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
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[4:14]
אתָך ו ְָראֲ ָך ֶ ְוגַם ִהנֵּה־הוּא יֹ צֵ א ִל ְק ָר ְשׂ ַמח ְבּ ִלבּוֹ ָ ו
“And behold, [Aharon] is coming out to meet you and when he sees you he will rejoice in his heart” When the famed Chassam Sofer arrived in Pressburg to assume the position of Rav, many of the townsfolk came out to give him a royal welcome. The Chassam Sofer quoted this possuk in the Torah, which describes Aharon’s conduct in coming to greet Moshe, and wondered why Chazal expound that, in the merit of the actions described, Aharon would specifically be entitled to wear the Choshen Hamishpat – the breastplate, once he had assumed the mantle of Kohein Godol. He answered by saying that when a new Rav comes to a town, it is customary for the general populace to go out to welcome him. However, there are always those who are opposed to the appointee and such people fall into three categories: those who do not venture out at all and ignore the Rav’s arrival; those who follow the throng, hiding their true thoughts, but hold back in the crowd and do not directly approach the Rav; and, finally, those who are conspicuous in the welcoming party and project towards the Rav every appearance of cordiality, but who are secretly seething with resentment. With Aharon, the Chassam Sofer pointed out, there was not even a scintilla of negative feeling that would ally him with any of these categories. The Torah testifies that יצא – לקראתךAharon was amongst those who went out to greet Moshe; – וראךand Aharon went, not to meld into the background, but to receive Moshe directly; and – ושמח בלבוhis joy at Moshe’s appointment was fulsome and without the slightest taint of jealousy or rivalry. It was these qualities that made Aharon a fitting person to place the Choshen over his heart – the Choshen which contained the Urim veTumim through which everything was revealed and from which nothing could remain a secret.
השבת-ישראל את-ושמרו בני השבת-לעשות את It is noteworthy that in addition to the name Shemos, given to this sefer of the Chumash, some Rishonim give it other appellations. The Ramban calls it Sefer Ha’Geulo – the Volume of the Redemption. Rather more cryptically, the Bahag simply refers to it as Chumash Sheini – the second Chumash. The Netziv offers an explanation for this distinct approach of the Bahag, who does not refer to the other books of the Chumash in this way. The Netziv suggests that the reference is to Chumash Shemos being the second part of Chumash Bereishis, so to speak. This is because the giving of the Torah described in Parshas Yisro represents the culmination of Creation and the realisation of the whole purpose for which Hashem brought the world into being. Ha’Emek Dovor Oleinu will continue next week bezH
Continued from page 1 … against which to compare it. This further inhibits proper kavonnoh in davening, because one becomes over time somewhat inured to one’s persistently desperate situation. On the phrase vayomos melech mitzrayim, the Zohar HaKodosh interprets this to mean that Egypt’s guardian angel in shomayim, so to speak, fell from grace at that moment, reducing his influence to the point at which the gate of ge’uloh was opened and the weight of enslavement was mollified. As Bnei Yisroel could once again perceive the magnitude of their situation, they immediately davened with kavonnoh to be emancipated. From a slightly different perspective, HaRav Menachem Pollak, Szerencze Rov, reminds us of a fundamental rule established by the Chachomim in respect of hilchos tefiloh. The Gemoro in Maseches Brochos [31a] records, tonu rabbonon, ein omdin le’hispallel lo mitoch atzvus … atzlus … sechok … sichoh … kallus rosh … devorim beteilim, elo mitoch simchah shel mitzvoh – one must not stand to pray from an atmosphere of sorrow, laziness, laughter, conversation, frivolity or purposeless matters, but rather one should approach davening from an atmosphere imbued with the joy of the opportunity for such a worthy mitzvah. The Szerencze Rov applies this klal to the situation of Bnei Yisroel. Their shibud (enslavement) was so exacting that they were in a constant state of sorrow and distress with the result that their tefilos were not effective. Now, however, the chink of light engendered by the news of Paroh’s demise, filled their hearts with simchah, enabling their tefilos to sore heavenward to the A-lmighty.