25 Teves 5781
זכור ושמור בדבור אחד נאמרו
[2:15]
פרשת שמות ה׳תשפ׳׳א
[3:11]
Issue No: 476
ֵשב ְבאֶׁ ֶׁרץ ִּמ ְדיָן ֶׁ ַוי,ֹשה ִּמ ְפנֵי פַ ְרעֹ ה ֶׁ וַיִּ ְב ַרח מ
Moshe fled from before Paroh and he settled in the land of Midyan The Ramban points out an easily overlooked fact, which is that between the time that Moshe ran away from Mitzrayim and the point at which he arrived at the well in Midyan, some sixty years had elapsed. The Sefer HaMasiyos describes how, in this intervening period, Moshe became a powerful king in Kush and fought many wars. And yet within our possuk, the Torah י gives not the slightest hint of any of this. The Torah merely records that, as a result of Paroh’s desire to kill him, Moshe fled and settled in the land of Midyan. Without drawing breath, the narrative moves through half of Moshe’s life within the very same possuk. Given that we are dealing with Moshe Rabbeinu, who occupies a pivotal position throughout the rest of the Chumash, the absence of any reference to this period in his life must be intended to teach us something significant. Emphasising that we certainly do learn a very important lesson, Rav Yechiel Michel Feinstein explains the lacuna in the record of Moshe’s life-story. He observes that the Torah is concerned with nitzchiyus – eternity, that which will endure forever. Rav Feinstein suggests that within the Torah, there is no mention of anything that is not related to eternity, whether explicitly or through remez – a hint. The ‘missing’ sixty-years of Moshe’s life, despite his prominence as a world leader during that epoch, contributed not one iota to his own nitzchiyus or that of Klal Yisroel and they were, therefore, simply omitted. With this elucidation, Rav Feinstein drives home the lesson to be drawn. When after 120 years our efforts and achievements fall to be judged in Shomayim, the scrutiny will only be of those things we have done in this life that have contributed to our nitzchiyus. Though we may have been busy with what we view as great accomplishments during our life, they will disappear in the eternal world, unless they contributed to our eternity. Such a sobering thought should cause us to reflect on all our actions and to examine their essence to ensure that they will truly stand us in good stead when subject to divine investigation.
הָּ ֲעב ָֹּדה-י ְִש ָּראֵ ל ִמן-ַוי ְִהי בַ י ִָּמים הָּ ַר ִבים הָּ הֵ ם ַוי ָָּּמת ֶמלֶ ְך ִמצְ ַריִם ַויֵאָּ נְ חּו ְבנֵי
And it was in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died; and the children of Israel groaned from the bondage Self-evidently Bnei Yisroel would certainly have groaned on many occasions during their oppression by the mitzriyim. Why is it then that their groaning appears to be answered only after the recorded death of Paroh? My holy ancestor the Rebbe Reb Pinchas, the Baal Haflo’oh, provides one answer by reference to the Gemoro in Maseches Sanhedrin [44b] in which, based on a possuk in Iyov, Rebbi Elozor is quoted as advising, le’olom yakdim odom tefiloh le’tzoroh – a person should always offer up prayers before trouble actually arrives. The reason for this anticipatory approach is that in the midst of the tzoros, one’s tefilos are much less efficacious, as the possuk in Megilas Eichoh [3:8] states, gam ki ezak ve’ashave’ah, sosam tefilosi – and when I cry and plead, He shuts out my prayer. The explanation, says the Ba’al Haflo’oh, is that tza’ar can seriously hinder a person’s ability to concentrate as necessary within his tefilos. In addition, there are times when the degree of tzores is so all-enveloping and daunting, that a person loses the ability to perceive the real foundation of his pain – there being no longer anything …page 2 We hope that these Divrei Torah, which are designed especially for use during the seudos, will בע״הenhance your Shabbos and may they hasten refuos and yeshuos to all who need.
The Levush writes that on Shabbos we can attain higher levels of wisdom as it is a day especially designated for this purpose. Therefore, we should seek ways to increase the amount of Torah that we discuss on this holy day.
גוט שבת/ שבת שלום ms
For all enquiries or to subscribe directly please reply to the email from EverywhereK. Please look out for details of the forthcoming book/e-book to be printed by Kodesh Press