Concerning the month of Sivan, we know what the Gemara says in שבת דף פ״ח עמוד א׳, that בריך רחמנא, we thank the השם, דייהב that He gave, אוריין תליתאי, a triple תורה, לעם תליתאי to a triple nation, על ידי תליתאי through the third one, ביום תליתאי on the third day, וירחא תליתאי in the third month, which means He gave a triple Torah because the Torah is made up of תורה, נביאים, וכתובים. To a triple nation, a nation that's made up of three, כהנים, לוים, וישראלים. Through the third one, through Moshe, who was the third child after Miriam and Aharon. On the third day, as we know that Hashem said they should prepare for three days, and on the third day He gave the Torah, and it was given בירחא תליתאי, in the third month, the month of Sivan. And Rabbeinu Nissim Gaon adds many more things of three that's connected to Matan Torah. And as we explained in the last shiur that lichorah, why mention as a מעלה concerning Matan Torah the number three? Lichorah, if we would want to stress a number that would fit to the inyan of Matan Torah would be the number one, because one is unity, is אחדות. But three seems to be ריבוי, seems to be many, which is usually not an inyan of kedushah, of holiness, but the inyan of the opposite of sitara achara is always many. So why here when it comes to Matan Torah, we stress the number three, as if there is some special significance, connection to Matan Torah in the number three? And that's why the Torah was given in the month of Sivan, which is ירחא תליתאי, the third month. What is the significance of the number three? So in the last shiur we explained the number three represents the fact that even if a person might think that there is another being other than Hashem, that there is a world which is a מציאות for itself, nevertheless the Torah tells us, and through Matan Torah we have the koach to realize that the world really doesn't contradict Hashem, and the world is really batel to Hashem. And this is expressed in the number three as the lashon: שני כתובים המכחישים זה את זה, עד שיבא הכתוב השלישי ויכריע ביניהם. That when you have two pesukim contradict each other, then you have the third pasuk which makes the הכרעה, the compromise between the two, and shows that the second doesn't really contradict the first. And there it is through הכתוב השלישי, through the third pasuk, which means that the number three represents sometimes not ribui, not more than one, but it represents the idea of showing how the second thing does not contradict the first, and really there is only one thing. And that's why here we use the number three to show that through Torah, through Matan Torah, a Yid has the koach to realize that even though he thinks that there is a world which is other than Hashem, kavyachol chas veshalom, he comes to realize that it is not contradicting Hashem, but it is batel to Hashem.

Now we're going to give another explanation in the reason why there is a significance in the number three. Because bichlal we know when a person would start thinking about himself, he would automatically see three inyanim, three things. First of all, you feel yourself. You know that you exist. You feel your own metzius, your own being. And this is not an inyan of gaavah that a person is arrogant and thinks of himself as a special metzius, but we're talking here about the nature, על פי טבע, according to nature. And even על פי תורה, a person feels himself. And there is a halachah that's brought down in Gemara Yevamos דף כ״ה עמוד ב׳ and many places that אדם קרוב אצל עצמו, a person is karov, is close to himself, which means that the first thing a person sees is himself. Then, when a person starts thinking a little bit from where he came, where did his metzius come from, he knows, and he believes b'emunah peshutah, with a a simple belief, with a pure belief, that Hashem created him. That's the second thing. So there is him, and where he came from, which is Hashem. And then, after he thinks a little bit why he was created, he will come to the maskana, come to realize that there is a third thing, and that is the world. And the reason why he was created was in order to elevate the world, to change the world. As the lashon of the famous Midrash, that Hashem wants a דירה לו יתברך בתחתונים, Hashem wants a dwelling place in this low physical world, and a Yid has the koach of bringing Hashem into this world. So this is the third thing. The third thing is that there is a world, and the goal is that he should bring Hashem, who is his creator, into the world. These are the three inyanim. In more details, when we say that a person realizes that he was created, creation means the fact that his neshamah came down into this world.

As we find the lashon in the Chazal: נוח לו לאדם שלא נברא, או נוח לו לאדם שנברא, there's an argument whether it's better for a person that he was created or it would have been better if he wasn't created. So there the לשון בריאה, created, doesn't mean created, it means that the neshamah should come come down into this world. Or like the לשון אני נבראתי לשמש את קוני, a person is supposed to say, \"I was created to serve my Master.\" So there, creation also means the fact that the neshamah comes down to the world. And we're saying that the tachlit of the בריאת האדם, the purpose of the creation of the world, which means the purpose why the neshamah came down lematah into this world, is not for the sake of the neshamah itself. Because as far as a neshamah is concerned, it is a great yeridah that the neshamah came down into this world. The neshamah would have been better off if it would have stayed in the higher worlds, because it comes into this world, it has to fight with the physical world, and it has a lot of nisyonot, a lot of tests. It would rather stay in the higher worlds, in shamayim. The reason it came down into this world is in order to elevate the body, and not only his own body, but bichlal to bring an elevation in the world. As it says in Etz Chaim, that the neshamah came down to the world is not because of itself. It says, \"הנשמה עצמה אינה צריכה תיקון,\" the neshamah itself doesn't have to be fixed. And the reason that came down is לתקן את גופו ונפש הבהמית וחלקו בעולם. It came down to be metaken, to fix his body and his נפש הבהמית, his animalistic soul which is connected to the guf, and also his part in the world. Every single person has a chelek and part in the world which is his job to fix. And fixing means elevating it, meaning to bring Hashem, so to speak, into the world, bring the recognition of Hashem into the world, and show that the world is not a metziut for itself, but that the world is batel to Hashem. At any event, what we're saying here is that the goal, the reason why Hashem brought the neshamah down into this world is that a Yid should realize that he has to bring Hashem into this world, elevate the world, and make it closer to Hashem. And this is the significance of the number three. Three shows these three inyanim: it's the Yid who brings Hashem into this world. So the Yid combines the world with Hashem, so to speak, kivayachol, which is really the goal of the creation. As Rashi says right in the beginning of his commentary on Chumash on the word בראשית, that בראשית means בשביל ישראל ובשביל התורה, that the word בראשית is made up of two words: ב׳ ראשית, or another peshat, the ב׳ is a ראשי תיבות, an abbreviation of the word בשביל, which means that the world was created בשביל, ב׳ ראשית, because of two things which are called ראשית: one is the Torah and one is the Bnei Yisrael. So there is a world. The world was created so that the Yidden, through the Torah, should bring Hashem into this world. So we have the Yidden who do the avodah, who do the work, and the work is to combine, to bring Hashem into this world.

And this inyan is specifically connected to the inyan of מתן תורה. Because the Gemara says there in שבת דף פ״ח עמוד ב׳, in the sugya of מתן תורה, that בשעה שעלה משה למרום, when משה went up to שמים, אמרו מלאכי השרת לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא, the מלאכים said to השם, \"ריבונו של עולם, מה לילוד אשה בינינו? What's a human being doing amongst us?\" אמר להם, so השם said to them, \"לקבל תורה בא. He came to receive the תורה.\" אמרו לפניו, so the מלאכים said to Him, \"חמודה גנוזה וכולי. There's this special treasure that's hidden, אתה מבקש ליתנה לבשר ודם? You want to give it to a human being? מה אנוש כי תזכרנו? Why think of the human beings?\" And the מלאכים said, \"תנה הודך על השמים. Why don't you rather give your glory,\" which means your תורה, \"על השמים, to us? Give it to the מלאכים.\" אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה, \"החזר להם תשובה.\" השם said to משה, \"Answer them.\" And he said later, אמר לפניו, \"ריבונו של עולם,\" he said to them like this, \"ריבונו של עולם, תורה שאתה נותן לי,\" Hashem, the Torah You're giving me, \"מה כתיב בה, what does it say there? אנכי ה׳ אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים. I am Hashem your God that took you out of Mitzrayim.\" אמר להם, so Moshe said to them, to the malachim, \"למצרים ירדתם? Did you come down to Mitzrayim? לפרעה השתעבדתם? Were you משועבד, were you working for Pharaoh? תורה למה תהא לכם? Why do you need the תורה?\" And then he continued, \"שוב מה כתיב בה, what else does it say? לא יהיה לך אלקים אחרים. It says that you should not have other gods.\" So he asked them, \"בין עמים אתם שרויים? Do you live amongst other nations that it's possible for you to have other gods?\" And then Moshe Rabbeinu continued and said to them, \"כלום אתם עושים מלאכה? It says you should keep Shabbos and not work on Shabbos. Do you do melacha? Do you work? משא ומתן יש ביניכם? Is there business done amongst you? אב ואם יש לכם? Do you have parents where you're able to fulfill the mitzvah of כבד את אביך ואת אמך? קנאה יש ביניכם? Do you have קנאה, do you have jealousy? יצר הרע יש ביניכם? Do you have a yetzer hara to fight with? What do you need the Torah for?\" מיד הודו לו להקדוש ברוך הוא, so they thanked Hashem and they said that Hashem is right for giving the Torah to the people, to the Bnei Yisrael, rather to the malachim. What do we see from that? We see from here that the goal, the purpose of giving the Torah and the mitzvot is not only that Yidden should be separated, isolated from the world. They shouldn't work, they shouldn't get involved in business, in melacha, in משא ומתן. That is not the reason why Hashem give the Torah. This inyan of being away from the world, we have by malachim. And by מלאכים, it's even more than it's possible to be by Yidden down here. The מלאכים don't get involved in work, even more than a Yid if he would want to not get involved in work. The reason, the main purpose why Hashem give the Torah is that while the Yidden are down here in this world, and they have to do with אומות העולם, with other nations, and they're involved in עניני העולם, in ענינים of the world, and they have a yetzer hara, and still at that point they should still be the way they are, and be holy people. A Yid should control his yetzer hara, should control the middot. And a Yid should get involved in the ענינים of the world, and he should elevate the ענינים of the world, and to see that the ענינים of the world should be absorbed with kedushah, with holiness. Through doing Torah and mitzvot, and through the avodah of בכל דרכיך דעהו and כל מעשיך לשם שמים. And as we know, this is really what took place at the time of Matan Torah. Even though we know that before Matan Torah, Torah was learned. As it says that Avraham Avinu was a זקן ויושב בישיבה, אברהם אבינו learned תורה, יצחק זקן ויושב בישיבה, יעקב זקן ויושב בישיבה. And it says מעולם לא פסקה ישיבה מאבותינו. Never was there a time when there was no yeshivot by our forefathers. Even in מצרים they learned Torah. And concerning doing mitzvot, we know that קיימו האבות כל התורה כולה עד שלא ניתנה. The אבות kept whole Torah before it was given, as the Gemara says in Yoma דף כ״ח עמוד ב׳, in Kiddushin דף פ״ב עמוד א׳, Rashi brings it, brought down in many places.

But the difference is that the mitzvot, the Torah and mitzvot that the אבות did, did not penetrate into the גשמיות of the world. It did not change the the physical objects of the world. And as we know that that's the reason why when Avraham Avinu wanted to make Eliezer swear, he said, שים נא ידך תחת ירכי, you should hold on to the mitzvah of bris milah, because when you make a שבועה, when you swear, you have to hold on to an object of kedushah. But the question is, why did he have to make him hold that object which is not so tzniusdik? Why didn't he give him to hold his tefillin? If he kept all the mitzvot, so obviously he had a pair of tefillin. Why didn't he give him to hold a Sefer Torah? The answer is that at that time, the mitzvot that he did did not penetrate into the gashmiyut. It did not bring kedushah into the world. And the reason is because at that time, without being commanded to do it by Hashem, kedushah could not penetrate into the gashmiyut, because kedushah was one thing and gashmiyut is another, and you can't combine the two, they're two opposites. It's only after Matan Torah, when Hashem said אנכי השם אלקיך, and He put Himself into the mitzvot, He commanded us to do it, and He is the כל יכול, could do anything, so He was the one that gave us the koach to combine two opposites, which is gashmiyut, this world, with ruchniyut, with spirituality, with Elokus, with godliness. But before that, in the time of the Avos, this couldn't take place. So when the Avos did mitzvot, it wasn't for the sake of bringing Elokus, godliness, kedushah into this physical world, but it was mainly for themselves, that they themselves should be מיוחד with Hashem, to be one with Hashem. As the Chazal say that האבות הן הן המרכבה, the Avos are the מרכבה, and it's explained in sefarim that it means that they are similar to a מרכבה, just like a מרכבה, which is a wagon, doesn't have its own will, it only does what the רוכב, what the rider wants it to do. Only what the person who's riding wants it to do, it will do. It itself is batel to the rider. The same thing, the Avos were batel to Hashem. So they did the mitzvot in order to bring about their אחדות with Hashem, their unity, their deveikut to Hashem even stronger. But not in order to bring kedusha into the world. And as we see that the Avot, their main work was רועה צאן, they were shepherds. And it says in sefarim that the reason they were shepherds was because they wanted to constantly be davuk to Hashem, and the world, the inyanim of the world, would not allow them, would disturb them from doing this. Therefore they chose to be shepherds, and when you're a shepherd you're out in the field away from the noise of the world, away from the inyanim of the world, so you're able to be davuk with Hashem more. But their job was not to bring kedusha into the world. And even though we know that Avraham Avinu brought the recognition of Hashem to the whole world, so this is a very general thing, and even that, as the Rambam says in the beginning of Hilchot Avodah Zarah, only lasted for his generation, and it wasn't continued later on. So we see that at the time of the Avot, their main thing was not to bring godliness into the world. After Matan Torah Hashem gave us the koach that we're able to elevate the world and we're able to bring kedusha into the physical part of the world. And this is the chidush of Matan Torah. And therefore the Gemara says concerning the chidush of Matan Torah that it's connected to the number three. As we said before, the number three represents this inyan, that the Yid has the koach to take inyanim of kedusha, which is Hashem, and bring it into the third thing, into the world, the combination of all three: the oved, the Yid who serves, who works, and what's his job? To bring Hashem into the world, or to elevate the world to Hashem, whichever way we're going to look at it. But the idea is to combine the two, to combine Hashem with the world. And that's why it says that the Torah is called shalom, that the Torah brings shalom into the world. As the Rambam says in the end of Hilchot Chanukah, that the תורה ניתנה לעשות שלום בעולם, the Torah was given to bring peace into the world. When we say the Torah was given to bring peace into the world, obviously there is some kind of machloket, there is some kind of argument, some kind of war that we have to have peace. The war is between the world and Hashem. The world in itself contradicts, so to speak, the existence of Hashem kevayachol, as it seems. And through matan Torah, the Torah that was given to us, we're able to bring shalom, make peace between the world and Hashem, which means bring Godliness within the world, to show that the world in itself is no contradiction to Hashem, and the world is only a keli to the will of Hashem. But the ability to do that was given by matan Torah. Before that, that couldn't be done. And that's why the Gemara stresses that the inyan of matan Torah is connected to the number three, because the number three represents this inyan. One thing is the Yid, the one that works, and what's his job? His job is to take the ענינים of קדושה, ענינים רוחניות, spiritual things, to take Hashem kevayachol, and bring Hashem into this world. So here we have the three ענינים: the Yid and Hashem and the world. And the Yid works to bring Hashem into this