Today's Learning Menachot 8:4-5 O.C. 459:1-3 Sponsored by Bechorot 9 The Sadwin family in memory of Loretta's mother Anna Smolar a"h Moshe and Zev Teichman and families on the yahrzeit of their father Meir ben Moshe Aharon a"h The Meth family in honor of Marcia's birthday Hamaayan/The Torah Spring edited by Shlomo Katz Bo Vol. XI, No. 15 (498), 10 Shevat 5757, January 18, 1997 Why are we grateful to Hashem for redeeming us from slavery? asks Rav Chaim Berlin z"l. After all, He made us slaves in the first place! Rav Berlin explains as follows: Hashem told Avraham that his descendants would be caused to suffer for 400 years; in fact, the Jews were in Egypt for only 210 years. In order to "find" the full 400 years, we must begin counting from the birth of Yitzchak. How did Yitzchak suffer? He was a very wealthy man! So, too, Yaakov was a very honored person in Egypt! For Yitzchak and Yaakov, living among the gentiles (Avimelech, Lavan, Pharaoh) constituted suffering. Only after Yaakov died did the Jews' senses become more dulled, and they forgot that they were in exile. In the words of the midrash (on Shmot 1:7), "'And the land filled with them' -- the theaters and circuses filled with them." Naturally, says Rav Berlin, this could no longer be considered part of the promised 400-year suffering. Accordingly, the suffering had to intensify, even to the point of slavery. This is the meaning of the midrash, "If you had merited, you would read (Shmot 3:7), 'I have seen the suffering of My nation in Egypt'." Had we merited, G-d would have viewed our very presence in Egypt as suffering. As it was, we did not merit. We caused our slavery, and we thank Hashem for redeeming us. The tribe of Levi was not enslaved in Egypt because that tribe maintained its separateness from the Egyptians in Egypt. Its members, for example, continued to circumcise their sons after the others had stopped doing so. (Kuntres Imrei Chaim Al Haggadah Shel Pesach) ************************************ Parashat Bo In Halachah Twenty of the 613 mitzvot appear in this parashah. As listed in Sefer Hachinuch (Nos. 4-23), they are: To sanctify the new moon and to declare leap years when the Bet Din determines, and to observe the holidays based upon that determination; To slaughter the Korban Pesach/Paschal lamb in the afternoon of the 14th day of Nisan; To eat the Korban Pesach on the night of the 15th of Nisan; Not to eat the Korban Pesach partially roasted or boiled, but only roasted; Not to leave any of the Korban Pesach over until morning; To remove the chametz from our homes on the 14th day of Nisan; To eat matzah on the night of the 15th of Nisan; That no chametz should be found in our possessions on Pesach; Not to eat anything (on Pesach) which contains chametz mixed into it; Not to feed any of the Korban Pesach to an apostasized Jew; Not to feed any of the Korban Pesach to a non-Jew who lives among us; Not to take any of the meat of the Korban Pesach out of the place where it is being eaten; Not to break any of the bones of the Korban Pesach; That an uncircumcised person shall not eat from the Korban Pesach; To sanctify the firstborn of man and animals; Not to eat chametz on Pesach; That no chametz should be seen in our homes on Pesach; To relate the story of the Exodus on the night of the 15th of Nisan; To redeem a firstborn donkey; To kill a firstborn mule which is not redeemed (see below). "Every firstborn donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; if you do not redeem it, you shall axe the back of its neck." (13:13) The Minchat Chinuch cites authorities who say that this is not a mitzvah, but, to the contrary, a punishment for the owner's sin in not redeeming his donkey. The Minchat Chinuch concludes that these are not mutually exclusive, as there are a number of mitzvot (e.g., chalitzah) which the Torah would prefer would never be done. ************************************ "And so that you may relate in the ears of your son and your son's son that I made a mockery of Egypt and My signs that I placed among them -- that you may know that I am Hashem." (10:2) Rav Yehuda Gruenwald z"l explains that there are two goals when telling the story of the Exodus. First, it should be in such a manner that it enters "the ears of your son" (i.e., makes an impression). The second requirement is that it should cause you (the parent) to "know that I am Hashem," i.e., to be awakened to realize that there is a G-d who is One and Who conducts the World. Alternatively, this verse can be understood as follows: Chazal say that if one teaches his grandson Torah, it is as if he (the teacher) received the Torah at Har Sinai. Thus the verse means to teach: In the merit that you are committed to relate in the ears of your son and your son's son that G-d made a mockery of Egypt, you will receive the Torah at Har Sinai and know that He is Hashem. (Haggadah Shel Pesach Olelot Yehuda) ************************************ "And Pharaoh rose up in the night . . ." (12:30) Rashi comments: "From his bed." What is Rashi teaching us? It is said in the name of Reb Mendel of Kotsk z"l: Such is the nature of a Pharaoh. He is told in advance that all of the firstborn around him will die, and he goes to bed! ************************************ _________________________________________________________________ From the humor of our sages . . . A chassid once complained to Rav Chaim of Sanz that another chassid was attempting to destroy his business. The rebbe called the offending chassid in and ordered him to explain himself. "He's such a rasha, it would be a mitzvah to bury him," said the chassid. "Even if your assessment of him were correct," said Rav Chaim, "you would still be wrong. I'll prove it. Chazal say that when Hashem wished to redeem the Jews from Egypt, they had no merit in which to be redeemed. Yet, Chazal say that four-fifths of the Jews (the wicked ones) died during the plague of darkness. Presumably, these people were buried by their brethren, so why were the survivors without merit? "You see," concluded the rebbe, "that burying a rasha is not the mitzvah you think it is." ************************************ Rav Binyamin Beinush Finkel z"l born 5673 (1913) - died 18 Shevat 5750 (1990) Reb Beinush, the little known rosh yeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva in Yerushalayim for 25 years, was a grandson of two of the leading roshei yeshivot of the early 20th century, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel (the "Alter of Slobodka") and Rav Elya Baruch Kammai of Mir. Reb Beinush's father, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, headed the Mir Yeshiva during the last period in Europe and then in Yerushalayim. (The Finkel family arrived in Eretz Yisrael in 1940, and thus was spared the difficult period which much of the yeshiva spent in Shanghai.) Reb Beinush's near anonymity was by choice and he personified the verse (Michah 6:8), "Walk in a low-key manner with G-d." Although he gave a weekly shiur/lecture at his father's insistence, he never willingly spoke in public on Torah subjects, preferring to cast the limelight on the other faculty members. Reb Beinush preferred to administer the yeshiva behind the scenes, and under his leadership it grew to house more than 1200 students. One exception to Reb Beinush's low-key manner involved his insistence that students complete an entire masechet/tractate each zman/semester. He encountered great resistance from students who were accustomed to learn only 10 or 20 pages of each tractate, and when they claimed that it was impossible to complete the 176 page tractate Bava Batra in the proper depth in one five-month winter semester, he decided to give a daily shiur to demonstrate that it could be done. Despite his love for privacy, Reb Beinush's door was open to those who needed advice or charity. He was an exemplar of kindness and thoughtfulness. One student who used to go with him to the daily vatikin/pre-sunrise minyan at the Kotel relates that when their group was offered a ride back to the yeshiva and there was one seat too few, Reb Beinush said, "You go. It's easier for a rosh yeshiva to hitch another ride than for a student." When a neighbor needed plumbing or other work done around the house, Reb Beinush was not above doing it himself. One of Reb Beinush's sons-in-law is Rav Aharon Lopiansky shlita, who heads the yeshiva gedolah and kollel of the Yeshiva of Greater Washington in Silver Spring, Maryland. (Hamaayan extends a mazal tov to Rabbi Lopiansky on the marriage of his daughter this coming week besha'ah tovah.) ************************************ back issues at: http://acoast.com/~sehc/hamaayan/ send mail to: hamaayan_editor@juno.com Donations to Hamaayan are tax-deductible