Shemos- Where You Want to Be

 Shmot  No Responses »
Dec 242010
 

23 And it came to pass in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died; and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God saw the children of Israel, and God knew them.

What does it mean that God knew them?

The Bais HaLevi (Rav Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveichik) answers by saying that God knew we were innocent from full blame.

The Jews, suffering under the heavy burden of work in Egypt also happened to commit idolatry during that time. The Medrash records that when God decided to take the Jews out of Egypt the angels representing Egypt challenged God and asked why the Jews should be saved and the Egyptians destroyed? Were the Jews any better than the Egyptians? Both committed idolatry the Jews may have committed other sins, although I am not sure about this.) [The following answer of the God also seemed so obvious to me that I wonder what the question of the angels was in the first place!]

God answers there is a big difference! The Egyptians willingly chose to enslave the Jewish People, to beat them and to subjugate them. The Jews, on the other hand, were subject to the whim of these immoral, wicked people! They suffered innumerable pains in Egypt. So even if at some point they did serve idols, if was because they were under duress and persecution. How can you even compare the Jews to the Egyptians?!

[I actually do not know of a source besides for this Medrash that says that the Jews actually served idols. There are sources in the Torah that say that the Jews cried out to God which signifies that they still believed in Him! So, where do we know from the Torah that the Jews actually served idols and fell to the "49th level of impurity"!?]

Still, the Beis HaLevi comments that if not for God knowing intimately that the Jewish People as a whole wished to serve Him if they could, the excuse of being under duress would not apply. The litmus test is seeing whether one would or would not do the same action if they were not under duress. But Gd knew that if the Jews had it differently they would simply not be serving idols. That is why he “remembered his covenant with Abraham…”. God wants the heart, firstly. Judaism values striving, dealing with what you have the best you can, but also measuring where you want to be. The Jews wanted to be in Israel serving God, not in Egypt serving idols, even if that is what they were doing. I can almost guarantee you that.

The dvar Torah was from Rav Rosner, as usual, but I think we add an interpersonal lesson here, as well. We have to be careful not to judge other Jews. Sometimes a person can be in a certain difficult situations, whether with family, school, etc. which causes them to act in a certain way. We have to recognize that if they were in an easier situiation, their behavior may be different. If so, their behavior now is simply a facade. Not that we can pardon everyone and enforce no rules when it becomes necessary, but to do it without judging the person.

 Posted by jlasson at 9:58 am  Tagged with: , ,

“…he will rejoice in his heart.”

 Shmot  No Responses »
Jan 112010
 

Shemos 5770 Hashem tells Moshe that his older brother Aharon will serve as his spokesperson, and He further comments to him that when Aharon “sees you he will rejoice in his heart” (Shemos 4:14). Our Sages lavishly praise Aharon for not being jealous nor taking issue with his younger brother – who had been missing in action for the last forty years – showing up and “usurping” the position of the leader of the Isrealites, the position which he himself had held up to this point. How was Aharon able to so genuinely rejoice at Moshe’s appointment despite what it meant for him? I believe one answer can be that Aharon simply had developed himself to the point where his sole concern was for the honor of Hashem – his own status was meaningless to him. The Mesilas Yesharim writes (Chapter 19: The Elements of Piety):

The most highly esteemed form of intent is one that is completely divorced from all personal wants and is concerned only with the glory of the Divine Presence and the sanctification of the Blessed One’s Name, which is sanctified among His creatures when they fulfill His will.

For Aharon it was insignificant whether the redemption would be carried out through him or through another; all that mattered was that there would be a redemption. It is very difficult to put aside our own invested interests in favor of Hashem’s will. Often we will deceive ourselves into believing that Hashem’s will is obviously in line with our own. The Mishna (Avos 2:4) screams out the folly of this assumption – “Make your will His will,” it declares. If we truly set our sights on achieving this lofty level of intent, we will G-d willing merit Divine Assistance in attaining it. Good Shabbos!

 Posted by Aaron Abramson at 8:05 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Justifications

 Shmot  No Responses »
Jan 082010
 

When Paroah notices how numerous B’nai Yisrael became in Egypt, he enslaves them, saying to his people “הָבָה נִתְחַכְּמָה לוֹ,” “Let us deal wisely with him.” The Gemara (Sotah 11a) states that Paroah did not intend to outsmart the Children of Israel, but rather to outsmart “the Savior of Israel,” Hashem.

הבה נתחכמה לו להם מיבעי ליה א”ר חמא ברבי חנינא באו ונחכם למושיען של ישראל במה נדונם נדונם באש כתיב (ישעיהו סו) כי הנה ה’ באש יבא וכתיב כי באש ה’ נשפט וגו’ בחרב כתיב  [(ישעיהו סו) ובחרבו את כל בשר] אלא בואו ונדונם במים שכבר נשבע הקב”ה שאינו מביא מבול לעולם שנאמר (ישעיהו נד) כי מי נח זאת לי וגו’ והן אינן יודעין שעל כל העולם כולו אינו מביא אבל על אומה אחת הוא מביא אי נמי הוא אינו מביא אבל הן באין ונופלין בתוכו וכן הוא אומר (שמות יד) ומצרים נסים לקראתו.

Paroah knew that Hashem punishes מידה כנגד מידה, measure for measure. He didn’t want to kill Jews by fire or sword because he knew that Hashem could and would punish them by fire or sword. He tried to outsmart Hashem by choosing to kill the Jewish baby boys in water.  After the flood in Noach’s time, Hashem promised never to flood the world again. Paroah therefore reasoned that Hashem wouldn’t be able to punish him measure for measure for killing Jews in water. Paroah did not consider that God only promised not to flood the entire world and He could still flood one nation. Egypt was eventually punished by water at the Red Sea when the waters crashed down upon them.

Paroah was not an atheist. He believed in the “Savior of Israel,” and knew that He had the power to punish Egypt for their treatment of the Jews.  Nonetheless, Paroah thought that he could outsmart Hashem, tying down God’s hands, in a sense, so he couldn’t be punished. This was his downfall and led to the “power struggle” of the 10 plagues and the exodus from Egypt.

Paroah’s reasoning has been debated in philosophy and theology for thousands of years. If God is all-powerful, can He create a God more powerful than Himself? Whatever philosophical approach one takes, Paroah’s reasoning was definitely flawed as he not more powerful than God and was narrow minded when considering Hashem’s options of punishment. It says in Tehillim, הֲנֹטַע אֹזֶן, הֲלֹא יִשְׁמָע; אִם יֹצֵר עַיִן, הֲלֹא יַבִּיט. Surely the God that gave man ears can hear, the God that created eyes can surely see. The God that created the human brain is of course smarter than any human.

In a less obtuse manner, many people today use the same kind of reasoning to justify their actions. We often think that we can use our human reasoning to allow behaviors that Hashem said are wrong. “It’s OK if I cheat on this business transaction, because then I’ll have more money to give to tzedakah.” Some people make “deals” with Hashem such as, “after all You put me through, God, I deserve to not have to keep Kosher or Shabbos anymore.” Such a deal is not valid until one hears confirmation from God that He accepted the terms, which I don’t think is happening. “I have to say this juicy piece of Lashon Hara because otherwise my friends won’t like me. That’s important too, right?” We have all sorts of justifications like these, in which we use human reasoning to go against what Hashem has already communicated to us to be true.

Every year at the Pesach Seder, we should create for ourselves a personal redemption from our own Egypt mentalities. May we be able to break free of the bonds of these inappropriate justifications so that we can truly serve Hashem, on His terms.

Note: This Dvar Torah based on this week’s sicha by Rav Avigdor Nevenzahl, published by Yeshivat HaKotel.

 Posted by Ariella Kopinsky at 5:38 am  Tagged with: , , ,

Becoming a Nation

 Shmot  No Responses »
Jan 072010
 

There is a book called The Fugu Plan, which tells the story of a Japanese plot to encourage Jews to move to Japan following World War II. The Japanese leadership was presented with a translated copy of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and, in a move entirely at odds with other nations’ reactions to the book, decided to bring the Jews to Japan in a very controlled manner to better the Japanese economy.

While this story may not be true, it is a story we can relate to because it is very similar to what happened to start off the slavery from Egypt.

וַיָּקָם מֶלֶךְ-חָדָשׁ, עַל-מִצְרָיִם, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָדַע, אֶת-יוֹסֵף. וַיֹּאמֶר, אֶל-עַמּוֹ: הִנֵּה, עַם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל–רַב וְעָצוּם, מִמֶּנּוּ. הָבָה נִתְחַכְּמָה, לוֹ: פֶּן-יִרְבֶּה, וְהָיָה כִּי-תִקְרֶאנָה מִלְחָמָה וְנוֹסַף גַּם-הוּא עַל-שֹׂנְאֵינוּ, וְנִלְחַם-בָּנוּ, וְעָלָה מִן-הָאָרֶץ.

A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Yosef. And he said to his people “Behold the nation of Bnei Yisrael is many and more mighty than us. Let’s be smart with [them], lest they become even more numerous and it will be when we are at war that they will join with our enemies and fight with us and leave the land.”

Looking at Pharaoh’s statement closely, there are many questions to ask.
The Kli Yakar points out that this is the first time in the Torah that Bnei Yisrael are called עַם – a nation. If this is such a monumental step forward from being just a family to becoming a fully fledged nation, why is the evil Pharoah the one who merited to make this distinction?

In addition, the Kli Yakar points out that רַב וְעָצוּם מִמֶּנּוּ means that while the Jewish people were רַב – many – they were still not as numerous as the Egyptians. Nevertheless, they were still וְעָצוּם מִמֶּנּוּ – more mighty that the Egyptians. If the Jews were more mighty than the Egyptians, then why did they allow themselves to be subjugated?

Finally, if Pharaoh was truly anti-Semitic, he would have desired to kill all the Jews. Instead, we see him say that is true fear is that the Jews will leave, as it says פֶּן… וְעָלָה מִן-הָאָרֶץ. Why was this his greatest fear?

The answer to all of these questions is a simple one. Sometimes our enemies realize our abilities better than we do ourselves. Pharoah recognized that the Jews were no longer a simple family, but rather a nation unto themselves, capable of toppling the Egyptian empire with the sheer force of their unity and talent. He recognized that the Jews were influential in all spheres of government and he knew that the one thing Egypt couldn’t afford was for the Jewish people to leave. Egypt needed the brain-power and the man-power of the nascent Jewish nation to function as the dominant world empire that they were.

Additionally, Pharaoh saw that the Jewish people didn’t realize their own power. They still considered themselves a collection of independent families and did not yet realize that by joining together they could easily move from family/tribe status to nation status.  Thus he devised schemes to outsmart the Jews, attempting to prevent us from ever realizing our true potential.

Today as well, the Jewish people are fractured. May we realize that by uniting together we too have the ability to change worlds and to bring the true and ultimate redemption soon in our days.

 Posted by Liron Kopinsky at 8:20 pm  Tagged with: , , , ,

Moshe’s Judgment

 Shmot  No Responses »
Jan 072010
 

וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה, וַיַּרְא כִּי אֵין אִישׁ; וַיַּךְ, אֶת-הַמִּצְרִי, וַיִּטְמְנֵהוּ, בַּחוֹל

“And he turned, this way and that and he saw that there was no person. He struck the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.” (Shemos 2:12)

This pasuk occurs after Moshe has left the luxury of Pharoah’s home and goes to see how his Jewish brethren are fairing as slaves. When he sees an Egyptian man beating a Jew, he is unable to bear the injustice and kills him. I have two questions about this pasuk: 1. Since Moshe Rabinu would not have killed someone without them deserving that punishment, why is he looking around to see if anyone will spot him? This type of cautious behavior is usually indicative of someone who is acting inappropriately, and fears he will be caught. Why should Moshe fear someone witnessing his actions when he is killing for just reasons?  2. The Torah never says that the Egyptian died; rather, it just says that he was struck and then he was buried. Is there an explanation for this omission?

The first question is answered by Rashi. He states that וַיַּרְא כִּי אֵין אִישׁ means that Moshe perceived through רוח הקודש (divine insight) that there was no one among this man’s (possible) descendants would convert to Judaism. The Targum of Yonatan ben Uziel* gives a more poetic description: “Moshe gazed into his knowledge of the future, and carefully examined each generation: there would not survive from this Egyptian a person would convert…”  Therefore, Moshe’s wasn’t afraid of being caught, rather, the Torah is telling us that he carefully examined the Egyptian’s lineage to ensure that no Jews would be lost if he died.

While this addresses the “sneakiness” problem, none of the מפרשים (commentators) address the second question of why the Torah doesn’t say outright that the Egyptian died. Rashi’s comment on the previous pasuk however sheds light on this issue: Rashi explains that the Egyptian had, the previous night, committed a terrible sin (raping the wife of the Jewish man he was beating). The Egyptian, having realized that the husband knew what he had done, was now driving him to exhaustion and (hopefully) his death. It is an well-known idea that רשעים, those who use their potential solely for the bad, aren’t truly alive in this world. While they are alive in terms of breathing and having a pulse, they are not really living: they are not using their energies to grow and serve Hashem. This could be the reason why the Torah omits וימות (and he died); since, being a רשע גמר (completely evil person), he wasn’t spiritually alive when his physical body died.

In our generation, in Jewish law, we no longer enact the death penalty or even corporal punishment. In fact, we are not allowed to make even mental judgments or determinations about others which cast them in a bad light. We make every effort to judge for the good, even concocting bizarre stories to that effect. So what is to be learned from this incident, where an Moshe Rabinu judged another and acted upon it immediately? Perhaps the lesson is that only someone like Moshe Rabinu, someone with רוח הקודש is in a position to do that. Anyone lacking רוח הקודש  is by necessity missing crucial parts of the picture (i.e. what the person’s motivations are? what is Hashem attempting to achieve by this situation?) and thus unable to accurately judge someone. While we still have the right to hold others accountable for their actions, we cannot approach rebuke with the undue sanctimony that we completely understand the situation and its background/ramifications.

Credit: Mechon Mamre for the Hebrew text and Chabad Rashi for Rashi-help.

*This translation was made possible by the similarity of the Aramaic roots to the Hebrew.

 Posted by ALentz at 1:19 pm  Tagged with: , , , ,
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