Wednesday, Tevet 18, 5780 / January 15, 2020

B"H

Wednesday, Tevet 18, 5780 / January 15, 2020

 

In this week's Parsha, Shmot, we read about G-d’s first revelation to Moshe. "And Moshe was feeding the flock of Yitro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midyan; and he led the flock to the farthest end of the wilderness and he came to the mountain of G-d, to Horeb. And G-d’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a thorn bush; and Moshe looked and saw the bush was on fire, but the bush was not consumed.” 

 

“And Moshe said: I will go closer now and I will see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.  G-d saw that Moshe turned to see, and G-d called to him out of the midst of the bush and He said, 'Moshe, Moshe, and he [Moshe] said, 'Here I am.'  And G-d said, 'Remove your shoes from your feet for the place upon which you are standing is holy ground.'" 

 

G-d then tells Moshe that He has heard the cry of the Jewish people due to the Egyptians' oppression.  "Therefore, now I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."

 

Q. Why was G-d’s first revelation to Moshe from a thorn bush?

 

A.The Midrash tells that a gentile once asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Karcha, "Why did your G-d speak to Moshe from the midst of a bush and not from a different tree?"

 

Rabbi Yehoshua answered, “G-d wanted to show Moshe that there was no place where He cannot be found and that He rests not only in the tall trees but also in a low bush.”

 

Rashi, explains that by revealing Himself through a thorn bush, G-d was saying to Moshe that, just as the Jewish people were suffering,He too, is in pain, which is symbolized by the prickly thorn bush.

 

Q.   Why from a “burning” bush?

 

A.   To show Moshe that just as the fire didn't destroy the bush, so too, the Egyptians, or for that matter any other nation,willnot be able to destroy the Jewish nation.

 

For thousands of years the Pharaohs of every generation (their names may have changed, but their goals were the same), tried to destroy us. In G-d’s first revelation to Moshe, G-d made it clear that, just as the bush was not consumed by the fire, because G-d was there, so too, the Jewish people will not be consumed, for G-d is always with us.

 

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

 

In loving memory of Bessie Miller- Chaya Basya Sima bat Tzvi Hirsh & Miriam - z"l.

Yartzeit is today, Tevet 18.  May her Neshama rest in peace in Gan Eden.  May her memory be a blessing.

From her son, Irwin Miller

Tuesday, Tevet 17, 5780 / January 14, 2020

B"H

Tuesday, Tevet 17, 5780 / January 14, 2020

 

This Shabbat we begin the second Book of the Torah – Shmot (Exodus).

 

The Parsha begins, “These are the names of the children of Israel who are coming into Egypt with Yaakov; every man came with his household… And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, and multiplied and the land was filled with them.”

 

Although Yaakov and his family moved to Egypt because of the famine in the land of Canaan, this was the revealed natural reason for their move. However, G-d had a much deeper plan. G-d told Abraham, two hundred years earlier that his descendants will be enslaved in a foreign land and after which that they will leave with great wealth.  With this move to Egypt began the exile of the children of Israel, where they spent the next two hundred and ten years. 

 

Our sages say that Yaakov and his descendants would have had to go to Egypt even against their will. This was G-d’s decree. But G-d chose to make the move to Egypt and their initial settling there in a pleasant way, by bringing the famine and Joseph becoming ruler of the land.

 

Although this second Book of the Torah begins with the Egyptian exile, it is called, the book of Redemption – Exodus. The purpose of the exile was, as G-d promised Abraham, “And after they will emerge with great wealth.”

 

Indeed, they came out of Egypt with great financial wealth and great spiritual wealth, for through the experience of the exile, they merited to receive the Torah at Mount Sinai and the Land of Israel.

 

Q.  Yaakov and his children came to Egypt over seventy years earlier.  The Book of Exodus tells what happened after Yaakov and his sons passed away. Thus, the Torah should have said, “These are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt with Yaakov.” Why does the Torah say, who are coming, in the present tense? 

 

A.   Our sages explain that this was the secret of how the Jewish people survived the over two hundred years of Egyptian exile and still manage to emerge as a people with their unique identity. It was because they never became settled and comfortable in their Egyptian environment. They always felt as if they were now “coming.” No matter how long they resided in Egypt, they considered themselves as just now coming there – as immigrants – as temporary residents. They knew that one day G-d will redeem them and they will return to the Holy Land. This kept their spirits up even when physically they were down. This is also the secret of Jewish survival throughout our 2000 year Exile.

 

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

 

In loving memory of Chaim ben Yosef HaKohen - Yartzeit is today, Tevet 17.

May his memory be a blessing.  May his Neshama-soul rest in peace in Gan Eden.

From his family

Wednesday, Tevet 25, 5780 / January 22, 2020

B"H

Wednesday, Tevet 25, 5780 / January 22, 2020

 

In this week's Parsha, Va’eira, G-d commands Moshe to bring encouragement to the Jewish people who were enslaved in Egypt.

 

The Parsha tells us that, "Moshe spoke so to the people of Israel but they didn't heed to Moshe due to their crushed spirit and their cruel bondage."  G-d then tells Moshe, "Go speak to Pharaoh, King of Egypt, that he shall send away the children of Israel from his land."

 

Pharaoh refused to let the Jewish people go and was punished with the ten plagues.  At each plague, Pharaoh promised to free the people, if G-d would only remove the plague. But as soon as G-d removed the plague, he refused to let them go.  Seven of the ten plagues are mentioned in this Parsha.

 

Q.  How old was Moshe, Aaron and their sister, Miriam, when they led the Jewish people out of Egypt?

 

A.  Moshe was 80, Aaron 83 and Miriam 86.

 

Q.  How old was Moshe's mother, Yocheved, when she gave birth to Moshe?

 

A.  Yocheved was 130 years old!

 

Q.  The Torah doesn’t tell us her age so how do we know this?

 

A.  It’s a simple calculation: The Torah tells us that when Yaakov and his family members moved to Egypt they totaled seventy people. Yocheved, who was born as they entered Egypt, completed the number seventy. From when Yaakov came to Egypt until the Exodus was 210 years. The Torah tells us that Moshe was 80 when he took the people out of Egypt. Thus, if Moshe was 80 years at the time of the Exodus, Yocheved was 130 when she gave birth to Moshe!

 

Q.   How old was Moshe when he married Tziporah?

 

A.   According to the Midrash, Yalkut Shimoni, he was seventy seven.

 

Q.  How many of the 210 years in Egypt, were the Jewish people enslaved by the Egyptians?

 

A.  116 years.  The enslavement began only after the last of Yaakov's children died. Yaakov's third son, Levi, lived the longest.  He died at the age of 137. He was 43 when he first came to Egypt and lived there 94 years.  Thus, if we deduct 94 from 210, we are left with 116. This is the total amount of years that the children of Israel were enslaved by the Egyptians. 

 

However, the harsh and “bitter” enslavement was 86 years. Miriam, who was born 86 years before the Exodus, was named Miriam, which comes from the two words “Mar” (which means bitter) and “Yam” (which means sea), because at that time began the “bitter” and most difficult hardship for the Jewish people, when Pharaoh decreed that every Jewish boy be thrown into the sea.

 

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY