Transcript
Good morning, Boker Tov, welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. So good to be together and learning Sefer Shmot Parshat Shmot, page 292 in the ArtScroll Stone Chumash, and we are going from our first family, the Book of Bereishit. When the curtain comes down, we are a family that have hopefully learned how to reconcile differences, reunite, and hopefully the curtain comes down on a Klal Yisrael, a Bnei Yisrael who are able to function as a family, albeit a continuing imperfect one. And the curtain comes up on Sefer Shmot, and now we are becoming, we are forming a nation. Our Parsha series is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in loving memory of Becky's father דוד בן מנחם מנש David Grossman. This morning's shiur is dedicated anonymously for the refuah shleima of רב נתנאל בן מירל by Marilyn Stein in memory of Rabbi Dr. Stephen Stein, שמעון פייבוש בן ישראל יצחק הכהן by Eitan Hachster in honor of his wife Shula giving birth to their little girl Emunah Orly. Big Mazel Tov, they should have a lot of nachas. And also dedicated in memory of the Chayal HaKadosh אפרים בן שמואל השם יקום דמו whose yahrzeit is the 15th of Tevet to whom Tefila and Torah were of utmost importance. So we thank Liatt and Shmuel Jackman for sponsoring in memory of their son. Thank you so much for all those who sponsored. Also one more public service announcement, there is an old mitzvah and halacha which has become a new campaign and initiative and that is שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום. It's not mentioned in the Mishnah but it is mentioned in the Gemara, the weekly obligation of Jews to review the Torah portion of the week twice together with Onkelos, the teitch, the translation, and maybe maybe updated in contemporary times not to Onkelos but to Rashi. Of course that obligation begins every year, the new cycle Bereishit, but if you have not been learning שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום there's no better time to begin than Sefer Shmot Parshat Shmot. After all the word Shmot is rashei teivot as an acronym for שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום. So there's a new initiative from the Shnayim Yomi group. ArtScroll put out a new Chumash שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום and there's a new one with the free state of Florida logo on the bottom. Doesn't say free state of Florida, that's just what we call it here in Florida, it says Shnayim Mikra Florida, Shnayim Mikra Florida. You can join the WhatsApp group and in the WhatsApp group you get a daily two-minute dvar Torah on that day's aliya, happens to be this week of Sefer Shmot Parshat Shmot, yours truly has been posting those videos daily this week. I've been putting them in the Parsha WhatsApp group, our Parsha WhatsApp group as well, which you should be part of for an update on the schedule. Join it, you get the daily daily aliya, daily dvar Torah on the aliya, and you should get this Chumash because it is fantastic. Page 292: ואלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה את יעקב איש וביתו באו. These are the names of the children of the Jewish people who habaim. Translate the word habaim for me. Coming. No, does not mean came, habaim means coming lashon hoveh in the present tense. Why does it say habaim? We know that Sefer Bereishit, the last book, ended with the 70 family members of Yaakov having come. They came, past tense. They're there, they set up shop, they're living. They're now subjugated and persecuted and they're spreading and promulgating, but they came down a long time ago. We know that Yaakov lived in Mitzrayim for how long? 17 years. By the time we're beginning Sefer Shmot, the Jewish people are entrenched, they've been living. They're not new immigrants, they've been there a while. So why is the word habaim which is present tense used when it should be asher bau, asher bau? So Rav Isaac Ausband zatzal, the founding Rosh Yeshiva in Telshe Cleveland, התורה מעידה אף שהיו קשה למורשה במצרים תקופת זמן ארוכה. Even though the Jewish people were in Egypt for a long time, בכל אופן נשארו בצדקותם ועד פטירתם היו בבחינת הבאים. Not only Yaakov but also his sons, the Jewish people remained in perpetuity in a status and state of: We've just arrived, we're new immigrants, we just came, we're coming. כאילו זה עתה באו לכן נשארו בצדקותם. They never settled in, they never assimilated, they never became part of the Egyptian culture, part of the Egyptian lifestyle. Their attitude and mentality were we're greeners, we're immigrants, we just got here. We don't fit in, we're not entirely Ger v'toshav, like Avraham Avinu taught when he negotiated for the S'dei Ephron. We are both at the same time simultaneously ger v'toshav, an alien and a resident, a citizen and a guest and a visitor. That's the Jewish mindset to every galus we're in. Eretz Yisrael of course is the exception, that's when we're finally home, that's where we belong. But everywhere else it's temporary. I'm just getting here, I just got here. I'm not unpacking my suitcase in this galus because I am standing ot-ot ready, the Mashiach's coming and I'm going to where I belong, I'm just passing through. passing through, I'm just visiting, I'm only here temporarily. And therefore the Torah introduces this entire saga of what was the 210-year stay in Mitzrayim of suffering and servitude, habaim, that the Jewish people never were ba'u. They never came, they never arrived. Similarly the Chasam Sofer quotes in Sefer Litzcha Elyon, what the shevatim said to Yaakov Avinu ויגידו לו לאמר עוד יוסף חי וכי הוא מושל בכל ארץ מצרים. They told Yaakov, Yosef is still alive, and he's the moshél, he's the leader of all of Egypt. ויפוג לבו כי לא האמין להם. And Yaakov's heart melted because he didn't believe them. לכאורה לא אמרו מה שיוסף צום לאמר וישימני לאב לפרעה ולאדון לכל ביתו. So why? Why didn't they repeat what Yosef said? Why did they change it and tell Yaakov that he's מושל בכל ארץ מצרים? So the explanation says the Chasam Sofer: השבטים ידעו מה שחשב ליעקב בענינו שיוסף, because Yaakov wasn't concerned: what's Yosef's job title? What's his portfolio, what's his net worth? What did Yaakov want to know? What was Yaakov worried about? All he cared about is: is Yosef still Yosef? Does Yosef still carry himself like a Jew, like a Yid? Is he walking and living my mesorah? Is Yosef assimilated? Has he lost everything I taught him? Or does he stand out? Is he still Yosef? So they don't say אב לפרעה ולאדון לכל ביתו. The fact that he's the viceroy, the vice president, the fact that he's the secretary of finance, the fact that he's running the whole economy, they'll get to that with Yaakov. But that's not what they open with. Because what matters most, what Yaakov is most concerned about is: he's moshél b'chol éretz. He's moshél, it means that he hasn't given in. He has not surrendered. He's not assimilated. He hasn't lost his identity. He knows who he is, he knows how he lives, he knows what matters and what is his mission. And that's therefore what they open מושל בכל ארץ מצרים. He's moshél, he's a ruler and leader, he regulates himself. He hasn't given in to the urge or impulse to assimilate and be part of everyone else. So that's what Rav Ozband says: habaim, not ba'u, we didn't come. habaim, we are still coming, number one. And number two, the Chasam Sofer, moshél, this is what he was worried about, about, about Yosef. That the Jewish people, we don't lose our identity. We continue to come. In fact, the Medrash says it was in that merit that we were redeemed. We kept our names, our clothing, and our language. There's different Medrashim that actually have, you can find and replace some of these with others. We didn't speak lashon hara about one another, we didn't, there's all kind, we didn't reveal secrets. Interesting, there's a Medrash that says: Jewish people were redeemed in the merit, we weren't megaleh sod. We didn't reveal secrets. There's a lot to say about that. But we kept our identity: our names, our clothing, our language. We didn't blend in, we didn't assimilate, we stood out. We stood with pride and we had Jewish practice. We wore our yarmulke, we didn't take it off, we didn't put on a baseball cap. We weren't afraid. This is who I am, this is how I live, this is how I'm proud to be. habaim. I don't look like everyone else, I don't fit in with everyone else. I haven't arrived and now I've assimilated. I'm a ger, I just got here. I still stand out. I'm still just passing through, and that's the secret to our survival. That's the way to navigate in golus. To be part of and apart from at the same time: ger v'toshav. Fast forward, pasuk ches. Moving right along. So what happens? We then repeat who came down. By the way, this is the same, it says v'Yosef hayah b'Mitzrayim. One of the little divrei Torah I gave in the Shnayim Mikra project so far, the first aliya was v'Yosef hayah b'Mitzrayim. Why is the Torah repeating? We know where Yosef, why do we have to say he was b'Mitzrayim? אלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה. We know, we're telling the story of the Jewish people where? In Egypt. So why do I have to reference: and Yosef was in Egypt? yada, Yosef was in Egypt. The answer is: v'Yosef hayah, he was still the same Yosef b'Mitzrayim. That's what Rashi says: הלא הוא ובניו היו בכלל שבטים אבל מה בא ללמדנו כי לא ידעו ידעו שהיה במצרים להודיעך צדקתו של יוסף הוא יוסף הרועה צאן אביו הוא יוסף שהיה במצרים ונעשה מלך ועומד בצדקו. The same Yosef who was the simple shepherd, when no one knew of him and no one heard of him, and no one was watching him. He wasn't an influencer, he wasn't viral, no one was taking selfies with him. He was the simple, humble, modest shepherd Yosef, even when he was the viceroy leading all of Egypt. He hadn't changed, it didn't go to his head. He didn't lose any part of who he was: his humility, his modesty, also his piety. He was the same Yosef. v'Yosef hayah b'Mitzrayim. In Mitzrayim, he remained Yosef, he never lost his sense of who he was, his sense of Yosef. ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים. And a new king arose over Egypt אשר לא ידע את יוסף. Who did not know Yosef. A new king arose, says the Maggid Yosef. familiar Rashi tells us Rav u'Shmuel, there is a debate among our two great rabbis Rav u'Shmuel, חד אמר חדש ממש. When the Torah testifies a new king arose over Egypt, what does it mean? Literally or figuratively? Is it a new king, a new person, a new election, a new appointment, new succession, a new king literally? Or a new king, that means it was the same person, same name, same face, same person, but something happened to him, something came over him. חד אמר חדש ממש וחד אמר נתחדשו גזרותיו. He became different in his edicts, he became different in his policies, he became a different person. Says the Meged Yosef, Rav Yosef Sorotzkin, לכאורה לא יובן לשיטה שנתחדשו גזרותיו מהו לשון מלך חדש. If you want to say he changed his policies, what does that mean? Why did the Torah tell us a new person? He's not new, he's the same person, same social security number, same birthday, same person, same online profile, just new policies. So why would we couch or communicate someone with new policies as a Melech Chadash, as a new person? V'hinei mesupar b'midrash, says the Meged Yosef, he quotes a Midrash, says the following: פרעה התנגד לעצת שריו להרבות גזרותיו על היהודים עד כדי כך שהשרים הורידוהו מכיסא המלכות ולא החזירוהו עד שלא הסכים לילך בעצתם. Paro's advisors told him not to increase the policy of persecution against the Jewish people, and he didn't listen to them until שהשרים הורידוהו מכס המלכות. They took him, he was no longer the king, and they didn't put him back until he agreed to follow their advice. I'm sorry, he was hisnageid, they said to increase the persecution, he hesitated, they removed him from his position of power until he would agree to follow their advice, their counsel, to indeed intensify the persecution. וראה פלא אותו אוהב ישראל אשר הגן על יהודים במחיר כיסאו הרם כיוון שסוף דבר נכנע לרצון עמו להתחיל לרדוף את היהודים נאחז בו השנאה הטבעית ליהודים שמושרשת בכל גוי והפליא בישראל גזרות אכזריות. This is the Paro who Yosef interpreted his dreams. This is the Paro who Yosef saved the economy, saved him and his legacy, saved his family and his people, and he loved Yosef. He gave Yosef Goshen and he embraced Yosef's father Yaakov and the whole family, and he allowed Yosef to go up and bury his father. He had tremendous affection. Yosef was his mentee, his protégé, he loved Yosef. The same Paro who loved Yosef and his progeny, all of a sudden now turns? How could he turn so radically? How could he pivot to be so unrecognizable? The answer is, he was on the take. When his advisors and his counsel said, we won't support you, we're not taking care of you, we're not paying you unless you persecute, unless you change, and once he changed, he was like Melech Chadash. Once he changed, he was like an entirely new person. עד ששמו נקבע בתולדות ישראל כאחד האויבים הקשים ביותר. So much so that today, you say the word Paro, wake any Jew in the middle of the night, not with frogs on their nose and frogs on their toes, but wake any Jew in the middle of the night and say the word Paro. Word association: Paro. No one says, oh, Paro, Yosef had such a good relationship, he was Yosef's mentor, he took such good care of the Jewish people, he let us set up our own community. Synonymous with Paro is villain, rasha, wicked, evil, persecutor, oppressor, dictator. Paro goes down, his legacy, שמו נקבע בתולדות ישראל, his name is synonymous, his name was set in stone, his legacy among the Jewish people is an arch-enemy. V'zehu Melech Chadash, and that's why it wasn't just that he had new policies, he became a new unrecognizable person. כל כך השתנה מקצה אל הקצה ביחסו ליהודים. So unrecognizable. He had gone from one extreme to another: a lover, protector, defender of the Jewish people, to the arch-enemy, nemesis, persecutor, tormentor. כאילו היה אדם אחר מלך חדש. Now, if I learned this Meged Yosef with you a couple years ago, you'd say, okay, nice insight, I don't really know that's not familiar, I've never experienced, I can't relate. But now, you know what I see in between the lines of the Meged Yosef? It says on the side, a little footnote says: Ayin Tucker Carlson. As more things change, the more they stay the same. And if you want to understand antisemitism and antisemite, just open our Chumash because this is a story that unfortunately has many sequels and continues to tell itself over and over again. And because on social media online as a pastime now, some people in order to show the difference, they'll have side-by-side screens. And it's the Tucker Carlson in 2017 at Fox News, Tucker Carlson today. Right? Just this week they're doing it about Venezuela. He was calling for taking out the leader of Venezuela, and how terrible Venezuela, and how much Venezuela, and now oh Venezuela is very conservative and right side-by-side. And you could do that about most significantly the Jewish people and what happened? Qatar. What happened? Going viral, more followers, more influence, more advertisers, more money. Megyn Kelly sadly the same thing, people who were greatest defenders, people who understood and stood by us, advocates of our people could so radically shift and change. Melech Chadash. It's brand new. I don't know who they are. I don't recognize what they're saying. It's not just that their words and their policy, it's not just that their pundits whose take on everything change. They changed because when a person says I'm going to lose my position of prominence, Pharaoh's advisors said you're done, we're taking you down, we're putting up in the primary someone against you, unless you follow our advice, unless you adopt our policies against the Jews, you're out. And what happens when that happens? People resign. When the people, when the deep state says we're not going to be supporting you, then they have no future. And not only do they change their policies, they become different people. They become different people. Vayakom Melech Chadash. Not only literally a new king, but now we understand based on this insight and based sadly on our own experience that you can have the same social security number, the same birthday, the same fingerprints, the same person, and they become a new person, unrecognizable, because when they want to continue or increase their influence and their power and their fortune, they become a new person. Melech Chadash. Sadly that was true of the antisemite of yore Pharaoh who now is synonymous with tyranny and goes down as a villain of our people, and is true in our day, it's true in real time, it's happening today. Rabbi Sacks in the new Rabbi Sacks Chumash, how long can I keep calling it the new Rabbi Sacks Chumash? In the new Rabbi Sacks Chumash, also has a description and he says אשר לא ידע את יוסף. This new Pharaoh, whether literally or figuratively, didn't know Joseph. Bereishit ends on almost a serene note. Jacob has found his long-lost son. The family has been reunited. Joseph has forgiven his brothers. Under his protection and influence, the family has settled in Goshen, one of the most prosperous regions of Egypt. They now have homes, property, food, protection of Joseph and the favor of Pharaoh. They must have seemed one of the golden moments of Abraham's family's history. The end when the curtain went down last week, just last Shabbos people, when the curtain went down of Vayechi, oh, finally harmony and peace, reunion and unity, finally that Shalva that Jacob was bikeish, that serenity that he so badly craved and longed for, finally when the curtain came down he had it, and it seemed like one of the golden moments of Abraham's family's history. And then, as has happened so often since, ויקם מלך חדש אשר לא ידע את יוסף. A political climate change. The family falls out of favor. Pharaoh tells his advisors you see the Jewish people are many, more powerful than we, let us deal wisely with them in case they increase. And so the whole mechanism of oppression moves into operation. Forced labor that turns into slavery that becomes attempted genocide. The story is engraved in our memory. We tell it every year and in summary form in our prayers every day. It is part of what it is to be a Yid, a Jew. Yet there's one phrase that shines out from the narrative. Look at Pasuk Yud-Beis. If you're watching and you see me waving wildly, it's not because I see someone I know, it's for some reason there are flies who are the reincarnation of those who skipped the Parsha class and Hashem makes them now attend every week and torture me. Should be a Kappara for all of us, the flies and me. In Pasuk Yud-Beis, וכאשר יענו אתו כן ירבה וכן יפרץ. We reference it at the Seder. The more they oppressed, the more we increased and spread, and the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. Writes Rabbi Sacks: This no less than oppression itself is part of what it means to be a Jew. Let me say that again. This Pasuk, that the more they oppressed us and the more they tortured us, the stronger, the bigger, the more faithful we became is in itself no less than oppression itself part of what it means to be a Jew. The worse things get, the stronger we become. Jews are the people who not only survive but thrive in adversity. Jewish history is not merely a story of Jews enduring catastrophes that might have It is in fact that after every disaster Jews renewed themselves. They discovered some hitherto hidden reservoir of spirit that fueled new forms of collective self-expression as the carriers of God's message to the world. What an important point Rabbi Sacks is making. When we read the beginning of Parshat Shemot, so if you're good, you're already taking notes for the Pesach Seder. You're already taking notes for Pesach, for your Divrei Torah. And what do we always focus on? They tried to kill us, miracles, ten plagues, splitting of the sea, we survived. But we're missing part of the core story, central theme of the story. As important as it is to be ingrained in our collective memory that they tried to destroy us and kill us and that was a cycle that got repeated, so too maybe even more importantly to ingrain in our collective consciousness that every time they did, we bounced back stronger, bigger, greater, more unified, and having more faith. And why do I share this insight? Because it's beautiful and it's true and you can track it through our history, including in the aftermath of the Holocaust. But have we not in the last two years since October 7th? And it brings to mind that great expression, which is not Jewish in origin: they tried to bury us, but they planted us instead. On October 7th they tried to bury us, but they planted us. The IDF, our heroes on the front lines, the Jewish people came roaring back, fought and continue to fight. Lest we think it's over, there are still heroes in Gaza and Lebanon and Syria and pulling off incredible missions, incredible missions. In fact, Israel just captured Maduro from Venezuela. I'm joking, Chas v'Shalom, of course not. It wasn't Israel. Israel had nothing to do with it whatsoever, except for probably teaching the know-how about how to pull off such incredible, incredible missions. It's okay to laugh. And if the government is monitoring or Candace is watching the Parsha Shiur, that was a joke. There's no conspiracy here. But that's what Rabbi Sacks is telling us. In our collective consciousness must be not only the suffering that we've endured through the generations, but also the tenacity we have inside ourselves to bounce back. After every period of darkness in our history, there was an enormous burst of light. Maybe most notably, profoundly, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, the unimaginable at the time, birth of the State of Israel. In the aftermath of October 7th, almost as unimaginable, the destruction of Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, change of the entire landscape of the Middle East. Every time after the darkness there's a burst of light, and that happens because the Jewish people are tenacious. And that's this Pasuk Yud Bet: Ka'asher Ya'anu Oto, the more they torment us, כן ירבה וכן יפרץ. We will bounce back. The population explosion in the DP camps following the Holocaust was the unbelievable expression and demonstration of courage and of faith that the world was worth yet bringing people into. That's a challenge from our Parsha too. Amram didn't understand it. He wants to give up. There's no future, there's no hope. How could we have more children? He separates from his wife. And it takes his daughter Miriam to say, it's going to turn around, there's going to be a light after this darkness, this world is yet worth believing in and bringing children into. And we've repeated that cycle over and over again. פרק א פסוק טו, moving right along, turn the page. Aleph Tet Vav. ויאמר מלך מצרים למילדת העברית, and the king of Egypt tells the, translate the words Meyaldot HaIvriyot. Not a trick question. Translate. So Artscroll I hear, I see here translates as Hebrew midwives. Rabbi Sacks says, midwives of the Hebrews. Ooh, interesting, Interesant. Artscroll says, again, Artscroll translates as, the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives. Says Rabbi Sacks, the king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrews. What are they debating in their Taitch, in their translation? What's going on over here? Paroh spoke to them. Who are they? Why writes Rabbi Sacks, midwives to the Hebrews, who are Shifra and Puah? The truth is we do not know. One Midrash identifies them with Moshe's mother Yocheved and sister Miriam, using Midrashic technique of identifying unknown characters with characters who are more elaborated, Gemara in Sotah דף יא עמוד ב, Rashi there. You know, we tend to make this mistake. In our childhood we learned a Midrash, and then in our mind that becomes the authoritative Midrash, that that is the only way of looking at it. So we all learned as little children... Who were Shifra and Puah? Those are other names for Yocheved and Miriam, Moshe's mother and sister, they were these midwives. And that's the only approach. But there are many Midrashim and there are different opinions among the Midrashim, and Rabbi Sacks quotes, in describing them in the Torah, uses an ambiguous phrase, Hamiyaldot Haivriyot, which could mean either the Hebrew midwives or midwives to the Hebrews. On the second interpretation, they may not have been Hebrews at all, but Egyptian. This is the view taken, it's a good thing you're all sitting down, Abarbanel. The Abarbanel says these weren't Miriam and Yocheved, these were Egyptian righteous gentiles. Even then, there were righteous among the gentiles. You know how today we're sort of living this life, wondering among those who are friendly or nice to us, yeah, but would you hide me? Would you put me in your attic? Would you hide me in your crawl space? That's sort of our litmus test of the people who come over and say, I'm so sorry for what's happening, I stand with the Jewish people in Israel, and you say, that's nice, but would you hide me? Would you be a righteous gentile among the nations? Says the Abarbanel and the Shadal, Shmuel David Luzzatto, say these two commentaries that, in fact, Miyaldot Haivriyot does not mean Hebrew midwives, it's not Miriam and Yocheved, it means midwives to the Hebrews who were not Jewish at all, they were Egyptian. Shadal's reasoning is simple: could Paro realistically have expected Hebrew women to murder their own people's children? If you think about it, it's a much more compelling opinion. If you're Paro and you have to find someone to carry out killing all the firstborn male, who are you going to ask? Representatives of the very people that you're trying to kill? What's the likelihood that they're going to comply with that edict? It makes much more sense, it's much more persuasive or compelling to say you're going to find from your side, from your team, from the oppressor. And therefore the Abarbanel and Shadal say exactly that. Rather than decide one way or the other, it seems clear the Torah's ambiguity on this point is deliberate. We do not know who they are, or which people they belong to, because their particular form of courage, moral courage, transcends nationality and race. Says Rabbi Sacks, who's right? We don't know. The Torah intentionally is ambiguous, it writes it in a way that you could read it either way. Why? Because the Torah's not focused on the pedigree of who they are, the Torah's focused on the moral courage they display. In essence, they're being asked to commit a crime against humanity. And the fact that they refused to tells us something about the ethical parameters of humanity. Though Shifra and Puah are seemingly minor figures in the narrative, they are giants in the story of humanity. All we know about them is that they feared Hashem and did not do as the king of Egypt ordered them. In those words, a precedent is set, which will ultimately become the basis of the Declaration of Human Rights. Shifra and Puah by refusing to obey an immoral order refined the moral imagination of the world. Shifra and Puah, continues Rabbi Sacks, are first of six courageous women who will play a vital part in the story of Israel's redemption in this Parsha. Women. בזכות נשים צדקניות נגאלו. We were redeemed in the merit of righteous women. Who are they? Can we identify all six? Let's go. Yocheved and Miriam, Paro's daughter, and Moshe's wife Tzipora. So Shifra and Puah, who might be the same as or different than Yocheved and Miriam, Basya Bas Paro, and Tzipora, Moshe's wife. Moshe may be the central character in the unfolding drama, but without these women, there'd be no Moshe. Their moral courage is a vital element in the story. So Moshe has the limelight, Moshe has the spotlight, Moshe has the fanfare, Moshe is the mouthpiece, but without these six women, there's no Moshe, their righteousness. It's notable that only two, Yocheved and Miriam, are clearly Jewish. Paro's daughter is not, Tzipora, certainly in her origin, is not, and the identity of Shifra and Puah are uncertain, intentionally ambiguous. The entire Shemot narrative is a delicate counterpoint between the particularity of the Jewish people, we'll see later in our Parsha, Bni Bechori Yisrael, and the universality of the moral law. And we see this several times in the following chapters. Not every nation is expected to be holy, but every nation is expected to be moral. So we are presented with role models such as these non-Israelite women, whose principled stand against tyranny and persecution transcends all ethnic and cultural boundaries. So, it's a good thing you were sitting down, but Shifra and Puah may not be Yocheved and Miriam, they may not be Jewish at all. That's not some modern commentator, it's not Rabbi Sacks, it's the Abarbanel and others who say it, which is also a very profound statement. that we should have an expectation and demand of the world basic moral courage. The Torah is not only giving a prescription for how Jewish people I meant to live but in such circumstances all of humanity is meant to rise to the occasion and to the moment to live with the moral courage and to act in that way. The next pasuk Aleph Tes Zayin. Vayomer ויאמר בילדכן את העבריות וראיתן על האבנים אם בן הוא והמיתן אתו ואם בת היא וחיה. Says the Torah and he said, what did Paro what did he say to these women whoever they were, when you deliver the Hebrew women you see them on the birthstool, if it is a son you are to kill him. If it is a daughter she shall live. Says the Maggid Yosef Rav Yosef Sorotzkin Hinei HaGemara the Gemara Pesachim Daf Kof Ches tells us נשים חייבות בארבע כוסות הללו אף הן היו באותו הנס. Women are obligated in the four cups of wine at the Pesach Seder. Why? Four cups of wine if you had to categorize them in halacha as a mitzvah how would you categorize them? They are a classic mitzvas asei sheyesh מצוות עשה שיש בהם זמן גרמא. It is a classic time-bound mitzvah. When do you drink the four cups of wine? In Israel one night a year, here two nights a year at the Pesach Seder. That is a classic time-bound mitzvah. Women are exempt from time-bound mitzvah and yet the Gemara Pesachim tells us like Mikra Megilla like other mitzvos maybe like Lechem Mishneh like others they are obligated in this time-bound mitzvah. Why? Because אף הן היו באותו הנס. They too were part of the miracle. When the Torah when Chazal comment that women become obligated because they were part of the miracle what do we mean? Part of the miracle means they were the catalyst of the miracle? They caused the miracle? Machlokes Rashi Tosafos. Or they were beneficiaries of the miracle that they too were threatened and the miracle saved them. So Rashi says they were the catalyst and the Rashi goes through in each case how they were the ones who saved the Jewish people. Esther in Purim is easy. Bizchus Nashim Tzidkaniyos in the case of of the four cups of wine and so on. Tosafos brings a Yerushalmi גם הם היו בכלל סכנה וניצלו. Not that they were the catalyst or cause but they were the beneficiary that they too were a target, they were threatened and they too were saved and therefore they have to join the community of men the Klall Yisrael in thanking Hashem. Now, how were they saved? In what way were they threatened? Here the pasuk just said Im ben hu. It was only the boys who were going to be murdered, the girls were given life, the girls would survive. So in what way were they threatened that אף הן היו באותו הנס that they survived? So the Mordechai Megilla writes אע''פ דפרעה לא גזר אלא על הזכרים מכל מקום הנשים לא היו יכולות להתקיים בלא זכרים. Even though it's true only the men were only the men were targeted for murder but the women can't live without the men. There's two ways you could understand that. Either in order for new girls to be born you need men to marry women. In other words there's no continuity for men or women if you're missing either of the genders. Or the classic way that women can't live without their men. U'biur b'zeh you choose which one you want to follow. U'biur b'zeh נראה שהנשים היו נאלצות להתחתן עם מצרים ושמא הגזירה על הנקבות חמור מהגזירה על הזכרים. Wow says the Maggid Yosef. If there were no Jewish men because they were all murdered if the women wanted to survive and had a continuity who would they have to marry? The Egyptians. Whose punishment would be worse then? The boys who were murdered or the women who lived but had to live marrying their persecutor, the tormentor, the only way that they would survive. Od ne'era alternatively שלקיחת בכח פרי בטנה של אישה לקראת התינוק מחבוקה של אם על מנת להמיתו הוא עונש יותר גדול לאם התינוק. Tearing a baby out of a mother's arms to kill him is more painful to the mother than it is to the child. So who was punished more? The men or the women? The boys or their mothers? It's true that it was the boys who were killed so why do we say אף הן היו באותו הנס? Because a mother for a baby to be torn out of the arms of a mother is more painful than for the baby, the baby himself and therefore that's why אף הן היו באותו הנס. Very interesting Maggid Yosef. I never thought, for years we knew four cups of wine because they too were saved. Saved generally? Pharaoh wanted to kill everyone generally, but that's not true. He didn't want to kill everyone, he only wanted to kill the men. So how can we say Af Hein Hayu? So either of these two answers of the Maggid Yosef. Perek Beis, Pasuk Gimmel. Moving right along. So וילך איש מבית לוי ויקח את בת לוי, a man from the house of Levi went and took a woman from the house of Levi, and she had a boy, and she hid him three months, but she could no longer anymore ותקח לו תבת גמא ותחמרה בחמר ובזפת ותשם בה את הילד ותשם בסוף על שפת היאור. She hid him for three months, she couldn't hide him anymore, she took him in a wicker basket smeared with clay and pitch, placed the child into it, placed it among the reeds at the bank of the river. Vatetatzev achoso merachok, his sister stationed herself at a distance לדעה מה יעשה לו to see what was going to happen taka with this young man, with this boy. Back in the Lesicha Elyon he quotes a beautiful insight from Rav Wolbe. And Rav Wolbe writes the following: The Gemara Sotah says מכאן לצדיקים שממונם חביב עליהם מגופם שאין פושטים ידיהם בגזל. They smeared, I don't know if that's the technical term, but the outside of this basket with what? With gomeh, with pitch, which is Dami mi'at says Rashi. It's very inexpensive, it's very cheap material. So basically they're trying to save the baby, and they know the only way to do it will put the baby Moshe in the basket, and the basket's gotta make it floating on the river. So Yocheved goes on Amazon in order to buy something to smear the basket with so that it won't sink in the river. And she sees, you know, tar is a hundred dollars, and pitch is 18.99. She goes with the pitch. Why? Because tzaddikim שממונם חביב עליהם מגופם. Their money is more valuable than their than themselves, than their body, than their survival. How is that a positive quality? She went all cheap even on saving her son? So Rav Wolbe explains the following: אם רואים אדם שמבזבז את כספו בידוע שהכסף אינו נקי מגזל. If you see somebody who wastes and squanders money. If you see someone who throws away money. Now again, the assumption here was not that the basket would sink. She went cheap in a way that he would die, he would drown. It meant either material would be good, but she didn't go for the fancy. She didn't go for you know there's a video going viral right now of Mori Ve-Rabi Rav Moshe Weinberger. He went off in a holy rant against the Jewish obsession with materialism today. What he thinks has gotten out of hand. You can watch it, find it on your own. That's what Chazal were saying. That tzaddikim are chasim al mamonam. They understand that money is acquired through blood, sweat, and tears, that a person had to sacrifice for that money. What went into earning it? Could have been learning but you gave up time to work, you could have been with your family but you were working to take care, to earn. In the Gemara, what's the Hebrew word that's used for money? Damim. Why blood? Why do we call money blood? Because earning money takes blood, sweat, and tears for the people who have to earn it and work for it and achieve it. And if you worked hard for your money, you'll be much more careful with it than if you just inherited it or won it. So much so says Rav Wolbe, if you see somebody's mevazvez es kaspo who squanders and wastes and is frivolous with money, irresponsible with money, throws away money, is silly with money, then you should check how that money was earned because likely it wasn't scrupulous. לא בכסף בלבד הדברים אמורים גם בשוה כסף. היה המשגיח מעורר על צעירים שצוברים חובות על חשבון הוריהם. And Rav Wolbe would rant. Rav Wolbe who was niftar, he passed away years ago. I can't imagine what he'd say today of young people who walk around with their parents' credit card and they buy and they treat themselves to luxuries that their parents who earned that money and worked so hard never would. They get the best of everything and they treat themselves regularly to the triple caramel latte ice coffee, extra rolls of the most specialty kind of the sushi, and they go get the special you know shake, what do they call fruit whatever on a Friday in Yerushalayim. I won't say. And why? They didn't earn that money. And it's much easier to spend it and squander it when you didn't give your damim for it. ולא מחשבים בכך שהוריהם עמלים בקושי על פת לחמם. And in that moment when it doesn't it feels like monopoly money. Zelle and what's the other one? Venmo and Zelle. You know the danger of Uber? Ubers are amazing because they're tremendously convenient. But you don't feel like you spent any money on it because you just had an app and you ordered, you never actually had to hand money or even swipe a card. So it feels like it was free until the statement comes. The bank statement comes. So whether it's Uber or Get taxis in Israel. וכן לאחר החתונה שחיים בלי חשבון וצבורים לעצמם חובות שלא בהכרח. And it was Rav Wolbe who said young couples who are being supported and not living a kollel lifestyle, but they're living the lifestyle of the rich and famous because it's on someone else's account, that's not the way of tzadikim. מכאן לצדיקים שממונם חביב עליהם מגופם. Tzarich l'daas she-ben Torah שמעוניין לצמוח ולגדל תלמיד חכם, a ben Torah who wants to grow and blossom to be a great righteous person, התנאי להיות צדיק בממונו. The first sign is be righteous with your money. Be responsible, have a budget, live within it, be modest. Understand your place, your time, your age, whether it's yours, whether you earned it. וכאשר חיים בלי חשבון לא יתכן שישמור טהרת ממונו. And if you live a life that doesn't... is not disciplined and regulated, the people who spend irresponsibly and squander money and don't take care of it are the same people who don't tuck in their chair. For the record. Just saying. All right everyone relax. I'm just saying. By the way, we got a camera in the back. We have a camera in the back and when shiur is over, we know exactly which one of you don't tuck your chair back in. There's an article I wrote last week. My article last week was about my pet peeve, but it wasn't only my own. Rav Yeruchem in Daas Torah quotes his rebbe the Alter of Kelm: if someone didn't tuck their chair in, he would rebuke them as if they violated Shabbos. So significant to the Alter of Kelm of being mesudar, of tucking in your chair, he equated it with chillul Shabbos. Not because he was suffered from being compulsive. It was because he understood that if you don't have seder, it's essentially what Rav Wolbe is saying here. If you're not mesudar and responsible with your money, then you also won't be with who you are, with your lifestyle, with your holiness. All that you see from here because of this Rashi teives guma, that what she spent on was not luxurious and it wasn't frivolous and it didn't need to be the luxury brand and it wasn't a waste of money because צדיקים הם חס על ממונם, ממונם חביב עליהם מגופם, and says Rav Wolbe that's not just good financial practice. That's religious practice. That's the point that Rav Wolbe is making. And that's the point that little me, I was making in my article. Lest you think that that silly pet peeve, who cares if you tuck in your chair? Who cares about these little things in life? The answer is the little things in life reveal the bigger things in life. And as I put at the end of the article, I think it's a big flag on a date in both directions. If the other person doesn't say please and thank you to the waiter, if the other person doesn't tuck in the chair when they get up, if the other person doesn't do the basic common courtesies, if the other person squanders and wastes money why? Because they're dating on their parents' credit card. For another time, but it happens to be I paid for every date. It was my hard-earned money from my summers that I worked. And I'm better off because of it. And today people go on dates, they're eating in restaurants. They're not even the age of anything and they're going out on a date to the restaurants that we go to once a year for a special occasion. Maybe not even once a year is too often. Okay, enough of this. I have a lot to say. Back to our regular scheduled program. Back to the parsha. Okay, where were we? פרק ג' פסוק ד'. Oy vey. פרק ג' פסוק ד'. Page 300. Moshe now we're fast forwarding. Moshe grows up and he leaves the palace and he sees the people are suffering and he smites the Egyptian, thank God for parshat Shemot otherwise we'd never use the word smite. He smites the Egyptian. Dathan and Abiram tell on him. He has to flee for his life, he goes to Midian and there he meets of course his wife where? Where do Jews go to meet their wives? The well. ומשה היה רעה את צאן יתרו חתנו כהן מדין and now he's married and what do Jews do for a living? Great Jewish leaders. The prerequisite to emerge as a great Jewish leader is first you have to put your time in as a shepherd. ומשה היה רעה את צאן יתרו חתנו כהן מדין. Moshe is the shepherd of the sheep of the flock of Yitro his father-in-law who was the kohen of Midyan. Pasuk daled וירא ה' כי סר לראות. Moshe now is walking and he turns to see. ויקרא אליו אלקים מתוך הסנה. God calls him from this bush on fire but not being consumed. ויאמר משה משה ויאמר הנני. He calls him Moshe, Moshe and Moshe says here I am. And we get to our first Rabbi Soloveitchik of the day. וירא ה' כי סר לראות. God saw that he turned to see. By the way, the Midrash says ki sar lirot, he turned to see. What impressed God? That he turned to see the bush on fire not being consumed? No. וירא ה' כי סר לראות לראות בסבלותם. It was when Moshe left the palace to see the suffering of the Jewish people. He was נושא בעול עם חברו, but he had empathy and felt the pain of his people. Moshe easily at that time could have hid in the safety and security of the palace, but he didn't. He saw the suffering of his people and he went out. Ki sar lirot, lirot besivlotam. But Rabbi Soloveitchik has a different interpretation. When Hashem sees how Moshe responds to the sight of the bush, he removes the angel and he appears to Moshe. Hashem now resides in the bush, not the angel. Once Moshe reacted to the bush appropriately, the Jews came under the supervision and protection not of an angel, but of God himself. The Ramban explains that in contrast to other nations, Jewish historical destiny is guided directly by the Almighty. Earlier the name Elokim was used. Now it came to pass in those many days they cried out and the cry ascended to Elokim. And Elokim heard their cry. And Elokim saw them. And Elokim knew. The name Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei, the tetragrammaton, does not appear in that previous chapter. When Hashem suffered with them, when he shared in their distress, he was Elokim. But they still had to wait for redemption. Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei was not there yet. Only when Moshe said asura na ve-ereh, let me turn now and see, only now vayara Hashem. And now we change which name we use. In the previous chapter it was Elokim. We weren't introduced to Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei. Now it's not Elokim, it's vayara Hashem, Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei. Now the tetragrammaton appears. The time of the redemption has arrived. Elokim refers to God who requires a Jew have faith, patience and perseverance. It is very hard to wait. And yet the Jew waits and waits. Every day he says the ani ma'amin, I believe in the coming of Moshiach. And even though he may tarry, I will wait for him every day. The Jew who communicates through Elokim is greater than the Jew who communicates with Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei, the fulfiller of promises. When Hashem bestows grace upon the people, it is not so difficult to be a Jew. During the long, long night of exile, Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei did not reveal himself. Nevertheless, the Jew did not lose his faith in Elokim. The Jew who waits is great indeed. When Moshe said let me now turn and see Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei appeared. The time to fulfill the promise was at hand. The redemption began not on the first night of Pesach when the actual exodus took place, but when Moshe was confronted by Hashem even before he was convinced to accept his calling. When does the redemption begin? Not the first night of Pesach. Not when the plagues begin. Not when he says it's time to pack your things, we're getting out. Redemption begins when Moshe turns to see. When we see the suffering, when we involve ourselves, when we understand that we are partner in Hashem in bringing that very, in bringing that very geulah. Says the Lesitcha Elyon, another Lesitcha Elyon, popular with us today. Ki sar lirot, the Sforno. On the words ki sar lirot the Sforno has two words. Right here Moshe is walking along and there's this unusual supernatural extraordinary phenomenon taking place. There's a bush on fire and it's not being consumed. Einenu uckal. They love to say, how do you know a grandchild is called an einikle, where do you see that in the Torah? Einenu uckal. That once a person has a grandchild, now it's not consumed, einenu uckal, einikle, now you have a future, now the fire continues to burn, einikle, einenu uckal. Good. Ki sar lirot. Everyone else sees it and keeps walking. Everyone else walks, doesn't notice it, doesn't think of it. Why is Moshe notice it? Says the Sforno, two words: lehitbonen badavar. Ki sar lirot, he turned to see, why does he turn to see? Lehitbonen badavar. What does the word lehitbonen mean? To be contemplative. To contemplate what he sees. Wow. Wow. Says Rav Nosson Wachtfogel zatzal, the mashgiach of BMG. The Torah here is pointing out according to the Sforno, you know what mode Something that our generation maybe more than any that came earlier is challenged with. And what is that? To be contemplative. To stop and to look and to see unusual things and to think about them. Everyone else, you can just picture the scene. There's a bush burning, not being consumed. There is a supernatural, extraordinary phenomena taking place. And everyone else is walking right by. You know why? 'Cause they're scrolling and they're typing and it's right here and they don't even notice it. They don't even see it. They're listening, they're typing, they're scrolling, they're watching, and they don't even see the incredible things happening around them. And Moshe, who's a shepherd, Moshe, who's a thinker, Moshe, who's a meditator, Moshe, who's contemplative, he sees and he says, huh, I gotta check that out. What is that? What's going on over there? I want to understand that. I want to think about that. I want to see that. I want to experience that. I want to focus on that. I want to meditate on that. I want to be lost in that. I want to experience that. I want to be present with that. And therefore Hashem reveals himself. To whom does Hashem reveal himself? Lehisbonen bedavar. The people who practice hisbonenus. If your mind is so scattered and there's always noise filling your head, if you're never present and mindful, if you're never in the moment, if you're just being carried in the momentum of life, it's going to be very hard to connect with Hashem. Very hard for him to reveal himself to you. But when you live a life lehisbonen bedavar where contemplative, we stop, we see, we think, we feel, we experience, then we're going to see Hashem. We're going to see Hashem. Go for a walk around the lake. And you know what you'll see and hear and feel? The wildlife, the nature, the rustle, the leaves, the ripple of the lake, of the water, the animal life that's walking, the magnificent—go at the right time of the day, you can see the sun that's setting and the different colors in the sky. There's amazing things to see. You just have to do it where you're not looking down while you're walking. Like Moshe, ki sar lirot, turn to see how through a commitment lehisbonen bedavar, through a commitment to be contemplative in life. פרק ג פסוק ז. Hashem tells Moshe why he wants him. ויאמר ה' ראה ראיתי את עני עמי אשר במצרים, I see the suffering of my people in Egypt, ve'et tzaakatam shamati, and I hear their cries, mipnei nogesav, and I hear their cries... excuse me, and I hear their cries because of their taskmasters, כי ידעתי את מכאביו, I know their pain. yadati et machovav, yadati, I know their suffering. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik, note the use of the word yadati. What does the word yadati mean? Whenever we use the term da'as in Torah, da'as does not mean—we classically translate the word da'as as knowledge, but that's not what it means. da'as implies, writes the Rav, more than cognitive awareness, it implies intimacy, closeness of association, sympathy with the other fellow. Hashem saw the Jewish people, he became intimate with their suffering. The term denotes passional knowledge, the I's sympathy with the thou. da'as implies intimacy, hence, the sexual act in Hebrew uses the term da'as. Go back to Bereishis. אדם ידע את חוה אשתו. Man knew his wife, knew her biblically. It means they were intimate. We don't have a Hebrew word, a biblical word, for a physical sexual act of intimacy, it's called knowledge. Why is it called knowledge? Because the ultimate knowledge you can have of another, the more the greatest moment of vulnerability, the most exposed you could be, let the other person have access in with you, is knowledge. That's the ultimate knowledge two people can have. What is intimacy? The Jewish—and we could talk about this for hours—the Jewish notion of intimacy is something we share together that's not shared widely or broadly or with others. The more exclusive, the more I allow you in to my emotional, to my thoughts, or have access to my very being, something no one else can, the more intimate we are. But the more what I'm telling you I also posted online, then it doesn't yield a sense of an intimate connection, there's no emotional bond. The more what you get to see everybody gets to see who walks the street, and what we experienced I experience different nights of the week with other people, then the less intimacy you'll be able to achieve. And what's going on in our time, where there is an enormous decrease... In the younger people in physical intimacy, mind-boggling, right? Because we're living in a time of Sdom ve'Amora, and yet in actual intimacy, there is a pandemic of challenge of intimacy. And so much of it is a misunderstanding and a distortion of what intimacy is. Intimacy isn't the power of being able to dress however you want and do whatever you want. And emotionally, it's not about being able to just post whatever you feel, whatever you experience, and sharing it with the world. All of that actually destroys intimacy. It takes away any possibility of intimacy. To have emotional intimacy with another, hopefully your spouse, be it a best friend, it means there are things you're willing to share, you let them in, you give them access to that you don't with others. And that yields a sense of connection of intimacy. That's knowledge. That's why the Torah word for intimacy is da'as. You now know you've been in my inner world, my fears, my hopes, my aspirations. You now know. That's why the Torah אדם ידע את חוה אשתו, says the Rav, that's what's going on over here. כי ידעתי את מכאביו. I know their pain. Of course you know their pain, you're God. You know everything, you're infinite, omnipotent. Why's Hashem describing I know their, I know, we know you know their pain? Hashem says no, not I know their pain because I read it in a report, because I was briefed on it. I know their pain means I feel their pain. I have an intimate connection with their suffering. It's a different level and understanding of da'as. פרק ג פסוק ח. וארד להצילו מיד מצרים. I'll go down and I'll save them from Egypt, to take them out of that land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to this precious land. Writes Rabbi Soloveitchik, we'll do one more. God describes I will go down and save them from miyad. What's the next word? Not a trick question, people. What's the next word? Miyad Mitzrayim. What's the word Mitzrayim? Egypt. Is God saving them from Egypt? No. From whom is God saving them? Miyad Par'oh or miyad Mitzrim? From the Egyptians. What does it mean from Egypt? Why's God describe I'm gonna go down, liberate them, rescue them, save them, take them out of Egypt? No, you're gonna take them away from the Egyptians. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik, there are actually two Exoduses. One is from the Eretz Mitzrayim, the land of Mitzrayim, the other is from the people of Mitzrayim, from their culture, their ideas, their philosophy, their way of life, their mores. The Exodus from Egypt took place on the fifteenth night of Nissan and was complete. But the exodus from Mitzrayim is a long process. What took place in one night was only the liberation from the land. But leaving Mitzrayim fully is a long road, which the Jew has been traveling for thirty-five hundred years without yet arriving at his destination. The Messianic redemption is a continuation of the redemption from Egypt. When Moshe received the assignment to appear before Pharaoh, take the Jews out of Egypt, Hashem said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, I've heard their cries. My purpose is not just to save them from Eretz Mitzrayim. My final goal, the ultimate end is miyad Mitzrayim. In other words, taking the Jews out of Egypt, that was the easy part. Taking Egypt out of the Jews, that's much harder. And that he's still working on and we're still working on. Taking the Jews out of Egypt, ten plagues, splitting of a sea, a few miracles, that's easy for God. Taking the Jews out of Egypt, easy. Taking Egypt out of the Jews, that's much harder. Moshe had a tough assignment. Had Hashem given him the task of taking the Jews me'eretz Mitzrayim, he wouldn't have argued. But when he said miyad Mitzrayim, that's much harder. Taking them out of Egypt, I got it, says Moshe. Taking Egypt out of them, I'm not so sure about. That's going to be much tougher, that's going to be much harder. Okay, we'll end with one more. Hashem tells Moshe that these people, they are my eldest child. פרק ד פסוק כב. Skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, end of the Torah, end of the parsha. Page 310. You're gonna go, you're gonna greet Aharon, he's gonna be happy for you, ואמרת אל פרעה כה אמר ה' בני בכורי ישראל. Tell Pharaoh, God said, the Jewish people are my oldest son. That's our status. Now, there's a little bit of a contradiction because on the one hand, בנים אתם לה' אלוהיכם. On the one hand, it's formulated as if we are God's only children. On the other hand, it's formulated we are God's oldest child. If you have an oldest child, what does that strongly imply you also have? Other children. Okay, how do you reconcile that? I'll leave that for you another time. But beni bechori. So Rashi says בני בכורי לשון גדולה. אף אני בכור אתנהו. Quotes a pasuk in Tehillim and the Medrash: חסה הקדוש ברוך הוא על מכירת הבכור שלקח יעקב מעשו. The bechor is the greatest and Hashem says you Jewish people you are my greatest. But the Meshech Chochma, this is from this new sefer, שללו של רבנו מאיר שמחה, collecting the different teachings of Rabbeinu Meir Simcha. And he says the following. The Meshech Chochma says what does it mean Beni bechori Yisrael? The eldest son gets a double portion. Why? First of all the eldest son has greatest responsibility. Something happens to the father the assumption is that the eldest son steps in and takes over in his place. The eldest son was responsible to take care of his younger sisters. He needed the resources to do it, to have a dowry to marry them off. So he got a double portion because he needed to be empowered with what was necessary to act as the oldest son. But that's not what the Meshech Chochma says. Meshech Chochma writes הטעם לכך שום שהוא עשה אותו לאב כאשר יצא מבטן אמו לאוויר העולם. By being born that child made his father a father. That eldest son designated the parents as parents. Until he was born they were just a married couple. When he was born they became parents. And therefore Beni bechori Yisrael. That says the Meshech Chochma is what God tells Moshe, you go tell Paroh, that what? כן ישראל עשו כביכול לה' יתברך לאב להעולם. Hashem, creator of the universe. What made him a father? The birth of the Jewish people. When we accepted him, when we came along, he became a father. And if we're the ones who made him a father then we became his bechor. That's why we have that status. Pick up next week, stay happy, stay healthy.
