Pop Quiz: How long did the plague of darkness last?
ALL DRESSED UP
Rabbi Reuven Semah
"And each man should borrow from his [Egyptian] neighbor,
silver and gold vessels" (Shemot 11:2)
As we read about the final stages of the Exodus from
Egypt, Hashem takes care of a promise He made to Abraham
Abinu. Hashem promised that when they leave Egypt, they would
go with great wealth. In Perashat Shemot (3:22) Hashem predicts
to Moshe that the Jewish people will "borrow" from the Egyptians
great wealth. In our perashah, Hashem requests of Moshe to
actually tell the Jews to borrow from the Egyptians great wealth of
gold and silver. This seems a little strange. If Hashem wants to
give the Egyptian wealth to the Jews, couldn't Hashem find a way
that would not leave the Jews beholden to the Egyptians? Rabbi
M. Shlov explained in a humorous vein that human nature is such
that a person who owes something to someone else is careful to
avoid his creditor. Therefore to ensure that the Jews will never
return to Egypt, he instructed them to borrow valuable items from
them.
If one would analyze the verse in Shemot (3:22) that first
mentions this concept of borrowing the wealth, we might notice
that the wording is a bit difficult. It says, "They would borrow
gold and silver and clothing to put onto their sons and daughters."
Why doesn't it simply state that they should "dress their children"
instead of the more awkward phrase "to put onto their sons and
daughters?"
The Pardes Yosef explains that, as we know, the Jews in
Egypt retained their own style of dress. They could not possibly
just take the Egyptian clothing and dress their own children in
them. They had to first alter them and adapt them to their own
modest style. These alterations would make the clothing much
smaller than their original size, just fit to be "put onto their
children."
This is a profound lesson for us. If the Jews, who were
subject to intense
persecutions, did not give in to the immodest dress styles of the
Egyptian society, why should we? May the merit of reclaiming our
heritage of modesty bring about the speedy end of our current
exile. Shabbat Shalom.
REMINDERS
by Rabbi Shmuel Choueka
"And the blood shall be a sign for you on [the doorposts of] the
houses." (Shemot 12:13)
The Jewish people were commanded to slaughter the sheep
as the Korban Pesah and put its blood on the doorposts of their
houses. In that way G-d would see the blood and pass over their
houses during the plague of the Destruction of the Firstborn. We
would therefore assume that the blood should be put on the outside
of their homes. Rashi tells us that in fact they were to put the
blood on the inside, where they themselves could see it, and it
should be a sign for them.
The message we can derive from here is that putting the
blood was not just an arbitrary act which would protect them. By
slaughtering the sheep, which was worshipped by the Egyptians,
they showed that they were breaking their ties to any idol-worship
that they might have had. In order to reinforce this, they put the
blood on the inside of the doorposts so that they themselves could
see it and be strengthened in their resolve to abandon idol-worship.
Although a person can make a resolution to become better, when
he sees a constant reminder of his resolve, this gives him the
strength to go even further. Hashem saw this zechut (merit) of the
blood and therefore passed over their houses to protect them, since
He saw their commitment to serve Hashem exclusively. We would
do well to apply this to our own lives and try to reinforce our
acceptance of certain positive traits by seeing how the negative
traits are not good for us. This will help us serve Hashem better.
Shabbat Shalom.
TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL
by Rabbi Yaacov Ben-Haim
"You shall tell you son on that day, saying, 'Because of this
Hashem acted on my behalf when I left Egypt'" (Shemot 13:8)
It is a holy duty for a father to educate his children, to act
as a spiritual guide for them. According to the Rambam, the
commandment to educate children is fulfilled especially when the
father gears his lesson to the child's understanding. If we approach
the issue sensitively, and respond with courtesy and care to
questions the child might pose, and address him as an individual,
taking into consideration his unique needs and abilities, the child
will understand the spirit of what we are trying to teach him. There
is hope that he will arrive at full understanding and be convinced of
the truth of what we are teaching him.
A father must even use his belongings as collateral for a
loan if he needs funds to educate his children properly. The Rav of
Lublin sees this from the laws concerning the implements of the
Bet Hamikdash. All of the holy implements must be made of gold,
but if gold is unavailable, they may be made of silver. There is one
exception. That is the cherubim. They must be made of gold, and
nothing else. The cherubim represent Jewish children. Their
education is the only insurance of Israel's eternity. We must use
our energy and resources to the maximum to ensure that Jewish
education be of the highest quality. One must never be satisfied
with cheap substitutes for the best. In the end, this is the best
investment. What might seem economical in the short run, will
cost dearly in the long run, and in the World to Come. Shabbat
Shalom.
IT'S YOUR CHOICE
"Come to Pharaoh for I have made his heart stubborn" (Shemot
10:1)
Many commentators ask: How could Hashem have
hardened Pharaoh's heart? Did He really take away Pharaoh's free
will to decide whether to let B'nei Yisrael go?
Yalkut Ma'amarim answers with a story. A Jew once had a
financial dispute with a non-Jew, and the non-Jew took him to
court. Before the case was scheduled to begin, the Jew sent an
expensive gift to the judge who would be presiding over the case.
The judge asked him, "How could you send me a bribe? Doesn't
your Torah state that a person who receives a bribe will be unable
to judge fairly?"
The Jew answered, "If you had been a Jew, and the two
parties standing before you were also Jews, then you would be
impartial to each of the two parties. Then if one of them would
give you a bribe, you would be swayed to his side. However, in
this situation, you are already leaning to the side of the non-Jew, so
I sent you the bribe simply to even the scale and get an impartial
judgment."
This can explain why Hashem hardened Pharaoh's heart.
Pharaoh's true desire was to deny B'nei Yisrael the right to leave
Egypt. The suffering from the plagues was so intense that they
were forcing him go against his desire, almost against his will. In
effect, Pharaoh at this point, had no free will. So Hashem
hardened his heart in order to remove some of the fear of the
plagues, so that Pharaoh could once again have his free will to
make his own decision. (Lekah Tob)
WHO'S TO BLAME?
"An uncircumcised male may not eat of it" (Shemot 12:48)
One who is uncircumcised may not partake of the Korban
Pesah. The sacrifice celebrating our liberation from bondage
demands that one be aligned with the Jewish people if he is to
share in their freedom. The story is told that Rav Chaim Brisker
once came to an inn at St. Petersburg to join in a halachic
conference. The question arose regarding the acceptability of
children whose parents did not circumcise them. The majority of
the Rabbis argued that a child who was not circumcised may not be
included in a community's Jewish register. It was their way of
censuring those assimilated Jews who rejected Berit Milah as their
way of showing disdain against what they felt was an archaic
religion. The consensus was that by excluding these children from
the register, their renegade parents may change their minds about
circumcision.
Hearing their decision, Rav Chaim emphatically demanded,
"Show me where it says that an uncircumcised child is not a Jew! I
understand that he is prohibited from eating Kedoshim and
Terumah. He may also not eat of the Korban Pesah. But where
does it say that he is not Jewish? Why blame the child for the fault
of the father?"
One of the speakers at the conference recounted that, in the
city of Warsaw, a certain Jew refused to circumcise his son. After
a while the child became ill and died. The community leaders did
not permit this child to be buried in the Jewish cemetery. Most of
the attendees at this conference agreed with the decision of the
Warsaw community who took this stand. The only one who
protested was Rav Chaim Brisker. "There is no halachah that
forbids an uncircumcised child from being buried in a Jewish
cemetery. While there are certain areas that exclude an 'arel,' burial
in a Jewish cemetery is not one of them. If you're concerned about
making a safeguard to serve as a deterrent against assimilation,
don't take it out on the children. Take it out on the parents. Don't
bury the father who refuses to have his child circumcised!"
This reaction was applauded by many - even those who
were alienated from Torah and misvot. Rav Chaim had the
courage to place the blame where it belonged. It would serve us
well to attempt to conjure up some of this same courage. (Peninim
on the Torah)
Answer to Pop Quiz: Six days.
