Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker tov. Welcome back to our פרשה Parsha Perspectives for today, our weekly review of the פרשה Parsha of the week with an emphasis on trying to extract perspectives and insights, inspiration for today. I want to thank our generous שיעור shiur sponsors series for the year, our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family in loving memory of Becky's father דוד Dovid David Grossman, דוד בן מנחם מנוש Dovid ben Menachem Manush. Thank you so much for your generosity and for your sponsorship.This week we have the privilege of beginning together the book of שמות Shemos, the second book of the Torah. If the first book of the Torah represents the journey from a dysfunctional family to a family one, and the debate exists, we spoke about a little bit last week, whether in fact last week's פרשה Parsha ended with a functional family. Did Yosef forgive his brothers? Did he maintain the resentment and the animosity? Does it continue forth until today? This in fact was a debate and is debatable. But we move now from the formation of a family and the story of a family into the formation of a nation and of a people. A disparate group, seventy who descended to Egypt, who emerged and came out as a nation, as a complete nation. So I want to begin even before we enter the first פסוק pasuk, פרק א' פסוק א' Perek Aleph Pasuk Aleph, I want to begin with an introduction. And it's not my introduction, it's the introduction of the רמב\"ן Ramban, ר' משה בן נחמן Rav Moshe ben Nachman, Nachmanides, the great רמב\"ן Ramban. And the רמב\"ן Ramban in his introduction mentions the following. If you have a מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos or רמב\"ן Ramban, feel free to follow inside. I always love to be able to learn together in the primary source directly. So the רמב\"ן Ramban writes the following. השלים הכתוב ספר בראשית, שהוא ספר יצירה Hishlim ha'kosev Sefer Bereishis, she'hu Sefer Yetzirah. The Torah concluded the book of בראשית Bereishis, Genesis, the first book of the Torah, which is the story of יצירה Yetzirah, it's the story of creation, it's the story of formation. בחידוש העולם ויצירת כל נוצר b'chiddush ha'olam v'yetziras kol notzar. It is the completion of the story of the creation of the world, the six days of creation, Genesis, and all that's in it, all that will be created. ובמקרי האבות כולם שהם כעין יצירה לזרעם U'v'mikraei ha'avos kulam she'ke'ein yetzirah l'zar'am. If you have to summarize, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, what the essence of the book of בראשית Bereishis, the first book of the Torah is about, it's about creation. Creation of the world, creation of the seas and the oceans and the skies, the constellations, creation of the animal world, and creation of humanity on the sixth day, the culmination, the climax of creation, creation of rest in the seventh day, which is not just the abstaining from work, it's not passive, but the active creation of rest. But also, the רמב\"ן Ramban continues, the creation of our matriarchs and patriarchs as the progenitors of the first family is also a continuity of the act of creation. It too is part of creation. It's not creation of a new biological entity, it's not creation of a new species physically, but it represents the creation of a new species spiritually. The אבות Avos, אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov, שרה רבקה רחל ולאה Sarah Rivka Rachel v'Leah, they are כעין יצירה לזרעם ke'ein yetzirah l'zar'am. It is as if a new existence, a new entity, a new formation for their progeny, for us. That line alone is worth unpacking, we don't have the time, but for the רמב\"ן Ramban the idea that our sacred אבות ואמהות avos v'imahos, our sacred matriarchs and patriarchs are not simply human beings like any other, but they have a distinction. They are the progenitors of us, of a nation, of a people, of a covenantal community, of a people who have a mission and who are driven. They are יצירה לזרעם yetzirah l'zar'am. They are a new entity, a brand new formation. כי כל מקראיהם ציורי דברים נרמזו להודיע כי כל אשר יבוא להם Ki kol mikra'ehem tziyurei devarim nirmezu l'hodi'a ki kol asher yavo lahem. And they were an archetype, they were a paradigm. They were foretelling and foreboding all that would happen to us after. ואחר שהשלים היצירה V'acharei she'hishlim ha'yetzirah, and after they were completed, התחיל ספר אחר hischil sefer acher. A second book, the new book, the book that's called שמות Shemos. Our rabbis refer to it as ספר הגאולה Sefer HaGeulah, the book of redemption, we translate it in Latin as the Exodus. התחיל ספר אחר בענין המעשה הבא מן הרמוזים בהם Hischil sefer acher b'inyan ha'ma'aseh ha'ba min ha'remuzim ba'hem. So we went from the formation of the first family who embedded the DNA spiritually in each and every one of us, the DNA of אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov, the DNA of אמת emes and גבורה gevurah, of חסד chesed, of תורה Torah, it's all embedded inside us. It created a continuity of a new entity, of a new species called the Jewish people, the עברים Ivrim, and נתייחד ספר ואלה שמות בענין הגלות הראשון שנגזר בפירוש nisyeched Sefer V'Eileh Shemos b'inyan ha'galus ha'rishonah she'nigzar b'feirush. And now we move over to a nation and the story of how we became a nation, of how we were charged, as how we were emerged from the kiln of Egypt, as if this oven we come out baked, cooked, and ready. Where did that happen? In the גלות galus, in the exile, in the harshness of the exile, the first exile of Egypt. ובגאולה ממנו U'v'geulah mimenu. And it is the story of the redemption from there. ולכן חזר והתחיל בשמות היורדים מצרימה ומספרם אף על פי שכבר נכתב זה V'lachein chazar v'hischil b'shemos ha'yordim Mitzrayma u'misparam af al pi she'kvar nichtav zeh. So the רמב\"ן Ramban is actually answering a question. We know that רש\"י Rashi, the רמב\"ן Ramban, and early medieval commentaries, they didn't formulate their commentary as question, answer, question, answer, as we would be accustomed to today. Instead, they offer a commentary and they challenge us, what was the question that was bothering me? What were they addressing, what were they trying to answer? So the רמב\"ן Ramban is bothered by if you were to read the Torah in succession, don't read it as separate volumes. This is the volume of שמות Shemos, it's a whole new book, a whole new volume. But read it in this volume, which is the חומש Chumash, all five books in one, and you end בראשית Bereishis. בראשית Bereishis ends by listing and delineating all the names of those who went down, who descended to Egypt. And then שמות Shemos begins with what? Listing and delineating the names of all those who descended to Egypt. Hello, we were just there. We just saw that, we just read that. What's new? Why don't you teach me something I don't know? wonders the רמב\"ן Ramban. And his answer is, because that list of names plays two roles. It is the closure of the book of בראשית Bereishis. It is the end of the story of the formation of the first family, but it's also the introduction. It's also the very beginning of the story of our nation, of how we were in servitude and how we emerge with גאולה geulah. ולכן חזר והתחיל בשמות היורדים מצרימה ומספרם V'lachen chazar v'hischil b'shemos yordei Mitzrayma u'misparam, כי ירידתם שם הוא ראשית הגלות ki yeridasam sham hu reishis ha'galus, because their descent to Egypt was the beginning of a state of exile. And the book of שמות Shemos, says the רמב\"ן Ramban in this introduction is an entire story of גלות לגאולה galus l'geulah. The whole theme, the essence, the energy, what we are to learn from this book from beginning to end, forty chapters is the story of גלות galus of exile, of darkness, of distance, to גאולה geulah, to redemption, to light, to coming into the light and to being redeemed. כי מאז החל Ki mei'az huchal. It was from that descent that it was launched, that it began. והנה הגלות איננו נשלם עד יום שובם אל מקומם V'hinei ha'galus eineno nishlam ad yom shuvam el mekomam. So if you'll ask as before we even continue in the רמב\"ן Ramban, Rav Schechter in his ספר sefer on פרשה Parsha discusses this, and I've heard him say it many, many times. How can you describe that שמות Shemos is the story of גלות לגאולה galus l'geulah? גלות Galus, I got. What are we going to start with? Right after we're reintroduced to all the names of the people who descend, then we get ויקם מלך חדש vayakam melech chadash. There was a new king who arose, and he's threatened by the Jewish people, the question of their loyalty. He feels that they're going to grow in magnitude, they're going to outnumber him, they're going to rebel, and therefore he questions their loyalty and he persecutes and oppresses them. The fact that the book begins with גלות galus, I got. You don't have to be a scholar to read the beginning of שמות Shemos and see it beginning with the theme, with the story of גלות galus. But גאולה geulah? Where's the גאולה geulah? Where's the redemption? You get to the end of the book of שמות Shemos and where are the Jewish people? Where do we emerge? The first half is all about the story of being in Egypt, suffering. Hashem's magnificent miracles that redeemed us, the emancipation, the liberation from Egypt. We then get to הר סיני Har Sinai, we get to the laws, משפטים mishpatim, civil and and and criminal and all kinds of laws from the Torah. And then we get to the story of the משכן Mishkan, and where do we end up at the end of the book of, at the end of the book of שמות Shemos? We're in the desert. We're wandering in the desert. We're still lost. If גאולה geulah is arrival in Israel, if גאולה geulah is ארץ כנען, ארץ ישראל Eretz K'naan, Eretz Yisrael, if גאולה geulah is Israel, how is the end of the book of שמות Shemos the story of גלות לגאולה galus l'geulah? Where's the גאולה geulah? So the רמב\"ן Ramban himself answers, הנה הגלות איננו נשלם עד יום שובם אל מקומם Hinei ha'galus eineno nishlam ad yom shuvam el mekomam. Really the גלות galus has a full closure, its real conclusion is only when we come home to our homeland, to Israel. ויעמדו למעלת אבותם ישובו V'ya'amdu l'ma'alas avosam yashuvu. And we come back to the status, of the distinction of our matriarchs and patriarchs. וכשיצאו ממצרים אף על פי שיצאו מבית עבדים, עדיין יחשבו גולים U'k'she'yatzu mi'Mitzrayim, af al pi she'yatzu mi'beis avadim, adayin yeichashvu g'olim. And when we emerge from Egypt, even though we were no longer under bondage, even though we no longer had taskmasters who were oppressing us, that's still not yet גאולה geulah. כי היו בארץ לא להם, נבוכים במדבר Ki hayu b'eretz lo lahem, nevuchim ba'midbar. We were in a foreign land wandering in the desert. וכשבאו להר סיני ועשו את המשכן ושבה הקדוש ברוך הוא והשרה שכינתו ביניהם, אז שבו למעלת אבותם U'k'she'ba'u l'Har Sinai v'asu Mishkan v'shavah Hakadosh Baruch Hu v'hishrah shechinaso beineihem, az shavu l'ma'alas avosam. You know what גאולה geulah was? When we stood at הר סיני Har Sinai, we stood at the base of Sinai, and in that, in that unparalleled, unprecedented experience of revelation when Hashem said, here is my vision, my mission, the blueprint for this world. Now go do, now go and do. Now go and live, now go and find meaning. Now go and repair and mold that world in my image. When we stood at הר סיני Har Sinai and God revealed himself in unprecedented and unparalleled revelation, and we had the greatest contact human beings have had to Him, when we experienced the שכינה Shechinah as a שכן shochen. The שכינה Shechinah of God's intense countenance, the root of the word שכינה Shechinah is שכן shochen as a neighbor. We experienced him palpably, as if tangibly. We had no doubt, no uncertainty, we knew that he was there. השרת שכינתו ביניהם, אז שבו למעלת אבותם hishrah shechinaso beineihem, az shavu l'ma'alas avosam. We were back to where אברהם יצחק ויעקב, שרה רבקה רחל ולאה Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov, Sarah Rivka Rachel v'Leah were. When we wandered in a desert, we didn't know if he existed. When we were suffering in the bondage of Egypt, we wondered where is God. But when we stood at הר סיני Har Sinai, and then says the רמב\"ן Ramban, when we built a משכן Mishkan, which is the reenactment and the continuity of הר סיני Har Sinai. The משכן Mishkan, the tabernacle, the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, the מקדש מעט Mikdash me'at, called our שול shul, is an effort to keep going back to Sinai. We have continued to try to go back to Sinai over and over ever since we walked away, because we're trying to experience a גאולה geulah, a redemption, a redemption of our soul, freed from the bondage of the addiction, the trappings, the compulsions of this world. ולכן נשלם ספר זה בשלום ענין המשכן V'lachen nishlam sefer zeh b'shleimus inyan ha'Mishkan וביות כבוד השם מלא אותו תמיד u'v'heyos k'vod Hashem malei oso tamid. And that's why the end of the book of שמות Shemos is the building of the משכן Mishkan, a permanent dwelling place for God, a place to go when you craved contact with שכינה Shechinah, when you want to know that God is not some esoteric, abstract theory. God is not someone you read about in a book, but God is somebody that you have a relationship with, that you're in love with, that loves you, that you can lean on and rely and confide in, and that he's involved intimately in every aspect of your life. When you wanted to know the שכינה Shechinah is your שכן shochen, that he's your neighbor, and that you have contact and connection with him and that you have the same level of certainty and confidence that we had when we stood at הר סיני Har Sinai, where did you go? To the משכן Mishkan, the place of השרת השכינה hashras hash'chinah. So says the רמב\"ן Ramban, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, the book of שמות Shemos is the story of גלות לגאולה galus l'geulah. It's the story of exile to redemption. I, where at the end of the book are we redeemed? We're not yet in Israel. That's not the definition of redemption. The definition of redemption is not geographically being in Israel. The definition of redemption is having a relationship with God, of knowing there's something bigger than ourselves. And that says the רמב\"ן Ramban, is why the book is called ספר הגאולה Sefer HaGeulah. גאולה Geulah, we were liberated from the bondage of Egypt, but that didn't mean anything. So the רמב\"ן Ramban is saying such a critically important point that for us liberation, redemption, emancipation is not just what we're freed from. It's not just getting out from under the oppression. It's not just what we want to have end, but it's where are you going with it? When you're given the gift of life and the gift of light, when you're given that second chance or third chance, when you are redeemed from whatever is your bondage, מצרים Mitzrayim means Egypt, a geographic place and a nation, but the root of the word מצרים Mitzrayim is מיצר meitzar. It means from the constraints, from the straits. It means when the world feels like it's caving in and you want out. When you have to, when you have to quarantine, and when you have to socially distanced, and when you have to not see or kiss your grandchildren, or hug your child, or share שבת Shabbos meals with friends and you feel I'm in a מצרים Mitzrayim, I'm in a מיצר meitzar, I want to get out, then it's two parts. The גלות galus is being there, the גאולה geulah is getting out, but that's not גאולה geulah. גאולה Geulah is not only getting out, גאולה geulah is where do you go from there? Where do you go from there? The רמב\"ן Ramban writes the story of this book, the theme, the essence of this book, and we're spending so much time on this overview because we can only understand the transition of the chapters, of the פרשיות parshiyos, we can only understand the narrative and the story and its deeper meaning and purpose and its relevance for us today if we understand that this is the story. The story is not just getting out from slavery, because there have been unfortunately and tragically and an indictment of humanity, there have been countless nations, countless persecuted people, countless genocides, countless slavery, and yet they didn't all become God's chosen people. They didn't all become a covenantal community. God didn't include them all in a book divinely written. Why is the Jewish story different? Because not only was it our freedom from, but I'll quote to you Eric Fromm. Eric Fromm was a philosopher who lived in the 20th century, 1900 to 1980. And he coined an expression which I find so powerful. He distinguishes between what he calls freedom from and freedom to. Freedom from and freedom to. Freedom from is a negative freedom. It it lets you out of restrictions, like social conventions that are placed by others. It's a kind of freedom that has has binded you or or bonded you or put you in bondage, but it's a freedom from. What do you do with it is the question of freedom to. Judaism is not as focused on freedom from as we are on freedom to. Now of course, freedom to presupposes a freedom from, but if all you think about is freedom from, then what? Then what? Where do you go from there? What do you do with that newfound freedom? How does that mold and shape who you are? How does it give you meaning or purpose? What does it even mean? What does it even mean? He writes in a process of becoming freed from authority, we're left with a feelings of hopelessness that will not abate until we see our freedom to and develop some form of replacement of the old order. So we need not just freedom from, which is passive, but freedom to. And I love that formulation, I think it's exactly what the רמב\"ן Ramban is writing. That the story of גלות לגאולה galus l'geulah is not just the גאולה geulah that we got out of Egypt, but rather closing the loop, the real definition of the גאולה geulah that we experienced was coming to הר סיני Har Sinai, was standing at Sinai and becoming charged with a mission, with being a covenantal community, with having a life that matters, with making a difference. That's not just a freedom from the oppression of Egypt, that is the freedom to who we're meant to be, who we want to be, and to become the best version of ourselves. Freedom from, freedom to, גלות לגאולה galus l'geulah, that is the essence of this, that is the essence of this book. And I think that we should consider and we ought to consider as the vaccinations have begun, and many of you have them, many of you are waiting in line and please God, we should all be זוכה zocheh to get them quickly and to return to some sense of normalcy. It's time to think about not just what we want to be liberated from. I don't want to be isolated, I don't want to be quarantined, I don't want to be distanced. But what will you do with that? And how will your life be different? When you can reconvene and when community can congregate, and when you can come together with children, with grandchildren, socially with friends, what will that look like? Will we resume exactly what was the same or are we different? Is our world different? Is our mission different? Will those experiences be different? Not just freedom from what this year has given us, what coronavirus and this pandemic has imposed on us, not just freedom from, not just getting out of גלות galus, but גאולה geulah. Where is our freedom to is what will define us. For כלל ישראל Klall Yisrael at הר סיני Har Sinai, it's השרת השכינה hashras hash'chinah. It is a more inspired living and lifestyle, not just freedom from, but a sense of freedom to. Okay, with that we can begin. פרק א' פסוק א' Perek Aleph Pasuk Aleph in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, it is on page 292. ואלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה V'eileh shemos Bnei Yisrael ha'ba'im Mitzrayma, these are the names of the Jewish people who are coming to Egypt, את יעקב איש וביתו באו es Yaakov ish u'veiso ba'u. Again, we saw the רמב\"ן Ramban gives his reason why we're starting all over again, why are we stating all over again the names of the 70 who they were, how they got there? Because we used it at the end of בראשית Bereishis, said the רמב\"ן Ramban, it's the end of that story. We use it to introduce שמות Shemos, it's the beginning of this story of גלות לגאולה galus l'geulah. רש\"י Rashi, however, says, אף על פי שמנאן בחייהם בשמותן af al pi she'menan b'chayeihem b'shemosan, even though they were all counted with their name in their lives, חזר ומנאן אחר מיתתן chazar u'menan achar misasan, the Almighty, the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, the אייבערשטער Eibishter goes back and he counts again after their death. להודיע חיבתן שנמשלו לכוכבים l'hodi'a chibasan she'nimshalu l'kochavim. Hashem has an affection, he has an unquenchable love for we, his children, for the Jewish people. And he counts us like some count the stars. המוציא ומכניסם במספר בשמותם Hamotzi u'machnisam b'mispar b'shemosam, כולם בשם יקרא kolam b'shem yikra. We say it in our דאַווענען davening as well, the second הללו-קה Halleluka. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu counts us, likens us to stars. Why are we compared to stars? Why can't רש\"י Rashi just tell us that Hashem counts us because he loves us, חיבתן chibasan. It's affection, it's love, he cherishes that, so he just keeps counting us. Why do we have to be likened to stars? What is the metaphor of the star? And there are many, many answers, but I want to share with you from Rav Druk. Our first Rav Druk of the day, אש תמיד Esh Tamid, doesn't appear in many of our ask because as we learn his ספרא sfarim together, many have wanted to get them for themselves, so I so admire that you want to learn it and continue to see other pieces we don't quote. So it's a hard ספר sefer to get, אש תמיד Esh Tamid, and it's not yet translated. But he says here, הנה נמרא כאן שחביבותן של ישראל לפני המקום כחביבותן של כוכבים Hinei ne'emar kan she'chavivusan shel Yisrael lifnei ha'Makom k'chavivusan shel kochavim. The love, the affection of the Jewish people is likened to the metaphor of the love and the affection for a star. צריך ביאור, מה הדימיון בין עם ישראל לכוכבים V'tzarich bi'ur, mah ha'dimyon bein Am Yisrael l'kochavim? Why are the Jewish people likened to stars? שניהם חביבים לפני המקום Shneihem chavivim lifnei ha'Makom, they're both cherished and beloved to God, אבל מה המקום יש דמיון בין כוכבים לישראל aval mah ha'makom yesh dimyon bein kochavim l'Yisrael? They are inanimate objects. The stars are acts of creation, human beings are animated, we're צלם אלוקים Tzelem Elokim. Isn't it somewhat degrading? Isn't it somewhat insulting to a certain degree to liken us, to compare us to simple stars? So says Rav Druk, יש מקום לברר והרעיון בזאת yesh makom l'vareir v'ha'raayon b'zos, perhaps one can suggest an answer, שהרי הכוכבים בעצמם מאירים she'harei ha'kochavim b'atzmam me'irim, stars themselves illuminate, אמנם יושבי הארץ לפעמים אין רואים את אור הכוכבים omnam yoshvei ha'aretz lif'amim ein ro'im es or ha'kochavim. Right now it's daytime outside. If you look at the window in Boca Raton, Florida, 9:50 a.m. as we record, as we stream live, it is daytime. And if you look up at the sky, if you look up at the heavens, you will not see stars. כשהכוכבים רחוקים וכשהענן מסתיר ומחשיך את אור הכוכבים k'sheha'kochavim rechokim u'k'sheha'anan mastir v'machsich es or ha'kochavim. Or at night, even at night, if there are clouds that are blocking the stars, if it is an overcast evening, you're not going to see. If the stars are incredibly far away and you don't have a telescope, you cannot see them or study them. אבל בעצמותם יש להם אור Aval b'atzmusam yesh lahem or. But our view and our exposure to them, our ability and capacity to see has nothing to do with whether in fact they continue to illuminate. גם כשיושבי הארץ אינם יכולים לראותם מחמת הפרעה חיצוני של ריחוק או עננים gam k'she'yoshvei ha'aretz einam yecholim lirosam machmas hafra'ah chitzonis shel richuk o ananim, even when we can't perceive them, even when we cannot see them because they're far away or they're covered by clouds, nevertheless, גם כשהכוכבים אינם נראים לעינינו, הם בעצמם מאירים תמיד gam k'sheha'kochavim einam nir'im l'eineinu, heim b'atzmam me'irim tamid. They're always there and they're always illuminating. כמו כן יש להמשיל את עם ישראל K'mo chein yesh l'hamshil es Am Yisrael. So too, the Jewish people, says Rav Druk, כאשר אדם נמצא במצב מכוסה בענן ka'asher adam nimtza b'matzav mechuseh b'anan, when a person's living in a stage of their life that they feel like I'm covered by a cloud. How does somebody who's depressed, somebody who's down and out, somebody who's despondent, somebody who's going through a hard time, very often describe it as, I'm in a, I'm just in a haze, I'm in a cloud. I'm in such a dark place and a dark period and I'm living in a cloud, I can't see. I'm cloaked in darkness, I'm cloaked in a cloud. Sometimes we are that star covered in a cloud. או שהוא שרוי בחושך רוחני o she'hu sharui b'choshech ruchni, a person is living in a spiritual darkness. גם כאשר ישראל שרויים בגלות ובחושך Gam ka'asher Yisrael shruyim b'galus u'v'choshech, even when we're living in a state of spiritual exile of being distanced, of doubt and uncertainty, זה רק חיצוני zeh rak chitzoni, that is only external, it's only surface, it's only superficial. אין האור שלהם ניכר בחוץ לכולם, אבל פנימיותם כל ישראל מאירים הם ככוכבים Eina or shelahem nikar b'chutz l'kulam, aval pnimiyusam, kol Yisrael me'irim heim k'kochavim. האור קיים בעצמותם של בני ישראל, אף אם אין האור נראה ומשפיע תמיד לאחרים, הרי הם ככוכבים שגופם אור, אף שלא בכל מצב אורם נראה לבני אדם Ha'or kayam b'atzmusam shel Bnei Yisrael, af im ein ha'or nirah v'mashpia tamid l'acheirim, harei heim k'kochavim she'gufam or, af she'lo b'chol matzav oram nir'am l'vnei adam. Sometimes a person's going through a phase, a stage. Sometimes they've made mistakes, sometimes they've been hurt by others where they feel, I'm not illuminating, I'm not on fire, I'm not adding light to the world. All I am is darkness, all I am is depression, despondency, all I am is I've made mistakes and they're irreversible and irrevocable. A person needs to know, says Rav Druk, הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu loves us like a star. And that star, whatever it looks like on the outside, from here on earth, whether you can see it or you can't see it, whether you can study it or you can't study it, whether you can benefit from its light or you don't even know it's shining. But we know the star is up there. We need to know inside every one of us is a star. Inside every one of us is a shining star, an all-star, a superstar. And even when we don't feel like it, and even when on the surface you can't see it, and even when others don't perceive it, and even when we don't believe it, know that as long as you have a צלם אלוקים Tzelem Elokim inside you, as long as God is choosing to breathe through you, as long as you woke up this morning with breath in your lungs, there is a superstar and an all-star inside you. And even if others can't see it and you don't believe it or see it, there is a shining star, a superstar, an all-star, as long as it's a צלם אלוקים Tzelem Elokim. And that's what it means. The same way Hashem loves the stars and continues to count them, he loves us whether we are acting like a superstar or not, whether it is perceivable who we can be or not. Inside us is that צלם אלוקים Tzelem Elokim is that superstar. He believes in us, we have to believe in us. Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin writes that there are two מצוות mitzvos of אמונה emunah. There's the אמונה emunah we have in Hashem, and there's the אמונה emunah we have to have faith that Hashem believes in us. Which of the faiths is harder? Sometimes it's harder to think, sometimes it's harder to believe that Hashem believes in us than that we believe in him. But a person needs to know מודה אני לפניך Modeh ani l'fanecha, שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה she'hechezarta bi nishmasi b'chemlah, you gave me back my נשמה neshama with kindness. רבה אמונתך Rabbah emunasecha, your אמונה emunah, God, is great. In whom is God's אמונה emunah? His אמונה emunah is in us. A person has to know there is that superstar, that shining star inside us. We got to bring it out, we got to work hard, we got to make it come into existence, we got to make it so others can see it, but that it is that superstar inside us. Next Rav Druk piece. ואלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה V'eileh shemos Bnei Yisrael ha'ba'im Mitzrayma. The פרשה Parsha, the second book of the Torah, we're going to try to get past the opening פסוק pasuk today. But it begins, these are the names of the Jewish people הבאים מצרימה ha'ba'im Mitzrayma, את יעקב איש וביתו באו es Yaakov ish u'veiso ba'u. Should be bothered. What, by what? What does it say? These are the names of the people, הבאים מצרימה ha'ba'im Mitzrayma. What should it say? אשר באו מצרימה Asher ba'u Mitzrayma. What do you mean הבאים מצרימה ha'ba'im Mitzrayma? What a bizarre formulation. Says the מדרש תנחומא Medrash Tanchuma, הבאים מצרימה, וכי היום באים Ha'ba'im Mitzrayma, v'chi hayom ba'im? What are you talking about? We're reading the story thousands of years later. They're not arriving in Egypt today. We are reading a piece of history. It's a story from the past. So it should say אשר באו asher ba'u that came to Egypt, not אשר באים asher ba'im that are coming. וכי היום באים V'chi hayom ba'im? הלא ימים הרבה משבאו Ha'lo yamim harbeh m'she'ba'u. It's been a long time. It's been a very long time since they came. אלא כל זמן שהיה יוסף קיים לא היה עליהם עול מצרים. מת יוסף, נתנו עליהם עול. לפיכך כתב הבאים כאילו אותו היום נכנסו למצרים Ela kol zman she'Yosef kayam, lo hayah aleihem ol Mitzrayim, meis Yosef, nasnu aleihem ol. L'fichach kisiv ha'ba'im k'ilu oso hayom nichnisu l'Mitzrayim. As long as Yosef was alive, Yosef bore the burden. As long as Yosef was alive, we were well and good. When Yosef died, that's when it all went down. That's when they had to bear the burden and the bondage. And it was as if that day they came to Egypt. So even though the Jewish people had descended to Egypt long before the bondage began, Yaakov came down, Yaakov lived there 17 years before he died, and the brothers and Yosef lived there a long time after. So they had been in Egypt already a long time before the book of שמות Shemos begins. So it should begin אשר באו asher ba'u, they came here a while ago, and now ויקם מלך חדש vayakam melech chadash, there's a new פרעה Paro who's going to persecute. Why does it make it sound? Says the מדרש תנחומא Medrash Tanchuma, because as long as Yosef was alive, they had cover. But when Yosef died, that's when the bondage began. And therefore, it was as if that's when immediately they came down to Egypt associated and correlated with when he died. Says Rav Druk, המדרש תמוה, נמרא נמר הבאים מצרימה. הרי צריך לכתוב אשר באו. שהרי באים משמעו בהווה, ושם באו. והלא הם כבר באו הרבה קודם לכן. והמדרש תירץ באופן אחר. עיין דעת זקנים בעלי התוספות מה שתירצו Ha'Medrash tamuh, ne'emar ha'ba'im Mitzrayma. Harei tzarich lichtov asher ba'u. She'harei ba'im mashmao b'hoveh, v'sham ba'u. V'ha'lo heim k'var ba'u harbeh kodem l'chein. V'ha'Medrash teiretz b'ofen acher. Iyun Daas Zekeinim Baalei HaTosafos mah she'teirtzu. The דעת זקנים בעלי התוספות Daas Zekeinim Baalei HaTosafos gave a different answer. ויש לתרץ באופן נוסף V'yesh l'tareitz b'ofen nosaf. But says Rav Druk, I want to offer my own answer. שהרי בני ישראל לא נשתקעו במצרים She'harei Bnei Yisrael lo nishke'u b'Mitzrayim. The Jewish people never fully settled in Egypt. We never arrived. We never unpacked, we never came, we never settled. כמו שנאמר לגור בארץ באנו K'mo she'ne'emar la'gur ba'aretz banu, like it says at the end of בראשית Bereishis, לגור lagur. לגור Lagur is מלשון גר mi'lashon ger, an immigrant, a stranger, not a תושב toshav. ודרשו בהגדה ויגר שם V'darshu b'Haggadah vayagar sham, שלא ירד יעקב אבינו להשתקע במצרים אלא לגור שם shelo yarad Yaakov avinu l'hishtake'a b'Mitzrayim ela lagur sham. In the הגדה Haggadah, it's not the interesting part, it's not the eating part, and it's not the דבר תורה dvar Torah part, so you may not remember it, but ויגר שם vayagar sham, we dwelled there as a גר ger. לא ירד יעקב אבינו להשתקע Lo yarad Yaakov avinu l'hishtake'a. He didn't come permanently. He didn't move his, he didn't notify all the a change of mailing address. He was just there temporarily, לגור lagur. משמע שבני ישראל הרגישו במצרים שאין זה מקום שלהם אלא הם גרים שם Mashma she'Bnei Yisrael hirgishu b'Mitzrayim she'ein zeh makom shelahem, ela heim geirim sham. We have to know that we are strangers, we are immigrants, we are foreigners. We have to know there is only one place for us to be and to return to, and therefore we are in a state not of, we are in a state perpetually of הבאים ha'ba'im, not אשר באו asher ba'u. We didn't come down and we're here, we're not in America or חוץ לארץ Chutz la'aretz or the diaspora permanently. We are strangers, we're foreigners, we're here temporarily. We are forever in a state of הבאים ha'ba'im, never having fully settled. לפי זה מובאר שהם לא באו ביאה של קבע אלא כל העת אלא הם כל העת היו בגדר באים L'fi zeh mevuar she'heim lo ba'u bi'ah shel keva, ela kol ha'eis, ela heim kol ha'eis hayu b'geder ba'im. We were always in a state and a status of coming, not having arrived. And that's also a lesson for us. In our גלות galus, in our diaspora, to understand, as comfortable as some may be, to always have a mind about where we belong, and not if but when we are returning to our homeland. My good friend Rav Josh Fass told me that the numbers of Nefesh B'Nefesh applicants has skyrocketed and even if only a fraction of the people follow through when this is over, it'll be a multiple of how many usually go annually. But every one of us should be struggling not with if, but when it's our time to go home. We are באים ba'im. We are still yet only coming here, and we're here temporarily, not permanently. And perhaps that's why the Torah formulates it in this way. Continuing. Where is my חומש Chumash? Rav Soloveitchik has a whole other interpretation of באים ba'im and באו ba'u. How long do you have to be there to be a citizen to not give it up? And this is, he relates it to פרעה Paro. פרעה Paro persecuted us because he questioned our loyalty. Had we ever fully arrived? Had we ever fully unpacked? How could we be loyal to our home, to our, home to our home country, if in fact we were only, we were only there temporarily. You can see Rav Soloveitchik's interpretation. But continuing, so the Torah tells us that Yosef died and that whole generation, and the Jewish people פרו וישרצו וירבו ויעצמו במאוד מאוד paru v'yishretzu v'yirbu v'ya'atzmu b'meod meod. We promulgated, proliferated, we had a lot of children, we spread, ותמלא הארץ אותם va'timalei ha'aretz osam. The land was filled with them. Sounds like something our enemies would say. And the land was filled with them, the Jewish people, only the Torah is saying it about us. The land was filled with us. ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף Vayakam melech chadash al Mitzrayim asher lo yada es Yosef. There was a new king who didn't know Yosef. How is that possible? What does that mean? We know the two interpretations of רש\"י Rashi. Was it the same king but he forgot what Yosef had done or was it a new king who had no sense of history, no sense of appreciation of what Yosef had done. In fact, we're not going to read it, but Rav Druk has a whole piece that what precipitated the persecution was the lack of הכרת הטוב hakaras hatov. The evil of מצרים Mitzrayim was an extension of, of ingratitude. They failed to appreciate that יוסף Yosef, our forefather, had saved the economy, had saved the country, had saved their people. And they should have perpetually preserved that gratitude, but they didn't. They let it slip. And that's the beginning of wickedness. How can you persecute when you're ungrateful? How can you persecute when you don't see the humanity, and you don't see the good that others have done for you or are capable of doing for you? That is the beginning of the prerequisite to a sense of persecution. הבה נתחכמה לו Hava nischakma lo, they said, what are we gonna do? What if they outnumber us? What if they rise up and rebel against us? What do we do? So they said, you know what? Let's oppress them. And if we press them and distract them, we overwhelm them, and they have no margin, no serenity, no peace of mind, no sense of self, they'll never be in a position to organize and to be able to rebel against us. וימררו את חייהם Vayimareru es chayeihem, they made it bitter, בעבודה קשה b'avodah kasha, with backbreaking labor, בחמר ובלבנים ובכל עבדה בשדה את כל עבדתם אשר עבדו בהם בפרך b'chomer u'vilvenim u'v'chol avodah ba'sadeh es kol avodasam asher avdu bahem b'farech. We've talked all about this in previous year פרשה שיעורם parsha shiurim. So I'm tempted to tell you the great דברי תורה divrei Torah we shared then, but alas, we have to do new topics each year, because believe it or not, there's some people who listen to more than one a week and they tell me I repeated myself. So new topics. ויאמר מלך מצרים למילדת העבריות Vayomer melech Mitzrayim l'meyaldos ha'ivriyos. So what does he do? What is his strategy? How is he going to stop in the tracks any potential for the Jewish people organizing and rebelling? He summons, he summons these Jewish midwives, למילדות העבריות l'meyaldos ha'ivriyos, אשר שם האחת שפרה ושם השנית פועה asher shem ha'achas Shifra v'shem hasheinis Puah. One of them, their name is שפרה Shifra, and the other their name is פועה Puah. פרק א פרק טו Perek Aleph, Perek Tes-Vov, page 294. Rashi tells us למילדות l'meyaldos, לשון מולידות l'shon molidos. They are the midwives, midwifery, they are the ones who help the women deliver their children. אלא שיש לשון קל ויש לשון כבד ela she'yesh lashon kal v'yesh lashon kaved, כמו שובר דורש דורש מדבר מוליד ומילד k'mo shover, doresh, doreish, medaber, molid u'meyaled. שפרה Shifra is יוכבד Yocheved על שם שמשפרת את הולד al shem she'meshaperes es havlad. שפרה Shifra is really, the name שפרה Shifra is an allusion really to יוכבד Yocheved. שפרה Shifra was none other than יוכבד Yocheved. And פועה Puah is Miriam. על שם שפועה ומדברת והוגה לולד כדרך הנשים מפייסות תינוק הבוכה al shem she'poah u'medaberes v'hogah l'vlad k'derech hanashim mefaisos tinok habocheh. When a woman is in labor, you have to do two things. She needs to be physically treated, and you need to reduce and relieve her pain physically. I'm not going to make fun of anyone because then I will not have anywhere to sleep or eat, but it's possible that somebody I know asks for the epidural as soon as they get the second line back on the pregnancy test. When the pregnancy comes back with the second line, can I have the epidural? I'm ready. And I'm made fun of. But I don't know that pain. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, I got my own curse from God. אדם Adam, חוה Chava had her curse. But it's very painful. So one of the midwives jobs is relieve the pain, release the pain, whether naturally or whether with a epidural. But the other is פועה Puah. פועה Puah is מדברת medaberes, is to appease, is to comfort, is to communicate, is to support, is to coach verbally. So who are these מילדות meyaldos, who are this שפרה ופועה Shifra u'Puah? They are none other than, none other than יוכבד Yocheved and מרים Miriam. Says the אור החיים Ohr Hachaim, says the ליזענסקער רבי Lizhensker Rebbe, אשר שם האחת שפרה ושם השנית פועה asher shem ha'achas Shifra v'shem hasheinis Puah, פרעה שינה להם שמותם Pharaoh shinah lahem shemosam. Pharaoh changed their names. Why did Pharaoh change their names? From Rashi it sounds like they changed their names because their role as midwives. But the ויז'ניצער רבי Vizhnitzer Rebbe, the אור החיים Ohr Hachaim is assuming that the Pharaoh is the one who changed their names. Not Miriam and Yocheved but Shifra and Puah. Why? Says the אור החיים Ohr Hachaim, במטרה מיוחדת b'matarah meyuchdes. He had one goal. כי ידע שאם ישארו בשמות היהודים יוכבד ומרים תישאר להם המהות היהודית כי שמה גרם ki yada she'im yisha'aru b'shemos hayehudim Yocheved u'Miriam tisha'er lahem hamahus hayehudis ki shma garam. We know that a person is affected and impacted by their name. A parent is given divine wisdom when they choose a name. גמרא חז\"ל Gemara Chazal tell us that a parent has some level of prophecy when they bestow a name upon a child. Because a name is not just a random word so we all know who we're talking about, a name is a description. And when parents choose their name, they're describing the destiny of that child. The Jewish name of course we're talking about. שמא גרם Shma garam, the name causes, the name describes, the name predicts who the person will be. So therefore, Pharaoh understood if they use their Jewish name, יוכבד ומרים Yocheved u'Miriam, that will impact who they are. It will give them the courage to resist. ולא יוכלו למלאות זממו בהריגת הילדים v'lo yuchlu l'malos z'mamo b'harigas hayeladim. And if they use their Jewish names, they won't have the wherewithal to be cruel and to kill their own kind. לכן נתן להם גויישע נאמען lachen nasan lahem goyishe namen. Therefore he gave them גויישע נאמען goyishe namen, writes the אור החיים Ohr Hachaim. He gave them non-Jewish names. So you see how important it is. And we know one of the three reasons for which the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt is because we maintained our names. Our names, our clothing, our language. A Jewish, a יידישע נומען Yiddishe numen, a Yiddish name, a Jewish name, reminds us who we are. I had a principal in high school that only called everyone by their Hebrew name. To this day, and it's now not only a few years later, he sees me, and he says, \"How are you אפרים חיים Ephraim Chaim?\" He knows everybody's Hebrew name. He uses the Hebrew name. He wanted to remind us, wherever we go in life and however we interact in life, ultimately our identity is intertwined with our Jewish name, not our secular name. Rav Moshe has a תשובה teshuva, not for now, about using secular names. And he points out that אמוראים Amoraim, רב פפא Rav Papa, רב זביד Rav Zvid, we have countless examples of אמוראים Amoraim in the Gemara itself. We have בעלי התוספות Baalei HaTosfos and we have ראשונים Rishonim. The רמב\"ם's Rambam's father was מימון Maimon, a non-Jewish name. And Rav Moshe says while it's preferable to use a Jewish name, why was it that it's attributed we were redeemed because we preserved our Jewish names? That was קודם מתן תורה kodem Matan Torah. Before we had a lifestyle of תורה ומצוות Torah u'mitzvos to reinforce and promote and protect our Jewish identity and continuity, then the name and the dress and the language did it. But ever since we got the Torah, says Rav Moshe, a name is important, and it's preferable and everyone should be aware of their Jewish name. But, but הלכתית halachically you're allowed to use a non-Jewish name. And we do. We have what we think of as Jewish names that are of non-Jewish origin. Anyone you know you know named סנדר Sender, you know, you get excited, oh, סנדר Sender, what a חיימישע נאמען haimishe namen, סנדר Sender. סנדר Sender is short for אלכסנדר Alexander. אלכסנדר Alexander is Alexander the Great. The Jewish people named their children after Alexander the Great in gratitude to him. So Jewish children you know today named סנדר Sender are named after an Alexander who are all named after Alexander the Great. Not exactly a יידישע נומען Yiddishe numen. And nevertheless, they've morphed and and transformed into being Jewish names themselves. So Rav Moshe has that fascinating חידוש chiddush that there's a difference when it comes to Jewish and non-Jewish names before מתן תורה Matan Torah, before we received the Torah, and after we received the Torah. But you see how important it is. You see how important it is. I got an email yesterday from a cemetery. I did a funeral for somebody, you may remember I wrote a story about him, who was a waiter in one of our local restaurants who was a מת מצוה meis mitzvah. He died and there was no one there to bury him. And we collected the funds and we gave him a funeral, Mark with a C, remember the story. So they need to put up a gravestone, the tombstone. Asked me if I know his Hebrew name, I don't. His own family members don't know his Hebrew name. So he left this world and didn't leave us with what his Hebrew name was, and nobody knows it. A Jew should know their Hebrew name. You see how fearful פרעה Pharaoh was of allowing them to use their Hebrew names יוכבד ומרים Yocheved v'Miriam, and instead gave them other names to try to get them to overcome whatever courage they might have had. פרק א פסוק כ Perek Aleph Pasuk Chaf. פרק א פסוק כ Perek Aleph Pasuk Chaf. So the pasuk says וייטב אלקים למילדות vayitev Elokim l'meyaldos. So they resisted. They rebelled against Pharaoh's wishes, and they enabled Jewish boys to continue to be born. And and it it was וייטב אלקים למילדות vayitev Elokim l'meyaldos. God was very grateful. וירב העם ויעצמו מאד vayirev ha'am vaya'atzmu me'od. What does the pasuk say? God benefited the midwives and the people increased and they became very strong. And ויהי כי יראו המילדות את האלקים vayehi ki yaru ha'meyaldos es ha'Elokim, and when the midwives, they were God-fearing, כי יראו ki yaru, they had יראת שמים yiras shamayim, they had a great sense of awe of God. ויעש להם בתים vaya'as lahem batim. What was the reward for their resistance, for the rebellion against Pharaoh, for helping create the continuity of the Jewish people? Their reward was בתים batim. ויעש להם בתים vaya'as lahem batim. God rewarded them for their devotion. Says the Rashi, \"What do you mean ויעש להם בתים vaya'as lahem batim?\" He gave them בתים batim. So says Rashi, וייטב אלקים למילדות מהי טובה vayitev Elokim l'meyaldos, mahi tovah? What was the good? וייטב Vayitev, he gave them a good. What was the good? Gave him a stock tip, told them who was going to win the Super Bowl? Gave him a gift certificate to Neiman Marcus? What was the gift that he gave them? Thank you for the continuity. Thank you for keeping alive my children, my wonderful Klal Yisrael. Here's the gift. Rashi says, ויעש להם בתים vaya'as lahem batim. That's why the Torah says, He gave them homes. בתי כהונה ולויה ומלכות שקרויין בתים batei kehuna, u'leviyah, u'malchus shekruyin batim. That the homes of the priesthood and Leviam and Jewish kingship would descend from them. כהונה ולויה מיוכבד Kehuna u'leviyah m'Yocheved. Yocheved gave birth to Moshe and Aaron, which is Kohanim and Leviim. ומלכות ממרים U'malchus m'Miriam, and the malchus descends from Miriam. So why was this specifically the reward? Why didn't Hashem give them a gift certificate to Neiman Marcus? Why didn't He give them a gift certificate to eat out one night? Why instead וייטב vayitev? What was the good he gave them? ויעש להם בתים vaya'as lahem batim. He gave them these homes, namely, they were the progenitors of כהונה לויה ומלכות kehuna, leviyah, u'malchus. What is the reward? What is the correlation between the two? Says Rav Druk קשה kasha. מדה טובה שקיבלו להם בתי כהונה ולויה ומלכות m'duah tovah she'kiblu lahem batei kehuna, leviyah, u'malchus? הלא הקדוש ברוך הוא משלם שכר מדה כנגד מדה v'halo haKadosh Baruch Hu meshalem sachar midah k'neged midah. There should be a correlation between the merit and the reward. מה שייכות יש בין הצלת עם ישראל לבתי כהונה ולויה ומלכות Ma shayachus yesh bein hatzalas am Yisrael l'vatei kehuna, leviyah, u'malchus? What is the connection between saving the Jewish people and being rewarded with this? הלא אדרבה כיון שהצילו את כלל ישראל היה צריך לתת להם משהו כללי V'halo adraba, keivan she'hitzilu es klal Yisrael, hayah tzarich l'seis lahem mashu klali. They saved the total Jewish people. Yocheved and Miriam didn't just save those destined to be kohanim and leviim. They saved all the Jewish children. So therefore, they should have דוקא davka received something כללי klali, something which is much more communal, much more collective. שהוא כנגד הצלת כלל ישראל. ומדוע הם קיבלו דוקא בתי כהונה ולויה ומלכות She'hu k'neged hatzalas Klal Yisrael. U'madu'a heim kiblu davka batei kehuna, leviyah, u'malchus? Why specifically did they receive reward for this? Listen to what he says. He quotes from the גרי\"ז Griz, רב ולוול סולובייצ'יק Rav Velvel Soloveitchik, רב יצחק זאב סולובייצ'יק Rav Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik, the Rav's uncle. שהרי באמת כלל ישראל לא ניצול בזכות המילדות She'harei b'emes Klal Yisrael lo nitzol b'zchus ha'meyaldos. The truth is, the meyaldos did not save Klal Yisrael. Whoa. What do you mean? These midwives, Yocheved and Miriam, they didn't save Klal Yisrael? What does that mean? Of course they did. Didn't the pasuk just tell us that they did? So listen to the Brisker Rav's insight. No. Because פרעה גזרה רק על הזכרים ולא על הבנות Pharaoh gazarah rak al haz'charim v'lo al habanos. Pharaoh only said the Jewish males should be murdered, not the Jewish females. וכיון שנשארו הבנות V'keivan she'nish'aru habanos, so if Jewish girls and daughters were destined to be born, היו יכולות הנישאו למצרים hayu yecholos hinasu l'Mitzrim. They could have married gentiles. והילדים יהיו יהודים V'hayeladim yihiyu Yehudim. Even if God forbid circumstances would have meant that the only way they could have continuity was to marry non-Jews, the children would have been Jewish. כי הולכים אחר האם ki holchim achar ha'em. The רמב\"ם הלכות איסורי ביאה Rambam Hilchos Isurei Biah, the Gemara Chazal tell us matrilineal descent. We follow the mother. So as long as the Jewish girls were allowed to live, no matter whom they would have married, you would have had Jewish continuity. So when we say the meyaldos, Yocheved and Miriam saved the Jewish people, it's inaccurate. It's a distortion. They didn't save the whole Jewish people. They only saved who? Who? Not all the Jewish people. As long as girls were born, they could have continued to have Jewish children. לגבי כהונה לויה ומלכות הולכים אחר הזכר L'gabai kehuna, leviyah, u'malchus, holchim achar hazachar. But what is determined by the father? Judaism is determined by the mother. But tribe, status is determined by the father, if you're a kohen, a levi, or a king. נמצא שאם גזירת פרעה היתה מתקיימת לא יכול להיות בישראל בתי כהונה ולויה ומלכות Nimtza she'im gzeiras Pharaoh hayisa miskayemes, lo hayah yachol lihiyos b'Yisrael batei kehuna, leviyah, u'malchus. So if Pharaoh would have succeeded in eliminating the boys, true, you would have had Jewish children, but they all would have had non-Jewish fathers. So you'd have no kohanim, no leviim, no kings. So therefore they were rewarded מדה כנגד מדה midah k'neged midah. וייטב אלקים וייטב אלקים למילדות vayitev Elokim, vayitev Elokim l'meyaldos. What was the reward commensurate with the merit? And what was the merit? Not saving the whole Jewish people, the merit was saving specifically the boys, which would have been the continuity of the Kohanim, Leviim and Malchus. And that's why it's correlated with that. Fascinating chat by the Brisker Rav. Very, very interesting insight. Rav Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav's nephew, we know him as The Rav, has a different answer, a different perspective. We're in Perek Aleph, Pasuk Chaf still. Oh, boy, and running out of time. וייטב אלקים למילדות Vayitev Elokim l'meyaldos. Says The Rav, they gave them בתים batim. Why? Because houses represent leadership. God turned the leadership of Israel over to these midwives. The authority to lead and teach Bnei Yisrael was transferred to them. Chazal indicate the midwives are Yocheved and Miriam. The Medrash tells us that Amram the gadol hador, the leader of Bnei Yisrael, when Pharaoh issued the decree to kill every Jewish baby boy, Amram divorced his wife Yocheved in despair, arguing that there's no use to having children. All males would die anyway. Miriam rebuked Amram. He said, \"Your prescription is worse than Pharaoh.\" Pharaoh decreed only male infants must die. You are decreeing death to both male and female. With the birth of Moshe, Miriam prophesied he would become the redeemer of Israel. When Moshe was placed in the Nile, Amram became enraged with Miriam. \"My daughter, my daughter, what happened with your prophecy? Why did you give me such advice?\" In fact, Amram was completely wrong, and Miriam's optimistic approach was born out. Immediately after the splitting of the Red Sea, after Moshe's song, the Torah records Miriam's song as well, confirming the critical role she played in Yetziyas Mitzrayim. When Bnei Yisrael left Egypt, their leader was Moshe. Earlier, when Moshe was in Midyan, the ruler was Miriam. She earned this position because she was ready to sacrifice her life for the survival of the Jewish people. So Rav Soloveitchik gives a different interpretation. What does it mean בתי לויה כהונה batei leviyah kehuna? This is the homes, this is the center, the capital of leadership. These women displayed the ultimate leadership, the ultimate vision, the ultimate optimism. And because of that leadership, they were rewarded with being the progenitors of the Jewish people's future leaders. That was their, that was their reward. Okay, continuing. Aleph, Chaf-Beis. ויצו פרעה לכל עמו לאמר Vayitzav Pharaoh l'chol amo leimor. So Pharaoh tells the whole nation and he says, פרק א פסוק כב Perek Aleph Pasuk Chaf-Beis, כל הבן הילוד היאורה תשליכוהו וכל הבת תחיון kol haben hayilod hayeorah tashlichuhu v'chol habas techayun. The boys have to be killed and the girls can survive. Says Rashi, לכל עמו l'chol amo, who is he telling it to? What do you mean לכל עמו l'chol amo, his people? The answer is yes. אף עליהם גזר Af aleihem gazar, he even ordained this upon his people. Why did he ordain this upon his people? יום שנולד משה אמרו לו איצטגניניו היום נולד מושיען Yom she'nolad Moshe, amru lo itztagninav, hayom nolad moshian. Because the day that Moshe was born, the day that Moshe came into this world, Pharaoh's astrologers, Pharaoh's horoscope readers told him that the Jewish savior is going to redeem them from you was just born. ואין אנו יודעים אם ממצרים אם מישראל V'ein anu yod'im im m'Mitzrayim im m'Yisrael. But we don't know where. We haven't honed in. Our intelligence tells us that their savior was born, but we haven't identified him. And we don't know if he's going to come, if he's going to emerge from the Egyptians or from the Jews. ורואין אנו שסופו ללקות במים V'ro'in anu she'sofo lilkos bamayim, we're going to see that he's going to ultimately be in the water. לפיכך גזר אותו היום אף על המצרים L'ficha gazar oso hayom af al haMitzrim. כל הבן הילוד kol haben hayilod, לא נאמר היהודים lo ne'emar haYehudim. That's why the pasuk says, כל הבן הילוד kol haben hayilod, every male needs to be killed. Not only Jewish but even non-Jewish. Pharaoh even persecuted his own people. That's how paranoid he was. Because his because his prophets predicted that the savior was born that day, he took them all out. The מהר\"ל Maharal, רבי יהודה ליווא מפראג Rabbi Yehuda Loewe miPrague, in his גור אריה Gur Aryeh wonders, if the if the astrologers saw that the one who was going to save the Jewish people was born that day, ושה סופו ללקות במים u'she sofo lilkos bamayim, why couldn't they see that last missing piece? What was confusing them, wonders the מהר\"ל Maharal? These astrologers who had the capacity to see into the future, these astrologers who had access to this intelligence information that the savior was born that day, why were they limited in what they knew? Why did they only know he was born that that day, but what prevented them from knowing whether in fact he was emerging from the Egyptians or from the Jews? So listen to what the מהר\"ל Maharal says. He says here was the source of their confusion. And I think this is a very, very beautiful, beautiful insight. The source of their confusion was that the biological parent of Moshe are יוכבד ומרים Yocheved v'Miriam. But who raises Moshe? בתיה בת פרעה Bisyah bas Pharaoh, the daughter of Pharaoh raises him when she discovers and rescues him floating in the Nile. And the Gemara says לגבי בתיה l'gabai Bisyah, ואשתו יהודיה ילדה v'ishto Yehudiyah yaldah, אלה בני בתיה בת פרעה אשר לקח מרד eleh bnei Bisyah bas Pharaoh asher lakach Mered, and פסוקים psukim in דברי הימים Divrei Hayamim. כי בתיה ילדה ולא יוכבד ילדה Ki Bisyah yaldah v'lo Yocheved yaldah. Why there in the end of דברי הימים Divrei Hayamim, sorry in the beginning of דברי הימים Divrei Hayamim, why there does it identify Moshe as a descendant of the daughter of Pharaoh? After all, Moshe's mother is none other than יוכבד Yocheved. אלא Ela, says the Gemara, in סנהדרין יט Sanhedrin Yud-Tes, כל המגדל בן יתום בתוך ביתו כאילו ילדו kol hamegadel ben yasom b'soch beiso k'ilu yelado. Anyone who raises an orphan in their home, anyone who adopts another is as if they gave birth. ולפיכך לא יכלו האיצטגנינים להבחין U'l'ficha lo yachlu ha'itztagninim l'havchin. And that, says the מהר\"ל Maharal, is where they got confused. Said, we're looking into our crystal ball over here. We're checking out the horoscope over here, and we're confused. We know the savior was born, but we can't figure out. Is he Egyptian or Jewish? We can't identify, we can't narrow in, we can't close in on where he's coming from. What confused them? Because biologically, יוכבד Yocheved is the mother. But the one who raised him and therefore also has the status of a mother is none other than the daughter of Pharaoh. The מהר\"ל בזאת מראה דאיסור גמרא כל המגדל בן יתום בתוך ביתו כאילו ילדו Maharal b'zos mar'eh d'isur Gemara kol hamegadel ben yasom b'soch beiso k'ilu yelado, אין זה רק כאילו ein zeh rak k'ilu. What you see from this מהר\"ל Maharal, says Rav Druk, is when the Gemara says that if you raise an orphan, if you adopt a child, if you educate, you shower love, you're generous and sponsor a child, it's not only כאילו k'ilu. The word כאילו k'ilu means as if. But as if doesn't mean as if. Because if it only meant as if, the astrologers wouldn't have been confused. They were confused because the כאילו k'ilu means not just כאילו k'ilu, it means it's your son. Moshe had two mothers. He had a mother Yocheved and he had a mother Bisyah the daughter of Pharaoh. Not כאילו k'ilu, not as if she were his mother, but he had two mothers. And the חכמה שלמה Chachmah Shlomo says from here in אבן העזר סימן א Even Haezer Siman Aleph. The חכמה שלמה Chachmah Shlomo says, he puzzles on this. Does a person who adopts fulfill the mitzvah of פריו ורביה priyah u'reviyah? The post-Khem debate, let's say a person רחמנא ליצלן Rachmana litzlan who are unable, doesn't have biological children of their own. Or let's say they have children of their own. A person has 10 of their own children and yet they have an endless heart that has so much love to give. So they nevertheless adopt. Can you fulfill פריו ורביה pru u'revu? They have 10 boys and they don't have a girl yet, so they adopt a girl. They have no children, they adopt a boy and a girl. Can you fulfill the mitzvah of פריו ורביה pru u'revu? The mitzvah to promulgate, the mitzvah to have children. Can you fulfill the mitzvah of פריו ורביה pru u'revu by adopting? So the חכמה שלמה Chachmah Shlomo paskins הלכה למעשה halacha l'maaseh from this חז\"ל Chazal and from this confusion of the astrologers, that you see that a person who raises a child, not כאילו k'ilu, not as if, they are the parent. And therefore, maybe they're יצא פריו ורביה yotzei pru u'revu. נראה שהזאת על ידי פלוגת הדרישה וט\"ז Nireh she'hazos al yedei plugtas haDrisha v'Taz. The דרישה Drisha says, כל מקום שנאמר כאילו אין מוקשה kol makom she'ne'emar k'ilu ein muksheh, אלא משמעה יש לו ela mishma'eh yesh lo. But the Taz argues it's not ממש mamash. So the Taz and the Prisha have a machlokes when it says כאילו k'ilu, it doesn't mean literally, or is the כאילו k'ilu only as as if. But Rav Druk brings another ראיה rayah and I don't know if the person who asked me this question is listening right now, but a few weeks ago when we learned earlier in ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis, one of our listeners sent me an email with a wonderful question. We said that at the end of the story that what was the dream that יוסף Yosef had that alienated his brothers? The dream he had was that the stars were all bowing down to him, the sun and the moon. And Rashi there tells us that the dream meant that not only were his brothers bowing down to him, but his father יעקב Yaakov and his mother רחל Rachel. And that these, the רמב\"ן Ramban said that those dreams came true. When everyone descends to Egypt and they rely on him to live, they are כאילו k'ilu bowing down to him. So one of our wonderful, astute listeners emailed me the question I was hoping at the time nobody would ask and said, \"What do you mean the dreams came true? Where was רחל Rachel? His dream included his mother and his father, sun and the moon bowing down, but where was רחל Rachel? רחל Rachel had already died. She never came down to Egypt. So how could, how could the רמב\"ן Ramban interpret it that way?\" So, I didn't know then, but let me share with you now. Listen to what Rav Druk answers. The pasuk says she יוסף חלום Yosef ra'ah chalom, שהשמש והירח משתחוים לו she'hashemesh v'hayare'ach mishtachavim lo, and his father yelled at him, מה החלום הזה אשר חלמת mah hachalom hazeh asher chalamta? Even that Yaakov was bothered by, what are you dreaming? And Rashi said that it was his father and his mother, and it was רחל Rachel even though she died. So what does it mean? So listen to what he answers. He says, הנה לגבי משה ראינו חידוש נוסף hinei l'gabai Moshe ra'inu chiddush nosaf, דאף כשהאב ואם קיימים, כמו שהיה אצל משה d'af k'she'ha'av v'ha'em kayamim k'mo she'hayah etzel Moshe, חסד מי שגידלו כאילו ילדו chesed mi she'gidlo k'ilu yelado. Who is the one who raised him? Rachel had died. It's referring to בלהה Bilhah. מוחק שהבריאת חלום נחשבת האם שמגדלת בפועל את הילד כאילו היא אמו Muchach she'b're'as chalom nechsheves ha'em she'megadeles b'po'al es hayeled k'ilu hi imo, כאילו היא אמו k'ilu hi imo. His mother had died, but who raised him? בלהה Bilhah raised him. יעקב לא ידע שהדברים מגיעים לבלהה Yaakov lo yada she'hadvarim magi'im l'Bilhah. When יעקב Yaakov dreamed of the sun and the moon, it wasn't his mother, it was בלהה Bilhah who raised him. And here's another example of the same principle that the one who raises is not as if they're the mother, they're the mother. So when he saw the sun and the moon, it wasn't Yaakov and Rachel, it was Yaakov and Bilhah. Ah, Bilhah? Bilhah's not his mother. Bilhah is his mother. Rachel is his mother, but when she died and Bilhah took over and raised him, Bilhah was his mother. That is proof number two. Proof number three, says Rav Druk, it says וייתן לו את אסנת בת פוטיפרע vayiten lo es Osnas bas Potifera. יוסף Yosef marries אסנת Osnas, the daughter of פוטיפרע Potifera. תרגום יונתן Targum Yonasan says, ויב ליוסף את אסנת דלידז דינה vayav l'Yosef es Osnas d'yalidas Dinah. דינה Dinah is the mother of אסנת Osnas who was alive. וכיון שגידלתה אשת פוטיפר נחשבת כבת אשתו V'keivan she'gidlisa eshes Potifar, nechsheves k'vas ishto. Even though this girl who Yosef marries is the daughter of Dinah, it's his niece, nevertheless, it's identified with אשת פוטיפר eshes Potifar because that's the one who raised her. That's the one who raised her. And he has all these examples, and he concludes Rav Druk the section, הנה הרמ\"א, הרמ\"א בחושן משפט hinei haRama, haRama b'Choshen Mishpat writes, המגדל יתום בתוך ביתו וכותב לו בנו או כותב לאב hamegadel yasom b'soch beiso v'kosev lo b'no o kosev l'av, אינו מזויף eino mezuyef. If you have a שטר shtar, if you have a legal document, and you write about someone who adopt you that they're your father, or about the child that they're your son, the document is binding. Why? Because the one who adopts, the one who raises a child is the father. And therefore, it's not מזויף mezuyef, it's not counterfeit, it's legit. It happens to be in a כתובה kesubah today, if somebody adopted a child, we write בן פלוני המגדלו ben ploni hamegadlo, who raised them. But strictly speaking, the רמ\"א Rama here writes in the context of other legal documents, then it would not be מזויף mezuyef, it would not be counterfeit because טאקע takeh, in fact, that is considered binding. That is how the that is how the רמ\"א Rama paskins. And Rav Yosef Engel in the בית האוצר Beis Ha'Otzar, הוכחה כן מדברי הגמרא hochachah kein m'divrei haGemara. אביי שהיה יתום אמר, אמרה לי אם Abaye she'hayah yasom amar, amra li eim. Abaye says, \"My mother told me.\" What do you mean your mother? You're an orphan, your mother died. Who is he talking about? על מינקת שלו Al meinkes shelo. He was talking about the one who raised him because the one who raised him, he called her mom. There's a very powerful lesson, particularly for those who don't have children, that if you that if you adopt and if you nurture and if you provide and if you support a child, it's not as if they are your child. Halachically, they are your child. Chachmah Shlomo says maybe you could be yotzei pru u'revu. The Rama writes you can say that they're, you could write that they are your child in a legal document. Not as if, but they are, they have the status of being your children. וילך איש מבית לוי Vayelech ish m'beis Levi, we'll come back to, ותהר vateher. Let's do this next piece. This is an important piece. How much time do we have? Oy vey. Not a lot. This piece, do we have time for it? So many great pieces here. Um, yeah, let's do this piece. Perek Beis, Pasuk Hey. Skipping ahead. Perek Beis, Pasuk Hey appears in the Yalkut Stone Chumash on page 296. So וילך איש מבית לוי ויקח את בת לוי vayelech ish m'beis Levi vayikach es bas Levi. I was going to tell you a great Rav Wolbe, you'll have to come back next year. Why doesn't it say their names? Why is it anonymous as if we haven't already met them? A man went from the house of Levi and took a woman from the house of Levi. We're about to tell us her name, so why not tell us the name then? And these of course is the union of Amram and Yocheved and they give birth to and they give birth to Moshe. So anyway, they put him in the, in the Nile and he's floating. ותרא בת פרעה לרחוץ על היאר Vatere bas Pharaoh lirchotz al ha'yeor. The daughter of Pharaoh goes down to bathe in the Nile. And she's with her maidservants, and they see this ark floating, and she extends her hand and miraculously it stretches and she's able to retrieve the the basket with baby Moshe. Rashi tells us that she goes to the Nile to bathe. אשתו יהודיה ishto Yehudiyah, בתיה בת פרעה Bisyah bas Pharaoh. Why are we calling her יהודיה Yehudiyah? על שום שכפרה בעבודת זרה Al shum she'kafra b'avodah zarah. She rebelled against the avodah zarah, the idolatry of her father, of Pharaoh. דכתיב ותרא בת פרעה לרחוץ על היאר D'chsiv vatere bas Pharaoh lirchotz al ha'yeor. The daughter of Pharaoh went down to wash up the Nile. אמר רבי יוחנן שירדה לרחוץ מגילולי בית אביה Amar Rabbi Yochanan she'yardah lirchotz mi'gilulei beis aviha. Says the Gemara Megillah Yud-Gimmel, what does it mean that she went down to the Nile to wash? She went down to the Nile to wash the idolatry of her father off of her. That's how the Gemara Megillah understands. So on this, on this pasuk, we have a lot of questions. Number one, why does it say לרחוץ על היאר lirchotz al ha'yeor, to wash on the Nile? What should it say? לרחוץ lirchotz, ביהור b'yeor. Where do you wash? In the Nile, not on the Nile. Number one. And many ask, Rashi writes, סרס את המקרא ופרשהו, ותרא בת פרעה ירדה לרחוץ בו sareis es hamikra u'farshehu, vatere bas Pharaoh yardah lirchotz bo. The רמב\"ן Ramban writes, היו שם מעלות והיא ירדה מן ארמון המלך hayu sham maalos v'hi yardah min armon hamelech. The Nile had steps from the palace, you had to go down and that's why it writes. So Rashi and Ramban are both bothered by this question, and they each give their own answer. Why does it say על היאר al ha'yeor? She goes down to wash on the Nile. Why doesn't it say she goes to wash in the Nile? They each give their own answer. But moreover you could ask, why does it say she goes to wash from the גילולי בית אביה gilulei beis aviha, the idolatry of her father? Don't say she went to wash from the idolatry of her father, say she went to wash from idolatry. She went to go wash from עבודה זרה avodah zarah. Why she went to wash from the idolatry of her father? Number two. Number three, number three, what happened when she went there? הלא היא היתה בשאול תחתית של טומאת מצרים Halo hi hayta b'sheol tachtis shel tumas Mitzrayim, גדלה בבית אביה מלך מצרים gadla b'veis aviha melech Mitzrayim. She is raised, saturated, marinated in the in the contamination of Egypt. She grew up in the palace of her father. He is the source of the poison. איך היה לה כלל אפשרות לצאת מעבודה זרה גילולי בית אביה Eich hayah lah klal efsharut latzeis m'avodah zarah, gilulei beis aviha? Her whole life is paganism and idolatry. מהיכן נפקד עליה שבא כוח זה Meiheichan nifkad aleha she'ba koach zeh? From where did she in that moment draw the strength? I'm leaving, I'm abandoning, I'm rejecting everything my father stands for. All of his pagan idolatry, I'm washing it off of me at the Nile. Where did she get that strength from? So, the Chasam Sofer, Rav Druk quotes the Chasam Sofer with a באר נפלא be'er nifla, a magnificent interpretation. ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף Vayakam melech chadash al Mitzrayim asher lo yada es Yosef. Why does the Torah introduce this whole section, this whole part of the narrative by telling us that a new king arose, הלא הענין הוא כי ידוע למצרים שיוסף היה מושיע של מצרים halo ha'inyan hu ki yaduah l'Mitzrayim she'Yosef hayah moshia shel Mitzrayim, ושבעבי יעקב ברך את פרעה u'she'aviv Yaakov berech es Pharaoh. Everybody knew that Yosef saved the economy. Yosef saved the economy, that was for that period. But why did the economy continue to grow and why did the economy continue to thrive? Where did that come from? So listen to this insight of the Chasam Sofer. Yaakov, you remember, gave a bracha to Pharaoh. And what was the bracha Yaakov gave to Pharaoh? That the Nile should always be high. The Nile should always rise. The Nile should always nourish and feed the land. There should be a great parnosa, a great income. And לכן לא היה לב עם להרע לישראל כלל Lachen lo hayah leiv am l'harei'a l'Yisrael klal. So the Egyptian people looked and they said to themselves, first Yosef saved the economy, and then his father Yaakov gave a blessing through which our economy continues to thrive and is at all-time highs. Why? Because the Nile is at this tremendous high level. וכל הצלחה ושיגשוג מדינתם V'chol hatzlacha v'sigsug medinasam היה מכוח ברכתו של אבי בני ישראל hayah m'koach birkaso shel avi Bnei Yisrael. All of the prosperity and all of the success is because of the blessing of the father of the Jewish people, Yaakov. And where was that blessing specifically? The blessing was on the stock market. And what was the stock market of Egypt? The Nile River. So the Nile, its success, its blessing, its prosperity was all identified and connected specifically to Yaakov who had blessed it. So now says the Chasam Sofer we can understand the pasuk. ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים Vayakam melech chadash al Mitzrayim, there was a new king who arose who said, \"You know what? The success of the Nile is nothing to do with that old man.\" אשר לא ידע את יוסף Asher lo yada es Yosef. He had forgotten the whole story. He had forgotten the story of Yosef saving the economy. He forgot the story of Yaakov blessing the Nile. And he said, לי יארי ואני עשיתיני Li ye'ori va'ani asisini. The Nile is mine. I made it. I'm responsible for it. I've raised the the economy. I've raised the Nile. אין זה מכוח ברכתו של יעקב Ein zeh m'koach birkaso shel Yaakov. This is nothing to do with the blessing of Yaakov like Yosef said. אלא הוא העלה את עצמו Ela hu he'elah es atzmo. I'm the I'm God and it's because of me. That's the ויקם מלך חדש אשר לא ידע את יוסף vayakam melech chadash asher lo yada es Yosef. So says Rav Druk, we're running out of time, but you can imagine the rest of this magnificent piece. What happens? The daughter of Pharaoh, she didn't decide it suddenly and out of nowhere. And why is she washing off specifically the idolatry of her father? What happened was she's studying history and she remembers that there was a Yosef who saved the economy. And she remembers there's a Yaakov who blessed the Nile. And she says to herself, though her father's arrogant and her father's trying to take credit, and her father sees himself as a deity or a God, she says something is wrong. That's not how it happened. That's not where this comes from. So she goes down to wash off the Nile. What is she washing off? To wash off the idolatry? She's washing off the גלולי אביה gilulei aviah, the idolatry of her father על היאור al ha'yeor, about the Nile. What a פשט pshat. She's washing off her father's idolatry about the Nile. A person could succeed in the stock market and say, wow, that's all God. קדוש ברוך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu willed it, he gave me the idea, he gave me the investment advice. It's all השם Hashem. Or a person could say it's all me. כחי ועוצם ידי kochi v'otzem yadi. She's washing off her father's idolatry worshipping herself על היאור al ha'yeor about the Nile River. What a פשט pshat based on the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer of רב דרוק Rav Druck. It was worth tuning in today just for that, even though there's so much more I don't have time to tell you. Oh, so much more. So many more געוואלדיגע gevaldige pieces. There was another of דרוק Druck which was so important to tell you about איש מצרי ish mitzri and אמונה emunah. I'll mention it tomorrow in the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur. Tune in tomorrow morning 8:45, the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur, because what a message about אמונה emunah in our פרשה parsha when משה Moshe is introduced as איש מצרי ish mitzri. When he saves the girls at the well in מדין Midyan, and he says it's not they and they come back and report there's an איש מצרי ish mitzri who saved us. Why do they call משה Moshe an איש מצרי ish mitzri? It's a very powerful, important point. We'll talk about it tomorrow in the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur at 8:45. 8:15 first is the 10 minutes of meaning of מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim. 9:00 tomorrow night we go behind the בימה bima. Until then, stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy. We barely covered anything in the פרשה parsha. Forgive me, but it's such an amazing פרשה parsha. You'll come back next year and we will cover more. If you're watching on YouTube, please subscribe to our channel. Even if you're not, please do. Have a
