Hadrash Ve-Haiyun by the Reisha Rav, HaGoan Rav Aaron Levine Elucidated and Adapted by Efraim Levine

Va'eira

Dedicated in Memory of Rav Meir Yaakov Warshavchik z"l

Upon His Yartzeit

By the Warshavchik Families

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Behold, with the staff that is in my hand I shall strike the waters that are in the river and they shall change into blood. (Shemos 7:17)

Commenting on this posuk, the Midrash quotes Rebbi Yehudah who says that the weight of Moshe staff was four hundred sah. It is interesting that the same Rebbi Yehudah later in Parshas Ki Sisa says that the luchos also weighed exactly four hundred sah. This is difficult to understand because seemingly the size of the luchos were much larger then the size of Moshe's staff. How then can they have the same weight? The answer does not lie in the materials used since in both places Rebbi Yehudah explicitly informs us that they were made from the same Safhir stone. Obviously the miracle of these two objects having a greatly different size yet the same weight tells us there is a strong connection between the two.

Perhaps the message is that Torah is compared to the staff of Moshe. Just as the staff of Moshe was instrumental in bringing many of the makos and thus demonstrated to Klall Yisroel as well as Mitzrayim that Hashem is in control, so to should each individual hold the Torah as his staff and let it guide him through life with the knowledge that Hashem is in control. The Torah was not just brought down to this world to sit on a shelf and be ignored but was meant to be used and serve as a guide of life, just as a staff is used to assist and guide an individual.

There is one difficulty though in the statements of Rebbi Yehudah. Why does he measure the weight of the staff and luchos in terms of sah. The sah is a measurement of volume not weight. For measurements of weight Chazal have many other words, like kor, chomer, lesech eiphah, omer, etc.

To answer, let us first suggest that weight and volume symbolize quality and quantity. An Item of great weight has much substance. However weight alone does not tell us anything about the quantity i.e., volume. On the other hand a measurement of volume tells us about the size or quantity of an item but nothing about its quality i.e., its density or weight. It may be true that a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of gold but there is a vast difference in terms of quality and quantity.

Rebbi Yehudah is teaching that Torah is weighed in volume. If we want to attain quality i.e., weight, we need four hundred sah. A sah is a measure of volume. Four hundred is the letter tav, which represents the largest number in the Hebrew alphabet. Four hundred sah can thus be interpreted as great quantity. Without a quantitative performance of Torah and Mitzvos there is no way we can achieve a qualitative performance. Quality with regard to Torah and Mitzvos only comes through much patience and practice. Only then can we hope that our Torah and Mitzvos will carry some weight.