Transcript
Good morning, Good morning and בוקר טוב Boker Tov. Welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. I want to thank our sponsors as always, dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family in loving memory of Becky's father, David Grossman, דוד בן מנחם מניש Dovid ben Menachem Manish. נשמה שהיה לה עליה Neshama she'yehiyeh la aliyah. As always, if you'd like to sponsor a particular class, please email Lee l-e-e at brsonline.org, Lee at brsonline.org. This morning, this week we have the privilege of studying פרשת בשלח Parshas Beshalach together. שלח Shalach is a rich פרשה parsha that continues the story, the narrative of our exodus from מצרים Mitzrayim, really the culmination of that last word, and not only did Hashem spare us and save us, and he redeemed us and then he took us, וגאלתי ve'ga'alti, what we spoke about two weeks ago, the notion וגאלתי ve'ga'alti, that he redeemed us, took place when we saw our oppressor drown in the sea. We no longer had to look over our shoulder in fear, worry, and anxiousness, but then we were truly free. Not only were we taken out of מצרים Mitzrayim, מצרים Mitzrayim was taken out of us. There's so much to talk about in פרשת בשלח Parshas Beshalach, but alas, this week is ישיבה Yeshiva week, and I will be with my family, but I did not want to skip all together. So, we'll have a little bit of an abbreviated שיעור shiur this morning, and I appreciate everybody's understanding, but just to be able to capture some of the ideas of our wonderful פרשה parsha. ויהי בשלח פרעה את העם Vayehi beshalach Paroh es ha'am, and it was when Paroh sent out the people, which פרעה Paroh is credited. ולא נחם אלקים דרך ארץ פלישתים כי קרוב הוא Velo nacham Elokim derech eretz Plishtim ki karov hu. And of course Hashem didn't lead them by the way of the land of פלשתים Plishtim, even though it was closer. It would have been the more direct route. כי אמר אלקים פן ינחם העם בראותם מלחמה ושבו מצרימה Ki amar Elokim pen yinachem ha'am bir'osam milchama ve'shavu Mitzraima. It's a very fragile people, a very vulnerable people. They might have turned, they might have come right back around. So the people are stuck between the proverbial and literal rock and hard place. The Egyptians are pursuing them from behind. They arrive at the sea in front of them, and they don't know what to do and they panic, and great debate ensues until נחשון בן עמינדב Nachshon ben Aminadav, we know, יהודה's Yehuda's great-grandson, takes the courageous move, puts a foot, a toe in the water, keeps walking till it gets higher and higher, the sea splits, they come out on the other side, and they sing a song.רב נתן Rav Nosson of Breslov, the great student of רב נחמן Rav Nachman writes in his ליקוטי הלכות Likutei Halachos that ט״ו בשבט Tu B'Shvat is always adjacent to שבת שירה Shabbos Shira. And it's no different this year that in a couple days we'll celebrate the holiday of ט״ו בשבט Tu B'Shvat, 15th of שבט Shvat, the ראש השנה של אילנות Rosh Hashanah shel Ilanos, the new year for the fruit, for the trees, and it's in the same week, it's the same just a few days before פרשת בשלח Parshas Beshalach which is שבת שירה Shabbos Shira. Sometimes they even fall on the same day on שבת Shabbos itself. And this overlap is not coincidental. The fact that they come out and they coincide is not a randomness of the calendar, it has an intrinsic connection. And רב נתן Rav Nosson of Breslov offers a very deep and mystical explanation, but I want to share with you a different one that I saw, and I want to offer you one of my own. For the farmer, sustenance, income, livelihood, they're all determined by the size of last year's crop, by the health and the success of what's produced. Well, and that's determined by the well-being and the health of the soil, of the farm, and how it gets watered, how much sunlight, how much air. In מצרים Mitzrayim, in Egypt, sustenance was determined by the Nile and the Nile's willingness to water and nourish the fields. That's why פרעה Paro tried to take responsibility as if he was the god, as if he was responsible for the Nile's irrigating the land, and he didn't want to look imperfect or even human. He went to relieve himself at the Nile. We wrote about that last week. It was no wonder the Egyptians neglected השם Hashem and they worshiped the Nile. They saw the Nile as a deity, as a god because the Nile was the source of their income, of their livelihood. When the Jews leave מצרים Mitzrayim, they walk away from a place that's characterized by this hedonism and materialism and the result of the certainty of the Nile, and they transition to a whole new way of being, a whole new lifestyle, to an agricultural system that relies not on the certainty of the Nile, but on the uncertainty of rain. Rain is unpredictable. Rain is volatile. Rain is erratic. There can be different kinds of rain. There's a nourishing and a nurturing rain, and there's a severe and a dangerous and a damaging downpour. Not all rain is created equal. That's why we דאווענען daven in תפילת גשם Tefillas Geshem for a rain which is לברכה ולא לקללה li'vracha v'lo li'klala, a rain that will sustain us and not a rain that destroys. It can rain conveniently and productively, it can rain in a way that disrupts and interferes. So when one relies on the rain to survive, when one relies on the rain to live, to thrive, you cannot help but turn to the source of rain. The farmer who lives dependent on the rain can't help but be drawn to pray to the provider of that rain. The משנה Mishna teaches that at least according to בית הלל Beis Hillel, ט״ו בשבט Tu B'Shvat, the 15th, as we said, is the ראש השנה אילנות Rosh Hashanah Ilanos, is the ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah of trees. And חז״ל Chazal, the גמרא Gemara in ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah on דף י״ד עמוד א Daf Yud Daled Amud Aleph tells us, why is that date chosen, the 15th of שבט Shvat? Because by that date, most of the year's rains will have fallen. And therefore, hopefully promising a year of physical blessing, a year of bounty, a year of income, a year of not worrying. When we were freed from the decadence and the gluttony of Egypt, when we were freed from the relying on and worshiping the Nile, and we were led to a lifestyle that depends on השם Hashem for nourishment instead, what was the result? We sang שירה shira. And so too each year on ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah for trees, at the time we've benefited from the bounty of the rain, we celebrate and sing with gratitude to השם Hashem again. So the simple first reason of why there's a connection between ט״ו בשבט Tu B'Shvat and שבת שירה Shabbos Shira, why רב נתן Rav Nosson of Breslov says that we always celebrate them in tandem and together, is because leaving Egypt was the transition from the certainty of the Nile to the relying, the uncertainty of the rain, of turning to השם Hashem. And when we left Egypt, we sang שירה shira, we turned to the heavens, we turned to God. And while we don't live in an agrarian society, we're not farmers, and we don't depend on the rain, it's still incumbent on us that we too have to recognize and appreciate השם's Hashem's graciousness and that we should sing שירה shira even when we go to the supermarket and we predictively find the food on the shelf, we should no less sing the שירה shira that the Jewish people sang themselves.But I want to offer another suggestion of the connection between שבת שירה Shabbos Shira and ט״ו בשבט Tu B'Shvat, really to introduce our study of פרשת בשלח Parshas Beshalach. Research shows that on average by the age of 18, we will have been praised and encouraged 30,000 times. And of the 30,000 times, most of them come by the age of three. When the baby first smiles, we clap, and we say, \"Yay,\" and we act like they finished ש״ס Shas or won the lottery or graduated with a PhD. And then when they roll over or say their first word or take their first step, each is greeted with a celebration and revelry and joy. And then somehow along the way, the human psyche, somehow along the way, it's just the way it is, we stop celebrating. We stop celebrating when we get things right, and instead we start criticizing when we get it wrong. We start stop marking what's done correctly, we start calling attention to what's done incomplete. We stop pausing to acknowledge achievement and accomplishment, and we start challenging ourselves and others to quickly move on to the next and to the newest goal and the next ambition and the next thing that we're trying to achieve. And maybe what פרשת שירה Parshas Shira, שבת שירה Shabbos Shira, and ט״ו בשבט Tu B'Shvat have in common, and the lesson that they indeed teach is that when you face a harsh and difficult challenge, when you come out on the other side, pause to celebrate before moving on. Give yourself permission to experience and to lean in and to celebrate an accomplishment, an achievement, having gotten something right. The Jewish people stood on the opposite bank of the ים סוף Yam Suf, safely across and finally free. It was the first time in 210 years they could exhale. They could breathe a sigh of relief. They could take in their new found freedom. They didn't make it to the other side and then continue to walk. They made it to the other side and they paused. They made it to the other side and they stopped and they sang שירה shira. They celebrated the success before moving on in the journey towards the next destination. ט״ו בשבט Tu B'Shvat marks the day when the earliest blooming trees in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, it's connection that we all have wherever we live in the world, ט״ו בשבט Tu B'Shvat connects us to the holy land. But on ט״ו בשבט Tu B'Shvat, the earliest blooming trees emerge from their winter sleep and they begin a new fruit-bearing cycle. And רש״י Rashi explains that it's this point that the ground has become saturated with rain. It's this time that the sap starts to rise in the trees, enabling the fruit to begin to bud. The trees have survived another cold and harsh winter. Not here in South Florida, but elsewhere, the no leaves in the tree and if you look around, it still looks like it's the middle of the winter. But beneath the surface, the sap is rising and the bud is forming, and beneath the service, the the surface, the trees are coming out another winter on the other side. And ט״ו בשבט Tu B'Shvat on the calendar, when most of the rain has fallen, and the ground is saturated with it, and the sap is beginning to rise, and the trees are coming alive once again, we pause to acknowledge and to celebrate and to say to the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, to the Almighty, thank you. Thank you. We're living in a world moving at such a fast pace that we hardly have time or allow ourselves to stop and to celebrate. At work we finish one project and we move on to the next. At home, the moments all seem to blend together, the days, the months, the years, they run into one another. But we have to learn to stop and to pause and to celebrate the small successes and to mark the modest milestones in our life, coming out the other side of our ים סוף Yam Suf, coming through the darkness and harshness of our winter, and the bud begins to form. Tom Peters, the author of the bestselling book, In Search of Excellence, has a simple, but I think a great piece of advice. It applies to marriage and parenting and to religious growth, תורה Torah, and all of life. He says, quote, \"Celebrate what you want to see more of.\" That's it. Celebrate what you want to see more of. A spouse accomplishes a goal professionally or personally, stop and celebrate. A child achieves a milestone or does something worthy of acknowledgement, should be celebrated, applauded just like when they were a baby and they turned over or took their first step. You don't have to gush or coo, but you can hug or high five, and offer praise and give credit and say thank you. Because pausing to celebrate, it's not just a nice thing to do. It's not just a שירה shira on the other side. ט״ו בשבט Tu B'Shvat is not just a day that we don't say תחנון Tachanun and we're not allowed to fast, but they're tangible benefits. Do you know that when you celebrate, dopamine is released into the brain, setting goals and achieving them and celebrating feels good, not only spiritually or emotionally, but physically, and it does is it motivates us to set the next goal and to do it. We know we do this in Jewish religious life all the time. שמחת תורה Simchas Torah, we finish the cycle of reading the תורה Torah and we stop, we have an entire holiday around it. But you don't have to wait for שמחת תורה Simchas Torah and make a סיום siyum on the whole תורה Torah. You make a סיום siyum every time you finish a מסכתא masechta. And הרמ״א Rama in a תשובה teshuva in אורח חיים חלק א Orach Chaim Chelek Aleph in סימן קנ״ז Siman Kuf Nun Zayin says you can make a סיום siyum not only when you finish ש״ס Shas or a מסכתא masechta, but for a person who's just beginning, if it took great effort and toil and time, you can make a סיום siyum on one page of גמרא Gemara, on one book of תנ״ך Tanach. It's incredible because more you stop and celebrate, the more motivated you'll be to continue and to build upon that success. So whatever the goal, learning or practicing patience or weight loss or saving money or making it to מנין minyan or giving צדקה tzedakah, whatever it is that you're trying to achieve, when you mark a milestone, stop and celebrate it. When you come out on the other side of the ים סוף Yam Suf, sing שירה shira for it. When you make it through the harshness of winter and the tree comes alive, what was latent underneath it all along begins to regenerate and rejuvenate, begins to bud and come forth once again, stop and celebrate and say thank you, because it'll push you towards that next goal. So it's not a coincidence this week we'll celebrate and mark both ט״ו בשבט Tu B'Shvat as well as שבת שירה Shabbos Shira. The two have this very, very close connection, they have this tremendous sense of an overlap.Now the תורה Torah tells us in our פרשה parsha, פרק י״ג פסוק י״ח Perek Yud Gimmel Pasuk Yud Ches, the תורה Torah tells us, ויסב אלקים את העם דרך המדבר ים סוף וחמושים עלו בני ישראל מארץ מצרים Vayasev Elokim es ha'am derech hamidbar Yam Suf va'chamushim alu Bnei Yisrael mei'eretz Mitzrayim. ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו Vayikach Moshe es atzmos Yosef imo. We know he came out of Egypt. We were only 20% who survived, most died there. We spoke about it last week's פרשה parsha. ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו Vayikach Moshe es atzmos Yosef imo. Moshe carried the bones of Yosef with him. Why? כי השבע השביע את בני ישראל לאמר Ki hashbea hishbia es Bnei Yisrael leimor, Yosef had made the people promise. They took an oath and they swore, and in fulfillment of that oath, now is the time they take, Moshe takes Yosef's bones. And the מדרש תנחומא Midrash Tanchuma tells us, הים ראה וינוס hayam ra'ah vayanos. We're going to read about how the sea saw and it split. מה ראה Ma ra'ah? What did the sea see that made it split? ראה ארונו של יוסף Ra'ah arono shel Yosef. It saw the coffin of Yosef. So what happened? אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא ינוס הים מפני הנס מן העבירה Amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu, yanus hayam mipnei hanas min ha'aveira. יוסף Yosef ran out, he fled from the sin from the relentless pursuit of the wife of Potiphar. The pasuk says וינס החוצה vayanas hachutza, he ran outside. אף הים ינוס מפניו Af hayam yanus mipanav, so so to so too, הים ראה וינוס hayam ra'ah vayanos. In the merit of Yosef running away from the relentless pursuit and proposition of the wife of Potiphar, the sea also ran and it split and it made way for the Jewish people to go. Asks רב דרוק Rav Druk. מובא בדברי המדרש שכריעת ים סוף הייתה בזכותו של יוסף הצדיק Muvah b'divrei hamidrash she'Krias Yam Suf hayta bizchuso shel Yosef HaTzaddik. And one wonders of Druk, why was it that the splitting of the sea was in the merit of Yosef? We know the people were on the lowest level of the 49 levels of טומאה tumah, they were undeserving and unworthy. But משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon, they had great leaders who were present. There were great leaders who were there. So why wasn't that enough to earn the merit? Why did Yosef's merit need to be invoked in order for the sea to split? Why didn't the sea split simply in the merit of Moshe, Aharon, themselves great leaders? How about מרים Miriam? We know that מרים Miriam, the באר be'er, the באר be'er, the water source that nourish and hydrates them through the travels in the desert, comes in the merit of מרים Miriam. So if indeed Miriam had all this merit, why wasn't it enough to the sea to split if it came later for the באר be'er and the מן mun, ענני הכבוד Ananei HaKavod, משה אהרן ומרים Moshe, Aharon v'Miriam, why wasn't that enough? What was it special or specific about Yosef? And here says רב דרוק Rav Druk, נראה שהיה צריך לכריעת ים סוף הניצחון מעשה של מסירות נפש Nireh she'haya tzarich li'Krias Yam Suf hanitzachon ma'aseh shel mesirus nefesh, שהרי לא נקרא הים עד שקפץ נחשון לתוכו sheharei lo nikra hayam ad shekafatz Nachshon l'socho. The whole notion of the splitting of the sea was precipitated not in comfort and not in convenience, but rather with מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh, with selflessness, with risk, and with sacrifice. נחשון בן עמינדב Nachshon ben Aminadav, you know, to me every year I can I can see the picture in my mind's eye. The Jewish people are standing on the banks of the sea. The Egyptians are pursuing them, they live in fear of their life despite the miracles they've already seen. And everybody's turning to one another and pointing a finger, you should do this. I have this idea. This is what should happen next. Everybody's offering their criticism about the pandemic, the plague, about what needs to be done and how it should be handled differently. And while everybody's offering criticism, everyone's offering condemnations, everybody's offering suggestions, one individual is quiet, silently. He doesn't raise his voice, but rather he raises his actions. Everyone else is collapsing in prayer. נחשון בן עמינדב Nachshon ben Aminadav puts one foot in front of another and enters the sea. And in do so takes an extraordinary risk, extraordinary sacrifice. He could have been swept away, he could have drowned, he could have given his life. But he says, I trust in God and I trust by putting one foot in front of the other. Sometimes we pray with words and sometimes we pray with actions. And says נחשון Nachshon, I'm showing my trust and my faith in God, I'm praying with my actions by putting one foot in front of another. So what precipitates the splitting of the sea is not faith alone, but is a specific type of faith, a faith of מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh, being מוסר נפש moser nefesh, sacrifice. כמובא בדברי הגמרא K'muva b'divrei haGemara, a גמרא Gemara in סוטה ל״ז Sotah Lamed Zayin. בשעה שעמדו שבטי ישראל על הים, זה אומר אין אני יורד תחילה לים, וזה אומר אין אני יורד תחילה לים B'sha'ah she'amdu shivtei Yisrael al hayam, zeh omer ein ani yored tchila la'yam, v'zeh omer ein ani yored tchila la'yam. When the tribes were all standing at the sea and they were debating and arguing, this one says, \"I'm not going first.\" And the other one says, \"I'm not going first. You go first.\" What happens? קפץ נחשון בן עמינדב וירד תחילה לים Kafatz Nachshon ben Aminadav v'yarad tchila la'yam. נחשון Nachshon doesn't wait, and he's not passive, he's not a spectator, and he's not a critic. You know what he does? He takes it upon himself. עליי Alai! אחרי Acharai! Follow me! And he steps in. עליו מפורש בקבלה Alav meforash b'kabbalah... הושיעני אלוקים כי באו מים עד נפש, טבעתי ביון מצולה ואין מעמד, עד שתפעה בשבילו מים אדירים, עד שהגיע למצולה Hoshieni Elokim ki va'u mayim ad nafesh, tavati b'yaven metzula v'ein ma'amad, ad shet'fa'a bishvilo mayim adirim ad she'higia la'metzula. שהרי רק אחרי שנחשון מסר את נפשו במסירות נפש Sheharei rak acharei she'Nachshon masar es nafsho b'mesirus nefesh. Only when Nachshon was willing to engage with מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh, only when he was willing to take a risk, only he was willing to put it all on the line, that's what precipitates, that's what brings about the miracle. You can't be a spectator to your own miracle. You can't wait for it to happen. We don't rely on miracles. You are the miracle. We create the miracle when we show the trust and the faith, when we're willing to sacrifice and be selfless, we become the miracle. The miracle that is the Jewish people, the miracle that is our survival. לפי זה מובן Lefi zeh muvan says רב דרוק Rav Druk, you can see then, שלא נקרא הים בזכות יוסף, של משה ואהרן she'lo nikra hayam bizchus Yosef shel Moshe v'Aharon, that the sea didn't split in the merit of Moshe and Aharon, כי היה צריך זכות של מסירות נפש כדי לקרוע ki haya tzarich zechus shel mesirus nefesh kedei likroa. It relied, it needed, it waited, it depended on the merit of sacrifice, of selflessness. לכך היה נצרך דווקא זכותו של יוסף הצדיק L'kach haya nitzrach davka zechuso shel Yosef HaTzaddik. Who is our great patriarch, who is our great forefather? Who is our great predecessor who displays almost an unparalleled מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh? Is not יוסף הצדיק Yosef HaTzaddik? יוסף Yosef who's in Egypt, יוסף Yosef who's been abandoned, been sold by his slavery, by his family. יוסף Yosef who has nothing to lose and is lonely. יוסף Yosef who's been falsely accused. הוא מוסר נפשו שלא יחטא Hu moser nafsho shelo yechta. Nevertheless, he's מוסר נפש moser nefesh. It's not easy. A young, virile, vibrant man, charismatic and handsome, and a woman is throwing herself at him and he says no. And why? Because it's wrong. Because it's improper, because it's beneath him, it's not פאַסענד passend. He's מוסר נפש moser nefesh. It takes tremendous מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. נשא רגליו החוצה Nasa raglav hachutza, he runs outside וסיכן בעצמו שלא יחטא v'siken b'atzmo shelo yechta, and he risks himself. And he pays for it. It's not without risk. And he pays for it, because he ends up being falsely accused and sitting and languishing in prison. Only that זכות מסירות נפש zechus mesirus nefesh could lead to and precipitate the splitting of the sea. That's what the Midrash means when it sees the coffin of a Yosef. Yosef who goes against his nature, we've explained many times, the natural thing, a natural young man, the natural urge, the compulsive behavior of this natural young man would have been to give in and to be with the wife of Potiphar. He displays a supernatural courage. And so to the natural thing is for water molecules to stick together, but the water displays a supernatural phenomena of splitting in two in the merit of Yosef. The צרור המור Tzror HaMor asks, מדוע נאמר כאן הפסוק ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו madua ne'emar kan ha'pasuk vayikach Moshe es atzmos Yosef imo? הרי אין כאן מקומו Harei ein kan mekomo. So the צרור המור Tzror HaMor asks, one second, they've already left Egypt. In last week's פרשה parsha, כחצות לילה k'chatzos layla, next morning בחפזון b'chipazon, with alacrity, speed, and zeal, they left Egypt. So when did משה Moshe have to fulfill the promise to יוסף Yosef? When they left Egypt. The bones have been with him already for a while. Why are we first being told now when they're standing opposite the sea? Why are we first being told now that what? That the bones of Yosef were there. They've been with him since they left. The צרור המור Tzror HaMor says, שהרי בבא לירד לים סוף נאמר לעיל, ויסב אלקים את העם דרך המדבר ים סוף, סמך לזה ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו sheharei b'vo lared la'Yam Suf ne'emar l'eil, vayasev Elokim es ha'am derech hamidbar Yam Suf, smach l'zeh vayikach Moshe es atzmos Yosef imo. We're told that God took us on a circuitous route, and that's when we encountered the sea. And that's when told that the bones of Yosef were there. פירוש שידע משה כי בזכות יוסף יביא הים Peirush she'yada Moshe ki bizchus Yosef yavo hayam. Oh, מה ראה ארונו של יוסף ראה Ma ra'ah, arono shel Yosef ra'ah... וינס בזכות וינס ויצא החוצה vayanos bizchus vayanos v'yatza hachutza. שאמר שאם הים סוער, יפיל עצמו לנילוס She'amar she'im hayam so'er, yapil atzmo la'Nilus. ולכן אמר שהרמב״ן שהיה הולך דרך ים סוף, אמר ראוי לי לקחת עצמות יוסף עמי לעבור הים V'lachen amar sheha'Ramban shehaya holech derech Yam Suf, amar ra'ui li lakachas atzmos Yosef imi la'avor hayam. Moshe knew I better grab the bones, I better grab the coffin. Not just the עצמות atzmos, the bones, but the עצמות atzmus, the essence of Yosef. Jewish people were latching on not just to his bones, his עצמות atzmos, but his עצמות atzmus, his essence, who he was, his core, because only by latching on to that would they find that they would survive. In that merit of מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. We're living in a generation at a time of great comfort. געשמאַק Geshmak to be a איד Yid, it's wonderful, it's pleasurable, it's enjoyable. And the pendulum has swung far in that direction and it needs to, as Rav Moshe famously said, we've quoted it many, many times, that we will lose the next generation if we talk about שווער צו זיין א איד shver tzu zein a Yid, how difficult it is to be a Jew. But we also can't promise how convenient or comfortable it is to be a Jew. It's not always convenient, it's not always comfortable. It takes a מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh, paying for kosher food, paying for Jewish education, דאווענען davening with a מנין minyan, navigating a virus, a pandemic. It's not easy to be an observant Jew. It's not easy. It takes מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. But if you want גאולה geulah, if you want redemption, if you want to bring about a change, if you want a miracle, you have to be the miracle. We have to precipitate the miracle. We have to cause the miracle. And how does that happen? With מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh, with selflessness, and with sacrifice. And who is the image of that? יוסף הצדיק Yosef HaTzaddik. And that's why it's specifically his bones that inspire. Not just a cute play on words, וינס החוצה vayanas hachutza he ran outside, וירא הים וינוס vayar hayam vayanos and therefore the sea ran and split. More than a cute play of words, it's a reflection of a much deeper essence. But then Rav Druk offers a second explanation and he says, עוד יש לומר על פי המהרש״א בברכות שיוסף הוא סמל הקדושה Od yesh lomar al pi ha'Maharsha b'Brachos she'Yosef hu semel ha'kedusha, בתיקון היסוד b'tikun ha'yesod. And this מידה mida of יסוד yesod, the foundation of who we are is holiness and sanctity. וכל תכלית יציאת מצרים היה שנהיה עם בני ישראל ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש V'chol tachlis yetzias Mitzrayim haya she'nihiyeh am Bnei Yisrael mamleches kohanim v'goy kadosh. He took us out, we've been developing this the last few weeks, that God took us out of Egypt not just to be some secular political entity, not just to be some free nation, but he took us out to be a people with a mission and a mandate, a covenantal community who strive for holiness. We don't live for happiness, we live for holiness. And therefore, this symbol of holiness is Yosef, who was willing to give up so much in order to remain and to be holy. קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני השם Kedoshim tihiyu ki kadosh ani Hashem. We are to be holy because God is holy. And who is the sign and who is the symbol? Who is the icon of holiness in a world of moral decay, corruption, and decadence, in a world in which it's live and let live and anything goes and be a pleasure seeker and whatever makes you happy? Who is the symbol and sign, the icon of of holiness? It's not other than Yosef. And that's what Yosef says. And that's the promise. פקוד יפקוד אלקים אתכם והעליתם את עצמותי מזה אתכם Pakod yifkod Elokim eschem v'ha'alisem es atzmosai mizeh itchem. Take me out. Your redemption will come when you incorporate me into you. Don't just take out my עצמות atzmos, my bones, but take out my עצמות atzmus, that we should be inspired in a world that is increasingly morally complicated, to remain clear and steadfast, to have our conviction that we don't live for happiness, we live for holiness, and to strive to strive for the מידה mida of of Yosef, which is יסוד yesod, to be holy. We're still in the period of שובבי״ם Shovavim, שמות וארא בא בשלח יתרו ומשפטים Shmos, Vaeira, Bo, Beshalach, Yisro, and Mishpatim, these פרשיות parshiyos an acronym for שובבי״ם Shovavim. שובו בנים שובבים Shuvu banim shovavim, and it's a time that we're working on elevating ourselves, to strive for more, to strive for holiness, to be careful what we look at, what we think about, where we go, how we speak, what emails and what WhatsApp posts and pictures that we fought, that we forward. That we're capable and we are, we are so much more, that it's beneath us. So why did Yosef need to come with us? Because the whole reason we came out was not just to be free, not just a freedom from, but a freedom to. And the freedom was not a freedom from, a freedom to holiness. Not a freedom to happiness, a freedom to holiness. And who is that sign, who is that role model? It's not other than יוסף הצדיק Yosef HaTzaddik. It's introduced the שירה shira, and it's also introduced every day in our דאווענען davening, which we're supposed to do with joy and excitement and a smile. ויושע השם ביום ההוא את ישראל מיד מצרים Vayosha Hashem bayom hahu es Yisrael miyad Mitzrayim. Our פרשה parsha, פרק י״ד פסוק ל Perek Yud Daled Pasuk Lamed. Hashem that day rescued the Jewish people from the Egyptians. וירא ישראל את מצרים מת על שפת הים Vayar Yisrael es Mitzrayim mes al sfas hayam. We saw our enemy, our adversary drown on the other edge of the sea. וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה אשר עשה השם במצרים Vayar Yisrael es hayad hagedola asher asah Hashem b'Mitzrayim. We saw his outstretched hand. וייראו העם את השם ויאמינו בהשם ובמשה עבדו Vayir'u ha'am es Hashem vaya'aminu ba'Hashem uv'Moshe avdo. They believed in Hashem and in his Moshe, and in Moshe his faithful servant. Did it ever occur to you? I think we've mentioned this in the past, but we haven't really elaborated on it. They believed in Moshe his loyal servant. It's as if we're saying that in one breath, וייראו העם את השם ויאמינו בהשם ובמשה עבדו Vayir'u ha'am es Hashem vaya'aminu ba'Hashem uv'Moshe avdo, as if they're on the same playing field. They had faith in God and in his loyal servant Moshe. What do you mean there's God and his loyal servant Moshe? There's God, there's no close second. There is no second. Rav Druk quotes the רא״ש Rosh, רבינו אשר Rabbeinu Asher, in his פירוש peirush on the תורה Torah quotes from his father. שכריעת ים סוף לא נעשה במטה She'Krias Yam Suf lo na'aseh b'mateh. We know the pasuk says ונטה ידך על הים ובקעהו u'nteh yadcha al hayam u'vka'eihu. Place your hand on the sea and split it. What did Moshe not use? He didn't use his tool. Moshe did not use his staff. That faithful staff, that מטה mateh, the מטה mateh which caused so many other miracles to occur, Moshe did not use his staff. He went directly with his hand. וטעמו, לפי שהיו ישראל מלעיגים על משה, מה טיבו של מטה זו V'ta'amo, lefi she'hayu Yisrael mal'igim al Moshe, ma tivo shel mateh zeh? Because the Jewish people were cynical, even then, even the beneficiaries of miracles were cynical and skeptical, and they said, מה כוחו של משה, הכל במטהו Ma kocho shel Moshe, hakol b'mateihu. Moshe's nothing. He's not the one doing any miracles. He's not so special. You know what is the source of the miracles? Moshe's staff. If any of us had the staff, or we were holding the staff, we could also bring about the miracles. He's got a magic staff, he's got this staff, this cane, he's got this branch, and whoever has it, whoever holds it, they too could bring about these miracles. So what happens here, says the רא״ש Rosh? This is the first miracle being done without the staff. ידך Yadcha, it's his hand, no staff. And therefore the people now trust, ויאמינו בהשם ובמשה עבדו vaya'aminu ba'Hashem uv'Moshe avdo. It is specifically here and specifically now that they gain a faith and a trust in Moshe because they realize there is no magic staff and it's not coming through anything else other than the hand of other than the hand of Hashem.Okay, תורה Torah continues and it tells us a story. We come out the other side, we sing, Miriam and the women sing. How did they have instruments? Because they had faith, optimism, hope, because they knew we were going to be free, and therefore they carried those instruments with them. And now we move over in the פרשה parsha, it doesn't take long until the people begin to complain, until they complain. פרק ט״ו פסוק כ״ב Perek Tes Vov Pasuk Chaf Beis. ויסע משה את ישראל מים סוף ויצאו אל מדבר שור Vayasa Moshe es Yisrael mi'Yam Suf vayeitz'u el midbar Shur. He takes them away from ים סוף Yam Suf and they go three days. ולא מצאו מים V'lo matz'u mayim. Three days without water. We know that we learn from here אין מים אלא תורה ein mayim ela Torah was three days without Torah. That's why we lain, we read the תורה Torah Monday, Thursday, שבת Shabbos. We can't go three days without Torah. If you go online, you can listen earlier this year in the afternoon כולל kollel, we give a series of שיעורים shiurim about קריאת התורה Krias HaTorah, the Torah reading based on this pasuk of ולא מצאו מים v'lo matz'u mayim. But the simple understanding is, לא מצאו מים lo matz'u mayim, they couldn't find water. ויבאו מרתה Vayavo'u Marasa. They come to a place called מרה Mara. ולא יכלו לשתות מים ממרה כי מרים הם V'lo yachlu lishtos mayim mi'Mara ki marim heim. And they couldn't drink water from there because it was bitter. על כן קרא שמה מרה Al ken kara shma Mara. And they call the place מרה Mara. And the people complain to Moshe, and Moshe cries out to God, and the whole story. But there's a few disturbing things going on in this narrative in the תורה Torah. Why is the name of the place in which the episode occurred called מרה Mara, bitterness? After all, if we're recalling the miracle God did, what happens after they complain? God puts something in the water and he transforms it to be sweet. So the place should be called מתוק matok. It's a place of sweetness, it's a place of positive memories. Why is it called מרה Mara? Why would we want to in perpetuity remember the bitterness of the water? Moreover, the reaction of the Jewish people is very perplexing. The truth is, this episode is not an isolated event. It's repeated numerous times in our פרשה parsha, and as the narrative progresses further, it's people become incorrigible. Jewish people just experienced the greatest revelation in the history of mankind. They saw God. They had unprecedented miracles, the יד השם Yad Hashem, ten plagues, splitting of the sea, freed from bondage, from oppression, from persecution. How is it possible that so quickly they forgot everything that happened to them? And instead of being grateful, they became complainers. Instead of realizing their freedom, let alone every drop and morsel of food they had to be grateful for, they complained incessantly and unremittently, relentlessly, critical, complaining. How did it happen? There's a phenomenon that psychologists call the missing tile syndrome. A person in a beautifully tiled room, our eyes are not drawn to the mosaic or the ornate tiles or the detailed labor, but it's natural that a person, their eyes are drawn to the missing tile. In the whole room, our tendency is to be drawn not to what's there, but to what's missing. We fixate on the deficiency and not the beauty. And perhaps the תורה Torah is describing ולא יכלו לשתות מים ממרה כי מרים הם v'lo yachlu lishtos mayim mi'Mara ki marim heim. The קאצקער רב Kotsker Rebbe has an amazing insight. What do you mean כי מרים הם ki marim heim? What was bitter? I might have said this last year, if I did, I apologize. But I love this קאצקער Kotsker, it's one of my favorites. כי מרים הם Ki marim heim is not talking about the water. Says the קאצקער Kotsker, כי מרים הם ki marim heim is describing the people. מרים הם Marim heim, the people were bitter and disgruntled and critical and judgmental and dismissive and dissatisfied and negative. כי מרים הם Ki marim heim, what was bitter was not the water, what was bitter was the people. You see, if you're positive and you always see the good, then everything will taste sweet. But if you're bitter and miserable, and פארביסענער farbissener. Then even that which is sweet, you will taste and you will see and you will describe as bitter. And so Rav Shlomo of Karlin explains the appropriate name is מרה Marah, the bitterness, because the miracle was not by substituting the water. The miracle was the people, וימתקו המים Vayimteku haMayim. The very same water became sweet. So the place was called מרה Marah to remind us that when we begin to draw on, when we begin to feel a sense of negativity or criticism, then we need to transform it to sweetness. It's up to us, the choice is ours. It's not the substance, the object, the experience, it's the attitude we bring to it which will determine how we remember that experience. I'll tell you one last ווארט vort in our abbreviated שיעור shiur. And again, I thank you for allowing me to offer only an abbreviated שיעור shiur this morning. Hope everyone's having a wonderful and safe and healthy Yeshiva week. is at the end of our פרשה parsha. עמלק Amalek, עמלק Amalek make their first appearance. They attacked us while we're weak, while we're vulnerable, while they're fragile. עמלק Amalek, who are all about chance and randomness and coincidence. עמלק Amalek who are all about cynicism and the כח koach of, they are the עמלק Amalek is the attitude of eh, as opposed to we who are the attitude of wow, to see ה' Hashem's hand everywhere. So תורה Torah tells us ויאמר משה אל יהושע Vayomer Moshe l'Yehoshua, בחר לנו אנשים b'chor lanu anashim, go choose men, ולחם בעמלק v'lechem b'Amalek, to fight with עמלק Amalek. ויעש יהושע כאשר אמר Vaya'as Yehoshua ka'asher amar, he goes to fight. משה אהרן וחור Moshe, Aharon v'Chur. These three go. And Rashi tells us, משה אהרן וחור Moshe, Aharon v'Chur, מכאן לתנא שצריכין שלשה לעבור לפני התיבה mikan l'tana shetzrichin shlosha l'avor lifnei ha'teiva. On יום כיפור Yom Kippur night, you have three people who stand on the בימה bimah on יום כיפור Yom Kippur with the חזן chazzan, it's modeled after this image that משה Moshe's דאווענען davening and אהרן Aharon and חור Chur are there as they fight. Who's חור Chur, Rashi says? מרים Miriam's son. מרים Miriam's married to כלב Kalev, and they have a son named חור Chur. Why does Rashi have to tell us specifically here חור Chur's lineage? תורה Torah tells us משה אהרן וחור Moshe, Aharon and Chur go על ראש הגבעה al rosh ha'giva. But why do we have to be told חור Chur's lineage? Why do we have to be reminded who he comes from? So Rav Druck says the following. He says because משה אהרן וחור Moshe, Aharon and Chur are the three pillars the Jewish people rely on. We know the world stands on תורה, עבודה וגמילות חסדים Torah, Avodah, and Gmilus Chasadim. משה's Moshe's תורה Torah. תורה's Torah's משה Moshe, משה Moshe gives us the תורה Torah. And אהרן Aharon is עבודה Avodah. אהרן Aharon is the עמוד amud of עבודה Avodah. בו בחר ה' לשרתו ולעמוד לפניו bo bachar Hashem l'sharto v'laamod l'fanav. Of the כהן Kohen, עבודה Avodah in the מקדש Mikdash. And חור Chur, the son of מרים Miriam, who's מרים Miriam? ותחיין את הילדים vatechayena es hayeladim. מרים Miriam is פועה Puah. מרים Miriam is the one who does the tremendous, extraordinary חסד chesed. So, משה Moshe, אהרן Aharon... משה אהרן וחור Moshe, Aharon and Chur are תורה עבודה גמילות חסדים Torah, Avodah, Gmilus Chasadim. If we're going to defeat עמלק Amalek, if we're going to defeat cynicism and sarcasm and skepticism, if we're going to defeat atheism and agnosticism, if we're going to defeat those voices, then we need to engage the משה אהרן וחור Moshe, Aharon and Chur in all of us, the תורה עבודה וגמילות חסדים Torah, Avodah, and Gmilus Chasadim. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy. Thank you for joining us for the abbreviated שיעור shiur. We'll continue tomorrow. We'll have our full שיעור shiur and back with 8:15, 10 minutes of meaning with Reb Shlomo Sharf, 8:45 living with אמונה emunah. Tomorrow night, amazing guest on Behind the בימה Bima at 9:00 p.m. Have a phenomenal day.
