Today's Learning Sponsored by Challah 3:3-4 Moshe & Robin Teichman Kitzur 160:5-161:3 Zev & Marlene Teichman Kiddushin 49 on the Yahrzeit of Yerushalmi-- Meyer ben Moshe Aharon, z'l Shabbat 21 PARASHAT BESHALACH Vol. VIII, No. 16 (351) 10 Shevat 5754/Jan. 22, 1994 In this parasha, we read of the mahn, the food which Hashem gave the Jewish people in the desert. The Torah says that Hashem provided Bnei Yisrael the mahn in order to test them. How would they react to receiving their food in such a miraculous manner? Would they, for example, believe Moshe that the mahn would come again tomorrow, or would they try to store it overnight, contrary to Hashem's command? R' Yechiel Michel Tikochinski ztz"l offers a similar purpose for the mitzvot of shemittah. For example, one is prohibited from storing any significant quantity of shemittah produce, and one is also prohibited from converting it into cash by doing business with it. At the preordained time, one must destroy all remnants of the shemittah produce. In this way, R' Tikochinski writes, the mitzvah of shemittah teaches bitachon-trust in Hashem. (Sefer haShemittah) ************************************ "And armed, Bnei Yisrael left Egypt." (13:18) The above verse is translated according to Rashi. However, the word which is translated as "armed"-"chamushim"-has a number of other meanings as well. According to one midrash, the word means "armed," but not with weapons. Rather, the Jews were armed with good deeds. According to another midrash, the word chamushim is related to the number chamesh- five. Thus the verse is telling us, according to the midrash, that each family left Egypt with five children. Finally, according to yet another midrash, the verse is informing us that only one-fifth of all of the Jewish people left Egypt. The other four-fifths died during the plague of darkness, because they did not merit to participate in the Exodus. In fact, all of these midrashic interpretations are related. Chazal say that when Hashem killed the Egyptian first-born, He could find no merit in which to save the Jews. Therefore, He gave them the mitzvot of korban Pesach and b'rit milah. How then can the above midrash say that the Jews were armed with good deeds? While four-fifths of the Jews died in Egypt, that was only the adults. What happened to their children? They were adopted by other Jews. When the midrash says that each family had five children, it does not mean that literally; the statistical probability of each family having the same number of children is quite small, and Jewish families have anyway traditionally been larger. Rather, the midrash means that each family had five sets of children (its own set and four sets of orphans). It was with the good deeds of adopting all of those orphaned children that the Jews were armed when they left Egypt. (heard from R' Yissochor Frand, shlita ************************************ Before they entered Eretz Canaan, Yehoshua said to the Jews, "Prepare provisions for yourselves." Did they need provisions? asks the Midrash Tanna d'Vei Eliyahu. They had the mahn. Rather, he told them to repent so that they would merit to enter the Land. Explains the commentary Yeshuot Yaakov: Repentance is the primary provision which man prepares in this world. ************************************ A meeting was once held in the home of R' Yitzchak Blazer (also known as R' Itzele Petersburger), regarding some communal matter. Afterwards, one of the rich men in attendance asked, "Do you believe that mashiach can come tomorrow?" "Of course," answered R' Itzele. "If so," said the rich man, "your belief contradicts the Sages' teaching that mashiach will not come until there is not a penny left in anyone's pocket. Each of the wealthy men in this room has interests spread all over the world. It is impossible that each of us should lose every penny by tomorrow." R' Itzele answered: "I believe with complete faith that mashiach may come tomorrow. Even if a prophet would tell me that mashiach will not come tomorrow, I would not believe him. Even if it were a voice from heaven, I would not believe. "Hashem told Avraham," R' Itzele continued, "'Your descendants will be tortured and enslaved for 400 years,' yet we all know that the Jews were in Egypt only 210 years. How is that? Chazal have given many answers and taught many beautiful ideas based on this question. Similarly, mashiach can come at any time. What about the words of Chazal to the contrary? Let the darshanim worry about that." (Kochvei Ohr: Shevivei Ohr) ************************************ R' Leib Chasman quotes Rambam to the effect that the entire story of Pharaoh's resistance to the Exodus teaches us how hard the yetzer hara works to direct us off the path of acknowledging Hashem's sovereignty. Look at Pharaoh! How many plagues would he suffer before he recognized his Creator? Through five plagues, he kept his resolve. Then he began to give in, only to change his mind once each of the next five plagues was safely behind him. Chazal say that at the Yam Suf (Red Sea) Hashem brought anywhere from 50 to 250 additional plagues on Pharaoh, yet he kept pushing forward. Such is the resolve of the yetzer hara. In fact, the only reminder that one should need of Hashem's presence is the miracle of life itself. (Ohr Yahel II p.56) ************************************ R' Yonah Navon born 5473 (1713) - died 16 Shevat 5520 (1760) R' Yonah was one of the teachers of R' Chaim Yosef David Azulai ("Chida"), and his uncle by marriage. In his bibliographical work Shem haGedolim, Chida writes of his teacher: He was one of the [greatest] Rabbis of the generation in the Holy City of Yerushalayim. He practically did not leave posek like himself in the entire region, and he was a pious man and versed in kabbalah. R' Yonah was sent abroad a number of times to raise funds for the Jewish community of Yerushalayim. In 1738, he was in Tunis, where he was warmly received and recognized as a great scholar. (Although Chida himself was only 14 at the time, R' Yonah already regarded him highly enough to speak of him in Tunis.) Beginning in 1746, R' Yonah spent two years in Greece and Turkey, and while there he printed several of hi sown works. Upon his return to Yerushalayim, R' Yonah was appointed Rosh Yeshiva in place of R' Chaim ben Attar (the "Ohr haChaim haKadosh"), who had recently passed away. R' Yonah passed away at age 37. The Navon family continued to reside in Yerushalayim, and produced a number of distinguished scholars (and a President of Israel). ************************************ In Midbar Kedemot, Chida quotes a midrash that the Jews did not deserve to experience the splitting of the sea. Hashem saved them because of the future merit of receiving the Torah. ************************************ DONATIONS TO HAMAAYAN ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE