Dvar Torah for Parshas Vaeira

       Parshas Vaeira begins one of the most famous stories in the Torah, the “Ten Makkos”, the Ten Plagues. The first seven plagues are found in this week’s parshah with the remaining three coming in next week’s. This parshah is so full of material to write on as each makkah contains a wealth of Divrei Torah to choose from. This year, I have decided to write about the makkah of Barad, Hail.

       Hashem tells Moshe to warn Paroh about the upcoming plague with this message, “כִּי בַּפַּעַם הַזֹּאת אֲנִי שֹׁלֵחַ אֶת כָּל מַגֵּפֹתַי ” “Because this time, I am sending all my plagues…” (Shemos 9:14). Rashi explains that the phrase “all my plagues” teaches us that Makkas Bechoros, the Death of the Firstborn, the last plague, was equal to all the other plagues combined. Everyone asks on this Rashi; what is Rashi talking about? What does Makkas Bechoros have to do with Barad?

       The Sifsei Chachamim explains that when Rashi said Bechoros, he doesn’t mean בכורות, firstborn, he means it similar to the word ביכורים, meaning ripened food. As we know from the pesukim (See 9:31), the Barad only affected the plants that were fully ripened. This is what Rashi was referring to.

       So now our question changes from what is Rashi talking about Makkas Bechoros, to how is Barad equal to all the other plagues combined, especially when you consider the fact that Rashi explains in Parshas Shemos (4:23) that Makkas Bechoros was the worse than all the other plagues?

       There are several answers given for this question. The first is from that same Sifsei Chachamim. He explains that for Paroh, who lost his son and was in danger of losing his own life in Makkas Bechoros, that plague was the worst. However, for the general populace, this plague of Barad was harder since they lost most of their crops.

       There are two problems with this explanation. First, the Torah tells us by Makkas Bechoros that every Egyptian household lost at least one child (See 12:30), so the makkah was just as difficult for them as it was for Paroh. Secondly, as we have explained, only the fully ripened crops were destroyed by the hail, so there were still crops remaining even after the plague ended.

       The Maharshal (also brought by the Sifsei Chachamim) gives a different explanation. Barad is the seventh of the Ten Makkos. During the fifth makkah, all the Egyptian’s animals died in an overnight epidemic. If Hashem was trying to show how powerful He is, the logical next step in after killing all the animals would be to kill all the people. Instead, for the next makkah, He brought Boils. While they were extremely painful, they did not kill anybody. Some of the Egyptians began to suspect that perhaps Hashem did not have the ability to totally destroy them. Therefore, before bringing this makkah, Hashem sent a warning the Paroh that there was a makkah coming in the near future that would show that He had the power to kill the people as well. That makkah was, of course, Makkas Bechoros. So this warning found here is not necessarily connected to Makkas Barad (we will see in the next answer that it might still be), and Rashi might still mean to say here that Makkas Bechoros was the worst makkah (unlike the previous explanation of the Sifsei Chachamim).

       The last answer we will bring is from the Ohr HaChaim. Paroh suspected that Moshe was not performing these plagues as a messenger of Hashem, but rather as a highly skilled magician. Even though Paroh’s own magicians had determined by the third makkah that this was Hashem acting, Paroh still had not been convinced. So Hashem decided to bring a makkah that would show Paroh once and for all that these plague were coming from Him. In order to do this, He brought a plague that showed complete and total control over the weather, something that even dark magic or demons cannot control. Therefore, Barad was considered equal to all the other makkos since it ultimately showed Paroh beyond any doubt, exactly whom he was dealing with. And even with this sign, he still did not let the Jewish People free, which led to the final three makkos.

Shabbat Shalom!      

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Shemos

       Parshas Shemos begins with the story of how Bnei Yisrael became slaves in Egypt. As part of being slaves, they were completely subjugated to the authority of Paroh, the king of Egypt. One of the harsh decrees Paroh placed on them was that every Jewish boy that was born had to be killed. However, the midwives Paroh placed in charge of this operation did not listen to Paroh, and actively saved the babies from death. The pasuk tells us their reward, “וייטב אלהים למילדת וירב העם ויעצמו מאד כא ויהי כי יראו המילדת את האלהים ויעש להם בתים” “Hashem benefited the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong. And it was that the midwives feared Hashem, and He made them houses.” (Shemos 1:20-21).

       Rashi explains that this last part, ‘He made them houses’, is their reward. It means that they became the mothers of the Kohanim and Levi’im, as well as several kings. The Ohr HaChaim asks a simple question. If this is the reward, then what is the meaning of the first pasuk when it says that ‘Hashem benefited the midwives, and the people multiplied’? The pasuk seems to say that this is their reward, but then the pasuk continues with the statement that the nation grew and became strong. If the reward is found only at the end of the second pasuk, why is there a break in between telling us that the nation grew?

       The Ohr HaChaim explains that the fact that the nation grew was the midwives’ reward. He gives two explanations for this. Rashi explains that the midwives would give food and water to the mothers so they would be able to nurse their babies. As more and more babies were born, it would make sense that they would not be able to support all of them. So the first good thing that Hashem did was give the midwives’ enough money that they could continue to support every single mother that gave birth. After Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim and the babies were no longer in danger, then Hashem gave them their own personal reward that they were the mothers of great houses.

       The second answer is based on a Mishna in Pirkei Avos, “The reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah” (Avos 4:2). This means that the reward you get for doing a mitzvah is the opportunity to do another, which gives you even more reward. Therefore, the greatest reward the midwives could have gotten was that the nation should grow, thereby providing them with even more opportunities to save the children and do more mitzvos!

       These midwives were none other than Yocheved and Miriam, Moshe’s mother and sister, respectively. Moshe was known for the extreme care that he showed for every single Jew. It was this trait that led to his appointment as leader, and it came from this show of care and concern that his mother showed. In fact, says the Ohr HaChaim, it was in this zchus that Moshe became the leader of Bnei Yisrael.    

       Finally, the Ohr HaChaim offers an answer based on Rashi’s explanation that we mentioned earlier. The only reward the midwives received was their ‘houses’. However, there is no point in having children who are leaders if there is no nation for them to lead! Therefore, the fact that the nation kept growing was also a part of the midwives’ reward.

Shabbat Shalom!  

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Vayechi

       Sefer Bereishis ends this week with Parshas Vayechi. At the beginning of the parshah, Yaakov realizes that he is about to die. Since he had spent the previous seventeen years in Mitzrayim and the people there admired him very much, he was worried that they would insist on burying him in Mitzrayim, instead of in Me’aras Hamachpela in Chevron. In order to make sure his body would be brought to Eretz Yisrael, he made Yosef swear to bring it there. Because of his royal influence, Yosef was the only one of the brothers who could guarantee this.    

       After Yosef says he will take care of Yaakov’s body, Yaakov is still not satisfied. “וַיֹּאמֶר הִשָּׁבְעָה לִי וַיִּשָּׁבַע לוֹ וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל רֹאשׁ הַמִּטָּה” “And he (Yaakov) said, ‘Swear to me.’ So he (Yosef) swore to him. And Yisrael bowed at the head of the bed” (Bereishis 47:31). Rashi offers two comments on this pasuk. His first point is that even though Yosef was royalty, Yaakov was not obligated to bow to him since he was his father. Yet, Yaakov does bow to Yosef. Rashi explains from a gemarah in Megillah (16b), “a fox in his time, bow to him.” Even though the fox is not the highest ranking of the animals, there will come a time when he is in charge. At that time, you should bow to him. This is a parable for Yaakov and Yosef. (This explanation does not sit well with me. Is Yosef HaTzaddik comparable to the sneaky fox?)

       The second point Rashi makes is why the pasuk mentions that Yaakov bowed at the head of the bed; when lying in bed, people face the foot, so Yaakov should have been bowing in that direction. Rashi explains that Yaakov turned around so that he could bow in the direction of the Shechinah, which rests at the head of the bed of a sick person.

       The Sifsei Chachamim asks that these two answers contradict each other! Was Yaakov bowing to Yosef or was he bowing to Hashem? He answers that if Yaakov bowed to Yosef, it does not answer why the pasuk says that he bowed to the head of the bed. And if Yaakov only bowed down to Hashem, why doesn’t the pasuk say straight out that that was what he was doing? Therefore, says the Sifsei Chachamim, both answers are necessary.

       I would like to suggest that Rashi’s third explanation on the pasuk is another answer to this question. He explains that the reason why Yaakov was bowing to Hashem at this time was because of Yosef. Since all his children were tzaddikim, Yaakov was guaranteed a spot in Olam Haba. The child who had the biggest challenges in life was Yosef. By spending so many years in Mitzrayim, whether it was in his position as a slave, a prisoner, or even as the king, Yosef was subject to tremendous attacks on his righteousness, and yet, he remained true to Hashem. So when Yosef came into the room, Yaakov was overcome with the need to bow down to Hashem to thank him for all his wonderful children.

       This is the explanation behind the two earlier explanations of Rashi. Yaakov had to bow down to Yosef, but it wasn’t because Yosef was the king; and he had to bow down specifically at the head of the bed because he was bowing down to Hashem. The reason he was bowing was because of the person who was in the room with him. Yosef, who by remaining a tzaddik in the face of tremendous adversity represented Yaakov’s entire life’s work, and had guaranteed him a spot in Olam Haba.

Chazak Chazak V’Nischazek!

Shabbat Shalom! 

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Vayigash

       While the biggest event in Parshas Vayigash is Yosef revealing himself to his brothers, when placed in perspective, its impact only reaches a very short time in history. The more far-reaching event is what happens at the end of the Parshah.

       After Yosef reveals himself to his brothers, he urges them to bring the entire clan down to Egypt so he can support them until the end of the famine. While the famine ended when Yaakov came down, his family still stayed there and prospered. It is at this time that the nation of Yisrael begins to develop. Hashem promised Avraham that his children would become Hashem’s chosen nation, however, they first would have to go through a long exile with much hardship. This process began when Yaakov came down to Egypt with his family. This led to the slavery in Egypt, which led to the creation of Bnei Yisrael, which led to the Plagues, Krias Yam Suf, the Giving of the Torah, and our eventual return to Eretz Yisrael.

       But before all this happened, Yaakov had to go down to Egypt. Before he did, Yaakov was not sure he was doing the right thing. So Hashem came to him in a dream and told him not to worry about going down. “אָנֹכִי אֵרֵד עִמְּךָ מִצְרַיְמָה וְאָנֹכִי אַעַלְךָ גַם עָלֹה” “I (Hashem) will go down with you to Mitzrayim, and I will also bring you up.” (Bereishis 46:4). In this pasuk, Hashem promises Yaakov that He will descend with him to Mitzrayim, and will also bring him (or his children) back to Eretz Yisrael.

       An interesting point arises when we examine this pasuk. In the first part of the pasuk, Hashem promises Yaakov that He will go down with him. The pasuk first says that Hashem will be going down, and then mentions that He will be with Yaakov when he goes down. In the second part when Hashem promises to bring Yaakov back, first the pasuk says that Hashem will bring Yaakov up, “אַעַלְך” “I will bring you up”, and then He says that He will come back up as well, “גַם עָלֹה”.

       The Kli Yakar explains that this pasuk contains a vital idea. The times we have gone into exile, it has been after a horrific event. It comes at a time when the nation is reeling and Hashem is apparently nowhere to be found. In this pasuk, Hashem sets the standard for Mitzrayim and all future exiles. Before we even leave our homeland, Hashem will have already gone out ahead of us to await our arrival. And when we return, Hashem will stay in exile, until the very last Jew has left and returned to Eretz Yisrael.

       This was how Hashem calmed Yaakov, and this is how we too should be comforted while we remain in exile. No matter how dark or desperate times may seem, we only need to return to this promise Hashem made Yaakov; He will always be there no matter where we may end up, and He will be the last to leave, making sure no one is left behind.

Shabbat Shalom! 

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Dvar Torah for Chanuka

In honor of Chanuka, AIMeM is taking the week off. Please enjoy last year's Dvar Torah and have a wonderful Yom Tov!

       We all know the story of Chanukah, the Jews defeated the mighty Greek army and returned to the Beis Hamikdash. When they came to light the Menorah, they could not find any pure oil to light it with until, after a long search, they found enough oil to last one night. They lit the Menorah and the oil lasted miraculously for eight days. To commemorate this great miracle, we celebrate eight nights of Chanukah. There is a very famous question from the Beis Yosef concerning these eight nights. While the Menorah stayed lit for eight days, the actual miracle only lasted for seven nights as there was already enough oil to last for one night! So really we should celebrate seven nights, not eight?

       There are literally hundreds of answers to this question. I have decided to use the answer found in the Kedushas Levi, written by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Mi’Berditchev, for this Dvar Torah. 

       He explains that we are really commemorating two miracles here. The first day commemorates the miracle of the battle against the Greeks. The fact that Hashem helped us defeat the much stronger and larger Greek army is reason enough to establish a chag. The other seven days represent the miracle of the Menorah. So the eight days of Hallel and Thanksgiving are for both these reasons, the miracle of the war and the miracle of the Menorah.

       According to this explanation, another question arises. If the miracle of the Menorah has nothing to do with the first night of Chanukah, then why do we light the Menorah on that night? The Kedushas Levi answers that once the nation saw the miracle of the oil, they realized that the entire Chanukah miracle, including the battle, was only through the zchus of the menorah. What exactly does this mean? What is so special about the Menorah that we had the miracles of the war and the oil because of it?

       When the Greeks came and took over the Beis Hamikdash, they did not allow any of the daily service to continue. Korbanos, the Ketores, the Levi’im’s singing, the lighting of the Menorah, they were all discontinued. The Bnei Yisrael had no opportunity to even commemorate any of these services as they are all specific to the Beis Hamikdash, except the Menorah. When we light Shabbos candles or the Ner Tamid in Shul, they fulfill the same purpose as the Menorah, to have candles of Kedushah lit at all times, even outside of the Beis Hamikdash.

       If there is something you really want that is sitting right in front of you, and you cannot get to it, it makes it even more precious to you. That is Hashem’s attitude towards our Shabbos candles, they remind Him of the holy lights of the Menorah that were lit in the Beis Hamikdash, making them more precious to Him than any other part of the Avodah. During the time of Greek occupation, the Jews would light their Shabbos candles and think longingly of the Beis Hamikdash and the opportunity to once again do the Avodah. Because this longing came through the lights of the candles, Hashem brought the Beis Hamikdash back through the zchus of the Menorah’s light.        

       What an idea to take into Shabbos Chanukah! Both the Shabbos and Chanukah candles remind Hashem of the Beis Hamikdash and show our desire to once again perform the Avodah. What better time to act on this than the time when we light both of these candles. So when you light your Chanukah candles this week, realize that they don’t just symbolize the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days or even the Menorah itself, they represent the entire service done in the Beis Hamikdash. May this Chanukah bring the Geulah that we have all been waiting for.

Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Vayeishev

       The story of Yosef and his brothers is one of the most confusing episodes to study in the Torah. How these great men could dislike someone as great as Yosef, and how Yosef could be so naïve to bring such hatred upon himself, are two of the more pressing questions in this story. Another big question is whether Yaakov realized how big the problem was, and what he tried to do about it. We will touch on that subject this week.

       The second aliyah begins, “וַיֹּאמֶר יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל יוֹסֵף הֲלוֹא אַחֶיךָ רֹעִים בִּשְׁכֶם לְכָה וְאֶשְׁלָחֲךָ אֲלֵיהֶם” “And Yisrael said to Yosef, ‘Your brothers are shepherding in Shechem. Go, and I will send you to them…” (Bereishis 37:13). Yaakov asks Yosef to go and check on his brothers and see how they are doing. If Yaakov knew how much the brothers disliked Yosef, this is a terrible idea! Not only is he sending the one person that they cannot stand, he’s sending him to check on them! This is a recipe for disaster. To his credit, Yosef immediately says that he will go.

       The Ohr HaChaim explains that Yaakov knew that there were issues between his sons, and therefore, he sent Yosef with extra protection. The pasuk writes that Yaakov tells Yosef to “go” to his brothers, and that Yaakov will “send” him to the brothers; the explanation behind this double sending is that first Yaakov told Yosef to go, and then he put the extra protection on him. What was this extra protection?

       Chazal teach us that שלוחי מצווה אינם ניזוקים, someone on a mission to do a mitzvah will not come to any harm. When Yaakov “sent” Yosef to his brothers, he gave him the mitzvah of Kibud Av to protect him from any harm the brothers would want to do to him.

       However, another question arises from this explanation. If Yosef was doing a mitzvah, then how was he sold as a slave? Wasn’t he protected from anything bad? The first answer is that since at the end of the day, everything turned out great for Yosef, he became the ruler of the most powerful country in the world, the fact that he was sold and mistreated at the beginning is not considered that he was harmed.

       Another answer the Ohr HaChaim gives, is that Yaakov told Yosef to go to Shechem specifically, to check on his brothers. When Yosef arrived there, the brothers had already moved on and Yosef went to follow them. At that point, Yaakov’s protection ran out and Yosef was exposed. Yosef assumed that his father’s protection would follow him wherever he went for the mitzvah, but this was not so.

       This last answer seems a little too convenient to actually be true. Let’s say Yaakov had been more general in his directions instead of being specific, let’s say Yosef had decided not to follow his brother’s from Shechem, what would have happened then? The answer is that Hashem needed something very specific to happen; he needed Yosef to get down to Mitzrayim in order to set things up so that when Yaakov and the family arrived years later, everything would be ready for them. If this exact order of things hadn’t happened, Hashem would have figured out another way of doing it. But at the end of the day, we see from this parshah that, ‘Man plans and God laughs.’ No matter how much Yaakov wanted to protect Yosef, and no matter how badly his brothers wanted to harm him, the only thing that was going to happen to Yosef was what Hashem had planned for him.

Shabbat Shalom!

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Vayishlach

       Parshas Vayishlach opens with the long-awaited confrontation between Yaakov and Esav. Even after twenty years, Esav still harbored vengeful feelings against Yaakov and came with 400 warriors ready to battle. For his part, Yaakov prepared for this clash by doing three things, 1) He sent Esav a large gift, hoping to win his favor 2) He prepared himself and his family for a possible battle 3) He davened to Hashem. All three of these things were vital to Yaakov’s survival, but it is the last one that we will discuss.

       After arranging Esav’s gift and making sure his family was safe, Yaakov turns to Hashem and begins to daven. Yaakov ends his prayer by reminding Hashem of the promise Hashem made him many years earlier, “וְאַתָּה אָמַרְתָּ הֵיטֵב אֵיטִיב עִמָּךְ וְשַׂמְתִּי אֶת זַרְעֲךָ כְּחוֹל הַיָּם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִסָּפֵר מֵרֹב” “And You said, ‘I will surely do good with you, and I will make your seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of the multitude” (Bereishis 32:13). (Actually, Hashem promised Avraham that his children would be as numerous as the sand, but He then promised Yaakov that He would give him everything He had promised to Avraham, so it works out the same.)

       The Kli Yakar asks, Hashem had promised Yaakov, that his children would be as numerous as the stars and the sand. While they are both numerous, the stars have the added advantage of being celestial objects, so their symbolism extends beyond abundances of offspring, to the greatness of the offspring as well. At this time when Yaakov needs to triumph over Esav, why does he ask Hashem to remember the promise that his children will be lowly like the sand and not great like the stars?

       The Kli Yakar explains that when discussing the blessing of how numerous Bnei Yisrael will be, Hashem uses three examples to illustrate: stars, dust, and sand. When all is peaceful and Bnei Yisrael rule over themselves, they are compared to the stars. At the opposite times, they are compared to the dust.

       Sand is the guardian of the beach. The ocean waves constantly crash onto the shore, trying to destroy the world, and the sand is always there to stop it. In this way, sand continually protects the world from destruction.

       At times of war, you want to be like the sand. You want to be able to stand in front of the charging enemy, and repeatedly push them back again and again. That is why Yaakov reminded Hashem that his children should be like the sand. In the wake of Esav’s attack, Yaakov wanted to be able to withstand it, and throw it back in the direction it came.

       May Hashem give us the strength to continue to stand tall in the face of our enemies like the sand on the shore.

Shabbat Shalom!

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