Friday

The Gemara in Berachot tells that Dovid HaMelech used to awaken every night at chatzot because he had a kinnor, he had a harp at the head of his bed and that a Ruach Tzonis,

כינור היה תלוי למעלה ממיטתו של דוד וכיון שהגיע חצות לילה בא רוח צפונית ונושבת בו ומנגן מאליו,

that this northern wind from the north would come and the wind would cause the harp to play to make music and that was Dovid HaMelech's alarm clock. Okay. What's the pshat in this maaseh? So l'achorah the pshat is as follows. Chatzot, it says in the sefarim, we don't really understand these things too much, but it says in the sefarim, chatzot is a gevaldige eis ratzon. Tremendous eis ratzon. The time of chatzot there's a segula to it, a tremendous eis ratzon. Dovid HaMelech was so attuned to the rhythms of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's briah that for him there was a natural alarm clock that he was awakened at chatzot. He was again, he was attuned to the to again to the rhythms, he felt the change in time. And that's what the Gemara is telling us that Dovid HaMelech was awoken every night at chatzot of such a gevaldige eis ratzon that Dovid HaMelech felt it and he felt the hisorerus, he felt the hisorerus which comes with that eis ratzon. Okay, so we're not holding, this is not a, this is actually not a pitch for tikkun chatzot. Nothing wrong with tikkun chatzot, but this is not a pitch for tikkun chatzot. So we're not holding by Dovid HaMelech's madreigos. But one way to sort of describe one of our goals and one of our challenges is as much as possible to be in sync with the rhythms of the Torah. Now we'll try to illustrate that again more on our level, not Dovid HaMelech's level in a minute. Just by way of introduction that has become increasingly difficult in modern times. The more technologically advanced and the more secular society becomes so then the more the natural, the more difficult it is for us to maintain again some natural synchronization with rhythms. For instance, a very simple consideration. Once upon a time the pasuk says in Ezra Nechemia so people got up at the crack of dawn and the workday was we were osek b'melacha from amud hashachar until tzeis hakochavim. And it was a natural thing. People, the Gemara in Berachot says that the siman for daybreak is אשה מספרת עם בעלה. People were attuned to the, what do they call it, the diurnal rhythm of light and darkness. People woke up at amud hashachar. Okay, so the time you got dressed and brushed your teeth so you ended up davening vasikin. Now that we have electric lights so basically our daily schedule is totally, totally, almost detached from netz and the like. And because of that the notion that we're supposed to be in sync with that is so foreign and alien to people. People don't think twice about davening before netz hachamah at times, I'm not talking about ein hasha'ah hamtenes or the equivalent of that that you have to get to work before at a certain time, so when netz is too late so then you can't, okay, so then you have to ask a shaala, is it better to daven with a minyan before netz or go to work and then daven yechidus there at netz or after netz? So then that's takeh a shaala. I'm trying to illustrate more just the point that we sort of don't realize this. People just take for granted, you know, I daven, this is my minyan. My minyan is the, I don't know, 6:05 minyan. Well, what does it mean my minyan's the 6:05 minyan but sometimes Netz is 7:20? 7:20! So it's even before misheyakir, even before misheyakir, which is mamash just the big big big big sha'as hadechak bediavad, not just stam a bediavad, a sha'as hadechak bediavad. But it doesn't even occur to us because we're just so totally out of, out of sync with the natural rhythms. And lemaiseh, another example of this is that because we live in a secular and Gentile society, so sort of our perceptions of the seasons of the year, we assimilate from the, from the Gentile society. So summer either begins, depending upon whether you're machmir or meikel, either begins on Memorial Day or on July 4th. Depends on how long a summer you want to have. And summer extends until Labor Day. And we certainly get, we certainly get caught up in that. The correct rhythm that we want to be in harmony with is that certainly the summer ends, in terms of, to the extent that summer is defined as vacation mode, Rosh Chodesh Elul. Rosh Chodesh Elul means it's 30 days to Rosh Hashana. שלושים יום קודם החג in terms of Rosh Hashana. A period of 40 days to get ready for Yom Kippur, for Yom Kippur. It's not vacation season in terms of if one's rhythm is with the Torah calendar. And the problem is again that too often we just don't, we just don't feel it. As of now, pending some change, so I'm told by those who are in charge of this in the yeshiva, that be'ezras Hashem the yeshiva will be able to accommodate us as of Rosh Chodesh Elul this coming zman, im yirtzeh Hashem. As you recall, in the letter that you all got last year when informed of the scholarship, so it said that the zman begins Rosh Chodesh Elul. So this year, this coming im yirtzeh Hashem, Rosh Chodesh Elul is always two days, August 14th and 15th. Alef Elul is August 15th. So be'ezras Hashem the yeshiva, the dormitory will be open as of August 15th. And be'ezras Hashem, hopefully not only for our chaburah but for any of the bnei yeshiva who want to join us. And therefore, it is expected that everyone will be here come Rosh Chodesh Elul, August, second day, second day Rosh Chodesh Elul. Those who insist on being here first day Rosh Chodesh, we'll see what we can do about that. Please register all complaints afterwards. But those who will come August 15th, which Alef Elul is, is also okay. It has a gevaldige to'eles. The disruption to one's summer plans, summer as defined on the, in the secular sense, is something we're all aware of. I'm aware of also. Believe me, believe me, it's a small, small price to pay for the to'eles that it brings to a person that beginning Rosh Chodesh Elul he's not in a summer mode, but he's in an Elul mode. Believe me, you'll reap the dividends on Rosh Hashana, you'll reap the dividends on Yom Kippur. Right, the ba'alei mussar say that as one's Elul goes, that's how one's Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur goes. And I don't know, for some inexplicable reason, sometimes Elul begins before Labor Day. It's a tzorech iyun gadol, but lemaiseh, sometimes Elul does begin before Labor Day. It's a gevaldige to'eles, gevaldige to'eles just for everyone for himself. But even more than that, מגלגלין זכות על ידי זכאי. It'll be a gevaldige to'eles for the yeshiva as well. And מגלגלין זכות על ידי זכאי, certainly you're all clearly, clearly in the category of zakai'im because זכות גדולה מתגלגלת על ידיכם. From what I've been told until this point, it's anticipated that even though the official date for the other stone beginning is not until later in the month, but that the Yeshiva will be open as of August 15th and therefore it's expected, im yirtzeh Hashem, that everyone will be here. Now just one last thing.