Hamaayan/The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Parashat Va'era Volume VIII/Number 14 (349) 25 Tevet 5754/January 8, 1994 We read in this parasha (as in last week's) that Hashem heard Bnei Yisrael's cries, and He came to rescue them from Egypt. R' Moshe Hager of Kosov notes that many people feel that Hashem does not hear their calls for the redemption. They are, however, wrong. The midrash equates our sustenance with the redemption. Just as the redemption will be miraculous, so our sustenance comes miraculously. Just as our sustenance comes every day, so redemption takes place every day. Before our bodies can be physically redeemed from exile, Hashem must gather all of the spiritual sparks which are scattered in exile. This is a constant and ongoing process, and it occurs in answer to our prayers for the redemption. (Leket Oni, Purim, p.17) The miraculous nature of our sustenance is most evident during shemittah. Without the usual work, there is nonetheless food to eat. Sometimes the miracle is overt; for example, it has been reported that in the pre-shemittah year of 1958, the shemittah- observing settlement of Kememiyut tripled its ordinary input, despite all of the surrounding communities being devastated by locusts. However, even when the miracle is hidden, it is nonetheless present, and we must recognize it. ************************************ "I appeared to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov as 'Kel Shakai,' and My Name 'Hashem' I did not reveal to them. And also I have kept My covenant with them...." (6:3-4) R' Yosef Yaavetz (1435-1507; known as "R' Yaavetz heChassid") questions the use of the conjunction "And also" in the second pasuk above. Usually, he notes, "also" is used to connect two "positive" or two "negatives," but here it connects a "positive" ("I have kept") to a "negative" ("I did not reveal"). R' Yaavetz explains that the two verses are actually parallel. Both teach that sometimes events are determined by the level where the protagonist stands, and sometimes by other considerations. For example, the Patriarchs never saw Hashem behave in the way represented by His four-letter Name (which we pronounce "Hashem"). However, this was not because the Patriarchs were not on the appropriate level; rather, history was not prepared for such involvement by Hashem. Similarly, Hashem told Moshe, when it comes to fulfilling My covenant with the Patriarchs, you must understand the difference between what I choose to do and what history calls for. I will fulfill my covenant with the Patriarchs, even though Bnei Yisrael are not presently worthy. However, this requires them to undergo the additional suffering about which you have questioned Me (as described at the end of last week's parasha). (Yesod haEmunah) ************************************ The idea that our suffering is really for our good is taught by this parasha and emphasized repeatedly by the Prophets and the Talmud. For example, the Gemara teaches that one is obligated to bless Hashem for bad news, just like for good news. The prophet Yishayahu writes (12:1), "I thank You G-d for being angry with me. When your anger disappears, I will be consoled." The Gemara (Nidah 31a) explains this in terms of a man who missed a ship's departure because of illness and later heard that the ship had sunk. More recently, notes R' David Feinstein, shlita, we know of individuals who thought that they were being punished by exile to Siberia, but, in fact, managed to escape the Holocaust as a result. (Kol Dodi) ************************************ The second of Shevat (next Friday) is the yahrzeit of King Yannai, a member of the Chashmonai dynasty which ruled Israel during the Second Temple Period. For a time, that day was celebrated as a Yom Tov, because Yannai had persecuted the Torah sages of his time, and with his death, this ended. The Gemara (Berachot 48a) relates the following about Yannai's relationship with the sages: King Yannai and his queen broke bread together. However, since Yannai had killed the sages, there was no one present who knew how to lead "Birkat haMazon." Yannai said to his wife, "Who will bring us someone who can 'bentch'?" The Queen said, "Swear to me that if I bring you such a man, you will not harm him." When Yannai took that oath, the Queen brought her brother, the sage Shimon ben Shetach, out of hiding. Shimon was seated between the King and the Queen and Yannai said, "Look how I honor you." "You do not honor me," Shimon said, "It is the Torah which honors me." Without feeding him, they gave Shimon a cup of wine (as was the custom with those who lead the 'bentching') and Shimon said, "How shall I say -- 'Blessed is He from whose food Yannai and his friends ate'?" R' Avraham Yitzchak Kook writes that one idea behind the requirement that three people who ate together recite Birkat haMazon together, is that it turns a purely personal, physical act (i.e., eating) into a communal undertaking. This is beneficial, because it allows each person to learn good traits and service of Hashem from the others. (Olat haRe'iyah I p.357) It is interesting to note that according to R' Kook (in Shabbat haAretz, quoted previously in Hamaayan), the purpose of shemittah is to distract each person from his personal pursuit of wealth, and to bring together all Jews, as they forage side-by-side and on equal terms in the fields which are now open to all. With this purpose in mind, our 'bentching' during shemittah can take on a new meaning as well. ************************************ R' MENACHEM MENDEL KROCHMAL born 5360 (1600) - died 2 Shevat 5421 (1661) R' Menachem Mendel was born in Cracow, Poland, and was a student of R' Yoel Sirkes (the "Bach"). At a young age, R' Menachem Mendel was appointed to the Cracow bet din (rabbinical court). His teacher also gave him permission to found a yeshiva. Finally, he was a member of the "Va'ad Arba Aratzot" - the "Council of the Four Lands" - which was a semi-autonomous Jewish government in Poland and Lithuania. (Through that council, the kings of Poland and Lithuania recognized the greatest sages of that period as the sole representatives and leaders of the Jews.) After holding a number of other posts, R' Menachem Mendel was appointed Chief Rabbi of Nikolsburg and Moravia. In 1659, he presided over a convention at which the Jewish communities of Moravia adopted a constitution. On another occasion, R' Menachem Mendel forbade the consumption of fish on Shabbat, as the gentile fisherman were gauging the Jews who were used to buying fish for Shabbat at any price. He was also very active in assisting the "Agunot" (women whose husbands have disappeared) of the massacres of 1648/49, when at least 100,000 Jews were killed by Cossacks. R' Menachem Mendel's best-known work is "She'eilot u'Teshuvot Tzemach Tzedek", so-called because the gematrias of "Tzemach Tzedek" and the Yiddish spelling of "Menachem Mendel" are equal. It is quoted by many leading poskim, notably the Magen Avraham. In his Pi Tzaddik, R' Menachem Mendel makes the following observation on the verses in next week's parasha, "Bnei Yisrael should ask of the Egyptians silver and gold vessels and clothing...also the man Moshe is very great in the land of Egypt, in the eyes of Pharaoh's servants and in the eyes of the nation." Why is the Egyptians' attitude towards Moshe mentioned in that verse? Because Chazal say that while Bnei Yisrael were busy gathering-up the Egyptians' wealth, Moshe was busy looking for Yosef's casket. Why? Because, say Chazal, Moshe loved Mitzvot more than gold. We might think, however, that the real reason that Moshe was not gathering riches was because he was so hated that the Egyptians would not have given him a thing; not true, says the verse, "The man Moshe is very great in the land of Egypt, etc." ************************************ The learning schedule for this Shabbat is: Ma'aser Sheni 5:7-8 Kitzur 152:12-16 Kiddushin 35 Yerushalmi - Bikkurim 20 ************************************ DONATIONS TO HAMAAYAN ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE