One Hundred Words on the Parshah
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One Hundred Words on the Parshah
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The Chasam Sofer cites a commentary from the Terumas HaDeshen (in his ביאורי מהרא"י על רש"י) that the Shulchan always precedes the Menorah because first the talmid chacham needs parnasa ( livelihood) – symbolized by the Shulchan – and then he can learn Torah – symbolized by the Menorah. Similarly, Zevulun always precedes Yissachar because Zevulun created the possibility for the Torah of Yissachar.
Nowadays there is so much money in the world so there is more opportunity to learn Torah.
Why does the Aron come first? I think that since the Aron was נושא את נושאיו – it bore its bearers – the Aron did not need help with parnasa.
Similarly, Chazal tell us that the first luchos were free from parnasa issues. Even though the second luchos were not on that level, it still was נושא את נושאיו, so it itself still didn’t need parnasa. The Aron represents the level of Torah that doesn’t need nor want the standard parnasa.
They shall build a בית המקדש.
Chazal say that the בית שלישי will come down from heaven. If so, we won't be able to build the בית המקדש as per the mitzvah here. R' Ralbag (דמשק אליעזר) says that it will come with defects that will necessitate our repairs. For instance, if the מזבח is chipped it will need to be fixed. Through these תיקונים we can still be מקיים the mitzvah of ועשו לי מקדש.
“And I appeared to אברהם, to יצחק and to יעקב”. Rashi comments “and I appeared” to the אבות.
The question that has been asked is that this week’s Daf says that only three are considered אבות – אברהם, יצחק, יעקב. Why does Rashi tell us the אבות already said אל אברהם אל יצחק ואל יעקב?
The Chasam Sofer answers that אבות in this context does not mean forefathers. Rather, it means those who want (as in the Posuk “ לא אבה ליבמי“). In other words, someone who wants to reach the high level where he can be זוכה to have ה' appear to him.
Henny Machlis taught that Yisro was זוכה to have Moshe Rabbeinu as a son-in-law because of his hachnasas orchim. He invited Moshe to eat with them. She pointed also to a teaching from the גמרא that גדולה היא לגימה שמקרבת את הרחוקים – “Eating is great because it brings the far ones near.” She exemplified this ideal by providing staggering amounts of constant hachnasas orchim. In fact, she didn’t even lock her door. One of her passions in life was kiruv rechokim. Her open door policy of hachnasas orchim was a venue for a lot of her kiruv. She would invite so many people whom she and her husband and family would be mekarev. Also may people came on their own that they would then be mekarev. They were mekarev to Yiddishkeit and they were mekarev to emotional health. They followed in the footsteps of Avraham Avinu in hachnasas orchim and kiruv rechokim.
There were guests who compared her to Sarah Imeinu and her apartment to Sarah’s tent. In fact, a particular common guest at their apartment would often quote the pasuk that Sarah was באהל – “in the tent”. He would apply it Henny Machlis in her kitchen.
May we learn from her example of Ahavas Yisrael and follow in her glorious footsteps.
Moshe was not able to hit the ground by כנים מכת because he had הכרת הטוב to the earth for hiding the body of the מצרי that Moshe killed. A common question is, why is this necessary? The earth has no feelings and doesn’t appreciate Moshe’s הכרת הטוב. In addition, the earth did not choice to do this favor for Moshe.
One answer can be that a person who doesn’t keep track and act appropriately when receiving a favor, even when it’s not necessary, will continue to act without הכרת הטוב toward people who do him favors when it is appropriate to be מכיר טוב. One should be ready to be מכיר טוב to those who benefit him.The Haggada shel Pesach quotes a famous passage in which Chazal point out that the makkos in Mitzraim are described with the term etzba – “finger” – whereas קריעת ים סוף (the splitting of the Red Sea) is described as a yad – “hand”. This is interpreted to mean that there were five times as many makkos at Yam Suf than in Mitzraim.
In Tehillim (121:5) it says, ה' צלך – “Hashem is your shadow”. Midrashically, this is interpreted to mean that, just as the movements of a person’s shadow are controlled by his own actions, so too the way Hashem behaves towards us is directly connected to how we behave towards Him. In Sefer Madreigas HaAdam, the Alter of Novardok cites this teaching saying that if a person puts forward a finger, this his shadow also puts forward a finger, and if he puts forward his full hand, then his shadow puts forward a full hand.
Perhaps this idea can be used to explain the fivefold increase in miracles at the Yam Suf over Mitzraim. By the time the Jewish people came to the Yam Suf they had grown a great deal in their emuna (as expressed in the pasuk, ויאמינו בה'). As such, they merited a greatly increased number of miracles.
As heard from R’ Reuvein Feinstein on Tuesday April 28,2020:
ואהבת לרעך כמוך. הלל said: “What you don’t like, don’t do to your friend.”
The reason הלל phrased his injunction this way is because when something is uncomfortable for you, you can readily understand that it shouldn’t be done to your friend. The concept of מדה כנגד מדה is similar. What you chose to do is being given back to you. This differs from standard punishment where the punishment is randomly chosen by the judge or judiciary.
The lesson for us now in the time of coronavirus is that shuls being closed must be מדה כנגד מדה, as are all punishments from ה' . Hashem closed down our place of prayer because we weren’t paying enough attention to our תפילה and according it the proper respect. We need to improve our davening!
After listing off various forms of עבודה זרה that one cannot form, the פסוק concludes with "כי אני ה' אלוקיכם - because I am ה', your God”. The תורה then goes on to say, “Keep my שבת and fear my בית המקדש“.
A few questions on these two פסוקים. Why these two פסוקים together? Why the juxtaposition between שבת and בית המקדש to עבודה זרה? Why does the תורהrepeat these מצוות? They have already been said previously.
An answer can be, that the תורה is covering all three angles of identifying ה'; the One and the Time and the Place that we recognize ה'. It is because we identify ה' as the One God and we recognize His day of the week and His place, therefore, we don’t do עבודה זרה.
All learning should be a zechus for a refuah shelaimah for Yosef Ezriel Ben Chaya Michal