B"H
Tuesday, Tevet 24 5783 (Hakhel Year) / January 17, 2023
In this week's Parsha, Va’eira, G-d commands Moshe to bring encouragement to the Jewish people who were enslaved in Egypt. G-d tells Moshe to tell the children of Israel, "I am the L-rd and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgment; and I will take you to me for a people and I will be to you a G-d and you shall know that I am the L-rd your G-d who brought you out from the burdens of the Egyptians..."
"And Moshe spoke 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 and was punished with the ten plagues. At each plague, Pharaoh promised to free the people, but as soon as G-d removed the plague, "his heart was hardened" and he refused to let them go. Seven of the ten plagues are mentioned in this Parsha. The last three plagues and the Exodus from Egypt are recorded in next week’s Parsha, Bo.
Q. How old were Moshe and his brother Aaron when all this took place?
A. Moshe was 80; Aaron was 83.
Q. From the time Yaakov (Jacob) moved with his family to Egypt until the Exodus was 210 years. How many of these 210 years were the Jewish people actually enslaved in Egypt?
A. They were enslaved for 116 years. When Yaakov moved to Egypt, his son, Joseph, was the ruler of the land and he took very good care of them. 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 Jewish people were actually enslaved by the Egyptians.
Q. Where was Moshe’s wife, Tziporah, and his two sons during the time he was in Egypt?
A. Moshe married Tziporah in Midyan and had two sons there. When G-d told him to go back to Egypt and command Pharaoh to let the Jewish people out, he took his wife and children with him. At the same time, G-d commanded Aaron to go out and meet Moshe before he comes to Egypt. Aaron, who didn’t see Moshe for many years and never met Moshe’s family, asked, “Who are these?” Moshe told him that they were his wife and children. “Where are you taking them?” protested Aaron. “We are in great pain over those who are already here, why bring more people to Egypt?” Moshe then sent his wife and children back to her father, Yitro. After the Exodus Yitro brought them to join Moshe.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
This Torah Fax is dedicated in memory of Yaakov ben Moshe & Charna – on his first Yartzeit.
May his memory be a blessing to his family. May his Neshama rest in peace in Gan Eden. Amen.
B"H
Wednesday, Tevet 25 5783 (Hakhel Year) / January 18, 2023
In this week's Parsha, Va'eira, we read about seven of the ten plagues which G-d brought upon the Egyptians. They are: 1) Blood; 2) Frogs; 3) Lice; 4) Wild beasts; 5) Pestilence; 6) Boils; 7) Hail.
Q. Our sages tell us that G-d's punishments are measure for measure. How do these seven plagues measure up, “measure for measure,” for Pharaoh's enslavement of the Jewish people?
A. “Blood” - "The waters of the [Nile] river turned to blood and the fish that were in the river died" (Gen. 7:20-21). This was in punishment for Pharaoh's decree, "Every male born shall be thrown into the river." In Yaakov's blessing to his grandchildren, he used the expression "V'yidgu" - "you shall multiply like fish" (Gen. 48:16). Pharaoh's decree violated Yaakov's blessing that the children of Israel multiply like the fish and thus the fish in the Nile died.
“Frogs”- "And the river shall swarm with frogs which will go up and come into your house... and into your ovens.” This served a lesson to Pharaoh for saying, "Who is the L-rd thatI shall listen to His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the L-rd and I will not let Israel go" (Gen. 5:2). By sending the frogs into the hot ovens to fulfill G-d's command, G-d proved to Pharaoh that He is the L-rd and all of creation must listen to His commands.
“Lice”- When the Egyptians enslaved the Jews, they caused them to suffer from lice, as a result of their constant sweat. The Egyptians were now punished measure-for-measure, to suffer a similar fate.
“Wild beasts”- Yaakov, in his blessings to his children before his passing, compares their qualities to various animals. Thus, G-d punished the Egyptians for enslaving the descendants of Yaakov, measure-for-measure through a variety of animals.
“Pestilence”- This plague killed the animals in the fields as well as the shepherds attending to them. In Parshat Vayigash (Gen. 47:4) we find that when Yaakov and his family came to Egypt, Pharaoh asked Yaakov's sons what their occupation is. They replied, "Your servants are shepherds, both we and our ancestors." This punishment was for enslaving the Jews, taking them away from attending to their flock.
“Boils” - Pharaoh's excuse for enslaving the Israelites was because, "The children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and the land was filled with them." Pharaoh said to his people, "The children of Israel are too many... come let us deal with them, lest they multiply." Pharaoh enslaved them in order to restrict their "Multiplying and being fruitful". The plague of Boils, which covered their bodies, was a punishment to them so they couldn't have marital relations.
“Hail”- The Torah describes this plague, "And the L-rd sent thunder and hail and there was fire flashing amidst the hail." When Pharaoh begged Moshe to take away the plague he said, "Pray to the L-rd, enough of this mighty thundering and hail..." The unbearable noise of the mighty thundering and hail was a punishment, measure-for-measure, for Pharaoh's claiming, "Who is the L-rd that I shall listen to His voice."
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
B"H
Thursday, Tevet 26 5783 (Hakhel Year) / January 19, 2023
This Shabbat we read the second Parsha in the Book of Exodus, Parshat Va’eira. In the Parsha we read about the lineage of Moshe and Aaron and that, "Aaron took Elisheva, the daughter of Aminadav, the sister of Nachshon, for a wife."
Q. Why does the Torah, when telling us that Aaron married the daughter of Aminadav, also tell us that she was the sister of Nachshon?
A. According to the Talmudic sage Rava, this teaches us that, "Before one takes a wife, he should check her brothers; for most children take after the mother's brothers." After the Exodus when Jews came to the sea and were told to cross through the sea, it was Nachshon who jumped into the water first. As a result, the sea split and everyone was able to go through on dry land. Nachshon was also the head of the tribe of Yehuda (Judah).
Parsha: We read, “G-d said to Moshe, say to Aaron, take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt over the rivers, over their streams and over their pools and over all their ponds of water so that they will become blood."
Q. Whywere the waters smitten through Aaron, not through Moshe?
A. The water of the Nile protected Moshe when his mother placed him by the river, thus, he could not be the one to punish it. For this reason, the plague of blood and frogs (which came from the water), were brought about by Aaron.
Q.G-d told Moshe, “Say to Aaron stretch out your rod and smite the dust of the earth and it shall become lice." Why was the plague of lice, which had nothing to do with water, also brought by Aaron?
A. Years before when Moshe killed the Egyptian, he hid his body in the sand. The plague of lice came from the sand. G-d said to Moshe, "You should not be the one to punish the sand for it protected you when you killed the Egyptian. This plague should also be brought on by Aaron."
Q. How long was it from the first plague until the tenth plague, when Pharaoh finally let the people go?
A. Less than one year.
Q. Before each plague, Moshe warned Pharaoh about the upcoming plague. How long was the warning time and how long did the actual plague last.
A. The warning time for each plague was three weeks. Each plague lasted one week. Except for the last plague, the death of the first born, which began at midnight and Jews were chased out the next day.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
This Torah Fax is dedicated in memory of Lynn Cohen – Malka bat Yaakov. Yartzeit is today.
May her Neshama rest in peace in Gan Eden. Blessings to her family.
B"H
Monday, Shevat 1, 5783 (Hakhel Year) / January 23, 2023
Today is Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the new Hebrew month, Shevat. In the Torah the months are not identified by name, only by numbers. Shevat is the eleventh month in the Hebrew calendar year.
Q. How is it possible that the month of Shevat, which is five months from Rosh Hashana – the Jewish New year, should be the eleventh month?
A. The answer to this question is in this week’s Parasha, Bo. Two weeks before the Exodus, G-d gave the Jewish people the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh – designating the first day of each month as a special day. In honor of the Exodus, G-d assigned the month of Nissan, the month of our redemption, which is the seventh month after Rosh Hashana, as the head and first of all months of the year.
Thus, in the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashana is celebrated in the seventh month, while seven months later is Nissan, which is considered the first month.
In the Parasha we read about the mitzvah of Tefillin; “It shall be for you as a sign upon your hand and as a remembrance between your eyes.”
This refers to the mitzvah of Tefillin which every Jewish male is required to perform every day, except for Shabbat and holidays. The Tefillin are two black boxes containing four parts of the Torah. One box is placed on the arm and one on the head. The hand Tefillin is placed first and then the Tefillin on the head. The hand Tefillin is one compartment, but the head Tefillin consists of four compartments.
Q. Why do we put on the hand Tefillin first?
A. The binding of the Tefillin on our hand and head is to show that we are binding ourselves to G-d’s service. The Tefillin on the hand represent action and deeds. This symbolizes the performance of mitzvot, G-d’s commandments, that our actions will be dedicated to G-d. The Tefillin on the head represent thought, study and intellect. This symbolizes that our mind and intelligence will be dedicated to the study of Torah. The Talmud says, “It is not the study which is most important, rather, it is the action which is most important.”
Putting on our hand Tefillin first symbolizes that action is most important. The following story illustrates the point: Reb Shneur Zalmen, first Rebbe of Chabad and his son, Reb Dov Ber were both engrossed in Torah study. As they were so involved in study, Reb Dov Ber’s child happened to fall out of bed. Reb Dov Ber being so engrossed in study didn’t hear his child crying and continued studying. His father, Reb Shneur Zalmen, who lived on the second floor, did hear the crying and came down and attended to the child.
When he later asked his son, why he didn’t attend to the child, he told his father that he was so engrossed in study that he didn’t hear the child crying. His father reprimanded him and said, “When one doesn’t hear the cry of a child because of their Torah study, there is something wrong with that study!” This is the lesson of putting the Tefillin of the hand first to show that action is what comes first and counts most!
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY & BLESSED CHODESH-MONTH
|
Torah Fax is published daily (except Shabbat & Sunday) so you can learn something new every day |