Dvar Torah for Parshas Vaeira

       Parshas Vaeira contains the first seven of the Ten Makkos. Each makkah was specifically designed to target a different area of resistance for the Egyptians until they would finally give in and let the Bnei Yisrael leave. The meforshim go in depth on each makkah and bring out many different ideas. However, it’s not just from the makkos themselves that we learn new ideas, the circumstances around them teach us new things as well.

       By several of the Makkos, Paroh asks Moshe to daven to Hashem to remove the makkah from his people. The makkos were Frogs, Wild Animals, Hail, and Locusts (found in next week’s parsha). And by each one, Moshe agrees to daven for him. The last makkah in this week’s parsha, Barad/Hail, includes something more than the other ones. “וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ משֶׁ֔ה כְּצֵאתִי֙ אֶת־הָעִ֔יר אֶפְרֹ֥שׂ אֶת־כַּפַּ֖י אֶל־יְהֹוָ֑ה הַקֹּל֣וֹת יֶחְדָּל֗וּן וְהַבָּרָד֙ לֹ֣א יִֽהְיֶה־ע֔וֹד” “Moshe said to him (Paroh), ‘When I leave the city I shall spread out my hands to Hashem; the thunder will cease and the hail will no longer be” (Shemos 9:29). Rashi explains that by this makkah Moshe had to leave the city in order to daven since it was full of Egyptian avoda zara and Moshe didn’t want to daven in such an environment.

       The Sifsei Chachamim asks a simple question on this Rashi. If the idolatry of Egypt prevented Moshe from davening in the city, how come it didn’t affect his tefillos by the Frogs and Wild Animals? Why was this time different? He provides two answers.

       First, by Barad, Paroh insisted Moshe daven immediately since the Barad was terrifying everyone. So Moshe needed to explain to him that he would not be able to daven immediately as he first had to leave the city. However, by the previous two instances, Moshe did not daven until the next day after meeting Paroh. Therefore, he didn’t need to tell Paroh where he would be when he would daven, since it wouldn’t make any difference.

       The second answer is as follows. We know that the avoda zara of the Egyptians was the sheep. Even though the sheep is an animal we utilize as well, even while we were still in Egypt, any that were being used for idol worship had to be treated like the avoda zara that they were. As long as they were around the city, Moshe couldn’t daven there. However, on a normal day, the sheep would be taken outside the city to graze, leaving the city empty of avoda zara. So by the first two times Moshe was asked to daven, he was able to stay in the city since the sheep weren’t around. However, before bringing the hail upon the Egyptians, Hashem had told Moshe to warn them to bring all their livestock into the house or they would be killed by the storm. There were many people who feared Hashem and decided to heed Moshe’s warning, meaning, that when Moshe went now to daven, he was in a city full of sheep! Therefore, only now was it necessary for him to leave the city. So now that Moshe says he has to leave the city since this was the only time he actually did!

Shabbat Shalom!

Click here for last year's Dvar Torah for Parshas Vaeira

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Shemos

       In the beginning of Sefer Shemos, the Bnei Yisrael have grown from a family of 70 people to a mighty nation. Then, they were tricked into becoming slaves to Paroh and had little hope of freedom. But Hashem never forgot his promise to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and began to make steps to take them out.

       After centuries of slavery with no message from Hashem, the pesukim are suddenly flooded with references of Hashem remembering His obligations towards Bnei Yisrael. “וַיִּשְׁמַע אֱלֹהִים אֶת נַאֲקָתָם וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת בְּרִיתוֹ אֶת אַבְרָהָם אֶת יִצְחָק וְאֶת יַעֲקֹב. וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֵּדַע אֱלֹהִים” “God heard their moaning, and God remembered His covenant with Avraham, with Yitzchak, and with Yaakov. God saw the Children of Yisrael; and God knew.” (Shemos 2:24-25). These four phrases appear and say that Hashem began to pay attention to the Bnei Yisrael, all within two pesukim; what is the meaning behind this sudden abundance of attention?

       The Ramban explains that the answer lies in the pasuk immediately preceding these two. “וַיֵּאָנְחוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִן הָעֲבֹדָה וַיִּזְעָקוּ וַתַּעַל שַׁוְעָתָם אֶל הָאֱלֹהִים מִן הָעֲבֹדָה” “The Children of Yisrael groaned because of the work and they cried out. Their outcry because of the work went up to God” (23). The meforshim explain that the word “וַיִּזְעָקוּ” “and they cried out”, means that they davened to Hashem to save them. Until this point, Hashem had hidden Himself from His nation, allowing them to suffer in slavery. But at this point, “וַיֵּדַע אֱלֹהִים”, Hashem once again knew Bnei Yisrael. Rashi explains this phrase that “He placed His eyes on them”, He stopped ‘ignoring’ their suffering and began to redeem them. This was significant because the Bnei Yisrael were not worthy of being redeemed at this point, yet because of their tefillos, Hashem redeemed them anyway.

       Says the Ramban, the Torah is sharing with us the secret for redemption. Even though they didn’t deserve it, because of their tefillos, the Bnei Yisrael in Mitzrayim were redeemed before their time. That’s why the pesukim give us (at least) four different references of Hashem’s obligations towards us; even though they weren’t worthy, because “וַיִּזְעָקוּ”, because they davened to Hashem, He was forced to change directions and redeem us earlier than expected.

       This principle is a secret of the universe that the Torah shares with us, and is applicable even nowadays. We don’t and can’t know how long our current exile will last, but by following this principle, we can force Hashem to ‘remember’ and pay attention to our situation. This will, b’ezrat Hashem, help bring us to our final redemption.

Shabbat Shalom!

Click here for last year's Dvar Torah for Parshas Shemos

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Vayechi

       In Parshas Vayechi, Yaakov prepares his sons for his impending death. He makes burial arrangements, blesses each one of his sons, and attempts to prepare them for the exile they are about to spend in Mitzrayim. The Meforshim discuss how each of these preparations can be connected to an event far into the future. The Dvar Torah I would like to discuss, however, deals with an event that was taking place at that time.

       When Yaakov realized he was about to die, he called in Yosef and gave him very specific instructions on where to bury him, including, “אַל־נָ֥א תִקְבְּרֵ֖נִי בְּמִצְרָֽיִם” “Please do not bury me in Egypt” (Bereishis 47:29). He follows that up with further instructions to be buried in Eretz Yisrael (See 47:30). Rashi gives three reasons as to why Yaakov wanted to be buried in Eretz Yisrael. 1) When the plague of Lice would occur, all the soil in Mitzrayim would be turned into lice and crawl all over his body (a very disrespectful end). 2) When Hashem eventually resurrects the dead, anyone buried outside of Eretz Yisrael will roll through underground tunnels until reaching Eretz Yisrael, which would be painful. 3) He was worried that since he had brought prosperity to Egypt, the Egyptians would make his burial spot into a shrine, turning him into an avodah zarah. Because of these three things, Yaakov wanted to make sure he would not be buried in Mitzrayim and yes to be buried in Eretz Yisrael.

       The Kli Yakar explains why all three explanations are necessary for a complete explanation. The first reason of lice by itself is not enough because Hashem could create many miracles to protect Yaakov’s body. Therefore, he explains that the first and third reasons are really connected. The reason the Egyptians would worship him would be because Hashem would inevitably perform a miracle to protect Yaakov’s body and it would not be touched by the lice while all the other graves would be covered with them. They would believe he possessed a special power that allowed him to remain clean.

       However, these two reasons are not enough by themselves because then Yaakov could be buried anywhere outside of Egypt; why would it be so important that he be buried in Eretz Yisrael? Once we factor in the pain of rolling in the tunnels, we understand why he had to be buried in Eretz Yisrael. But this reason is not enough by itself either since Yaakov specifically mentions that he doesn’t want to be buried in Mitzrayim, instead of simply saying that he wants to be buried in Eretz Yisrael. There must be other reasons why he specifically didn’t want to be in Mitzrayim, which we mentioned above.

Shabbat Shalom!

Click here for last year's Dvar Torah for Parshas Vayechi

Click here to listen this this week's Podcast (Also available on iTunes)

For any questions, comments, or to subscribe to our email list, please email is at AIMeMtorah@gmail.com.

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No Dvar Torah This Week

Due to unforseen circumstances, there is no new Dvar Torah this week. Please click here for a previous year's Dvar Torah for Parshas Vayigash. We hope to return next week with a brand new Dvar Torah.

Shabbat Shalom!

There is no Podcast this week. Please click here to visit our full library of podcasts and find us on iTunes as well.

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