Parashas Beshalach

After the Jews miraculously crossed the Sea on dry land, they sang Az Yashir, the song of gratitude and praise to Hashem.

It is a song so profound, it was instituted as part of our daily Shacharis, and it will be sung at the time of techiyas hameisim, the Resurrection of the Dead (see Rashi 15:1).

When Moshe first approached Pharaoh to allow the Jews to leave Egypt to serve Hashem, Pharaoh responded by harshening his subjugation of the nation. When Moshe cried out to Hashem, Hashem responded by noting that our forefathers had been given many assurances, but although they never actually experienced the “Name Ado-nai,” – they never saw the fulfillment of those promises – they had never complained.

In Az Yashir, it is the Name Ado-nai is the one used almost universally. Az Yashir celebrated the fact that the Jews perceived how all the pieces fit together.

We are taught (Mechilta Shemos 15:2) that when the Jews crossed the Sea, even a maidservant saw G-d more immanently than the Prophet Yechezkel, whose prophecy describes in detail the Heavenly retinue. The Kotzker Rebbe famously commented that somehow, despite this experience, the people did not all become righteous prophets. The maidservant became a maidservant.

Interestingly, when the Jews demanded food in the wilderness, Hashem responded, הִנְנִי מַמְטִיר לָכֶם לֶחֶם מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם וְיָצָא הָעָם וְלָקְטוּ דְּבַר יוֹם בְּיוֹמוֹ לְמַעַן אֲנַסֶּנּוּ הֲיֵלֵךְ בְּתוֹרָתִי אִם לֹא, Behold I will rain upon you bread from the Heavens, and the nation shall go out and collect the portion of each day on that day so that I might test them to see if they follow in my commandments or not.

G-d could have provided the Jews nourishment and satiation without the manna. The purpose of the manna was not to provide food, it was to see if the Jews had learned their lesson, it was to test whether the experience of the Miracles at the Sea had left a lasting impact.

As Ramban notes, Hashem performs the open, obvious miracles, to show us that he controls all events.

In our own lives, we must thank Hashem for his goodness and kindness not only when we experience open acts of Providence; it behooves us to seek out and acknowledge Hashem at every juncture. We repeat Az Yashir every day to remind us that.

As Chaye and I give gratitude to Hashem for blessing us with the simchah of the upcoming marriage of another child, we thank Him for the infinite other kindnesses that He does for us every day, and be beseech him to continue to grant us and all Klal Yisroel simchos, berachos, refuos and yeshuos.

May the day soon come when all of us merit to sing Az Yashir after techi’yas hameisim, when we will actually again perceive how every event and all of history fits into place in the Divine Master Plan.

Gut Shabbos

Parashas Bo

Among the laws that apply to the eating of the Korban Pesach are that a person must eat it as part of only one group, and he may not move from one group to another, nor may one break any of its bones as he eats it.

 

The Pesach observance marks the celebration of our emerging from bondage to freedom. When the Jewish Nation left Egypt, they were taken l'cheirus olam, an everlasting, true freedom. Theirs was a freedom from bondage, but not freedom from restrictions.

 

The freedom we enjoy as a result of Yetizas Mitzrayim offers us the opportunity to find fulfillment by connecting with Hashem. We can, however, abuse that freedom.

 

So as we mark our Exodus from Egypt, as we relish eating the roasted meat of the Korban Pesach, we are reminded that while are free, rules still apply. And it is those rules that ensure that we have make use of our freedom to find true joy and fulfillment.

 

May we merit to properly use the opportunities we are afforded, and may we enjoy the Korban Pesach in Yershalayim this year, b'vias goel tzedek.

 

Gut Shabbos. 

Parashas Va'eira

In this week’s parashah, Hashem tells Moshe how Pharaoh will refuse to release the Jews, and that He will bring plagues that will lead to the Jews’ redemption. “…And I will take out my legions, my nation, the Childen of Israel from Egypt with great judgments. And Egypt will know that I am Hashem as I stretch my hand over Egypt and I take out the Children of Israel from among them” (7:4-5).

This seems to tell us that the purpose of the plagues, of the miracles, and of the Exodus was for Egypt to recognize Hashem’s greatness.

However, at the beginning of Parashas Bo we are told that the reason for the plagues was “and so that you might recount in the ears of your children and your grandchildren that I toyed with the Egyptians…”.

The purpose of the miracles, then, was so that the Jews would acknowledge Hashem’s control of events.

It would seem that the Torah is teaching that each of these reasons would, in of itself, have been adequate reason to bring about the wondrous events that took place.

In Parashas Beshalach, we find that, only days after the Exodus, the Egyptians regretted setting the Jews free and pursued them to the Sea of Reeds. After the Jews crossed safely, the Egyptians all drowned.

Ultimately, then, the Egyptians recognized Hashem only for those few days and for their final moments as they drowned in the Sea (see 14:25). Yet the many miracles in Egypt and at the Sea were all worth doing just so that the Egyptians would acknowledge Hashem for those short periods of time.

Each day offers us countless opportunities to see and acknowledge Hashem. These parshios should encourage us to take advantage to those moments and use them to mekadesh Shem Shamayim by making a point of recognizing His greatness.

In that zechus, may we merit to the ultimate yisgadal v’yiskadash shmei rabbah, with the arrival of Mashiach.

Gut Shabbos.

Parashas Shemos

In this week’s parashah, the Torah tells us that when Yocheved, the mother of 3-month old Moshe, could no longer hide her child from the officers enforcing Pharaoh’s edict to throw all Jewish boys into the river, she didn’t simply comply. Instead, she took a basket and coated it with tar and plaster. She then placed him inside. Additionally, rather than place Moshe into the water, she left the basket in the reeds at the banks of the river.

Chazal explain that while she put tar on the outside to protect against the water, she used plaster on the inside so that the righteous Moshe would not have to smell the unpleasant odor of the tar.

Oftentimes we meet a person in need – physically or emotionally – and it is beyond our capacity to fully help them.

The Torah’s sharing these details teaches us that we must still do whatever we can to ameliorate another’s distress. Yocheved didn’t have a way to save Moshe, but she could make her infant son’s stay in the basket less distasteful. And rather than place him in the water, she could leave him more securely on the shore.

Interestingly, as a midwife, Yocheved was known as Shifra, because mishaperes es havlad, she would beautify the newborn child.

The word mishaper also means to “improve.” Yocheved lived in a time of crisis. Many of the babies she delivered would soon be put to death. She couldn’t change all that. But her role, her avodah,  was to be mishaper, to do what she could to improve the lot of the mothers and their children.

May we be inspired by her example to do all that we can for others, and may we merit to see bi’yeshuasan shel Yisrael.

Gut Shabbos.

Parashas Vayechi

As Yaakov fell ill prior to his death, Yosef came with his sons, so that might receive their grandfather’s blessing.

Yaakov told Yosef: And now, your two sons that you have borne in the land of Egypt, until I came to you to Egypt, they are mine. Efraim and Menasheh will be to me like Reuven and Shimon – Yaakov declared that the two sons of Joseph would, like his own sons, be the progenitors of Tribes.

After a discussion, he asks that Efraim and Menasheh approach him to be blessed, but as they do, he suddenly asks: Who are these [men]?  

What does that mean? He knew who they were; he had just appointed them as Fathers of Tribes, he just asked that they come over to him. What does his question mean?

Chazal explain that as they approached, the Shechinah, the Divine Presence, suddenly abandoned Yaakov. Yaakov sensed that these two young men would have wicked descendants, and he now doubted whether he should bless them. Yosef prayed, the Divine Presence returned, and Yaakov blessed his grandchildren with Hamalach Hagoel, a blessing that we continue to use to this very day.

We find a similar episode later in the parashah. Yaakov is about to bless his sons. Those blessings outlined the personalities of each son and encapsulated the role and destiny of the Tribe that was to descend from him.

Before those blessings, Yaakov asks his sons to gather so that he might share with them “what would transpire to them at the end of the days.”

They gather and the Shechinah again departs from Yaakov.

Now Yaakov is concerned that perhaps they have abandoned their faith, so they cry out in unison the phrase Shema Yirsael.  Yaakov responds by saying Baruch Shem... . He then proceeds to bless them.

Our sages explain that the Yaakov intended to reveal to them when the ultimate End of Days would commence, but Hashem did not want him to.

It is interesting that before each set of blessings, the departure of the Shechinah caused Yaakov to question the righteousness of those he was about to bless.

Just before Yitzchok blessed Yaakov – transmitting the power of Divine blessing invested in him by Avrohom – we are told וַיָּרַח אֶת רֵיחַ בְּגָדָיו וַיְבָרֲכֵהוּ..., and [Yitzchok] smelled the scent of [Yaakov’s] clothes and he blessed him…. Our sages teach (Sanhedrin 37a) that the word בגדיו can also be vowelized בֹּגְדָיו, his traitors, the sinners.

Why was it important for Yitzchok to sense the sinners before he gave the blessing?

The commentators explain that had Yitzchok given the blessing to a son he felt was fully righteous, with no whiff of sinners, those blessings would have been in effect only as long as the descendants were completely good. Hashem wanted him to smell the traitors, so that the blessings would remain effective even when the Jews would be remiss in their spiritual duties.

In our parshah, too, Hashem wanted Yaakov’s blessings -- first to Efraim and Menasheh then to his sons – to always remain in effect. So as he was about to give the berachos, their was the suggestion that they may not be fully righteous. And although they really were, the berachos were given with the recognition that although the Shechinah may depart, the blessings will remain.

May we always be worthy of all the blessings, but even when we fall short, may we always be the beneficiaries of the spiritual and material bounty they offer.

Gut Shabbos.

Parashas Vayigash

I'd like to start with an expression of thanks to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, as this week apparently marks the one year anniversay of this blog. Baruch shehechiyanu v'kimanu, v'higianu lazman hazeh. If anyone has been inspired by any of the thoughts here, I am grateful to Hashem for allowing me to be the vehicle for that inspiration. I am also grateful to you, dear reader, who actually takes the time to read my musings.

In this weeks’ parashah, Yosef, Viceroy of Egypt, reveals his identity to his brothers. As he sends them back to Canaan to bring Yaakov and their families down to Egypt, he admonishes them “אַל תִּרְגְּזוּ בַּדָּרֶךְ, do not quarrel along the way.”

Rashi explains that the simple understanding of this statement is that Yosef was worried (“she’haya do’eg”) that the brothers might quarrel among themselves, blaming one another for his sale; accusing one another of having gossiped about him, leading to his becoming hated. Yosef therefore cautioned them not to argue, for this was all part of a Divine Plan.

Why would their internal dispute be a source of worry to Yosef? How would that affect him?

There are different reasons that people seek to resolve disputes.

There are those who simply want to move past their disagreements to live in peace and harmony, without the stress and challenges of conflict.

Others are prepared to forego their legitimate gripes against others in order that the Heavenly Court will be more forgiving toward them.

Then there are those who are more selfless, and who are committed to avoid or resolve discord as a matter principle, because they recognize the wrongness of disharmony and just want no part of it.

Others, however, are on a higher level.

Dovid Hamelech tells us: “...יִרְאַת ד' אֲלַמֶּדְכֶם... בַּקֵּשׁ שָׁלוֹם וְרָדְפֵהוּ; …I will teach you Fear of Hashem: Who is the man who wants life?...He seeks peace and purses it.” (Tehillim 34:12, 15)

For the person who fears Hashem, it is not enough to “seek peace” in his own life, he also “pursues peace” between others. The goal of such a person is universal peace and harmony, as Chazal (Berachos 64a) tell us “Torah scholars increase peace in the world,” i.e., among everyone.

Yosef’s words offer us a glimpse into of the purity of his motivations.

He was committed to increasing peace. Thus, he was worried that now that he and his brothers had buried the hatchet, they may get into a fight among themselves. Resolving his own issues with them by engendering a new conflict would be self-defeating. This is why he implored them to maintain peace among themselves.

Unfortunately, the resolution of one fight often leads to recriminations against others. That is not what Hashem wants. This parashah shows us what the true Torah approach is.

“לֹא מָצָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא כְּלִי מַחֲזִיק בְּרָכָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אֶלָּא הַשָּׁלוֹם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, ד' עֹז לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן ד' יְבָרֵךְ אֶת עַמּוֹ בַשָּׁלוֹם, Hashem found no vessel that holds blessing for the Jewish Nation, only peace, for it says: May Hashem give strength to His Nation, may Hashem bless His Nation with peace.” (Ukztin 3:12)

May we all maintain and promote peace and harmony, and may Hashem fill our “vessel of peace” with blessings for the entire Nation, and may he bring the ultimate geulah, when there will be “neither hunger, nor war, nor jealousy or discord” (Rambam Hil Melachim 12:5).

Gut Shabbos.

Chanukah / Parashas Mikeitz

There is a well known disagreement between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel (Shabbos 21b) regarding how many lights are lit each night of Chanukah. Beis Shammai maintains that eight lights are lit on the first night and that one light fewer is lit each subsequent night, while Beis Hillel maintains that we begin with one light and add and additional light each day. One reason for this is that Beis Shammai follows the model of the offerings brought over the festival of Succos, where the number of cows brought as offerings was diminished each day (13 cows were offered the first day, 12 on the second day, etc.); Hillel follows the rule that “we go up holiness, and do not go down.”

Chazal teach us (Beitzah 16a) that Shammai and Hillel also had different approaches to Shabbos preparations. Whenever in the Shammai would find a good food, he would purchase it for Shabbos. If he later found a better item, he would buy the better item for Shabbos and eat the first one. Hillel, on the other hand, “all of whose actions were for the sake of Heaven” taught “baruch Hashem yom yom, bless Hashem every day,” and he purchased his Shabbos supplies only when he needed them.

Perhaps these two disagreements are related.

What relationship does Beis Shammai see between the lights of Chanukah and the offers of Succos?

Over the course of Succos, 70 cows were brought as offerings, one for each of the nations of the world. We are told to diminish the number each day as an omen for the ultimate demise of those nations (see Rashi to Bamdbar 29:18).

Chanukah is the last festival to have been established. Prophecy had ceased. Even as the Nation lived in its own land, it did so under the dominion of others. The sefarim explain that Chanukah was the Yom Tov that was to carry the Jews through the long and bitter Exile that was to come, the Exile we experience to this day.

Shammai lived his entire week working for Shabbos. He did not live the weekday as a weekday, but as a means toward an end: Shabbos, the day of me’ein Olam Habah, a bit of the World to Come. He views the celebration of Chanukah similarly – we live in Exile for the purpose of hastening its end. We start with eight light, and we diminish them, our function is to end the galus.

Hillel, on the other hand, asserted that we “bless Hashem every day.” While we anticipate and look forward to Shabbos, we must bless Hashem for the weekdays as well, and we must seek to make the most of them. Similarly, Chanukah marks what Hashem has given us now, even as we are in galus. Of course we pine for the end of this exile, but while we are hear we must add holiness every day.

Shabbos Chanukah generally corresponds to Parashas Mikeitz. In Parashas Vayeishev, the prelude to Chanukah –and continuing through this week’s parashah – we find that in every difficult circumstance, Yosef makes the most of what he has. Certainly he thought of his father and reuniting with him, but until that could happen, he lived baruch Hashem yom yom, focusing on sanctifying Hashem’s Name in his current circumstances.

May we all live each day to the fullest, thanking Hashem for whatever mission he has given us for that day, and may we soon merit the end of our galus.

Gut Shabbos and a freilichen, lichtigen Chanukah.