B"H

Wednesday, Tevet 18, 5779 / December 26, 2018

In this week's Parsha, Shemot, the Torah tells us about the enslavment of the Jewish people in Egypt.  "And there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, 'Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us; let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply... and they will join our enemies and fight against us and leave this land.' Therefore, they made over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens... But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they grew."

The literal translation of the last phrase in Hebrew "Kein Yirbeh V'chen Yifrots" is actually, "the more they will multiply and the more they will grow" - in the future tense.

According to our sages, the Egyptian experience served as the source for all other exiles and sufferings which Jews experienced throughout the generations.

By saying "they will multiply and will grow," the Torah also refers to the future hardships the Jewish people will experience.  Thus, the Torah tells us that no matter what affliction the people of Israel will experience in future generations, in the end, we will come through stronger than before.

No other nation has experienced such suffering, persecution and executions as the Jewish people for over two thousand years. Yet, through it all, we survived as a people with a unique identity.  No other nation has spent more years in exile than in their own homeland.  Yet, we have kept the same laws and traditions for over three thousand years. No other nation found its culture, learning and educational system under such attack as did the Jewish people. Yet, we have not only survived, we have flourished, as we can see from the Yeshivas and Jewish schools of our present day.

Rabbi Meir Shapiro was a leader of pre-WWII Polish Jewery and a member in the Polish Seim (parliament). One of the members of the Seim once asked him for the reason why Jews place a hard boiled egg on the Seder Plate?

Rabbi Meir replied, "Other foods, the longer they are cooked, the softer they become.  But the longer you cook eggs, the harder they get. The egg at the Seder plate symbolizes the Jewish people. Just like the egg, the sufferings and pain inflicted on our people have not broken us. Rather, they have made us harder and stronger.

It is indeed one of the great miracles of all times that the Jewish people, after all the years of exile and suffering, are strong and vibrant.” Am Yisrael Chai!

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

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

Yartzeit is today.  May her Neshama-soul rest in peace in Gan Eden.  May her memory be a blessing.

Dedicated by her son Irwin Miller