The subject of this shiur will be ז' Cheshvan. The Mishnah says in Masechet Ta'anit דף י' עמוד א' that ז' Cheshvan, the seventh day of the month of Cheshvan, is the day when שואלין את הגשמים, when you start asking for rain. As we all know, on Shemini Atzeret we ask for rain, and from then on we start saying in the שמונה עשרה משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם. But that is only that we mention the rain. Then we start asking for rain in the berachah of ברך עלינו of all weekday שמונה עשרה. And the Mishnah says there in Masechet Ta'anit that from ז' Cheshvan and on, that's when we start asking for rain, which means we would start saying in ברך עלינו: ותן טל ומטר לברכה, which means we are asking Hashem to give us rain. And the reason we start doing this ז' Cheshvan is because really we should have started asking for rain right after Simchat Torah. Being that on Shemini Atzeret that's when we start with משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם, so right after that we should ask Hashem to give us rain. But since people used to go up for Sukkos to Yerushalayim for עליה לרגל, and then after Sukkos they would go home, so if we would ask for rain that means that the rain would start while people are still on the way going home. And since it took at least fifteen days for the last person to get home, as it says there that the last person, the אחרון שבישראל, for him to get to נהר פרת would take fifteen days, so therefore we waited fifteen days till after Sukkos so everybody would be home already, then we start asking for rain. And this is takeh the way the Rambam in הלכות תפילה פרק ב' הלכה ט\"ז paskent, and also in the Shulchan Aruch, in Orach Chaim the beginning of סימן קי\"ז, it paskens that in Eretz Yisrael we start asking for rain from ז' Cheshvan on. From this it comes out that up to ז' Cheshvan is still like a המשך and continuation of the Yom Tov of Sukkos. Being the reason we start asking for rain in Eretz Yisrael after ז' Cheshvan is because then the last one came to his home after the aliyah l'regel, so obviously till then it's still considered as if it is a continuation of the aliyah l'regel that they had to the Beit haMikdash during Sukkos. As it says clearly in the Shach in חושן משפט סימן מ\"ג סעיף קטן מ\"ז, he says, שכל פעם שהיו ישראל עולים לרגל, that whenever the Yidden used to go up to Yerushalayim for יום טוב, לא היו יכולים להגיע לבתיהם אחר הרגל אלא בט\"ו יום, they couldn't get home after Yom Tov only after fifteen days, והיה דומה להם כאילו הם עדיין בארץ ישראל עסוקים בעניני הרגל, and it seemed to them as if they were still in Eretz Yisrael, still involved in the inyanim of the יום טוב, כל זמן שלא היו עוברים הנהר הגדול נהר פרת, as long as they didn't pass through the big river נהר פרת. So we see clearly in the Shach, he says that up to ז' Cheshvan was כאילו הם עדיין בארץ ישראל עסוקים בעניני הרגל, that it's as if they were still in Eretz Yisrael, still involved in the inyanim of Yom Tov. So it comes out that ז' Cheshvan is a very important date. That's the date where the inyanim of Yom Tov of Sukkos stop. Till ז' Cheshvan they were still involved in the inyanim of Yom Tov, and when is really the end of the Yom Tov, it comes out? Only after ז' Cheshvan. So ז' Cheshvan plays an important role in the inyan of Yom Tov. But on the other hand it would seem that this is only in the time of the Beit haMikdash, because the whole reason why ז' Cheshvan was a date that up till then it seemed as if they were still in Eretz Yisrael in the Beis Hamikdash is because they would be עולה לרגל. But after the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, it seems that there is no special significance in the date of ז' חשון.

But the truth is not so, because it says in the Ran in Taanis there, also brought down in the Beis Yosef on the Tur in that סימן that we mentioned before, and brought down in the Levush, and also brought down in the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe of the Ba'al Hatanya, that this did not only apply to the time when we had a Beis Hamikdash, but this also applies later on. Because if this would only apply to the time when we had a Beis Hamikdash, so then why is the דין that even now in Eretz Yisrael you don't ask for rain till after ז' חשון? Lich'orah you should have asked for rain right after Sukkos, because as we said before, really we should ask for rain right after Sukkos. The only reason we wait for ז' חשון is because we want to give a chance for all the people to get home. But when there is no Beis Hamikdash and there is no עליה לרגל, so there is no reason to wait for ז' חשון. So really they should start asking for rain right after Sukkos. The reason we don't start asking for rain right after Sukkos is even in Eretz Yisrael and they wait for ז' חשון, so as the Ran says, it is because אף לאחר החורבן, cuz even after the חורבן, people used to gather all from all the areas around Yerushalayim to Yerushalayim for Yom Tov, similar to the ענין of עליה לרגל, as they do, it says there, nowadays. So therefore, the חכמים were not מבטל this תקנה that they made that you should start asking for rain from ז' חשון even after the Churban Beit Hamikdash. So we see here clearly that this is not only an inyan that has a shaychus to the time of the Beit Hamikdash, but even after the Churban Beit Hamikdash, this inyan still applies, that up to ז' חשון is still continuation of the Yom Tov. And באמת, this is not only shayach to Eretz Yisrael, because from what we said before, it would seem that this is only shayach to Eretz Yisrael, because the reason is that people go up to Jerusalem even when there is no Beit Hamikdash, and we still want to give them a chance to get home, and it seems that is the reason why we ask for rain in Eretz Yisrael only after ז' חשון. But in Chutz La'aretz, לכאורה, this should not apply. Nevertheless, we know that this concept also applies to Chutz La'aretz, outside of Eretz Yisrael, because the Shach says, in the place that we brought before in Choshen Mishpat, סימן מ\"ג, סעיף קטן מ\"ז, that the halachah is that if a person writes in a shtar, in a document, the date אחר הרגל, after Yom Tov, so he says it means ט\"ו יום אחר הרגל, 15 days after Yom Tov. And he bases it on a Mishnah that we said before that up to ט\"ו יום אחר הרגל, it was still as if they were still in Eretz Yisrael or still in Jerusalem. And he says, ואף על גב דהשתא אנן בגולה, even though now we are in גלות, מכל מקום לשון אחר הרגל נמשך מהם, the לשון אחר הרגל, the לשון after Yom Tov still follows what we said before, that up to 15 days after Sukkos it's still considered after Yom Tov. So we see from this Shach that even though really this whole idea that up to ז' חשון is still connected to the Yom Tov would only apply in Eretz Yisrael, in the time when they were עולה רגל or afterwards when they still used to go up to Jerusalem, nevertheless, lahalacha, this is noge'a also in chutz la'aretz, also בזמן הזה. Ad k'dei kach it's noge'a even to a שטר, that if you write in a document, which is not a holy object, a secular document, you write the date אחר הרגל, it means up to ז' חשון. So we see clearly that up to ז' חשון is still considered the time of עליה לרגל or the time of the Yom Tov, and when do we go over from that period, from the season of Yom Tov to the season of after Yom Tov, that is at the time of ז' חשון.

To explain the significance of ז' חשון, which means what is the meaning of this concept that we leave the Yom Tov, and then we go into our daily life. So on one hand, it would seem that this is a yeridah. This is a lower madreigah. Because as it's self-understood, that during Yom Tov a Yid is in a higher madreigah, a Yid is in a higher level, feels closer to Hashem, feels closer to kedushah. Certainly if it's not just one Yom Tov, certainly if you're coming from a whole month of yamim tovim, from the month of Tishrei, certainly during that whole month the Yid is in a much higher madreigah, feels closer to Hashem. When you have the Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah, then you have Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, and Simchat Torah, and all these yamim tovim, so a Yid is much higher. And since we're saying that up to ז' חשון, it's still considered a המשך and continuation to Yom Tov, so up to ז' חשון a Yid is still in the madregah of Yom Tov, a much higher madregah. From ז' חשון and on, when we say that's considered אחר הרגל, that's already after the Yom Tov, that's when a Yid lowers himself from that high level that he found himself in during the Yom Tov, and he has to enter into his daily life where he is not in such a high madregah. Certainly this was true, it seems, at the time when we had a Beit HaMikdash. During Yom Tov, when there was עליה לרגל, the pshat was that a Yid went up to Yerushalayim, to the Beit HaMikdash, this was a place where he actually absorbed kedushah and Godliness, as the pasuk says, יראה כל זכורך את פני האדון ה', that every male should be seen by Hashem, and the Gemara says in Chagigah, in the beginning of חגיגה, כדרך שבא לראות כך בא ליראות, just like he comes to see, he comes to be seen, or the other girsa, just like he comes to be seen, he comes to see, which means that when a Yid went up to Yerushalayim, to the Beit HaMikdash, he saw Hashem, so to speak, kivayachol, and Hashem saw him, which means that while he was there, he absorbed kedushah. And in a practical sense, when the Yidden went up to the Beit HaMikdash, and they saw the עשרה נסים שנעשו לאבותינו בבית המקדש, they saw the ten miracles that happened in the Beit HaMikdash, and they saw the מקום שכינה where the kohanim were בעבודתם והלוים בדוכנם וישראל במעמדם. The kohanim did their avodah, and the Leviim their avodah, and the Yisraelim did their avodah. And they would watch that, this would give them yirat shamayim. As Tosafot brings in Masechet Taanit, that this was actually one of the reasons why Hashem gave us the mitzvah of maaser sheni. We know the mitzvah of maaser sheni is that certain years you have to take off a tenth of your crop, and you don't give it to anybody, you keep it, but it becomes holy, and you have to take it up to Yerushalayim and eat it in Yerushalayim. Now when a person would have a lot of food to take up to Yerushalayim, it would take him a while till he would finish it there. So that would mean that he would go up to Yerushalayim and stay in Yerushalayim for a while till he would finish the food that he brought. The reason for this was so a Yid should find himself in Yerushalayim a certain time of the year. And the reason for that was so he should get absorbed with yirat shamayim. Because in Yerushalayim, in the Beit HaMikdash, there a Yid was able to see Godliness and get absorbed with kedushah and yirat shamayim. Actually the name of Yerushalayim expresses this thought, because as it says, the name of Yerushalayim is a combination of two words: yirah and Shalem. In one place Yerushalayim is called yirah, as it says in פרשת העקידה, ויקרא אברהם שם המקום ההוא ה׳ יראה, and that referred to Yerushalayim, and also it is called Shalem as it says, ומלכי צדק מלך שלם, that Malki Tzedek, Shem ben Noach, was the king of Shalem, and that means it was the king of Yerushalayim. Later they combined both words together and they called it Yerushalayim, from the word yirah and Shalem, which means according to one פשט, יראה שלם, complete yirah, complete fear, which means complete yirat shamayim. So when the Yidden used to come up to Yerushalayim, to be in the Beit HaMikdash for Yom Tov, they would absorb kedushah and complete yirat shamayim. When they would leave Yerushalayim and they would come home, so obviously this was a yeridah. They left the place that was full of kedushah and full of yirat shamayim, and they came home to their place, which was not in such a high level. So it seems as if ז׳ חשון is a day that represents a yeridah, it represents a lowering of the level, a time when people had to lower themselves from the level they were in before, from this very high level they were in before during the Yom Tov, during the month of Tishrei, or in the time of the בית המקדש, lower themselves from the level they were in when they were in Yerushalayim in the בית המקדש, and come down to a lower level.

But the truth is, when we start thinking a little bit deeper about this, we can understand that ז׳ חשון does not represent a yeridah, a lowering of their madreigah, on the contrary, it represents an aliyah, a higher madreigah. Even though on one hand it is a yeridah, but it is a yeridah tzorech aliyah, as we find the expression in different places. It is a yeridah, you go lower, but the purpose of the yeridah is in order to get higher. Because in many cases, the way to become higher is by first going lower, and through this lower you become higher. As the mashal is given in sefarim, that when a person wants to jump over something to get across, so sometimes you have to walk back a little bit from the thing that you're trying to jump over, then you are able to jump over and get closer to the other side. So on one hand one might think that when you're moving back from the object that you're trying to jump over, you're getting further away from your goal. On the other hand, if a person thinks about it, understands that even though technically he is going back, but the only way he is able to jump over and get closer to the place he's trying to get to is by going back. So this going back is not really, in essence, going back. Superficially it is a yeridah, but really it is a yeridah tzorech aliyah. And the same is with this concept of ז׳ חשון. The fact that the Yidden used to come home, leave Yerushalayim, or nowadays when we say that we left the Yom Tov of Sukkot, and we left the month of Tishrei, when it comes to ז׳ חשון, it is a yeridah, but this is a yeridah tzorech aliyah. To explain this concept, how is this a yeridah tzorech aliyah, so we must bring in first something else. It says in חסידישע ספרים concerning Parshat Shelach where it deals with the meraglim, especially in Likkutei Torah, and explains what was the חטא המרגלים. Because on one hand it is very hard to understand how the meraglim did such a great aveirah of coming back and trying to convince the Yidden not to go to Eretz Yisrael. It says when the meraglim left they were צדיקים, כשרים היו באותה שעה. So how is it possible the meraglim should become so low in such a short time from being tzaddikim, the most chosen people that Moshe Rabbeinu found to choose to send as spies to Eretz Yisrael, to fall so low to become people who would try to convince the Yidden to go against Hashem. So it says in the חסידישע ספרים that it wasn't that they changed their מדרגה from one extreme to the other. It started with one small change, one small ירידה, and because they had that one small ירידה, they lowered themselves so low till they actually went out with a מרידה, with a revolt against Hashem. But the first move was a very small move, which in their eyes was really something good. It explains that what was their theory? They came to Eretz Yisrael, and they saw what's going on there. They saw that in order to live there, you have to plow and you have to plant, you have to get involved in all these physical matters. They came from the מדבר, from the desert, where their food was given to them by Hashem, the bread they had, the מן from heaven, water they had from the באר של מרים, even their clothes they didn't have to wash because it says that ענני הכבוד polished their clothes and pressed their clothes, even the clothes that was small on them grew along with the body. It says you didn't have to make new clothes. So, when they came to Eretz Yisrael, they saw this is not going to work. The way to live in Eretz Yisrael will be by getting involved in החורש והזורע, all the different מלאכות that exist. So, they thought to themselves, why do we need this? In the מדבר, when we don't have to worry about our physical needs, we are able to get involved in עבודת השם, in serving Hashem all day. Because what did they do in the מדבר constantly, when they didn't have to get involved in work and things like that in order to make a livelihood and have food, etc.? They sat and learned Torah and daven to Hashem, they were constantly involved in עבודת השם. So, they felt, why lower ourselves through the ירידה of having to get involved in physical things in Eretz Yisrael? Let us rather stay in the desert, there we will constantly be able to serve Hashem. And that's why they came back and they said, let's not go to Eretz Yisrael. Let's rather stay in the מדבר, where we will live a רוחניותדיקע life constantly, rather than going into Eretz Yisrael where we will have to get involved in the גשמיות of Eretz Yisrael, of the land. But this was a mistake. Why? Because if Hashem told them to go to Eretz Yisrael, then this is definitely for their benefit. Even though logically it seems like it would be better to stay in the desert, better מצד רוחניות, מצד the spiritual part, nevertheless, if Hashem wants them to go to Eretz Yisrael and work in the field, then this is definitely better. And this was their mistake. The same is with ז' חשון. Even though the Yidden went to Yerushalayim for Yom Tov, and they were absorbed with קדושה, they were constantly living a life of רוחניות, or nowadays in the month of Tishrei we live a, live a higher life, a life of רוחניות, but being that Hashem wants us to leave that life and enter our daily life, so then definitely this is for our benefit, and this is what we have to do. So, even though it seems like it's a ירידה, but if Hashem wants us to do that, then this is definitely for our benefit, for the benefit of Hashem that He wants, which means this is really a yeridah letzorech aliyah. To explain the details of how this is a yeridah letzorech aliyah, and to explain more of those things that we mentioned before, אם ירצה השם this will be done in the next shiur.