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Parshas Beshalach 5774: Between a Rock and Hard Place

Parshas Beshalach 5774: Between a Rock and Hard Place   Towards the end of Parshas Beshalach, the Torah relates that Amalek came to battle B’nei Yisroel. Like the other events in the Parsha, this episode too was a direct test to challenge B’nei Yisroel’s emunah as they left Mitzrayim. The Torah (17:11) describes that while B’nei Yisroel were battling Amalek, Moshe stood on top of a hill and when his hands were raised, B’nei Yisroel would prevail, and when he lowered his hands, Amalek would start to prevail. As Rashi clarifies, based on the Mishnah (Gemara Rosh Hashanah 29a), it was not really Moshe’s hands impacting who would be victorious, rather it was B’nei Yisroel’s trust in Hashem (looking upwards). Most of know what happened next. Moshe hands got heavy and Aharon and Chur came to support his hands. However, there is a peculiar thing that happened in between Moshe’s hands feeling tired and them coming to support him. The passuk says “...and Moshe’s hands grew heavy, so they
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Parshas Bo: On Whose Right

  * Parshas Bo: On Whose Right * The Ramban points out that so many of the mitzvos we do serve in some way as a (zeicher) remembrance of Hashem taking us out of Mitzrayim. Indeed, the makkos (plagues) in Mitzrayim continuing with yetzias Mitzrayim (exodus from Egypt) and kriyas Yam Suf (splitting of the Red Sea), and ultimately culminating with mattan Torah (receiving the Torah), serve as a timeless certificate for us that Hashem is the borei (creator) and manhig (controller) of the world and that we are His chosen people to lead a life of keeping Torah and mitzvos. One of the many mitzvos we do daily which remind of us yetzias Mitzrayim is the donning of the tefillin, a mitzva actually mentioned at the end of this week’s parsha. The Torah tells us that the tefillin should be a sign upon our arm and between our eyes to recall that Hahsm removed us from Mitzrayim with a strong hand. The Shulchan Aruch rules that the tefillin shel yad (tefillin of the arm) is put on the left arm. The Mi
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Parshas Va'eira: Frogger - Croak or Croak

  * Parshas Va'eira: Frogger - Croak or Croak * Rashi writes that the reason the first of the makkos (plagues) brought upon Mitzrayim was dam (blood) was because the Egyptians worshipped the Nile and Hashem strikes a nation first by destroying its acclaimed deity. Clearly we see from Rashi that besides for the well-known fact that every single makkah brought on Mitzrayim was calculated middah-kneged-middah (measure for measure), there was also significance to the order. If so, we could ask the following question. If the first makkah of blood was primarily a strike against the deity of Egypt, there must be a special significance to the makkah of tzfardayim (frogs) as well. Why specifically was the plague of frogs chosen to spearhead the makkos brought upon the Mitzrim directly? When the Torah relates what Hashem told Moshe to warn Pharaoh regarding the invasiveness of the plague of frogs, the passuk relates that the frogs were going to come into the houses, bedrooms, beds, the serva
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Parshas Vayechi: Chazak + Chazak = v'Nischazeik!

Parshas Vayechi contains Birkas Yaakov – the berachos that Yaakov gave to each of his sons before passing away. One might think that Yaakov would be able to give one general beracha to the shevatim as a whole. After all, they were all brothers, sons of Yaakov, who would now be together in Mitzrayim , would later receive the Torah, enter Eretz Yisroel, and pretty much follow the same destiny as B’nei Yisroel. So, why did Yaakov feel it necessary to give each son a unique beracha ? In fact, one could make the case that a general beracha would be more apropos. Individualism is what started the whole fight between the shevatim , wouldn’t a better message at this point of their unity and as they are about to enter galus Mitzrayim be a message of sticking together and all keeping the mesorah of Beis Yaakov?   Perhaps from Birkas Yaakov we could extract a powerful lesson in avodas Hashem . When we think about avodas Hashem , we focus a lot on the “How ”, and certainly the
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Parshas Vayigash - The Tzibbur is in Pain

After Yaakov’s family came down to Mitzrayim to be reunited with Yosef, Yosef introduced them to Pharaoh and secured a place for them to dwell and food to eat. The passuk (47:12) states, “Yosef sustained his father, and his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the children.”   Rashi comments that Yosef distributed the food based on the particular needs of each family.   The Seforno adds yet another layer of clarity. He writes that although Yosef obviously had access to all the food he wanted, he only gave to his family what they actually needed . He did not offer an abundance of food because that would be inappropriate. As the Seforno writes based on the Gemara ( Ta’anis 11), When a tzibbur is in pain, you can’t just ignore your surroundings and be insensitive thinking “well, I am okay”.   Rashi - According to the children . According to the need of all the members of their household   If this is true of Yosef – who literally saved the whole la
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