Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov, may be a good morning. Should be a good week. We should hear בשורות טובות besoros tovos from Israel and אם ירצה השם im yirtzeh Hashem around the world.Want to remind everyone that right after שיעור shiur we say תהילים Tehillim. Please stay, it'll take just a few moments. People stay for a few minutes, we divide תהילים Tehillim, we can finish it several times, all of ספר תהילים Sefer Tehillim. It's a tremendous זכות zechus. In fact, it's brought down by many ספרים sfarim, we're not going to get into this today, but the beginning of פרשת שמות Parshas Shmos is an allusion. אלה שמות בני ישראל Eileh shmos Bnei Yisrael. אמירת תהילים יש לה כוח גדול להוציא את ישראל מן הגלויות Amiras Tehillim yesh la koach gadol l'hotzi es Yisrael min hagoliyos. תהילים Tehillim can bring us out of גלות galus. And we see that. אלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים Eileh shmos Bnei Yisrael haba'im, סופי תיבות תהילים sofei teivos Tehillim. The last letter of the opening words of this book spell out the word תהילים Tehillim, and ראשי תיבות שמות בני ישראל הבאים roshei teivos Shmos Bnei Yisrael haba'im, is שביה shviya. So when there are hostages and captives, when we are enslaved, you see the first letter of the words, שמות בני ישראל הבאים Shmos Bnei Yisrael haba'im, spells out שביה shviya, captives, and the last letters of the first words, אלה שמות בני ישראל Eileh shmos Bnei Yisrael, spell out תהילים Tehillim. So תהילים Tehillim is a tremendous סגולה segula, תהילים Tehillim is a tremendous thing when we דאווען daven that our captives, those held hostage should be brought home. So please, I urge you, stay afterwards for a couple of minutes and we'll be able to complete all of ספר תהילים Sefer Tehillim. If you're not staying for whatever what reason, no one is judging you, but please leave quietly.Parsha series is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of Becky's father David Grossman. We are very grateful to the Katz family, לעילוי נשמת l'ilui nishmas דוד בן מנחם מענדל Dovid ben Menachem Mendel. This morning is also sponsored by Dr. Golda Sadowsky in honor of Rabbi Yehuda Lejb and Doris Kurtzer. Kurtzer should be זאל זיין געזונט און שטארק zol zein gezunt un shtark, they should be well and healthy. By Hadassah Teicher, a תינוק פרשה tinok parsha listener. We like תינוק פרשה tinok parsha listeners. Celebrating her 50th birthday today, 21st of טבת Teves. בשבח והודאה לקדוש ברוך הוא B'shevach v'hodaa l'Kadosh Baruch Hu for all the goodness he has bestowed upon her. She'll have many, many more birthdays in good health and happiness. Should be her best year yet. Also sponsored by our dear friends Rabbi Zev and Kira Ryan in memory of Rabbi Yehuda Kelmer, זצ״ל zatzal, יהודה בן דוב Yehuda ben Dov. Rabbi Kelmer's third יארצייט yahrzeit is this coming Friday. Tremendous צדיק tzaddik, tremendous תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, a very special person. If you've not yet got the new biography about Rabbi Kelmer, Rabbi Chanoch Teller published a biography, If Not Higher, stories and insights of Rabbi Kelmer, also fantastic, incredibly inspired. We begin the second book of the Torah, שמות Shmos, the book of שמות Shmos. The first book, בראשית Bereishis, curtain came down, and the family that seemed to suffer from so much dysfunction, hopefully got it together. Hopefully, got it right. We didn't concentrate on this last week, but it's unclear if in fact, if indeed they did. Because when the curtain came down last week, Yosef and his brothers seem to have reconciled, they seem to have repaired, they're living together in גושן Goshen.רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya has a different spin or approach to it. He says, why are we still observing תשעה באב Tisha B'Av? We know the מדרש איכה Midrash Eicha, חז״ל Chazal, גמרא גיטין Gemara Gittin tell us that the עשרה הרוגי מלכות asara harugei malchus, the ten martyrs who did not live contemporaneous to one another, but were murdered at the hands of the Romans, were put on trial because the brothers of Yosef were never held accountable for his sale. They were put on trial, they died as a כפרה kappara. They died as a כפרה kappara. We have a קינה kina on תשעה באב Tisha B'Av, and a סליחה slicha on יום כיפור Yom Kippur, in memory of those ten martyrs. Why were they put on trial? Why did they need to die? Why did they need a כפרה kappara? Didn't the brothers say, \"I'm so sorry\"? Didn't Yosef say, \"We're all good\"? Didn't the curtain come down and everything was well, they lived happily ever after? רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya says, not so much. Not exactly. It was not the most sincere apology, so it wasn't the most comprehensive forgiveness, and therefore the residue of the שנאת חינם sinas chinam remained, remains all these years, all these years and continues to haunt us עד היום הזה ad hayom hazeh, until this very time. There's other approaches that is. So hopefully the first book is the birth, the formation and the figuring it out of our family.And we transition to the book of שמות Shmos, which is from a family to a people. From a family to a nation. We're not just a family trying to figure it out, but we're in the כור ברזל kur barzel, we are in מצרים Mitzrayim, we're in that suffering, that servitude, we're facing that pressure and that heat that often forges us and brings out the best in us and makes us into a people. ואלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה V'eileh shmos Bnei Yisrael haba'im Mitzrayma, these are the names of the children of Israel הבאים מצרימה haba'im Mitzrayma, who are coming. What should it say? אשר באו asher ba'u that came to מצרים Mitzrayim. Why is it in the הווה hoveh, why is it in the present tense, who are coming to מצרים Mitzrayim? We discussed it last year. Listen to that שיעור shiur. ראובן שמעון לוי ויהודה יששכר זבולון ובנימין Reuven Shimon Levi v'Yehuda Yissachar Zevulun u'Vinyamin, we go through and we enumerate, we elaborate again the names. רש״י Rashi tells us, the book of בראשית Bereishis ended, the curtain came down, and we reviewed a census of all the 70 names, all the 70 members of the family. And now you turn the page, שמות Shmos, and we start that way again. Why? So רש״י Rashi tells us, חיבתן, הקדוש ברוך הוא chibasan, HaKadosh Baruch Hu loves us. And what you love, you count. Some people love their money, some people love their portfolio. Some people love how many cars they have. Some people love how many homes they have. Some people love, people love, we count what we love. השם Hashem loves us. He counts us over and over. And what happens? פסוק ו׳ Pasuk Vav, וימת יוסף וכל אחיו וכל הדור ההוא Vayamas Yosef v'chol echav v'chol hador hahu. Yosef expired, it's a nice way of saying Yosef died and all of his generation, his brothers. ובני ישראל פרו וישרצו וירבו ויעצמו במאוד מאוד ותמלא הארץ אותם U'Vnei Yisrael paru vayishretzu vayirbu vaya'atzmu b'meod meod vatimalei ha'aretz osam. And after he died and after his generation died, then בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael were fruitful, they multiplied, they promulgated, they proliferated, they increased, they became strong, מאוד מאוד meod meod. ותמלא הארץ אותם vatimalei ha'aretz osam. And the nation of Egypt, Egypt became filled. Population explosion. We were a thorn in the side. We were demographically significant. What does it mean ויוסף היה במצרים v'Yosef haya b'Mitzrayim? פסוק ה׳ Pasuk Hei, sorry, I skip, I skipped this פסוק pasuk. ויהי כל נפש יוצאי ירך יעקב שבעים נפש ויוסף היה במצרים Vayehi kol nefesh yotzei yerech Yaakov shiv'im nafesh v'Yosef haya b'Mitzrayim. ויוסף היה במצרים v'Yosef haya b'Mitzrayim, and Yosef was in Egypt.From the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, brought down in the אמרות טהרות Amaros Tehoros. יש להבין למה נאמר במצרים, הלא כבר הקדים מתחילה לומר הבאים מצרימה Yesh l'havin lama ne'emar b'Mitzrayim, halo kvar hikdim mitchila lomar haba'im Mitzrayma. We began, we introduced the entire section by saying, these are the names of בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael who came to מצרים Mitzrayim. We know where we're talking about. So it could say, יוסף היה שם Yosef haya sham, Yosef was there. They came down, they migrated, they immigrated. Yosef was already there. Why do we have to repeat Joseph היה שם haya sham? Says the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, because the מדרש Midrash tells us בשלוש דברים נגאלו ישראל ממצרים bishlosh dvarim nigalu Yisrael m'Mitzrayim. There are three reasons, three causes why we were redeemed from Egypt, שלא שינו את שמם shelo shinu es shmam, and one of them is we maintained and we preserved our name. שלא שינו את לשונם Shelo shinu es l'shonam, we didn't change our language. ושלא שינו את מלבושם v'lo shinu es malbusham, and we had a distinct mode of dress. לזה רצה הכתוב לרמז כאן, תחילת סיבת גאולת ישראל ממצרים, לפי שלא שינה יוסף את שמו L'zeh ratza hakasuv l'ramez kan, tchilas sibas geulas Yisrael m'Mitzrayim, l'fi shelo shina Yosef es shmo. Yosef never changed his name. Who gave him the name Yosef? His mother, his father, at his birth. They gave him the name יוסף Yosef. ויקרא שמו בישראל יוסף Vayikra shmo b'Yisrael Yosef, יוסף בן יעקב Yosef ben Yaakov. Yosef was the name he got from his mother and from his father. Yosef represented his יידישע נאָמען Yiddishe nomen. It was his יידישע נאָמען Yiddishe nomen. פרעה קרא ליוסף שם צפנת פענח Paroh kara l'Yosef shem Tzafnas Paneach. Pharaoh, when he elevated him and when he gave him the position of viceroy, when he became the minister, the secretary of the economy, he gave him a new name, צפנת פענח Tzafnas Paneach. אמנם, יוסף לא קיבל זאת, ולא שינה את שמו כלל Omnam, Yosef lo kibel zos, v'lo shina es shmo klal. Yosef could have put on his business card, Yosef's Twitter handle could have been צפנת פענח Tzafnas Paneach. Hashtag צפנת פענח Tzafnas Paneach. The influencer, צפנת פענח Tzafnas Paneach. Yosef says, שכוח shkoyach, thanks, but no thanks. What's a name? A name is more than just a label, more than is more than just a word we use so that we can all talk about the same person or the same thing. What's a name? A name is a description. A name reveals the essence. חז״ל Chazal tell us that parents have a certain level of prophecy when they give a name, they're anticipating, they're prophesying, they're describing, they're setting that child up on a trajectory. They're anticipating a potential. A name is a description. So Yosef says, צפנת פענח Tzafnas Paneach? No. In the palace when I have no choice in a cabinet meeting, they call me צפנת פענח Tzafnas Paneach. But when I'm back home, how I'm known online and offline, I'm יוסף Yosef. I'm יוסף Yosef. So Torah goes out of its way, says the Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, to tell us, ויוסף היה במצרים v'Yosef haya b'Mitzrayim. Not צפנת פענח היה במצרים Tzafnas Paneach haya b'Mitzrayim, but ויוסף היה במצרים v'Yosef haya b'Mitzrayim. He kept, he maintained, he preserved his name, his identity, his character, who he was. This is who he was. יוסף Yosef. He wasn't willing to give that up. And therefore, וזה שם רצה הכתוב לרמז, שלא שינה את שמו, על ידי זה זכו ישראל שנגאלו ממצרים v'zeh shem ratza hakasuv l'ramez, shelo shina es shmo, al yedei zeh zochu Yisrael shenigalu m'Mitzrayim. That's why we were redeemed. We kept our names, our language, and our clothing. That's alluded to, hinted to here. It's not just שם sham. It's not just Yosef היה שם haya sham, Yosef was over there. It's even in מצרים Mitzrayim, he was יוסף Yosef. He was יוסף Yosef. Sometimes the person has an uncomfortable name to use that name. I'm not going to say my wife has a טענה taina on her parents. They're sitting here. יוכבד Yocheved is not the easiest name to go to Queens College with. But you did a great thing, like יוסף Yosef. I'm giving you praise. You did the right thing. You know, none of our, well, I guess רחלי Racheli has a ח ches. She didn't want to pay it forward, but we did. But you give a ח ches to your kid in America, so do you also give an English name, do you give a name without a ח ches, is it Rachel? Do you make it easy? But יוסף היה במצרים Yosef haya b'Mitzrayim. It's okay, it's okay to pause. It's okay for the teacher to say, \"How do you pronounce this?\" You say, \"It's a Jewish name, it's a biblical name. I'm a proud Jew. We're proud. We're proud.\" We have to be proud. יוסף במצרים Yosef b'Mitzrayim did not introduce himself as צפנת פענח Tzafnas Paneach. He didn't say, \"My name is Rachel.\" He said, \"My name is רחלי Racheli. My name is יוכבד Yocheved.\" Say it with me. We'll teach him how to say ח ches. ח ches. Guttural ח ches. Yosef was proud. He was יוסף Yosef still in מצרים Mitzrayim. We mentioned וימת יוסף vayamas Yosef, and Yosef died. I had skipped ahead. וימת יוסף וכל אחיו Vayamas Yosef v'chol echav, that whole generation had died. In גמרא מסכת ברכות Gemara Maseches Brachos, אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Plaos HaTorah, we never did אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Plaos HaTorah on פרשת שמות Parshas Shmos. So we'll go back and we'll fill it in now. I think we got this volume afterwards. I don't remember. I don't remember. So גמרא ברכות דף נ״ה Gemara Brachos daf nun hei tells us, שלשה דברים מקצרים ימיו ושנותיו של אדם Shlosha dvarim m'katzrim yomov u'shnosov shel adam. There are three things that shorten a person's life, or put differently, three things that make a person prematurely gray. והנהיג עצמו ברבנות V'hanhig atzmo b'rabbanus, one of them is the רבנות rabbanut. דאמר רבי חמא בר חנינא מנין שמת יוסף קודם לאחיו D'amar Rabbi Chama bar Chanina, minayin shemeis Yosef kodem l'echav? And where do we learn that from? How do you know that there are three things that can shorten a person's lifespan, three things that can make a person prematurely gray? Because Yosef died before his brothers. וימת יוסף וכל אחיו Vayamas Yosef v'chol echav. זה כלל zeh klal. Didn't Rashi just say, \"Just say, וימת כל יוצאי ירך יעקב's children, why יוסף וכל אחיו Yosef v'chol echav?\" Because Yosef died first. And why did Yosef die first? says the גמרא Gemara, שהנהיג עצמו ברבנות shehinhig atzmo b'rabbanus, because Yosef was in a position of authority, of responsibility, he bore the burden, he carried the people on his shoulders. גמרא פסחים דף פ״ח Gemara Pesachim daf pei ches says similarly, אוי לו לרבנות שמקברת את בעליה Oi lo l'rabbanus shemekaberes es ba'aleha. Woe unto those who enter the רבנות rabbanut, it buries those who take up those positions.The משנה in אבות Mishna in Avos, שונא את הרבנות sona es harabbanus, hate the רבנות rabbanut, avoid the רבנות rabbanut. Some of you מקיים mekayem that with a חומרא chumra, with על חומרות al chumros, and very מקפיד makpid on that משנה in אבות Mishna in Avos. Hate rabbis, hate the רבנות rabbanut, hate the רבנות rabbanut. It says in the ספר שם הגדולים Sefer Shem HaGedolim a דבר נפלא davar nifla. The יעב״ץ Yaavetz, לא רצה לקבל על עצמו משרת של רבנות lo ratza l'kabel al atzmo misras shel rabbanus, והיה אומר, ברוך שלא עשני עבד v'haya omer, Baruch shelo asani eved. שלא עשני עבד, עין בי״ת דל״ת shelo asani eved, ayin beis daled, that you didn't make me a slave. He said, שלא עשני עבד, אל״ף בי״ת דל״ת shelo asani eved, alef beis daled. What's אל״ף בי״ת דל״ת alef beis daled? אב בית דין Av Beis Din. ברוך אתה השם אלוקינו מלך העולם, שלא עשני עבד, אב״ד Baruch ata Hashem Elokeinu Melech ha'olam, shelo asani eved, Avad, אב בית דין Av Beis Din. And the יעב״ץ Yaavetz in his תשובות שאלת יעב״ץ Teshuvos She'elas Yaavetz, אני מברך בכל יום, ברוך שלא עשני עבד פה, ומברך שפטרני מעונשן ולא ישיבו לו השם Ani mevarech b'chol yom, Baruch shelo asani eved po, u'mevarech she'ptarani mei'onshan v'lo yashivu lo Hashem. He makes a ברוך שפטרני Baruch Sheptarani for not making me a rabbi. I'm not announcing anything right now. This is not a major announcement. חתם סופר Chasam Sofer also brings an עובדא נפלאה uvda nifla'a. It's a praise the Torah, digs up all of the now references to why people should not go into the רבנות rabbanut and why it shortens your life and why it makes you prematurely gray, and yet I wouldn't change it for anything. It's the greatest job in the world. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem it's a tremendous זכות zechus. Of course חז״ל Chazal did not mean that. They did not want to have a world, the world of our מסורה mesora, rabbinical Judaism can't live without רבנים rabbanim and without סמיכה smicha and without leaders and without מחנכים mechanchim, without teachers. It's not what they meant. But what they meant is for another time, but an interesting from this פסוק וימת יוסף וכל אחיו pasuk Vayamas Yosef v'chol echav, that Yosef died first and why did Yosef die first? Because he had taken on that responsibility and that authority and it'll have that impact on you. פרק א׳ פסוק י״ג Perek alef, pasuk yud gimmel. Moving right along, turning the page. פרעה Paroh had a plot, Jewish people were growing demographically, they were growing in their voter base, they could overthrow, they could take over a coup. פרעה Paroh was threatened by it, and so he enslaved them. And so, he he, he made them work. ויעבידו מצרים את בני ישראל בפרך Vaya'avidu Mitzrayim es Bnei Yisrael b'farech, פרק א׳ פסוק י״ג perek alef, pasuk yud gimmel. ויעבידו מצרים את בני ישראל בפרך Vaya'avidu Mitzrayim es Bnei Yisrael b'farech, and the Egyptians enslaved the Jewish people with a crushing, crushing hardship.Says Rabbi Soloveitchik. Says the רב Rav in the רב חומש Rav Chumash, the Egyptians enslaved the Jewish people with backbreaking labor. The enslavement took place in three stages. In the first stage, פרעה Paroh demonized the nation, arguing they constituted a potential fifth column that threatened Egypt from within. Lest they increase, and a war befall us, and they join our enemies. That's פסוק י׳ pasuk yud. פן ירבה והיה כי תקראנה מלחמה ונוסף גם הוא על שונאינו ונלחם בנו ועלה מן הארץ Pen yirbeh v'haya ki sikrena milchama v'nosaf gam hu al soneinu v'nilcham banu v'ala min ha'aretz. The first stage of anti-Semites is to question our loyalty. A dual loyalty. Over this past weekend, Tucker Carlson challenged our neighbor and good friend, Ben Shapiro, saying he has a dual loyalty. He cares more about Israel than he does America. It's a slander, it's an anti-Semitic slander against a great patriot and a great Jew, and a great defender of Israel. And it should be very eye-opening about Tucker before you buy into everything else that he says or watch him as if he's some great דעת תורה daas Torah, to say such a horrible thing. That's where the anti-Semitism begins, when it raises the charge of dual loyalty. You see this from the פסוקים psukim the רב Rav says. History just repeats itself. Just look in the חומש Chumash. You want to know what's happening now or what's going to happen tomorrow? Look at what happened yesterday. Just check the חומש Chumash. So the first thing the anti-Semite does is says, פן ירבה והיה כי תקראנה מלחמה pen yirbeh v'haya ki sikrena milchama, you know, dual loyalty. Where is their loyalty? Where is their loyalty? ונלחם בנו ועלה מן הארץ V'nilcham banu v'alah min ha'aretz, that's number one. Then the second step, says the רב Rav, was to enlist them in a sort of national service to build storage cities. That's פסוק י״א pasuk yud alef. שרי מיסים, למען ענותו בסבלותם, ויבן ערי מסכנות לפרעה את פתום ואת רעמסס sarei misim, l'maan anoso b'sivlosam, vayiven arei miskenos l'Paroh, es Pisom v'es Raamses. Are those two separate cities? Are they one city? What's the history of those cities? But they could prove their loyalty. Now they're challenged, prove your loyalty. Build, invest, give. This phase evolved into servitude so abject that women were forced to submit to the hard labor normally relegated to men, while men were relegated to work that involved the fine manual dexterity typically performed by women. This role reversal resulted in profound demoralization. The work so ill-suited to the slaves, there was no sense of accomplishment. It wasn't about being productive, the productivity. It wasn't about the result. It was about dehumanizing, demoralizing. It was about people feeling unaccomplished, not achieving, feeling a lower level. That's the way that it unfolds, and you see that here in these פסוקים psukim, it was by design. It wasn't because we need pyramids, let's make them do the pyramids. It was systematic, it was strategic, it was by design, and it was a form of trying to subjugate the Jew when feeling threatened by him. Then it escalates, because פרעה's Paroh's astrologers tell him that the savior of the Jewish people is going to be born, a man. So what happens? פרעה Paroh therefore ordains, throw them in the, in the river. ויצו פרעה לכל עמו לאמר כל הבן הילוד היאורה תשליכוהו וכל הבת תחיון Vayitzav Paroh l'chol amo leimor, kol haben hayilod haye'ora tashlichuhu v'chol habas techayun. Every son that will be born into the river throw him, and every daughter shall you keep alive. The men, the boys have to be thrown in the, in the river. Back to the אמרות טהורות Amaros Tehoros. Says the רחש ליבו Rachash Libo, he quotes here from the תפארת עוזיאל Tiferes Uzziel. באמת פרעה ידע שאפשר להינצל מן היאור B'emes Paroh yada she'efshar l'hinatzel min ha'yeor. Now, why was that a solution? Could they be saved from the river? Absolutely. Somebody could, the Coast Guard could be there, somebody could be on the bank of the river, see them and save them. Why was it a solution? He didn't say outright murder them. He didn't say kill them. Some of our other enemies, and I don't want to get graphic now, but if you've been, we had a trip to Poland, you go to certain forests and the horrific stories of what they did swinging a baby, their head, the horrific, horrific. And if you think that's ancient history, never again is happening again, October 7th, and October 7th, the horrific atrocity, the barbaric behavior of Hamas against children, which we won't get graphic and we won't describe. But when our enemies wanted to eliminate children, they knew how directly to take the life of a child. And here פרעה Paroh, the תפארת עוזיאל Tiferes Uzziel points out, doesn't say murder, kill, behead, swing the child against the tree. He says cast them, throw them alive in the river, in the יאור Yeor. רק עיקר כוונתו במה שגזר להשליך ליאור את כל הבן הילוד, כי על ידי זה יעלה בידו שלכל הפחות הילד הזה שעתיד להיות הגואל ישראל, ימצא לפי שעה בתוך היאור Rak ikar kavanoso b'mah shegazar l'hashlich l'yeor es kol haben hayilod, ki al yedei zeh ya'aleh b'yado shel'chol hapachos hayeled hazeh she'asid l'hiyos goel Yisrael, yimatzei l'fi sha'ah b'soch ha'yeor. He said even if the child survives, and even if the future savior of the Jewish people, the leader of the Jewish people will survive an hour in this יאור Yeor, העניין הוא כי היאור היה שורש טומאה גדולה מאוד ha'inyan hu ki ha'yeor haya shoresh tum'a gedola me'od. The יאור Yeor, the Nile represented the greatest moral corruption, depravity, moral compromise of Egypt. They worshiped the Nile. They worshiped it. Rather than we who depend on the rain, who look to השם Hashem, they received all their irrigation from the Nile and therefore they thought the Nile was their answer, their economy. The Nile was what would make them rich. They worshiped, they bowed down to the Nile. And the Nile was filled with this filth, the עבודה זרה avodah zara, the idolatry, the moral decadence, the moral confusion. And so this child who would be in that environment, this child who would be in the יאור Yeor even for an hour, ימצא בתוך היאור הילד הזה אפילו שעה מועטת, אזיי אף אם יעלה בידו להינצל משם ויחיה עוד, מכל מקום שוב לא יוכל להיות הגואל ישראל, כי יאחז בחבלי טומאת היאור yimatzei b'soch ha'yeor hayeled hazeh afilu sha'ah mu'etes, azai af im ya'aleh b'yado l'hinatzel misham v'yichyeh od, mikol makom shuv lo yuchal l'hiyos hagoel Yisrael, ki ye'achez b'chevlei tum'as ha'yeor. Even if you survived, פרעה Paroh wasn't worried. פרעה Paroh thought that even if he survived, but one hour in that environment, you see that a culture and an environment can corrupt. It can absolutely corrupt and can compromise. It can corrupt and compromise. So therefore, לכך תחסה יוכבד עצה זו, ותעש לו תיבת גומא שסכה בקדושה כדי לעשות מחיצה מפסקת בינו ובין היאור l'chach tachsah Yocheved eitza zo, v'ta'as lo teivas goma sh'sacha b'kdusha kedei la'asos mechitza mafsekes beino u'vein ha'yeor. That's why the basket was lined with tar, the basket was lined in order to insulate baby Moshe from not just the water couldn't leak in and sink the basket, but not the physical, the metaphysical, the spiritual influence. שלא יוכל כוח הטומאה שביאור לשלוט על משה רבינו חס ושלום Shelo yuchal koach hatum'a sheb'yeor lishlot al Moshe Rabbeinu chas v'shalom. Now, it's an interesting דבר תורה dvar Torah of the תפארת עוזיאל Tiferes Uzziel. But I think it's also extremely important for us to maintain this awareness all the time about our environment, about the influences that we expose ourselves and our families to, about our environment, about how much it can corrupt, how much it can penetrate, how much it can compromise, how much we need to protect ourselves, how much we need to protect ourselves from it. Because part of פרעה's Paroh's strategy was, if they just assimilate. Today we don't have the יאור Yeor, but today we have a country that welcomes up with open arms, assimilate, integrate, disappear of the American, disappearance of the American Jew. And yet, that's the danger. On that Poland trip, somebody told us, they said, \"You know, in Poland, in Europe, they killed us with hate. In America, they're destroying us with love.\" With love. In Europe they destroyed us with hate. In America they're destroying us with love. And so, a person has to be mindful and careful. It doesn't mean we don't participate and contribute to and take the best of the environment that we're in, but כבדהו וחשדהו kapdehu v'chashdehu, we have to do it with a certain mindfulness and awareness. That was פרעה's Paroh's strategy. You don't have to kill the baby. Just let them be saturated in the יאור Yeor because a few moments in the יאור Yeor, it'll compromise, corrupt them forever. They could never emerge from there and be a leader of the Jewish people. Could never emerge and be a leader of the Jewish people.Next. פרק ב׳ פסוק ג׳ Perek Beis, pasuk gimmel. פרק ב׳ פסוק ג׳ Perek Beis, pasuk gimmel. Parsha continues and tells us, ולא יכלה עוד הצפינו ותקח לו תיבת גמא ותחמרה בחמר ובזפת ותשם בה את הילד ותשם בסוף על שפת היאור V'lo yachla od hatz'pino vatikkach lo teivas goma vatachmera vachemar uvazafes vatasem bah es hayeled vatasem basuf al sfas ha'yeor. She placed, who she? The woman. Torah doesn't use her name. וילך איש מבית לוי ויקח את בת לוי Vayeilech ish mibeis Levi vayikach es bas Levi. We're not using names here, just pronouns for some reason. ותהר האשה ותלד בן Vatahar ha'isha vateiled ben, the woman conceived and she gave birth. ותראה אותו כי טוב הוא Vatere oso ki tov hu, she saw he was good, and she hid him for three months. She couldn't hide him any longer. She put him in the wicker basket. She smeared it with clay and pitch. She put the boy in it and it, and it floated among the, among the reeds. The אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Plaos HaTorah asks the following. Anyone here ever consider, you ever think about, how long was Moshe floating in the river? Was he there a minute? An hour? A day? A week? How long was he there? We read the Torah, we read the parsha, we review the story. It's a little detail, but how long was he there? So a אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Plaos HaTorah quotes from מדרש לקח טוב Midrash Lekach Tov, שיוסף רבנו לא שהה בתיבה אפילו יום אחד she'Moshe Rabbeinu lo shaha b'teiva afilu yom echad. He wasn't even there for one day. מסכת סוטה דף י״ב Maseches Sotah daf yud beis says that Miriam המתינה ושמעה למשה שעה אחת himtina v'shama l'Moshe sha'ah achas. שנאמר ותתצב אחותו מרחוק shene'emar vatetatzev achoso meirachok. Says one hour. Floated for one hour. תוספות Tosfos there says, לאו דווקא שעה, אלא שליש שעה או רביע lav davka sha'ah, ela shlish sha'ah o re'viah. A third of an hour, a quarter, 15 minutes. Moshe was in the river a total of 15 minutes. You see from תוספות Tosfos that Moshe היה בתיבה כשליש ורביע שעה haya b'teiva k'shlish v'revia sha'ah. ממשמעות הקרא שהתייצבה מרים מרחוק ואמדה שם משך כל זמן K'mashma'os hakra she'hityatza Miriam meirachok v'amda sham meshech kol zman. Sounds like Miriam hid and she watched and she was there a long time. And בת פרעה bas Paroh, בתיה Bisya is going for a swim and she's doing the backstroke and she's doing and she's relaxing and then she sees and she stumbles upon it and she reaches. And the way we picture in our own mind, it unfolds over a period of time. Moshe's just floating and Miriam's watching anxiously and doesn't know what will be, and אהרן Aharon, we know the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim, that it was אהרן Aharon who was crying, he was worried, נושא בעול עם חברו nosei b'ol im chaveiro. And we picture it's a long time. According to תוספות Tosfos, 15 minutes. 15 minutes. Moshe was in the basket 15 minutes. פּוּנְקְט punkt, he was taken out very quickly. I saw a new sefer called אוצר שמועות Otzar Shmuos. I don't know if this came out before or after אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Plaos HaTorah, but also digging up all kinds of fascinating things that we didn't know. So the ספר מור האפלה Sefer Mor Ha'afela, ותפתח ותראהו את הילד vatiftach vatireihu es hayeled, she opens and she sees the child, והנה נער בוכה v'hinei na'ar bocheh, and there's a lad that's crying. And we've discussed in the past, Rashi said Moshe was already born with full features. That's why he's called a נער na'ar. בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim says the נער בוכה na'ar bocheh is not Moshe, who's crying? It's אהרן Aharon. Aharon's watching because a Jew doesn't walk away. הגר Hagar can't bear to watch her son when ישמעאל Yishmael is suffering. So she turns away when ישמעאל Yishmael is suffering. But a Jew can't bear to turn away. We can't stop watching. So אהרן Aharon doesn't leave. והנה נער בוכה V'hinei na'ar bocheh is אהרן Aharon. ותחמול עליו Vatachmol alav, and בתיה בת פרעה Bisya bas Paroh has compassion on him. Why? Why? Listen to what the מור האפלה Mor Ha'afela says. כיוון שהשתין משה על בתיה בת פרעה, נתרפאה מצרעתה Keivan she'hishtin Moshe al Bisya bas Paroh, nisrapeis mitzarasah. שבית פרעה היו כולם מצורעים She'beis Paroh hayu kulam metzora'im. The פסוק pasuk tells us at the end of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis that וינגע השם את בית פרעה נגעים גדולים על דבר שרי Vayanaga Hashem es beis Paroh nega'im gedolim al dvar Sarai. פרעה's Paroh's house suffered a dermatological disease, had some skin disorder, some form of a leprosy, a צרעת tzara'as, and they suffered genetically, it was passed on from פרעה Paroh to his family members including his daughter, בתיה Bisya. But what happened? When she sees the basket and she goes to see Moshe, what happens, excuse me if I get graphic for a moment. In this very spot, sometimes there's a ברית bris and the מוהל mohel opens the diaper to do the ברית bris and oh, סימן ברכה siman bracha. The child is not quite ready for the ברית bris, and there's a little fountain that takes place before the ברית bris can occur. And the מוהל mohel always makes some joke about a סימן ברכה siman bracha. And that's what happened here. That's what happened here. פרעה Paroh went to see Moshe and Moshe, baby Moshe urinated on the daughter of פרעה Paroh and she was healed from her צרעת tzara'as. Now, again, I'm not a dermatologist. I'm not suggesting you try that instead of cortisone cream. My understanding is jellyfish, which is the thing that if you get exposed or bitten to, there are certain snake bites or jellyfish where that is a treatment. It's supposed to clear it up, that is a treatment. Again, I'm not a doctor. Don't try this at home, don't quote me. I'm just telling you the מור האפלה Mor Ha'afela. They they dig up this fascinating. So ותחמול vatachmol, what made the daughter of פרעה Paroh take pity on him? Not סתם stam that she was such a woman of compassion, she sees a baby floating in a basket. This baby who urinated on her, which would make me have everything but compassion, but in her case, it cured her of the skin disease of the leprosy, of the צרעת tzara'as that she suffered, therefore she had compassion, and that's why she took him in. You learned something you definitely never, ever, ever heard before today. And you probably won't hear it again. Okay. So that's how long he was in the, he was in the basket. He was in the basket maybe 15 minutes, long enough to need a diaper change.פרק ב׳ פסוק י״א Perek beis, pasuk yud alef. Continuing. ויגדל הילד Vayigdal hayeled. So פרעה Paroh, she brings משה Moshe back to the palace and משה Moshe grows up under פרעה Paroh who will be his arch nemesis. The whole storyline is amazing. It's amazing. You couldn't write this up, you couldn't make this up. That the future savior who פרעה Paroh was so dedicated to eliminate, he ends up raising in his house. Not knowing under his nose. השם Hashem is amazing. No? השם Hashem is amazing. It's going like this to פרעה Paroh. הא Ha, you thought you could get rid of the savior? You thought you're going to drown him by ordaining you got to throw them all in the river? הא Ha, guess what? Your daughter just brought him home. You're paying his tuition, you're feeding him, this growing boy, just brought him home. הא Ha. הא Ha. And why is it, again, we've discussed so much of this in the past. Why did משה Moshe need to grow up in a palace? It's a beautiful אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, ספרנו Sforno. Because if משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu was going to act like a prince and a king, and he was going to confront royalty and monarchy, he had to be raised in a palace to think like a prince and a king. Because the Jewish people suffer, when Moshe comes and gives them a message, \"I'm here to take you out,\" this slave mentality of 210 years that is ingrained in them, this passive victim slave mentality, fatalistic slave mentality, even when they're receiving that message of hope, they can't hear it, let alone could emerge from there someone who would be that catalyst for salvation. No. So we had to grow up in the palace. There's a very important message for us too. We have to raise our children to know they're princes and princesses. Some know it very well. Not that kind of Jewish American princess. But we have to raise them to know that they're Jewish, their Jewish, יידישע Yiddishe, Torah princes and princesses. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is our father and he's the King of kings. And if he's the king, it makes you a, and therefore it's פאסט נישט past nisht. It's פאסט נישט past nisht. Yeah, other children, okay, but not you. A prince and a princess, you have responsibility, the way we carry ourselves, the way we speak, where we go, what we do, how we behave. We have a responsibility. If we're going to raise them to act like princes and princesses, then from a young age, they need to believe that they're growing up in a palace. They need to see royalty demonstrated. And if they see and they live and they breathe royalty, then they'll act like, they'll act like proper and appropriate royalty. So Moshe is brought, none other than into פרעה's Paroh's house itself. It's extraordinary. The storyline, the script is absolutely incredible. It's, it's extraordinary. So she brings him in. ויגדל הילד ותביאהו לבת פרעה ויהי לה לבן ותקרא שמו משה Vayigdal hayeled vateviehu le'vas Paroh vayehi lah le'ven vatikra shemo Moshe. And she gives him a name. And what name did she give him? Moshe. Why Moshe? כי מן המים משיתהו ki min hamayim meshisihu. I drew him forth from the water.Says the תפארת ישראל Tiferes Yisrael, משה רבינו היה גלגול של נח Moshe Rabbeinu hayah gilgul shel Noach. We have a tradition that Moshe Rabbeinu was the reincarnation of Noach. על נח היתה טענה למעלה על שלא התפלל על אנשי דורו Al Noach haytah ta'anah le'ma'alah al she'lo hispalel al anshei doro. Noach, we're talking about this now in Living with Emunah Wednesday mornings. Noach, they're called מי נח mei Noach. The נביא ישעיהו Navi Yeshayahu calls them the floods of Noach. Why was Noach, Noach, he worked so tirelessly, he built the תיבה tevah, he maintained it, took care of all the animals, saved humanity. And poor guy, poor guy is a villain. We call it the flood of Noach. Why? Because he could have davened for his generation and he didn't. He could have saved not only himself and his family, he could have, if he believed in himself, he could have, could have inspired the whole generation. So he needed a תיקון tikkun. His נשמה neshamah needed to, a repair, a second chance. אך כן כדי לתקן הדבר הזה היה משה רבינו מקבל על עצמו מיתה כמה פעמים להציל בני דורו Ach ken kedei letaken ha'davar ha'zeh, hayah Moshe Rabbeinu mekabel al atzmo misah kamah pe'amim lehatzil bnei doro. Noach was not willing to be מוסר נפש moser nefesh. Noach didn't say to Hashem, either save them, or kill me with the flood. I'm going down with the ship. Noach said, what time does the ship depart? Are drinks included? I'm out. Noach was no problem, the cruise, I'm in. He should have said I'm going down with the ship, going down with the generation. Either accept their תשובה teshuvah, inspire them in תשובה teshuvah, give them another chance, or else leave me. He didn't. So Noach's נשמה neshamah had to come back and needed a תיקון tikkun. And the תיקון tikkun he came back as משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, and משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu several times in his life says to Hashem, uh-uh, I'm going down with the ship. If you don't forgive them, then forget me, erase me from your book. He was willing to die. ובזה יהיה תיקון מה שלא עשה כן בגלגול הקודם להציל את אנשי דור המבול U've'zeh yihiyeh tikkun mah she'lo asah kein be'gilgul ha'kodem le'hatzil es anshei dor ha'mabul. ולפי זה נמצא שרק מחמת מי המבול חזרה נשמה זו של נח U'lefi zeh nimtza she'rak machmas mei ha'mabul chazrah neshamah zo shel Noach. So why did the נשמה neshamah of Noach have to come back reincarnated as Moshe? Because of the מבול mabul, because of the water. And that's why Bisyah gives him the name Moshe, כי מן המים ki min hamayim, because of the water, משיתהו meshisi'hu, he was shlepped back down to this earth a second time. You see from the פסוק pasuk itself that Moshe is the reincarnation of Noach, מן המים min hamayim, because of the מבול mabul, because Noach didn't stop that מבול mabul, משיתהו meshisi'hu, the נשמה neshamah of Noach was shlepped down a second time to be Moshe. That's for those who like גלגולים gilgulim.Yeah, the אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pla'os HaTorah gets all into Moshe's name. Oh, so much, we don't have time for all of it. But it has a lot about Moshe's name. Pages and pages and pages and pages. Did Bisyah speak לשון הקודש Lashon HaKodesh? So the חזקוני Chizkuni says the daughter of Paroh called him Moshe. Why? Is Moshe Hebrew? שהיא גיירה ולמדה לשון הקודש She'hi giyrah ve'lamdah Lashon HaKodesh. The חזקוני Chizkuni says she converted. I don't know what she converted to, there wasn't Judaism yet. We hadn't yet received the Torah. But she converted to be a Hebrew. We didn't yet have Judaism. We didn't have קדושת ישראל Kedushas Yisrael, we didn't have מצוות mitzvos, but we were the children of אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, אברהם העברי Avraham ha'Ivri, we were עברים Ivrim, we were Hebrews. So she converted to join the Jewish nation and people, ולמדה לשון הקודש ve'lamdah Lashon HaKodesh, and she learned Hebrew. וקראה לו השם על נס שנמשה מן המים V'kar'ah lo ha'shem al nes she'nimshah min hamayim. She called him because of the miracle that he was spared, he was saved from the water, להזכיר על ידי זה שהוא מן העברים הוא le'hazkir al yedei zeh she'hu min ha'Ivrim hu. ולכן היה למשה גם שמות אחרים, ובכל מקום אין נזכר בכל התורה אלא השם הזה Ve'lachein hayah le'Moshe gam shemos acherim, u've'chol makom ein nizkar be'chol ha'Torah ela ha'shem ha'zeh. That's how he's known, to commemorate that miracle, that event, that experience. It's a proper Jewish name, Hebrew name. I, how could the daughter of Paroh give a proper Hebrew Jewish name? Because she converted, and she spoke Hebrew. As I says, the חזקוני Chizkuni. The דעת זקנים מבעלי התוספות Da'as Zekeinim mi'Ba'alei ha'Tosfos says, בת פרעה קראהו בלשון מצרי bas Paroh kar'ahu be'lashon Mitzri. Moshe is not a Jewish name, a Hebrew name, Moshe is an Egyptian name. And the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra also brings this down, the מלבי\"ם Malbim, על הדבר al ha'davar, he goes on, fascinating. Who called him? The חזקוני Chizkuni has another opinion that who gave him the name Moshe? יוכבד קראהו משה ולא בת פרעה Yocheved kar'ahu Moshe ve'lo bas Paroh. שהרי בת פרעה לא היתה יודעת לדבר בלשון הקודש She'harei bas Paroh lo haytah yoda'as le'daber be'Lashon HaKodesh. ובת פרעה שאלה את יוכבד מהו לשון משה U'vas Paroh sha'alah es Yocheved mahu lashon Moshe. והגידה לו שהוא לשון המשכה Ve'higidah lo she'hu lashon hamshachah. אז אמרה בת פרעה שיפה קראתו az amrah bas Paroh she'yafeh kar'aso. So the חזקוני Chizkuni has a second opinion, maintaining in both opinions that Moshe is Hebrew. First is that Paroh's daughter converted, therefore knew Hebrew. The second opinion is she didn't convert, she stayed non-Jewish, but she consulted with יוכבד Yocheved, with Moshe's mother, who gave the name ultimately of of Moshe. The מדרש Midrash tells us something else amazing. מכאן אתה למד שכרן של גומלי חסדים Mikan atah lomed s'charan shel gomlei chasadim. אף על פי שהיו שמות הרבה למשה לא נקבע לו שם בכל התורה אלא כמו שקראתו בתיה בת פרעה Af al pi she'hayu shemos harbeh le'Moshe, lo nikva lo shem be'chol ha'Torah ela k'mo she'kraso Bisyah bas Paroh. ואף הקדוש ברוך הוא לא קראו בשם אחר Ve'af ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu lo k'rao be'shem acher. Moshe had many names, many other names. אביגדור Avigdor, Moshe had many other names, and yet, which name do we refer to him consistently by? Even Hashem calls him this name. Hashem doesn't use the name that he gave. He uses the name that this Egyptian princess gave. Why? הכרת הטוב Hakaras ha'tov. She saved him. עד כדי כך Ad kedei kach, that's how far הכרת הטוב hakaras ha'tov goes that that is the name that we use. And we give a name based on הכרת הטוב hakaras ha'tov. We see in אבות דרבי נתן Avos de'Rabbi Nosson, the גר ger that הלל Hillel converted on one foot, got married, he had two sons, לאחד קרא הלל ולשני גמליאל le'echad kara Hillel u'le'sheini Gamliel. His ancestor. הכרת הטוב Hakaras ha'tov. When you have gratitude, you give a name reflecting and representing the gratitude. You use the name that was given that best communicates and transmits that sense of gratitude. He has pages and pages about this. Pages and pages about this. But here's something fascinating he has. He says, why is he called משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu and not רבינו משה Rabbeinu Moshe? Did that ever bother you? Why is he called משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu? So the ספר החיים Sefer HaChaim, טעם נפלא ta'am nifla. משה רבינו ולא רבינו משה Moshe Rabbeinu ve'lo Rabbeinu Moshe. And we find this also with נביאים nevi'im. He's ישעיה הנביא Yeshayahu ha'Navi. ירמיהו הנביא Yirmiyahu ha'Navi. We don't call them הנביא ישעיהו ha'Navi Yeshayahu, הנביא ירמיהו ha'Navi Yirmiyahu. וסיבת הדבר להורות שאיננו מחזיקים בתורת משה בשביל רוב חכמתו U'sibas ha'davar le'horos she'einenu machzikim be'Toras Moshe bishvil rov chochmaso, כי אם מחמת שהיה עניו מכל אדם ki im machmas she'hayah anav mi'kol adam. Why is it that we embrace and we see Moshe categorically different and we learn from him? Not because of his brilliance, though he was brilliant, but because of his humility, because he thought of himself simply. ולא סמך על חכמתו כלל רק על מסורת התורה שנמסרה לו בסיני Ve'lo samach al chochmaso klal, rak al mesoras ha'Torah she'nimsrah lo be'Sinai. He didn't think he was the authority, he didn't think he was the source, the originator. He was simply transmitting what he received from Sinai from Hashem. ועל ידי זה נעשה רבנו Ve'al yedei zeh na'aseh Rabbeinu. So first he was a Moshe, a simple humble Moshe, and then, Rabbeinu. As a Moshe who was taught Torah, he has the responsibility to transmit it on as Rabbeinu. So he's not רבנו משה Rabbeinu Moshe. For Moshe the title is not about honor. For Moshe the title is about a license to transmit. For Moshe the title is about a responsibility to transmit. So if you put the title first, because you want the honor. You want to be called by that honor. But if you put the title second, the title reflects a feeling of responsibility that that title that that title gives. Similarly with the נביאים nevi'im. לא הגיעו לדרגת נביאות על ידי חכמתם, רק על ידי אור ושפע אלוקים Lo higi'u le'dargas nevi'us al yedei chochmasam, rak al yedei or ve'shefa Elokim. So ישעיה Yeshaya is ישעיה Yeshaya. But once Hashem revealed Himself to ישעיה Yeshaya, now ישעיה Yeshaya has a responsibility, ישעיה הנביא Yeshaya ha'Navi, to share the prophecy with the people. But he doesn't walk around VIP, I have my own check-in line, I have my own entrance, I have my own escort, I have my own, do you know who I am? הנביא ישעיהו ha'Navi Yeshayahu, רבנו משה Rabbeinu Moshe. The title for them is not an honor, it's a responsibility and therefore it's placed, and therefore it's placed second. Interesting. Interesting.The רמב\"ן Ramban would not call the רמב\"ם Rambam רבנו משה Rabbeinu Moshe. רמב\"ם Rambam stands for, it's an acronym, רבנו משה בן מימון Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon. We call him רמב\"ם Rambam. The רמב\"ם Rambam, רמב\"ם Rambam, רבנו משה בן מימון Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon. The רמב\"ן Ramban, contemporary, refused to call him רבנו משה Rabbeinu Moshe because he thought it would be a פגם pegam, an insult to משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. Similarly, in the ספר יוחסין Sefer Yuchsin, שבזמנו לא היה רמב\"ן קורא לרמב\"ם בשם רבנו משה, כבוד משה רבינו she'bi'zmano lo hayah Ramban korei la'Rambam be'shem Rabbeinu Moshe, kavod Moshe Rabbeinu. שנקרא כמה פעמים רבנו משה וחושש כן היו נמנעים לקרוא למשה רבינו She'nikra kamah pe'amim Rabbeinu Moshe, ve'choshesh kein hayu nimna'im likro le'Moshe Rabbeinu, שלא להשוותו למשה רבינו אדון הנביאים she'lo le'hashvoso le'Moshe Rabbeinu, Adon ha'Nevi'im. He wouldn't call the Rambam רבנו משה Rabbeinu Moshe or משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, not to insult the other Moshe. He goes תנא אמורא tanna amora, do we have a תנא אמורא tanna amora called Moshe? Where do we get the ממשה עד משה לא קם כמשה mi'Moshe ad Moshe lo kam ke'Moshe? It's written on the wall of the קבר kever of the Rambam. Anyone here been to the grave of the Rambam in טבריה Teveria? It says on the מצבה matzevah, here is buried רבנו משה בן מימון Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon, and it says ממשה עד משה לא קם כמשה mi'Moshe le'ad Moshe lo kam ke'Moshe. From one Moshe to the other Moshe there was never a Moshe. Also on the מצבה matzevah of the רמ\"א RaMA in קראקוב Krakow. ממשה ועד משה לא קם כמשה mi'Moshe ve'ad Moshe lo kam ke'Moshe. And the מהרש\"ל Maharshal writes, כי מי גדול ממה שהלכה למשה מסיני? ואיזה ראוי לומר הלכה, ממשה עד משה לא קם כמשה? Ki mi gadol mi'mah she'halachah le'Moshe mi'Sinai? Ve'eizeh ra'uy lomar halachah, mi'Moshe ad Moshe lo kam ke'Moshe? Where does that come from? Our entitlement to say it? A lot more about the name משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, very fascinating from our friends the אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pla'os HaTorah. Okay, ווייטער veiter.ויגדל משה ויצא אל אחיו, פרק ב פסוק י\"א Vayigdal Moshe vayetze el echav, perek beis pasuk yud aleph. Moshe gets older. We're on page 298. ויהי בימים ההם ויגדל משה Vayehi ba'yamim ha'hem vayigdal Moshe. Moshe grew older, matured. ויצא אל אחיו וירא בסבלותם Vayetze el echav vayar be'sivlosam, and he saw their suffering. וירא איש מצרי מכה איש עברי מאחיו Vayar ish Mitzri makeh ish Ivri me'echav, and he sees an Egyptian smiting, a word we only use when we're translating the word מכה makeh in פרשת שמות Parshas Shemos, he sees an Egyptian hitting a Jew, a Hebrew, מאחיו me'echav, of his of his brothers. The ספר נפש דוד Sefer Nefesh Dovid says, זה היה מסירות נפש גדול מצד משה רבינו zeh hayah mesirus nefesh gadol mi'tzad Moshe Rabbeinu. שהרי המכה לא היה סתם מצרי מן השוק she'harei ha'makeh lo hayah stam Mitzri min ha'shuk. אלא שר וחשוב ela sar ve'chashuv. This Egyptian was not some homeless hobo hitting and mugging somebody walking by, the Egyptian himself was a person of distinction, a person of prominence. כמו שנאמר איש מצרי k'mo she'ne'emar ish Mitzri. How did the נפש דוד Nefesh Dovid know that? Because the pasuk says Moshe sees, he witnesses an איש מצרי ish Mitzri. איש ish, whenever the Torah uses the term איש ish, it means חשוב, שר וחשוב chashuv, sar ve'chashuv, someone of significance, of prominence. איש הוא לשון חשיבות Ish hu lashon chashivus. ואף על פי כן לא נרתע משה רבינו והרגו Ve'af al pi kein lo nirta Moshe Rabbeinu v'harago. וזה היה מסירות נפש גדול Ve'zeh hayah mesirus nefesh gadol. Here Moshe so shows true greatness, true maturity. It's easy to pick on someone less than you, smaller than you. It's easy to pick on someone who doesn't threaten you, but to stand up to someone חשוב chashuv, שר sar, to confront power, that shows מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. That's riskier and that's what Moshe Rabbeinu was willing to do. ולכן לא רצה משה שידעו ממעשה זה כי רצה לעשות בהצנע Ve'lachein lo ratzah Moshe she'yeid'u mi'ma'aseh zeh ki ratzah la'asos be'hatzneia. Moshe wanted to do it quietly. כאשר נודע לו שבני אדם יודעים מזה, חס על עצמו ואמר, אכן נודע הדבר Ka'asher noda lo she'bnei adam yod'im mi'zeh, chas al atzmo ve'amar, achen noda ha'davar. שבני אדם נתפרסם מזה מסירות נפש ונעשה בפרסום ובין הבריות She'bnei adam nitparsem mi'zeh mesirus nefesh ve'na'asah be'firsum u'vein ha'briyos. Moshe didn't want that. ויברח משה Vayivrach Moshe. Because it was revealed, his level of מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh, his courage and bravery, now people would look at him differently and he didn't want that. ויברח Vayivrach, he ran away not because he was fearful of revenge, why did he run away? He was fearful of honor. He didn't want people to now see him differently, he's courageous, he's brave, he's strong, and that was what caused him to run away, as I said, the נפש דוד Nefesh Dovid.פרק ב' פסוק כ\"ג Perek Beis pasuk kaf gimmel. Continuing. Turning the page again. We're trying, we're trying to move through the Parsha, deeper into the Parsha. Moshe has to run away, he's forced to run away as a result, and when he runs away, he finds his wife. Where does he find his wife? מדין Midyan. At the well. We're all good Jewish boys go to find a wife. At the באר be'er. At the באר be'er. Moshe finds a wife, he marries at the באר be'er. Why the באר be'er? Why? Why do we find so many of our ancestors found their significant other specifically at a well? What is the significance of the well? One of my cousins got engaged in Lakewood and at the וורט vort, they were talking about by the באר be'er, by the באר be'er, by the באר be'er. It was a וורט vort. My my בובע עלה השלום bubby alah ha'shalom, didn't understand, by a bear? They met in a zoo? Where did they see each other? By the bear? באר Be'er, not by the bear, the animal, by the באר be'er. By the באר be'er, the well. So we discussed this also in the past. The well, drawing up, water, אין מים אלא תורה ein mayim ela Torah, the well, חסד chesed, there's a lot of significance specifically to the well and a lot we can learn in modern שידוכים shidduchim, not that we should dig and build wells today, but the message of the well we would do well to learn and to apply to the area of שידוכים shidduchim itself. So Moshe meets and marries. פסוק כ\"ג Pasuk kaf gimmel.ויהי בימים הרבים ההם, on top of page 300. Vayehi ba'yamim ha'rabim ha'hem. During those many days, וימת מלך מצרים ויאנחו בני ישראל מן העבודה ויזעקו vayamos melech Mitzrayim vaye'anchu Bnei Yisrael min ha'avodah vayiz'aku. By the way, he deals with the Otzar Pla'os HaTorah, we won't get into it. But, did Aharon know where Moshe was? Were Aharon and Moshe in touch when Moshe was growing up in the palace? Aharon watched the whole thing unfold, he knows where Moshe went. Aharon was hiding behind the tree watching. Bisyah the daughter of Paroh takes Moshe from the basket, he was only there a total of 15 minutes. He finished urinating on the daughter of Paroh, healed her skin disease, and was brought home. And Aharon knows. Did he follow? Did he track? Was he aware? Did they communicate? Did they interact? When Moshe leaves, וירא בסבלותם vayar b'sivlosam, he leaves the palace and he sees their suffering, and he goes to help, did Aharon say, אחי achi, my brother, how are you doing? It's good to see you. Did they connect? And when Moshe has to run to מדין Midyan and he disappears for all those years, does Aharon know where he is? Does he think he's never coming back? Was he under the impression they said goodbye for the last time? So many questions that we've read this parsha a billion times and never thought of and never asked and never researched. But the אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pla'os HaTorah does and he has a very fascinating approach to it. Back to our פסוק pasuk. Back to our פסוק pasuk. וימת מלך מצרים ויאנחו בני ישראל מן העבודה Vayamos melech Mitzrayim vaye'anchu Bnei Yisrael min ha'avodah. This king dies. ויאנחו בני ישראל מן העבודה ויזעקו Vaye'anchu Bnei Yisrael min ha'avodah vayiz'aku. And the children of Israel groaned because of the work and they cried out. ותעל שועתם אל האלקים מן העבודה Vata'al shav'asam el ha'Elokim min ha'avodah. They cried out to Hashem. וישמע אלקים את נאקתם Vayishma Elokim es na'akasam. And הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu heard, he heard their cries. Says the Holy נועם אלימלך Noam Elimelech, and he says the following. הגאון צדיק, אריכות, על הפסוק, ויאנחו בני ישראל מן העבודה, ויזעקו ותעל שועתם אל האלקים מן העבודה, מפרש בדרך מוסר Ha'gaon tzaddik, arichus, al ha'pasuk, vaye'anchu Bnei Yisrael min ha'avodah, vayiz'aku vata'al shav'asam el ha'Elokim min ha'avodah, mefaresh be'derech mussar. כי באמת, אם יחשוב אדם לעשות תשובה על מה שעשה שלא כהוגן ki be'emes, im yachshov adam la'asos teshuvah al mah she'asah she'lo ka'hogen. A person made a mistake, a person misbehaved, and they want to do תשובה teshuvah, they want to repair, they want to correct, they want to fix what they did wrong. וידמה כי די לו באנחה בעלמא ויסתפק בזה לצאת על ידי תשובה Ve'yidameh ki dai lo ba'anachah be'alma ve'yistapek be'zeh latzeis al yedei teshuvah. ואחר כך יחזור להרגלו מקדם Ve'achar kach yachzor le'hergelo mi'kedem. So a person is embarrassed, they're ashamed by what they did, by the mistakes, by what they said, by where they went. Oy, they let out a קרעכץ krechts. They let out a groan. And then they go back and continue what they did. So is that a תשובה teshuvah? אין זה תשובה הראויה Ein zeh teshuvah ha're'uyah. That's not a real תשובה teshuvah. What's a real תשובה teshuvah? בקבלת התורה ותפילה אולם עם כל זה, גם מי שאינו עושה כן אלא שב באנחה בעלמא, גם זה מקבל הקדוש ברוך הוא Bi'kabbalas ha'Torah u'tefillah, ulam im kol zeh, gam mi she'eino oseh kein ela shav be'anachah be'alma, gam zeh mekabel ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu. What you see here is that the Jewish people didn't radically change their lives. What is the catalyst? What stimulated Hashem to hear their cries, to spare their suffering, to turn things around? What was it? Not a radical תשובה teshuvah movement that swept through Mitzrayim. You don't find Partners in Torah, and the Bible Codes, and Project Inspire, and all the 키루브 kiruv movement. You don't find that. They were in Mitzrayim, and they were suffering because they misbehaved, they were on the 49th level of טומאה tumah, and they climbed out, 48, 47, 10, 5, so holy, so pure, such תשובה teshuvah. No. What did it? Nothing about them changed. All that happened is ויאנחו בני ישראל ויזעקו vaye'anchu Bnei Yisrael vayiz'aku. Oy, they let out a קרעכץ krechts. They let out a moan, they let out a groan, they had enough. They were tired, they were embarrassed, they were ashamed, they were frustrated, they let it out. And says, says the Holy נועם אלימלך Noam Elimelech, sometimes that's enough. That too is a form of תשובה teshuvah. When you look up at Hashem and you say, I haven't started the hard work. I don't know how far I'll get in the hard work, but I know I'm tired. I know I'm embarrassed, I know I'm ashamed. You let out ויאנחו vaye'anchu, that groan, that קרעכץ krechts, that enough is a תפילה tefillah to Hashem. That enough is a call of תשובה teshuvah. That that too can be heard by Hashem and he can change our entire circumstance just by that expression, just by that reaction.He continues from quoting the מור ושמש Mor ve'Shemesh. ויש לאבין מדוע נקט הפסוק דווקא לשון ויזעקו ולא שאר לשונות של תפילה Ve'yesh le'havin madua nakat ha'pasuk davka lashon vayiz'aku ve'lo she'ar leshonos shel tefillah. Why does it employ this word? They קרעכץ krechts, ויאנחו vaye'anchu, and then ויזעקו vayiz'aku. What does ויזעקו vayiz'aku mean? To to scream, to cry out. Why do we employ that word? We have many synonyms for תפילה tefillah. We learned, we finished the whole sefer. We used to learn in the 10 minutes a meaning, now we do Mesilas Yesharim, but before that we did שערים בתפילה She'arim bi'Tefillah. Rav Pinkas, zatzal. You can listen to all of them online. שערים בתפילה She'arim bi'Tefillah. And there, the whole sefer is based on the יעקב שמעוני Yalkut Shimoni, he quotes, there are 13 synonyms for prayer. We have one word in English, prayer. But there are 13 synonyms in Hebrew. רינה, פילה, זעקה, צעקה Rinah, pilah, ze'akah, tze'akah... 13 synonyms. Why do we use the one here? ויזעקו Vayiz'aku? Not ויתפללו vayispalelu? והגם שזעקה היא אחת מעשרת לשונות של תפילה, עם כל זה טעם הדבר למה בחר הכתוב דווקא בלשון זה Ve'hagam she'ze'akah hi achas me'aseres leshonos shel tefillah, im kol zeh ta'am ha'davar lamah bachar ha'kasuv davka be'lashon zeh. So זעקה ze'akah is a legitimate, it's one of the synonyms. The תנחומא Tanchuma says 10, the יעקב שמעוני Yalkut Shimoni says 13. It's one of the synonyms, but why specifically does the Torah use that one? Why did the Jewish people use that one? What was it about that form of its תפילה tefillah? And we need to know the answer because right now we're in a מצב matzav of גלות galus. Right now we're in a מצב matzav, an urgent crisis, an עת צרה היא ליעקב es tzarah hi le'Yaakov. So what worked then so we can learn from it and use it now? The last few days, all I could help, all I could think about is every day, רחמנא ליצלן rachmana litzlan, that we wake up in the middle of the night or the morning or the middle of the day to חלילה chalilah another soldier losing their life to defend our people, it's because we are inadequate. We're not worthy. If we would daven, if we would do, if we would come together, if we would heal, if we would unite, if we would do what we need to do, then Hashem would hear us, he would love us, he's our father. It's not about the military or the soldier, it's about us. It's such a פאטש potch. Every headline, every time we read that, it should break our heart. We spoke about last week. First there was such a relief, it's not my nephew. It's not my son or grandson. But it's somebody's nephew, it's somebody's son or grandson, and they're all our sons, they're all our children, it should break our heart. But after it breaks our heart from the pain and the grief, it should also, we should feel that פאטש potch. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is giving us a פאטש potch, he's saying, not yet קינדערלעך kinderlach. You haven't done enough, you haven't repaired enough, you haven't davened enough, you haven't united enough. Not enough. So we need, we need to, whatever formula, ויזעקו vayiz'aku, it worked then, we need it now. We need it now. ומפרש כי הנה בשעה שאדם נמצא בעת צרה ורוצה להתפלל להוציאו ממיצר, באים מקטרגים ומקטרגים עליו שאינו ראוי לישועה U'mefaresh ki hinei be'sha'ah she'adam nimtza be'eis tzarah ve'rotzeh le'hispallel le'hotzi'o mi'meitzar, ba'im mekatregim u'mekatregim alav she'eino ra'uy li'yeshuah. Anytime a Jew stands up and says Hashem, I appeal to you, I'm davening to you, save me, spare me, intervene and intercede on my behalf, what happens? The energy, a spark on the dark side also rises. A prosecuting angel against us rises against us. ועל עצה זהי שיצעק אדם מעומק דליבא, זעקה פשוטה בלי שום אמירת תיבות ודיבורים Ve'al eitzah zehi she'yitz'ak adam me'omek de'liba, ze'akah pshutah beli shum amiras teivos ve'dibburim. So now you've got a battle. Anytime that you're positively communicating, connecting with Hashem, Hashem designed such a world that there's an equal and opposite force going against us. That's what I told Ben after Tucker gave him a hard time this weekend. I said don't be bothered by it, just realize the impact that you're having because if someone has to come out against you, it's just because of the influence and the impact and the light and the good that you're that you're spreading. So when we daven to Hashem, we say Hashem save us, spare us, we surrender to you, you're in charge, you're in control, we desperately need you. What happens? A מקטרג mekatreg, a prosecuting angel comes back and says don't listen to them. He says to Hashem don't listen. You're gonna listen, you're gonna spare them? Do you know how pathetic they are? Do you know how many mistakes they make? Do you know how much of a failure they are? Do you know how duplicitous they are? Forget about it. Don't listen. So how can we get our message across? You've got competing messages. We're saying spare us, and the מקטרג mekatreg is saying don't listen. So you know what happens when two sounds come at the same time? They're static. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu can't hear our pleas. So how do we get it across? So we have a tradition, says the מור ושמש Mor ve'Shemesh, what overcomes the prosecuting angel? The prosecutor can only answer our words with words, our argument with his argument. But when we cry out from our hearts, בלי שום אמירת תיבות ודיבורים beli shum amiras teivos ve'dibburim, with no words, no words. שאז לא יוכל המקטרג להבין שיחת צעקתו ולא יוכל לקטרג She'az lo yuchal ha'mekatreg le'havin sichas tza'akaso ve'lo yuchal le'katreg. So if the attorney makes an argument, the opposing attorney could offer a counter-argument. You heard the first argument, you could offer the counter-argument. But if the first attorney doesn't offer an argument, doesn't articulate an argument with words, simply shows, I surrender, I submit, I am in pain, I need, I love, I want to connect, I'm desperate. What's the other side going to answer? There's no argument, there are no words, nothing was articulated, there's nothing to respond. אלא הקדוש ברוך הוא לבדו הוא יודע מחשבות הוא יאזין ויבין צעקתו Ela ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu levado hu yodea machshavos, hu ya'azin ve'yavin tza'akaso. Says the מור ושמש Mor ve'Shemesh, you know what form of תפילה tefillah is? When we cry out, when you see that headline, when you read that alert, when you follow that news, when you speak to someone in Israel and understand what they're going through, when you go and see with your own eyes, and all you do is cry. And all you do is groan. And all you do is קרעכץ krechts. And all you can do is emote. That is a form of a תפילה tefillah, that goes directly upstairs. That gets past all the obstacles and impediments, all the barriers and all the opposing forces. But חבר'ה chevreh, can we bring ourselves to do that, to produce that? Are we just mumbling the words? We got the תהילים Tehillim, we say afterwards, I said my little booklet, I davened. I'm not minimizing, I'm not knocking that, that's huge and we need to and we have to. But if all we're offering are the words without the feeling, and without the cry to accompany it, it's not going to get where it needs to go. It's not going to get past what it needs to get past. We have to bring the זעקה ze'akah. וזהו שאמרו בני ישראל במצרים ויאנחו בני ישראל מן העבודה, ויזעקו Ve'zehu she'amru Bnei Yisrael be'Mitzrayim, vaye'anchu Bnei Yisrael min ha'avodah, vayiz'aku. שצעקו בקול פשוט בלבד בלי שום דיבור She'tza'aku be'kol pashut bilvad beli shum dibbur. ועל ידי זה ותעל שועתם אל האלקים מן העבודה Ve'al yedei zeh vata'al shav'asam el ha'Elokim min ha'avodah. You ever have a friend, a family member who's in such pain, all they can do is collapse on your shoulder and cry and scream. There's no words. They don't have to tell you, I found out this, I heard this, I'm going through this, it feels like that. They just collapse on you and cry and there's nothing more sincere, more authentic, more genuine. That is ויזעקו vayiz'aku. That's the תפילה tefillah of זעקה ze'akah. And that results in ותעל שועתם אל האלקים מן העבודה וידע אלקים vata'al shav'asam el ha'Elokim min ha'avodah, vayeda Elokim. כי רק השם יתברך לבדו יודע פשר צעקתם ולא שמע המלאך שונם שיחתם Ki rak Hashem yisbarach levado yodea pesher tza'akasam ve'lo shama ha'malach sone'am sichasam. That gets past every opposing angel, every prosecuting angel, every force, every negative impediment. That goes right to Hashem, He hears it, just like a child. A child. There's nothing worse when your child says, I'm sad about this or I had a bad day at that, or they bullied me on the bus, or I got a bad grade, okay, so now you could try to... But when they just come home, they can't breathe and they're crying and you hold them, that hits you in a way, that hits you, you're ready to do anything in the world for them. Say, what is it? Just tell me, tell me, you can tell me anything. I want to help, just tell me. And they can't. They can't even catch their breath. They can't even say words. There's just such a sadness, such a pain. That hits a parent like nothing else in the world. That's the תפילה tefillah of זעקה ze'akah. That's what Hashem is waiting for us. We want to change the headlines? Every day we dread waking up to a headline of another soldier and every day we hope to wake up with the headline of Sinwar's head on a plate, of taking down the heads of Hamas, that it turns out in the headquarters in Qatar and around the world, simultaneously they're all gone. How do we turn the headlines from the ones we dread to the ones we can't wait and we hope for? ויזעקו בני ישראל Vayiz'aku Bnei Yisrael. Then הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu will hear, then ותעל שועתם vata'al shav'asam, then that's when he hears and that's when he responds, that's when it makes a difference.Says the אוהב ישראל Ohev Yisrael, the אפטר רב Apter Rav. כי הנה בעת שאדם נמצא בעת צרה וצריך לזעוק להשם יתברך, העיקר שלא יתפלל על צער עצמו Ki hinei be'eis she'adam nimtza be'eis tzarah ve'tzarich liz'ok la'Hashem Yisborach, ha'ikkar she'lo yispallel al tza'ar atzmo. רק על מה שהצרה מבטלו מעבודת השם יתברך Rak al mah she'ha'tzarah mevatlo me'avodas Hashem Yisborach. ואז יעלה לרצון כל התפילות שהתפלל Ve'az ya'aleh le'ratzon kol ha'tefillos she'yispallel. Says the אוהב ישראל Ohev Yisrael, the אפטר רב Apter Rav, you see in this pasuk the methodology, the the formula for an effective תפילה tefillah. It's such an important parsha right now. Jewish people were stuck, they were suffering, it seemed there was no way out, and הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu spared them, he saved them. So we need that formula. We need to follow in those footsteps. What did they do? How did they get there? He says the Ohev Yisrael, the Apter Rav, he says, because they didn't daven for themselves. ויאנחו בני ישראל מן העבודה ויזעקו ותעל שועתם מן העבודה Vaye'anchu Bnei Yisrael min ha'avodah vayiz'aku vata'al shav'asam min ha'avodah. מן העבודה Min ha'avodah says is an allusion to, not the hard back-breaking labor and work of building the pyramids. What was the עבודה avodah? Hashem, if we're doing that, we can't serve you. מן העבודה Min ha'avodah means מן עבודת השם min avodas Hashem. If we're so distracted and we're so dedicated and we're so devoted and we're putting so many resources towards this other thing, then our עבודת השם avodas Hashem is suffering. וזהו שאמר ויאנחו בני ישראל, שנאנחו בני ישראל על מה שהמצרים מבטלים אותם מעבודת השם Ve'zehu she'amar vaye'anchu Bnei Yisrael, she'ne'enchu Bnei Yisrael al mah she'ha'Mitzrim mevatlim osam me'avodas Hashem. ותעל שועתם אל האלקים מן העבודה, כל התפילות שהתפללו היה להם על אל האלקים Vata'al shav'asam el ha'Elokim min ha'avodah, kol ha'tefillos she'hispalelu hayah lahem al el ha'Elokim, כהיו מתפללים על ביטול מעבודת השם יתברך ke'hayu mispalelim al bitul me'avodas Hashem Yisborach. Hashem I love you, and you put me here in this world to serve you, but I can't fulfill my mission if I'm so distracted and busy just trying to survive. So הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, billions and trillions of dollars are going to have to go into Israel just to rebuild and just to fix an economy and just to treat a PTSD, how can we support yeshivas and kollelim and עריכת כשרות arevut kashrus? And how can we do kiruv and how can we change your world? So מן העבודה min ha'avodah, the formula to daven to Hashem to give us relief is to say that we can't succeed in our mission, our main purpose and why you created us, if we have to dedicate so much time, resources, and our energy just to survive and fight an enemy. מן העבודה Min ha'avodah, spare us so that we can dedicate and direct our עבודה avodah to עבודת השם avodas Hashem and not to the עבודה avodah of building the pyramids. As I said the Ohev Yisrael, a third interpretation of what it means, of what it means ויאנחו vaye'anchu. This is the formula, this pasuk is so important. ויאנחו vaye'anchu, ויזעקו vayiz'aku. One last idea. I have of course a ton more, but I'll tell you one last to bring back an old friend of ours, the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, the הייליגע וויז'ניצער heilige Vizhnitzer. Says the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, skip to פרק ד' פסוק ל\"א perek daled pasuk lamed aleph, we're almost through. Chapter 4, pasuk lamed aleph. Middle of page 312. Hashem says to Aharon go meet Moshe in the wilderness, and he went and he found him at the mountain, he kissed him. Moshe relates everything that happened. They go and they gather the זקנים zekeinim. Moshe, Aharon repeated all the things that Hashem had told Moshe, they did these signs, and the people believed. ויאמן העם וישמעו כי פקד השם את בני ישראל וכי ראה את ענים ויקדו וישתחוו Vaya'amein ha'am vayishme'u ki pakad Hashem es Bnei Yisrael ve'chi ra'ah es onyam vayikdu vayishtachavu. What happens? The people believed and they heard that Hashem remembered the children of Israel, that he saw their affliction, they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves, they accepted. פרעגט די אמרי חיים Fregt di Imrei Chaim, the וויז'ניצער רבה Vizhnitzer Rebbe. איך יתכן שהיה ויאמן העם לפני וישמעו Eich yitachein she'hayah vaya'amein ha'am lifnei vayishme'u. First you hear and then you believe. Here the pasuk says they believed and then they heard. It's out of order. It's the wrong order. What does it sound like? נעשה ונשמע na'aseh ve'nishma. It's a ממשי mamash נעשה לפני נשמע na'aseh lifnei nishma. But we weren't at the מדרגה madreigah yet of נעשה ונשמע na'aseh ve'nishma. And we don't credit כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael for נעשה ונשמע na'aseh ve'nishma in מצרים Mitzrayim. That wasn't until הר סיני Har Sinai. So what's going on over here, that first the pasuk says ויאמן vaya'amein. in. And then וישמעו vayishme'u it's out of order. Listen to this insight. עד אז היו כלל ישראל רגילן שבכל מקום שהיו שני אחין היתה ביניהם מריבה Ad az hayu Klal Yisrael regilin sheb'chol makom shehayu shnei achin haita beineihem meriva. You know what all the Jewish people saw? Since our inception as a family and the early stages of our peoplehood, all they saw, whenever there were two siblings, there was sibling rivalry. Whenever there's a family, there was dysfunction. You've heard me say forever. What's the definition of a dysfunctional family? Any family with more than one person in it.That was כלל ישראל's Klal Yisrael's definition of a dysfunctional family. Any family with more than one person in it. Whenever there are two brothers, היה ביניהם מריבה haya beineihem meriva. So says the מדרש Medrash, a פסוק pasuk in שיר השירים Shir HaShirim. מי יתנך כאח לי באיזה אח הכתוב מדבר Mi yitencha k'ach li, b'eizeh ach hakasuv medaber? What brother is the פסוק pasuk in שיר השירים Shir HaShirim talking about? If it's קין Kayin, קין Kayin killed his brother. If it's ישמעאל and יצחק Yishmael and Yitzchak, ישמעאל Yishmael hates יצחק Yitzchak. עשיו and יעקב Eisav and Yaakov, הלכה ידוע עשו שונא ליעקב halacha yeduah Eisav sonei l'Yaakov. If it's the brothers and יוסף Yosef, ויקנאו בו אחיו vayikane'u bo echav. So this פסוק pasuk in שיר השירים Shir HaShirim that longs for the romantic vision of a brother and brotherhood, which brother, exactly? Book of בראשית Bereishis. Doesn't go so well.So, and אברהם and לוט Avram and Lot. הפרד נא מעלי hipared na me'alai, tells his nephew. כי אנשים אחים אנחנו ki anashim achim anachnu. So what's the, what's the answer? All of a sudden, there's a new reality. Till now, whenever there were siblings, there was sibling rivalry, nobody got along. Now כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, that's what they know. That's what they learned, that's what they were taught. Those were the stories when they were put to bed. That's what they heard around the campfire. It's how we could never get along. Whenever there were brothers, every generation never went well.Now all of a sudden, two brothers come on the scene. משה and אהרן Moshe and Aharon appear, says the ויז'ניצער רבי Vizhnitzer Rebbe. שלום עליכם Shalom Aleichem. משה Moshe, אהרן Aharon, two brothers. אהרן's Aharon's older, but he comes secondary. And אהרן Aharon says, \"Yeah, true, I'm older, but I'm happy. I'm כפוף kafuf to my brother.\" משה Moshe, he's number one. And they appear, and they get along. And there's harmony, and there's love, and there's loyalty. המבוגר יוסר ומדבר לפני פרעה Ha'mevugar yoser u'medaber lifnei Paroh, the older one is the one who speaks to פרעה Paroh, והצעיר זוכה מראות פני השכינה v'hatzair zocheh m'reot pnei haShechinah. וכשם שנפגשו ביניהם שמחים איש לקראת רעהו עד כדי וישקהו u'keshem shenifgashu beineihem smeichim ish likrat re'eihu ad k'dei vayishakeihu. And their kissing, and their hugging, and their stroking, and their holding hands, and their arms around each other. קודשא בריך הוא Kudsha Brich Hu promises וראך ושמח בלבו v'ra'acha v'samach b'libo. כשראו ישראל תפארת מפלס כזאת K'she'ra'u Yisrael tif'eret miflas k'zos, לא היו צריכים יותר לשום אות ומופת lo hayu tzrichim yoser l'shum os u'mofes. I don't need to see a stick turn into a snake. I don't need to see any other miracle. I don't need any miracles. Two brothers and they get along? There's no miracle greater than that. Whatever's about to happen here, this is truth. We accept it. ויאמן העם vaya'amen ha'am, כי כבר האמינו לכל מה שנאמר וישמעו ki kvar he'eminu l'chol ma shene'emar vayishme'u. Whatever these two are going to say, we believe.But they didn't say it yet. Doesn't matter. These are the first two to get along. These are the first two to love each other. These are the first two to be loyal to one another. Whatever they have to say, we're in. We believe. We want to hear. First two. First two they were ever exposed to. First two that they've heard about who get along. חבר'ה Chevreh, that's our answer. We got to get along. We got to love one another. We have to be what משה and אהרן Moshe and Aharon... they were not just נושא בעול עם חברו nosei b'ol im chavero for his צער tzaar. But they were what the אלתר מקלם Alter m'Kelm and others call, they were נושא בשמחת חברו nosei b'simchas chavero. They had the capacity to פרגן fargen one another. They were able to be happy for the other. משה's Moshe's happy for אהרן Aharon, he's the כהן גדול kohen gadol, even though he'd love to be. אהרן's Aharon's happy for משה Moshe, he's משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, the אב הנביאים av ha'nevi'im, even though he's younger. Happy. He's happy. So therefore, that's what we need to be, happy for one another, to פרגן fargen one another, to be able to be loyal to one another, to love one another. And if we do that, that's the biggest miracle, and that'll bring the miracles that we're so desperate for. Should be a good day, we should hear בשורות טובות besoros tovos.
