Kippur. That is the reason why we have five tefilot on Yom Kippur, the only day of the year we have five tefilot, because this is כנגד all five parts of the neshama, including the יחידה, which is the essence of the neshama, which represents the essential connection between the Yidden and Hashem and Hashem and the Yidden. So too on עשרה בטבת there is an expression of this essential connection between the Yidden and Hashem. Because since עשרה בטבת is the worst, the strictest of all the fast days because this was the beginning of all the tzarot of the galut and churban, so therefore the aliyah, the high madregah you are able to reach on that day, is very great. And as we explained, the peshat is that when there is no galut, when we have a Beit HaMikdash, and Hashem shows his closeness to us, and Yidden are close to him, that doesn't express the depth of our connection to him. When do we see how deep the connection is? At a time when there is galut and churban, and nevertheless a Yid does teshuvah, and a Yid is connected to Hashem, that shows how deep and how essential the connection is. It is so deep and so essential that nothing could stop it, not even galut and churban and all the problems that we have. And since עשרה בטבת represents the worst level of galut and churban because this was the beginning of all the tzarot of galut and churban, so therefore this represents the highest madregah, that even though a Yid has the greatest tzarot, the worst problems, nevertheless a Yid still shows his connection to Hashem. So this expresses the essential connection between the Yidden and Hashem, which is similar to Yom Kippur. Based on that we'll also explain the connection between עשרה בטבת and the din that it is דוחה שבת, it is stronger than Shabbos, and therefore according to the Avudraham, you would have to fast on Shabbos if עשרה בטבת would come out on Shabbos.

We find concerning many dinim that are stronger than Shabbos, that are דוחה שבת, that the pshat is not only that they are stronger than the din of Shabbos and therefore they overpower, so to speak, the din of Shabbos, but more than that: that they accomplish what Shabbos has to accomplish, and therefore by doing it and being דוחה שבת, it's not the pshat we're pushing away what Shabbos stands for, but we are accomplishing through the other thing what Shabbos stands for, even though technically we are דוחה שבת. For instance, there is a famous din that פיקוח נפש דוחה שבת, that when it comes to a question of life and death, a person's life is in danger, so then it is דוחה שבת, it pushes away Shabbos, and you have to be מחלל שבת in order to save the Yid's life. The truth is this is a din concerning all mitzvot except the three aveirot of avodah zarah, worshipping idols, and גילוי עריות, adultery, and שפיכות דמים, murder, but concerning everything else we say that פיקוח נפש דוחה כל התורה כולה, the life of a Yid pushes away the whole Torah, but nevertheless we find this din specifically by Shabbos. As we find in the Rambam that specifically by Shabbos he says this din, because there is something special concerning this din in the dinim of Shabbos. What is the connection between the din of pikuach nefesh and Shabbos? So based on what the Or HaChaim HaKadosh says in Parashat Ki Tisa, the mefarshim explain as follows: that it's not the pshat that the din of pikuach nefesh, the din of saving a Yid's life, is stronger than the din of Shabbos and therefore we overlook Shabbos and we're מחלל שבת in order to save the Yid's life, but more than that, as the Gemara says in יומא דף פ\"ה עמוד א', that one of the reasons why we have to be מחלל שבת to save a Yid's life is because אמרה תורה: חלל עליו שבת אחת כדי שישמור שבתות הרבה. The Torah said: be מחלל one Shabbos is, in order to save, to keep many other Shabbatot. If you save a Yid's life, so then he'll be able to keep many Shabbatot. So it's worthwhile to be מחלל one Shabbos in order to save many other Shabbatot, that he'll be able to keep many other Shabbatot. So it comes out that it's not the pshat that pikuach nefesh, saving a Yid's life, is stronger than Shabbos, but מצד שבת itself we have to be מחלל שבת to save a Yid's life in order to be able to keep many other Shabbatot. But it's more than that. The inyan of saving a Yid's life accomplishes the same thing as keeping Shabbos. What is the inyan of Shabbos? So the pasuk says in פרשה כי תשא, את שבתתי תשמרו, keep the שבתות, כי אות היא ביני וביניכם, because this is a sign between me and you, לדרתיכם, for all your generations, לדעת, to know, כי אני ה' מקדשכם, that I am Hashem' who makes you holy. And Rashi explains on the pasuk there, that what does it mean? אות גדולה היא בינינו, this is a great sign between us, שבחרתי בכם, that I chose you, בהנחילי לכם, when I made you inherit, את יום מנוחתי למנוחה, my rest day for your rest day. So it comes out that the whole concept of Shabbos is to express the sign that Hashem' chose the Yidden, that there is this connection between the Yidden and Hashem'. The same is concerning the din of pikuach nefesh. When a Yid's life is in danger, and the din would be that he has to give up his life in order to be able to keep the mitzvot, this would show that Hashem', so to speak, does not care about a Yid's life. Since the din is פיקוח נפש דוחה כל התורה כולה, that to save a Yid's life is stronger than any other mitzvah, this itself expresses how precious a Yid is by Hashem'. That Hashem' says, I overlook all the mitzvot in order to save a Yid's life. So this din that we have to do everything possible to save a Yid's life, this itself expresses the fact that Hashem' chose the Bnei Yisrael, and that's why He wants the Bnei Yisrael to live. And therefore, if it comes to Shabbos, and the din would be that if the person's life is in danger he nevertheless has to keep Shabbos, and die, so this would defeat the purpose of what Shabbos is trying to show. Shabbos is trying to show how precious the Yidden are by Hashem', this essential connection that's there between the Yidden and Hashem'. And the din would be that Shabbos is more important than a Yid's life, in other words that a Yid's life is not so important by Hashem', which is really what the Rambam says in Hilchot Shabbat פרק ב הלכה ב, concerning this din that pikuach nefesh pushes away Shabbos, he says, הא למדת, this teaches us, שאין משפטי התורה נקמה בעולם, that the mishpatim, the rules of the Torah are not a revenge in the world, rachamim רחמים, but pity, vechesed, and kindness, veshalom, and peace בעולם. That by Hashem' telling us that pikuach nefesh is דוחה שבת, he's showing how much he loves the Bnei Yisrael, how much he wants the chesed and the rachamim and the shalom of the Bnei Yisrael. And this is what Shabbos really stands for. The whole inyan of Shabbos is to show how much Hashem' loves the Bnei Yisrael, how he chose the Bnei Yisrael. The din of pikuach nefesh is דוחה שבת is because pikuach nefesh, the fact that you have to save a Yid's life under all circumstances expresses the same idea. So it's not the pshat that we're saying that pikuach nefesh is stronger than Shabbos. But more than that, when you save a Yid's's life, even if you're מחלל שבת, you are doing what Shabbos is supposed to be doing. Shabbos is supposed to show the sign that Hashem' loves the Bnei Yisrael, there is a connection between Hashem' and the Bnei Yisrael, which automatically means that there's a connection between the Bnei Yisrael and Hashem'. Pikuach nefesh tells us the same thing. So it comes out here that when we say pikuach nefesh is דוחה שבת, it is not the pshat that pikuach nefesh is stronger than Shabbos, but the pshat is that it accomplishes the same thing as Shabbos. And therefore, we have to be מחלל שבת in order to do pikuach nefesh, to save the Yid's's life. So it's not that it fights Shabbos, but it does the same thing, it accomplishes the same thing as Shabbos.

The same is concerning another din. The din is that milah is דוחה שבת. If it comes out the eighth day of the birth on Shabbos, so the din is that the bris milah is דוחה שבת. Even though to do a bris milah would be an issur, it would be a din of chilul Shabbos, but the Torah says nevertheless you have to be מחלל שבת in order to perform the din of bris milah. And here too it's said in sefarim the same reason. It is not the pshat because bris milah is a stronger din than Shabbos, but it's more than that. Bris milah accomplishes the same thing as Shabbos, but even more, and therefore you have to do the bris milah on Shabbos. So you're not going against Shabbos. but overpowering the din of Shabbos, but you are accomplishing also what Shabbos is supposed to accomplish. And it's for the same reason. The inyan of Shabbos, as we said before, expresses the essential connection between Hashem and the yidden, and the yidden and Hashem, this is what bris milah expresses too. The inyan of bris milah is a ברית בבשרכם, it's a covenant in the בשר, in the flesh of the yid, to show the connection between yid and Hashem, and it shows such a connection that no other mitzvah shows. Because all other mitzvot are done with the body. The body is the thing that does the mitzvah, but the body is not the object of the mitzvah. The body is the gavra, the person that fulfills the mitzvah. But the body is not the חפצא דהמצוה, the body is not the object of the mitzvah. But by ברית מילה it's different. The body of the Yid is the chafetz, the object of the mitzvah. The mitzvah is done within the body. And that's a brit that stays forever. It's a seal that's sealed into the body of the Yid, that shows that he belongs to the nation of Hashem, and that there is this connection with him, between him and Hashem. So therefore, when it comes to Shabbos, you have to perform the ברית מילה, because the whole inyan of Shabbos is to show this brit between the Yid and Hashem, ברית מילה shows that same thing and even more than Shabbos. Because ברית מילה also shows on this connection that a Yid has to Hashem, and even more than Shabbos. Because Shabbos is outside of the person, but the ברית מילה is the connection that's sealed within the person, and therefore ברית מילה is דוחה שבת. But not the pshat that it's דוחה because it's stronger than Shabbos, they're two separate things, you have Shabbos and you have ברית מילה, and this is a din which is stronger than Shabbos, but it's more than that. The inyan of ברית מילה accomplishes what Shabbos has to accomplish, and therefore it is דוחה שבת.

The same is concerning עשרה בטבת and Shabbos. When we say עשרה בטבת is דוחה שבת, which means that if it would come on a Shabbos according to the Abudraham, you would have to fast even though in order to keep Shabbos properly you have to eat, וקראת לשבת עונג, you have to show the pleasure, and here we say you don't and you would have to fast, it's not because עשרה בטבת is stronger than Shabbos, but it's because עשרה בטבת accomplishes the same thing as Shabbos does. Just like it says concerning Yom Kippur, that when you say you fast on Shabbos, if Yom Kippur comes out on Shabbos, it is not because Yom Kippur is stronger than Shabbos, it is, but not only because you have two separate inyanim and Yom Kippur is a stronger thing and it overcomes Shabbos, but it accomplishes what Shabbos is supposed to accomplish. Because when a Yid eats on Shabbos, and he has pleasure from Shabbos, he expresses this feeling that he is connected to Hashem, this אות גדולה בינינו שבחרתי בכם בהנחילי לכם את יום מנוחתי למנוחה, as רש״י says in פרשת כי תשא. But when you keep Yom Kippur, which is done through fasting, you express the same thing. You also express this essential connection that you have to Hashem, as we explained before, that that's what Yom Kippur is. That is the עצם היום, that the etzem, the essence, the essential connection between Yid and Hashem. So therefore, it's not only the peshat that Yom Kippur is דוחה שבת because it's stronger than Shabbos, it is stronger than Shabbos, but not the peshat it pushes away Shabbos, but by keeping Yom Kippur you're accomplishing the same thing that Shabbos is supposed to accomplish. And the same is concerning עשרה בטבת. Being that on עשרה בטבת you're able to express this essential connection that a Yid has to Hashem, which expresses itself in the fact that even though you have the biggest tzaros and the galut and the churban, nevertheless you show closeness to Hashem that expresses how essential and how strong this connection is, so עשרה בטבת accomplishes the same thing as Shabbos does, and therefore עשרה בטבת is דוחה שבת according to the Abudraham, that if עשרה בטבת would be able to come on a Shabbos, you would not eat on Shabbos, but you would keep עשרה בטבת, because you would be accomplishing through keeping the dinim of עשרה בטבת the same thing that you accomplish normally by eating on Shabbos.

And especially that we find a special connection between the concept of galus and the inyan of keeping Shabbos. It says in Tikkunei Zohar, תיקון מ״ח, that a person who is over on the inyan of יציאות השבת of carrying on Shabbos, which is done through an עקירה and הנחה. The din of carrying is that you pick it up in the רשות היחיד for instance, if you pick up the object you are oker it, you pick it up from its resting place in the private domain, and you put it down in the public domain, in the רשות הרבים, you make a הנחה, then you are עובר מדאורייתא on the dinim of יציאות השבת. So it says there that if a person is over on עקירה and הנחה, taking away the Bnei Yisrael from Eretz Yisrael, and the הנחה the putting them down in galus. On the other hand, somebody who is careful with יציאות השבת, who doesn't do the עקירה and the הנחה on Shabbos, so he is gorem that Hashem should bring back the Bnei Yisrael from galus to Eretz Yisrael. So we see that the inyan of keeping Shabbos through not carrying on Shabbos, which happens to be the very, very important din of Shabbos, and that's why the whole Maseches Shabbos starts with the דינים of carrying, because this is a very essential דין in Shabbos as it's explained in many ספרים, so by keeping that דין of Shabbos, you bring back the גאולה, and you go out of גלות. So we see a direct connection between the ענין of keeping Shabbos and overcoming the גלות and bringing the גאולה. So therefore, when a person keeps עשרה בטבת, which means that he utilizes the תענית of עשרה בטבת in order to do תשובה, which automatically will change עשרה בטבת into a Yom Tov, which means that will bring the גאולה and take away the גלות which is expressed in the ענין of עשרה בטבת, so he is accomplishing the same thing as Shabbos. Because through keeping Shabbos, you accomplish the גאולה by not having the עקירה and the הנחה. You bring the גאולה, you take the Yidden away from Chutz La'aretz and you bring them to Eretz Yisrael. By keeping עשרה בטבת, you do the same thing, because by keeping the תעניתים that are connected to the גלות, and especially עשרה בטבת, which is the strictest of them all, we change the ענין of גלות and חורבן into גאולה. As the פסוק says, והפכתי אבלם לששון, Hashem will change the אבילות into שמחה, that all these תעניתים will become ימים טובים, we will celebrate through them the גאולה.