מאי דכתיב what is the meaning of the pasuk where it says, כתפוח בעצי היער, that you're like an apple in the forest, the trees of the forest. למה נמשלו ישראל לתפוח? Why are the Yidden compared to an apple? לומר לך, to tell you, מה תפוח זה, just like an apple, פריו קודם לעליו, the fruit comes before the leaves, אף ישראל, the Yidden, too, הקדימו נעשה לנשמע. They made had נעשה before נשמע. Now Tosafos asks a she'eilah, what do you mean by an apple the fruit comes before the leaves? Apples are like every other fruit. So Tosafos says that apple here means an etrog. Here apple, tapuach, means an etrog, and he quotes that some find a pasuk where it says, וריח אפך כתפוחים, the Targum says כאתרוגא, because an etrog has a reiach, so it means an etrog. But by etrog also the leaves come before the but the etrog the chiluk is like this, Tosafos says that when an etrog could stay on the tree for a whole year. Now, what happens is when the beginning when the etrog starts growing, there are first there are leaves. Then the etrog starts growing, but the etrog the season passes and the leaves fall off, and the etrog is still there. Then new leaves come. So לגבי the second leaves, the fruit is before the leaves. That's the only one. What? Yeah? Stays on for so long? Good. But then new new leaves will come? Oh, and by the etrog, it's not like that. New leaves will come, so there there is no leaves before the fruit. But here, by the etrog, you can have after the leaves fall off and the etrog stays, and now there comes new leaves. So the fruit is there before the second the second set of leaves. Huh? What? So Tosafos, why, what is what is the problem? Tapuach, who, oh, no, so he brings it. Tapuach, who said tapuach was an apple? How do you know tapuach means an apple? So he cites in בלשון בלשון קודש תפוח could also be a a word for for an etrog, I mean, that's not a whole word because we're used to tapuach is an apple. Yeah, תפוח אדמה is potatoes. Because that's not from Gemara, that's modern Hebrew. But we

use the word tapuach, tapuach is a general a general word. Sometimes use it for lemashal, what's yarok? Green, yellow. Oh, yarok could could be green, could be yellow, could be even blue. It's a general word. So tapuach could mean many things, and mostly an apple, but sometimes an etrog is also called tapuach. You say that. No, but so tapuach could be an etrog. Here, that's where it started in America. Potatoes is not Potatoes is a few hundred years old. They got it from the Indians, when they came to America, they saw what the Indians made. They never had potatoes before. Not in the Gemara and not in the ראשונים, there's no such thing as potatoes. I understand, that's what he's saying. ההוא צדוקי, like the Gemara, there was a צדוקי, דחזייה לרבא, he saw רבא, דקא מעיין בשמעתא, he was involved, engrossed in his learning, ויתבא אצבעתא דידיה תותי כרעיה, and his finger was under his feet, דקא מייץ בהו, it was scratching on his fingers, דקא מבען נבעת דמא, and blood was coming from his fingers. But he didn't even feel it, he was so engrossed in his learning that he didn't even feel it. Because he was scratched that was under his feet, crushed, so I guess it started bleeding. אמר ליה, so he said, this צדוקי says to רבא, עמא פזיזא, Doesn't mean the floor under his He was probably sitting like this, and it was under, but No, why? Under his feet doesn't mean under the soles. Like over here, you know, somewhere over here holding it. But he was very heavy and it was probably and so got scratched there. So he says עמא פזיזא, a nation that rushes, דקדמיתו פומייכו לאודנייכו, that your mouth came before your ears. In

other words, you said you'll do before you hear, נעשה before נשמע, ואכתי בפחזותייכו קיימיתו, and you're still the same. In other words, you still have the same kabalat ol, the same bitul, that you're so involved in your learning, you don't even feel your fingers, you don't even feel that you're bleeding. You guys are crazy! ברישא איבעי לכו למשמע, first you should have heard, saying we will hear, we'll understand, אי מציתו קבליתו, ואי לא, לא, if you could, you'll be mekabel. If you hear that something that you can't, you won't be mekabel. What do you mean you're mekabel before you know what's going on? אמר ליה, so he said to him, אנן, we, דסגינן בשלימותא, we are complete in our in our shlemut, which means, like רש״י says, we go with the eybershter with the eybershter with תמימות, כתיב בן, by us it says, תומת ישרים תנחם, the תמימות of the straight people, the צדיקים, guides us. הנך אינשי דסגן בעלילותא, but these people who are great, not in קבלת עול, but great in חכמה, חשבונות, and all kinds of סברות, כתיב בהו, by them it says, וסלף בוגדים ישדם. And the crookedness of the בוגדים, בוגדים are the the ones that Deniers? Deniers or rebels or whatever. Rebels, rebels. ישדם, they will, לשון שדידה, they will be robbed, they will So we, takeh, ein hachi nami, he said, you're right. We are that way. We have this תמימות that we have, that we accept what the Eibershter says without חשבונות.

אמר רב שמואל בר נחמני, אמר רבי יונתן, Rav Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of רבי יונתן, מאי דכתיב, what is the פשט of the pasuk where it says, לבבתני אחתי כלה? My sister, the kallah, you took my heart. And לבבתני באחת מעיניך, and you made me, you took my heart with one of your eyes. Which means like this, בתחלה באחת מעיניך, first was one of the eyes, וכשתעשי, when you do, בשתי עיניך, with two eyes. Which means like this, Yidden have the sechar for saying נעשה before נשמע. That's already a great thing. And that itself is לבבתני with two ב's, that there's two hearts there. But still, the Eibershter sees it with one eye. When you actually do, that's when he has two eyes, so he says. That's וכשתעשי, when you will do, בשתי עיניך, then the Eibershter says with two eyes. אמר עולא, Ula said, עלובה כלה, it's an embarrassed kallah. No, the kallah is an embarrassment. מזנה מתוך חופתה, a kallah which is מזנה right right after the chuppah, right at her chuppah, you could imagine how how embarrassed she is. Same thing with the Yidden. Before מתן תורה was over, they already made an עגל. מתן תורה physically was over, but it was still by הר סיני. And they made an עגל already there. The honeymoon wasn't over yet. Huh? The honeymoon wasn't over yet. Yeah, and they did it already. אמר רב מרי בריה דבת שמואל, so Rav Mari, the son of the daughter of Shmuel, said, מאי קרא? Where do we see such a pasuk that tells us this? עד שהמלך במסבו נרדי נתן ריחו. While the king is still sitting in his mesibah, it's already you gave your rei'ach, you you you smelled up. That's what the pasuk's saying. So that's a peshat that by Yidden, by Matan Torah, when they're still by the Aibershter, still on the table of the Aibershter, and they already did something wrong.

אמר רבא, Rava said, עדיין חביבותא היא גבן, but still the way the Aibershter expresses that he still shows he loves us. Because ksiv it says נתן ולא כתיב הסריח. It says that while still in the mesibah of the king, you gave this rei'ach. Should have said you smelled up, you stink. Didn't want to use that word, because, bad as it is, the Aibershter is still with us, eidel and fine. זאגט די Gemara ווייטער, תנו רבנן, the Rabbanan learned, הנעלבין ואינם עולבין, those people that get embarrassed, people embarrass them, but they don't embarrass back. They don't answer back. שומעין חרפתן ואינם משיבין, they listen, they hear their embarrassment, people insult them, and they don't answer. עושין מאהבה, or and those people who serve Hashem out of love. Rambam says what does it mean out of love? Lishmah. You do it for the sake of the Aibershter. He says who was that? Avraham Avinu was the one that did it lishmah, and he says that's why Avraham is called אברהם אוהבי, because when you do it lishmah, that's called you love Hashem. ושמחים ביסורין, those people are happy with yisurim. When the Aibershter gives them yisurim, they don't complain. And they still accept it besimchah. So עליהם הכתוב אומר, and then the pasuk says, ואוהביו כצאת השמש בגבורתו. Those that love him, they will be the first one when the sun comes out with its full strength. When will that be? When Mashiach will come. The Aibershter will take the sun out of of its cover. So they will be the first one to greet Mashiach, to receive that. That's difficult to... they say not complaining about yisurim. It's very hard not to do that, I mean. Of course it affects your whole רוחניות. You cannot learn a thing. You cannot do anything. How could a person not complain about yisurim? How to complain. A person like that could complain not that he suffers. Maybe he could complain to the Eibershter, you you're I'm it's hard for me to learn. But שמחים means happy. Accepting is one thing, and happy... But happy means that because if the Eibershter did it to you, it's the best thing for you. If you realize that you have a real bitachon, To get to that level of being happy So that's the big thing, yeah. Yeah.

It's a famous story with the Rabbi R'' Moshe Leib Sasover, I tell this every year, Simchat Torah, you know, once on Simchat Torah he was dancing a lot, like every Simchat Torah. And his daughter was very sick, mamash laying, she was גוססת. And finally the chasidim came over to him and said, \"Rabbi, your daughter is dying, and you're just dancing?\" So he said, \"Good.\" So he walked into her room, and he sees it that way, turns around and says, \"Ribbono Shel Olam, you said מען, you said מען זאל בלאזן שופר ראש השנה, נו משה לייב האט געבלאזן שופר ראש השנה. You said מען זאל fast on יום כיפור, משה לייב- He used to speak about himself always calling, not saying איך, and said משה לייב. Said סוכות מען מען זאל זיצן אין סוכה, משה לייב איז געזעסן אין סוכה. קומט שמחת תורה, and the אייבערשטער האט געזאגט אז מען דארף זיך... you have to be בשמחה, איז משה לייב בשמחה. Then you made my daughter sick, and you said you have to be בשמחה from that, too!\" שמחים ביסורים. אויבערשטער, אבער אין מערבין שמחה בשמחה! Why are you mixing the two שמחות together? We can't! Please make her healthy.\" At that moment she turned for better and she got healthy. But the taytsh by him it was טאקע מקבל בשמחה. That's a takeh a high מדרגה. It's like the story with Reb Zusha the Maggid. You don't see the word שמחה there, but you see how he looked at it. That once somebody came to Reb Zusha and asked him, how is it possible to מקבל יסורים באהבה? I mean it's not normal. To came to yeah, someone came to the Maggid, so the Maggid said, \"Go to my talmid, Reb Zusha, and he'll answer you.\" So he came to Reb Zusha and he said, \"The Rebbe, Rabbi Meshulam Fayvish, sent me to ask you this question.\" Said, \"I don't...\" And Reb Zusha was known to have yisurim. His wife was sick and his children didn't have, poor like anything, and he was sick himself, full of yisurim. So Reb Zusha says to him, \"A peleh, why did the Rebbe send you to me? He should have sent you to somebody who in his life suffered sometimes. And mimela, if you suffer, you can explain how is it. I never suffered in my life, I have no idea what that means. So how can I explain it to you?\"

That's a taytsh. It doesn't show שמחים, but it shows מקבל באהבה. Why? That time maybe. And also, Reb Zusha didn't have, maybe he borrowed it. By the Maggid he had one shirt, he had to wash it in... In a small room, no? By everybody it depends what yisurim is. The מעשה with the Alter Rebbe with הקפות that what they announced his name, one of the the shamash, the gabbai announced by hakafot, he said, \"איז מכובד אדוננו מורנו ורבנו...פסוק אתה הראת...\" So he saw the Alter Rebbe smiled. So he said the Alter Rebbe liked it, so he said it again. Later on, he heard the Alter Rebbe in his room pacing back and forth, saying to himself, \"איינמאל אדוננו מורנו ורבנו, ווידער אמאל...\" They said it once, they had to say it again? He was very bothered by it. So the gabbai, when he heard about it, felt very bad and he made and he made him feel bad. So he went to the Alter Rebbe and he asked mechilah, he said, \"The reason I did it is because I saw you smile, so I thought you were happy.\" He says, \"I smiled because you have to מקבל יסורים באהבה. So you have to be שמח, שמחים ביסורים. So I mekabel, but I feel yisurim.\" But by people like that, it's takeh yisurim.

When the Tzemach Tzedek went on a trip Huh? It's even a שיעור יסורים! The Tzemach Tzedek went on a trip, he took along his son, the Maharil, on trip to different cities. And they get כבוד מלכים, they received him with the greatest kavod all over. Anyway, the Maharil is known, the Maharil till then he was a chasid of the Mitteler Rebbe. His father became a Rebbe, he wasn't such a chasid of him. From this trip, that's when he became that. When he came back he says, \"מיר איז צוגעקומען נאך א חסיד.\" Anyway, but he wrote letters to his mother home during the trip, the great how he enjoyed that, how much kavod they gave his father. And the Tzemach Tzedek came back, he wanted to see what the mail of the few weeks he wasn't there, so they showed him the letters. He happened to see the letters that his son wrote. So he gave him such a chelek and he said to him like this: \"דו שרייבסט אז דו ביסט צופרידן, פאר מיר גיסט זיך בלוט, און דו שרייבסט אז דו ביסט צופרידן?!\" They gave him kavod, \"פאר מיר גיסט זיך בלוט\", and you How is this? \"By me blood is coming. Blood.\" From from that was, I feel the yisurim! Kavod. From the kavod that they're giving you. And you write, \"Baruch Hashem they gave you kavod\"? Yeah, yeah, this was not, this is not at all. How could they accept the kavod? So,

It's also a famous maaseh, he was walking, I think it was the Ruzhiner, walking with somebody. And he asked him, \"How could you accept so much kavod? I mean, doesn't it get to you, so much kavod?\" So, he said, \"I'll give you a mashal.\" He said, \"The mashal is like a king and a general. The king is no one saw the king, usually. The king in his room, in his palace. The general is also a chashuv'er person, and people knew. Once the king was walking in the street with the general and talking. People saw the general walking with another person, they had no idea who that guy is. So they all stopped, and they gave the general such great kavod, and no one turned to the king. So you could imagine,\" he said, \"how the general felt every time they gave him kavod in front of the king. He wanted to bury himself!\" He says, \"If you believe the Eibershter is right next to you and they give you kavod, every time they give you kavod, you want to bury yourself, it doesn't puff you. It's a very good mashal, yeah. Yeah.\" Okay, I think I'll stop here.