Transcript
Good morning, welcome back to parsha perspectives for today. As always we begin with gratitude and thanking our generous sponsors for the parsha series for the year, Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of Becky's father David Grossman. Our learning should be לילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש le'ilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manash. Also this morning shiur is sponsored by Essie Barry in memory of her beloved father Max Gopin, ברוך מרדכי בן יחזקאל צבי Boruch Mordechai ben Yechezkel Tzvi. Thank you for that sponsorship. And by Lester and Judy Henner in memory of Mindy Henner, מיכלה בת נפתלי Michlah bas Naftali, whose yahrtzeit is coming, and mother of Lester Henner, and in memory of Peggy Wall, פערל רחל בת יהודה ראובן Perel Rochel bas Yehuda Reuven's yahrtzeit, mother of Judy Henner. Thank you so much for your generosity, and the נשמות neshamos should all have an עליה aliyah from our Torah learning.This morning we have the privilege of starting the second book of the Torah. We move over to the book of שמות Shmos. בראשית Bereishis, the formulation of the first Jewish family, and then by the end of פרשת ויחי parshas Vayechi, maybe, maybe not, they've worked out how to live as a family. When the curtain comes down on the book of בראשית Bereishis, we'd like to think, we'd like to believe everybody's getting along, they've worked it out. We have the first generation that is functional, אפרים ומנשה Ephraim u'Menashe are getting along, the brothers have reconciled. We've discussed in the past, not clear that יוסף Yosef is truly forgiven, not true that not necessarily clear that the brothers have earned or even asked for that forgiveness. There's a lot to discuss at the end of פרשת ויחי parshas Vayechi. But whatever it is, the curtain has come down. The Torah feels we're ready for act two, which is ספר שמות Sefer Shmos, the story of not the first family, but the story of now a nation. A nation in formation, and then what will be a nation in adolescence, a nation that is growing and experiencing growing pains, a nation that is coming together. Page 292 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. ואלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה את יעקב איש וביתו באו V'eileh shmos Bnei Yisrael haba'im Mitzraymah es Yaakov ish u'veiso ba'u. These are the names of בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael. These are the names of the children of Israel, who come to Egypt, הבאים haba'im. Notice right away in the opening פסוק pasuk we have a grammatical shift, an inconsistency. On the one hand, we're told בני ישראל הבאים Bnei Yisrael haba'im. They are coming down, בלשון הווה b'lashon hoveh, present tense. The Jewish people are still journeying, they are still descending to Egypt. On the other hand, these are the children of יעקב איש וביתו באו Yaakov, ish u'veiso ba'u, they came. Did they come or are they coming? Are they בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael or are they the children of יעקב Yaakov? Which is it? We could spend an hour just on the opening פסוק pasuk. Have you ever thought of these questions before or have you heard פרשת שמות parshas Shmos a million times and just you went on and turned the page? הבאים, באו Haba'im, ba'u. בני ישראל, יעקב Bnei Yisrael, Yaakov. In the very opening פסוק pasuk of ספר שמות Sefer Shmos of our parsha, we could ask these questions.But before we get there, let's start with the קאצקער Kotsker. We've been going through this beautiful sefer, אמת ואמונה Emes v'Emunah, collection of the teachings of the הייליגע קאצקער רבי heilige Kotsker Rebbe. And the קאצקער Kotsker says the following. You ready? האדם צריך להגיע עצמו, יגיעת עצמו, בפרשת יציאת מצרים, כמו בהלכה ובתויספס Ha'adam tzarich l'yagea atzmo, yegias atzmo, b'parshas Yetzias Mitzrayim, k'mo b'halacha u'v'Tosfos. A Jew, a איד Yid, has to delve into the depths, the analysis, has to get into the story of יציאת מצרים Yetzias Mitzrayim the way that we study הלכה halacha and תוספות Tosfos. The student in ישיבה yeshiva knows when you're studying הלכה halacha from the primary sources to the secondary sources, to the debate among the ראשונים rishonim, to try to analyze and dissect it, to try to get to what's going on. תוספות Tosfos asks difficult, penetrating questions, analysis, contrast, comparisons. Said the קאצקער Kotsker, the story of יציאת מצרים Yetzias Mitzrayim is the quintessential story of redemption. If we want to redeem ourselves from our own personal exiles, if we want to be redeemed collectively from a collective state of exile, we need to delve into the story of יציאת מצרים Yetzias Mitzrayim, with the same zeal and with the same intensity, with the same excitement and the same curiosity and quest for truth, the way that one gets involved in הלכה halacha and in תוספות Tosfos. צריך כל אחד ואחד להתיגע בלימוד פרשת הגאולה וגלות מצרים, כי היא היתה הכנה לכל הגליות של כלל ישראל Tzarich kol echad v'echad l'hiyagea b'limud parshas ha'geulah v'galus Mitzrayim, ki hi haisa hachanah l'chol hagoliyos shel Klal Yisrael. This exile is the introduction, it is the preparation, it is the paradigm for every exile we would suffer. There were four exiles. הארץ היתה סוערת ובוהו וחושך על פני תהום Ha'aretz hayisa so'eres v'vohu v'choshech al pnei tehom. We are still in the state of the fourth exile. We're in the state of אדום Edom. If you don't think we're in an exile, try to book a trip to Israel today. The רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam still does not want us to be able to simply go back when we want. We may have Jewish sovereignty over Israel, and we believe that's nothing short of a modern miracle for which we have to be overflowing with gratitude and recognition. But just because geographically we have sovereignty over that land does not mean it doesn't still have enemies or that we still have access. It's very, very painful for all of us as we've taken this step back and Israel shut its border yet again, a reminder. Even in my whole lifetime, and many of our lifetimes, we felt after two thousand years of waiting and longing, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, Israel's ours. A Jew anywhere in the world who wants to and needs to return home can. And for the last two years, that's been on hold again. It's as if השם Hashem is reminding us, don't take it for granted. Since 1948, '67, however long you've been taking it for granted, you book a trip and you go. You've got to fill out 17 forms, take 40 tests, wonder if they'll still let you on, wonder if they'll let you off, wonder if they'll let you back. And all that's if you're lucky. All that's if you're lucky, if you're one of the lucky ones. It's not פשוט pasht. So we're still in the fourth גלות galus now. The Jewish people have been through many גלות galuyos, and not just collectively as a people, as a nation, individually. Anyone who is going through a hard time, anyone who's going through a low, anyone who's going through a challenge or conflict is going through a personal גלות galus, an exile. So said the קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe, you want the answer, the antidote, you want the formula how to have faith and resiliency and resolve, study פרשת שמות parshas Shmos, study this story, with no less יגיעה yegiah, with no less effort and toil than you delve into הלכה halacha and תוספות Tosfos. It's interesting he mentions תוספות Tosfos. I'll give a shameless plug for the moment tonight, we have a Rabbi's on the Run series. We do People of the Book on Tuesday nights, been doing it for years, different themes. And this year's theme is Rabbis on the Run. The rabbis who are our greatest scholars through the millennia who when fleeing persecution were authoring some of our greatest works. It's mind-boggling. We, under a palm tree, in safety and security and good weather and a piña colada and a laptop and the Bar Ilan and the Otzar HaChochmah, can't compose one original paragraph of Torah thought. And some of these greatest individuals on the run, fleeing persecution, oppression, no printing press, no keyboard, were authoring some of the greatest works. So tonight we'll study the ר\"אש Rosh, רבנו אשר Rabbeinu Asher. רבנו אשר Rabbeinu Asher, who fled from France and Germany to Spain, and one of the things we'll talk about is that he brought the, he introduced the learning of תוספות Tosfos to Spain, the learning of תלמוד Talmud to Spain. They had been neglecting the whole learning of תלמוד Talmud altogether. That has nothing to do with what we're talking about. I just wanted to plug my class tonight. 7:30 p.m. Rabbis on the Run. You can watch it online if you're online, and you can certainly and encourage to come in person. So the קאצקער Kotsker says, if to delve as deep and get as deeply into it as we do anything, as we do anything else. גם כל פרט ופרט יכול לקחת לימוד איך יאבור Gam kol prat u'prat yachol lakachas limud eich ya'avor. Every detail we can extract and extrapolate how to overcome this horrible, horrible exile. אלה שמות Eileh shmos. אלה שמות Eileh shmos. So why the shift? We mentioned the shift. So I picked up a new ספר sefer. I occasionally buy my own ספרים sfarim. I always tell you people gift me and then I include them. Once in a while I got to buy my own ספרים sfarim. I saw this ספר sefer, שולחן השבת עם רב נחמן Shulchan HaShabbos im Rav Nachman. רב נחמן מברסלב Rav Nachman of Breslov. שבת Shabbos table with רב נחמן Rav Nachman. Who doesn't want to go to the שבת Shabbos table with רב נחמן מברסלב Rav Nachman of Breslov? Don't worry, be happy. רב נחמן Rav Nachman, תמיד בשמחה tamid b'simcha. Who doesn't want to go to the שבת Shabbos table with רב נחמן Rav Nachman? Besides, look at this colorful cover, it's a beautiful. Anyway, so he says the following, who wrote this ספר sefer? Moshe Roth and Elio Title. I don't know who they are or where they are, but thank you. שכוייח Shkoyach. So they quote רב נחמן Rav Nachman. Maybe רב נחמן Rav Nachman didn't write on the פרשה parsha. רב נחמן Rav Nachman, we have a collection of his teachings, ליקוטי מוהר\"ן Likutei Moharan and others. And so they collected the teachings of רב נחמן Rav Nachman that are relevant to the פרשה parsha and organized it in the פרשה parsha and on the פסוק pasuk. So he quotes exactly this question. אלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה את יעקב איש וביתו באו Eileh shmos Bnei Yisrael haba'im Mitzrayma es Yaakov ish u'veiso ba'u. רש\"י פירש על הפסוק שלמעלה משה כבר מנה אותם בחייהם Rashi peirush al hapasuk she'l'maalah Moshe kvar mana osam b'chayeihem. The Jewish people were already counted. Why are we repeating this count? The end of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis we counted the Jewish people. Now we're counting again. And the reason is, להודיע חיבתן l'hodi'a chibasan. It is communicating השם'ס Hashem's love, communicating השם'ס Hashem's affection. מה החשיבות המיוחדת במניית שמות בני ישראל Ma hachashivus ha'meyuchedes b'minyan shmos Bnei Yisrael? So what is, what is the value of being counted? What do we gain from that? How is that an expression of affection to be counted? Can I have a pretty large family. You line them up. One, two, not one, not two, one, two, three, four. Okay, everyone's here. Good, get in the car, we're ready to go. Do they say, \"Oh, I feel so loved. Abba, that was so sweet. You know, you're counting us all up before we leave Disney to head home.\" Okay, you miserable, ungrateful, difficult. Just kidding. Okay, you amazing, delicious kids, everyone get in the car. But let's make sure you're all here. One, two, three. Okay, you're in the, let's go. Abba, you said I was three. Wow, I feel so loved. Where's the love? להודיע חיבתן L'hodi'a chibasan. We're counting them again. We keep counting. That's such an expression of love. כתב רב נחמן Kasav Rav Nachman. So רב נחמן Rav Nachman writes in ליקוטי מוהר\"ן חלק א סימן רס\"א Likutei Moharan Chelek Aleph, Siman Reish Samech Aleph. כשהנופל אדם ממדרגתו עליו לדעת שגם הנפילה הזו היא לטובתו K'she'nofel adam m'madreigaso alav ladaas shegam hanefilah hazu hi l'tovaso. Said רב נחמן Rav Nachman, when a Jew falls, you have to know that the fall is also what is good and what is right for you. Sometimes we stumble, sometimes we trip, sometimes we fall. We're off our game. We make poor decisions. We exhibit poor behavior. In life, in relationships with השם Hashem, with others, in business, personally. And we have to know that when that happens, it too is not a coincidence and it too is not chance. And it too somehow is for our own good for us to bounce back from. ומן השמים סובבו שיפול כדי שיזורז לשוב ולקרוב יותר להקדוש ברוך הוא U'min hashamayim sov'vu she'yipol kedei she'yizarez lashuv u'l'karev yoser l'HaKadosh Baruch Hu. It was ordained from above that for some reason, we were meant to trip, to stumble. We were meant to try to catch ourselves, we were meant to try to get up again, that this too is not a coincidence. לכן על האדם להתחיל מחדש בכל יום, כאילו עד עכשיו לא התחיל כלל, ולשכוח מכל מה שהיה בעבר Lachen al ha'adam l'hatchil m'chadash b'chol yom, k'ilu ad achshav lo hischil klal, v'lishkoach mikol ma she'haya ba'avar. Said רב נחמן Rav Nachman, our days do not run one into the next. Life is not a continuum. And you don't say, well, I fell down yesterday, so I'm down and out, I might as well lay on the mat, I might as well be out for the count. Every single day, every hour, every moment, we begin anew, we begin again. Every moment is a fresh start. And the only thing that matters is not where we came from. The only thing that matters is evaluating, where am I right now and where am I going? Not that I fall or did I rise, but when I wake up today, where am I today and where do I go next? ומה יצמח לו מזיכרונותיו הקודמים ומהמעלות שהיו לו לפני הנפילה, צריך האדם לחפש מהם ולחדש את עצמו בלי יאוש U'ma yitzmach lo m'zichronosav ha'kodmim u'ma'maalos she'hayu lo lifnei ha'nefilah, tzarich ha'adam l'chapes mehem u'l'chadesh es atzmo b'li ye'ush. Because if all we think about and we hold on to and we carry with us is that sense of fall, is that descent, then we will keep spiraling and we will keep falling and gravity will lower us further. But if we start again anew, anyone play golf here? One of the beauties of the game of golf, שכויח shkoyach, one of the beauties of the game of golf is you could draw a line in the card. You could view it as 18 holes, or you could view it as one hole 18 times. Each hole is a new game. You draw a line in the card. You got a triple, none of you know what I'm talking about. But in the event that Tiger Woods is watching the parsha shiur, he'll, he'll like this משל mashal. He'll appreciate this משל mashal. So if you have a bad hole, you get a triple bogey on a hole. You don't have to say, well, I just blew up. I just hit three balls out of bounds. I just went Tin Cup, I'm out. What's the point, why continue? You draw a line in the card, and the next hole is a new game. And now you just try to shoot for par. You try to get a birdie on the next hole. Every hole is a new game. Says רב נחמן Rav Nachman, he didn't give that משל mashal, but says רב נחמן Rav Nachman, in life, every day is a new hole. Every day is a new game. Every day is a new opportunity. Draw a line in the card of life and start again. And don't say, where did I come from and I've fallen and I'm still spiraling and I still have the pain and why and woe is me, but where am I today? Where is my starting point and where do I go from here? הדבר זה רמוז בפסוקים שלפנינו, לכן פתחה התורה, לכן פתחה התורה Hadavar zeh ramuz b'psukim she'lifaneinu, lachen pacha haTorah. Why am I telling you all this? Because says רב נחמן Rav Nachman, that's connected to our פסוק pasuk. בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה Bnei Yisrael haba'im Mitzraymah, and then את יעקב איש וביתו באו es Yaakov ish u'veiso ba'u. How is it connected? Says רב נחמן Rav Nachman in ליקוטי מוהר\"ן חלק א' סימן כ\"א Likutei Moharan Chelek Aleph, Siman Chof Aleph. השם ישראל מסמל מדרגה גבוהה של צדיקים Hashem Yisrael m'samel madreigah g'vohah shel tzaddikim. We are invoking two names because we are reflecting two attitudes. ישראל Yisrael is the higher name of the Jewish people. ישראל Yisrael is the aspirational name. ישראל Yisrael is when we are the top of our game, when we are faithful. ישראל Yisrael is who we are meant to be. That's why it is made of the letters לי ראש li rosh. יעקב Yaakov on the other hand is a lowly level. עקב Akeiv, it's the heel, it's the bottom of the foot, it's the lowly level. So יעקב Yaakov represents to who we are in the here and now. יעקב Yaakov represents to who we are with failures and shortcomings and struggles and ישראל Yisrael is the aspirational who we could be. So therefore, says רב נחמן Rav Nachman, על בני ישראל שהם הצדיקים במדרגה גבוהה נאמר הבאים בלשון הווה, שהצדיקים יודעים שהנפילה, הירידה למצרים, ענין תמידי שקורה כל הזמן כדי להתחיל מחדש כל פעם Al Bnei Yisrael she'hem hatzaddikim b'madreigah g'vohah ne'emar haba'im b'lashon hoveh, she'hatzaddikim yodim she'hanefilah, hay'ridah l'Mitzrayim, inyan t'midi she'koreh kol hazman kedei l'hatchil m'chadash kol pa'am. So when we are בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael, אלה שמות בני ישראל eileh shmos Bnei Yisrael, when you're בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael you're באים ba'im. When you're בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael you're not a finished product. When you're בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael you're באים ba'im, you're in the הווה hoveh, you're in the present tense because every day is a new game. Every day is a fresh start. Every day is a new opportunity. We are באים ba'im, not a finished product. I'm not done. I'm not, this is the way it is, this is who I am. This is what you get. It's a fresh start, it's a new beginning. You could be 80, 90, 100 years old and change your life. יש קונה עולמו בשעה אחת Yeish koneh olamo b'sha'ah achas. You could decide in one day, in one moment, you could decide in one הרהור תשובה hirhur teshuva, in one thought, in one idea, in one conception, in one determination, and you can redefine and reinvent ourselves. So we are באים ba'im in the present tense, we are inventing and reinventing and reinventing ourselves over and over and over again. Whereas יעקב Yaakov, who are on the lower level, איש וביתו באו ish u'veiso ba'u. What you see is what you get. We came. This is who we are, this is where we're at. My growth happened in ישיבה yeshiva, my growth happened in college, my growth happened in my שנה ראשונה shana rishona of marriage. And now I'm locked in, this is who I am. This is my patience level, this is my eating habit, this is my sleeping habit, this is my דאווענען davening habit. This is who I am. I decided at 22 years old who I am and the rest of my life I'm just reliving that same year over and over again. That's יעקב Yaakov. That's a יעקב Yaakov attitude. אשר באו Asher ba'u. Came, done, finished product, complete. A ישראל Yisrael attitude is הבאים haba'im. We are constantly coming, we're constantly reinventing over and over and over again. Okay, a lot more to say about that, but back to our opening pasuk. אלה שמות Eileh shmos. So Rashi told us להודיע חיבתן שנמשלו ככוכבים l'hodi'a chibasan she'nimsh'lu k'kochavim. And why is it an act of affection? Because if I count my kids, putting them back in the car on the way home from Disney, what an act of affection. And I say, \"קינדערלאך Kinderlach, you're like the stars of the sky.\" We're counting you over and over again. What's the affection and what's the connection to the stars of the sky? So I want to share with you very quickly three or four different interpretations of this. We've shared others in previous years. I believe these are all new and we haven't seen them yet before. Why specifically are we likened or linked to the stars? So Rav Simcha Wasserman who was rosh yeshiva of Ohr Elchonon, Rav Elchonon Wasserman's son. So he said the following. He said, we know the Jewish people are compared to a צבא tzava, to an army. המוציא במספר צבאם Hamotzi b'mispar tzva'am. The Jewish people are likened to soldiers in an army. The army is made up of two kinds of soldiers. The average soldier, the average private is just a number. What number are you, soldier? What number are you, private? But the higher up you go and the higher up you rank, and now I will reveal how little I know, I don't know it's sergeant, lieutenant, general. General's high. Five-star general, very high. So the higher you go, the more distinct of a title you have, and the more you're known by your name, General Schwarzkopf, General Patton. Okay, that's my list of generals. So, general, whatever general name that you have, you're known by your name, the higher up you go. So said Rav Simcha Wasserman, he says there are two types of soldiers. Are you a private or are you a general? Are you just a number or are you a name? So the pasuk said back in Bereishis, ויוצא אותו החוצה ויאמר הבט נא השמימה וספור הכוכבים אם תוכל לספור אותם vayotzei oso hachutzah vayomer habet na hashamaymah u'sfor hakochavim im tuchal lispor osam. Hashem said, Avram, go outside and look up and count the stars if you can. ויאמר לו כה יהיה זרעך Vayomer lo koh yihiyeh zar'echa. Thus, this will be like your children. We've shared insights on that in the past, the לובלינער רב Lubliner Rav, רב מאיר שפירא Rav Meir Shapiro, in particular. עם ישראל הוא צבא הגדול והעצום של גדודים גדודים Am Yisrael hu tzva hagadol v'ha'atzum shel gedudim gedudim. The Jewish people, we are an army. We're an army. Why are we likened to an army? What are we violent? We embrace violence? חס ושלום Chas v'shalom. We're an army, the image of the army, like the Rebbe's army is, we are an army who's meant to go transform the world. We're not meant to sit at home. We don't live with rights and entitlements. It's not all what can I take from this world, but rather it's what can I do? What can I give? How can I transform? We serve in the army. יהודי יכול לחשוב שאין לו חשיבות בפני עצמו Yehudi yachol lachshov she'ein lo chashivus b'fnei atzmo. So the danger is when I'm in the army, I'm just a number. I'm just a private. I'm just a number. I just blend in. What's special? What's distinct about me? Does anyone even know my name? So the pasuk tells us, המוציא במספר צבאם hamotzi b'mispar tzva'am. מספר בתוך צבא גדול, לכולם בשם יקרא Mispar b'toch tzva gadol, l'chulam b'shem yikra. We just said in דאווענען davening this morning, מונה מספר לכוכבים, לכולם שמות יקרא moneh mispar la'kochavim, l'chulam shemos yikra. So says Rav Simcha Wasserman, what, you know what's affection? Hashem says on the one hand, you're a private, fall in line. Feel your service to others, serve, be on a mission, transform the world. But that doesn't mean you forfeit your identity or your distinction. Simultaneously we have a name. Simultaneously Hashem knows who we are. And that is the expression of affection. What was the affection? It's not just that you are like the stars, that you are anonymous, or that you just blend in, or that you have nothing special about you. It's that unlike other armies where everyone's just a private, or unlike stars that are just a number of a star, we have a name. Hashem knows who we are and what we are about. He knows what is our unique and distinct mission that the world is waiting for us for. Rav Moshe Shapiro had a different interpretation. Why are we connected to stars? He said the following. And why not the sun? The sun is the source of light. The sun is the sort of illumination, energy, warmth, brightness. The stars? What are the stars? They just reflect the light of the sun. It's not even the moon. So Rav Moshe Shapiro said the following. כל מה שברא הקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו לא בראו אלא לתכליתו Kol ma she'bara HaKadosh Baruch Hu b'olamo lo b'rao ela l'tachliso. Whatever Hashem created, He created for its purpose, for its use, for its mission. השמש מאירה ביומם Hashemesh me'ira b'yomam and it warms the world. If the earth were just a little bit further from the sun, we'd freeze. Human beings couldn't exist. If the earth were a little bit closer to the sun, we would burn up. We would be destroyed. We'd burst into flames. It's the חכמת הבורא chochmas haBorei. The earth is the exact distance from the sun it needs to be, the only distance it could be for there to be life on earth. Brilliant, brilliant. Hashem's חכמה chochmah. All you have to do is study nature and you see Hashem's guiding hand. מלא כל הארץ קנינך Melo chol ha'aretz kinyanecha. So the sun intrinsically has this value, this purpose and this role. כך גם הלבנה מאירה את הלילה, מועילה לגידולם של אחרים Kach gam ha'levanah me'ira es ha'lailah, mo'ilah l'gidulam shel acheirim. The moon also has its role. The moon reflects the light of the sun. It gives us the ability to navigate and to be able to get around at night with more limited light, but enough light, the light of the sun. And the reflection of the light from the moon also enables certain growth of other species that which doesn't rely and depend on the sun. What about the stars? That's the sun, that's the moon. What about the stars? Why the stars here? What do we need the stars for? For a pretty sky? We've already ruined that. So much artificial light, we can't even see the stars in the sky. What do we need the stars for? שונה מהכוכבים שלא נבראו בתחילת הבריאה לתכלית זו, וכל תפקידם ומצוות שמים היה רק מחמת שהקדוש ברוך הוא מיעט את הלבנה, כדי להפיס את דעתה Shoneh me'hakochavim she'lo nivr'u b'tchilas ha'briah l'tachlis zu, v'chol tafkidam u'mitzvas shamayim hayah rak machmas she'HaKadosh Baruch Hu mi'et es ha'levanah, kedei l'hafis es da'atah. We all know the midrash that the moon and the sun were competing who has dominion in the sky. And Hashem made the moon shrink, and in order to appease the moon, which had to serve the sun and was smaller, he said, don't worry, I'm going to create legions of stars and those legions of stars will all serve you. Said Rav Moshe Shapiro, that's why the Jewish people are likened to stars. Because the star's whole purpose is to make the moon happy. And we need to know that our own purpose in this world and in this life is not our own happiness, is not the pursuit of our own pleasure, but it's to bring happiness and joy to others. Now it happens to be, and modern psychology has now proven this through countless research, that if you want happiness and pleasure, don't focus on your own happiness and pleasure. When you make others happy, then you become happy. But says Rav Moshe Shapiro, I love this insight. He says, why are we likened to the stars? Because unlike the sun whose purpose is the sun, and the moon whose purpose is the moon, the stars' entire purpose is to make the moon happy. So we are not like the sun or the moon, we are like the stars. Because we're supposed to, we're meant to think, you know my purpose, my existence is not about my happiness, but rather is about the happiness of others and making the world a better and a happier place. Okay, one or two more quick interpretations on this, and then we'll move on past the first pasuk. יחיאל מיכל עפשטיין, the great ערוך השולחן Aruch HaShulchan, wondered, what happened? Forget the stars now, we're moving on from the stars. Uh, okay, no, we'll stick one more thing with the stars. להודיע L'hodi'a. One more word, להודיע l'hodi'a. What is להודיע l'hodi'a? Purim, להודיע l'hodi'a, not Purim להודיע l'hodi'a, להודיע l'hodi'a. Rashi says להודיע חיבתן l'hodi'a chibasan. You should know the affection, know how much Hashem loves you. He counted the Jewish people then, why? You're like the stars, when you love something you continuously count it. להודיע L'hodi'a. To whom is Hashem מודע modia? To whom is He directing that, להודיע l'hodi'a? להודיע L'hodi'a to who? Artscroll, להודיע l'hodi'a to Korin, להודיע l'hodi'a to Hertz, להודיע l'hodi'a to the Bible in the drawer at the hotel. Who, who is He להודיע l'modia? להודיע חיבתן L'hodi'a chibasan. To whom? So in the sefer שדחי עליון Sidchei Elyon, this beautiful sefer, he says the following. דווקא בפרשה זו שמתחילה לדבר על השיעבוד הנושא במצרים שהשתעבדו בישראל, דווקא כאן המקום להודיע חיבתן Davka b'parsha zu she'matchilah l'daber al hashibud ha'nora she'b'Mitzrayim she'hishtaabdu b'Yisrael, davka kan hamakom l'hodi'a chibasan. You know, right when we're about to read the story of sinking low, we're about to delve into the story of exile, and we're about to remind ourselves of our own exile, we're about to re-experience our own challenges and suffering, right now is when we need a little affection. We need a little bit of love. When you're riding high, when everything's success, when everything's going right, and everything's well, you don't need that extra affection. When do you need a little bit of a hug? When do you need a little bit of affection? When do you need a little bit of a positive word? When you're heading into גלות galus. אלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה Eileh shmos Bnei Yisrael haba'im Mitzrayma. We're heading into גלות galus. Hashem begins the ספר שמות Sefer Shmos with a hug. להודיע L'hodi'a. He's giving you and me that hug. The להודיע l'hodi'a, to whom is he giving this affection? To you and to me, to all of us. I love that imagery. That as we're beginning ספר שמות Sefer Shmos and as we're beginning the story of exile, and as we're beginning to experience the suffering of Egypt, להודיע חיבתן l'hodi'a chibasan. Hashem is giving us a שטיקל shtikl hug on the way in. Why does the Torah describe it as הבאים haba'im and באו ba'u? באים Ba'im and באו ba'u are the verb to go, but what verb was used earlier? So the ערוך השולחן Aruch HaShulchan, יחיאל מיכל עפשטיין Yechiel Michel Epstein points out in his פירוש peirush on the הגדה Haggadah called ליל שימורים Leil Shimurim. He says, why is there a shift? פרשת מקץ Parshas Mikeitz, sorry, it says, יורדים כלל ישראל למצרים yordim Klal Yisrael l'Mitzrayim. רדו שמה Redu shamah. וירדו אחי יוסף, ויקומו וירדו מצרימה Vayirdu achei Yosef, vayakumu vayirdu Mitzraymah. So we've been talking about ירידה yerida, a descent into Egypt. Why are we shifting from the description of going down? In בראשית Bereishis it was all about going down, the descent, going down. And now all of a sudden we start שמות Shmos with הבאים haba'im, אשר באו asher ba'u. Which is it? Is it a ירידה yerida? Is it a descent? Is it going down? Or is it באים ba'im and is it באו ba'u? Which one is it? Asks Rav, as I frekt the ערוך השולחן Aruch HaShulchan, this is the question of the ערוך השולחן Aruch HaShulchan. This is his question. This is his question. And he says, he gives his own terets there in the הגדה Haggadah. He quotes here a different answer from Rav Chaim Friedlander, the משגיח mashgiach of פוניבז' Ponevezh. I'm not even gonna tell you his, I'm gonna tell you my answer. I'll tell you my answer. My answer, I don't know if it's correct, more correct, less correct or correct at all than the other answers. But my answer is, on our way down to Egypt, it was a sense of ירידה yerida. A person had to know where you were going. From כנען Canaan, from a land that's holy and sacred to a place that's corrupt, morally depraved, decadent, you had to know it's a ירידה yerida. If you don't have a mindfulness and an awareness that you're going into a place which will assault your values, into a place which can compromise and corrupt you, you're in trouble. You have to know it's a ירידה yerida. But once you're there, that's where you're meant to be. באו Ba'u. Once you're there, that's where you're meant to be. And you need to know I need to make the best of who I am, where I am. Don't give up and say because I'm here, I might as well be like them. And don't say, how could I be here? Why would I be here? I guess Hashem wants me to be like them. If he didn't, he wouldn't have let me be here. So on the way there, maybe it's ירידה yerida. But once we're beginning ספר שמות Sefer Shmos and we're already there, then a person has to know, this is where I'm meant to be. Where did I come up with that? Rav Nebenzahl in his beautiful ספרים sfarim on חומש Chumash says later, פרשת במדבר parshas Bamidbar, we're gonna talk about the different encampments in the desert. We've shared this before. So in the episode of the rebellion of קרח Korach, which tribe suffers the most casualties? קרח Korach comes from which tribe? לוי Levi. And yet לוי Levi doesn't suffer the most casualties. Anyone know? Which tribe suffers the most casualties? ראובן Reuven. Says Rav Nebenzahl, and why did ראובן Reuven suffer the most casualties? They lived alongside קרח Korach. So when קרח Korach recruited others to be in this rebellion, and קרח Korach made this breakaway shul, I mean breakaway from משה Moshe, so he recruited these other people. The ground opened up and swallowed them up. And ראובן Reuven suffered terrible losses. And חז\"ל Chazal conclude from there, אוי לרשע אוי לשכנו oy l'rasha oy l'shcheino. If you're a neighbor of somebody who is fomenting a rebellion and you're indifferent, you're apathetic, let alone you cooperate, אוי לרשע אוי לשכנו oy l'rasha oy l'shcheino. You know, you're you're you're accountable too. So ראובן Reuven takes this terrible dive. So Rav Nebenzahl says, can you imagine ראובן Reuven gets upstairs and says to Hashem, you, I didn't randomly choose to live there. It wasn't the realtor who showed me that house. I didn't buy it out of foreclosure and get it at a bargain. Hashem, you told me to live there. Not like you told me I had some premonition, I went to a מקובל makubal or a רבי rebbe. Like you actually told me this is where you're meant to live. Hashem designated the encampments in the desert. So can't ראובן Reuven say Hashem, you told me to live there and now as a result, I went down with קרח Korach. So Rav Nebenzahl says, yeah, even when you find yourself listening living next to a רשע rasha, you need to believe this is where Hashem meant me to be. Now I still need to be the best version of myself. We can't think, well if I'm here, then I might as well be like them. Hashem wouldn't want me to be here. How did I end up here? Wherever we are is where we're meant to be, and we're meant to be the best version of ourselves nonetheless. So maybe that's the answer from ירידה yerida to ביאה bia, from יורדים yordim to אשר באו asher ba'u. Because on the way down, we have to know we are falling, but once we get there, once we get there, we should realize that's where we're meant to be and to be the best version of ourselves once we are once we are there. Okay, let's keep going. Pasuk Vav, we're flying now. So we mentioned the different names, they count the Jewish people again. We were fruitful, we multiplied, ויעצמו במאוד מאוד ותמלא הארץ אותם vayatzmu b'meod meod vatimalei ha'aretz osam. We filled the land. We filled the land. ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף Vayakom melech chadash al Mitzrayim asher lo yada es Yosef. A new king arose who did not know יוסף Yosef. A new king, a new king arose. So, I'm sorry, I skipped, go back to Pasuk Vav. וימת יוסף וכל אחיו וכל הדור ההוא Vayamos Yosef v'chol echav v'chol hador hahu. יוסף Yosef and his brothers and the entire generation died. וימת יוסף וכל אחיו וכל הדור ההוא Vayamos Yosef v'chol echav v'chol hador hahu. Says the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh. Says the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim. בא הכתוב לומר שכל זמן שאחד מהאחים קיים, היו המצרים מכבדים את בני ישראל Ba hakasuv lomar she'kol zman she'echad me'ha'achim kayam, hayu ha'Mitzrim m'chabdim es Bnei Yisrael. Why does the Torah describe that יוסף Yosef died and the brothers died and the whole generation, and now all of a sudden, now the oppression, the persecution will begin? Why was the oppression and persecution delayed as long as they were alive? So the simple understanding, what I would have said is, in their merit. They were righteous, they were pious, they were great people, in their merit the oppression, the persecution was delayed. But that's not what the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim says, that's not what the pasuk says, that's not what חז\"ל Chazal say. חז\"ל Chazal says, as long as the brothers were alive, the מצרים Mitzrim were מכבדים את בני ישראל m'chabdim es Bnei Yisrael. As long as the brothers, dignitaries, distinguished, holy people walking around who represented a certain life, a certain lifestyle, a certain set of values, the Egyptians respected, they admired, and they therefore held back from persecuting the rest of the Jewish people. היו ישראל חשובים בעיניהם, ולא היה להם פנים להשתעבד בהם Hayu Yisrael chashuvim b'eineihem, v'lo hayah lahem panim l'hishta'abed bahem. The Jewish people were חשוב chashuv in the eyes of the Egyptians. And when when someone is חשוב chashuv to you, you're not going to enslave them. To enslave you enslave someone because you think that they're lowly. You enslave the one that you think is inferior. You enslave and you make the person who you feel should be a subject to you. But when you feel that somebody is great, when you admire, when they're elevated in your eyes, then you can't subjugate them. So as long as the brothers, as long as the Jewish people were elevated, the Egyptians couldn't subjugate. The precursor, the prerequisite to the capacity to subjugate was the fact that they no longer admired. They were no longer elevated, they no longer respected. ובמיסת יוסף ירדו בני ישראל מגדולתם U'vemises Yosef yardu Bnei Yisrael migdulasam, שמתחילה היו ממולא מיוסף במצרים shemitchila hayu memula meYosef b'Mitzrayim, ובמיתתו נעשה שווים להם u'vemiso nasu shavim lahem. Really at first they were elevated, then when Yosef died, they became equals, and then when the brothers died, they became lower. This was the descent. First Yosef, ooh, this is Yosef's our, Yosef's the secretary, the treasurer. Yosef saved the economy of Egypt and the whole world. Wow. He's a brilliant mind, a spiritual giant. Yosef's superior to us. We love, we embrace, we welcome the Jewish people. When Yosef died and it was just the brothers, they're pretty good. They're just like us. They're like us. And when the brothers died, everyone else who had so assimilated and integrated, they're lower than us. They're less than us. Now we can subjugate and now we can persecute. רק לאחר שמתו כל הדור, התחילו להשתעבד בהם Rak l'achar shemeisu kol hador, hischilu l'hishtabed bohem. אזוי זאגט דער אור החיים Azoy zogt der Ohr HaChaim. So it's a very, very important and very powerful insight. Why am I sharing it? Because in שיחות מוסר Sichos Mussar, רב חיים שמואלביץ Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, the great משגיח mashgiach, רב חיים שמואלביץ Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz says, this is true not only about our external enemy. And this tells us about Jewish history. When does the external enemy think that they can knock the Jewish people? When we are not living in a way in which they see us as elevated. When they see us living a holy, virtuous life, when we're living a better version of ourselves, they can't bring themselves to subjugate, to persecute. But when we ourselves are, are lower, when we're failing to realize who we're meant to be, when we're not living on that level of sanctity and holiness that we could and that we should, now we've created the פסח pesach, the opening for them to come. It was true not only then, says רב חיים שמואלביץ Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, says the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, it's true now. But רב חיים שמואלביץ Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz goes further. And he says if this is true about the conflict with the external enemy, it's also true in our conflict with our internal enemy. I wish I could read it to you, but there's so much more I want to get to. He says the יצר הרע yetzer hara. You know when the יצר הרע yetzer hara can get you? When you don't see yourself as elevated. When you don't see yourself as special. When you don't see yourself as royalty, as a בן או בת מלך ben o bas melech. When you say I'm ordinary and I'm nothing special, and I'm lowly, and I give in to my drive and my instinct, and I'm pathetic, and I'm a גארנישט gornisht, then the יצר הרע yetzer hara says, I'm jumping on top of that. I'm jumping all over that. But when we're חשובים chashuvim in our own eyes, and that's why the Jewish way to educate our children, you know, JAP, Jewish American Princess was always an insult. But it's a compliment. Because we are supposed to see ourselves and project ourselves and our children that that the whole Jewish attitude of פאסט נישט past nisht. ס'פאסט נישט S'past nisht. It's beneath you. We don't say don't do that because it's wrong. Don't do that because it says don't do that. We say don't do that because it's beneath you. You're better than that. You're capable of more than that. You're royalty. Do you know who you are? Do you know from whom you descend? Do you know that you're a חלק אלוק ממעל ממש chelek eloka mima'al mamash? Do you know who is inside you and what you're capable of and what is your potential and what you could realize? So the more elevated we see ourselves in our own eyes, not from an egotistical standpoint, not from an arrogant standpoint. But if we understand who we are, where we come from, what we're capable of, then the יצר הרע yetzer hara won't have any opening to get us. But if I say I'm a גארנישט gornisht, I'm a nothing, and I keep giving into my impulse and my drive, and I come from nothing and I'm going nowhere, then that's when the. So that's a false and a counterfeit humility. We think that's a humility. That's actually exactly what nourishes the יצר הרע yetzer hara. Where do you see that, says רב חיים שמואלביץ Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz? He says see it from this אור החיים Ohr HaChaim. וימת יוסף וכל אחיו וכל הדור ההוא Vayamas Yosef v'chol echav v'chol hador hahu. First Yosef died, we went down a notch. כל אחיו Kol echav, we went down a notch. כל הדור ההוא Kol hador hahu, we were so lowly, now the Egyptians trampled us. Now they persecuted us, now they jumped all over us. The lower, lower, lower we're seen by others and we see ourselves in our own eyes, the more vulnerable, the more susceptible we are, the more we are inviting the persecution of others. A person has to realize גדלות האדם gadlus ha'adam, בשבילי נברא עולם bishvili nivra olam. חשוב אני כעולם מלא Chashuv ani k'olam malei. The whole world is here for me. This is what חז\"ל Chazal are encouraging us. גדלות האדם Gadlus ha'adam. We have to know מעט מאלוקים m'at me'Elokim, we're just beneath God. We have to know who we are, what we're capable, from where we descend, and when we see ourselves as elevated and great, what we are capable of, then we will be protected not only from the external enemy, the internal one as well. ויקם מלך חדש Vayakam melech chadash. Torah tells us a new king rose. Now we're up to פסוק ח pasuk ches. ויקם מלך חדש אשר לא ידע את יוסף Vayakam melech chadash asher lo yada es Yosef. Again, we've shared a lot of insights on this, trying to give you new material each and every year. Back to our good friend, we're going back to the שבת Shabbos table with רב נחמן מברסלב Rav Nachman of Breslov. דער הייליגער רב נחמן Der heiliger Rav Nachman. Rashi quotes the famous מחלוקת רב ושמואל machlokes Rav v'Shmuel. You know this מחלוקת machlokes. מלך חדש Melech chadash, a new king. Does this mean literally a new king? Or does it mean the same king with a new attitude? Is מלך חדש melech chadash that there was an election or the dictator was overthrown, or he simply died and there was a new king? A new king took the throne and this new king had not experienced Yosef's salvation, and therefore he didn't have the appreciation of Yosef's progeny and descendants and therefore he oppressed the Jewish people. Was it literally a new king or מלך חדש melech chadash, the same king with a new attitude? The same king with a new attitude, who's now capable of גזירות חדשות gzeiros chadashos. It's possible that there are people who did unprecedentedly good things for Israel and the Jewish people, just a short while later in an interview could say horrific things about Israel and the Jewish people. The same person can flip and become a מלך חדש melech chadash. Same person whose whole life is transactional, and you learn only ever did it for themselves. ויקם מלך חדש Vayakam melech chadash. המעבין יבין Hameivin yavin. We can imagine in our own time, it's not so beyond our grasp, that that same person could be a מלך חדש melech chadash. They could be a מלך חדש melech chadash when it doesn't serve them, it serves them differently. So this is the מחלוקת machlokes, רב ושמואל Rav v'Shmuel, is מלך חדש melech chadash a new king, or the same king with a brand new attitude. That was definitely going to get me a few emails. אבל מה שבטוח הוא Aval ma shebatuach hu, שאותו פרעה ידע כמובן על יוסף she'oso Paroh yada kamuvan al Yosef. רק עשה עצמו כאילו לא ידע Rak asa atzmo k'ilu lo yada. The second opinion, that it was the same king with a new attitude, he knew Yosef, the same king. This is the king, this is the Paroh whose dreams were interpreted by Yosef. This is the Paroh who Yosef literally saved the economy. This is the Paroh who Yosef served as his viceroy, as his vice president. So how could it be, עשה את עצמו כאילו לא ידע asa es atzmo k'ilu lo yada, he made himself as if he doesn't know. And what did he do that was so egregious in that moment? פרעה Paroh הסיר עליו את כל הטובה heisir alav es kol hatova שיוסף הביא למצרים sheYosef heivi l'Mitzrayim. What an expression of ingratitude. Yosef saved the economy. He saved the kingdom. He saved Paroh. He saved the whole world. והחליט להשתעבד ולהשמיד את בני ישראל בלי שום הכרת הטוב V'hechlit l'hishtabed u'lehashmid es Bnei Yisrael bli shum hakaras hatov? And this מלך חדש melech chadash, because it no longer served him because he had a new attitude towards Yosef, now not only failed to continue to be grateful, but actually flipped and began to persecute and oppress and target Yosef's own descendants. כמה כפיות טובה צריך כדי לעשות דבר כזה Kama kfiyus tova tzarich kedei la'asos davar kazeh? How much of an ingrate do you have to be to do such a thing? How ungrateful! How ungrateful! כפיות טובה Kiyus tova היא אחת המידות הרעות ביותר hi achas hamidos hara'os beyoser. Said רב נחמן Rav Nachman, a lack of gratitude is among the worst qualities a person could have. Now why is ingratitude so terrible? Okay, so you're not grateful. Someone did a nice thing for you, and you couldn't even bring yourself to say thank you. You couldn't pay the debt of gratitude. You didn't have the humility to realize someone did for you. Okay, it's not nice. Don't want to be משדך meshadech my children to you. It's not nice. Not that anybody's ever asked me by the way in the שידוך shidduch inquisition, are they grateful? Do they say thank you? Nobody's ever asked that. When they're taking their medicines, do they say thank you? Which medicines they take? Do they say thank you to the pharmacist for the medicines? I want you to tell me they did. Nobody's ever asked that. So ingratitude, why is it such a terrible mida? Why is it so terrible, says Rav Nachman? And the answer is because it's כפירה kfira. כפירה Kfira? What heresy is there in ingratitude? Why is that an act of כפירה kfira? So it says, look at the pasuk. ויקם מלך חדש על ארץ מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף Vayakam melech chadash al eretz Mitzrayim asher lo yada es Yosef. And what happens when you start with אשר לא ידע את יוסף asher lo yada es Yosef? Then you get to לא ידעתי את השם lo yadati es Hashem. This Paroh, when Moshe comes to him, says לא ידעתי את השם lo yadati es Hashem. I don't know God. What God? I don't have a relationship with God. There's a God? Oh no, all this is me. All this is the Jordan River. All this is because I'm a deity. Our thriving economy, it's me. Our agricultural society and system, that's me. This palace and its opulence is all me. God? This Paroh turns to Moshe and says לא ידעתי את השם lo yadati es Hashem. I don't know what you're talking about. So רב נחמן Rav Nachman says, how did Paroh ever get to לא ידעתי את יוסף lo yadati es Yosef? אשר לא ידע... get to לא ידעתי את השם lo yadati es Hashem? You know how you arrive at לא ידעתי את השם lo yadati es Hashem? When you start with לא ידע את יוסף lo yada es Yosef. If you're ungrateful to people, you'll be ungrateful to God. You can't see God, feel God, hear God. How are you going to be grateful to God? So it begins with people. But if you're not even capable of being grateful to the person who you experienced in the flesh who did something kind for you, you're certainly not going to be grateful to God. So לא ידע את השם lo yada es Hashem began with לא ידע את יוסף lo yada es Yosef. You see, you can't separate. יש אנשים שמבחינים בין מצוות שבין אדם למקום למצוות שבין אדם לחברו Yesh anashim shemavchinim bein mitzvos shebein adam l'Makom l'mitzvos shebein adam l'chaveiro. Some people want to distinguish, excuse me, differentiate between mitzvos between us and God and between us and other people, but it's all interconnected, and it all goes together. Because we have to realize, the מדרש הגדול Midrash HaGadol says in the beginning of שמות Shmos, כל הכופר בטובתו של חברו, לבסוף כופר בטובתו של הקדוש ברוך הוא Kol hakofer b'tovaso shel chaveiro, l'vasof kofer b'tovaso shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu. If you're ungrateful to people, in the end you'll be ungrateful to God. If you deny the goodness and the kindness that people do for you, then you'll be living in denial that God does good for you. So gratitude and the interpersonal connection and capacity to be grateful is all connected to our relationship with השם Hashem. עין איה Ein Ayah, Rav Kook, why the same word מודה לה׳, מודה על modeh l'Hashem, modeh al? We've spoken out that Rav Kook countless times. So you see that לא ידע את השם lo yada es Hashem began with לא ידע את יוסף lo yada es Yosef. What a beautiful insight by the הייליגער רב נחמן מברסלב heiliger Rav Nachman of Breslov. Gratitude, ingratitude is a core, corrupt, negative quality. Why? Not only because it's demeaning, not only because it is offensive to the people around us, but because ultimately it leads to כפירה kfira. If we don't have the humility and the recognition to be grateful to people, we can never live with the humility and gratitude to be grateful to השם Hashem. It all goes together. It all goes together. Okay, let's keep going. Let's keep going. Uh, let's see, what's next? אלף י\"ז Alef yud zayin. We are turning the page. Don't get whiplash, we're going this fast. Page 294. What happens? So the Jewish people promulgate and propagate, we have this enormous population explosion and growth, and Paroh's threatened, understandably. They have a very low birth rate. We have a very high birth rate. And Paroh is concerned about being overwhelmed by this nacent, by this currently subjugated people that they're going to rise up and they're going to overcome. So what does he do? He of course calls for the murder of all the, of all the boys. ויאמר מלך מצרים למילדות העבריות אשר שם האחת שפרה ושם השנית פועה Vayomer melech Mitzrayim l'meyaldos ha'Ivriyos asher shem ha'achas Shifra v'shem hasheinis Puah. Paroh, the king of Egypt tells these midwives, whose names are Shifra and Puah, יוכבד ומרים Yocheved v'Miriam. ויאמר בילדכן את העבריות וראיתן על האבנים Vayomer b'yald'chen es ha'Ivriyos u're'isen al ha'ovnayim, אם בן הוא והמתן אותו ואם בת היא וחיה im ben hu v'hamiten oso v'im bas hi vachaya. Let the girls live, he wasn't threatened by them, but the boys have to be extinguished. What was his methodology by the way? What was his thought process? What was going to happen if you let the girls live? Girls are not capable? Why did he think? What did you think was going to happen? What do you think was going to happen? So he knew, I forgot where I saw this. Where did I see this? I forgot where I saw this. But he knew that there's a natural female instinct to want companionship. It's not to say that men don't also want companionship, but Chazal knew טב למיתב טן דו מלמיתב ארמלו tav l'meisav tan du mil'meisav armalu, that women yearn for companionship, they want to be together. That's why the הלכה halacha is, don't beat me up, the הלכה halacha is a man can't marry a woman without seeing her first, because maybe ultimately he won't be attracted, and then it'll be a violation of ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha, but a woman can be married through שליח shaliach without seeing him first, because even if he's not as handsome as the שדכן shadchan said, she yearns for the companionship, she doesn't want to be alone. That was Chazal's intuition, instinct, that was what the Gemara in קידושין Kiddushin concludes. Okay, everybody relax. Everybody relax. Everybody relax. It happens to, it happens to have some element of truth. If you see me and my wife together, you know that we are a living example of some element of truth. Women are willing to settle and men only want to be with somebody who's very beautiful. So, Chazal, so Paroh understood, Paroh understood that women crave companionship. So here was his methodology. This was his strategy. Let the girls live, kill the boys. The girls will be desperate for שדכנים shadchanim, just like now, there's too few boys, too many girls. So what's going to happen for these girls ultimately? They're going to go to the Egyptian club, the Egyptian bar, they're going to finally turn to the Egyptian שדכן shadchan. And they're going to say, I don't want to be alone. So Paroh said, what is the best strategy to get full assimilation, intermarriage, integration, so I won't be threatened by this distinct people? I'll let the girls live. They will marry in and we'll eliminate the Jewish people. A very, very interesting interpretation. A very interesting interpretation. What did he see? ותיראן המילדות את האלוקים Vatirena ha'meyaldos es ha'Elokim. So, Hashem sees them, ותראנה המילדות את האלוקים ולא עשו כאשר דיבר אליהם מלך מצרים Vatirena ha'meyaldos es ha'Elokim v'lo asu ka'asher diber aleihem melech Mitzrayim. So the pasuk said, ויהי כי יראו המילדות את האלוקים ויעש להם בתים Vayihi ki yaru ha'meyaldos es ha'Elokim vayaas lahem batim. So look at these psukim. ותראנה המילדות אלוקים Vatirena ha'meyaldos Elokim, Shifra and Puah, Miriam and Yocheved, saw God, ולא עשו כאשר דיבר אליהם v'lo asu ka'asher diber aleihem. So therefore, they did not do what the king asked them to do. ותחיינה את הילדים Vatichayena es hayeladim. And they let them live. ויקרא מלך מצרים למילדות Vayikra melech Mitzrayim l'meyaldos, the king called them, and he said, why are you doing this? And they said, they're different, what can I do? They're giving birth without us, and so on. Fast forward to פסוק כ״א pasuk kaf alef. ויהי כי יראו המילדות את האלוקים Vayihi ki yaru ha'meyaldos es ha'Elokim, and it was because they feared God, ויעש להם בתים vayaas lahem batim, Hashem made them homes. And what were the homes he made? זאגט דער רש\"י Zogt der Rashi, בתי כהונה, לויה ומלכות שקרויים בתים batei kehuna, leviya u'malchus shekruyim batim. We know that the positions of distinction among the Jewish people are called the בתי batei כהונה, לויה, ומלכות kehuna, leviya, u'malchus. These are the בתים batim that Miriam and Yocheved got. They were the progenitors of royalty and of priesthood. That was their reward for the fact that what? Finish the sentence. That was their reward for what? So רבי אליהו לפיאן Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian, in his לב אליהו Lev Eliyahu points out, I would have thought that's the reward for what? Enabling the children to live, saving the Jewish people, securing Jewish continuity, a Jewish future, for the courage. Last night, Rav David Yosef, one of the sons of Rav Ovadia, Rav David Yosef spoke last night very beautifully, very brilliantly, and he pointed out that we think that the Miriam and Yocheved had two choices, to obey the king or to disobey. And they had a third choice, to run away. And they didn't do that. They had the courage to stay and disobey. They didn't do that third choice. He spoke very beautifully. So they stayed, they had incredible courage. But I would think, why are they being rewarded? For the courage to disobey and for securing Jewish continuity, a Jewish future, for saving these Jewish babies. Says Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian, that's not what the pasuk says. It's not what it says. Could you imagine? We have a funeral right after this, Marcus Witztum, one of our beloved members passed away. So I'm going to mention at the funeral, he was named after his uncle, Marcus Witztum, a Polish Jew who moved to Ireland, who during the Holocaust opened a factory in Ireland and secured visas for Jews from Poland, whom he claimed had expertise to come work in his factory, and he was known as the Irish Oskar Schindler. He was a Jew who saved hundreds of lives. So imagine somebody saves thousands of lives, and then you say about them, wow, they're unbelievable. We're going to name a street in יד ושם Yad Vashem in Israel after the person who saved thousands of lives. Why would you say you're rewarding them? You say, ומה יראת שמים שלו uma yiras shamayim shelo? Can you imagine someone says, oh, it's beautiful, he saved lots of lives. Did they have any יראת שמים yiras shamayim? Everybody would say, מה זה נוגע ma zeh noge'a? Oscar Schindler, I'm not sure how much יראת שמים yiras shamayim he had. But he saved a lot of Jewish lives. They still made a movie about him. We still acknowledge him. Nobody asked what was with his יראת שמים yiras shamayim. הלא בכל אופן רואים אצלו מסירות נפש עצומה Halo b'chol ofen ro'im etzlo mesirus nefesh atzuma, who cares? He saved a lot of lives. התורה הקדושה מראה לא כך HaTorah haKedosha mar'ah lo kach. כל השכר שבא למילדות שהצילו את הילדים היו ישרים ותיראינה את האלוקים Kol hasachar sheba l'meyaldos shehitzilu es hayeladim hayu yesharim v'tirena es ha'Elokim. שכרם גדול משמים אינו רק בשם ויהי כי יראו את האלוקים Schoram gadol mishamayim eino rak b'shem vayihi ki yiru es ha'Elokim. Their reward came and their motivation and drive came because they feared God. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't continue to acknowledge and have a great appreciation for Schindler or others, whether they're God-fearing or not. But the Torah's telling us something very, very special here. This is another level. There are people who save children because they can't stand the cry of a child, because of humanity, humanitarian reasons. These two women were not driven by humanitarian reasons. Because humanitarian reasons can spin in both directions. The Nazis thought that they were humanitarian by ridding the world of the lowly Jew. Hitler was elected democratically. He was democratically elected. The German people believed that they were doing the humanitarian thing by cleansing the world of these lowly Jew. The moment we're driven by humanitarian motivation, that can spin in different directions. You can you can get a democratically elected Nazi party led by a Hitler for humanitarian reasons. These women, Miriam and Yocheved, were not driven by humanitarian reasons. ותיראנה את האלוקים Vatirena es ha'Elokim. They were driven by being God-fearing. They were here to serve God, and they were God-fearing, and they were God-fearing, and that was the reason for the reward. The reward came not for saving Jewish lives, the reward came for being God, for being God-fearing. For being God-fearing. The קאצקער Kotsker says a similar thing, but we will move on. ויהי כי יראו Vayihi ki yaru. Let's keep going. ויצו פרעה Vayetzav Paroh. Ah, ויצו פרעה Vayetzav Paroh. Beautiful שטייפלער Steipler. So Paroh tells them what has to happen. We're now on פרק א׳ פסוק כ״ב perek alef, pasuk kaf beis. Top of page 296. ויצו פרעה לכל עמו לאמר, כל הבן הילוד היאורה תשליכוהו וכל הבת תחיון Vayetzav Paroh l'chol amo leimor, kol haben hayilod haye'ora tashlichuhu, v'chol habas techayun. Every boy by יצו פרעה yetzav Paroh should be cast into the Nile, into the river, and every daughter shall you be kept alive. Rashi says, לכל עמו l'chol amo, he tells the whole nation. אף עליהם גזר Af aleihem gazar, יום שנולד משה, אמרו לו אצטגניניו שהיום נולד מושיען yom shenolad Moshe, amru lo itztagninav shehayom nolad moshi'an. He did this even to his own nation. All the boys have to be killed. ואינם יודעים אם ממצרים אם מישראל V'einam yodim im mi'Mitzrayim im mi'Yisrael, למה lama? Because his astronomers, his astrologers, his psychic friends network came to him and said that they had a premonition. They said, they said Paroh, the savior of the Jewish people is going to be born today, a boy. Paroh says, I don't know if it's a Jewish boy or an Egyptian boy, throw them all in the Nile. Throw them all in the Nile. ורואים אנוש סופו ללקות במים, לפיכך גזר באותו היום אף על המצרים שנאמר כל הבן הילוד V'ro'im enosh sofo lilkos bamayim, l'fichach gazar b'oso hayom af al haMitzrim shene'emar kol haben hayilod. Paroh knew that he would strike the river, the water. That's why he said throw them all into the, into the water. The שטייפלער גאון Steipler Gaon, Rav Chaim Kanievsky's father, the שטייפלער Steipler in his ברכת פרץ Birkas Peretz, says the following unbelievable, incredible idea. Something we all know, but we fail to have the scope or the context sometimes to realize. It's an amazing, amazing thing. כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael are in a terrible גלות galus. כל הבן הילוד היאורה תשליכוהו Kol haben hayilod haye'ora tashlichuhu. Paroh, the emperor of the world, the most powerful man on the earth, ordains and enacts every boy should be thrown in the river. Every boy should be thrown in the river. Paroh לא לקח שום סיכונים lo lakach shum sikunim. מהרגע שהתברר לו שעתידה של מצרים עומד בסכנה Meharega shehisbarer lo she'atida shel Mitzrayim omed b'sakana, והוא הפעיל כל האמצעים שעמדו לרשותו v'hu hif'il kol ha'emtzaim she'amdu l'rshuso. The moment he felt threatened, he employed everything he could to protect his own power and his Egyptians, which included killing countless babies of his own nation, of his own people. Why? Because he said I'm the emperor. I'm in the position of power. There's a baby born today who's going to be the one who saves, emancipates these people, not on my watch. I'm the emperor. I'm all powerful. I have the ability to not only murder every Jewish boy, every Egyptian boy, I can micromanage, I can control the situation, I can eliminate the threat. והנה משה רבנו מושלך לנהר ודווקא בת פרעה היא שמצילה אותו V'hinei Moshe Rabbeinu mushlach la'nahar, v'davka bas Paroh hi shematzila oso. How does Hashem orchestrate things? I'm I'm, this is not my first time reading פרשת שמות Parshas Shmos, but I never appreciated the story being described in this way, the way the שטייפלער Steipler does. Paroh says I'm all powerful. Paroh says I'm a deity. Paroh says I'm in control, I can manage, I can eliminate any threat. Hashem says, \"Ha. Ha. Guess where I'm going to put that savior? In the very river that you're saying to throw all the boys. And guess who's going to discover him? Your daughter. And guess where he's going to be raised? Under your nose in your palace. You can micromanage, you can eliminate every threat, you're in charge, you're in control. Ha. You know where that savior, not only can you not eliminate him, he will be saved. Not only will he be saved, he'll be saved in the very place that you think that you could most expeditiously eliminate. And not only will he be saved, will he be saved by whom? Your own daughter. And where will he be raised and trained in royalty? In your palace, by your servants, under your nose. And what will his name be? You know that kid in the high chair at your dining room royal table, that you think is so adorable and cute? And you're going to call him Moshe, little Moshele? Where does his name come from? כי מן המים משיתיהו Ki min hamayim meshisihu. From that very water that you said was going to destroy and eliminate the threat, and was a deity and was a God. The the irony, this is the irony, the origins of irony. The הקדוש ברוך הוא, the רבונו של עולם, the Almighty is using the tool of irony to show Paroh you think you're in charge, you think you're in control, you think you can micromanage, you think you can eliminate? Ha! Right under your nose, by your daughter, in the very water, he orchestrates the entire entire thing. And why does he do it? There's an amazing אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra. See, there's the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, פרק ב׳ פסוק ג׳ perek beis pasuk gimel. סיבת השם יתברך שיגדל משה בבית המלכות של פרעה להיות נפשו על מדרגה העליונה Sibas Hashem yisbarach sheyigdal Moshe b'veis hamalchus shel Paroh, l'hiyos nafsho al madregah ha'elyona, בדרך הלימוד הרגיל לו שלא תהיה שפלה להיות בבית עבדים b'derech halimud haragil lo shelo tihye shifla l'hiyos b'veis avadim. Why, why was it designed from above that Moshe would specifically be raised and grow up in a palace? Moshe who needs to and wants to feel the pain of his brothers, Moshe who goes out in order to empathize, why did he grow up with his people? Why did he grow up in the palace? The אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says because if Moshe was going to confront royalty, he had to be like royalty. If you grow up a slave, you have a slave mentality. This comes back to the word we said before, פאסט נישט past nisht. If we want our children to behave like royalty and to see the allures of this world as being beneath them, then we have to train them and condition them to see themselves as royalty. You're royal, that's beneath you. We don't speak like that, we don't dress like that, we don't act like that. We don't think like that, we don't go there. You're royalty. You're royalty. That's not who we are, that's not how we behave. My Rebbi, Rav Lawrence Kellerman, in his book to Kindle the Soul, tells the story of his son Kadosh. He tells the amazing story. They were on a family tiyul during Bain Ha'zmanim and they're in the car, and as inevitably and invariably happens, one of his children desperately needs to use a bathroom, they can't find a bathroom. They finally find a rest stop and they're about to run into the bathroom and he's running with his little child to go use this bathroom, he desperately needs it in the last moments possible. And the kid stops. And his father says, Rabbi Kellerman says, you said you have to go to the bathroom. You said you only have a few moments to go. Here there's a bathroom, let's go inside. His son sheepishly looks up at him a little boy and he says, I can't. He says, what do you mean you can't? You said you need to go to the bathroom. He says, Abba, my name is Kadosh. And this is a bar. I can't go to the bathroom in here. Because if you give your son the name holy, and you raise him to believe that he's holy, he simply won't be capable of going into an unholy place. It's פאסט נישט past nisht. Do we teach our children their royalty? So the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says Moshe grows up in a palace so he believes I'm royal. And therefore that first time he has to go knock on the palace door to say, \"Paroh, let my people go,\" he doesn't demur and he doesn't hesitate and he doesn't say, \"I'm a little slave, maybe if it's okay, if you don't mind, it's possible, maybe you'll let them go.\" He goes and he bangs on the door and he demands, \"Let my people go,\" because I'm royal, I'm a prince. I know royalty, I grew up in this palace. The אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says, the very רפואה refuah came before the מכה makah. Where did Moshe get the very skill set that would position him to be the savior of the Jewish people? He learned it from Paroh. Who was his mentor in how to have the courage to be able to demand, \"Let my people go?\" Hashem's irony that he built in here is unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Moshe learns the very skill set that enables him to liberate the people, he learns from the very dictator who is oppressing them. So the שטייפלער Steipler helps us zoom out the lens and get a little scope to see this story line, the subtext of this story line and Hashem's orchestration and irony of it is absolutely unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Okay, we only have time for a few more quick ideas. Everyone knows about בתיה Bisya, the daughter of Paroh, who stretched her arm out, and the miracle that it extended. The miracle is not that it extended. Because that's Hashem did, not her. Says the קאצקער Kotsker, you know what the miracle is? If she knew the basket was floating too far away from where she was, why'd she put her arm out? The answer is that if you see someone in pain and you want to help, you don't think to yourself, you don't calculate. Someone bring me a measuring tape, let me see if I can reach or not. Someone's screaming, you simply reach. And then when you reach, Hashem does the rest. How many people have done things that make no sense? And then in the end it brings a salvation, a redemption, it brings a solution. Or if they stopped and they plotted and they thought and they strategized, they never would have started. But because instinctively, we leap, we have faith, we believe, we do. If you're a doer, Hashem will do the rest. But if you stop and pause to calculate, it will never, it will never happen. ויגדל משה Vayigdal Moshe, Moshe grows up. ויגדל משה Vayigdal Moshe. ויגדל משה ויצא אל אחיו Vayigdal Moshe vayetze el echav. Says the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, גידולתו וקדושתו של משה באו לו מצאתו אל אחיו gedulaso u'kdushaso shel Moshe ba'u lo mitzeiso el echav. מיציאתו אל אחיו על ידי התקשרותו בדיבוק חברים Mitzeiso el echav al yedei hiskashruso b'dibuk chaveirim. ויגדל משה ויצא אל אחיו Vayigdal Moshe vayetze el echav. גידולתו Gedulaso. Where does greatness come from? A person might think, you know what makes you great? Get away from people. People are the worst. People bring you down. People are going to want to gossip and people will want to talk נארישקייט narishkeit and among people there's מחלוקת machlokes and strife, and among people there's division and divisiveness. Stay away from people. Go lock yourself in an ivory tower and put your nose in the books and you want to become a godol, you want to become great, isolate, withdraw. Says the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel it's the opposite. ויגדל משה Vayigdal Moshe, Moshe became great, why? ויצא אל אחיו Vayeitzei el achav. If you want to be great, then connect with people. If you want to be great, then care about people. If you want to be great, then practice unity among people. That is the story of of greatness. That is the source of greatness, that is the path to greatness is to be able to connect with other people, to connect with other people. Rav Yerucham has another insight. Says Rav Yerucham, נתן עיניו ולבו nasan einav v'libo. Rashi quotes, וירא בסבלותם vayar b'sivlosam, Moshe goes out and he sees their suffering. נתן עיניו ולבו להיות מצר עליהם Nasan einav v'libo l'hiyos meitzar aleihem. He placed his eye and his heart in order to feel their pain. So Rav Yerucham says, you know, there is an incredible integration between גשמיות ורוחניות gashmiyus v'ruchniyus. They are inextricably tied and intertwined one with the other. הקדוש ברוך הוא ברא את העולם בצורה שהגשמיות והרוחניות קשורים זה בזה HaKadosh Baruch Hu bara es ha'olam b'tzura she'hagashmiyus v'haruchniyus kshurim zeh b'zeh. שכשם שלו שייך רוחניות בלי גשמיות Shek'shem shelo shayach ruchniyus bli gashmiyus, you can't achieve spirituality without physicality. We elevate the physical. הכל נעשה בגוף הגשמי Hakol na'aseh b'guf hagashmi. Our body is the instrument, is the vehicle to do spiritual things. You can't do a mitzvah without a body. You need your body in order to do the mitzvah. כך ההפך, לגוף אסור להיפרד מרוחניות Kach hahefech, l'guf asur l'hipareid m'ruchniyus. Similarly, just like you can't have ruchniyus without gashmiyus, you can't do a mitzvah without the body to do the mitzvah, you also can't separate or divide the the body from the ruchniyus. כל דבר שאדם רואה בעיניו, חייב לקשר לרוחניות Kol davar she'adam ro'eh b'einav, chayav l'kasher l'ruchniyus. Whatever you see with your eyes is connected to your soul. And that's why, says רש\"י Rashi, וירא בסבלותם vayar b'sivlosam, Moshe chose to see their pain, נתן עיניו ולבו להיות מצר עליהם nasan einav v'libo l'hiyos meitzar aleihem. He paid attention, he read it, he looked, because he wanted to feel their pain. He wanted to express that empathy. He could have looked away. He could have not read the headlines. He was protected in the palace. He specifically went because he wanted to condition his גשמיות gashmiyus to רוחניות ruchniyus. We have to condition our רוחניות ruchniyus to גשמיות gashmiyus, we also have to continue condition... our גשמיות *gashmius* to רוחניות *ruchnius*, to look at things which will evoke certain attitudes and feelings and behaviors of who we are and of how we behave, of how we behave. Okay, I have 10 more things to tell you, let's see which of them I can quickly, one or two more very, very quickly. I'll give you one from Soloveitchik. Said the Rav, on the words אסורה נא *asura na*. אסורה נא *asura na*, פרק ג' פסוק ג' *Perek Gimel Pasuk Gimel*. I'm sorry, we only got through the first half of the פרשה *parsha*. There's so much on these פרשיות *parshios*, it's impossible. It's absolutely impossible.ויאמר משה אסורה נא ואראה את המראה הגדול הזה מדוע לא יבער הסנה *Vayomer Moshe asura na v'ereh es hamareh hagadol hazeh, madua lo yivar hasneh*. The bush is on fire, it's not being consumed. Moshe says, \"Let me turn and see what's going on. Let me turn to see what's going on.\" I have this image all the time now. Everybody else walked by this burning bush, this extraordinary supernatural phenomena, but they didn't notice it. Why not? They were all texting and streaming and scrolling. You could walk right by a miracle. You could walk right by God. You could walk right by this supernatural, extraordinary phenomena, but if you're looking down, you're not going to notice what's going on right around you. Who was it? There's a famous musician who was playing in the subway in New York. No one remember his name? Joshua Bell. Violinist? And he was playing in the subway and everybody walked by, nobody noticed. If they would have paid two blocks away to go hear him, they'd have to take out a mortgage. But he was playing for free in the subway, they walked right by him because in the subway everybody's busy, they walk, they walked right by him. אסורה נא *Asura na*.Said Rav Soloveitchik, Rashi comments on these two words, \"I will leave the spot where I am in order to get a closer look.\" What did Rashi add with that sentence? Rashi explains that Moshe was not referring to moving physically. Let me step aside. He was stepping aside from a worldview and embracing a new philosophy of life, moving into a different frame of reference. Let me step aside from certain categories in which I used to think and adopt other categories, other concepts, other ideas. Similarly at the עקדה *Akeida*, Avraham told Eliezer and Yishmael, \"Stay here with the donkey, ואני והנער נלכה עד כה *v'ani v'hanaar neilcha ad ko*.\" Avraham was not referring to geographical distance, he was referring to a different worldview. You remain with your philosophy, the philosophy of the donkey, materialism, practicing pragmatism, everyday logic. But there's another worldview, the covenantal logic. And this is what Moshe said, אסורה נא *asura na*, I must turn aside. Let me get away from the pragmatic logic of Yisro as estate manager. Let me adopt another set of rules, another philosophy, another worldview. Let me examine this great sight. He instinctively felt that something unusual was transpiring in front of him. Hashem tested Moshe to see how he would respond to the sight. Most people would not have responded. Great events have happened in our own time, said the Rav. Second World War, the Holocaust, State of Israel. The drama has not yet come to a close yet, we don't respond appropriately. We are not impressed, we lack sensitivity. When we see these things in the world, אסורה נא *asura na*. We should stop and turn to look. And the Rav says it's not a geographic or physical description. We should stop and turn to say, how does this change my view of the world? How does this change who I am? How does it change everything? That's what Avraham did, that's what Moshe did, that's what we're meant to do. A lot more to talk about. See you tonight 7:30 to talk about how the Rosh turned from Spain and from France and Germany to Spain. And then we'll see you please God next week. Tomorrow morning, 8:15, 10 minutes of meaning, then שחרית *Shacharis* 8:45, living with אמונה *emunah*. Tomorrow night we go behind the במה *bima* with Joseph Gitler, who is the founder of לקט *Leket*, my good friend Joe Gitler. Till next time, stay happy, stay healthy.
