Always Joking
The sea before them, the Egyptian army pressing their rear, the desperate Jews turned to Moshe; ‘Was it for lack of grave-land in Egypt that you have brought us here to die?’ Rabbi Shamshon (Ben) Refael Hirsch z”l sees here the native sense of (black) humor Jews possess.
Even in their darkest moments they quipped ‘Any lack of grave-space in Egypt…?’
Keep those jokes coming – its the Jewish thing to do!
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A Real Kiddush Hashem
‘And Egypt will recognize that I am Hashem’, ‘…and Egypt will realize that I am the Lord when I lord over Paroh and all his army’
Splitting The Sea sanctified His name. To whom? To Paroh and Company! The spectacular display of power at the Red Sea was for the Egyptians’ benefit, that they may know Hashem.
The recognition lasted a few seconds, perhaps a minute at most. The waters crashed down on their heads, killing them all. They didn’t spread the word to the world at large. Of what value was their cognizance??
To know Hashem, even privately, even only for a few minutes, is itself a huge value.
For a few priceless seconds the Egyptians believed in Hashem with ultimate clarity. Would that we would merit such belief!! Their knowledge was true Kiddush Hashem.
The lesson: If we appreciate Hashem in a new or better way, we have sanctified His Name! Even if it does not lead to action!
And also that a little Emuna goes a long way….
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Hard Times/ Good Times
The Jews initially believed Moshe when he told them that he was sent by Hashem to lead them from Egypt. Later they expressed doubt; ‘May Hashem punish you for making our lives hard, giving Pharaoh an excuse to hurt us’.
The tone was clear: Moshe, YOU made our lives hard; Hashem did not send you!
This pattern repeats itself;
The Jews willingly followed Moshe into the desert, yet at the Yam-Suf complained bitterly, faulting Moshe for their predicament.
Hashem split the sea, and the relieved Jews ‘believed in Hashem, and in Moshe, His servant’. A few days later there was no water or food and they turned on Moshe saying ‘You took us out’ – Hashem had nothing to do with this all.
Did the People believe or not??!?
Indeed, the Jews believed. However, encountering difficulty they said ‘There must be some mistake. Had Hashem taken us from Egypt, could things be so hard?? Surely Moshe acts on his own!’
The Torah slams the Jewish people for continually doubting Hashem. But why were they wrong? What is so wrong with this thinking?
Hard times are not a sign that something is amiss. Not at all. We need to grow, and hardship cultivates growth. There is no contradiction between being redeemed by Hashem and facing difficulty. In fact, the two usually go together!
Please paint this message on my living room wall!
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Follow The Money
It was utter madness on the part of the Egyptians to follow the Jews into an ocean, directly into a death-trap. Why did they do it?!?!
Rashi suggests that the Egyptians WANTED to believe that they could get at the Jews; A great deal of their wealth was in the hands of the fleeing Jews. It would go lost forever if they did not get it back.
Money affects a person; he begins to think in queer ways. The Egyptians’ brains fooled them into thinking that it’s not so dangerous to chase the Jews, – ‘We will prevail over them after all’, they thought.
Perhaps this seems strange to us. Yet History provides many examples. Jews stayed on in Nazi Europe when they could have escaped, because leaving meant abandoning money behind. In our own time, people live in dangerous areas, men who know better than staying, yet cannot part with their money or comfort.
The moral to us? Beware the mind-warp power of money, and take care accordingly.
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So You Want To Believe…?
Moshe led the male Jews in song, Miriam led the women. Here is an idle thought: What would the Jews have done without Moshe and Miriam?
My suggestion is that they would have been astounded by the miracles they witnessed. But that’s it, no more. It would have stopped there. The connection between miracle and its constituting Divine Revelation would not have been made.
The Torah says that when the Jews saw this miracle they [NOW] believed in Hashem and in Moshe(14:31). Only now!
How long did the inspiration last? As soon as they became thirsty they complained to Moshe; Why did YOU take us out, and not leave things in the Hand of Hashem? (16:3) Moshe had done this all on his own, they thought. Krias Yam Suf was a natural fluke, not Hashem’s handiwork.
Lets phrase it like this: the Nation’s faith was pretty fluid…
The takeaway is that we believe whatever we darn please. Miracles are nothing to us; Belief or Atheism is but a choice, boiling down to how much Hashem we want in our lives.
And do we?
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Oh, So You Remember When….
The Jews went ‘from Aileem to Midbar Sinai’, the Sinai desert. The next pasuk reads ‘And the Bnei Yisroel complained against Moshe and Aharon in the desert’ (The complaint? ‘Would that we had died by the hand of Hashem in Egypt, sitting around pots of meat and eating bread to satiation! You have brought us out to this desert to kill us with hunger!’ Hashem then responded, providing Mun and the Sluv)
We know they were in the desert. It was just said. Why repeat it in preface to their complaint?
Perhaps they were hungry because they were in the desert, far from food. You can have a sandwich in your pocket, yet feel hungry because you are far from any store. You sense scarcity. That’s why it repeats that they were in the desert.
Another thought is that until now their complaints were practical; when they thirsted they asked Moshe ‘What should we drink?’ Now, however, commenced unprofitable complaining:
They compared their situation unfavorably with life in Egypt. They also revised history, painting life under Egyptian oppressors (who had been bludgeoning them to death) as happy and idyllic. They had been sitting around pots of meat, and eating their full of bread. Right!!
Why, why did they imagine so? The pasuk hints; they were now in the desert, far removed from the realities of Egypt. That’s why their minds played tricks on them.
What’s the lesson here? Don’t trust memory, either your own or someone else’s. Too often we recall that things had been great at a certain time, when the reality was that it had been difficult.
Memory is a most fickle tool.
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Where’s The Beef?
Plain reading of the Torah implies that ‘Basar’, meat, includes all flesh; meat, fish and fowl. Hashem clearly promises the Jews meat, (16:8) and then supplies them with the Slav, quail (16:13). Moshe asks ‘Where will I get meat for all these people… will I gather all the fish and it will suffice?’
Perhaps even on YomTov one can fulfill the requirement for meat with fish or fowl.
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Ask, My Son
“Torah was only given to Mun-eaters”, i.e. people who don’t earn a living. [Midrash]
Mun was no accident. The Mun was crucial to our genesis as the Jewish people. Yet strangely enough, it was granted only in response to complaint. Why?
You receive when you request. Even something most entitled will not be given without being requested. One needs to ask. The Mun was important, but didn’t come on it’s own. The Jews had to ask for it.
Ask. Always ask!
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Road To G-d
“This is my G-d and I will proclaim His beauty, my Father’s G-d and I will praise Him”
There are two broad paths to G-d; Proof and experience. Each has benefits and drawbacks.
Path 1: Proof. Proof is a. objective – it can be used to defend one’s faith to others and b. is solid knowledge. On the minus side, a. it’s argument can be rebutted and b. it is never more than an intellectual reason, an abstract calculation – not something we connect to, deep inside.
Path 2: Experience. Experiencing Hashem is direct and visceral, something that connects and is personally real, but it is certainly not objective proof – others have experienced idol power!
“My G-d” is the One I have personally known and cleaved to, the one leading my life. The one I experience and love. “The G-d of my fathers” is the One I know indirectly, because of my father’s tradition.
Both are valid and necessary.
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Requiem For A Prayer
“Why do you call out to me, speak to the Jews that they should leave/travel”
What else was Moshe to do but pray?!
The Midrash gives a surprising twist to the dialogue: When Moshe prayed, Hashem said “Weren’t you the one complaining that from when you approached Paroh things only turned worse for the Jews? And now you pray to Me?? First better your ways, then come back and pray!”
“Weren’t the Jews asking if it were not for want of graves that Hashem took us to the Yam Suf? Why do you – mistrusters – call out to me. Speak to the Jews that they should leave [this mistake, and then they will be saved]”
In other words, for prayer to be effective, you first had better believe in it. Sometimes we find that people have prayed in desperation “If there is a G-d, may He answer me” – and yet were saved, but that is not the standard. Rather it works the other way around. When you fully trust, you will be answered.
To better your praying odds, better your Emuna!
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Knowing UnKnowing
The Jews arrived at Refidim and found no water. Dismayed, they turned to Moshe, who rebuked them sharply: “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you doubt Hashem?”
Later, the Nation began thirsting greatly for water. They turned to Moshe again saying “Why have you taken us out of Egypt so that we all die of thirst??”
Moshe said to Hashem “What am I to do with this nation – a bit more and they will stone me!” Hashem answered “Pass before the People and take with you from their elders, and the staff which you hit the Nile take in your hand. I await you at the rock by Chorev, you will hit the rock, and water will emerge, and the Nation may drink” Moshe did so before the elders.
And he called that place Masa and Meriva, on account of the quarrel the Jews made, and their testing of Hashem, to see if He was in their midst or not.
Thus the parsha.
What was the point here? Were not the Nation completely correct? Is it not madness to take a nation to a barren desert area? What is supposed to happen?? They were thirsty – very thirsty, in fact. They want nothing more than simple water. And yet they are called to task?!
Einstein is supposed to have once commented “I am not interested in a God who I can understand.” In other words, we ought to expect God to be far beyond our limited intellect. If we understand Him, that’s bad news. A real god is impossible to comprehend.
The Jews left Egypt and were taken to a desolate desert. It is hard to comprehend. And that is a good sign. The Jews certainly could ask for water. That was completely legitimate. But doubting God on the basis that His decisions are hard for ME to understand? Huh?
This was the point. This was the lesson the Jews needed to learn: You will not understand His ways. His thoughts are not thoughts you can understand.
Accept that. Embrace that!