Today's shiur is going to be concerning the general idea of the month of Shevat. It says in sefarim, mainly written in the Pardes, שער י״ג פרק ג׳, and in the Mishnat Chassidim, סדר מועד, מסכת ניסן, that every month has a connection to a different צירוף of the שם הוי״ה, which means, we know that the שם הוי״ה, Hashem's name is made up of four letters: י-ק-ו-ק. And we know that when we have four letters, we could make 24 different combinations of words. As it says in Sefer Yetzirah, that when we have two letters, we could make two words. For instance, if you have the letter Aleph and Bet, you could make אב and you could make בא: Aleph Bet or Bet Aleph. If you have three letters, then you could make six combinations: you could have Aleph Bet Gimel, Aleph Gimel Bet, etc., it'll come out to six different combinations. Six words can be made up of three letters. If you have four letters, then the different combinations can make up 24 different words. Since י-ק-ו-ק has four letters, so really you could have 24 combinations in the name of השם, י-ק-ו-ק. But out of the 24, there is a חשבון of י״ב, of 12 צירופי שם הוי״ה. And there are explanations why we only count 12 out of the 24, but whatever the reason should be, we have a חשבון of י״ב צירופי הוי״ה, 12 different combinations of the name הוי״ה. And it says that every one of the 12 months of the year has a connection to a different צירוף of שם הוי״ה, to a different way you're able to set up the four letters of י-ק-ו-ק. And in each month it has a connection to a certain פסוק, because in different פסוקים you have רמזים, you have hints and ראשי תיבות to the different צירופים of שם הוי״ה. So it says in the Siddur HaAri zal in the כוונות of Rosh Chodesh, and in Mishnat Chassidim, the end of מסכת טבת ושבט, that the צירוף of שם הוי״ה that is connected to the month of Shevat is the צירוף of ה-י-ו-ה. And they write that this is connected to what it says in the פסוק in פרשת בחוקותי, קפיטל כ״ז, פסוק ל״ג: המר ימירנו והיה הוא. The Heh of המר, then the י׳ of ימירנו, and then the ו׳ of והיה, and then the ה׳ of הוא. So המר ימירנו והיה הוא is the ראשי תיבות ה-י-ו-ה. This is the צירוף of שם הוי״ה which has a connection to the month of Shevat. So lechora this needs explanation, because we know that everything that's in the Torah is בתכלית הדיוק, which means it is exactly exact. And therefore, since this inyan that every month has a connection to a different צירוף of שם הוי״ה, and it's all מרומז, hinted in different פסוקים, since it's an inyan in the Torah, it has to be exact. It has to make sense and it has to fit. So when we say that the צירוף of שם הוי״ה that's connected to the month of Shevat is in the פסוק המר ימירנו והיה הוא, which means it's connected to these four words, that also has to make sense. And the truth is, we don't understand what this means, because in the פסוק it says right before that, ולא ימירנו. This is a פסוק that talks about the din of תמורה. The din is that if a person has a behemah which is set aside for a korban, the פסוק says, ולא ימירנו, you're not allowed to exchange it, which means you're not allowed to take another behemah, which is חולין, not קדשים, and put it next to it and say, let this one, the one that's חולין, be תמורת זה, be instead of the other one. So the פסוק says you're not allowed. It's a לאו of the Torah. Till the Rambam says in the beginning of הלכות תמורה, כל הממיר לוקה. If a person is ממיר, if a person does say on a behemah which is חולין that that should be תמורת the one that's קדשים, he gets מלקות for it, it's a לאו. But the Torah just says, ואם המר ימירנו, if a person did not listen to the דין, and he was עובר on the עבירה, and he did exchange it, then the פסוק continues, והיה הוא ותמורתו יהיה קודש. Then it, the one that was קדשים לכתחילה, and the בהמת חולין which became תמורה, both of them will be קודש. So really, this פסוק is speaking in a case where a person did not do what you're supposed to, because really, ולא ימירנו. But if המר ימירנו והיה הוא, etc., then they both become קודש. And here we're saying that the צירוף of שם הוי״ה which is connected to the month of Shvat comes out from the words המר ימירנו והיה הוא, as if these four words are a concept in itself. And more than that, when we look just at these four words, it seems as if the Torah is giving us a ציווי, המר ימירנו. that you should be מימר, when really the פשט in the פסוק is just the opposite, that you're not allowed to be מימר, ולא ימירנו. So what is the פשט that the שם, צירוף of שם הויה that's connected to the month of Shvat has a שייכות to המר ימירנו והיה הוא?

To understand that, we'll bring in something else. It says in the Tur, Orach Chaim at the end of סימן תי״ז, that the י״ב ראשי חדשי השנה, the 12 ראשי חדשים of the year, שגם הם נקראים מועדים, they're also called ימים טובים, כנגד י״ב שבטים, they are כנגד the 12 שבטים. So the Tur says that the 12 ראשי חודש of every month are כנגד the 12 שבטים. But in other sefarim it says that not only the ראשי חדשים are כנגד the 12 שבטים, but also the whole month, as it says in the Megaleh Amukos on Chumash, in the beginning of Parshat Shemot, that every month has a connection to a specific Shevat. And exactly which שבטים are connected to which months, meaning in which order do we count the שבטים, there are differences of opinion. But in the Siddur Yaavetz, Shaar Hagai, he says that we count the שבטים in the order of their birth, and we count it from Nisan. So according to that, he says the month of Shevat, which is the 11th month of the year, is כנגד יוסף. And it's self-understood, when we say that each month is כנגד a שבט, what it means is that that month is mesugal, was a special time when we're able to do what that שבט stood for. And that is a time when we have to strengthen the avodah of that שבט. As we know, it says in sefarim, that each one of the 12 שבטים had a specific avodah that he had a special shayachut to more than others. Therefore, each month we have to see that which שבט is כנגד that month, and the avodah, the way this שבט served Hashem, that month we have to strengthen that קו, that inyan, that has a connection to the שבט. Since we're saying that the month of שבט has a special connection to Yosef, so that means that we have to strengthen and look into what was the avodah of Yosef, and that should be the avodah of the month of שבט specifically. Be'emet, we always, all year round have to do the avodah of Yosef and of all other שבטים, but it's self-understood, when we have a month which has a connection specifically to a certain שבט, then the avodah of that שבט, what that שבט represented or the way that שבט served Hashem, in that month we have to strengthen that avodah specifically. So in the month of shevet, we have to strengthen the avodah of Yosef. So therefore, we have to see what was so special about the avodah of Yosef.

So we see on the pasuk in the beginning of Parashat Shemot, where it says ויוסף היה במצרים, רש״י explains as follows. He asks the kashya: What does the pasuk mean that Yosef was in מצרים, והלא הוא ובניו היו בכלל שבעים? Wasn't Yosef and his children included in the 70 people that the Torah says came to Mitzrayim? ומה בא ללמדנו? What does this pasuk come to teach us? וכי לא היינו יודעים שהוא היה במצרים? Don't we know that Yosef was in Mitzrayim? אלא להודיעך צדקתו של יוסף. The Torah comes to teach us the צדקות of Yosef, that הוא יוסף הרועה את צאן אביו, this is the same Yosef that first used to be the shepherd of the צאן of his father, הוא יוסף שהיה במצרים ונעשה מלך, he's the same Yosef that was in Mitzrayim and became the king, ועומד בצדקו, and still stood and was still the same tzadik. So what the Torah is telling us here, that the specialty of Yosef was that even though he was in Mitzrayim, he was still able to be the same tzadik. That means even though he was involved in being a melech in Mitzrayim, and being a melech in Mitzrayim meant that he was involved in all the different matters of the country, which would seem that these are things that take away a person from his deveikut, so to speak, from his connection to Hashem and from his ability of serving Hashem, nevertheless, he stayed and was the same tzadik as he was before. And this was the madregah of Yosef, not only when he became a king in Mitzrayim, but even from before that. When he was a slave, a servant by Potiphar, he was also involved in all these different things, not like other people in his time who were just רועי צאן, they were shepherds and they stayed out in the field. So they didn't have all these different things that bothered them and stopped them, so to speak, from serving Hashem. He, right then, when he became an eved to Potiphar, it says that he took over the household, and when the pasuk says ויבא הביתה לעשות מלאכתו, he came home to do his work, so it says in תרגום אונקלוס, למיבדק בכתבי דחושבניה. He came to look into the כתבים of the חשבונות, of the accounts. He ran the accounts of the house. And later on, when he was put into jail, also, he was the one that ran, as the Torah says, the inyanim of the jail. And later on when he became the king, certainly, as Pharaoh said to him, על פיך ישק כל עמי, through your mouth, through you, the whole nation will be fed, and he said to him, ובלעדיך לא ירים איש את ידו ואת רגלו, and without you no one should raise his hand or his foot, which means that he ran the affairs of the country completely. And these are all things that normally take away a person from being completely davuk in Hashem, and being able to serve Hashem properly. Nevertheless, Yosef was able to overcome that, and he was a tzaddik as he was before. And because of that he was even a bigger tzaddik. That's why we find that Yosef is from the only few that has the title Yosef HaTzaddik. Because the fact that he was able, able to overcome all these obstacles, this made him even into a bigger tzaddik. And what really happened was not only he overcame these obstacles, but being that he overcame them, this itself brought kedushah into these things also. Even though he was involved, as we would say, in עניני חול, in secular matters most of the time, but if since he did that in a way that it didn't take him away from his tzidkut, so he brought kedushah into these עניני חול. Because the only way it's possible that the involvement in all these secular things should not make him become in a lower level is only if you do all these things l'shem shamayim. So he definitely ran the country, or whatever he did, even though they were עניני חול, he did it all l'shem shamayim, with the intentions of serving Hashem. Now, being he did those things l'shem shamayim, so definitely he brought kedushah into these things. Because when a person serves Hashem, even with his own secular things, l'shem shamayim, then he brings kedushah into the secular things that he's involved in. So Yosef brought kedushah into these inyanim. And this is a big chidush that many other tzaddikim couldn't reach that level. That's why we find, as the mefarshim explain, that when Yaakov Avinu heard that his son Yosef is alive, and that he's a מלך על כל ארץ מצרים, he's a king over Mitzrayim, it says he didn't believe them. And one of the ways they proved to him that Yosef is alive, it says they told him the siman that Yosef said the last halachah he learned was the halachah of עגלה ערופה. And the mefarshim explain it's not the peshat he didn't believe them. What did he think that his sons, the holy שבטים, were liars chas veshalom? But the peshat is, when the pasuk says ויגידו לו לאמר עוד יוסף חי וכי הוא מושל בכל ארץ מצרים, that when they said to him your son Yosef is still alive and he's the מושל, the king, the ruler over the whole of Mitzrayim, when they said your son is alive, obviously they meant he's alive the way you want him to be alive. Because if chas veshalom he's not a tzadik, he is like the Mitzrayim, then he's not really alive, as we know that רשעים בחייהם קרויים מתים, that the resha'im, the evil people, even while they're alive, they're called dead. So when they said to, to Yaakov, your son Yosef is חי, is alive, they meant he's alive the way you wanted him to be alive. And that he couldn't believe, because the combination of both, that he's alive and he's a tzadik, together with וכי הוא מושל בכל ארץ מצרים, and at the same time he's the מושל, the ruler over Eretz Mitzrayim, that's something that's hard to believe. So they told him that Yosef gave us a siman that he learned with you the halachot of עגלה ערופה, he gave him a siman of Torah, so that showed him true that Yosef is alive and he's still studying Torah, והראיה the siman he gave was the siman concerning Torah. So it comes out from this that the avodah of Yosef was that he was able to be involved in the עניני חול in a form of kedushah and bringing kedushah also into the ענינים of חול.

The Tzemach Tzedek in his Sefer Or HaTorah on Chumash explains that this is the reason why when Yosef was born, the reason why they gave him the name Yosef was because יוסף השם לי בן אחר, that she said that Hashem add to me another son. We know that a name expresses the characteristic of the person, as the Gemara says רב מאיר מדייק בשמא, Rav Meir used to be medayek in the name etcetera, and that there are more proof to that. So since the pasuk says the reason he was called Yosef was because יוסף השם לי בן אחר, this is a remez to the avodah of Yosef. As we said before, the avodah of Yosef was bringing kedushah into things which are not kedushah, this is the meaning of the word יוסף השם לי בן אחר. That the avodah of Yosef was to make from אחר, אחר means something else which is not kedushah, as the expression is sitra achra, the other side, means the side which is not kedushah, because when we say the other side, it's the other from the real side, the real side is kedushah, the real thing is kedushah, anything when we say אחר, it means other, it is not kedushah, that's why the Rebbe of Rav Meir after he was יצא לתרבות רעה they called him אחר. So when the pasuk says יוסף השם לי בן אחר, he says the pshat is that his avodah is to take אחר, things which are not kedushah, and יוסף השם לי בן, to make out of that a בן. אחר means somebody else which is not kedushah, בן refers to בנים אתם להשם אלקיכם, to be a son of Hashem, which means to have the kedushah which comes from Hashem. So in the name of Yosef, which is because of יוסף השם לי בן אחר, there's a hint to what the future avodah of Yosef is going to be. His avodah was going to be the inyan of making from אחר, adding that it should become a בן. And being that the month of Shevat has a special connection to Yosef, so obviously the avodah that is supposed to be stressed in the month of Shevat is the avodah of Yosef, the idea of realizing that we have to bring kedushah into אחר, which means we have to stress the concept of כל מעשיך לשם שמים ובכל דרכיך דעהו. We have to stress the point that we have to bring kedushah into מעשיך, that we have to do our own physical actions, not only when we do mitzvot, but when we do our own ma'asim, and when we have our own דרכים, we have to bring kedushah into that. Certainly, when we're able to bring kedushah into another Yid is vadai vadai that we have to do that. That we have another Yid that is missing kedushah, he is at this point in a level of אחר, at least in a revealed fashion, even though inside definitely he has a neshamah, but in a revealed fashion he's in a form of אחר. Our job is, during the month of Shevat especially, to bring kedushah into him, יוסף ה׳ לי בן, make out of the אחר into a בן. And therefore, the tziruf of Shem Havayah that we have in the month of Shevat is the פסוק המר ימירנו והיה הוא. Because the Mezeritcher Maggid in the Sefer Or Torah, at the end of Parashat Bechukotai, he explains that what is the meaning of temurah? He says the inyan of temurah in avodah ruchniyut, in the spiritual avodah, is when we change from one thing and another, which means when we change from a דבר חול and we turn it into kedushah, from a secular thing and we turn it into kedushah, which really is the same idea as יוסף ה׳ לי בן אחר, making from אחר a בן, bringing kedushah into the secular inyanim of the world, which is the avodah of Yosef. And that is why even though in simple פשט of the פסוק it says ולא ימירנו, nevertheless, in עבודה רוחניות there is an ענין of המר ימירנו. There is a concept of changing over chol into kedushah. But a person might think that how am I able to do this? After all, I'm afraid if I'm going to start getting involved with עניני חול of trying to bring kedushah there, it might pull me down too. So the פסוק says, והיה הוא. We know that the word והיה, which means will be, means בהוייתו יהא, it'll stay it is the way it is, as the Gemara says in ברכות דף י״ג עמוד א׳ and many other places in Shas. So the פסוק says here, המר ימירנו. You have to do this temurah. You have to bring kedushah in עניני חול. והיה הוא, and he will stay anyway. Which means that the person himself will not be lowered because we have a koach to be able to bring kedushah into עניני חול. Now this is supposed to be done always, as we know that כל מעשיך יהיו לשם שמים ובכל דרכיך דעהו is a ציווי that we always have to do. But when it comes to the month of Shevat, when we have the צירוף of שם הוי׳ as it's hinted in the פסוק המר ימירנו והיה הוא, and it is כנגד יוסף that his avodah was that to bring kedushah into עניני חול, that's when we have to strengthen this avodah within ourselves, trying to bring kedushah into עניני חול and certainly bringing kedushah into other Yidden, which are b'emes not even chol, just superficially they are chol, but in their essence they are