Transcript
Okay, good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov, welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. As always, we begin with gratitude, with appreciation for our generous sponsors. Thank you to Becky and Avi Katz and family who've sponsored this series in memory of David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת l'iluy nishmas Becky's father, דוד בן מנחם מניש David ben Menachem Manish. This morning's שיעור shiur is also sponsored by Dr. Goldie Sadowsky in memory of her dear uncle, our beloved member, Reb יהודה לייב Yehuda Leib Kurtzer, very special man, humble, modest, a great teacher of Torah and example of Torah, and their dear aunt, יבדל לחיים טובים yibadel l'chaim tovim, Doris Kurtzer. Also sponsored this morning by Alona Schwartz in commemoration of her mother's יארצייט yahrzeit, חנה פערל בת יהודה צבי Chana Perel bas Yehuda Tzvi. And I also want to dedicate our learning to my dear friend who's undergoing surgery right now, יוסף בן רחל Yosef ben Rachel, a very special man. The surgery should be successful, he should have a complete and a speedy and a painless רפואה שלמה refuah shleima, please God. And as always, our learning, all the hostages should come home, all our soldiers should be safe, כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael should have safety and security in Israel and around the world. Page 318, פרשת וארא Parshas Va'eira, the stories we know so well, not only because we read them at the beginning of ספר שמות Sefer Shmos, but because we then relive them, reenact them, we then tell them at the פסח סדר Pesach Seder each and every year.פרק ו פסוק ב Perek Vav Pasuk Beis, the very opening of the פרשה parsha, וידבר אלקים אל משה vayidaber Elokim el Moshe, God spoke to Moshe, ויאמר אליו אני השם va'yomer eilav Ani Hashem, and he told him I am God. וארא אל אברהם אל יצחק ואל יעקב בקל שקי Va'eira el Avraham el Yitzchak v'el Yaakov b'Kel Shakkai, and I appeared to Avram, Yitzchak and Yaakov, ושמי השם לא נודעתי להם u'shmi Hashem lo nodati lahem, and while I appeared to them, I didn't reveal myself to them to the same degree or the way that I've revealed myself to you. וגם הקימותי את בריתי אתם לתת להם את ארץ כנען V'gam hakimosi es brisi itam laseis lahem es eretz Kna'an, I made a covenant, I made a deal with them to give them the land of Canaan, את ארץ מגוריהם אשר גרו בה es eretz megureihem asher garu bah, the land in which they traveled and which they journeyed, in which they sojourned. And I've also heard וגם אני שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל v'gam ani shomati es naakas Bnei Yisrael, I've heard, I've heard the croaks and the groans and the cries, אשר מצרים מעבידים אותם ואזכור את בריתי asher Mitzrayim ma'avidim osam v'ezkor es brisi, and I remember, I remember that promise that I gave to your forefathers, to Avram, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. To really appreciate the beginning of our פרשה parsha, you have to see it as a continuation and in the context of the end of last week's פרשה parsha. The end of last week's פרשה parsha, משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, the most humble of all men, משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu who hesitated and demured when Hashem recruited him to be the leader, the spokesperson of the Jewish people, now he finds his voice. And now he protests to none other than the Almighty himself, and he says, what's going on over here? You're making things worse. From the moment I've come to פרעה Paroh, things have just gotten worse. Why would you send me? למה הרעותה לעם הזה למה זה שלחתני Lama ha're'osa la'am hazeh lama zeh sh'lachtani. Why are you making things so bad? Why are you making them worse? Why did you send me? So God says, whoa, whoa, one second. Let's reset, let's reboot, let's start this conversation again. וידבר אלקים Vayidaber Elokim, and now it is אלקים Elokim is the notion, the name for God that is דין din, דין din. וידבר דיבור vayidaber dibur to ויאמר vayomer. This opening פסוק pasuk we've discussed it before, we won't get into it right now, but we go from וידבר vayidaber to ויאמר vayomer, two different languages, לשון רכה lashon rach ka, לשון קשה lashon kasha, soft and gentle and sweet versus firm and strong. אלקים Elokim versus השם Hashem, the name of God that reflects justice, דין din, versus the name of God that is רחמים rachamim, that is compassion. What's going on, what's going on over here?Says רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik, ויאמר אליו va'yomer eilav, God reintroduces himself to to Moshe and he says אני השם ani Hashem. I am י-ק-ו-ק Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei. I am the name י-ק-ו-ק Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei. היה הוה ויהיה Haya hoveh v'yiyeh, I was, I am, and I will be. חז\"ל Chazal point out, writes רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik, that Hashem was very critical of Moshe's argument with him and that a similar criticism was leveled against שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech. So in מדרש שמות רבה Midrash Shemos Rabbah, the מדרש midrash explains the Torah enjoined Israelite kings from having too many wives so they would not sway the king from wholeheartedly serving God. Later in ספר דברים Sefer Devarim, we'll see the instruction that Jewish kings are not allowed to have too much property, too many cars, horses, too many things, too many wives. We have a focus, there's a mission. Don't be distracted, don't be derailed from what you're meant to do. שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech, however, maintained this rationale did not apply to him. His belief in God was ironclad, could never be weakened, no matter how many women he wed. חז\"ל Chazal indicated that the moment Shlomo decided to violate this command of the Torah, the letter י yud from the word ירבה yarbeh in the phrase ולא ירבה לו נשים v'lo yarbeh lo nashim, should not take too many wives, the letter י yud, says the מדרש midrash, complained to God that Shlomo ignored this מצוה mitzvah. In the Hebrew language, the י yud is the letter prefix for a verb to indicate future tense. The י yud argued that while initially Shlomo's heart would indeed be unaffected, Shlomo did not recognize that in the future the situation could change. When he became older and weaker and his mental abilities were no longer as sharp, we learn that his wives indeed swayed Shlomo's heart and that altars to false gods were built in his palace by these wives. The י yud demonstrated that even Shlomo, the wisest who ever lived, could fall prey to what he was certain he could avoid. This same י yud criticized Moshe because in the course of his argument with Hashem, Moshe made a mistake that involved the same letter. When Hashem sent Moshe to Paroh for the first time, he did not reveal himself with י-ק-ו-ק Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei, representing all three tenses, היה הוה ויהיה haya hoveh v'yiyeh, was, is, and will be, past, present, and future. God told Moshe only of the past, the God of Avram, the God of Yitzchak, the God of Yaakov, and the future. What name did he tell Moshe? When Moshe says the people are going to want to know, who sent me? What's your name? What's your brand? What's your logo? How do you want to be known? What's your name? What name did God invoke? What name did God say? אהיה אשר אהיה Ehkeh asher ehkeh, I will be the one I will be. By omitting the part of his name which represents the present, Hashem in effect said that while Jews were still being persecuted, the present cannot be understood. At the burning bush, Hashem had already warned Moshe that Paroh could not let, would not let the people go immediately and that there would be much tribulation until the redemption. Moshe should accustom himself to relating to Hashem only via the י yud, the promise of the future redemption, and the ה hei representing the past. Despite being warned, Moshe did not accept this idea. When Paroh rejected Moshe's message, the Torah says Moshe returned to complain to God using the name י-ק-ו-ק Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei. The Torah used this name here because Moshe was not satisfied with the name אהיה ehkeh. He wanted immediate redemption, arguing, למה הרעותה לעם הזה Lama ha're'osa la'am hazeh, why are you harming the people? Why have you sent me? Since I've come to Paroh to speak in your name, all he's done is make things worse. Both Moshe and Shlomo emphasized the present over the future. Hashem, through His attribute of justice, would have killed Moshe for his apparent impudence. However, since Moshe was merely reflecting the anxiety of the Jewish people, the divine attribute of mercy had pity on Moshe, and Hashem forgave him. He would now reveal Himself in the present through open miracles with the name י-ק-ו-ק Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei. While Hashem told Moshe he would begin the redemption immediately, he at the same time contrasted Moshe's behavior unfavorably with the forefathers. God reproved Moshe, telling him that the אבות avos had not demanded such instant gratification. They remained satisfied with a promise that would be fulfilled only in future generations.This is such an important insight and commentary of רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik because as the name of our שיעור shiur suggests, Parsha perspectives for today, we read the פרשה parsha every year, and there's never a coincidence, nothing is random. The פרשה parsha is an ענין דיומא inyan d'yoma. The פרשה parsha is the prism through which we're meant to interpret and live and experience whatever we're going through, individually and collectively, separately as people and also as a, as a people, as a nation. רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik here says what's going on in this conversation between the end of last week's פרשה parsha and the beginning of ours is Hashem responding to Moshe saying one second. One second. Don't only live in the present. The present you won't understand. And the present will be hard and you shouldn't accept. Want to change it. That's why you have a mission, that's why I'm sending you in. Don't be satisfied, don't be complacent, don't be indifferent. You won't be able to accept the present, the suffering, the servitude, the oppression, the persecution. But have faith, there will be a future. There is a redemption. And your forefathers, Avram, Yitzchak and Yaakov, they didn't ask this question. They didn't demand redemption right now. They understood it's a process, that it unfolds, that it takes time, that it happens incrementally, that there are two steps forward and one step back, and they're willing to wait and to wish and to want and to long because they know that that day will come. Moshe, you're not satisfied with my name אהיה אשר אהיה Ehkeh asher ehkeh? You want י-ק-ו-ק Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei, היה הוה ויהיה haya hoveh v'yiyeh, you want it right now in the הוה hoveh, in the present? You need to live up to Avram, Yitzchak and Yaakov. ושמי השם לא נודעתי להם U'shmi Hashem lo nodati lahem, I didn't tell them that I could be found in the present. I only told them about the future and that was good enough for them, and it needs to be good enough for you, to live in the present with an eye towards that future, to not evaluate and to not decide your relationship with Hashem only by what's happening right now, but to be able to step back and see it in a context, to see it in perspective, to see it in the course of history and destiny, to understand there isn't only here and now, but there is a future.And חברה chevre, that is in many ways the theme of our פרשה parsha, the ד' לשונות של גאולה dalet leshonos of geulah, the four languages of redemption that we're about to see, והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי ולקחתי v'hotzeisi v'hitzalti v'ga'alti v'lakachti, the four cups of wine that we drink at the סדר seder. They represent, as we say every year, that גאולה geulah, redemption is not linear. It's not binary. There's not גלות galus and then גאולה geulah. We're not in exile and then we're redeemed. It's not linear. We don't see that point in time where we go from the harshness and the darkness and the suffering of exile to the bliss and the glory and the joy of redemption. It's incremental. It takes time. It unfolds. This four לשונות leshonos, there are four units or periods of time. There are four chapters. גאולה Geulah happens. There's an אתחלתא דגאולה aschalta d'geulah, which is the language not of modern Zionists, it's the language of חז\"ל Chazal, it's the language of the גמרא מגילה Gemara Megillah, it's a language that was employed by פוסקים poskim. נחום עמי אתחלתא דגאולה Nachum Ami, aschalta d'geulah, there is the beginning of redemption. We gave a שיעור shiur on it last year where we showed גדולי ישראל gedolei Yisrael across the entire spectrum invoke that language of אתחלתא aschalta, of ראשית reishis, there is the beginning, there's the flowering, there are the signs, there's the initial light of redemption. But just because the light begins to shine doesn't mean overnight we go to the complete and to the full redemption. Complete and full redemption. We're in such a painful time for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael with such mixed emotions as we welcomed three young women home this week and please God, we'll welcome four more next. The price that we pay, the risks that are taken, the cost and the חילול השם chillul Hashem in the world, the חילול השם chillul Hashem in the world that could exist as Alan Dershowitz I thought wrote so well, this was not a deal, this was an extortion. If somebody kidnaps someone from your family and you have to pay a ransom, you don't say we negotiated a deal, it's not business. You say you were extorted. We were extorted. A crime was committed against humanity and then was celebrated in the streets of Gaza by some זאפטיג zaftig terrorists who claimed they were malnourished but look anything but, and children dressed as terrorists celebrating, that is nothing short of a חילול השם chillul Hashem. So where's the גאולה geulah in a חילול השם chillul Hashem? Where is Hashem while Hashem's name is being desecrated? And you contrast that with last night, immediate executive orders defunding UNRWA and removing any blockage of arms to Israel. So which is it? גלות Galus or גאולה geulah? The answer is, yes. It's both. And that's the way our history has always been, it's the way our destiny will unfold. Moshe was impatient and Hashem was ready for his imprudence to punish him, but he displayed a רחמים rachamim. And we have to follow Avram, Yitzchak and Yaakov at the beginning of our פרשה parsha to recognize that sometimes when it's hard to see or feel in the present, we still have to have faith for that future, for that redemption that will yet come, particularly when we consider our past. And as horrific, horrific, horrific as the decisions that have to be made in Israel right now, and the price that's being paid and the risks that are being taken and what is unfolding, for 2,000 years, we would have given anything to be in this position. As bad as it is, as harsh as it is, for 2,000 years, we would have given anything to be in, to be in this position. So this insight of רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik of what's happening in this conversation last week to this week, וידבר vayidaber to ויאמר vayomer, אלקים Elokim to השם Hashem, why are we talking about Avram, Yitzchak and Yaakov? What's the מדרש midrash connecting to שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech? Is that reminder of the critical importance to live in the present but to have that faith and that eye towards that future, to know that he's always been there and he will be and he will be yet again, and he will be yet again.רב רש\"י Rav Rashi here, Rashi tells us on the second פסוק pasuk and פסוק ג pasuk gimmel. וארא Va'eira, I appeared to Avram, Yitzchak and Yaakov. זאגט רש\"י Zogt Rashi, in case you're not sure who they are, וארא אל אברהם אל יצחק ואל יעקב va'eira el Avram, el Yitzchak, v'el Yaakov, says Rashi, where is Rashi? It's where he always is. פסוק ג Pasuk gimmel. אל האבות El ha'avos. Two words. In case you were confused, in case you forgot, in case you don't remember, Avram, Yitzchak and Yaakov, they're a band called the אבות avos. They were the אבות avos, they're the patriarchs. Everyone asks on this Rashi. The מפרשים mefarshim are all bothered by a very obvious question. What did Rashi add? Do we not know that Avram, Yitzchak and Yaakov are the אבות avos? Do we not know that they are in fact our patriarchs? Rashi normally comes to expand, comes to explain, comes to elucidate. What did he add? What did he add here? So רב שכטר Rav Schechter, the ראש ישיבה שליט\"א Rosh Yeshiva shlita, he says the following. Each of the אבות avos were an unimaginable מדרגה madreiga. Each of the אבות avos what they achieved in their life, what they represented and what they implanted into us, into our very DNA. חז\"ל Chazal say in fact, in בראשית רבה Breishis Rabbah, that the אבות הן הן המרכבה avos hein hein ha'merkava. The אבות avos were the chariot, they were the conduit, they were the mouthpiece that we were able to learn and make contact and have access to the divine. We're very far removed from such מדרגות madreigos. So a איד Yid might think, says רב שכטר Rav Schechter, a Jew might think, I have no connection to the אבות avos. They are great figures of history. I open my חומש Chumash and I learn about Avram, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, our founding fathers. And להבדיל אלף אלפי הבדלות l'havdil elef alfei havdalos, as little a relationship I have with Washington and Adams and Jefferson, they're great people, they lived in the past. Maybe I'm reading their biographies, maybe I know something about them, maybe I don't. I have no connection, I have no relation, they're not my family. They're great men of the past. They're great people of the past. So maybe חלילה chalila one would say Avram, Yitzchak, they appear in a book. I should read their biography called the Torah. They're great people of the past. I don't have a connection. The answer is, the אבות avos, they're your טאטעס tattes, they're your זיידעס zaides, they're your fathers. They're our fathers. Every one of us descend from them. Every one of us have a deep relationship with them in the past. There's a great story. A איד Yid, a Jew, once went to see the חוזה מלובלין Chozeh of Lublin. He said I need money. There's a whole story, I'm not going to draw it out with dramatically because this isn't a דרשה drasha, it's the פרשה parsha שיעור shiur. But I'll just tell you succinctly and reserve the right to give the dramatic version of it another time. Deal? It's a deal. Okay. So this Jew went and he lined up with everyone else to see the heilige, the holy חוזה מלובלין Chozeh of Lublin. He needed money, he was a pauper, he couldn't pay his bills, and he finally saw the חוזה Chozeh and the רבי rebbe gave him just a little sum of money, a few, a few coins. So the man said to the חוזה Chozeh, I'm a relative of yours. We're family. We're משפחה mishpacha. I should get more. I should get more. So the חוזה מלובלין Chozeh of Lublin looked at him and he said, you're a distant cousin. Don't invoke, don't play that game with me. Your family? You're a distant, distant cousin. So he waited more time until it was time for מנחה Mincha. They gave a קלאפ klap, told the רבי rebbe it's time for מנחה Mincha, everybody got together, and they began to דאווען מנחה daven Mincha. And during דאווענען davening, he heard the רבי rebbe read from the סידור siddur, and he heard the רבי rebbe who was saying the שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei, the שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei, the quiet שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei, but he's saying a little bit out loud, and the רבי rebbe got up to the words אלקי אברהם Elokei Avraham, אלקי יצחק Elokei Yitzchak, אלקי יעקב Elokei Yaakov. And this חוצפן chutzpan leaned in and whispered in the רבי's rebbe's ear, they're just distant relatives. They're distant. They're distant. So when the רבי rebbe finished the שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei, he gave, he gave the pauper some more money. He understood. He understood. For Jews, there's no such thing as a distant relative. You want to invoke Avram, Yitzchak, and Yaakov? Then you got to help your 15th cousin 17 times removed, because there's no such thing as a distant relative. Says the ראש ישיבה Gedolei Rosh Yeshiva, this is what Rashi says. I appeared וארא va'eira, Avram, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, in case you forgot, the אבות avos. He didn't forget. When we refer to the אבות avos by name, we have little connection to the levels they represent, but they're not just great men of the past, we're not just reading their biography, they're our אבות avos. When we look at them, we have a connection with them. We have a connection to them. We get inspiration from them. They're not just people of the past, they are משפחה mishpacha, they are relatives in the present, in the present. We're flesh and blood. These are our אבות avos. It's not only a זכות zechus, it's not only we can invoke them, it's not only that they give us privileges, but it means that they're also in our DNA. They also implanted within us incredible כוחות kochos, incredible possibilities, incredible strength, incredible strength. That is the insight of רב שכטר Rav Schechter, why Rashi says Avram, Yitzchak and Yaakov are the אבות avos. Number one. Number two, רב חצקל לוונשטיין Rav Chatzkel Levenstein, who was here last week? Two weeks ago? Great תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, ירושלים Yerushalayim. So says רב חצקל לוונשטיין Rav Chatzkel Levenstein, he has the same question, and he says the following. He quotes from the שפתי חכמים Sifsei Chachamim. Why did Rashi אל האבות el ha'avos as opposed to Avram, Yitzchak, because he writes בלשון קצר b'lashon katzar. Rashi writes in a very succinct way. But רב לוונשטיין Rav Levenstein wants to suggest the following. Rashi is explaining that to the אבות avos, revealing himself as קל שקי Kel Shakkai and not with open miracles. קל שקי Kel Shakkai is the name for God for being in the mundane and the everyday, in the hiddenness, that Hashem is not revealed in open miracles that you see before your open, your your very eyes, not the ten plagues and not the splitting of the sea, but the fact that you woke up this morning and you have your faculties, the fact that the little day, everyday miracles that are all around us. That's the name. So the אבות avos, they didn't need to only find Hashem through open miracles, through the everyday and the mundane and the simple, they also found Hashem. They found Hashem without him needing to reveal with open miracles. Not because they're just Avram, Yitzchak, and Yaakov as individuals compared to other individuals, but as Rashi is saying, because they were אבות avos, pioneers, trailblazers, they set a precedent, they implanted within us, they found Hashem through nature. They saw the supernatural in the natural. They saw the extraordinary in the ordinary. But Moshe, בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael, the children of the אבות avos, we need revealed miracles. So this is the הקדמה hakdama to what Hashem is now going to do with יציאת מצרים Yetziyas Mitzrayim. And that's what Hashem is saying. Hashem is saying, I'm about to give you open miracles because that's what you need. But know that you're אבות avos, because they were אבות avos, they saw me, they found me even in the hiddenness, they didn't need it to be revealed. And he goes on, he elaborates, he has more. But I want to suggest to you my own. I want to give you my own suggestion of maybe what it means, of what it means אל האבות el ha'avos. אל האבות El ha'avos. But first one more, number three, רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum. In זבד שמואל Zevad Shmuel, רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum was the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva in the Mir, Brooklyn. When Hashem recruits Moshe to lead counsel, the wartime consigliere, he he sends Moshe to confront Paroh. Moshe hesitates, מי אנוכי Mi anochi? Who am I? למה זה שלחתני Lama zeh shlachtani? Why are you sending me? He doesn't say למה שלחת lama shlachta, why are you sending? למה שלחתני Lama shlachtani? Why me? Because what's Moshe's argument? Moshe feels inadequate. Moshe feels incapable. He feels ill-equipped, ill-prepared. Moshe says I lack the courage and the eloquence and the confidence. I can't make the case. I'm not going to get the people out. And to this, Hashem turns to him and he says, do you know whom you descend from? Do you know where you come from? Your grandparents, Avram, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, they were great men. But you know what their great accomplishment was? Because they were designated as אבות avos of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, they merited סיעתא דשמיא עד מאוד siyata d'shmaya ad me'od. Because they were designated to be the אבות avos, it's not they were the אבות avos so they had סיעתא דשמיא siyata d'shmaya, because they accepted the mission, they were prepared to take it on, that's why, it's not because they were great, they became the אבות avos, because they were designated to become the אבות avos, they became great. They became great. So now that you've been appointed to lead, now that you've been designated to speak, to fight, to free the people, you're going to merit that סיעתא דשמיא siyata d'shmaya. So says רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, that's why Rashi says אל האבות el ha'avos. Hashem appeared to them not just because they were great, but because they were destined to be the אבות avos, that's why Hashem made them great. If he's going to send us on a mission, he's not going to leave us ill-equipped. He's not going to send us compromised. If he sends us on a mission, he's going to provide us and give us what we need in order to fulfill it. But I want to suggest a fourth and final, maybe understanding of this Rashi. אל אברהם אל יצחק אל יעקב, אל האבות El ha'avos, why did Rashi need to say that? We saw so far, רב שכטר Rav Schechter, we saw רב חצקל לוונשטיין Rav Chatzkel Levenstein, רב בירנבוים Rav Berenbaum, and now one more. Why did Rashi feel a need to comment אל האבות el ha'avos? We already know who they are. Moshe is being pushed to go before Paroh, to challenge him, to confront him, to speak truth to power, to not back down. It is so easy to be intimidated or daunted or frightened, to not feel up to the task. How many of us have those moments? How many of us have those moments? Somebody says something anti-semitic. Somebody is trying to deny our right or ability to live as a practicing Jew. You see someone wearing a pin or a sign, a symbol of a people who hate. Are you going to stay silent? Are you going to confront? Are you going to speak up? Are you going to advocate? Are we going to live up to that moment? Are we going to be intimidated and daunted and frightened? Hashem turns to Moshe, he says, in that moment where you feel you don't have the courage, you think you don't have what it takes, I want to remind you, do you know where you come from? Do you know what's in your DNA? Do you begin to understand the power you possess by virtue of the justness of your cause, the truth of your story, your rights, the path already paved from those who came before you? Avram, Yitzchak, and Yaakov aren't three righteous individuals, they're not biographies, they're not strangers. They gave birth to a people, they left a legacy, they transformed the world. אל האבות El ha'avos, they're your זיידעס zaides, they're your אימהות imahos, they're your באבי'ס bubbies, they are משפחה mishpacha, they are יחוס yichus, they're in our DNA, they're who we are. And therefore they gave us that power. So don't back down. Don't take off your display. Don't take off your demonstrating. Stop, don't ever stop practicing and being a proud Jew. Confront the people, the moment, stand up with pride and with courage, because אל אברהם, אל יצחק, אל יעקב, אל האבות el ha'avos, it's in our DNA. It's in our DNA. When the לובאוויטשער רבי Lubavitcher Rebbe would meet non-affiliated Jew, they would often volunteer about themselves. They'd say I have no background. I have very limited, I don't have any background. I don't have a Jewish background. And the Rebbe זצ\"ל zatzal would always correct them. He'd say, \"You don't have a background? Do you know who you come from?\" Every Jew descends from Avram, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, from Sara, Rivka, Rochel, and Leah. You have the greatest background a person could have. And they bequeth to you all you could ask for to live and navigate this world. So don't ever say you don't have a background. You may not have an education, and now it's time to get one, but every Jew has a background, because אל אברהם, אל יצחק, ואל יעקב, אל האבות el ha'avos, אל האבות el ha'avos. They give us whatever it takes and whatever we need to live in that way. אל האבות El ha'avos. I can't help myself, so I'll just read to you in closing, we'll move on to the next פסוק pasuk. In June 1982, you know it, but it's always good to hear it again. Menachem Begin spoke before a session of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Begin was 39 years old at the time. Mr., I'm sorry. Not Begin. At the time, Joe Biden was 39 years old. Thank you. And he lectured the 68-year-old Biden, Begin, over Israeli settlements. Israel was at war in Lebanon, and the then senator warned that eroding support for Israel threatened U.S. aid. And Menachem Begin said, some say this is apocryphal, did it happen exactly? Did he say it in these words? But the message is critical either way. He said, quote, \"Don't threaten us with cutting off aid to give up our principles. I'm not a Jew with trembling knees.\" Begin said, \"I'm a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it, we fought for it, we died for it. We will stand by our principles, we will defend them, and when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.\" Begin was a Jew who understood. Okay. He understood this Rashi. This Rashi, אל האבות el ha'avos, he understood this Rashi. I don't think we ever had an applause in Parsha class before. Okay, something, something new. אל האבות El ha'avos, אל אברהם, אל יצחק, אל יעקב el Avram, el Yitzchak, v'el Yaakov. You know, but it's easy to tell that story, apocryphal or true, it's harder to live it. There'll be a moment where we're seeing increasingly, in the supermarket or at the airport, there'll be a moment, someone will say something or do something or try to deny you or deprive you and it'll be your moment to speak up, to say something. You'll be at the mall, you'll be in a store. Will you use your voice? Will you find your power? אל האבות El ha'avos, אל אברהם, אל יצחק, אל יעקב el Avram, el Yitzchak, v'el Yaakov because they put it inside, they implanted it in us. פרק ו פסוק ה Perek Vav, Pasuk Hei. Hashem says, וגם אני שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל V'gam ani shomati es naakas Bnei Yisrael, I heard the cries of the Jewish people, אשר מצרים מעבידים אותם ואזכור את בריתי asher Mitzrayim ma'avidim osam v'ezkor es brisi. That Mitzrayim is, what does the word מעבידים ma'avidim mean? Enslaving them, making them work. ואזכור V'ezkor, and I will remember, I recall, את בריתי es brisi, my promise. Says רב דרוק Rav Druck in his לאוהבו איש l'ohavo ish, says רב דרוק Rav Druck. יש להעמוד על דיוק לשון הנאקה שאומר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה. וגם אני שמעתי V'gam ani shomati, and I heard, which word is extra in this פסוק pasuk? וגם אני שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל V'gam ani shomati es naakas Bnei Yisrael. Which word? Come on, people. אני Ani, I. The word שמעתי shomati, שמעתי shomati, I heard. So שמעתי shomati already includes I heard. So וגם שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל V'gam shomati es naakas Bnei Yisrael. פסוק Pasuk easily could have said, more correctly, accurately should have said, and I heard the cries of the Jewish people. What is the word אני ani adding? עוד יש להק Oid yesh l'dakdeik, says רב דרוק Rav Druck. What does it mean? וגם אני שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל הלא יכל לומר וגם אני שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל מעבודתם V'gam ani shomati es naakas Bnei Yisrael, halo yachol lomar v'gam ani shomati es naakas Bnei Yisrael mei'avodasam. Why does he say that Mitzrayim מעבידים ma'avidim? He could have, should have said, I heard their cries from their backbreaking labor, from their suffering. Why add that it's Mitzrayim מעבידים אותם ma'avidim osam? הערה נוספת יש להעמוד מה שכותב שם בפסוק שאחריו וגם אני שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל לכן אמור לבני ישראל אני השם He'ara nosefes yesh la'amod ma shekasuv sham b'pasuk sh'acharav, v'gam ani shomati es naakas Bnei Yisrael lachein emor l'Vnei Yisrael ani Hashem. And Hashem says, I heard, I remember my commitment, my covenant, my promise and therefore, what's the next פסוק pasuk, פסוק ו pasuk vav, לכן אמור לבני ישראל lachein emor l'Vnei Yisrael, and therefore tell them, אני השם ani Hashem. I heard, tell them I am Hashem. What's going on over here? Three questions on these two פסוקים pesukim. What's going on? Says רב דרוק Rav Druck. ביאור הענין נראה, כי אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה רבינו וגם אני שמעתי Beur ha'inyan nireh, ki amar haKadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe Rabbeinu, v'gam ani shomati. אני שומע צעקתם ונאקתם של בני ישראל, ואני שומע מהם כי הם סבורים שמצרים הם אלו שמעבידים אותם Ani shome'a tza'akasam v'na'akasam shel Bnei Yisrael, v'ani shome'a meihem ki heim sevurim she'Mitzrayim heim eilu shema'avidim osam. אינם מבינים שהכל ממני והכל בשליחותי Einam mevinim she'hakol mimeni v'hakol b'shlichusai. They think, what's the source of their pain and their suffering? Who's doing this to them? They're understanding, they're interpreting it only in the here and now in this world, and they think it's Mitzrayim. הם חושבים שמצרים הם אלה שמעבידים אותם Hem choshvim she'Mitzrayim heim eileh she'ma'avidim osam. They're looking and they think it's the United Nations, it's Hamas, it's Hezbollah, it's the Houthis. They're looking and they think it's only those wicked members, a handful of Congress, הגורמים למסע צער הנורא ha'gormim l'masa tza'ar ha'nora. They're the ones causing this pain, this discomfort, this suffering. לפיכך ציוה הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה, לך ואמור להם אני השם L'fichach tzivah haKadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe, lech v'emor lahem ani Hashem. Everything happening, everything unfolding, yes, they're evil and yes, they should be accountable, but nothing could happen to you if it weren't the will of God. How do you reconcile free will and divine intervention? How do we reconcile that age-old question? It's a difficult and complicated one, one for another time, one we talk about in our Living with אמונה Emunah שיעור shiur. But for now Rav Druk says, the mistake of the Jewish people in Egypt was not seeing the hand of Hashem. They weren't interpreting all they were going through in a religious context. They saw it only as a geopolitical story unfolding. They listened to the pundits. Egypt was an empire, they were enslaving, what were the odds they can go free. Comes along Hashem and he says, no, no, no, no, no, no. אני שמעתי Ani shama'ti. I'm hearing and go tell them אני השם Ani Hashem. אני עומד מאחורי כל הצער והסבל שלהם, והעולם אינו הפקר Ani oimed me'achorei kol hatza'ar v'hasavel shelahem, v'ha'olam eino hefker. The world is not random, the world is not chance, the world is not filled with coincidences, and nothing geopolitical happens unless I will it and unless I want it. מצרים אינם משתעבדים בבני ישראל בדרך טבעית Mitzrayim einam meshutabdim b'Vnei Yisrael b'derech tiv'is. מצרים Mitzrayim are not subjugating and oppressing through some natural order. שום אומה אחת ששולטת על אומה אחרת Shumah acha shesholetes al uma acheres, in which one nation conquers another. אלא הכל הוא בהשגחה Ela hakol hu b'hashgacha. Everything is divinely ordained. Everything is divine providence. ואני הכנסתי אותם לזה V'ani hichnasti osam l'zeh. I put them in this place because I'm going to take them out. It's all part of a process. Something great is unfolding. וציויתי את כל עבודת הפרך הזו V'tziveisi es kol avodas ha'parech hazu. ממילא מאחר ואני השם, אני הוא שהכנסתי אותם Memeila mei'achar v'ani Hashem, ani hu shehichnasti osam. I'm the one who put them in, and I'm the one who's going to take them out. And therefore, אני שמעתי Ani shama'ti. I have heard. Because it's not about what some political pundit says, it's not about some new election results, it all comes down to אני השם Ani Hashem. לב מלכים ביד השם Lev melachim b'yad Hashem. One can be excited and grateful, the prospect of a new dawn, of an inauguration of what will be, one could be afraid, one could be excited, I'm not weighing in. But all need to know that behind it is השם Hashem. And yes, we lobby, and we advocate, and we vote, and we take our initiative and we do what we need to within a political process, but we never lose sight of who is the King of kings. We never lose sight of who's behind it all. We never lose sight of the providence that prescribes whatever will unfold, whatever did unfold, whatever is unfolding, and whatever will unfold. אני שמעתי Ani shama'ti. Hashem says I'm the one who hears your תפילה tefillah and will make a change. And go tell them אני השם Ani Hashem. Don't put all your trust and don't put all your confidence in any one person. Don't glorify and don't deify, and don't see him as something more than he is, a hand and a puppet of Hashem. Be grateful. Be appreciative and be grateful, and lobby and advocate and build close relationships. We believe in that all, but never forget אני שמעתי Ani shama'ti and אני השם Ani Hashem. And אני השם Ani Hashem. They go together. He has a long essay, he explains it much more here. This was דוד המלך David HaMelech. When דוד המלך David HaMelech, שמעי בן גרא Shimi ben Geira hears, שמעי בן גרא Shimi ben Geira curses דוד המלך David HaMelech. And אבישי בן צרויה Avishai ben Tzruya, his general hears and wants permission, off with his head. And דוד המלך David HaMelech says, relax. You think I could have been cursed if Hashem didn't want me to be cursed? He's not the one who cursed. Hashem decided I need to hear a curse, I needed to be cursed. And therefore let me focus on why Hashem meant for me to hear that message, and don't worry about the messenger, about the messenger. Don't worry. The של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh says, של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh writes, quotes from the האר\"י ז\"ל AriZal. We left. You should be taking furious notes, like a girl in seminary, because for the הגדה Haggadah, for פסח Pesach, forget פרשת וארא Parshas Va'eira. This is golden stuff for for סדר Seder night. So the האר\"י ז\"ל AriZal, the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh quotes from the האר\"י ז\"ל AriZal. Why did we need to leave בחיפזון b'chipazon? Why did we have to go out so hastily, so speedily? Why did we leave in such an accelerated, expedited fashion? Said the של\"ה Shlah quoting the האר\"י ז\"ל AriZal, because we were on the 49th level of טומאה tumah. We were almost lost cause. And if we went down one more notch, one more rung, if we would have descended one more layer, one more, one more level, we would have been a lost cause, it would have been over. And that's what the של\"ה Shlah says, ואילו לא הוציאנו הקדוש ברוך הוא ממצרים, הרי אנו ובנינו ובני בנינו משועבדים היינו לפרעה במצרים v'ilu lo hotzianu HaKadosh Baruch Hu m'Mitzrayim, harei anu u'vaneinu u'vnei vaneinu meshubadim hayinu l'Pharaoh b'Mitzrayim. What was that one last rung? If we would have lost our faith in Hashem, if we would have failed to see he's behind it all, we would have been a lost cause. We would have been helpless and we would have been hopeless. What got us out of מצרים Mitzrayim is even as we were suffering and we blamed Pharaoh, we blamed the מצרים Mitzrim, we still held on to, we knew behind it all was Hashem. And that's the merit of the נשים צדקניות nashim tzidkaniyos, who זכות נגאלו ישראל ממצרים z'chus nigalu Yisrael mi'Mitzrayim. What was that merit of the holy righteous women who took us out? Because they helped us focus on the fact that Hashem was behind it all, that Hashem was behind it all. So as this is the dawn of a new era, of a new term, we have to remember as grateful or hopeful we may be, as frightened or anxious as others are, it's always Hashem is behind it all. אני שמעתי Ani shama'ti and tell them אני השם Ani Hashem. And yes, we operate and take initiative within this world, but we also have to understand and interpret within a religious context. As believing religious Jews, we don't just see the geopolitical. But we see something much bigger. We see a process of גאולה geulah. We see גבורה gevurah. We see the גבורה gevurah, the heroism of the members of the IDF. We see in Israel that have come together. Yes, we've been punched, yes, we've been knocked back, but we've taken more than a recovery and stepping forward. And what Hashem has done in the last year and a half, He's she's shown his mighty hand in ways that are nothing short of miraculous, miraculous. I read an article yesterday somebody wrote up just a year ago what was being described, what might have happened if the northern front opened up into a war, Israel couldn't handle fighting Hamas and Hezbollah simultaneously, and Hezbollah's 150,000, 200,000 rockets and capability and sophistication and tunnels, and we'll never be able to and therefore the diplomacy is necessary because we can't. And fast forward a year later, Hezbollah who? Hezbollah what? Which rockets? Ever hear of the pagers? Miracles that have happened in our time. We have to understand and see, אני שמעתי Ani shama'ti. Hashem heard our תפילות tefillos and אני השם Ani Hashem, it's Hashem whose hand is unfolding, and not fail to interpret. פסוק ו Pasuk vav. We see these languages, these לשונות של גאולה leshonos shel geulah that are happened now. לכן אמור לבני ישראל Lachen emor l'Vnei Yisrael. Go tell them והוצאתי אתכם v'hotzeisi eschem, I'm taking them out. והצלתי אתכם v'hitzalti eschem, I'm rescuing them. וגאלתי אתכם v'ga'alti eschem, I'm redeeming them. ולקחתי אתכם v'lakachti eschem, I'm going to take them to the mountain. And then there's a fifth לשון lashon we spoke about last year or two years ago which is, והבאתי V'heveisi. והבאתי V'heveisi. מנחם מנדל כשר Menachem Mendel Kasher wanted us to have a fifth cup at the סדר Seder because we've merited to live through the fifth cup, the fifth language. That he took us out, and he saved us, and he brought us to the mountain, and he took us into the land of Israel. And he was outvoted and we don't, because we see and we're living even in Israel geographically a גאולה geulah, we're still in גלות galus. We're still in a period of גלות galus. But this first language, והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים v'hotzeisi eschem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim. שפת אמת Sfas Emes brings from the חידושי הרי\"ם Chiddushei HaRim that the first language of גאולה geulah is that בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael can no longer take it. והוצאתי אתכם v'hotzeisi eschem, I'm going to rescue, I'm going to save you from where? מתחת mitachas, from being under סבלות מצרים sivlos Mitzrayim. The word סבלות sivlos means? Suffering. Suffering, backbreaking labor. We're being beaten, we're being tortured. And I'm going to save you from that torture, I'm going to rescue and liberate you from that, from having to be סובל sovel, from that suffering. But the word לסבול lizbol means something else. I'll give you a hint. סבלנות Savlanut. What is סבלנות savlanut? Patience. Says the שפת אמת Sfas Emes quoting the חידושי הרי\"ם Chiddushei HaRim and many say this as well. You know what Hashem, the first step of redemption is? מתחת סבלות מצרים Mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim. Stop living patiently in an exile that you should never accept. Never accept. I think Martin Luther King, was it MLK Day yesterday? Yes. He said in one of his famous talks that we can never become adjusted, we have to remain maladjusted. One should remain maladjusted to racism, inequality among men. There are things we should never adjust to. They should never become normal. We have to remain maladjusted. Writes רב אברהם שאר שליט\"א Rav Avraham Schorr shlita who's coming, please God, before פורים Purim. כי זוהי תוקף הגלות, כשאין מרגישים כלל שנמצאים בתוך הגלות Ki zohi tokef ha'galus, k'she'ein margishim klal she'nimtza'im b'soch ha'galus. You know what the worst part of exile is? The darkest part of exile is when you don't even know you're in exile. The dangerous and darkest part of exile is when you've adjusted to the exile, that you no longer even feel that you're in exile. שפת אמת Sfas Emes writes, השפלים שאינם מרגישים כלל הגלות, אלו צריכים ישועה גדולה, וראשית הגאולה הוא להוציאני מתחת סבלות מצרים hashvelim she'einam margishim klal ha'galus, eilu tzrichim yeshua gedola, v'reishis ha'geulah hu l'hotzeisi mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim. It's almost as if the prerequisite, the precursor to redemption is to know you need to be redeemed. But if you've given up, you don't even know you need to be redeemed. You don't even know there's anything wrong. You don't even know there's anything wrong. You know, we live, Boca Raton with 160, 170,000 Jews. 90% of whom are unaffiliated entirely. And I was speaking to a group of outreach professionals, passionate people in קירוב kiruv. And I posed the question, I said, it's one thing when someone comes to us, they're thirsty, they're hungry for דבר השם dvar Hashem. There's something missing, there's a hole in their heart, they're lacking, they're unhappy, and they want the truth of Torah. And we say, come, have some קוגל kugel, have some טשולנט cholent, have a שבת Shabbos meal, come study Torah. But how do we wake up people who don't even know they're asleep? How do you feed people who don't even know they're hungry? How do you hydrate people who don't even know they're dehydrated? What do you do to people who are worshiping at the altar of the country club, who've built a life they think of prosperity and happiness, which in so many ways is really empty and void? How do you tell them? You see this שפת אמת Sfas Emes coming true before our very eyes. The worst, the most dangerous part of גלות galus is to not even know you're in גלות galus. It's to not even know you're in גלות galus. So the first step of redemption is והוצאתי מתחת סבלות מצרים v'hotzeisi mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim. He quotes his father, רב אברהם שאר Rav Avraham Schorr quotes his father, רב גדליה שאר Rav Gedalia Schorr, the אור גדליהו Or Gedalyahu, who he quote from the בית יעקב Beis Yaakov of איזביצא Ishbitz. עיקר הגלות היה שהיה נדמה בעיניהם שישיבת מצרים למקום מעונג בתענוגי מלכים, כארץ כגן השם Ikar ha'galus hayah shehayah nidmeh b'eineihem sheyishivas Mitzrayim l'makom me'unag b'ta'anugei melachim, k'eretz k'gan Hashem. היו במצרים כל כך תשוקות וחמדות, עד שנח ליבם Hayu b'Mitzrayim kol kach teshukos v'chemdos, ad she'nach libam. מצרים Mitzrayim, Egypt, maybe the Jews didn't have access to it, but they admired it, they saw it, they followed it. Ooh, did you see the cars? Did you see the homes, the mansions? Do you see the delicacies? Do you see the new tequila that came out? Do you see the how old the scotch, the aged wine? So they sat in מצרים Mitzrayim and even though they couldn't indulge, but they were taken by the comfort and the prosperity, the convenience and the lifestyle. The חז\"ל Chazal say, אין עבד יכול לברוח ממצרים, שנוח לו להיות עבד מלהיות שר בארץ אחרת ein eved yachol livroach mi'Mitzrayim, shenoach lo l'hiyos eved mi'lhiyos sar b'eretz acheres. A slave couldn't flee Egypt, it was more comfortable to be a slave in Egypt than it was to be royalty in another land. ונעשה להם נח מזה שהיו עבדים, מבית עבדים V'na'aseh lahem nach m'zeh she'hayu avadim, mi'beis avadim. שהיו מוקפים ולא הרגישו כלל מן הרע, וזהו הגלות הכי קשה, כאשר אין מרגישים יסורי הגלות וחושב שזהו טוב She'hayu mukafim v'lo hirgishu klal min ha'ra, v'zehu ha'galus ha'chi kasheh, ka'asher ein margishim yisurei ha'galus v'choshev she'zehu tov. ולכן התחלת הגאולה הוא להרגיש הגלות, ולא לסבול הגלות ולעשות לצאת משם V'lachen atchalas ha'geulah hu l'hargish ha'galus, v'lo lizbol ha'galus v'la'asos l'tzeis misham. We have to remind ourselves, no matter how comfortable we may be, no matter what religious freedoms we may have, sometimes we have to remind ourselves, this is not the way it's meant to be. This is not the ideal. This is not the way it's supposed to, we're in גלות galus. We have to remain maladjusted. We have to remain maladjusted. Never adjust to this reality. This is not who and what, this is not the way it's supposed to be, and we have to constantly remind ourselves of that. פרק ו' פסוק י\"ב Perek Vav, Pasuk Yud Beis. Turn the page. Hashem says בוא דבר אל פרעה מלך מצרים bo daber el Pharaoh melech Mitzrayim. Come, we're going to go speak to the king. וישלח את בני ישראל מארצו V'yishlach es Bnei Yisrael mei'artzo, he's going to send us out. וידבר משה לפני השם לאמר, הן בני ישראל לא שמעו אלי, ואיך ישמעני פרעה ואני ערל שפתיים Vayidaber Moshe lifnei Hashem leimor, Hein Bnei Yisrael lo shamu elai, v'eich yishma'eini Pharaoh v'ani aral sefasayim. What was he supposed to say, by the way? You'll note, and some have said, my mother pointed this out already on October 8th. Some have been pointing it out more recently, blaming why we had to allow ourselves to be extorted. Moshe did not go to Pharaoh, the message from Hashem was not, I am here, bring them home. That was not his message. Moshe didn't hold up a placard, he didn't chant, bring them home. What was his message? Let them go. Let them out. The onus, the pressure was not on himself, bring them home. The onus, the pressure, the call was, let them go, send them out, send them out. And the same here, we've made a mistake from day one because the Jewish people were being held hostage in Mitzrayim, just like our hostages are being held, are being held today. And the message to those who are holding a Jew hostage is not, bring them home. The message to those holding a Jew hostage is, let them go. שלח את בני ישראל Shalach es Bnei Yisrael. Send them out. Let them go. Let them go. When, when the message all a year and a half is bring them home, you're putting more pressure on your own government to make concessions and to let yourself be extorted, then you are putting pressure on the evil, cruel holder of the hostage, that they have to be crushed in order to let them go. Moshe says, הן בני ישראל לא שמעו אלי Hein Bnei Yisrael lo shamu elai but, but the Jewish people are not going to listen to me. ואיך ישמעני פרעה V'eich yishma'eini Pharaoh? The Jewish people aren't listening to me. How will Pharaoh listen to me? This is Rashi quotes one of the kal vachomers in the in the Torah. One of the קל וחומרים kal vachomers in the Torah. The 10 קל וחומרים kal vachomers we have in the Torah. קל וחומר Kal vachomer, רש\"י Rashi quotes, זה אחד מעשר קל וחומרים שבתורה zeh echad me'asara kal vachomerim she'ba'Torah. What's the קל וחומר kal vachomer? A fortiori, Latin for, if this, then that. If the Jewish people aren't listening to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me? קל וחומר Kal vachomer. Everybody asks the same question on this קל וחומר kal vachomer. What's the question? Why did the Jewish people not listen? We just read why at the top of the page, פסוק ט' Pasuk tes. ולא שמעו אל משה מקוצר רוח ומעבודה קשה V'lo shamu el Moshe m'kotzer ruach u'mei'avodah kasha. Rashi says they were out of breath. They were out of breath. If you've ever been out of breath, back breaking labor, you can't even catch your own breath, you can't hear someone talking to you. Someone says, what should we do for Pesach this year? Who should we have for the seder? I can't breathe. I can't talk right now. I can't think about Pesach. I can't even breathe. So the Jewish people are like, I can't picture. I can't get out. I can't picture being redeemed. I can't picture living Pesach because I can't even breathe. אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh says, קוצר רוח kotzer ruach didn't mean shortness of breath literally. It meant having no vision. When a person is oppressed, when a person is down and out, they can't even picture things being better. It's all a comment on mental health. We've spoken about it before. A person in a dark and a bad place can be imprisoned within their own soul. Can't even have the vision. קוצר רוח Kotzer ruach, there's no רוח ruach, there's no vision. There's no picture. There's no goal. There's no dream. There's not even that ability. So Moshe says they couldn't hear, they don't believe, now you're going to send me to Pharaoh. They, the beneficiary, they, the subject of the redemption, they don't believe me, why would Pharaoh hear? What's the פירכא pircha? What's the קשיא kashya? What's the question on this קל וחומר kal vachomer? It's an obvious one. Why didn't the Jewish people hear? Backbreaking labor. But Pharaoh, Pharaoh's sitting in his recliner in the palace watching football. He's comfortable. He's sipping a pina colada. What, why won't he be able to hear the same message? The reason the Jewish people couldn't hear is very different, doesn't exist with Pharaoh. So how can you draw a קל וחומר kal vachomer? If the people can't hear, why would Pharaoh hear? Why would Pharaoh hear? As I frech the עולם oilem. That's the question everybody asks including Rav Druk in his לב האש Lavas Aish. שפת אמת Sfas Emes explains the קל וחומר kal vachomer and he says the following. טענת משה רבינו היא שאף שבני ישראל השיבו מקוצר רוח, אילו פרעה בהשקט דשאנן ואין לו מחריד Tayniss Moshe Rabbeinu i's'kiaf she'Bnei Yisrael hishiv m'kotzer ruach, ilu Pharaoh b'hashkeit d'sha'anan v'einlo machrid. מכל מקום סרוחה לומר שכל כח האמונה בעולם צריך להיות מבורר על ידי יסורים תחילה. כל דרגות הרוחניות בעולם מגיעות מישראל m'kol makom s'rucha lomar she'kol koach ha'emunah ba'olam tzrich l'hiyos m'vorar al yedei yissurim t'chila. Kol dargos ha'ruchaniyus ba'olam magios m'Yisrael. לא יתכן שתהיה דרגה רוחנית אמיתית שאין מקור בעם ישראל Lo yitachen she'tihyeh darga ruchanis amitis she'ein makor ba'am Yisrael. If we want the world to live with faith, if we want the world to see a higher calling and a higher power, it has to start with the Jewish people. And if the Jewish people don't believe it and don't buy it, if the Jewish people aren't proclaiming it and publicizing it, if the Jewish people aren't displaying it, then no one else will either. So you're you're right. The reason for why the Jewish people aren't doesn't exist with Pharaoh when it comes to Pharaoh. But nevertheless, if the Jewish people, if כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael don't believe it, why would anyone else believe it? That's how to understand the pasuk, says Rav Druk. שמע ישראל השם אלוקינו השם אחד. רש\"י says השם אלוקינו השם אחד Shma Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. Rashi says Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. השם שהוא אלוקינו עתה, ולא לאלוקי אומות, הוא עתיד להיות השם אחד Hashem shehu Elokeinu ata, v'lo l'Elokei ha'umos, hu asid l'hiyos Hashem Echad. The God who's our God right now, who the rest of the world doesn't believe. Even the Bible sales in America are up 22%, more Americans don't believe in God than ever. Right now he's our God. We believe in him. We're talking to him, we're davening to him, we're learning about him. But the more that we do, השם אחד Hashem Echad, he will be one day the God of everyone. Says Rav Druk, when and how, the more he's השם אלוקינו Hashem Elokeinu, the more we embrace, the more we display, the more we talk about, the more we live, the more we promote, the more we publicize, the more we practice, then he'll be השם אחד Hashem Echad. The world will believe, the world will buy in, the world will come, will come aboard. That's what יוסף הצדיק Yosef HaTzadik did. The יוסף הצדיק שם שמים שגור בפיו Yosef HaTzadik shem shamayim shogur b'fiv. The more Yosef spoke about, practiced and talked about, again, we don't have time now, it's the remarkable conversation Yosef has with Pharaoh. Pharaoh takes him out of jail, says, I heard you're good at interpreting dreams. Nah, בלעדי biladai, it's not me. השם יענה את שלום פרעה Hashem ya'aneh es shlom Pharaoh. He starts talking to Pharaoh. Pharaoh's a pagan idolater. By the end of the conversation, Pharaoh's talking about in ירצה השם Im yirtzeh Hashem, חס וחלילה השם chasdei Hashem, b'ezras Hashem. Pharaoh says to his, to his advisors, to his cabinet, have you ever seen somebody רוח אלוקים בו ruach Elokim bo, who has the spirit of God? Pharaoh's talking all about God. How? How did Yosef do it? He showed him the Bible codes? Showed him all the proof and evidence of God's existence? No, he just talked about God. We have to not be embarrassed or ashamed to make a bracha at work, even in a business meeting. Excuse me for a millisecond, just want to thank God for this delicious meal we're about to have. We have to not be afraid to invoke God. Not in an indoctrinating way, not in an uncomfortable way, but in a personal way. Because השם אלוקינו Hashem Elokeinu, the more we live with אמונה emunah, the more the world will too. What we put a, what we put a focus on, the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav, רב ולוועל סאלאווייטשיק Rav Velvel Soloveitchik said, why do more non-observant, non-affiliated Jews connect to יום כיפור Yom Kippur than any other holiday of the year on the Jewish calendar? He said, you know why? Because observant Jews put such a priority and focus and take so seriously יום כיפור Yom Kippur. So there's a correlation, there's a formula. The more we care about, the more we observe, the more we practice, then the more the world, the rest of the Jewish world and the world at large sees and believes and practices also. That's number one. Then Rav Druk gives a second interpretation. This קשיא kashya on the קל וחומר kal vachomer. If the Jewish people didn't believe, why would, why would Pharaoh believe? So he says, what was the פירכא pircha, the question on the קל וחומר kal vachomer? Jewish people didn't believe why? עבודה קשה, קוצר רוח Avodah kasha, kotzer ruach. Backbreaking labor, shortness of breath. Pharaoh, he's sitting in the recliner. He's getting a massage. He's in the palace. He's toasting tequila. He's smoking a Cuban. He's enjoying watching football. So why won't he hear? He's not... Says Rav Druk, no no no, you're misreading. You think Pharaoh has it easier than the people? When you're oppressing and you have to keep that going, when you are presenting yourself as a deity, as a god, and you have to relieve yourself at the river because you don't want anyone to know you're human, when you have to keep up that charade and keep up that image, you are suffering and you are being tormented more than even the people you're torturing. What an insight. What an insight by Rav Druk. The reason it's not a פירכא pircha on the קל וחומר kal vachomer is because Pharaoh is not tranquil and serene. Pharaoh doesn't have it easy while they suffer. The suffering is very different. The people are being tormented physically while they live with faith and they're showing kindness to one another. And Pharaoh has all the luxury and all the indulgences in the world. Physically, he's comfortable, but mentally and emotionally, he's tormented. Tormented, having to keep up an image, having to live with that arrogance, having to present as a deity, having to have all the answers, being so unjust, being a dictator and oppressor. He is in fact more tormented than the people he's tormenting, and therefore the קל וחומר kal vachomer is accurate and the קל וחומר kal vachomer fits. פרק ו' פסוק כ\"ו Perek Vav Pasuk Chaf Vov. Turn the page again. They go down to Egypt, they fulfill this mission. Moshe and Aaron are on their way. הוא אהרון ומשה אשר אמר השם להם הוציאו את בני ישראל Hu Aharon u'Moshe asher amar Hashem lahem hotziu es Bnei Yisrael. And the Torah here testifies, in case you were confused, in case you lost track, who Moshe, this is the same Moshe and Aaron who are on their way. What do you mean the same Moshe and Aaron? Why does the Torah say, הוא משה אהרון hu Moshe Aharon? Rashi says, יש מקומות שמקדים אהרון למשה yesh mekomos she'makdim Aharon l'Moshe. Sometimes the Torah puts Aaron before Moshe. ויש מקומות שמקדים משה לאהרון v'yesh mekomos she'makdim Moshe l'Aharon. Sometimes the Torah puts Moshe before Aaron. לומר לך, to tell you that, שקולים כאחד sh'kulim k'echad. Equal. They're equal. In the past we learned a beautiful insight by Rav Moshe on this Rashi, we're not going to repeat it. What do you mean they're equal? They're not equal. One of the 13 principles of our faith, according to the Rambam, is that Moshe is the greater human, the greatest human that ever lived. Categorically different, the אב הנביאים av ha'nevi'im. They're not שקולים כאחד sh'kulim k'echad. They're not equal. How could you say they're equal? So one idea is, to be equal with another is not to in fact be equal, but is to equally fulfill your mission. If everyone who's who they're meant to be, then they're equal. So this one is wealthy and this one's poor. This one's brilliant, and this one struggles, is less intelligent. This one's artistic, this one's athletic, this one is clumsy, non-coordinated. To be equal is not to have the same talents and blessings and resources. To be equal is to make the most of what you have, to be true to who you are and who you're meant to be. That's what makes you equal. Moshe and Aaron were each honest with who they were and who they were meant to be. They each pursued and fulfilled their mission and therefore שקולים כאחד sh'kulim k'echad. שקולים כאחד Sh'kulim k'echad. Because what we're given, the possibility or the potential we have is all from Hashem. What we make of it is up to us. And when we make the most of what we have and what we're given, then we are in fact equal. The חתם סופר Chasam Sofer gives a different answer. חתם סופר Chasam Sofer says, you know what makes them שקולים כאחד sh'kulim k'echad? I love this חתם סופר Chasam Sofer because I love this insight. We gave a whole shiur on this about the notion to פארגין fargin. This word doesn't exist in any other language. You can't translate the word to פארגין fargin. It's in Yiddish. And in modern Hebrew, it's not לפרגן le'fargen. Modern Hebrew לפרגן le'fargen is to פארגין fargin in Yiddish. What does it mean to פארגין fargin? To be happy for someone else. To take joy for somebody else. Where do you see in the Torah? Because the pasuk says, וראך ושמח בליבו V'ra'acha v'samach b'libo, in last week's parsha. When Moshe is appointed, what happens? How does Aaron react? He's happy. He's joyous for his brother. How could he have reacted? Sibling rivalry. He's my younger brother. What are you doing skipping over me? He only survived because I put him in the basket in the river. And now you're going to skip over me? I'm holier, I'm a better orator, I'm older. But Aaron doesn't say and he doesn't even think any of that. You know what he says? He sees ושמח בליבו v'samach b'libo. He's so happy in his heart. Not only what he demonstrates and says the right things, even in his heart, he thought and felt the right way. Says חז\"ל Chazal, what did Aaron get because he felt, what was he rewarded with? The אורים ותומים Urim v'Tumim that sit on the heart, and that have the stones of all the שבטים shvatim, that light up. Because Aaron could keep them all in his heart because he kept in his brother in his heart because he was joyous. וראך ושמח בליבו V'ra'acha v'samach b'libo. And then later, later the pasuk says, הנה מה טוב ומה נעים שבת אחים גם יחד hinei ma tov u'ma na'im sheves achim gam yachad. The pasuk in תהלים Tehillim. And the מדרש Midrash says כשמן הטוב שיורד על הראש, יורד על זקן, זקן אהרון, שיורד על פי מידותיו k'shemen hatov sheyoreid al harosh, yoreid al zekan, zekan Aharon, sheyoreid al pi midosav. When Aaron was being anointed with oil and the oil was overflowing, the pasuk says, זקן, זקן אהרון zekan, zekan Aharon. The word זקן zakan twice, the מדרש Midrash says, why is the word זקן zakan, beard, being used twice? Because it, when the, the oil was being anointed on Aaron to designate him as the high priest, who felt the joy and the happiness, who felt as if he himself was being anointed with his brother? None other than now Moshe wanted to be the high priest. Moshe wanted that position of distinction. And yet, he wasn't jealous, there was no rivalry, he felt the joy of his brother. Moshe was happy for Aaron, Aaron was happy for Moshe. That is the idea of being שקולים כאחד sh'kulim k'echad. The capacity to פארגין fargin, to be happy for somebody else. There's nothing greater or better in the world than to be happy and to be joyous for the people around you, to פארגין fargin. In other languages, there's a word for being happy because someone else is failing. Schadenfreude is a German word which means to take joy and pleasure in the failure of another. How do you say that in Hebrew? There is no word. Because we would never take pleasure or happiness in the failure of another. פארגין Fargin, we're happy. To be invited to your friend's simcha, you don't say, why aren't I making a simcha? Happy your friend's putting an addition in their house. We don't say, why aren't I putting an addition? The Alter of Kelm I shared with you before says, to be נושא בעול עם חברו nosei b'ol im chavero, we know, one of the 48 ways Torah is acquired is this principle of נושא בעול nosei b'ol, to be able to feel empathy, to feel the pain of another. Feel the pain of another. Says the Alter of Kelm, which is harder, to feel the pain of another or to feel the joy and pleasure of another? Says the Alter, when it comes to someone else's pain, you say to yourself, you know, I'll make them a meal, I'll drive them to the doctor, I'll take over their carpool because I'm just so happy it's not me. They're going through some suffering, a terrible time. I'll step up and I'll genuinely empathize and feel their pain because I'm so happy at least it's not me. But when someone else is making a simcha, when someone else has success, when someone else was designated for some great task, to be happy for them, you say, why isn't it me? So it's much harder to be happy for them. But that you nevertheless, that's a מידה midda. הוא אהרון ומשה Hu Aharon u'Moshe. Sometimes Moshe, Aharon, sometimes Aharon, Moshe. שקולים כאחד Sh'kulim k'echad. What made them equal? You know why they were equal? Because they took joy and pleasure in, they didn't only feel the pain of one another, they were happy for one another. I forgot her name and I apologize, but one of the parenting experts wrote a book on parenting, and she says, the most critical, the most important and the biggest challenge in our generation to instill within our children is this ability to be happy for one another. Children are growing up in a generation where it's easy to see their friend, they got the new Nintendo, they got the latest version of the iPhone, they got into that school or seminary or yeshiva, they got the shidduch before them. It's so easy for a child to not be able to פארגין fargin because they want, and they feel they're entitled, they deserve. But from a very young age to teach children the joy and the happiness of being joyful for another person. Take from your birthday presents and every year on your birthday, among your birthday presents, take one and give it to someone else. One night of Chanukah, the way we're going to celebrate Chanukah, we're going to give you something to give someone else. The capacity to פארגין fargin someone else. וראך ושמח בליבו V'ra'acha v'samach b'libo, to be happy. To instill already from a very young age, so as you get older, someone else got a promotion at work, not you, I'm I'm able to be happy for them. I could dance at their wedding, even though it comes before mine, I'm still single. I could go to the bris, even though I'm still waiting and longing for children. The ability to פארגין fargin is the display of greatness. It's what Moshe and Aaron had, they were שקולים כאחד sh'kulim k'echad, and it's critically important to instill within our children. Let's do one more. You know, last year I only finished half and I said next year's whole shiur is prepared. And then I prepared a new first half, and the same second half from last year is still waiting that I didn't get to this year. So next year בלי נדר bli neder we'll start with the end of the parsha. Let's start with Let's do one more of Rabbi Soloveitchik. One more of. Rav Soloveitchik. Until you give me two hours. Maybe we should make it a two-hour parsha shiur. Okay, relax. It was a joke. Relax. The moan, the groan, קוצר רוח kotzer ruach, עבודה קשה avodah kashah. Wow. Okay, never mind. פרק ח פסוק יז Perek ches pasuk tes-zayin. Skipping all the way to פרק ח Perek ches, chapter eight, verse 17. יז Tes-zayin, sixteen. ויאמר ה' אל משה השכם בבוקר והתייצב לפני פרעה הנה יוצא המימה Vayomer Hashem el Moshe hashkem baboker v'hityatzev lifnei Paro, hinei yotzei hamaymah. Wake up in the morning and go stand opposite Paro, go to the river. ואמרת אליו כה אמר ה' שלח עמי ויעבדוני V'amarta eilav ko amar Hashem shalach ami v'ya'avduni. Send out my people so that they may serve me. Again, not bring them home, but let them go. Send them out.Wake up, arise early, says Rav Soloveitchik. Whenever Moshe addressed himself to Paro the king, Paro the emperor, the public figure who represented the nation, he met him on the shores of the Nile River. Why? Because in ancient מצרים Mitzrayim, throughout the ages and still today, the Nile is the symbol of Egyptian might and power and prosperity, the pride and fortress of Egypt. Hashem told Moshe get up in the morning and address yourself to the proud, self-confident, power-oriented, authority-conscious Paro, whose word is law for millions of people. You must meet him at the bank of the river. To depersonalize Paro the king, don't address him with please, but with a warning, an ultimatum. To the proud Paro, address not a petition, but a demand. Tell him that he has violated the inalienable rights of the people. והתייצב לפני פרעה V'hityatzev lifnei Paro. Stop him, block him, place yourself in front of him, confront him. Courageously protest the crimes of Egypt. Tell him that the Nile River, the focus of the pride of the Egyptian people, may turn into a monstrosity. The water may turn into blood, and the fish will die. He should not be too self-righteous and overconfident, he should know what's about to happen. Again, you see the pride, the power. Paro was being tormented by having to keep up this image, call him out on it. The emperor's naked, call him out on it. Meet him there, speak truth to power, have the courage to stand up, don't apologize. Don't allow ourselves, don't call it a deal when we're being extorted. It's a crime not only against the Jewish people, it's a crime against humanity. May we hear בשורות טובות ישועות ונחמות besoros tovos yeshuos v'nechamos. Please remain to say all of ספר תהילים Sefer Tehillim as we continue to דאווען daven for our people.
