Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov, welcome back to our פרשה parsha perspectives for today. This week we have the privilege of studying פרשת וארא Parshas Va'eira together, the continuation of this amazing narrative, this tremendous story, the birth of the Jewish people, the birth of our nation, and how we were forged, how we were formed by coming out of מצרים Mitzrayim with strength, by coming out of מצרים Mitzrayim with miracles. I want to thank our generous sponsors, our פרשה parsha series for the year, dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family in loving memory of Becky's father, David Gressman, דוד בן מנחם מענדל David ben Menachem Mendel. Also, this morning's particular class is sponsored by friends Cindy and Avi Shrier and family, the יארצייט yahrzeit today of דב בער בן אהרן הלוי Dov Ber ben Aaron Halevi and the upcoming יארצייט yahrzeit of גיטל מינדל בת אברהם Gittel Mindel bas Avraham, Bernard and Maxine Sullivan in memory of Uncle Lester, אליעזר צבי בן אברהם Eliezer Tzvi ben Avraham. Thank you for your generosity, your sponsorship. The הנשמה haneshama should have an עליה aliyah.Just one housekeeping note, next week בעזרת השם b'ezras Hashem, you'll only be able to tune in on YouTube or Facebook. We will not be on Zoom. So for those who are joining us this morning live on Zoom, please note that next week for the פרשה parsha class, you'll need to tune in on YouTube or on Facebook. Okay, with that, let's get started. פרשת וארא Parshas Va'eira is in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash page 318. וידבר אלוקים אל משה ויאמר אליו אני השם Vayedaber Elokim el Moshe vayomer eilav ani Hashem. God speaks to Moshe and He says to him, אני השם Ani Hashem. I am the Lord your God, as if they have not yet met until now, as if this is the first time they're going to be speaking. השם Hashem, השם Hashem reintroduces himself, אני השם Ani Hashem. And he tells them וארא אל אברהם אל יצחק ואל יעקב באל שדי ושמי השם לא נודעתי להם Va'eira el Avraham el Yitzchak v'el Yaakov b'El Shaddai u'shmi Hashem lo nodati lahem. I have appeared to your forefathers before, but I didn't tell them my name. They knew me in some ways, but in others, I remained concealed. And of course, רש״י Rashi is bothered here, we're not going to get into it, we've spoken about it in years past. If you enjoy the פרשה שיעורים parsha shiurim, we have many, many online from years past and we've discussed many of the things we allude to earlier, but אברהם אל יצחק ואל יעקב Avraham el Yitzchak v'el Yaakov, most notably a question on רש״י Rashi is when רש״י Rashi says, וארא אל האבות va'eira el ha'avos. What is he adding אל האבות el ha'avos? The Torah itself tells us וארא va'eira that I appeared previously to אברהם, יצחק Avraham, Yitzchak, and to יעקב Yaakov. What is רש״י Rashi adding that we don't know from the text itself? We're not getting into, as I said, we've spoken about it previously. וגם הקימותי את בריתי איתם לתת להם את ארץ כנען את ארץ מגוריהם אשר גרו בה v'gam hakimosi es brisi itam laseis lahem es eretz Canaan es eretz megureihem asher garu bah. שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל Shamati es naakas Bnei Yisrael, I've heard the cries of the Jewish people. And because I heard their cries, אזכור את בריתי ezkor es brisi, now I remember my ברית bris. We're also not going to get into this morning, probably we'll get into it this שבת Shabbos, sorry for those who don't live in Boka, but why does God say, why does he only invoke the ברית bris? I remember the ברית bris. But what precipitates and what precedes his remembering the ברית bris? He only remembers the ברית bris when? Once נאקת בני ישראל naakas Bnei Yisrael. Once the Jewish people cry out, once they call to him, once they דאווען daven. Why must it be precipitated or preceded by that? Why couldn't God just out of his own kindness remember the promise, remember the ברית bris, remember the covenant that he had made? Why does it have to be connected to the initiation, why must it be introduced by the Jewish people? Again, not going to talk about. So far we've talked a lot about the things we're not going to talk about today. So let's talk about something today. And most notably, let's talk about פסוק pasuk ו׳ vav. לכן אמור לבני ישראל אני השם והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים Lachen emor l'Vnei Yisrael ani Hashem v'hotzeisi eschem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim. Now we have the introduction to what we call the ד׳ לשונות של גאולה daled leshonos shel geulah, the four languages of גאולה geulah. The four languages of גאולה geulah describing the four stages of the redemption, the four stages of the redemptive process. We're familiar with it all from the סדר Seder and from the הגדה Haggadah. These words hopefully should be recognizable to you. והוצאתי אתכם V'hotzeisi eschem, I will take you out מתחת סבלות מצרים mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim. והצלתי אתכם V'hitzalti eschem, I will save you. וגאלתי אתכם V'gaalti eschem, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm. ולקחתי אתכם V'lakachti eschem, and I will take you. והייתי לכם לאלוקים V'hayisi lachem l'Elokim, I will be your God, וידעתם vi'yidatem and you will know that I am the one who took you out from under the bondage, under the servitude, under the suffering of מצרים Mitzrayim. והבאתי אתכם V'heveisi eschem, and I will bring you to the land. We've spoken about previously, I think last year, we spoke about רב מנחם כשר Rav Menachem Kasher. מנחם מענדל כשר Menachem Mendel Kasher in his הגדה שלמה, תורה שלמה Haggadah Shleima, Torah Shleima, talks about והבאתי v'heveisi. When the Jewish people merited the gift, the miraculous modern gift of the modern state of Israel, he proposed to the Chief Rabbinate an introduction of a fifth cup. The כוס של אליהו kos shel Eliyahu should not just sit on the table that we observe it, we should drink from it. והבאתי V'heveisi, the fifth language of גאולה geulah. And I mentioned last year, if you contrast his argument and his advocacy for drinking the fifth cup in his הגדה שלמה Haggadah Shleima compared to what he writes in the introduction to his תורה שלמה על שמות Torah Shleima on Shmos. His תורה שלמה על שמות Torah Shleima on Shmos, he writes while he's still in Europe and Europe is going up in flames, and he writes there, he describes what they are enduring is worse than anything the Jews in Egypt suffered. And he imagines no future for the Jewish people. And yet only a few years later with the modern gift of the miracle, the state of Israel, he's proposing drinking the fifth cup because of והבאתי v'heveisi. As you know, that it was not a proposal that was accepted and we do not drink that fifth cup, but it's fascinating we have this fifth language of והבאתי v'heveisi.So these four things, what do they correspond with? רש״י Rashi and the רשב״ם Rashbam, the גמרא in ערבי פסחים Gemara in Arvei Psachim, the tenth פרק of פסחים perek of Psachim, which those learning the דף יומי Daf Yomi will conveniently get up to a month before פסח Pesach and finish just in time for פסח Pesach. רש״י Rashi and his grandson the רשב״ם Rashbam, רבי שמואל בן מאיר Reb Shmuel ben Meir, both write there in פסחים Psachim that the four cups of wine that we drink, which were רבנן Rabbanan introduced at the סדר Seder. מצה Matzah and מרור maror have a source דאורייתא d'oraisa, they are biblical. The four cups that we drink are רבנן Rabbanan. And why do we drink the four cups? רש״י Rashi and the רשב״ם Rashbam both say it parallels these four languages of redemption. והוצאתי V'hotzeisi, I'll take you out, והצלתי v'hitzalti, I'll rescue, וגאלתי v'gaalti, I'll redeem you, and ולקחתי v'lakachti, I'm going to take you. Now the נצי״ב, רב נפתלי צבי יהודה ברלין Netziv, Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, points out that the Hebrew term for words often used by the rabbis is לשונות leshonos. It should have been ארבע לשונות של גאולה arba leshonos shel geulah, four different languages of גאולה geulah. But not the נציב Netziv, the term in this portion that denotes the language of redemption rather than words of redemption. It's not, it's not ארבע תיבות של גאולה arba teivos shel geulah. It's not four words of redemption, it's לשונות leshonos. לשונות Leshonos doesn't mean a word. A תיבה teiva is a word. What does לשונות leshonos mean? A לשון lashon is a language. So the נציב Netziv points out these aren't synonyms. These aren't four synonyms for what God did for us taking us out of Egypt. They are לשונות leshonos. They are, they're languages, they're different ways to describe. You know when you talk about, you're not speaking my language. You're having a conversation with someone, you don't see eye to eye, you say, we're not speaking the same language. You don't speak my, I don't speak your language. What are you saying? You're both talking in English or Hebrew or Yiddish or Spanish or whatever language you're speaking. And so what do you mean you don't speak my language or we're not speaking the same language? It means we're not seeing eye to eye, we're not describing it in the same way, we're not connecting. So the נציב Netziv points out it's not four, it's not four תיבות teivos, it's not four words of of letters of redemption, it's לשונות leshonos, it's languages, because it's describing four distinct stages. These are not four synonyms, these are different stages, different experiences, different transitions, different transformations that took place. Redemption is gradual, it's incremental. It doesn't happen in a linear fashion. And it's not binary. It's not that one moment we were slaves and the next we were freed. It's not that it happened like this. It was something that occurred in stages and that נצי״ב Netziv is very instructive for our time, because it seems as much as we take a step forward in living in a redemptive time, it feels sometimes like we take two or three steps backwards. And so you say, well, which is it? How many elections could Israel have in a year and a half, in two years? Is this אתחלתא דגאולה aschalta d'geulah? Is it a miraculous time? Are we living through a period of redemption, the early stages of redemption? In some ways it feels like that. And in other ways you say, what in the world is going on? How could it be another lockdown? How could it be another election? How could it be another? And the answer is that גאולה geulah doesn't happen linearly. It doesn't happen automatically. It happens incrementally and in stages, as it did when we left מצרים Mitzrayim. It's a לשונות של גאולה leshonos shel geulah. It's not four words, synonyms for גאולה geulah, it's for languages, it's for stages, it's for incremental transitions of גאולה geulah.Now מורי ורבי רב אשר וייס Mori v'rabbi Rav Asher Weiss, the מנחת אשר Minchas Asher, points out on חומש Chumash that there's a halachic anomaly when it comes to the four cups of wine which should reveal to us an insight in our פרשה parsha, in פרשת וארא Parshas Va'eira. You're allowed to drink between the first and the second cup of wine. So, first cup of wine is קידוש Kiddush, when you make קידוש Kiddush, that's the first cup of wine at the סדר Seder. And then you have the second cup of wine before the סעודה seuda. The third cup of wine is with בֶּענְטְשֶׁען bentching and the fourth cup of wine is גאולה geulah. There's a halachic anomaly. You're allowed to drink between the first and the second cup, and you could drink between the second and third, but between the third and the fourth, you're not allowed to eat or drink anything. And the question is why? Why is this so? So there are people who think that, says רב אשר וייס Rav Asher Weiss, the whole redemption, the whole גאולה geulah that we're reading about and that we're going to celebrate shortly, too soon for some, but the whole גאולה geulah, the whole redemption that we're going to celebrate is all about the physical liberation. We were in bondage, we were suffering, we were oppressed, we were persecuted, and we were set free. Nobody was chasing us and nobody was torturing us. And they limit it from liberation from the yoke of an oppressor. And for such people, the first three expressions are enough. And they are והוצאתי, והצלתי, וגאלתי v'hotzeisi, v'hitzalti, v'gaalti. We, you took us out and you rescued us and you redeemed us. But what does the fourth one correspond with? What is the word ולקחתי v'lakachti a reference to? So the fourth, ולקחתי v'lakachti is a reference to, is a reference to coming to הר סיני Har Sinai. ולקחתי V'lakachti is a reference to קבלת התורה Kabbalas HaTorah. ולקחתי V'lakachti is that you took us to הר סיני Har Sinai, you made us a covenanted community, you gave us the Torah, you gave us a mandate and a mission and a purpose. You didn't just liberate us to be some secular political entity, to be a nation like any other. You took us out for a reason, to be an אור לגוים ohr l'goyim, to be an עם קדוש am kadosh, to be an עם סגולה am segulah. You took us out for a reason. And that's what חז״ל Chazal are telling us with this הלכה halacha, says the מנחת אשר Minchas Asher, says רב אשר וייס Rav Asher Weiss, that the first three expressions are the most significant aspects of not the most significant, and that's why you could drink in between them, because the first three, they are stages of physical liberation. But that fourth one, ולקחתי v'lakachti, you dare not separate it from the first three. You dare not make a הפסק hefsek. You dare not stop after three and say, look, I'm free, I'm free. We spoke last week about freedom from and freedom to. And that continues this week with the four לשונות של גאולה leshonos shel geulah. והוצאתי, והצלתי וגאלתי v'hotzeisi, v'hitzalti v'gaalti are the freedom from. We are liberated from an oppressor. ולקחתי V'lakachti is freedom to. Now that you're free, what are you going to do with it? What does freedom mean to you? Who do you want to be? What kind of life do you want to live? Will you embrace Torah? God's blueprint and instruction manual for how to live. So between the first three, you could drink, you could interrupt, you could have a הפסק hefsek because they're all about physical freedom. But the fourth, ולקחתי v'lakachti, not freedom from but freedom to, you dare not interrupt, you dare not make a הפסק hefsek, and that is why you are not allowed to. That is why חס ושלום chas v'shalom, הלכה halacha says you cannot drink or eat in between. This also answers a question I asked on Friday night. Again, apologies to those who don't attend BRS, but I ask in שול shul every Friday night a question. I always invite people to suggest their answers. And in last week's פרשה parsha, when משה Moshe demurs, when he hesitates to accept the appointment of leadership, and he as if challenges God, give me a sign. How do I know the people are worthy? How do I know I'm capable? And השם Hashem says, וזה לך האות v'zeh l'cha ha'os. Here is the sign. And then he says something very strange. Here is the sign. תעבדון את האלוקים על ההר הזה Ta'avdun es haElokim al ha'har ha'zeh, you're going to worship God on that mountain. How is that a sign? He's asking for a sign right now, in the here and now. How do I know? Well, later, when all this pans out and works out, then you'll know. What do you mean? I want a sign right now. But moreover, how is that a sign that God's in charge? When the people will worship at the mountain, that is a sign that the people have stepped up and done something. What does that reveal or reflect about the רבונו של עולם Ribbono shel Olam, about הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu? So Rav Soloveitchik explains, he says, you have to understand the context of that conversation that was taking place. השם Hashem wants משה'ס שליחות Moshe's shlichus. He says, אשלחך eshlachacha, I'm going to send you as a שליח shliach to פרעה Paro to be a מנהיג manhig. So first of all, אשלחך eshlachacha, I'm sending you as a שליח shliach, and הוצא את עמי hotzei es ami, you're going to take out my people. And משה Moshe resists, משה Moshe is reluctant on both. He says, first of all, who am I to be a שליח shliach? שליח של אדם כמותו Shliach shel adam k'moso, the שליח shliach of a person is like the person who sends them. Who am I to be a שליח shliach? And number two, to be a מנהיג manhig for the Jewish people, הוצא את עמי hotzei es ami, who says they're worthy? And why should they get out? And what will be with them once they're free? And to this, השם Hashem answers both. First, he says, אהיה עמך eheyeh imach. Unlike any other type of messenger, where I send you to do my bidding, you are the messenger acting as an agent on my behalf, השם Hashem says אהיה עמך eheyeh imach. Yes, you're the שליח shliach, but I'm going to be standing right next to you. I'm going to be by your side. You're not going on your own. Rav Schechter, מורי ורבי רב שכטר mori v'rabbi Rav Schechter, when he quotes this, adds, this is the פשט pshat, בא אל פרעה bo el Paro, next week's פרשה parsha. It doesn't say לך אל פרעה lech el Paro, it says בא אל פרעה bo el Paro, because this is an unusual שליחות shlichus. When I say to one of my kids, one of my friends, one of my congregants, I say, would you mind taking care of, could you do this for me? What I'm asking is, could you do it instead of me? For me means instead of me, on my behalf. But in השם'ס Hashem's case, when he says, אשלחך eshlachacha, I'm sending you, אהיה עמך eheyeh imach, I'll be with you. It's not in lieu of me, instead of me, in place of me, I will be with you, which is why it's בא אל פרעה bo el Paro, not לך אל פרעה lech el Paro. But as for the second reason, says the רב Rav, what השם Hashem was telling משה Moshe is, you're right. If the purpose of יציאת מצרים Yetziyas Mitzrayim, if the reason that you're leaving is to be emancipated and liberated, to be a secular political entity like any other, then you're right. Then then, I don't know if you're the one. But וזה לך האות v'zeh l'cha ha'os, this leaving מצרים Mitzrayim, וזה לך האות v'zeh l'cha ha'os doesn't mean I'm giving you a miracle or a sign right now that I'm genuine and real. וזה לך האות V'zeh l'cha ha'os means the whole exodus is not a goal. It's an אות os, it's a sign. What is the goal? תעבדון את האלוקים על ההר הזה Ta'avdun es haElokim al ha'har ha'zeh. The whole mission is ולקחתי v'lakachti. The whole purpose of why he took us out was to become who we are meant to be, who we're meant to be. And so again, coming back to רב אשר'ס Rav Asher's insight, that's why you can't have a הפסק hefsek, you can't interrupt. You can interrupt the first to the second, the second to the third, but you can't interrupt between the third and the fourth cup because ולקחתי v'lakachti, who we are meant to be, can't be separated from why we're here. Being out of Egypt is why we're here. But ולקחתי v'lakachti is who we are meant to be. אין לך בן חורין אלא מי שעוסק בתורה Ein lecha ben chorin ela mi she'osek b'Torah, that we have to read it as not חרות על החרס charus al ha'cheres, we have to understand אין לך בן תורה אלא מי שעוסק בתורה ein lecha ben Torah ela mi she'osek b'Torah. Coming to הר סיני Har Sinai is what gave us real freedom. And you can understand it based on what we spoke about last week, it gives us the real freedom, not just the freedom from, but it gives us the greater freedom, which is the freedom, which is the freedom to. So all of that is number one, רב אשר Rav Asher and the רב Rav and how we understand these פסוקים psukim and this anomaly within the הלכה halacha and the interruptions at our סדר Seder, but the understanding that everything we're reading in וארא ובא ובשלח Va'eira, Bo, u'Beshalach is all to get to יתרו Yisro. All of it. שמות וארא בא בשלח Shmos, Va'eira, Bo, Beshalach is just to get to יתרו Yisro. And if you read שמות וארא בא בשלח Shmos, Va'eira, Bo, Beshalach, but you cut out and you drop out before you get to יתרו Yisro, if you don't get to the ולקחתי v'lakachti, then you're halfway there, then you're only halfway there. Now does that mean that you're nowhere? It does not mean that you're nowhere. We have two concepts of the ברית bris, the covenant that we have with השם Hashem. We have what's called ברית אבות bris avos and ברית סיני bris Sinai. My brother has several articles coming out as a book on this topic. ברית אבות Bris avos and ברית סיני bris Sinai. ברית אבות Bris avos means that we're a family. ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis is all about ברית אבות bris avos. It's all about the fact that we are a family and as a family, we have allegiances and loyalty to one another, family values and a family mission statement. And even without the ברית סיני bris Sinai, even without being injected with what Torah gives us, there is a value to ברית אבות bris avos. ברית אבות Bris avos is what connects us to the totality of the Jewish world, whether they are observant or not. But of course, it is not only coupled with, but maybe in some ways surpassed by ברית סיני bris Sinai. That we're not just a family ברית אבות bris avos like any other, but we also have a covenant, not only the covenant of a family, even for those who do not accept ברית סיני bris Sinai. But the covenant is informed by ברית סיני bris Sinai, the notion that ultimately ולקחתי v'lakachti, we get to סיני Sinai, and that is who we are and what we are about. All of that is number one.Number two, number two. So what is this timeline? We have the four לשונות leshonos, the נציב Netziv said לשונות leshonos, four stages, incremental stages, it's not linear of גאולה geulah. What do they correspond with? What do they correspond with within the story line we're about to read itself? Right, so our פרשה parsha begins with השם Hashem making a promise. There are four things you're going to go through. והוצאתי, והצלתי, וגאלתי ולקחתי V'hotzeisi, v'hitzalti, v'gaalti v'lakachti. Great. Now that we read the story and we have to plug it in. What historical part in the narrative do these four things in fact refer to? That is the question. So רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya, רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya and the ספורנו Sforno, we're not going to read it inside because we have a lot we want to get to. רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya and the ספורנו Sforno both lay out a similar timeline. And they say והוצאתי v'hotzeisi refers to השם Hashem freeing us from the backbreaking labor. והוצאתי V'hotzeisi is that there were edicts against us, it was backbreaking labor. The פרעה Paro and the מצרים Mitzrim were holding us in bondage and והוצאתי v'hotzeisi is it ended. We continued to have the status though of slaves. And so that's what והצלתי v'hitzalti means. When we were no longer under the control and dominion of Egypt. Not only did פרעה Paro rescind his decrees against us, but we also didn't even have the status of slaves. That's what והצלתי v'hitzalti refers to. And that took place after the final plague of מכת בכורות makas bechoros. So we were still in Egypt that night and we still were not citizens. We'd never vote, we didn't have rights, we were still slaves even though the גזירות gzeiros against us had been rescinded, had been, had been suspended. And now the Jewish people were free from working bondage, were liberated from the status of prisoners, but still risk being pursued, and that's the third stage of וגאלתי v'gaalti. So when did וגאלתי v'gaalti occur? Only after the Egyptians drowned in the ים סוף Yam Suf, say the ספורנו Sforno and רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya. Only after our enemies, not only were we no longer physically oppressed, not only had we been liberated from a status of being slaves, living under that status, living under that regime, under that dictatorship, but only when we saw our previous oppressor drown, then וגאלתי v'gaalti, then we were redeemed. And of course the fourth and final stage, ולקחתי v'lakachti, which we just spoke about, which was when we came to הר סיני Har Sinai.So I pose to you the following question, and again, though I don't see you scribbling notes, you should be because I'm giving you דברי תורה divrei Torah for your סדר Seder table, although if most of you have cognitive dissonance, you don't want to be thinking about the סדר Seder table or cleaning your house for it at all. But here's a great insight. Why was וגאלתי v'gaalti necessary? What did וגאלתי v'gaalti add? If the Jewish people were no longer forced to do backbreaking labor that had been rescinded, and they no longer were considered slaves, they had been emancipated. And I understand ולקחתי v'lakachti because that עבדות avdus was replaced with another one. We took upon ourselves voluntarily a new master, God, I got ולקחתי v'lakachti. So if you just think about it for a moment, והוצאתי v'hotzeisi and והצלתי v'hitzalti and ולקחתי v'lakachti all make sense. What does וגאלתי v'gaalti add? What does וגאלתי v'gaalti contribute? What incremental stage in the נציב's Netziv's vision does וגאלתי v'gaalti add? What did we experience in וגאלתי v'gaalti? In what way did that add to our sense of and our status of being freed further? Rav Elchanan Liebowitz, the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim, his zatzal explains very beautifully. He says, וגאלתי v'gaalti, you know what that took care of? It took care of perhaps what is the most oppressive form of slavery of all, not the physical bondage and not the status of slave, and not not being at הר סיני Har Sinai. You know what it was? It was the slave mentality. That's what וגאלתי v'gaalti got rid of. Because you see, you had taken the Jews out of Egypt, but you hadn't taken Egypt out of the Jews. You had taken the Jews out of the bondage of Egypt, but the trauma, the trauma of that bondage and its influence on the mentality of this burgeoning nation had not yet been liberated. So there is trauma. Not only does one survive an episode and then they're saved and freed and the episode no longer threatens them, and yet they can suffer PTSD in a very clinical diagnosed way, or even less than clinically diagnosed, but the the trauma of having come out from an experience that is hard to shake, it's hard to drop, it's hard to move on. So explains Rav Henach, even the fourth stage of ולקחתי v'lakachti, even receiving the Torah from השם Hashem wouldn't have been enough. They would have had the Torah and following מצוות mitzvos, and הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu would be our new master, and yet, they'd be looking over their shoulder, living with fear and anxiousness and concern, with this unrelenting sense of dread that maybe they're still out there, maybe they still want to get us, maybe all we are is is slaves. Not only the physical fear of returning to a place of bondage, but the spiritual and the emotional insecurity that maybe it will come back, maybe I'm unworthy, maybe all I am is a slave, maybe I can't accomplish or achieve more, maybe I don't deserve to be free. There are so many layers when a person survives or comes out of an episode. And I think as this is a פרשה parsha perspective for today, I think it's a powerful lesson for us that not only do people come out of experiences, but we shouldn't just assume that somebody survives, whether it's life-threatening or emotionally threatening, an experience that just because it no longer threatens them, now they're done. There's also hard work that has to happen, sometimes with support and therapy, sometimes one can do it on their own, but you need a stage of וגאלתי v'gaalti, a stage of וגאלתי v'gaalti. And the only way, in the case of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael coming out of מצרים Mitzrayim, the only way the Jewish people achieved the וגאלתי v'gaalti was when they saw their taskmasters drowning in the sea. Only when they saw that which previously threatened and haunted them, only when they saw it obliterated. That's what therapy is. That's what support is. You're able to confront that which threatened you previously and at least obliterate, if not literally, obliterate and destroy the formidable threat that that idea or person or experience poses to you. So these four stages of גאולה geulah very much can psychologically be applied to the four stages that we need to go through when a person's gone through a difficult experience in order to be able to liberate themselves. So וגאלתי v'gaalti, the third language, the third cup, corresponds with being free of the physical of the psychological shackles, of that slave mentality, of self-imposed mentality, of the cycle of of psyche of unworthiness and inferiority and inability and insecurity, of that which holds us back when we're always looking over our shoulder. There are so many people I know who sabotage their own success because they think they're incapable. And they end up sabotaging and undermining who they could be and what they could achieve because there's no one and nothing holding them back other than themselves. That's the וגאלתי v'gaalti. That third cup is critically important, the third cup of וגאלתי v'gaalti, to be able to confront these self-imposed things that are holding us back and be able to navigate them, be able to manage them, be able to overcome them, be able to, whatever we need to do, in order to וגאלתי v'gaalti, in order to be able to have a sense of being redeemed from them. And in fact, that's what the Torah also continues in our פרשה parsha. וידבר השם אל משה ואל אהרן ויצום אל בני ישראל ואל פרעה מלך מצרים להוציא את בני ישראל מארץ מצרים Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe v'el Aharon vayitzavem el Bnei Yisrael v'el Paro melech Mitzrayim l'hotzi es Bnei Yisrael mei'eretz Mitzrayim. That's what comes right next. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells them, פסוק י״ג Pasuk Yud Gimmel, page 320 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. השם Hashem speaks to משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon, he says, ויצום אל בני ישראל ואל פרעה מלך מצרים vayitzavem el Bnei Yisrael v'el Paro melech Mitzrayim. I want you to command the Jewish people and I want you to command פרעה Paro להוציא את בני ישראל מארץ מצרים l'hotzi es Bnei Yisrael mei'eretz Mitzrayim. And רש״י Rashi is bothered, all the commentaries are bothered by what is the obvious question. I understand why פרעה Paro needs to be instructed, let the people go. But they don't come first. It's not פרעה Paro and the Egyptians who are receiving that instruction first. It is preceded by an instruction for whom? It is preceded by an instruction for בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael. ויצום אל בני ישראל Vayitzavem el Bnei Yisrael. Tell the Jewish people, oh and tell פרעה Paro and the מצרים Mitzrim to let them out. What do you mean tell the Jewish people? You think you open the door to the jail? You got to tell the warden, open the door of the jail. What do you have to tell the prisoner? I'm commanding you to leave. The prisoner is eager, the prisoner is on the cusp, the prisoner is ready, prisoner is desperate to flee, to run, to be liberated. So why ויצום אל בני ישראל vayitzavem el Bnei Yisrael? Why do the Jewish people need to be instructed? And the answer is, it wasn't just פרעה Paro that needed the instruction. The people needed a ציווי tzivui. Because that passive spectator, slave mentality, that inferiority, insecurity, that inability to believe that they were capable or deserve or will have a better future was holding them back. And so ויצום אל בני ישראל vayitzavem el Bnei Yisrael, it wasn't just פרעה Paro and the Egyptians who needed to hear, let my people go. The people needed to hear, let yourselves go. And that's this third stage of וגאלתי v'gaalti. It's a critical, critical third stage of of וגאלתי v'gaalti, that we are have to redeem ourselves also from שעבוד מצרים shibud Mitzrayim. Not only the people, but we too need to be able to hear that.Let's go to our first רב דרוק Rav Druk of the day. אש תמיד Eish Tamid, we've been going through in the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur the magnificent ספר sefer of רב ישראל מאיר דרוק Rav Yisrael Meir Druk of ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, the אש תמיד Eish Tamid. And he says the following. ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם והייתי לכם לאלוקים וידעתם כי אני השם אלוקיכם המוציא אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים V'lakachti eschem li l'am v'hayisi lachem l'Elokim vi'yidatem ki ani Hashem Elokeichem hamotzi eschem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim. So the fourth cup, the fourth לשון lashon, the fourth language or incremental stage is arriving at הר סיני Har Sinai. And as we said, that was the purpose, that was the goal, that was the essence of it all. By the way, that's why פסח Pesach and שבועות Shavuos have to go together. If you observe פסח Pesach as almost universally the Jewish people do, whether you're observant or not, but you don't observe שבועות Shavuos, then you haven't kept פסח Pesach. That's why we have something called ספירת העומר Sefiras HaOmer, the bridge in between them. The רמב״ן Ramban writes, ספירת העומר is the חול המועד of פסח and שבועות Sefiras HaOmer is the Chol Hamoed of Pesach and Shavuos. What does the רמב״ן Ramban mean? It means that just like יום טוב Yom Tov has first days and last days and חול המועד Chol Hamoed bridges the two, so too פסח Pesach is the first days, שבועות Shavuos is the last days, and חול המועד Chol Hamoed is in between. So if you keep פסח Pesach but you don't keep שבועות Shavuos, if you celebrate leaving Egypt, you celebrate freedom from, but you don't observe שבועות Shavuos, the freedom to, then you missed the boat. Then you missed the point of what it's really all about. The two halves of the same coin, they're part of one holiday. They're really two רגלים regalim, not three. You have סוכות Sukkos, and then you have פסח שבועות Pesach Shavuos as its own רגל regel. ספירת העומר is the חול המועד Chol Hamoed in between. Getting to the ולקחתי v'lakachti, getting to הר סיני Har Sinai. So being a Jew doesn't mean, you know, eating gefilte fish. Being a Jew doesn't mean Jewish culture, Yiddish language. Being a Jew means ולקחתי v'lakachti. It's not just ברית אבות bris avos, it's ברית סיני bris Sinai. You have to get to that fourth language of of גאולה geulah, and that's why רב אשר Rav Asher said you cannot drink in between. The רמב״ן Ramban writes here on that פסוק pasuk. ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם ובבאכם אל הר סיני ותקבלו את התורה V'lakachti eschem li l'am u'v'vo'achem el Har Sinai u'tikablu es haTorah, when you arrive at הר סיני Har Sinai and receive the Torah, כי שם נאמר והייתם לי סגולה ki sham ne'emar v'heyisem li segulah, because that's where it says that we are a treasure to God, an עם סגולה am segulah. An עם סגולה am segulah. When השם Hashem calls us an עם סגולה am segulah, he doesn't mean a nation that wears red bendels. That's not what he means an עם סגולה am segulah. A nation who keeps סגולות segulos doesn't mean a nation that wears red bendels and engages in all kinds of silly superstitions. What he means you're an עם סגולה am segulah means you keep Torah and מצוות mitzvos. You are a model for the world, a light unto the world. So says רב דרוק Rav Druk, לשון גאולה זו של ולקחתי מכוונת כלפי קבלת התורה lashon geulah zu shel v'lakachti mechuvenes klapei kabbalas haTorah. As the רמב״ן Ramban says and as we've been elaborating on, this fourth language is a reference to receiving the Torah. ואחר שיגיעו לגאולה זו, הרי וידעתם כי אני השם אלוקיכם המוציא אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים V'achar sheyagiu l'geulah zu, harei viy'datum ki ani Hashem Elokeichem hamotzi eschem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim. And once we get to that fourth and final language, once there is we close the loop on this whole story of the Jewish people, then we will know about God who took us out. ודבר פלא U'davar peleh, asks רב דרוק Rav Druk, he says, what? וכי ידיעה זו שידעו השם לא זכו לה אלא אחר מתן תורה V'chi yediah zu sheyad'u Hashem lo zachu lah ela achar Matan Torah? It's going to take to getting to הר סיני Har Sinai in order to know that there's a God? How about something called ten plagues? How about the ten times the people saw God suspend the rules of nature, intervene, intercede, reveal himself to the world and to מצרים Mitzrim and to פרעה Paro? That wasn't enough? Why does the פסוק pasuk more than imply, the פסוק pasuk explicitly states that you only come to know God when you come to know God when you arrive at at הר סיני Har Sinai. What do you mean? They knew God before. So, אמר הגאון רבי יחזקאל אברמסקי זצ״ל Amar ha'gaon Reb Yechezkel Abramsky zatzal, רב דרוק Rav Druk quotes, the great תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, the author of the חזון יחזקאל Chazon Yechezkel, רבי יחזקאל אברמסקי Reb Yechezkel Abramsky, who says we learn from here יסוד נורא yesod nora. שהאדם יכול לראות ניסים וישועות גדולות אבל חסר לו את הכלים והאפשרויות לראות אותם במבט הנכון והאמיתי כפי שבאמת צריך להתייחס אליהם She'ha'adam yachol liros nisim v'yeshuos gedolos aval chaser lo es ha'keilim v'ha'efsharuyos liros osam b'mabat ha'nachon v'ha'amiti k'fi she'be'emes tzarich l'hisyacheis aleihem. Says רבי יחזקאל אברמסקי Reb Yechezkel Abramsky, the חזון יחזקאל Chazon Yechezkel a very powerful insight. You could be exposed to and you can see and you can live through and you can observe extraordinary, extraordinary things. But if you don't have the vessel, if you don't have the language, if you don't have the glasses or the filter through which to interpret it and to appreciate it and to understand it and to be moved by it, then you can't really, you can't really absorb it. You can't really absorb it. It's not enough to see wondrous things. It's not enough to see extraordinary things. You need to have the tools, the instruments, the language, you have to have the כלי kli, the vessel, to be able to receive and accept even that extraordinary thing that you're seeing. הדרך היחידה לפרש בצורה נכונה את כל הניסים הוא רק על ידי מבט והשקפה של תורה Ha'derech ha'yechida l'fareish b'tzurah nechona es kol ha'nisim hu rak al yedei mabat v'hashkafa shel Torah. So the only way to interpret these ten things that happen in Egypt, if you wanted, you could dismiss them as all aberrations, as all unusual natural possibilities that as unlikely as they are, you could write them off to coincidence, chance, randomness. It's only when we have the language, it's only when we have the principles of Torah, it's only when we can put on our Torah lens and look at the world through that השקפה hashkafa, we can interpret what we're seeing. לכן כלל ישראל שחוו על בשרם את ישועת השם וראו בחוש את כל מכות מצרים ונגאלו ויצאו משם, עדיין אי אפשר לומר עליהם וידעתם כי אני השם המוציא אתכם Lachen Klal Yisrael shechavu al b'saram es yeshuas Hashem v'rau b'chush es kol makos Mitzrayim v'nigalu v'yatzu misham, adayin ee efshar lomar aleihem v'yidatem ki ani Hashem hamotzi eschem. Until they stood at הר סיני Har Sinai until they had a Torah. until they understood what it was all about. They couldn't appreciate, they couldn't put together, the picture was incomplete and they were incomplete from being able to interpret it and to understand it and to observe it and to act on it. מֵעַתָּה מוּבָן מֵימְרָא קַדְשָׁא, רַק לְאַחַר שֶׁהִתְקַיְּמָה בָּהֶם וְלָקַחְתִּי, שֶׁהוּא מַתַּן תּוֹרָה, *Me'atah muvan maimra kadsha, rak l'achar she'hitkayma bahem velakachti, shehu Matan Torah,* only then הֲרֵי וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי אֲנִי ה' הַמּוֹצִיא אֶתְכֶם מִתַּחַת סִבְלוֹת מִצְרָיִם *hareivi datum ki ani Hashem hamotzi eschem itachas sivlos Mitzrayim*. And that's what he says, Rav Druk expands on this insight of the חזון יחזקאל *Chazon Yechezkel*, that we can understand the גמרא *Gemara*. The גמרא *Gemara* in Niddah דף ל' *Daf Lamed* tells us שעובר במעי אמו יש לו ג' דברים *she'ubar b'mei imo yesh lo gimmel devarim*, that a fetus in the womb of his mother has three things: נר דלוק לו על ראשו *ner daluk lo al rosho*. There is a candle lit over his head, her head, וצופה ומביט מסוף העולם ועד סופו *v'tzofeh u'mabit misof ha'olam v'ad sofo*. And with the light of that candle, this fetus is able to see from one side of the world to the other. וּמְלַמְּדִין אוֹתוֹ כָּל הַתּוֹרָה כֻּלָּהּ *U'melamdin oso kol haTorah kulah*. And we know the fetus, the child in the womb learns the totality of Torah. וכיון שיצא לאויר העולם, בא מלאך וסוטרו על פיו *v'keivan she'yatza l'avir ha'olam, ba malach v'sotro al piv*, the גמרא *Gemara* says כיוון שבא לאויר העולם, בא מלאך וסוטרו על פיו *keivan sheba l'avir ha'olam, ba malach v'sotro al piv*. But once the baby is born, the מלאך *malach* gives a little clap right on the lip. That's why we have the indent on the other upper lip, causing him to forget the entire Torah. לפתח חטאת רובץ *L'petach chatas roveitz*. ויש לעיין *V'yesh l'ayin*, and he wonders, I don't understand. נר דלוק על ראשו *Ner daluk al rosho*, he's got a candle lit, can see from one end of the world to the other, is learning the whole Torah, and when he's done we make him forget. But צריך עיון, מה קרה עם ב' דברים אחרים *tzarich iyun, ma kareh im beis devarim acherim*? What did we cause this baby to forget? The Torah. But we didn't cause the baby to forget the experience of having the candle lit. We didn't cause the baby to forget the experience of seeing from one end of the world to the other. So why doesn't the גמרא *Gemara* talk about the other two things? The fetus, our tradition tells us, has three experiences in the womb.Why did Yaakov kick to get out at a בית מדרש *Beis Medrash* if he was learning Torah with the מלאך *malach* in the womb? Because, no matter how good your rebbe is, if your חברותא *chavrusa* is עשו *Eisav*, you got to get out of the ישיבה *yeshiva*. You got to get out of the בית מדרש *beis medrash*. So every fetus is learning Torah and they're caused to forget. But why do we only relate to the first two, the first one, or one of them, what about the other two? So Rav Druk quotes the סטמאר רבה *Satmar Rebbe*, רבי יואליש *Reb Yoelish*, סטמאר רב *Satmar Rav*. שפשוט הדבר שכל כוח הנר דלוק וצופה ומביט, שיש לו לעובר, הוא רק מכוח הלימוד תורה שהמלאך מלמדו *She'pashut hadavar she'kol koach ha'ner daluk v'tzofeh u'mabit, she'yesh lo la'ubar, hu rak mikoach ha'limud Torah shehamalach melamdo*. Because the ability to sense the light and the ability to see from one end of the world to the other is only through the lens of Torah. So once the baby is caused to forget the experience of learning Torah, they don't need to be caused to forget the other two because they go with it. It's only when you have Torah as a כלי *kli* through which to interpret, to appreciate, to understand, to assimilate everything we're seeing and experiencing. Torah is what gives us truth. And without the Torah, then you cannot trust that what's being experienced or what's being seen is accurate, real, or authentic. So therefore, the גמרא *Gemara* doesn't have to say that the other two are forgotten because with Torah, by definition and automatically, the other two are forgotten, are are forgotten with it. So again, the ולקחתי *velakachti*, you see that this fourth stage is critical. There can't be a הפסק *hefsek* between the third cup and the fourth cup. ולקחתי *Velakachti* getting to הר סיני *Har Sinai* is what animates. It's what, it's what elevates the whole first three parts. We're not just born to be a secular political entity, a nation like every other. We're born to be a covenantal community, a holy nation, a nation with a purpose, a nation on a mandate, a nation on a mission. And how do we know that mission? Torah articulates and Torah empowers us for that mission. Torah enables us to be able to interpret and to understand the world around us. The גמרא *Gemara* in שבת *Shabbos* says that when a person dies, they come upstairs, they're asked all these questions by the angel. And one of them is, one of them is קבעת עיתים לתורה *kavata itim laTorah*? Which we interpret to mean קבעת עיתים לתורה *kavata itim laTorah* means did you set aside time for Torah study? Did you make Tuesday mornings 9:30 a priority? Do you learn the דף *daf* every day? Do you have a חברותא *chavrusa*? Do you go to whatever שיעור *shiur* you go to? Did you set aside time? Did you establish ongoing set aside time for Torah learning? קבעת עיתים לתורה *Kavata itim laTorah*. However, the בעלי מוסר *baalei mussar* interpret it differently. And they say the following, קבעת עיתים לתורה *kavata itim laTorah* or קבעת תורה לעיתים *kavata Torah l'itim*? קבעת עיתים לתורה *Kavata itim laTorah* means the עיתים *itim* means the times. עיתים *Itim* means the times. So, Times of Israel, New York Times, the Times of the world, קבעת עיתים *kavata itim*, when you're reading the Times, whichever Times, I hope it's not the New York Times, don't give them money. But when you're reading the Times, קבעת עיתים לתורה *kavata itim laTorah*? Did you interpret what you're reading through the prism of Torah or קבעת תורה לעיתים *kavata Torah l'itim*? Or do you look into the Torah and say, I'm going to manipulate and distort this פסק *psak*, this מצוה *mitzva*, this law to conform with my culture, with the climate of my time, with the ethos and the mores of my time? That's what we're going to be asked when we come upstairs. קבעת תורה לעיתים *Kavata Torah l'itim*? Did we make the times conform to Torah? Or did we make Torah conform to the times? And that's what he's saying. We use Torah to be our lens to help us interpret the world. And therefore it took כלל ישראל *Klal Yisrael* getting to הר סיני *Har Sinai*. It took the ולקחתי *velakachti*, and only when they got there, וידעתם כי אני השם המוציא אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים *v'yidatem ki ani Hashem hamotzi etchem mitachat sivlos Mitzrayim*. Ten plagues didn't do it. And a splitting sea didn't do it. It only took getting to הר סיני *Har Sinai*. Then and only then could they appreciate fully what it meant because they had the Torah to give them the language, to give them a context, gave them a sense of appreciation. Okay, we're going to do another piece by Rav Druk. And he says the following. Again, these four languages of גאולה *geulah*. And Rashi says סבלות מצרים *sivlos Mitzrayim*. Then you will know that God is the one who מוציא אתכם *motzi etchem*, who takes you out מתחת סבלות מצרים *mitachat sivlos Mitzrayim*. סבלות מצרים *Sivlos Mitzrayim* says Rashi, טורח משא מצרים *torach masa Mitzrayim*, from the burden of the weight of Mitzrayim. ויש לדקדק מדוע בתחילה כתוב על ד' לשונות גאולה, והוצאתי, והצלתי, וגאלתי, ולקחתי *V'yesh l'dakdek madua b'techila kasuv al dalet leshonos geulah, v'hotzeisi, v'hitzalti, v'gaalti, v'lakachti*. And at the end it says וידעתם כי אני השם אלקיכם *v'yidatem ki ani Hashem Elokeichem* and ולא כתיב אלא לשון גאולה הראשונה, המוציא אתכם *v'lo ksiv ela lashon geulah harishonah, hamotzi etchem*. In other words, when we summarize at the end what the goal of it all was, why did we only invoke one of the four languages? וידעתם *Viyidatem*, you'll know then. What will you know? God is what? The one who is המוציא *hamotzi*. That's והצלתי *v'hitzalti*, that's והוצאתי *v'hotzeisi*. What about והצלתי וגאלתי ולקחתי *v'hitzalti v'gaalti v'lakachti*? Why do we only associate the end, the summary, the conclusion, the goal, of וידעתם *v'yidatem* with the first language of גאולה *geulah* of המוציא *hamotzi*, והוצאתי *v'hotzeisi*? Why not with the other three languages of גאולה *geulah*? So he says the following. ונראה לפרש בדרך קושיא גדולה. מדוע כאשר הקדוש ברוך הוא נראה לאברם בברית בין הבתרים *V'nir'eh l'faresh b'derech kushia gedola. Madua ka'asher Hakadosh Baruch Hu nir'a l'Avram b'vris bein habesarim*. Why when God revealed himself to Avram and he entered the covenant, the ברית בין הבתרים *bris bein habesarim* with Avram, and he told him, your children are going to serve, they're going to be enslaved for how long? 400 years. Of course, it was limited, it was only 210 in the end, but 400 years. The same Avram who stood up for the evil, wicked people of סדום *Sdom*. What does he say to God when God says your children are going to suffer 400 years in Egypt? Anyone remember what Avram said? That's right. Avram said nothing. Why didn't he say something? Why didn't he say, God, ריבונו של עולם *Ribono shel Olam*, Almighty, אבי רחמן *Av Harachaman*, how could you do that to my children? These are my children. So for the strangers סדום *Sdom*, the wicked people of סדום *Sdom*, he advocates and he says, how could you do it? And for his own children, who God says 400 years they're going to suffer in the hands of the Egyptians, he says nothing. How could it be? How could it be? So says Rav Druk the following. He says the following, צריך לבאר *Tzarich l'va'er* שתכלית עבדותא שהיתה במצרים היתה, כדי שיטבע בגופינו ובנפשותינו המושג עבדות *She'tachlis avdusa she'haysa b'Mitzrayim haysa, kedei sheyitba b'gufeinu u'v'nafshoseinu hamusag avdus*. Why did we have to go through the כור הברזל *kur habarzel*? Why did we have to go through the fiery furnace of Mitzrayim before we could emerge a people? And this is really a question for ספר בראשית *Sefer Bereishis* in the ברית בין הבתרים *Bris Bein Habesarim*. But when God made that covenant with Avram and he said, before you can go from a family to a people, before you can become a nation, you must endure, you must become hardened, you must gain the resiliency of having to survive an experience of a Mitzrayim. Why? Why? Wouldn't it have been much more lovely? Wouldn't it have been much more gentle? Wouldn't it have been much more an act of a loving father to allow us to just become a nation in prosperity? Why couldn't we become a nation in prosperity? Why did we have to become a nation in service, in slavery? And says Rav Druk, because we needed to be introduced to the concept of עבדות *avdus*. You see, if the whole goal and the mission, the purpose of life is ולקחתם *velakachtem*, is to be able to come to הר סיני *Har Sinai*, is to receive the Torah and to be an עבד השם *eved Hashem*, to be an עבד השם *eved Hashem*. That's the goal, that's the purpose. אני עבדך *Ani avdecha*. אני עבדך השם *Ani avdecha Hashem*. I am your servant. That's our mission, that's our goal. That's how we measure how our spiritual well-being is. We needed to first experience what עבדות *avdus* is. We needed to be introduced to the concept of, put what you want aside, you serve a master. You serve a master. There are some wonderful, amazing people I know who have done tremendous things in the community and in the world. But you know, sometimes a person who never worked for someone a day in their life, they were an entrepreneur from a very young age, they started their own company, they had a lot of success, and they don't know, they're not familiar with the experience of saying, I think we should do it this way, but the boss says, that's lovely, that's nice, we're going to do it my way. They've never ever heard no. They've never ever had to defer or submit to someone else. They don't have the experience of surrender, of submission, of having to defer to the opinion or the conclusion of someone else. Someone who's never experienced that עבדות *avdus*, so to say, they've never worked for someone. They don't know what it means to be accountable and to report. They don't know what it means to hear no. They don't know what it means to have things delegated to them. They don't know what it means to not own their own time, but to have to report to someone else. So such a person is missing a quality in life. And here too, had the Jewish people not first gone to Egypt, they wouldn't be familiar, they wouldn't have experienced the concept of עבדות *avdus* of what it means, which was a prerequisite. Before you can be an עבד השם *eved Hashem*, you have to know what it means to be an עבד *eved*. You have to know what it means to be an עבד *eved*, says Rav Druk. הוא שאנו אומרים ויצאנו ממצרים, יצאנו מתוכם לחירות עולם. היכן יצאנו לחירות עולם? *Hu she'anu omrim 'Vayotzienu miMitzrayim,' yetzanu mitocham l'cheirus olam. Heichan yetzanu l'cheirus olam?* How could you say that we went to חירות עולם *cheirus olam*, to real freedom? We just exchanged one master for another. So where do we have freedom today? And the answer is that you only have freedom if you serve Hashem. That's the only real freedom there is. So we had to be introduced. And therefore וידעתם כי אני השם אלקיכם, המוציא אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים *v'yidatem ki ani Hashem Elokeichem, hamotzi etchem mitachat sivlos Mitzrayim*. הביטוי לשעבוד הנפש המוחלט למצרים *Habitui l'shibud hanefesh hamuchlat l'Mitzrayim*. The סבלות *sivlos*, the suffering, the bondage was the experience of עבדות *avdus*, the experience of submission and surrender. That's what it means. What is, what is סבלנות *savlanus*? What is סבלנות *savlanus*? Rav Volbe points out, the word סבלנות *savlanus*, the word we use for patience. סבלנות *Savlanus*. A little סבלנות, נו *savlanus, nu*. A little patience. What is סבלנות *savlanus*? It's סבלנות *savlanus*. What is סבלנות *savlanus*? It is the capacity to surrender, submit, to wait patiently, to not have things on your timetable, to not happen the way you want it to happen, that you have to be patient. That's why it's the same word. Did it ever occur to you? סבלות מצרים *Sivlos Mitzrayim*. סבלות *Sivlos* means bondage. סבלות *Sivlos* means suffering. סבלנות *Savlanus* means patience. And the answer is the patient person suffers. The patient person surrenders. And that's the experience we had to have, an experience of עבדות *avdus* before we could become an עבד השם *eved Hashem*. We had to first be familiar with and know what it means to be an עבד *eved*. Therefore, ידיעת השם שייכת ליציאה מתחת סבלות מצרים, כיוון שהיא רק היא מבטאת ההכרה המוחלטת בבורא עולם שהכניסו לצרים למצרים *yediat Hashem shayaches l'yetzia mitachat sivlos Mitzrayim, keivan she'hi rak hi mevates ha'hakara hamuchletes b'borei olam shehichnisu l'tzarim l'Mitzrayim*. And that is the connection with this expression and with this phrase. Okay, the Torah tells us that Moshe tells Hashem, how in the world is Pharaoh going to listen to me? We begin the period of the מכות *makos*. We've discussed in previous years, I think last year's we analyzed רבי יהודה *Rebbi Yehuda*. We said at the סדר *seder*, רבי יהודה *Rebbi Yehuda*. רבי יהודה *Rebbi Yehuda* נתן בהם סימנים, דצ\"ך עד\"ש באח\"ב *nasan bahem simanim: detzach, adash, b'achav*. He had such an איינפאל *einfall*. Wow, what a brilliant breakthrough. He created an acronym, he broke it up into three groups. 10 plagues, three, three and four. Oh, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. What's so brilliant what רבי יהודה *Rebbi Yehuda* did? He gave an acronym? He divided by three? What's so brilliant? And the answer we spoke about last year, I defer you to last, I refer you to last year's שיעור *shiur*. The answer is, these three categories, they weren't just three groupings, they represent three pedagogic stages or lessons that the מכות *makos* were meant to teach. The מכות *makos* were not random. The מכות *makos* were not meant for פרעה *Paroh* and the Egyptians alone. The מכות *makos* were a curriculum, an exercise in pedagogy for the Jewish people. And the three groupings that רבי יהודה *Rebbi Yehuda* lumps them in reflect three lessons that we needed to learn, three lessons that פרעה *Paroh* and the Egyptians needed to learn. So we've spoken about that before. But when Hashem says to Moshe, you're going to deliver the מכות *makos*, Moshe says, me? What are you crazy? They'll never listen to me. פרעה *Paroh* won't listen to me. I can't even get the Jewish people to listen to me. And why won't they listen? Because מקוצר רוח ומעבודה קשה *m'kotzer ruach u'me'avodah kasha*. Says the אמרי חיים *Imrei Chaim*. Says the ויז'ניצר רבי *Vizhnitzer Rebbe*, what does it mean? What does it mean? So first of all going back, והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים *v'hotzeisi eschem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim*. Listen to this ויז'ניצר רבי *Vizhnitzer Rebbe*. הוציא אתכם משעבודכם הרוחני, מה שאתם יכולים עוד לסבול הזוהמא של מצרים *Otzi eschem mi'shibudchem ha'ruchni, ma she'atem yecholim od lisbol hazuhama shel Mitzrayim*. פשש *Pshhh*. What an אמרי חיים *Imrei Chaim*. Wow. והוצאתי אתכם *V'hotzeisi eschem*. When God's going to liberate us, from where? סבלות מצרים *Sivlos Mitzrayim*. I'm finishing off the thought that I started before. סבלות *Sivlos* means the suffering. סבלנות *Savlanus* means the patience. The אמרי חיים *Imrei Chaim* puts the two together. And the ויז'ניצר רבי *Vizhnitzer Rebbe* says, you know what God's going to take you out of? You've been way, way, way too patient for the corruption of Egypt. You've been way, way, way too tolerant for the moral depravity, the moral decay, the moral corruption of Egypt. It's time to take you out. והוצאתי אתכם *V'hotzeisi eschem*, I'm going to get you out, מתחת *mitachas*, from under, the סבלנות *savlanus* for מצרים *Mitzrayim*. You've been way too patient, way too patient. You talk about a פרשה *parsha* perspective for today, you know, sometimes too many of us have been, had too much סבלנות *savlanus*. There are adversaries and enemies, there are people who are against us, and we're way too tolerant. We have way too much patience. Rav Soloveitchik said, I've quoted this very often, the miracle of the story of פורים *Purim*, our next big holiday, ט\"ו בשבט *Tu B'Shvat*, then פורים *Purim*. The miracle of פורים *Purim* is an enemy swore to to destroy us and the miracle is we believed him. Too often in Jewish history, no, he doesn't really mean that, and you have to understand where he's coming from, and he had a rough childhood, and it's not really fair to him, and he doesn't really mean that, maybe we deserve that. What happened with פורים *Purim*? An enemy stood up and said, I'm going to destroy the Jewish people, and we believed him. We were intolerant for the intolerable. And that's the miracle of פורים *Purim*. And says the ויז'ניצר רבי *Vizhnitzer Rebbe* that אמרי חיים *Imrei Chaim*, that's what's going on here. והוצאתי אתכם *V'hotzeisi eschem*, Hashem says I'm going to take you out מתחת *mitachas* from under, not סבלות *sivlos*, but סבלנות *savlanus*. You've been way too patient. You've explained too much. You've tolerated too much. You've tolerated moral decay and it's infiltrated and penetrated the Jewish people. You've tolerated enemies who are hostile, and yet you explain them or even align with them. So what's real redemption? Redemption is a miracle of redemption is when Hashem takes us out from being overly patient, from having too much tolerance for that which is intolerable. That's the connection between סבלות *sivlos* suffering and סבלנות *savlanus* patience. But coming back to our קוצר רוח ועבודה קשה *kotzer ruach v'avodah kasha*. What does it mean that the people couldn't hear? Says the ויז'ניצר רבי *Vizhnitzer Rebbe*, מדוע לא שמעו מצדיק *madua lo shamu mi'tzaddik*? You know, you have משה רבינו *Moshe Rabbeinu*, he comes, and he says, here's the deal, everyone, we're out. We're going free. Great news to report. And what do they say, ah, get out of here. We don't believe you. Nobody wants to hear you. Nobody wants your message. What happened? What happened? Says the אמרי חיים *Imrei Chaim*, מדוע לא שמעו מצדיק *madua lo shamu mi'tzaddik*? Why doesn't someone hear a צדיק *tzaddik* who has a message of redemption, has the answer and the recipe, the formula for a redemptive life? Why do we reject the צדיק *tzaddik*? מקוצר רוח *M'kotzer ruach*. שמכצרים בענייני רוחניות *she'mekatzrim b'inyanei ruchnius*. Because the more that we indulge in the physical and the more that we deprive ourselves and dehydrate in the spiritual, then we're not going to heed the message of the צדיק *tzaddik*. So you can have a righteous man or woman, you can have a righteous role model who's coming, and whether explicitly or implicitly, is bringing a message of redemption of how we could lead a more redeemed life. And we reject it מקוצר רוח *m'kotzer ruach*. קוצר רוח *Kotzer ruach*, the ויז'ניצר *Vizhnitzer* is interpreting to mean, קוצר רוח *kotzer ruach* is we don't have spirituality. ומעבודה קשה *U'me'avodah kasha*. And the עבודה *avodah* of קשה *kasha*. The קשה *kasha* word קשה *kasha* comes from קושיא *kushia*. We're too busy asking our קשיות *kashos*. We're too busy פרעגן א קשיא *freigin a kasha*. We're too busy trying to שלאָגן אַפּ *shluggen up* the צדיק *tzaddik*. We're too busy with our cynicism and sarcasm trying to undermine the message of the צדיק *tzaddik* that we reject it, that we don't listen, that we're incapable of of hearing. Now Moshe extrapolates and says, if the people don't listen to me, how on the world do you expect פרעה *Paroh* to listen to me? And Rashi on those words, ואיך ישמעני פרעה *v'eich yishma'eini Paroh*, writes, זה אחד מעשרה קל וחומר שבתורה *zeh echad me'asara kal v'chomer she'baTorah*. This is one of 10 a fortiori theories, one of the few Latin words that anyone with the סונסינו גמרא *Soncino Gemara* knows. This is one of the ten קל וחומרים *kal v'chomerim*. If this, then that's, that's the translation of the Latin. The ten קל וחומרים *kal v'chomerim* that you find in the Torah. And there's a famous, famous question asked on this קל וחומר *kal v'chomer*. There's a tremendous פירכא *pircha*. You can שלאָגן אַפּ *shluggen up* this קל וחומר *kal v'chomer*. How can you שלאָגן אַפּ *shluggen up* this קל וחומר *kal v'chomer*? Pharaoh not listening and the people not listening, are they the same? Why did the people not listen? The people didn't listen מקוצר רוח *m'kotzer ruach*. Backbreaking labor. The people didn't listen, they couldn't hear, they didn't heed the message, because they were being oppressed, persecuted, tortured. Who had a mindset, who had the margin, who had the quiet to be able to hear a message, to be able to be optimistic and hopeful? That's why the people didn't hear. But פרעה *Paroh* won't hear either if the people did? פרעה *Paroh*'s living in the lap of luxury. פרעה *Paroh*'s in the palace. פרעה *Paroh* should have no problem with the bandwidth to be able to hear such a message. So where's the קל וחומר *kal v'chomer*? It's a פירכא *pircha* on the קל וחומר *kal v'chomer*. Moshe says if the people for whom the message is positive won't be able to hear me, then קל וחומר *kal v'chomer*, all the more so, פרעה *Paroh* who the message is against him, certainly he won't be able to hear me. So everybody asks, what kind of קל וחומר *kal v'chomer* is that? The people couldn't hear you because they're being, they're suffering. That doesn't mean that פרעה *Paroh* won't be able to hear you. That doesn't apply to פרעה *Paroh*. So Rav Druk quotes רבי אליהו מזרחי *Rebbi Eliyahu Mizrachi* who writes the following. משה רבינו עליו השלום כשדן הקל וחומר הזה מתחילה, לא ידע שהסיבה שלא שמעו היה מסיבת קוצר רוח ועבודה קשה, ולכן דן אותו. *Moshe Rabbeinu alav hashalom k'shedan ha'kal v'chomer hazeh m'tchila, lo yada she'hasiba shelo shamu haya m'sibas kotzer ruach v'avodah kasha, v'lachen dan oso*. והכתוב מעיד ואומר שהסיבה שלא שמעו היה מחמת קוצר רוח. *v'hakatuv me'id v'omer shehasiba shelo shamu haya machmas kotzer ruach*. פשש *Pshhh*. רבי אליהו מזרחי *Rebbi Eliyahu Mizrachi*, the מזרחי *Mizrachi*, one of the super commentaries on Rashi, says, wow, what an insight. He says, we know why they didn't hear. We are aware that the reason they didn't hear is because they were out of breath. They had no vision, backbreaking labor. Moshe didn't know that. So what did Moshe think was the reason they didn't hear? Moshe thought the reason was ערל שפתים *aral sfatayim*. Moshe said, look, who am I? I have no oratory skill. I'm not charismatic. I'm not compelling. I can't sell this. I can't sell this. I can't even sell freedom to slaves. You want me to sell it to Pharaoh? I'm a horrible spokesperson. I'm the worst spokesperson that ever lived. I can't even sell it to this people. Then the Torah gives the פירכא *pircha*. No, the people couldn't hear because קוצר רוח ועבודה קשה *kotzer ruach v'avodah kasha*. There's a very, very powerful lesson, says Rav Druk from here. מכאן למדנו מידת ענוותנותו של משה *Mikan lamadnu midas anvanuso shel Moshe*. We learn about the humility of Moshe. That when Moshe sees that they can't hear him, he doesn't assume it's a problem in them. What does he assume to begin with? It's a problem in him. He says, they're not hearing the message, not because you're not listening to me, but because maybe I'm not saying it well. ויש ללמוד מזה מוסר השכל חשוב. הרבה פעמים כשאדם רואה איזה חיסרון או קלקול, ממהר הוא לתלות החסרון בחבירו. אבל לא כן הדבר. האדם השלם, קודם הוא צריך לתלות הקלקול בעצמו. *V'yesh lilmod mizeh musar haskel chashuv. Harbei pe'amim k'sheadam ro'eh eizeh chisaron o kilkul, memaher hu litlos hachisaron b'chaveiro. Aval lo kein hadavar. Ha'adam hashalem, kodem hu tzarich litlos hakilkul b'atzmo*. You see that when Moshe engages encounters the people and the people aren't listening, he doesn't say, oh, it's a problem in them. He says it's a problem in me. Often we're trying to persuade someone else. There are no shortage of issues, topics today people are trying to persuade one another. So what happens? We assume when the other person is not persuaded, when the other person doesn't buy what we're saying, we assume it's a problem in them. You're not listening. You're not understanding. If it only you'd listen, then certainly you'd be persuaded by what I'm saying. Maybe we should hold up a mirror. Maybe we're not saying it well. Maybe what we're saying is wrong. Maybe it's not compelling. Maybe we need to do the one, the one who should be doing a little bit more listening. When Moshe encounters them and they don't hear, he doesn't say it's a problem in them. He assumes it's a problem in him. And that's why that קל וחומר *kal v'chomer* made sense within his mind and within his instinct, within his intuition, his assumption, that it's a problem in me, well, if they can't hear me because that's what a horrible spokesperson I am, that's what a terrible salesman I am, then there's no chance that Pharaoh's going to hear me either. And therefore the קל וחומר *kal v'chomer* doesn't have a פירכא *pircha* within Moshe's mind because of the assumption he was working off of. Only after do we realize it's קוצר רוח ועבודה קשה *kotzer ruach v'avodah kasha*. They have no רוחניות *ruchnius*. And they're too busy שלאָגן אַפּ *shluggen up* קשיות *kashos*. They're too busy asking questions. Or the אור החיים *Ohr HaChaim*. I love this אור החיים *Ohr HaChaim*. I say it every year, and I'm not going to stop saying it. I'm not going to apologize for saying it. The אור החיים *Ohr HaChaim* says, קוצר רוח *kotzer ruach* doesn't mean out of breath. Rashi says, shortness of breath. If you're carrying a load of bricks upstairs, you're building a pyramid, you're going to run out of breath. Some people when you get up off the chair when you're done with the shear, you're going to be out of breath. Certainly if you're doing backbreaking labor, you're going to be out of breath. That's how Rashi understands קוצר רוח *kotzer ruach*. The אור החיים *Ohr HaChaim* says that's not קוצר רוח *kotzer ruach*. You know what קוצר רוח *kotzer ruach* is? I encounter people all the time. I counsel people all the time who are stuck. They're in a dark place and they've given up on themselves and they've given up on their ability to have a brighter future. They say, I'm done. I'll never get married. I'm never having a child. I'm never finding happiness. I'm never breaking through and having prosperity. I'm done. They stop believing. קוצר רוח *Kotzer ruach*. רוח *Ruach* means like we've got רוח *ruach*, yes we do, we've got רוח *ruach*, how about you? Do you have a happiness and a joy for life, a שמחת החיים *simchas hachaim*? Do you have an optimism and a hope and a faith? ייאוש *Ye'ush* is אסור מן התורה *assur min haTorah*. You're not allowed to give up. You can't have ייאוש *ye'ush*. ייאוש שלאו מדעת *Ye'ush shelo midaas*. You're not in your right mind if you're hopeless and in despair because a Jew always has to believe. קוצר רוח *Kotzer ruach*. Your רוח *ruach*, your sense of joy, your שמחת החיים *simchas hachaim*, the רוח *ruach* that you have, the vision, the ability to believe, to believe in yourself, to believe in what you're capable of, you can never ever short change. You can never give up. You can never become hopeless. Okay. A next significant topic in our פרשה *parsha*, again, we've spoken about this, who hasn't countless times, is the hardening of פרעה *Paroh*'s heart. But I want to share a little bit of a different perspective and one for today on this topic. פרק ז' פסוק ג' *Perek zayin, pasuk gimmel*. Moving along, we have an introduction, the genealogy. If Moshe and Aaron are going to step up, we're going to step up and be the spokes people, then we are reminded of, excuse me, their genealogy and their background, including the mothers, the wives who brought them to be. And then again, Moshe, he's still trying to convince God. הן אני ערל שפתיים, ואיך ישמע אלי פרעה *Hein ani aral sfatayim, v'eich yishma'eini Paroh*. Come on, let me off. And he just, but just God won't buy it. He just won't let it go. So פרק ז' פסוק ג' *perek zayin, pasuk gimmel*. ואני אקשה את לב פרעה והרביתי את אותותי ואת מופתי *V'ani aksheh es lev Paroh v'hirbeisi es ososai v'es mofsai*. Hashem says relax, don't worry about it. It's not about your ability to sell it. I'm going to harden Pharaoh's heart. There's nothing that you could do. He's not letting the people go, and that's by design. I'm hardening his heart. We all know, we all know the story, we all know this first, this first plague, the plague of of blood. In fact, I'll tell you a crazy story for one brief moment that happened last year around this time. What happened? Last year, the Russian River, which runs through the Sonoma County in Northern California, turned red. Last year, פרשת וארא *Parshas Vaeira*, that very same פרשה *parsha*. Why, what happened? The people of California were struck by a plague? I will not weigh into politics and answer that. But what happened was a blending tank from a local California vineyard sprung a leak and dumped 97,000 gallons of red wine onto the ground and it ran into a nearby river. And to get a sense, that's enough wine to fill half a million bottles. That's how much wine. Half a million bottles of wine ran into the river and it turned the river red, making the fish swimming in the river delicious herring in wine sauce. Anyway, so in our פרשה *parsha*, ויחזק לב פרעה ויכבד את לבו *Vayechazek lev Paroh vayichbad es libo*. So I just read you one pasuk. פרק ז', פסוק ג' *perek zayin, pasuk gimmel*. Hashem says אקשה *aksheh*, I'll make it hard. Later, פרק ח', פסוק י\"א *perek ches, pasuk yud aleph*. פרעה *Paroh* saw כי היתה הרוחה *ki haysa ha'revacha*, there was relief, but what happened? והכבד את לבו *v'hachbed es libo*. His heart became hardened and he didn't hear. וישלח פרעה והנה לא מת ממקנה *Vayishlach Paroh v'hinei lo meis mimikneh*. And then in פרק ט', פסוק ז' *perek tes, pasuk zayin*, a next plague. When Pharaoh inquired, he found out that not a head of the livestock had died. The Jewish people's animals had lived. ויכבד לב פרעה *Vayichbad lev Paroh*. Pharaoh remained stubborn. He wouldn't let the people go. Pharaoh's reaction to the plagues is simply mind boggling. No rational, normal person could read what's going on and think it makes sense. How is it possible? How could a leader, how could a leader who is receiving personal disastrous results, continue down the same path that's bringing about those results? How could they be so blind? How could they not see how they're sabotaging their own success, their own well-being? How do they not see that their strategy, their actions are counterproductive? They're going against their own best interests. How could it be that Pharaoh could endure each of these plagues and remain so stubborn? It's almost impossible to believe, almost. He suffers a week of water turning to blood, another week of frogs invading every space, including his palace, his home, his bedroom, his personal space. Third week, struck terrible lice, and each time that the affliction, the מכה *makka* is lifted, each time he hardens his part heart and he digs deep and he becomes stubborn and he remains steadfast and he resists the message and he continues along the same path, he continues to be the same demagogue, he continues to be the same dictator, he continues to act in the same way and preach the same things, bringing about horrific results. How could it be? What did he get in return? What he got in return now is the next plague, which is ferocious animals wreaking havoc. And then a week of livestock dying and rotting carcasses filling his country. And how does he react? The putrid smell of rotting carcasses filling his country. What a catastrophe. The Torah tells us, you know what he did? He hardened his heart again. He doubled down again. He remained stubborn again. How is it possible that a person could be so obstinate? Even after getting so much pain. So there's a tremendous insight of רב וולבה *Rav Wolbe* on the פרשה *parsha*. In the שיעורי חומש על הפרשה, פרשת וארא *Shiurei Chumash al haParsha, Parshas Vaeira*, he says, you know, we look at the story and we say, what a moron. What a fool. What a wicked person. Why would he sabotage himself by being so stubborn, by being so unfeeling, so callous, so obtuse to the message and to the response that he's getting from his own actions? But says רב וולבה *Rav Wolbe*, if we're honest with ourselves, then we should admit that there's a little פרעה *Paroh* in each of us. Because there are messages and phenomena, there are events and experiences, God is talking to each of us trying to tug on our heartstrings every day to wake us up and to inspire us and to move us and to motivate us to change and to grow. And what do we do? We harden our hearts. We double down. We dig in our heels, and we relentlessly cling to the ideas and the behaviors and the attitudes that are self-destructive and that deprive us of our own happiness and success. פרעה *Paroh* was willing to put up with the stench of decaying beasts. He was prepared to endure pain and suffering rather than admit he was wrong. And is it not true that we are also, says רב וולבה *Rav Wolbe*? There's a little פרעה *Paroh* in all of us. There are reactions and responses, there are messages all around being broadcast to us and we ignore them. We reject them and we don't allow them to penetrate our heart or to inform or inspire us, but we remain steadfast and obstinate and stubborn in what we believe and what we're doing because we don't want to change. There are people who have a heart attack. There are people whose lungs are filled with blood, but they keep smoking and they keep eating the way they were. There are people whose marriages are falling apart because they're a tyrant in their home, but they don't hear the message. And there are countless other examples. The distance between the head and the heart is the furthest distance between any two objects on Earth. And these פרשיות *parshios*, says רב וולבה *Rav Wolbe*, you could read it as an outsider critical of פרעה *Paroh* and say, how could it be? I don't understand it. Or you could read it and say there's a little פרעה *Paroh* in every one of us, that we too, too often, we too, too often neglect the messages being broadcast at us and continue and remain steadfast and hold on to the things that are actually depriving us of the happiness and success we claim we want. You know, the biblical word, the Torah word for intimacy, for a connection that transcends words, a description, is דעת *daas*. וידע אדם את חוה אשתו *Vayeda Adam es Chava ishto*, דעת *daas*, intimacy is דעת *daas*. פרעה *Paroh* read about God. He took philosophy and he read about and he studied and he entered the arguments of the existence of God. But when Moshe first comes to them, what does פרעה *Paroh* say in our פרשה *parsha*? לא ידעתי את השם *Lo yadati es Hashem*. I don't know this God. Who, I'm sorry, who are you here on behalf of? I'm sorry, who do you represent? I'm sorry, who's going to do what? לא ידעתי את השם *Lo yadati es Hashem*. I don't understand. But פרעה *Paroh* studied philosophy. What do you mean לא ידעתי את השם *lo yadati es Hashem*? And the answer is, דעת *daas*, דעה *de'ah* is not a knowledge that's in the head. דעת *Daas* is the knowledge that filters down to the heart. What פרעה *Paroh* was saying, I don't know, I've never experienced that God. I don't have a relationship. I've never heard him talking to me. I've never spoken to him. I have no sense of intimacy with him. He doesn't have a place in my heart. לא ידעתי את השם *Lo yadati es Hashem*, I don't know that God. So Hashem says, okay, I want you to get to know me. We're going to take it from the philosophical, the conceptual, the abstract, and now we're going to make it experiential. And that's what the מכות *makos*, these plagues are all about. Experiencing God, firsthand. You want to know me? You know what Hashem says? וידעו מצרים כי אני השם *V'yadu Mitzrayim ki ani Hashem*. I'm going to bring these 10 plagues and the Egyptians will know that I'm God. לא ידעתי את השם *Lo yadati es Hashem*, וידעו מצרים כי אני השם *v'yadu Mitzrayim ki ani Hashem*. Not a coincidence those go together. פרעה *Paroh* says I don't have a דעת *da'as*, I have no intimate connection. Who is this God? He says, I'm going to come into your bedroom, into your barn. I'm going to come across the country. I'm going to come into your stock market called the Nile River. You will know me personally and you will know me firsthand. And what does פרעה *Paroh* do? He doubles down, even after he's capable of having that knowledge, he makes it remain in the head and he doesn't allow it to come down to the heart. And that's why the language that's used, says רב וולבה *Rav Wolbe* over and over again is he hardened his heart. It means in his head he saw and understood what was happening, but he hardened his heart. Not Hashem, פרעה *Paroh* hardened his heart. פרעה *Paroh* prevented the message from filtering down, from coming down, from becoming real, from becoming real. וידעת השם *V'yadata Hashem*, what do we say in our דאווענען *davening*? We are reminded, וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך v'yadata hayom v'hasheivosa el levavecha. We have to know it up here, conceptually, analytically, philosophically, but where do we have to place it? והשבותה אל לבבך v'hasheivosa el levavecha. For it to really change us, for it to move us, it has to be something which is in the heart. And that's what we say, men who put on תפילין tfillin this morning said this when we wound the תפילין tfillin around our finger, וארשתיך לי באמונה v'erastich li b'emunah, וידעת את השם v'yadaat es Hashem. How do you get to the point of וידעת את השם v'yadaat es Hashem? First, וארשתיך לי באמונה v'erastich li b'emunah. You have to have אמונה emunah. You have to bind yourself with אמונה emunah. You have to וארשתיך v'erastich, you have to fall in love, you have to marry God with faith, with אמונה emunah, and then וידעת v'yadaas, and then we'll truly be able to know השם Hashem. So the מכות makkos are a curriculum for פרעה Paroh who says, לא ידעתי lo yadati, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know that God, to get to the place of being, oh you don't know God? Here he is. רב לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev tells a story along these same lines. רב לוי יצחק Rav Levi Yitzchak, first time he, רב לוי יצחק Rav Levi Yitzchak traveled to go see the צדיק tzaddik, the רבי רב שמלקה מניקלשבורג Rebbe Reb Shmelke of Nikolsburg. And he went to his home. So he asked and and then he went home. So they asked him, what did you learn in the home of of of of the רבי רב שמלקה Rebbe Reb Shmelke? So he said, I learned that there's a בורא עולם Borei Olam. I learned that there's a creator of the world. So that's you traveled and you came home and that's what you learned? That's what you took away that there's a בורא עולם Borei Olam? So what did you learn from that? So his father-in-law said, that's what you learned? So he calls his housekeeper, come here. And he says to the housekeeper, he says to the maid, to the servant, he says, tell me, does God exist? And the housekeeper says, sure. Yeah, absolutely, God exists. So his father-in-law says to him, for that you traveled to the רבי רב שמלקה Rebbe Reb Shmelke to learn that there's a God? The housekeeper, the maid knows that. That you needed to travel to the רבי Rebbe? So he answers רב לוי יצחק Rav Levi Yitzchak and he says, she said there's a God. I know God. There's a world of difference between what we say and what we know, what we intimately know, what we experience, what becomes part of us. And that was what this פרשה parsha is really all about, is placing that. I had a hundred more things I want to share with you. Very important message at the end of the פרשה parsha, ושמתי פדות בין עמי ובין עמך v'samti p'dus bein ami u'vein amecha, that השם Hashem put a distinction, a difference. קודשא בריך הוא Kudsha B'rich Hu explains again, really coming full circle. I, השם Hashem says פרק ח פסוק יט Perek Ches Pasuk Yud Tes. I know that we're overtime, I'm ending. He says פרק ח פסוק יט Perek Ches Pasuk Yud Tes, towards the end of the פרשה parsha, ושמתי פדות בין עמי ובין עמך למחר יהיה האות הזה v'samti p'dus bein ami u'vein amecha l'machar yihyeh ha'os hazeh. השם Hashem says I'm putting a distinction between, I'll make a distinction between my people and your people, tomorrow the sign will come about. משה Moshe is communicating, ושמתי פדות בין עמי ובין עמך v'samti p'dus bein ami u'vein amecha. So that notion of הבדלה havdalah, the רב rav here talks about הבדלה בין ישראל לעמים havdalah bein Yisrael la'amim. Again, ולקחתי v'lakachti, that we didn't come out just to be some secular political entity. We didn't come out to assimilate and integrate and intermarry. We came out for ולקחתי v'lakachti. Not just freedom from, but a sense of a freedom to where were we going and the הבדלה havdalah of ושמתי פדות v'samti p'dus. The רב דרוק Rav Druk, we don't have time for this. I'm ending, I promise. רב דרוק Rav Druk says, you know what the difference is? You know what the difference is בין עמי ובין עמך bein ami u'vein amecha? למחר l'machar. That's the difference. עמך Amecha, your nation, you Egyptians, you hedonistic pleasure seekers, you live for now. We live for למחר l'machar, tomorrow. The Jew sacrifices today for tomorrow. We live for our continuity, and we live for our future, and we live for tomorrow. You live for right now. You live for carpe diem, you live for indulgent pleasures right now, but we live for everything we do is to get to a place of למחר l'machar. That's the פדות בין עמי ובין עמך p'dus bein ami u'vein amecha. The difference between me and you is למחר l'machar. Is how aware we are and how informed we are by the sense of wanting to get to tomorrow. All right, speaking of tomorrow, there is a tomorrow, and we have a lot more to do in the פרשה parsha, בעזרת השם b'ezras Hashem we'll get to it. Thank you for joining us. If you're watching on YouTube, please subscribe to our channel, even if you're not. Please remember, פרשה שיעור parsha shiur next week, you can't watch on Zoom, you can only watch on YouTube and on Facebook. I hope to see you then. Till next time, stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy.
