Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Shmot Volume 19, No. 13 20 Tevet 5765 January 1, 2005 Sponsored by Rabbi and Mrs. Sam Vogel and family on Chava's engagement to Yoni Gross Today's Learning: Demai 7:2-3 O.C. 308:52-309:2 Daf Yomi (Bavli): Nidah 14 Daf Yomi (Yerushalmi): Bava Kamma 21 When Moshe first appears before Pharaoh in this parashah, Pharaoh asks him, "Who is Hashem that I should listen to Him?" The prophet Yechezkel further tells us (Yechezkel 29:3) that Pharaoh used to say, "The Nile is mine, and I created myself." How does a person become so arrogant? Can anyone really believe that he created himself? R' Shalom Mordechai Schwadron z"l (1913-1997; the "Yerushalmi Maggid") explains, quoting R' Saadiah Gaon z"l, that denial of G-d stems from throwing off the yoke of G-d. One who is depraved is not so because he does not believe in G-d; rather, he chooses not to believe in G-d because that denial frees him to be depraved. After all, how can any thinking person deny G-d's existence? Has anyone made a thorough scientific inquiry to prove that G-d does not exist? This idea is found in Tehilim, writes R' Schwadron. There we read (14:1), "The depraved one says in his heart, `There is no G-d'." This means: The person who is already depraved says "There is no G- d." After he has chosen this lifestyle, he denies G-d. Chazal interpret the first part of this verse, "The depraved one says in his heart," to mean, "The wicked are controlled by their hearts." The desires buried in their hearts control their every move. For example, there was no one in history who performed the mitzvah of honoring his father better than did Esav, yet after Yitzchak blessed Yaakov instead of Esav, the latter said (Bereishit 27:41), "May the days of mourning for my father draw near, and I will kill my brother Yaakov." Esav, who honored his father so perfectly, actually hoped for the death of his father, and all for material gain. Significantly, that verse in Bereishit opens, "And Esav said in his heart." Like all depraved people, he was controlled by the desires in his heart. (Ma'amar Avdei Ha'lev Ve'adonav printed in Da'at Torah, Orach Chaim Vol I.) ******** "And these are the names of the children of Yisrael who were coming to Egypt; with Yaakov . . ." (1:1) Why does the pasuk begin with "Yisrael" and continue with "Yaakov"? R' Yoel Herzog z"l (Paris, France; early 20th century; father of Israeli Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Halevi Herzog z"l) explains based on the similar wording in the verse in Parashat Vayigash which describes Yaakov's descent to Egypt. There we read (Bereishit 46:8), "Now these are the names of the children of Yisrael who were coming to Egypt -- Yaakov and his children." We also read there (verse 2): "G-d spoke to Yisrael in a night vision and He said, `Yaakov, Yaakov'." Why the change from Yisrael to Yaakov? The answer is that "Yisrael," the name given to our Patriarch after he defeated Esav's guardian angel, represents the fulfillment of Yitzchak's blessing that his son would rule over the other nations. When Yisrael/Yaakov was descending to Egypt, where his son was the viceroy to Pharaoh, our Patriarch and his children thought that he was going as "Yisrael." But Hashem appeared to him in a dream and informed him that this was not the case. Rather, Hashem told him, his journey was the beginning of the exile that had been foretold to Avraham. Therefore, He called the Patriarch "Yaakov." Perhaps Yaakov did not immediately tell his children about his dream. Therefore, they continued to believe that they were going to Egypt as the "Children of Yisrael." However, they went not with Yisrael, but with Yaakov. (Imrei Yoel) ******** "He [Pharaoh] said, `When you deliver the Hebrew women . . . if it is a son, you are to kill him, and if it is a daughter, she shall live.' "But the midwives feared G-d and they did not do as the king of Egypt spoke to them, and they caused the children to live." (1:16) R' Eliezer Chaim Gewirtz shlita (of Yerushalayim) noted that Pharaoh commanded the midwives to do two things-kill the boys and let the girls live. [Letting the girls live must have been more than incidental to Pharaoh's plan; otherwise, he would not have mentioned the girls. And, if he had mentioned them for no reason, the Torah would not have recorded it.] Why then does the Torah say that the midwives did not do what Pharaoh commanded? In fact, they did half of what he commanded-i.e., they let the girls live. R' Gewirtz explained: We are judged not only by our actions, but also, and primarily, by the intentions that go into those actions. When the midwives allowed the girls to live, they did not do so because Pharaoh told them to. Rather, they did it because it was the right thing to do. This is why the Torah records, "They caused the children to live"-not just the boys, but all the children. (Heard from R' Gewirtz, 14 Tevet 5765) ******** "During those many days, it happened that the king of Egypt died, and Bnei Yisrael groaned because of the work and they cried out. Their outcry because of the work went up to G-d." (2:23) Why did they cry out now that Pharaoh died? R' Meir ibn Gabbai z"l (Egypt; early 1500s) explains that it is common for a newly crowned king to grant a general amnesty to political prisoners. In this case, however, Pharaoh died and the new king did not grant amnesty to Bnei Yisrael. Why did this fact draw Bnei Yisrael closer to G-d? Because the fact that they were not freed caused them to recognize that their slavery was not a natural phenomenon but rather a Divine decree. (Avodat Ha'kodesh Ch.34) ******** "He said to his daughters, `Then where is he? . . . Summon him and let him eat bread'." (2:20) The gemara (Sanhedrin 103b) teaches as follows: "R' Yochanan said in the name of R' Yose ben Kisma: `The mitzvah of feeding guests is so great that it distanced two families from the Jewish people [i.e., the nations of Amon and Moav, who refused to feed the Jews when they sojourned in the desert].' R' Yochanan himself said: `It distances those who are close; brings close those who are distant; causes G-d to ignore the evil of the wicked; enables false prophets to experience true prophecy; and one who neglects it is considered like an intentional sinner'." R' Eliyahu Lopian z"l (died 1970) observes that the nations of Amon and Moav began their history very close to the Jews, not only geographically, but because their founders were nephews of our Patriarch Avraham. Nevertheless, the bad trait which Amon and Moav demonstrated by refusing to feed the Jews near the end of their 40 years in the desert caused the Torah to prohibit the men of those nations to marry Jews (even if the men convert to Judaism). There simply is no place for such traits among the Jews. (This is the meaning of, "It distances those who are close.") On the other hand, the nation of Midian was situated farther from Eretz Yisrael, but the descendants of Yitro the Midianite sat on the sanhedrin / high court. Why? All because Yitro fed Moshe Rabbenu, as described in the above verse. (This is the meaning of, "It brings close those who are distant.") When the wicked feed guests, Hashem ignores their wickedness and defers their punishment. For example, there was a man named Michah [not the prophet Michah] who openly carried an idol with him across the Yam Suf / Red Sea and who later established a temple to idolatry in Eretz Yisrael. Imagine the wickedness of this man! says R' Lopian. He witnessed the awesome miracles of the splitting of the Yam Suf, and yet he enticed others to practice idolatry! Why, therefore, asks the gemara, is Michah not listed among those who have no portion in the World to Come? Because his temple was situated at a crossroads where many hungry travelers passed, and he fed them. Similarly we find in Melachim II that Hashem rewarded a false prophet with true prophecy because of his hospitality. How hard did the prophets work on their characters to achieve prophecy, and to this false prophet it came without preparation! Such is the power of feeding guests! (Lev Eliyahu) ******** R' Yitzchak Isaac Eichenstein z"l R' Eichenstein was born in 1913 in Kashau, Hungary (later Czechoslovakia), where his father was a prominent rabbi. Young Yitzchak Isaac studied under the chief rabbi of Kashau, R' Shaul Broch, and reportedly was one of only three people who ever received semichah / rabbinic ordination from that sage. After his marriage, R' Eichenstein became rabbi in Kiviashd, Czechoslovakia and established a yeshiva there which existed for six years until the Nazi invasion. It is related that the Nazis stormed R' Eichenstein's shul on Pesach morning in the middle of the congregation's recitation of Hallel. The congregants began to flee, but the rabbi called them back and instead ordered the Nazis to wait outside until services were over. To everyone's surprise, the Germans complied. During the Holocaust years, R' Eichenstein was imprisoned in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, in both of which he risked his life many times to help his fellow Jews. After the war, he settled in Kashau, where he established a bet din / rabbinical court to adjudicate petitions to remarry from those whose spouses were missing. With the aid of a large network of witnesses that he helped established, R' Eichenstein was able to permit more than 2,000 agunot to remarry. In 1948, R' Eichenstein emigrated to the United States, and in 1950 he settled in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York. There he established a bet midrash as well as the first mikvah in Queens. R' Eichenstein was involved in many political causes affecting the Jewish community in Queens. Farther from home, he met with Jordan's King Hussein in the 1960s in an attempt to prevent archaeologists from desecrating the resting place of the Patriarchs in Me'arat Ha'machpelah in Chevron (which was then under Jordanian occupation). R' Eichenstein passed away on Rosh Chodesh Adar 5764 / February 23, 2004.