Close To Torah

We have been introduced the our great leader Moshe Rabbeinu. The Torah accounts for small select parts of his upbringing. We are told about his birth, we are also told about how he left Egypt. Then we are told the first encounter that Moshe has with Hashem Yisborach, with the burning bush. There is so much to discuss on all of that but one thing specifically that seems to be so essential to Moshe seems to be left out of the Written Torah. We see that a constant response of Moshe Rabbeinu is that he is “כבד פה” he also says that he is “ערל שפתים” among other similar phrases. I must remind myself that Moshe Rabbeinu was well beyond anything that I could possibly comprehend. We see that Hashem comes to Moshe telling him all that he must do and yet Moshe can still insist that he is not qualified. You can say, wow such an unuv, such a modest individual. At the same time you can say, how can you possibly suggest that you cannot do that which Hashem has asked of you!? Is there a nisayon that we cannot withstand? No. There must be something more to the constant insisting of Moshe Rabbeinu than meets the eye. I cannot dare say that he was challenging Hashem, as that is silly.

Every year after having gone through Parshas Shemos I am always left a little confused, feeling as though I have missed something, and indeed I have. At the end of shishi it is written:

ויאמר ה’ אל משה בלכתך לשוב מצרימה ראה כל המפתים אשר שמתי בידך ועשיתם לפני פרעה ואני אחזק את לבו ולא ישלח את העם: ואמרת אל פרעה כה אמר ה’ בני בכרי ישראל: ואמר אליך שלח את בני ויעבדני ותמאו לשלחו הנה אנכי הרג את בנך בכרך: (שמות ד, כא-כג)

We see that Hashem says that after all the incredible things that Paroh will see, he will still not send the nation of Yisroel to exile. We see that Hashem will strengthen his heart. What does that mean? It is written after everyone of the makos that Hashem strengthened the heart of Paroh causing him not to sending Bnei Yisroel out. Why is that so?

I would like to suggest that it was essential for Klal Yisroel then and now that there be the Asuruh Makos. Since we see that Hashem had to strengthen the heart of Paroh perhaps that means that even after the first of the makos he would have given in, but that I am unsure of. It is clear that the last of the makos, Makos B’churim is the final step. Whatever the reason for the makos it seems that it would be completed by that point. It may have also been that the Egyptians needed a certain amount of kapuruh for their actions, but I don’t think that is the main reason.

It seems to me that the main reason for the makos was that Klal Yisroel needed them to strengthen their emunah, in order to be Bnei Yisroel. Through the makos and the actual Yitzias Mitzrayim, Klal Yisroel grew in their emunah and became capable of saying Na’aseh V’Nishmah as Kabalas HaTorah. Without having gone through all of this it would not have been possible!

Today we keep the Torah and Mitzvos, without having seen these nisim. How is it that we do so? How is that there are things that are done in the midbar that seem to be below us, but are clearly not! Perhaps the reason is that we have inherited the emunah of our avos. Through the experiences that Klal Yisroel went through they grew. Today we have thousands of years of nisyonos deep within our heritage. It was Moshe Rabbeinu and the Dor Dayuh who had to go through all of that for us. We would never have been able to stand up to the challenges that they faced, not a chance.

It is with this thought that we can begin to understand this weeks parshah. The beginning of the makos that befell Egypt in awe and wonder. These are the abc’s of emunah and bitachon for the Jewish People. It is my brachah that we all take these words of Torah into our hearts and strengthen them. Just as Hashem strengthens the heart of Paroh so to these events can strengthen our hearts to bring us closer to Hashem. May we all grow closer to walking in the ways of Hashem and constantly embrace all the amazing gifts that lay before us.

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Parshas Va'eira

ושרץ היאור צפרדעים ועלו ובאו בביתך… (ז:כח).

“…the frogs will intrude your homes….” (7:28).

The second plague which Hashem smote the Egyptians with was frogs. Let us explore a fascinating observation which I believe you will find quite enlightening!

The Gemara Pesachim (53b) tells us that Chananya, Misha’el and Azaryah (in Bavel) refused to comply with the king’s decree of defiance towards Hashem. They deduced logically that they should allow themselves to be thrown into the furnace to stand up for Hashem’s honor. They said that, “the frogs in Egypt were not commanded to die for Kiddush Hashem, God’s sake, yet they chose to jump into the ovens of the Egyptians for the sake of Hashem, kal v’chomer, certainly, we who are commanded in Kiddush Hashem must do the same! With this, they fell into the furnace, only to be miraculously saved by Hashem.

The Shages Aryeh posed a bomb question on this famous Gemara. Our verse (Shemos 7:28) describes the plague of frogs and states explicitly that the frogs were commanded to jump into the ovens, thus indeed they had an order to do so, and the logic of the three sages is not understood!? How could they learn from the frogs based on the fact that the frogs “chose to die without a commandment”, when in fact they were clearly commanded to enter the stoves and die?!

The Vilna Goan (Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer [1720-97]), was seven years old at the time when this question was posed. He modestly approached the Shages Aryeh to offer his answer. The verse states that Hashem commanded the frogs to invade Egypt, they were to go everywhere. The list of targets included: houses, beds, mixing bowls and ovens. This being the case, each frog had a choice as to whether he should sacrifice his life or not. Many frogs just allowed their friends to go into the ovens while they simply infested a house or bed. Hence, only certain frogs took the responsibly upon themselves to give up their lives to fulfill Hashem’s command regarding the ovens. It was with this in mind that the three sages made their perfectly logical extension to themselves! Upon hearing this, the Shages Aryeh bent down and gave little Eliyahu a kiss on his cheek while exclaiming, “you will be a great sage of Israel one day!”

This is the perspective of our great men in Klal Yisrael. They see what has to be done and do not look around to see if anyone else is responding. Rather, they immediately take the job upon themselves and make sure that it gets done. They are proactive and extremely productive. They know what “responsibility” means. This is a true sign of greatness!

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Parshas Va'eira

The Midrash states that in the merit of Avraham’s passing the ten trials, the Egyptians were smitten with ten plagues! This comparison is hard to understand, the two appear to share nothing in common other than the same number?

I suggest that there is an underlying theme which greatly unites them. The ten trials were a means by which Avraham gained a better understanding and closeness to Hashem. Through his struggles, he grew in appreciation and relationship with Him.

So too, the ten plagues taught the Jews and the world that Hashem is in control of everything! The plagues demonstrated all aspects of Hashem’s control of the world, the earth, sky, water and wind.

In the merit of Avraham’s dedication to Hashem, the Egyptians were smitten with ten plagues. The lesson of Hashem’s power was further expressed in the world.

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Parshas Va'eira

הוא אהרן ומשה אשר אמר ה’ להם הוציאו את בני ישראל מארץ מצרים על צבאתם. הם המדברים אל פרעה מלך מצרים להוציא את בני ישראל ממצרים הוא משה ואהרן (ו:כו-ז).  

“They are Aharon and Moshe whom Hashem commanded them to bring the Jews out of the land of Egypt… They are the speakers to Pharaoh the king of Egypt to take the Jews from Egypt, they are Moshe and Aharon” (6:26-7).

Why are the words “Aharon and Moshe” repeated twice and reversed, once putting Aharon first and the other time placing Moshe first? Also, in one instance it describes their locale as “the land of Egypt” and later simply “Egypt” omitting the word ‘land’, why?

Klal Yisrael were trapped in Egypt in two different ways. They were physically enslaved by the country, forced to perform backbreaking and torturous labor for them. Even more dangerously, they were spiritually subservient to the morals of Egypt. Although, they still kept many Jewish practices such as their names  and dress, nevertheless, Chazal tell us that they had fallen to almost the lowest level of impurity. Thus, the redemption would had to be twofold, from the physical shackles of the land and from its’ spiritual decadence.

A lifeguard was sitting in his watch-post monitoring the pool when suddenly he heard a commotion. Spontaneously, he dove in to save the drowning child. First he pulled the kid out of the water and then he proceeded to pump his stomach to get the water out of his lungs and thereby allow him to administer CPR. Now the child would live! It was a two step process, first he had to get the kid out of the water and then he had to get the water out of the kid! The second part is much harder. So too, the Kotzker Rebbe explains the Exodus contained two phases. The first element was  getting the Jews out of the land of Egypt and the second was getting Egypt (perversion) out of the Jews! Hence, a physical and spiritual redemption. The redeemers had both jobs at hand, to first remove the child from the water, and then to remove the water from the child!

Rashi explains based on Chazal that this verse states the names Moshe and Aharon twice and alternates whose name is first in order to signify that they were both equal in greatness in the field of putting in their full effort into bringing out their own potential. Now let’s put it all together!

The Daas Sofer explains based on the Kli Yakar that our verse talks of the two forms of Exodus which we have shown.

1 – “From the land of Egypt” refers to the leaving of the physical location.

2 – “From Egypt” refers to leaving the materialistic spiritual perversion of Egypt.

The job of liberating Klal Yisrael from these two forces was shared between Moshe and Aharon, with each one specifically in charge of one aspect. Aharon was the spokesman to Pharaoh and to the people, to help them leave physically. Moshe encouraged his people to spiritually want redemption from the perversion of Egypt, so that he could give them the Torah. He inspired their hearts to Avodas Hashem and served as their spiritual leader teaching them Torah and the way to serve Hashem.

Both jobs were vital for the redemption. Thus, the verse equates the greatness of Moshe and Aharon. When talking about their individual jobs respectively it puts the appropriate one’s name first, “Aharon and Moshe whom Hashem commanded them to take Klal Yisrael out of the land of Egypt” this was Aharon’s department, the physical redemption from the land. Next, “to take the Jews out of Egypt,” is the spiritual aspect, thus, the verse concludes by placing Moshe first!

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Parshas Va'eira Aharon HaCohen, Exudos, Moshe Rabbeinu