Tisa & Parshas Parah 5631 First Ma'amar

1. What is the nature of spiritual impurity (טומאה) and spiritual purity (טהרה)? The Chidushei HaRim explains that spiritual impurity means that one’s internal spiritual vitality has left him. The spiritually impure person can get it back by subordinating himself to God’s will. By disregarding his own life desires in favor of God’s he can renew his spiritual vitality. We learn this from the law of the Parah Adumah (red heifer). The ashes of the Parah Adumah are mixed with water and sprinkled on the impure person thus purifying him. According to the Chidushei HaRim these ashes suggest a nullification of one’s self. The lesson of the Parah Adumah is that by nullifying our own desires in favor of God’s, we come close to Him thereby renewing our own life force. This is why Parshas HaChodesh follows Parshas Parah. Parshas HaChodesh represents renewal (חודש/Month has the same root as חדש/new.)

The Sfas Emes understands this from the first Midrash in Chukas. The Midrash begins, “זאת חקת .../This is the law …” and then brings a pasuk from Iyov, “מי יתן טהור מטמא לא אחד/Who produces purity from impurity. No one!” The Midrash translates this pasuk, “Who produces purity from impurity? Is it not the One?” Producing purity from impurity seems impossible. However, it is only impossible if we believe that impurity has an autonomous existence. If we understand that even the impurity has a point of spiritual vitality at its core, that God gives existence to the impure as well, it becomes clear that the only difference between purity and impurity is how revealed that spiritual point of vitality is to us. This spiritual point is simply God’s life force.

Since this life force is ubiquitous and is the same for all, the Chidushei HaRim refers to it as, זאת/This (singular). The parsha of Parah Adumah appropriately begins with this word instead of אלה/These. The Parah Adumah contrasts with the golden calf where the idol worshipers said, “אלה אלהיך ישראל/Israel, these are your gods.” The ashes of the Parah Adumah teach us to subordinate ourselves to the One God, in contradistinction to idols that symbolize disparate forces in the world. In fact, Chazal teach us that the Parah Adumah is a rectification for the sin of the golden calf.

2. The Midrash says that we must keep the mitzvah of Parah Adumah simply because God decreed it. This implies that it has no reason. However another Midrash in the parsha tells us that God said He would reveal the reasons for this mitzvah to Moshe Rabeinu! Yet another Midrash tells us that Shlomo HaMelech understood the reason behind every mitzvah except for the mitzvah of Parah Adumah. Regarding Parah Adumah Shlomo HaMelech tells us in Koheles, “... אמרתי אחכמה והיא רחוקה ממני/… I said I will become wise but it eludes me.”

It is clear from these Midrashim that the mitzvah of Parah Adumah has reasons. The Sfas Emes explains that the reasons are above the natural world. A direct approach to finding the reasons therefore, will not work. The correct approach is to accept the mitzvah simply because God decreed it even though we do not understand. Then, paradoxically, God grants us an aspect of understanding as well. This is why God revealed the reasons to Moshe Rabeinu. Moshe Rabeinu represents the knowledge repository and highest level of the nation of Israel. On that level, God grants understanding. Shlomo HaMelech, on the other hand, wanted to understand the reasons for this mitzvah in order to become wise, “אמרתי אחכמה/I said I will become wise.” Because of his approach, understanding was kept from him, “והיא רחוקה ממני/but it eludes me.”

Tisa 5631 First Ma'amar

In the beginning of this week’s parsha, Bezalel is appointed to build the Mishkan and its vessels. This is followed by an admonition to keep the Shabbos, “אך את שבתתי תשמרו .../Only keep my Sabbaths …” The word אך/only, is used in the Torah to exclude. Rashi explains that it comes here to exclude Shabbos from the work of the Mishkan. Bezalel and his team were not permitted to build the Mishkan on Shabbos. The Ramban has difficulty with this. The Ramban explains that when the word אך/only precedes a mitzvah, it restricts the application of the mitzvah. (e.g. אך/Only restricts the mitzvah of Shabbos with regard to circumcision. We may perform circumcisions on Shabbos.) Applying this logic to the Mishkan, if the word אך/only were coming to restrict Shabbos with regard to work on the Mishkan, it should mean that work on the Mishkan is permitted on Shabbos. Why, then, does Rashi say that from אך/only we learn that work on the Mishkan is prohibited on Shabbos?

In order to answer the Ramban’s question, we need to understand the relationship between Shabbos and the work of the Mishkan.

On Shabbos we can more easily be aware of and experience God’s presence. God’s presence, of course, is everywhere always. However, during the week it is more difficult to experience. He is hidden, in a manner of speaking. There are people, though, who experience God’s presence during the week as well. Torah scholars, for example, through their Torah learning, are aware of and experience God’s presence even during the week. This is why the Zohar calls Torah scholars Shabbos. In fact, Shabbos can be defined as a state of being connected to the God, the source of life.

The Chidushei HaRim points out that like Shabbos, the purpose of the Mishkan is the revelation of God’s presence. Sefer Shmos ends with the building of the Mishkan and the revelation of God. The Ramban explains in his introduction to Sefer Shmos that the revelation of God at the end of Sefer Shmos was the culmination of the redemption from Egypt.

Chazal tell us that after the revelation at Mount Sinai and before the sin of the golden calf, we were on such a high spiritual level, God was so revealed to us, that we were free of the evil inclination and death. Chazal teach us that when we said, “נעשה ונשמע/we will do and we will listen” at Mount Sinai, we were each given two crowns, one for “נעשה/we will do” and one for “נשמע/we will listen.” These two crowns symbolized the high spiritual level we were on. Before the sin, we experienced closeness to God without the Mishkan.

After the sin of the golden calf, being on a lower spiritual level, the two crowns were taken away from us. God was hidden from us. We needed the Mishkan to be able to experience closeness to God. The Arizal taught that on Shabbos, though, Moshe Rabeinu returned the crowns to us. The Arizal is teaching us that on Shabbos, God reveals Himself. On Shabbos, God makes it easier for us to be aware of Him. On Shabbos we can feel close to God without the Mishkan. This is the meaning of the pasuk in this week’s parsha referring to keeping Shabbos, “... לדעת כי אני ה' מקדשכם/… to know that I am God who sanctifies you.”

This explains the relationship between the Mishkan and Shabbos. The purpose of both is to allow us to experience closeness with God.

We find another example of the word אך/only regarding purifying vessels that we receive from non-Jews, “אך את הזהב ואת הכסף .../only the gold and silver …” In this case, as well, אך/only qualifies that which follows it. When purifying the gold, it must not have any rust on it. אך/Only tells us that only unsoiled gold can be purified.

The Sfas Emes explains that in this sense אך/only qualifies the day of Shabbos, as well. On Shabbos, there is no barrier between us and God. Because there is no barrier, God’s presence is manifest even without the Mishkan. This is why Bezalel was not permitted to do the work of the Mishkan on Shabbos. The Torah is commanding us to experience God’s presence on Shabbos, through Shabbos alone, without the Mishkan.

For this reason, as well, Chazal learn that only the thirty nine types of work found in the Mishkan are prohibited on Shabbos. God is the life giving force behind every action that we do. It appears, though, as if we are autonomous, that we are running on our own power. The thirty nine different types of work that we do during the week, therefore, actually hide God. They act as a barrier. In reality, though, we only act because God gives us strength to do so. Our mission during the week is to realize that our actions and activities are being powered by God. This realization enables us to feel God’s presence during the week as well. Since Shabbos was given to us so that we can more easily experience closeness to God, the thirty nine types of work that hide His presence are prohibited.

Contemplating this during the week as we go about our daily activities is a kind of keeping the Shabbos even during the week. Chazal hint at this when they advise us that we can keep the mitzvah of remembering the Shabbos during the week as well. If we find something good during the week we should set it aside for Shabbos. We’ve explained that Shabbos can be defined as a state of connectedness to God. Accordingly, understanding that God is behind every activity and action that we do during the week is an aspect of keeping Shabbos.

Purim 5631 Second Ma'amar

We find in Megillas Esther, “... הפיל פור ... מיום ליום ומחֹדש לחדש .../… he cast a lot … for every day and for every month …” If he cast a lot for every day, every month is included. Why did he cast both for every day and also for every month? The Midrash explains that first he cast a lot for the days of the week. This did not work because the archangel of each day complained to God. When Haman saw that the lot for days was not working, he switched to months. This Midrash is difficult, though, because even the lot for months must fall on a specific day of the week. What did Haman gain by switching to months?

The Sfas Emes explains that there is a fundamental difference between days of the week and days of the month. The Gemara, noting this difference, says that Shabbos is established and set from the Creation – the days of the week never change – whereas the Jewish People establish the holidays – establishing when the month starts, was given to the nation of Israel.

On a deeper plane the Sfas Emes explains that God did not merely give us the power to establish new months. The new month is a metaphor for renewal in the natural world. With the ability to establish new months, God made us the vehicle through which new life is drawn into the world. Generally we don’t think of nature as needing renewal. Nature appears to be constant, following set and unchanging laws. Things seem the same today as they did yesterday and the day before. Actually, though, God is constantly renewing the Creation. The act of creation was not a one time event. Rather, it is constant and continuous. God’s will for the Creation to continue is fed to the physical world through a spiritual hierarchy of which the nation of Israel is an integral part. Therefore, the creative life force that is responsible for the continuing existence of everything we see, comes through us. The cycle of the lunar month symbolizes this constant renewal of Creation because it is so blatant. Every month the moon waxes, wanes, disappears and reappears. Significantly, the Hebrew word for month – חודש – has the same root as the Hebrew for new – חדש.

For Haman the wicked, our connection with the source of life was anathema. Haman was at the exact opposite end of the life – death spectrum. We are part of the life giving structure of the Creation. Chazal tell us that the wicked, on the other hand, are considered dead even as they live. Haman, the wicked, had cut himself off from the source of life.

Haman understood this clearly. When he proposed our destruction to Achashveirosh, he said, “ישנו עם אחד מפוזר ומפורד .../There is one nation, scattered and separated …” Even though we were scattered and separated, we were one nation. The surface view of the Creation shows innumerable different and disparate things. However, at the most fundamental level, there is one creative life force that is responsible for the entire Creation’s continued existence. Haman understood that the nation of Israel represents this Oneness that underlies everything. Even in exile, when there is much less awareness of God, we remain one nation. Our very existence testifies to the fundamental unity, the Godly life force that underpins every disparate part of Creation. In fact, our primary mission in the exile is to become aware ourselves and to make others aware of this. This is what so greatly angered Haman. We were an intrusion on his turf, so to speak. Haman is part of the physical world. But he is wicked and wants nothing to do with the source of life. We are a threat to him because we represent the source of life.

And this is the reason he switched his lots to months after days of the week failed. As we indicated earlier, the days of the week culminating in Shabbos are God given from the time of Creation. They are above nature. Haman has no part of it. Because Haman was part of the physical world, he could have more “success” with months which represent renewal in the physical world.

Haman wanted to destroy us because we represented connection to the source of life in the natural world and he wanted to remain disconnected from God, the source of life. It is particularly significant, because of this, that the miracle of Purim occurred specifically within the bounds of nature. The miracle had to occur within nature in order to show that nature does not “belong to” Haman and Amalek. Rather, God is the source of life and existence in the natural world. This explains why the Megilla associates the miracle with the month in which it happened, “והחודש אשר נהפך מיגון לשמחה/… and the month which turned from sorrow to joy …” The Megilla is alluding to this concept by emphasizing that the miracle did not exceed the bounds of nature.

Tetzaveh (Parshas Zachor) 5631 First Ma'amar

“ואתה תצוה את בני ישראל .../And you will command the children of Israel…” In the first pasuk of this week’s parsha, God instructs Moshe Rabeinu to command the children of Israel regarding the mitzvah of lighting the menorah. Usually when God instructs Moshe to tell the people a commandment, He says, “... דבר אל בני ישראל/… speak to the children of Israel.” Why does God say here, “ואתה תצוה .../And you will command …” when instructing Moshe about this particular mitzvah?

The Sfas Emes teaches us that the נרות/lamps of the menorah allude to the mitzvos. In Mishlei we find, “... נר מצוה ותורה אור .../… a commandment is a lamp and Torah is light …” Just as light needs a lamp to hold it, so too, the light of the Torah needs a vessel to contain it. The vessel that holds the light of the Torah in this world is the mitzvos. The light of the Torah is ephemeral. It needs a mechanism for being drawn into and influencing the physical world. That mechanism is the mitzvos.

When we perform mitzvos we bring the light of the Torah into the world. In fact, the Zohar says that our 248 limbs parallel the 248 positive commandments. Our very limbs become the conduits through which the light of the Torah is drawn down into this world. When we understand that we are merely conduits, that there is nothing inherent in our actions or in us that brings spiritual light into the world, that it is the will of God that the specific actions of the mitzvos have this effect, we accomplish the will of God. That is why this specific mitzvah of preparing the menorah starts with, “ואתה תצוה .../And you will command …” It is only because God commanded us to do the mitzvos that they have this quality.

The Midrash, explaining the first few words of this week’s parsha says that the poor of Israel are equal to Eliyahu HaNavi and Daniel. How does the Midrash arrive at this conclusion from, “ואתה תצוה .../And you will command…”? According to the Sfas Emes, however, it is clear. A Jew, regardless of his spiritual level, who performs a mitzvah with the understanding that the light of that mitzvah comes through him from God, is on the level of our greatest prophets. This is because when a person does a mitzvah he connects to God. In fact, the root of the word mitzvah is the same as that of the Aramaic “צוותא/connection”. It is encouraging to know that regardless of our backgrounds and spiritual state, each of us can do the will of God and bring the Torah’s light into this world by being aware of this when performing the mitzvos.

The Chidushei HaRim understands this concept from the brachah we make before doing a mitzvah. We say “... אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו .../… that He made us holy with His mitzvos and commanded us …” We are able to do the will of God and bring the light of the Torah into the world through the mitzvos, only because this is the way God structured the world. He commanded us to do the mitzvos. Therefore, we are able to be His conduits to bring His light into the world.

The Chidushei HaRim explains that this is the intent of Chazal when they said that a person who wants to protect his assets should plant an adar tree as we find in Tehillim, “אדיר במרום ה'/God is strong on high.” Planting an adar tree is a metaphor for knowing that our assets and strength, everything really, comes from God. Chazal are teaching us that the awareness itself is protective and strengthening. This concept and metaphor applies to the month of Adar as well. The month of Adar, then, is an especially appropriate time to work on our awareness that when we perform the mitzvos we are conduits for drawing God’s light, the light of the Torah into the physical world.

Terumah 5631 Second Ma'amar

In this week’s parsha, God describes the Mishkan and its utensils to Moshe Rabeinu. The Midrash tells us that because Moshe Rabeinu had difficulty understanding the intricacies of the Menorah, God showed him a virtual Menorah. Even so, Moshe Rabeinu found it too difficult so God told him to throw a talent of gold into the fire for Him to fashion.

The Sfas Emes asks that if Moshe Rabeinu could not make the Menorah why did God bother showing it to him in the first place? God, after all, certainly knew that this was beyond Moshe Rabeinu’s capabilities. The Sfas Emes explains that it was crucial for Moshe Rabeinu to desire to make the Menorah, even if he could not. God showed Moshe Rabeinu a virtual Menorah so that he would know what he must desire. Moshe Rabeinu then did whatever he could to the best of his ability. Because of Moshe Rabeinu’s desire to see the completed Menorah, God helped and finished the job.

The Sfas Emes says that this is an important lesson that applies to every Jew and to every mitzvah for we certainly do not have the power to achieve the will of God. How could we? God is infinite and we are finite. However, we are required to yearn to achieve the will of God and to work towards that goal to the best of our abilities. The will of God is attained, with God’s help even if it is beyond our capabilities, according to the intensity of our desire.

Along these same lines the Chidushei HaRim explains a Gemara in Maseches Megillah. Rebbi Yitzchak says that if one will tell you that he worked hard in Torah and he found success, believe him (יגעתי ומצאתי תאמין). The Chidushei HaRim points out the incongruity in Rebbi Yitzchak’s words. Rebbi Yitzchak’s choice of words connotes a found item. Chazal tell us that items are found unintentionally (ג' באין בהיסח הדעת ... מציאה), the opposite of focused work towards a goal. Conventionally, if a person works hard and says that he succeeded and realized his goal, we tend to believe him. Why does Rebbi Yitzchak say, “he found success”?

The Chidushei HaRim answers that Rebbi Yitzchak is teaching us a profound lesson about success in Torah. The reality is that an understanding of the ultimate truth in the Torah is beyond our capabilities. The only way to reach this understanding is for it to be given to us. Rebbi Yitzchak is teaching us that God gives the gift of understanding the Torah to those who try hard to acquire it.

We see this clearly when Moshe Rabeinu ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. He worked hard. He did not eat or drink for forty days. At the end of the forty days the pasuk relates, ויתן אל משה ... שתי לחת העדת/He gave Moshe … the two tablets of testimony …” The Midrash says that the Torah was given to Moshe Rabeinu as a gift.

When it comes to serving God, He helps us to attain goals that are beyond our abilities. The key to success is the desire for it.

Terumah 5631 First Ma'amar

A recurring theme throughout the Torah is that God reveals Himself to us according to our level of belief in Him. A person, who believes that God gives existence every moment to every thing and every action, will experience God’s presence in every thing and every action.

We see this idea regarding learning and understanding Torah, particularly תורה שבעל פה/the Oral Law. The Torah can be understood on many levels. Each person understands it according to the intensity of his desire to understand it. The reason this idea applies to learning Torah is because the Torah itself is a revelation of God. Explaining this, the first Midrash in the parsha, expounding on the pasuk, “ ... ויקחו לי תרומה .../… take for Me a contribution …”, says that after a sale, the seller no longer has any ties to the object he sold. The Torah is different. God, as it were, sold us the Torah and Himself with it. So, the more a person wants to understand, the more God reveals Himself to that person through the Torah.

The same motif clearly applies to serving God. The pasuk in Tehillim states, “בטח בה' ועשה טוב שכן בארץ ורעה אמונה/Trust in God and do good so that you may dwell in the land and nourish yourself with belief.” Chazal tell us that according to the strength of our belief, God reveals Himself to us by helping us to be successful in serving Him. Trusting in God means being sure that He will help us succeed in our service towards Him. Many times, a person thinks regarding giving tzedakah, “If I give now, what will I have tomorrow?” Chazal tell us that believers give knowing that God will give them more. It is specifically because they give today, that they are blessed with more.

The Chiddushei HaRim explains the pasuk, “ברוך הגבר אשר יבטח בה' והיה ה' מבטחו/Blessed is the man who trusts in God, then God will be his security,” along the same lines. According to the level of man’s trust in God, God will be his security.

We find this same idea in this week’s parsha. “ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם/Make me a sanctuary so that I may dwell amongst them.” The Hebrew root of the word “מקדש/sanctuary, is the same as the Hebrew word for holy – קדוש. קדוש/holy also connotes separated. When we say that God is holy, we are saying that he is separate, hidden. According to the level of our belief that He is hidden in every thing and every action, He will dwell amongst us. We will merit an awareness of God in every thing and every action. In this sense, God’s revelation is dependent on us.

Chazal hint at this when they say, “במידה שאדם מודד מודדין לו/A man is measured according to his own measurement.” God is infinite and everywhere. But He is hidden. He is revealed in this world in measured doses. According to the measure of a person belief in God’s providence, he is granted an equal measure of awareness of God’s presence. God’s revelation is Truth. Truth becomes revealed based on our belief. Then the revealed Truth nourishes and helps our belief in a cycle.

This is also the meaning of the pasuk in Tehillim, “ה' רֹעי לא אחסר/God is my shepherd I shall not lack.” Proportionate to my belief that God is my shepherd, I will merit an awareness of His providence and I shall not lack. Similarly, according to the Rav of Neschiz, David HaMelech is praying that he not lack saying that God is his shepherd.

We find the same concept regarding Shabbos. God is more revealed on Shabbos and more hidden during the week. According to how much we work on our belief during the week, the workdays, we will experience God’s presence on Shabbos. Shabbos then nourishes and supports our belief. That’s why the Zohar calls the Shabbos meals, “סעודתא דמהימנותא/meals of belief. The Shabbos experience affects how we believe during the coming week.

In the Midrash we find that God says, “…make me a room that I can dwell among you.” The word for “I will dwell” in Hebrew is “אדור.” The Chidushei HaRim notes that אדור/I will dwell, has the same root as the word for strength (as in, “אדיר במרום ה'/God is strong on high.) It is encouraging, it gives us strength to know that everything in a person’s life comes from God. This is the key behind the month of Adar which also has the same root as the Hebrew word for “strength” and “dwell.” It is appropriate during this month to submit ourselves to God’s will, understand and work on our belief that everything that happens to us comes from Him and that He is the power behind everything including our own actions. The Sfas Emes is teaching us that we can be secure in the knowledge that when we “do good” by serving Him, by giving tzedakah and by putting ourselves out for Him, He is there for us and will help us succeed.

Mishpatim 5631 Second Ma'amar

At the time of the revelation on Mount Sinai, God instructs Moshe Rabeinu regarding the nation’s upcoming journey to the land of Israel, “הנה אנֹכי שֹׁלח מלאך לפניך לשמרך בדרך ... אל תמר בו ... כי שמי בקרבו ... ועבדתם את ה' אלקיך וברך את לחמך ... והסרֹתי מחלה מקרבך/Behold I am sending an angel before you to safeguard you on the way … do not defy him … for My name is within him … You shall serve God your Lord and He will bless your bread … I will remove illness from your midst.”

The Sfas Emes understands this paragraph as a metaphor explaining the difference between serving God during the days of the week and on Shabbos. First, a description of the metaphor, followed by how the Sfas Emes sees it in the p’sukim.

The Torah requires us to work during the week, “שֵׁשֶת יָמִים תַּעֲבֹד .../You shall work for six days …” During the week the Torah tells us, essentially, to immerse ourselves in the matters of this world. Should we not live a life of holiness? The Sfas Emes explains that holiness is hidden in our weekday activities. We are able to draw out the holiness and transform our activities into mitzvos. How so? God gives life and existence to everything continuously. Existence is a continuing act of creation. We and every other part of the Creation continue to exist is so that we may do God’s will. Since God enables every action we take, it follows that every action can be a tool to do His will. Every action is a potential mitzvah.

The p’sukim mentioned above suggest this. The angel that God sent is the holy life force within every part of the Creation. We are required to recognize it by striving to do God’s will with everything and every action. Regarding this the pasuk says, “אל תמר בו ... כי שמי בקרבו/Do not defy him … for My name is within him.” When we go to work without recognizing the angel within our work, without recognizing the potential holiness inherent in our work, we are defying the angel. Significantly, the Hebrew word for work – מלאכה has the same root as the Hebrew for angel – מלאך. The מלאכה/work enclothes the מלאך/angel.

During the week this applies to our weekday work. On Shabbos, though, there is no מלאכה/work. On Shabbos we can serve God without the outer shell of work. Shabbos, Chazal tell us, is like the next world. Just like there is no work in the next world, so too, there is no work on Shabbos. This is alluded to by the pasuk, “ועבדתם את ה'/You shall serve God.” It implies that there are ways of serving God directly.

The pasuk continues that God will remove illness from our midst. The automatic result of serving God on Shabbos is that He will remove all illness from our midst. According to the Sfas Emes, eating and the removal of illness is symbolic of all our activities and needs. This is why, on Shabbos we do not request things for ourselves in our prayers. There is no need to. Why does the pasuk speak specifically about eating, then? The reason is that there is a particular physical connection between eating and illness. The Zohar says that all of the body’s illnesses have dietary causes.

How does serving God on Shabbos result in His taking care of all our needs? The Sfas Emes explains. Directly following the requirement to serve God the pasuk states that God will bless our bread. The Hebrew word for bless – ברך has the same root as the Hebrew for a type of grafting – הַבְרָכָה. Grafting means that a branch from one tree attaches to and gains nourishment from a different tree. The pasuk is teaching us to “graft” our mundane activities, such as eating, to God by using them to serve Him. We then gain nourishment from Him and He removes illness from our midst and takes care of our needs.

Yisro 5632 Third Ma'amar

In Tehillim, “... גִבֹּרֵי כֹחַ עֹשֵׂי דְבָרוֹ לִשְׁמֹעַ בְּקוֹל דְבָרוֹ/… strong warriors who do His bidding, to hearken to the sound of His word.” It would seem that this pasuk is worded backwards. One needs to hearken to God’s word and understand what He requires of us in order to do His bidding. The pasuk says that the strong warriors do His bidding in order to hearken to his word. What does this mean?

We find the same construct when we accepted the Torah. Chazal praise the nation of Israel for saying, when offered the Torah, “... נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע/… We will do and we will listen.” Even before we knew what God required of us we committed to do. This requires an explanation, though. We certainly trusted in God and believed that He would not require us to do anything beyond our capabilities. We certainly knew that anything God would ask of us would be for our own benefit. Why the great praise, therefore, when we committed to comply with God’s commandments even before understanding them fully?

The Sfas Emes explains that while the simple meaning of listening to God’s word is understanding how to perform his commandments, it also implies something much deeper. God’s דִבּור/speech teaches us how to perform the commandments. However the קוֹל דְבָרוֹ/sound of his word implies a deeper understanding. We can relate to the speech of the words and we can related to the underlying sound of the speech. The underlying sound suggests the underlying spiritual meaning of the words. The Zohar makes this distinction between דִבּור/speech and קוֹל/sound as well when it refers to speech as components of sound [1] (i.e. sound is the כלל and speech is the פרט.)

At Mount Sinai we committed to comply with God’s commandments and we accepted the yoke of heaven upon us in order to merit hearing the sound of God’s voice within the commandments, as it were. By committing to perform the commandments we would merit understanding that would otherwise be impossible to attain. This is the reason we said, “נַעֲשֶה וְנִשְׁמָע /We will do and we will listen.” We committed to do in order to merit hearing (the underlying sound of God – understanding the inner meaning of the commandments.) This is also the reason the pasuk in Tehillim states first, “עֹשֵי דְבָרוֹ/do His bidding” and only afterwards, “לִשְמֹעַ בְּקוֹל דְבָרוֹ/to hearken to the sound of His word.” By taking appropriate action the strong warriors would merit hearing the sound within His words; they would merit understanding the deeper meaning of their actions.


[1] For more detail on this Zohar and the relationship between קול/sound and דיבור/speech see the Sfas Emes on Shmos 5631 Second Ma’amar.

Also, for a fascinating discussion of this concept as it relates to the names of God, the Tetragrammaton and Adnus and the different sounds we are required to blow with the Shofar on Rosh HaShana see Ya’aros Devash Chelek 1 Derush 6.

Yisro 5632 Second Ma'amar

Chazal teach us that before Yisro converted to Judaism he was called יתר/Yeser. After he converted, an extra letter ו/vav, was added to his name. He became יתרו/Yisro. What is the significance of this extra letter?

The Chidushei HaRim explains. The prophet Micha said, “מִי אֵ-ל כָּמוֹךָ נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן וְעֹבֵר עַל פֶּשַׁע לִשְׁאֵרִית נַחֲלָתוֹ .../Who is a God like You, Who forgives iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? …” Micha is referring to the nation of Israel. He calls us “the remnant of His heritage.” Why does the prophet refer only to a remnant instead of to the entire nation? Chazal say that Micha is referring to those who make themselves like a remnant. Cultivating the quality of humility is a surefire way to merit God’s forgiveness.

The name יֶתֶר/Yeser also means remnant. According to the Chidushei HaRim, the name Yeser indicates that Yisro had the characteristic of humility. Before Yisro converted, though, his humility did not result in God passing over his transgressions. The prophet Micha was referring to the Jewish people when he proclaimed his timeless message of God’s forgiveness. However, after he converted, Yisro became a part of the remnant of God’s heritage. After Yisro converted, he enjoyed God’s forgiveness together with the other humble members of the nation of Israel. To show that he was included, a vav, which signifies connection, was added to his name.

Tu BiShvat - Chidushei HaRim

The Sfas Emes does not have a ma'amar dedicated to Tu BeShvat. The Chidushei HaRim, though, does. Unfortunately, I did not have time this week to translate it so I decided to post the original Hebrew, lezakos es harabim. Many thanks to hebrewbooks.org from whom I downloaded the Sefer HaZchus of the Chidushei HaRim. The poor quality of the text is a reflection of my technical ignorance. To see the text more clearly simply click on it and a clear version will open in a new window.

Happy Tu BeShvat and a Good Shabbos to all.

Beshalach 5631 Second Ma'amar

“דבר אל בני ישראל וישבו .../Speak to the children of Israel and they will return …” The children of Israel had left Egypt three days earlier. God commands Moshe Rabeinu to instruct the nation to turn around and head back towards the Egyptians. Pharaoh will think that the nation has lost its way in the desert and will be goaded into pursuing them. When he confronts the nation of Israel, God will destroy him and the Egyptians. The obvious question as we read these p’sukim is, “Why?” What was to be gained by returning? If God wanted to destroy the Egyptian army, He certainly had ample opportunity to do so before.

The miracle of the Exodus happened very quickly. Although the Egyptians suffered with plagues for a full year beforehand, our role in the Exodus began when God commanded us to take lambs for the Pesach sacrifice only a few days before we actually left Egypt. We left Egypt so quickly, the Torah relates, that there was no time even for our bread to rise. Things that happen quickly rather than gradually tend not to have a lasting impact especially when they are not earned; at this stage we certainly had not earned the redemption.[1] The will of God was that our redemption from Egypt become a part of us. The lesson we needed to take with us was that God is always with us, an especially encouraging lesson in times of distress when this fundamental fact is not apparent. We could truly internalize this lesson, only if we left Egypt on our own merit. This is why God commanded us to return; so that we could leave on our own merit.

Chazal allude to this idea when they say that at the time of the splitting of the sea we were being judged whether to be saved or destroyed with the Egyptians. This also explains why we were afraid and cried out to God when we saw the approaching Egyptian army. Considering all the miracles we witnessed in Egypt, it is clear that we had not the slightest doubt in God’s ability to save us from the Egyptians. Why, then, did we cry out to God in fear? The reason is because we doubted ourselves. We were not sure if we really deserved to be saved. It is possible that this doubt was the reason we complained to Moshe Rabeinu for having taken us out of Egypt, “... כי טוב לנו עבד את מצרים ממתנו במדבר/… for it is better for us to serve the Egyptians that to die in the desert.” We could have stayed in Egypt until we were deserving on our own. Also, God had promised Ya’akov that He would redeem his children from Egypt. If we were still in Egypt we would still have had God’s promise. Now that we had left, this promise had already been fulfilled.

God commanded us to return so that we could leave on our own merit. However, this really only begs the question. Why was the Exodus a two step process? Why redeem us with undeserved miracles first, then redeem us again because we earned it? Why not redeem us once on the basis of our own merits? The Sfas Emes explains that the first miraculous Exodus was needed in order for us to deserve the second redemption at the splitting of the Red Sea. The miraculous Exodus taught us that God is with us. We used the miraculous Exodus from Egypt to strengthen our belief and trust in God. In the merit of our strong belief and trust in God, we were saved at the Red Sea.

Chazal use the same concept when they teach us that if Israel would keep two Shabbosim they would immediately be redeemed. For the entire nation to keep two Shabbosim is certainly a great thing but what is the connection between this and redemption? The Chidushei HaRim answers this question in the name of Rav Shmelke Z"L. First we need to know that Shabbos is a high level spiritual day. This means that on Shabbos we and the entire Creation are closer to God. It is easier on Shabbos to become more aware of Him that it is during the week. In fact, Shabbos, as a concept, means closeness to God.

God wants us to become close to Him. He wants us to be aware of Him. He also wants us to earn closeness to Him. In order to help us, He first gives us an undeserved experience of closeness to Him. If we take advantage of this experience by using it as a stepping stone to become even closer to God, we are rewarded with God’s reciprocation.

God gives us Shabbos even though we may not deserve it. We can have an undeserved spiritual experience of closeness to God. Our job, then, is to take advantage of this gift. We do so by drawing the Shabbos experience into the following week. We can use the spiritual experience of Shabbos to help us maintain an awareness of God in our lives during the week as well. Based on our work during the week, we are rewarded with an even greater spiritual experience on the next Shabbos. The second Shabbos is an earned experience. By earning closeness to God, we bring the redemption which by definition is closeness to God.

[1] See Yechezkel 20:5-9 and Sfas Emes Bo 5631 Second Ma’amar

Beshalach 5631 First Ma'amar

God’s providence on every aspect of Creation became known and revealed to all when He split the Red Sea to save us and destroy the Egyptians. We know this from the following Midrash. The Midrash states on the pasuk, “נכון כסאך מאז מעולם אתה/Your throne is established from then; You are eternal,” that even though You are eternal, Your throne became established only at the time of אז/Then (an allusion to Shiras HaYam/The Song of the Sea which begins with the word אז/Then.) The Midrash explains that God’s throne becoming established means that His providence became known in the world.

When the children of Israel realized that everything, including their very actions and the actions of every creature, is enabled because of the Godliness within, they sang. So, the song that the children of Israel sang was not so much a thank you to God for having saved them. Rather it was a spontaneous outburst of praise upon the realization that God is in everything. The Midrash, in fact, states this explicitly, “As soon as they came to the sea and saw God’s strength, how He punishes the wicked and immersed the Egyptians in the sea, ‘'ויאמינו בה/They believed in God.’ In the merit of this belief, Ru'ach HaKodesh/the holy spirit rested upon them and they sang.” Clearly, the key to their singing was their belief in God’s providence.

For this reason the introduction to Shiras HaYam is in the future tense, “אז ישיר/Then they will sing,” rather than the past tense, “אז שר/Then they sang.” The song is not thanks for a one time event. Rather it is an ongoing praise of God’s direct providence in the world. This is why the first pasuk of Shiras HaYam refers to השירה הזאת/this song, an allusion to a specific already known praise that rises from each part of the Creation.

When we praise God, indicating our belief that God is the force that gives everything its existence, we influence all His creatures to sing. How does a creation sing? To understand this we need to define song. Song is the physical expression of a spiritual essence within. Each creation is unique, has a unique task, a unique spiritual essence and therefore sings its own unique song to the Creator. This is the meaning of Perek Shira/The Chapter of Song which comprises the songs that each creature sings to glorify God. When we are aware of God in the Creation, when we sing God’s praises, the Creation can be said to be singing, as well. We know this from the pasuk "כל פעל ה' למענהו .../God created everything for His praise.

Chazal inform us that King Chizkiyahu did not sing (praise to God.) This is why he did not become the Mashiach. The Chiddushei HaRim explains that Chizkiyahu did not sing because God’s Providence was so clear to him that he was not moved by miracles. Chizkiyahu saw clearly the miracle of God’s life force in nature. To Chizkiyahu there was absolutely no difference between natural and supernatural phenomena. As we’ve said, singing to God is an outburst of praise stemming from the realization that God’s Providence is behind all. To Chizkiyahu this was so obvious that he was not moved to sing praises to God about it.
For us, though, singing God’s praise is a result of that special “aha!” that happens when we realize that God is the source Who gives life to every thing, creature and action in this world enabling us and the entire creation to come close to Him.

Bo 5631 Second Ma'amar

The seventh plague came and went and Pharaoh still could not bring himself to let us leave Egypt. Imagine the exasperation! God said that there would be a redemption with signs and wonders and yet, we were still in Egypt. Pharaoh was being obstinate. Where was the promised redemption?

The first Midrash on the parsha explains that the we did not deserve the redemption. God had made us His own and instead of embracing God we angered Him by not renouncing idol worship. For this we deserved to be destroyed. (see Yechezkel 20:5-9) God redeemed us so that Pharaoh would not say that God destroyed them because he was unable to redeem them. In order to redeem us in spite of ourselves, God caused Pharaoh to be obstinate. As a result of Pharaoh’s obstinacy we were redeemed.

This is the meaning of a pasuk in Mishlei, “ כובד אבן ונטל החול וכעס אויל כבד משניהם/A stone has weight and sand has mass, but the anger of a fool is heavier than both.” The beginning of this pasuk refers to the nation of Israel. The Hebrew for weight has the same root as the Hebrew for honor. God honored the nation of Israel. We angered God, though. The end of the pasuk refers to Pharaoh. We could not be redeemed immediately on our own merit. So, God arranged a series of events whereby Pharaoh’s obstinacy would be his own undoing.

God explains this to Moshe Rabeinu at the beginning of our parsha, “בא אל פרעה כי אני הכבדתי את לבו .../Go to Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart …” The situation in Egypt does not seem promising for the nation of Israel. Pharaoh shows no sign of weakening his resolve to keep the Jews even after seven terrible plagues. God tells Moshe not to despair and not be concerned for it is He who has hardened Pharaoh’s heart in order to be able to redeem the unworthy nation. What appears to be a cause for concern is actually the very thing that will permit the nation to be redeemed.

This is an important lesson for each of us when we find ourselves in a predicament and wonder where God is. Why isn’t He helping me? The lesson of Egypt teaches us not to despair in these situations. We can remember that God caused Pharaoh to be obstinate and continue the bondage in order to bring about the redemption. God is always helping us. In every situation He has our best interests in mind. Even if we do not understand how, we can understand that God arranges everything that happens to us for our own benefit.

Bo 5631 First Ma'amar

The Chidushei HaRim asks why it was necessary for God to bring specifically ten plagues upon the Egyptians. God could have accomplished His purpose with any number of plagues or with no plagues at all. Why ten? The Chidushei HaRim answers that the ten plagues removed God’s concealment from the ten commands with which the world was created and changed them fromעשרה מאמרות/ten commands to עשרת הדברות/ten commandments.

The Sfas Emes explains this enigmatic answer. God created the world withעשרה מאמרות/ten commands. These are stated clearly in the first chapter of Breishis. God constructed the Creation mechanism so that when He uttered the words of creation, the words themselves gave their creations existence. So, for example, when God said, “יהי אור/Let there be light,” those words gave existence to light. The life force behind everything in this world is those letters in the beginning of the Torah which describe the Creation. The letters are the means through which God extends His Will to create and continue the existence of the entire creation. This is a crucial concept. The Creation was not a one time act. It is a continuous.

Looking around us, though, it is not clear at all that the life force that gives everything existence is in the letters of these very commands. In fact, it is not obvious that there is a spiritual life force at all. The Godly life force in Creation is hidden. The purpose of the plagues that God wrought upon Egypt was to clearly reveal that the physical Creation owes its continuing existence to a Godly life force. It was to make it known that there is more to the world around us than our eyes perceive. Each plague revealed God in one aspect of the creation. Each plague removed a barrier preventing us from being aware of God in that aspect of nature referred to in one Creation מאמר/command. This is why God brought ten plagues upon the Egyptians; one plague for each of the ten commands by which God created the world.

What does the Chidushei HaRim mean, though, when he says that each מאמר/command changed to a דבור/utterance? The Chidushei HaRim is using a play on words. Although in Hebrew the root דבר/DBR means speech, in Aramaic it means leader. The Zohar uses this same play on words when it explains, “ודברת בם/You will speak about them.” The Zohar explains this as, “You will guide your actions according to the word of God.” דבור/Leadership symbolizes the revelation of God in the world. In the exile God’s truth is hidden. The Zohar describes this as the aspect of דבור/leadership being in exile.

We find this concept regarding Moshe Rabeinu’s speech impediment. When God asked Moshe Rabeinu to return to Egypt to speak to Pharaoh and begin the redemption process, he responds, “לא איש דברים אנכי/I am not a man of words.” When the Torah was given, however, the pasuk says, “אלה הדברים אשר דבר משה .../These are the words that Moshe spoke …” How did Moshe change from a man with a speech impediment to one who could speak and explain the entire Torah to the nation? The Midrash teaches us that after he merited receiving the Torah he was healed. In the exile Moshe Rabeinu was not a man of words. Moshe Rabeinu understood that in the exile God’s influence was far from apparent. But at the giving of the Torah, God’s leadership was clear for all to see. It follows that Moshe Rabeinu’s speech impediment, which symbolized God’s concealment, was healed.

As we’ve said, the ten plagues removed God’s concealment from theעשרה מאמרות/ten commands with which the world was created. As we and the Egyptians became more aware of God with each plague, each aspect of nature represented by one of the ten commands was changed to an aspect of God’s דבור/leadership. Finally, they were aware of God in all aspects of nature. This is why the Chidushei HaRim said that the ten commands which created the world changed to עשרת הדברות/ten aspects of (God’s) leadership.

Va'Eira 5631 Second Ma'amar

Why must we sometimes endure exile, distress and troubles? The fundamental reason for all exile on a national level and distress and troubles for each of us individually is so that we will recognize that it is God who is in control, not us. If we do not appreciate Him when things are going well for us, His answer is to hide from us and let us fend for ourselves, in a manner of speaking. Then, when things start to fall apart, we realize just how much we need Him. The Chidushei HaRim says that if a person would know for sure that God is the source of everything that happens, there would be no reason to conceal His presence.

We find this concept in the p’sukim at the beginning of this week’s parsha. After God asks Moshe to tell the children of Israel that He will take them out of Egyptian bondage, redeem them and take them unto Him as a nation, He promises, “... וידעתם כי אני ה' אלקיכם המוציא אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים/… You shall know that I am God, your Lord Who is extracting you from under the oppression of Egypt.” By the end of the Exodus it would be obvious that God orchestrated it.

The exile and exodus from Egypt is a lesson for all generations and for each of us on a personal level. When we realize that everything that happens to us is orchestrated by God, then the reason for the tribulations is removed and there is a redemption of sorts, reminiscent of our redemption from Egypt. It is for this reason that we are commanded to remember the Exodus every day. It is a reminder that it is not through our own efforts but rather by the grace of God that we are not slaves in Egypt today. The way out of difficult situations is by remembering this principle. To the extent that it becomes clear to us that God is in control, not us, we are able to extract ourselves from every difficult situation in which we find ourselves.
It is not necessary to wait until we are in distress. We can prevent difficulties as well by remembering this important lesson. This is the deeper meaning of Chazal’s requirement to remember the Exodus, “... כל ימי חייך/… all the days of your life.” The implication is that even during those days when you are truly living, because you are close to God, the source of life, you are required to remember that it is He who took you out of Egypt. By extension, we remember that it is He who orchestrates our good fortune as well as our distress. It is the deeper meaning behind the view that this requirement applies even in the days of Mashi’ach, certainly a good time for us. It is a time when Chazal tell us that the evil inclination does not rule. Still, we are required to remember, that if it were not for God’s mercy we would still be slaves in Egypt.

Only after the Exodus when we were no longer enslaved, were we able to accept upon ourselves the yoke of heaven. The Zohar explains that as long as a person has upon him a burden, he cannot accept the yoke of God. This is the reason a slave is exempt from the mitzvah of Kri’as Sh’ma. He is exempt from accepting the yoke of heaven upon himself because he is subject to the authority of his master. This also explains why we thank God in the second Brachah of Birchas HaMazon for both taking us out of Egypt and for redeeming us from the house of bondage. Besides taking us out of Egypt, removing the Egyptian yoke from us is worthy of thanks in and of itself. It allowed us to subsequently accept the yoke of heaven. We see this in the p’sukim at the beginning of our parsha. God takes us for His nation only after he redeems us from the oppressive yoke of Egypt.

This very same idea applies to each one of us any time we find ourselves in a distressful situation. In order to fully accept upon ourselves the yoke of heaven, we first need to be extracted from the situation. We do this by accepting that it is God who put us in the difficulty. He did this so that we may come to the realization that He is in complete control, not us. This recognition helps us to leave the distress behind and allows us to accept the yoke of heaven. God, in his mercy, has given us these tools so that each of us may experience his own personal Exodus every day. May we merit it!

Va'Eira 5631 First Ma'amar

The Sfas Emes focuses on the main point of the first paragraph of the parsha. In the first pasuk of the parsha God tells Moshe Rabeinu, “אני ה'/I am God.” A few pesukim later He commands Moshe to convey this to the children of Israel and that He will take them out of Egypt. Finally, in the last pasuk of the paragraph, the Torah tells us that they did not accept Moshe Rabeinu’s message, “מקוצר רוח/because of shortness of breath...” What is the significance of the message and why were they unable to accept it?

We know that our actions have consequences. It is less known that our actions have spiritual ramifications as well. A person’s actions affect his soul all the way to its source. [We usually think of the soul as being in the body. However, according to Chazal only a small part of the soul is in the body. In fact, the Zohar calls the body a shoe for this reason. Only the soul’s lower extremity is inside a person’s body. Most of a person’s soul extends from the body up through many spiritual realms to its source. The soul can be viewed as a continuum which is more spiritual the closer it is to its source and less spiritual the closer it is to the body.] The source of a person’s soul is in a very high spiritual place. It is a place that defies our understanding. It follows that we cannot know completely, the consequences of our actions. Instead of relying on ourselves and our own thought processes, it behooves us to submit our own mind and will to the Will of God.

The Chidushei HaRim explains that this concept is the deeper meaning of the Midrash which says that if Reuven had known that his opposition to his brothers’ desire to kill Yosef would be written in the Torah, he would have carried Yosef back to his father on his shoulders. The Midrash is certainly not telling us that Reuven would have done this because of the honor of being written into the Torah. Rather, the Midrash is teaching us that if Reuven had understood how important his opposition was, so important that it would be written in the Torah, he would have approached it with such enthusiasm that he would have carried Yosef back to his father. Reuven did not do this because he did not know, could not know, the ultimate consequences and importance of his actions.

The Midrash teaches us that Shlomo HaMelech and Moshe Rabeinu grappled with this concept and learnt the lesson as well. Shlomo HaMelech had more wives that the Torah allows a king. The Torah commands a king not to have too many wives lest they steer his heart astray. It was absolutely clear to Shlomo HaMelech that he would not be affected. That is why he allowed himself to have many wives. However, a person’s actions affect him in ways that he does not always understand. Shlomo HaMelech thought that the power of the Torah within him and his connection with God would protect him. But his actions had unexpected consequences for him, consequences that he did not, could not foresee.

Shlomo HaMelech used his wisdom to disregard a commandment. The Midrash sees this alluded to in a pasuk from Koheles. “ופניתי לראות חכמה והוללות ושכלות כי מה האדם שיבוא אחרי המלך את אשר כבר עשוהו/Then I turned my attention to appraising wisdom with madness and folly – for what is man that he would come after the king regarding that which has already been done.” Referring to himself, Koheles says that he used his wisdom for madness and folly. How so? Because he could not know the complete consequences of his actions. He rationalized by saying that God is always with him because of his Torah and will protect him.

The Midrash says that this pasuk refers to Moshe Rabeinu as well. At the end of last week’s parsha Moshe Rabeinu complains to God, “ה' למה הרעותה לעם הזה/God, why have You done evil to this people?” God responds at the beginning of our parsha, “אני ה'/I am God.” The name of God YHVH comes from the Hebrew root which means “being.” It implies that the continued existence of everything in the Creation and everything that happens within the Creation is only because God wills it. The Egyptian exile also continued only because God willed it to. God gives life and existence to everything including the exile.

In fact, every action was decreed at the time of Creation. Koheles alludes to this at the second half of the pasuk mentioned earlier, “... מה האדם שיבוא אחרי המלך את אשר כבר עשוהו /… what is man that he would come after the king regarding that which has already been done.” This is also the meaning of the pasuk at the end of the Creation, “God blessed the seventh day …because on it He abstained from all His work which God created to make.” The end of this pasuk is awkward. The pasuk could have ended with, “which God created.” The last words “to make” seem to be extra. “To make” in Hebrew also means, “To do”. With these words the Torah is telling us that every future action was ordained at the time of the Creation. God is telling Moshe Rabeinu that the exile and all that it entails was decreed. This includes the most recent affliction that happened after Moshe spoke with Pharaoh.

Of course, Moshe Rabeinu knew that God is at the root of everything. That’s why he complained to Him. When God sent Moshe Rabeinu to speak to Pharaoh, though, he had an expectation. He expected that the children of Israel would not be further afflicted. When his expectation was not fulfilled, he complained to God asking Him why He had allowed more harm to befall the people. God’s answer was that Moshe Rabeinu’s expectation was invalid. Everything that happened and everything that will happen is due to God’s decree that it should occur. Chazal tell us that a person does not lift his finger without it being decreed in heaven. In the words of Koheles, “It has already been done.”

God commands Moshe Rabeinu to convey this message to the children of Israel but they do not accept it, “מקוצר רוח/because of shortness of breath.” The word רוח/breath also connotes spirit and is a reference to the soul that gives a person life. [As we’ve said, one end of the soul is in the body but the other end is attached to God, as it were.] In the exile the children of Israel became detached from the Source of life. It was not clear to them that God was behind the exile and willed it. It was very difficult for them to see that their affliction was Divinely ordained. So they did not accept Moshe’s message.

Both Shlomo HaMelech and Moshe Rabeinu, however, learned that decisions they made based on their own wisdom, decisions which appeared strongly to them to be correct when they were made, turned out to be wrong. When they gained more wisdom, they realized that their original actions were based on flawed thinking. The lesson for us is that we can never be sure of our own wisdom since our current outlook may prove incorrect when we gain more wisdom. Instead, we need to submit to the Source of wisdom, God’s Will and Word.

Shemos 5631 Second Ma'amar

“וַיָּקָם מֶלֶךְ-חָדָשׁ עַל-מִצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָדַע אֶת-יוֹסֵף/A new king arose in Egypt who did not know Yosef.” (Shmos 1:8) Explaining this pasuk the Midrash says that after Yosef died the nation of Israel stopped circumcising their children. They said, “Let us be like the Egyptians.” As a result God caused the love the Egyptians had for us to turn into hatred. A new king arose who did not know Yosef.

Generally, Chazal give novel interpretations to pesukim when the simple meaning is diffucult. What compelled the Midrash to give this explanation? The key word in the pasuk is “new.” The Chidushei HaRim explains that novelty is an attribute of spirituality. When we contemplate the material world around us it is easy to conclude that nothing new happens. Nature follows predictable laws. Today is the same as yesterday which was the same as the day before. The Chidushei HaRim explains that while this may be the case for the material world it is not true of the spiritual. Shlomo HaMelech teaches this in the pasuk, “... וְאֵין כָּל-חָדָשׁ תַּחַת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ/… and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Koheles 1:9) The implication is that above the sun – beyond nature – there is novelty and renewal. Originality, creativity and novelty are spiritual endeavors. The physical is merely a manifestation of that which already exists in the spiritual.

Because novelty is a spiritual attribute, it is particularly associated with the nation of Israel. The key to change and creativity is the realization that everything physical contains within it spirituality. When we disregard external physical appearances and relate to the underlying spirituality in our actions, the power of creativity is ours. In Egypt we disregarded the spiritual and allowed ourselves to be affected by the physical environment of decadent Egypt. As the Midrash notes, we wanted to be like the Egyptians. So, novelty was taken from us and given to the Egyptians instead.

What, though, is the significance of breaching the covenant of circumcision? After all, in Egypt we fell to very low levels. Why does the Midrash single out circumcision as the reason for losing our connection with God, with novelty?
The Sfas Emes explains. Yosef is called the keeper of the covenant referring to the covenant of the circumcision. The plain meaning is that he resisted the temptations of Potiphar’s wife. However, on a deeper level, circumcision represents unveiling the spiritual that is concealed by the physical. Yosef is called a keeper of the covenant of circumcision because he believed that although the material world around him was decadent, spirituality was concealed within it. Yosef’s belief was complete. He did not notice the physical decadence. He saw only the spiritual.

In our daily lives, we many times see barriers and obstacles that prevent us from reaching our goals. We can overcome them by cultivating the belief that the physical is a mask that hides the spiritual. On a spiritual level, there are no barriers. They are illusory. Everything starts with belief that the spiritual light exists but we don’t see it because it is behind a screen. We find a hint to this in the brachah following Sh’ma at night. The bracha starts, “אֱמֶת וֶאֱמוּנָה/Truth and faith.” At night, a time of darkness when we do not see light, Chazal advise us to believe that it is there anyway.

We see this again when Moshe Rabbeinu says in response to God’s request to return to Egypt to begin the process of the redemption, “... וְהֵן לֹא-יַאֲמִינוּ לִי .../… and they will not believe me …” (Shmos 4:1) Faith is a prerequisite for redemption. In order to merit redemption – seeing God – we must have faith during the preceding darkness.

Responding to Moshe Rabbeinu’s concern, God gives him a sign which gives expression to this concept. God tells Moshe to throw his staff to the ground. When he does this it turns into a snake. When he grabs it, it turns back to a staff. In reality it was a staff. The snake was an illusion. The way to see the reality behind the illusion is by believing it is there, grabbing on to it, connecting with it and, importantly, disregarding external appearances. The staff appeared as a snake. God told him to disregard this and to grab its tail. Upon doing so the snake reverted to a staff. God powers external appearances as well.

God gives existence to the screen that we call reality even when the screen appears to contradict spirituality and holiness. The truth, though, becomes clear to us according to the level of our faith. We can actually experience the spiritual that underlies the physical world by first believing it is there. Once we believe, no physical obstacle can stand between us and our goals. We are connected directly with the source of novelty, creativity and originality.

The Sfas Emes applies this concept to exile and redemption. Exile means that God is concealed. He is not apparent. Redemption means that God is revealed in the world. As we’ve said, a strong belief that the physical world is powered by the spiritual is a necessary prerequisite for redemption to occur. During exile this idea is concealed. If it were revealed there would be no possibility of exile.
We find this concept explained in the Zohar. The Zohar uses the analogy of sound vs. speech to explain God’s presence vs. His influence in the world.

Undifferentiated sound represents God’s oneness. He is everywhere always. In terms of God’s presence, there is no difference between one place and another. Speech is “processed” sound. It is the method by which we relate to and influence others. Speech, therefore, represents God’s influence and revelation in the Creation. With regard to God’s revelation, there are differences between one place and another. Exile means that God’s influence in the world is not apparent. It is concealed. For this reason the Zohar tells us that in Egypt, speech was in exile. God’s influence was not apparent.

Realizing this and believing it means to understand that although we see things differentiated in the physical world, underlying every separate thing is Oneness. The “undifferentiated sound” is ubiquitous. To the person who internalizes this belief totally, there is no fundamental difference between revelation and concealment. This is the deeper meaning of Chazal telling us that faith is the one basic principle as the prophet Habakuk said, “The righteous person lives by his faith.” May we merit it!

Shemos 5631 First Ma'amar

“ ואלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה את יעקב .../These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Ya’akov …” The Sfas Emes explains the significance of the word שמות/names. He also explains why the Torah tells us that they came to Egypt with Ya’akov.

In Koheles we find, “טוב שם משמן טוב .../A (good) name is better than good oil …” The Midrash on this pasuk says that Chanania and Misha’el represent people with a good name. They were thrown into a fiery furnace and were saved. Nadav and Avihu represent good oil since as כהנים/priests they were anointed with the special anointing oil. They were killed by burning. Clearly, a good name is better than good oil. Why is this so? What is the significant difference between Chanania and Misha’el on the one hand and Nadav and Avihu on the other?

According to the Midrash good oil alludes to someone who, like Nadav and Avihu, receives his great stature from heaven. He did not work for it. He did not earn it. Nadav and Avihu were born into it. A good name, on the other hand, is the result of hard work. A person’s good reputation can be measured by how far it traveled. The greater his good reputation, the farther his name has traveled, the harder he worked to achieve it. The Midrash is teaching that a person’s received greatness will not save him but a person’s earned greatness will save him.

The children of Israel were not on the level of our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov. Our forefathers were above nature. They were connected to God and saw God in everything. The physical world was no barrier for them. Last week, in the first ma’amar on parshas VaYechi, the Sfas Emes explained why the Torah uses the word, ויחי/He lived, referring to Ya’akov’s stay in Egypt rather than the more usual וישב/He dwelt, or ויחי/He was. The Torah is stressing that Ya’akov “lived” in the ultimate sense of being attached to the Source of all life.

Ya’akov taught his children that even though they were not on his level, they could see God in everything, too, by working on their אמונה/belief. The key is to believe that God is in everything regardless of how things appear to be. Through hard work the Godly light within all of Creation became revealed to them. In this sense, their mission (and ours as well) was to reveal and spread the Godly enlightenment specifically within nature. This was their mission in Egypt.

Egypt was one of the most immoral places on Earth. A lot of hard work indeed was required to come to the realization that the physical reality of their surroundings was simply a screen masking the light of God. This is the deeper meaning of the “backbreaking work” that was required of the children of Israel in Egypt. Their revelation of God, was something that they earned through hard work.

The word שמות/names in the first pasuk of our parsha represents this hard work since it suggests the good name that results from hard work. The Torah makes a point of telling us, at the very beginning of their descent to Egypt, that through their hard work the children of Ya’akov reached a level of seeing the Godliness in the physical. This is why the Torah tells us that they came to Egypt with Ya’akov. They came with the spiritual level represented by Ya’akov.

This is the meaning of the Midrash which says, “God said, ‘The names of the tribes are more beloved to me than the anointing oil used to anoint priests and kings.” Their names represented their personal accomplishments. God loves personal achievement.

In our current exile as well, we have the ability, through אמונה/belief, to reveal the hidden Godliness in everything around us. The prophet Zechariah, referring to the redemption from this exile, said, “…On that day God will be One and His Name will be One.” The Zohar explains the significance of God being one and His name being one. God’s oneness is not affected by exile. However, in the exile His oneness is hidden. His Name being one refers to His revelation. When will His name be one? When will His oneness be revealed? When our אמונה/belief that God is hidden in everything including the exile is complete, He will be revealed. The essential definition of redemption is God revealing Himself just as the essential definition of exile is God’s concealment. When God is revealed, by definition the exile is over. May we merit it speedily!

Vayechi 5631 First Ma'amar

“ויחי יעקב בארץ מצרים .../Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt ...” The Sfas Emes addresses two difficulties. Firstly, ויחי/He lived, is a strange choice of words. Usually when the Torah relates that someone lived in a specific place, it uses the word וישב/He dwelt. The Chidushei HaRim suggests that, ויהי/He was, would have been more appropriate than ויחי/He lived.

Secondly, in a sefer Torah, there is always a blank space between two parshas. VaYechi is the only parsha in the entire Torah which begins directly following the last word of the previous parsha with no break whatsoever. This is referred to as a closed parsha. Why is this?

Ya’akov Avinu is associated with the attribute of אמת/truth. The prophet Micha tells us, “תתן אמת ליעקב/Give truth to Ya’akov.” On the level of truth, God is revealed. On the level of truth exile does not exist since exile means that God hides Himself. Egyptian society was pagan and immoral. It was very difficult to see God in Egypt. By using the word ויחי/He lived, the Torah is telling us that even in decadent Egypt, Ya’akov “lived.” Living means to attach to the Source of all life. Chazal tell us that wicked people are considered dead even during their lives. This is because they have separated from God, the Source of life. Ya’akov “lived” even in Egypt. On the level of אמת/truth, it did not matter that he was in Egypt. God gives life to the immoral Egyptians, too. For Ya’akov, He was revealed even in Egypt. This is why the parsha starts with, “ויחי יעקב בארץ מצרים .../Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt ...” instead of the more usual וישב יעקב/Yaakov dwelt.

But why is the parsha closed? Chazal tell us that Ya’akov wanted to reveal the end of days to his children. The end of days is a time when all exile comes to an end and God is revealed. The exile is a temporary screen behind which God hides Himself. Behind the screen of the exile and giving life to it (and to everything else) is the eternal Source of life. Ya’akov wanted to convey to his children that God is there even in Egypt. He wanted it to be clear to them, as it was clear to him, that God is everywhere, even in the exile. He wanted them to see the Godliness in Egypt just as he saw it. If Ya’akov had explained this to his children, though, they would have reached Ya’akov’s level of emes. God would have been revealed to them and there would have been no exile. Chazal in fact tell us that the bondage in Egypt only began after Ya’akov passed on. In God’s plan, the exile was necessary. So, although Ya’akov “lived,” the parsha was closed. He was not permitted to pass it on to his children.

However, Chazal tell us that Ya’akov was permitted to teach them that even if they could not see Godliness in the immoral and corrupt Egyptian civilization, they could believe that He was there. Belief that God was there when the reality of their surroundings was the immoral and pagan Egyptian culture required a lot of hard work. But, through אמונה/belief, they would be able to see the אמת/truth, that God is in the exile as well.

Believing that God is the source of all power in the world enables us to see Him in the world. The stronger our belief, the more God is revealed. Working to reach this high level of אמונה/belief enables us to find Godly enlightenment even where God is concealed.

VaYigash 5631 Second Ma'amar

“ויאמר יוסף אל אחיו אני יוסף העוד אבי חי ולא יכלו אחיו לענות אתו כי נבהלו מפניו/Yosef said to his brothers, ‘I am Yosef. Is my father still alive?’ His brothers could not answer him because they were shocked before him.” The Midrash says that in this pasuk Yosef rebuked his brothers and they were not able to answer because of the shame they felt. The Midrash compares this with God’s rebuke on the ultimate day of judgment, “אוי לנו מיום הדין אוי לנו מיום התוכחה/Woe is to us on the day of judgment; woe is to us on the day of rebuke.” If the brothers could not withstand Yosef’s admonishment, how will we be able to withstand the ultimate admonishment before the redemption. Is the Midrash’s comparison simply one of degrees of rebuke or is there a fundamental connection between Yosef’s chiding his brothers and God’s chastisement on the final day of judgment?

The Sfas Emes explains that the rebukes are fundamentally the same. To understand why, we need to understand why the brothers were ashamed. The Sfas Emes explains that the brothers were mistaken about Yosef himself. The Zohar tells us that Yosef was שומר הברית/keeper of the covenant. Conventionally, this refers to his overcoming the temptations presented to him by the wife of Potiphar. The covenant that he kept was the covenant of the circumcision.

In this world holiness is hidden by gross physicality. The removal of the foreskin represents an unveiling of the holiness that lies within the physical world. (See VaYeira 5632 First Ma’amar for a detailed discussion of this concept.) Yosef, as the keeper of the covenant, represents the holiness that is within the physical world. The brothers, because this was hidden, did not realize it. Once Yosef revealed himself to his brothers, when they were confronted with their mistake, they stood in shame.

At the ultimate redemption as well, it will be made clear for all to see that the physical world in which we live is replete with holiness. God gave us the physical world and our circumstances to use to accomplish God’s will thereby rectifying ourselves and our environment. Before the final redemption, when this fact becomes clear to us we will look back at our lives and wonder how we could have used the physical world for purposes that were at odds with God’s will. Realizing our mistake, we will stand in shame before God. This is why the Midrash compares Yosef’s rebuke and the rebuke on the final day of judgment. They are fundamentally the same.

We can prevent the rebuke and our resulting shame by internalizing the understanding that everything around us and everything that happens to us are tools that God gave us in order to use to accomplish His will and come close to Him. On the day of judgment we will be able to stand before God, not in shame, but proudly having used these tools for their fundamental and ultimate purposes. Amen.