From Maror to Matzah

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Many reasons are given to explain the custom of children stealing the Afikoman from the head of the Seder and hiding it from him.

One year, when the Chasam Sofer’s son Shimon was seven years old, he asked his father to explain the custom. To Shimon’s great surprise, his father ignored his question and continued with the Seder as if the question had not been asked. The boy understood not to ask again and moved on.

When the Seder ended at 4 a.m., the Chasam Sofer turned to his son. “You asked me a very good question,” he said. “At the Seder we do many things to remind us of what took place in Mitzrayim. The Torah recounts that on the evening of the first Pesach, as the Jews were removing belongings from the homes of the Mitzriyim, their dogs should have barked at the thievery that was going on in front of their eyes. But Hakadosh Boruch Hu made a miracle and not one dog barked. The custom to steal the Afikoman was instituted to remember that miracle which took place many years ago on this night, which Hashem conducted to allow the Jews to retrieve things from the Mitzri homes.”

The boy accepted the explanation, but asked his father a question. “I asked my question many hours ago, during yachatz. When did you think of the answer?”

“As you were asking,” the father answered.

“So then, dear father, why did you wait until the end of the Seder to tell me the answer?”

The Chasam Sofer answered, telling the boy who was to grow up to be the famed rov of Krakow that the night of Pesach is all about emunah. The explanation of emunah is to do what we have to whether or not we understand why we are to do that action. We do it because Hashem - and in this case our chachomim - told us to do it.

“Sometimes,” said the Chasam Sofer, “a person will say, ‘I don’t understand it, so I won’t do it.’ That is why I did not answer you. I wanted you to take the Afikoman even though you did not understand why you were taking it. Now you have seen that it is possible to do an action that you do not understand, and you have experienced another part of emunah that is fundamental to our existence as the Jewish people.”

The Gemara in Pesochim (120a) quotes Rava, who rules that the obligation to eat matzah the first evening of Pesach is a de’Oraisa, a Biblical obligation. The obligation to eat maror in our day is derabonon, rabbinic.

This is because there is a posuk – “ba’erev tochlu matzos” – which obligates the eating of matzah on the first evening of Pesach, but there is no posuk that obligates the separate eating of maror.

The reason we ate maror at Pesach Mitzrayim and in the time of the Bais Hamikdosh is because the posuk states, “Al matzos umerorim yochluhu,” that the Korban Pesach must be eaten together with matzah and maror. But there was no specific obligation to eat maror.

The Rambam writes in Sefer Hamitzvos (56) that there is a mitzvah to eat matzah and there is a mitzvah to eat Pesach, and maror is tangential to the Pesach and there is no mitzvah to eat it.

The Ramban (Shemos 12:8) writes similarly that the mitzvah was to eat the meat of the korban and matzah, and there was no mitzvah to eat maror.

We see that maror never played a leading role in the Seder, and even today, in our golus status, when we are obligated to eat a kezayis of the bitter vegetable, it is a requirement imposed on us by the rabbonon.

Why is that? Doesn’t the Seder commemorate our painful existence in Mitzrayim, as well as the miraculous redemption? Why do we minimize the aspect of the Seder that elicits the biggest purely physical emotion and play up the matzah, which, the posuk says, reminds us “ki bechipazon yatzasa mei’eretz Mitzrayim,” that Hashem removed us from the bitter life so quickly that the dough for the bread they were planning to bake for the trip was not able to rise?

Today, before we depart for a trip, we go shopping and buy everything we think we will need to keep us fed and nourished and keep the children occupied. Everything is much simpler these days. Then, if you wanted to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a trip, you had to procure wheat, grind it into flour, add the other ingredients, wait for it to rise, and bake it. As for the peanut butter and jelly, that was a whole different story, besides that peanuts weren’t around yet in that part of the world.

And even at the first Seder, which took place in Mitzrayim before the Jews left in haste and their bread didn’t rise, there was matzah because the korban and the matzah were the foundation upon which the seder was formed. Even back then, when the bitterness and pain were freshly seared in their memories, the maror was but a sideshow.

Maror, which symbolizes the bad times and the periods of suffering, doesn’t play a major role in the Seder, because we are to view those times as temporary and fleeting.

We begin the Haggadah by proclaiming, “Ha lachma anya,” on the matzah, which is referred to as “lechem oni,” because we recite the Haggadah over the matzah. This is because our permanent situation is to be geulim.

Rabbeinu Mano’ach (on the Rambam, Hilchos Chometz Umatzah 7:6) says that this is the reason why, after we recite and hold aloft the Pesach, matzah and maror, we proclaim, “Bechol dor vador, in every generation, a person has to view himself as if he has left Mitzrayim.” This is so that if a person will feel down when something unfortunate happens to him, he will trust that Hashem will help him in his time of need. And just as the tzaros of suffering in Mitzrayim were so intense that Hashem redeemed the Jews earlier than had been planned. Similarly, all the anguish we experience in our golus will serve as a justification for Hashem to quickly bring about the final redemption. The maror gave birth to the matzah.

Just the same, if a person endures suffering in their personal life, the lesson of Mitzrayim should bring them strength and emunah that the pain will soon end and they will go on to lead a happy and successful life. The maror will bring on the matzah.

Hashem did not bring us to this world to suffer. Rather, He created us to be kind to us and to allow us to enjoy the blessings of His beautiful world. We are reminded of this every time we perform a mitzvah, and also when we recite in Kiddush, “Zeicher l’Yetzias Mitzrayim.” Just as Hashem saved us from the evil Mitzriyim, so will He save us from those who torment us and cause us pain.

Thus, we also recite, “Vehi she’omdah la’avoseinu velonu.” It wasn’t only the Mitzriyim who sought our destruction, but for all time, in all ages, centuries and continents, the nations of the world plotted against us and sought to destroy us, and every time, we ultimately prevailed. We survive against all odds because Hashem assists us.

The people in Mitzrayim were so beaten, they weren’t able to accept Moshe Rabbeinu’s promise of salvation. Imagine being alive at that time, or at the time of the harugei Beitar, or during the Crusades, or when Polish or Lithuanian peasants came crashing through your town, killing every Jew they could. Imagine being in Chevron in 1929, or in Itamar only ten years ago. Or more recently, in Yerushalayim at a bus stop, or in a kosher supermarket in Paris, when a crazed Arab with a knife came looking for Jews to kill. Imagine the feelings of anguish and agony. Their whole world darkened and closed in on those Jews. While they were beaten physically, instead of being defeated, they remembered the message of the matzah and carried on with their mission to live Jewish lives. It wasn’t easy. With proper faith, they persevered, and that is why we are here today, celebrating Pesach.

We can’t even imagine what it was like to be in a concentration camp, or on a labor march, fingered for death by the evil Nazis and their killing machines. Just the thought of it can cause a person to collapse. Yet, because people who lived through that inferno retained their faith, upon their exit they were determined to rebuild what had been destroyed and give birth to a new generation that would replace the one that had been wiped out. They pushed aside the maror and embraced the matzah. And that is why we are here, flourishing as never before. For all we know, it was in the merit of the extreme suffering of the Holocaust generation that our people have reached unprecedented heights, in the amount of Torah studied, and in wealth. The maror gave birth to the matzah.

Similarly, Rabbeinu Yonah writes in Shaarei Teshuvah (2:5), “Ki yihiyeh hachoshech sibas ha’orah – Darkness is the cause of light.”

The following story took place on Erev Pesach in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The Bluzhever Rebbe, Rav Yisroel Spira, asked for and received permission to bake matzos in the camp.

After returning to the camp from their body-breaking labor the night before Pesach, the rebbe, along with a small group, assembled an “oven” and ground wheat kernels into flour. They mixed the flour with water and quickly kneaded the mixture, rolling out matzos to bake in their small oven. Flames danced atop the branches fueling the oven and the holy work of baking matzos for Pesach in Bergen-Belsen was underway.

Suddenly, the commandant burst into the room, shouting wildly and swinging at everyone. His eyes fixed on those of the rebbe, whom he beat within a hairsbreadth of life.

The next night, the people sat down to a “Seder” in the rebbe’s barracks. They had everything – well, almost everything. The rebbe knew the Haggadah by heart, and he was going to lead the Seder. For wine, they were going to drink the slop the Nazis called coffee. There was no shortage of maror, with bitterness everywhere. The rebbe let it be known that he was able to retrieve a very small piece of matzah from their failed attempt.

When it came time at the Seder to eat matzah, everyone assumed that the rebbe would be the one to perform the mitzvah and eat the small piece he had rescued.

After proclaiming “motzie matzah,” the rebbe looked around, as he tried to decide who was the most appropriate person to partake of the matzah. A widow stood up and said, “Since upon this night we engage in transmitting our traditions from one generation to the next, I propose that my young son be the one to eat the matzah.”

The rebbe agreed. “This night,” he said, “is all about teaching the future generations about Yetzias Mitzrayim. We will give the child the matzah.”

When freedom came to the camp, the widow approached the rebbe. She needed help. Someone had proposed a shidduch for her, but she had no way to find out about the man. Maybe, she said, the rebbe could help her. “Can you find out who he is? Can you see if he is appropriate for me and if I am appropriate for him?”

“What is his name?” asked the rebbe.

The woman responded, “Yisroel Spira.”

The rebbe said to her, “Yes, I know him well. It is a good idea that you should get to know him.”

She returned to the shadchan and gave her approval to set up the match. When the woman showed up at the right address, standing before her was none other than Rav Yisroel Spira, the man she knew as the Bluzhever Rebbe!

A short time later, they married, and the little boy who ate matzah in Bergen-Belsen became the rebbe’s son and eventual successor.

Which spiritual attributes did the rebbe see in that woman that led him to marry her? When asked, the rebbe answered that in the cauldron of Bergen-Belsen, where the horizon was measured in minutes and the future was a day at a time, a woman who believed in the nitzchiyus of Am Yisroel, that our people is eternal, and who worried for the future generation, was someone with whom it was worthy to perpetuate the golden chain.

It is thanks to people such as the rebbe and the widow and those with them at the Seder that night that we have survived as a people. They never forgot that the maror they were experiencing was temporary. They knew that as strong as they appeared to be, the Nazis would crumble and the Jewish people would endure. No amount of pain and torture could remove the taste of matzah and freedom from their souls and mouths.

Their maror gave birth to their matzah. Their darkness led to great light. Thankfully, our situation is not nearly as dire as theirs was. Historically speaking, our golus is one of the better ones. But we all have holes in our souls and tears in our hearts. We are all lacking and missing and don’t have all we need or want. Everyone has their own pekel of maror and darkness.

We pray that very soon, our maror will lead to matzah and the darkness will lead to the great light that will shine when Hashem finally sends us Moshiach to bring about the final redemption. Amein.

Freedom of Living

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Nissan is here. Soon the cold will be gone, snow will be a distant memory, and the harsh weather will be a thing of the past. Landscapers will start coming around as the ground warms. Trees and bushes will soon start showing signs of life as tiny green buds begin to unfurl. Branches will bloom, the grass will turn green, and squirrels and birds will run across the lawn enjoying life. Daylight Saving Time is here, bringing an additional hour of light as the sun rises higher in the sky, shining brighter, filling hearts with promises of warmth and color.

Young and old soak in the pleasures of recreation, walking, biking, and playing ball, as they strengthen their bodies, enhance their well-being, and broaden their perspective.

Spring, the season of new beginnings, announces that Pesach, the Yom Tov of freedom, is almost here. Freedom is the feeling of not being subjugated to another power. Freedom is the ability to think, speak and act without fear. Freedom is a feeling of liberty and emancipation. The freedom of living a Jewish life is here.

It was during this period so many years ago that Hashem announced that the time for our freedom had come. He told our beleaguered ancestors that this month of Nissan was to be the first of the year for them.

As the Bnei Yisroel were about to become an independent nation and gain their freedom, Hashem told them that they would begin counting their months from Nissan. The world may have been created in Tishrei, but that month precedes the doom of winter, while Nissan heralds spring. It is fitting for our nation to begin counting from when the world starts to get back to itself after lying in semi-hibernation.

Spring, the season of new beginnings, gave rise to the newfound freedom for an enslaved nation. For 210 years, they knew subjugation and torture. The people were like a tree in the depths of winter, broken by pain, hunger and demoralizing servitude. Hashem appeared to Moshe and told him to inform the slaves that life as they had known it would come to an end.

“Hachodesh hazeh lochem.” There would soon be a new month, a new season, a new reality. “Lochem,” given to you, a personal gift that you would recognize and appreciate. From this month forward, you will never be the same. No longer lowly slaves, you will become a holy nation.

Rav Dovid Cohen, rosh yeshivas Chevron, discusses in his new sefer Zeman Cheiruseinu on Pesach, why the month of Nissan was proclaimed as the “rosh,” and why it supplanted Tishrei as the first of the months. He quotes Rav Yitzchok Eizik Chover, who writes that Tishrei marks when the world was created according to teva. But Nissan is when Hakadosh Boruch Hu began to deal with Klal Yisroel lemaalah m’derech hateva. For Klal Yisroel, it is as if the world was created anew. Therefore, we begin counting months from Nissan and that is why it is the month of geulah.

The Jewish people were purified as gold is purified by fire through their subjugation in Mitzrayim. Until then, they were in a darkened state and weren’t able to be receptive to Torah. But after they were purified, the middas hadin was pacified and they were able to be given the Torah and mitzvos. By the time they left Mitzrayim, they were on the level of Adam Harishon prior to his sin.

At the Pesach Seder, we retell the story of our redemption from Mitzrayim. We tell of the misfortune that befell our forefathers as our nation was forming. We speak of what the Jews in Mitzrayim endured and proceed to discuss their liberation and formation as a new people, for there is no spring that is not preceded by winter, no freedom that comes without agony, and no birth without pain.

Thus, the posuk states (Devorim 16:1), “Shamor es chodesh ha’aviv v’asisa pesach laHashem Elokecha ki bechodesh ha’aviv hotziacha Hashem Elokecha miMitzrayim loylah - Watch the month of spring, and make in it the Korban Pesach to Hashem, because in the month of spring Hashem removed you from Mitzrayim in the night.”

Pesach is intrinsically tied to spring. We were taken out in this season and we celebrate our delivery in this season. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 11a) understands from this posuk that the month of Nissan must be watched - “shamor” - to ensure that it falls in the spring, and when it appears that it will be during the winter, we must make a leap year.

Perhaps we can also explain that the reason the posuk interjects that we were taken out of Mitzrayim during the spring and at night, “loylah,” is to reinforce the concept that we were enshrouded in slavery, darkness and tumah. We were removed from that dark situation and placed in “aviv,” spring, with our newly-gained freedom and soon-to-be rebirth as a nation.

Even after our formation as a people and even after receiving the Torah, there were ups and downs, as there are in daily life. The lesson of “Hachodesh hazeh lochem” reminds us that there is always opportunity for hischadshus, renewal, in our world. We should never despair. Cold will give way to heat and sadness to joy. If things aren’t going right for us, we have to believe that there can be improvement and set ourselves to realize that goal. It may be difficult and it may take special effort, but there is no goal that is unattainable for a person of faith.

Leading up to Pesach, we scramble, expending much energy preparing for Yom Tov. The drive to clean every part of the house and clean every closet is widespread, even when not halachically mandated. It hints to the fact that we remember our history and that before the geulah there was hard work. Mekubolim reveal that the sweat that results from working to clean for Pesach has the purifying qualities of a mikvah, for there is no purity and no holiness without lots of hard work and sweat.

The connection between the exertion involved in biur chometz and the enduring struggle against evil is referenced by Chazal, who compare the yeitzer hora to se’or sheba’isah, chometz in the dough. Chometz represents immorality, and by eradicating it, we undergo a profound spiritual cleansing.

The eternal message of chodesh Nissan is that just as winter leads to spring and darkness leads to light, periods of g’nus - shame - lead to times of shevach.

Now, with winter’s end, with so many of us dealing with various challenges, hardships, sicknesses and discouraging news, we grab on to the message of hope and rebirth afforded to us by this glorious month and the glorious Yom Tov.

A year ago, a new sickness descended onto the world. Many lost their lives, people lost their jobs, and many businesses did not survive the lockdowns. Yeshivos, shuls and schools were closed. Children were out of school. Stores were closed and people feared to venture outside. Social interaction was cut to a minimum. People were separated from their families, loved ones and friends.

Last year, at this time, many of us were lying in bed, sick with the coronavirus, unable to move and wondering if we would ever be able to move again. Hashem was very kind to us, and we were able to slowly regain our strength and return to leading our lives.

Though we cannot bring back to life those who were lost, much of the turmoil caused by the disease has dissipated and we are able to see a path forward.

Sickness will give way to health, failures will lead to achievements, losses will lead to triumphs, and golus will lead to geulah.

Although it may appear to be laylah, armed with emunah and bitachon we fortify ourselves with additional strength. We sense that we are in chodesh ha’aviv and that our travails will give birth to recuperation and success.

Freedom is accompanied by obligations. We are given the abilities we need and enabled to rise to greatness. We are not held back from dreaming and setting goals.

When the Alter of Slabodka decided to open a yeshiva, he approached his rebbi, Rav Yisroel Salanter, and asked him what his main task should be as he directed the yeshiva.

Rav Yisroel told him that the task of a rosh yeshiva is to recharge the lives of the downtrodden and depressed. The Alter adapted this message and set as his goal in Slabodka to educate and inculcate the message of “gadlus ha’adam,” the greatness that man can reach.

Seemingly, they are not the same goal, for while Rav Yisroel told him to raise the weak and deficient, the Alter concentrated on motivating the bright.

But, in essence, they are one and the same, for the way for people to realize their talents and inner greatness is by helping them when they are down and letting them know that periods of darkness and dread don’t need to be followed by despair, because each person has greatness within that they can tap into and realize.

Each person can have their own spring. When everything seems dark and dreary, when all seems lost and you understand nothing, know that each person has a path that they can follow that can lead them to light, warmth and understanding.

As deep as a person has sunk, and as locked away as he may feel, if he latches himself onto Torah, he has a way out of his personal swamp. “Asei lecha rav,” make for yourself a rebbi, a teacher, “uknei lecha chover,” and procure for yourself a good friend, for they will guide you and lead you and help you reach your own promised land.

Seek warmth on a cold day and light when all is dark. “Hisna’ari mei’ofor kumi,” lift yourself off the floor and out of the dirt. “Hisoreri, ki va oreich,” lie not in slumber, awake, for your light is there, “kevod Hashem olayich niglah,” Hashem’s honor is upon you.

You’re not alone, you’re not weak, and you’re not powerless or incapable. Spring has sprung and you can, too.

Pesach calls out to all, from the rich to the poor. It proclaims in a language all can understand, in a voice all can hear, that Chag Hacheirus is here. You have the freedom and the ability to accomplish any goal you set for yourself.

“Kol dichfin yeisei veyeichol, kol ditzrich yeisei veyifsoch.” Let us all partake of the Yom Tov’s blessings. We will soon be redeemed as blessed, free, wholesome people in the land Hashem promised us.

Every Day a Gift

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

If there is one thing that most people learned from Covid, it is the necessity to adapt to changing situations. People had thought that they were set and had everything figured out. Then the world careened and many plans, careers and businesses were toppled. Firmly established wasn’t firm enough, as people and their businesses quickly ran out of money and collapsed.

Families were devastated by premature deaths. Millions were sickened and millions died. There was no escaping the pandemic and the ravages it left in its wake.

Through it all, people had to learn to adapt to the new reality. Those who did were able to keep themselves afloat. Those who didn’t suffered much hardship and pain.

By the same token, people who can’t apply their values to a changing reality are also in trouble. The trick is to hang on to your inner truth as you confront new surroundings and realities.

Adapting means to strengthen what makes you strong, enhancing the attributes that distinguish you from others, and reinforcing them so that you can excel in new surroundings. You must size up the new situation and recognize that things will change and may never be the same again.

Figure out where your strengths lie and do what you must to survive and succeed in the new reality.

Jews who immigrated to America during the first half of the past century believed that the religious life they led in the old country could not be replicated here. Many had no hope that their children would be able to be religious in the new country and quickly surrendered to what they thought was inevitable assimilation. They were led to believe that in order to adapt to the new country, they had to jettison their essence, identity, and what made them great. Jewish children from religious homes were sent to public school and quickly became lost to the Jewish people. 

A minority understood that although America was totally different than what they were used to, they could still hold on to their children. They struggled to make a living and expended extra effort raising their children to retain their heritage while adapting to the new environment. It was an uphill battle, but they sacrificed to establish yeshivos and/or sent their children to already existing ones.

Both types recognized that the world had changed, but they differed radically in their methods of dealing with the new reality.

Those who held fast to their values survived with their essence and their values intact. They transplanted those values to a new country, translated them into the new language, and they flourished.

Every era presents new temptations and challenges. A society that is strong and realistic studies the new situation until it can navigate it competently. But one that is weak and fatalistic either continues on as if nothing has changed or compromises everything that gave it its identity in the first place.

We have to deal with the challenges that face us in our time and confront them wisely. We mustn’t bury our heads or engage in illegitimate compromises. Neither of those options holds any chance for long-term success.

The Bnei Yisroel were able to survive as a people in Mitzrayim because they held fast to certain attributes. As Chazal say, “Lo shinu es shemom, lo shinu es malbusham, lo shinu es leshonam.” They adapted to a life of servitude and endured because they made sure not to change their identifying characteristics. This is reinforced by the Haggadah Shel Pesach, which says, “Vayehi shom legoy, melameid shehoyu metzuyonim shom.” They made sure to maintain their identity and not to compromise on anything that would have diluted their people.

In our time, as well, we are confronted by a constantly changing society, one that is plagued by ebbing morals and a host of temptations that threaten us. New problems arise daily. We have to remember why we were created and what our mission is. We mustn’t fall prey to the fads of the moment.

As we enter Nissan, the month during which the Jewish nation came into existence, we should remember that we have endured longer than any other people because we remained loyal to our belief in the Torah’s unchanging character and the timelessness and sanctity of its every word.

And because we, the Jewish people, have a mission in this world.

We mustn’t compromise on that which ennobles us and sets us apart. We must remain metzuyonim, excelling in all we do. If we cling to the Torah and seek to excel in its study and the observance of its precepts, we not only enhance our lives, but hasten the end of the exile.

So many bowed, capitulated and fell, while the Torah community continues to grow and flourish in this county and across the globe. In every language, in every society, we have the means to persevere, as long as we are committed to remaining metzuyonim, distinguished by the lofty attributes that define the Jewish people.

There is currently a battle being waged to turn back the force of halacha and the purity and holiness of the Jewish people. As we wrote last week, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered that the country accept fictitious conversions performed by Conservative and Reform clergy and mark people converted by them as Jews on all official documents.

They are fictitious conversions because Judaism is guided by a system of rules and laws borne out of the Talmud, the Shuchan Aruch, codifiers of halacha, and millennia of practice. It is adherence to these laws that identifies us as religious Jews and guides our lives. To ignore these laws and certify people as Jews without committing them to living according to the laws as represented by halacha is to falsify conversions and religious life.

We live at a time when society allows people to identify themselves as being something they are not and can never be. As we are forced to adapt to new legal realities in one way or another, Torah and halacha remain immutable and are not subject to passing whims.

Those who mock us and seek to dilute Jewish laws in the name of adapting to a new world and new situations are usurpers who debase themselves and the people they preach to.

Israel’s Chief Rabbinate is guided by halacha, as all religious rabbis have been since there have been rabbis. To claim that they are guided by interests of power is subterfuge and wrong. It may earn the practitioners of faux Orthodoxy some favorable press, but it is meaningless and won’t endure.

Two of our old friends, Avi Weiss and Marc D. Angel, leaders of the so-called Open Orthodoxy movement, wrote an article in the Jerusalem Post to let the world know that not all Orthodox Jews are as backward and closed-minded as we are. Some are intelligent enough to adapt to new realities.

This is how they began their article: “We are Orthodox rabbis who have served in Orthodox synagogues and taught in Orthodox schools for five decades. It is precisely because we love Orthodoxy that we speak in support of the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision validating Conservative and Reform conversions done in Israel for Israeli citizenship. 

“This move, we believe, will help foster in Israel a less coercive Orthodoxy and worldwide will embrace all of our people as part of Am Yisrael, with a shared past and shared future.

“No doubt, the Chief Rabbinate will disagree with the position we’ve taken, as they fiercely want to hold on to power, determined to be the sole arbiters on conversions, leaving no room for Conservative and Reform.”

They go on to bash the Chief Rabbinate’s form of Orthodoxy.

You see, it is too oppressive and is not inviting. If they would relax the rules and recognize outsiders as insiders, we would all be so much better off, they claim.

Sounds like Joe Biden’s rhetoric to welcome foreigners to the United States. They don’t have to become citizens. It is enough just to cross the border and declare an intention to live in the country. That entitles them to all – or most – benefits of citizenship. There are no obligations, no tests, no background checks. You want to be an American? You are one. That is not going to work for the country, and that philosophy does not work for us either.

They rationalize, “If Israeli citizens have a choice of where to go for a conversion, it may catalyze the rabbinate to be more open in their conversion policies, taking into account the whole corpus of Jewish Law, which is more flexible than the current extreme Chief Rabbinate’s standards.  Competition is always good, as it encourages everyone to do better.  This bill could create a dynamic which would prod the Chief Rabbinate to become less insular and adopt a broader view of Klal Yisrael.”

According to Weiss and Angel, we should be broad and welcoming, diluting our nation by allowing people to enter simply by identifying as Jews, taking some courses and going through a meaningless ceremony.

Halacha does not recognize such people as Jews, and neither can those of us who are halacha observers.

The parsha this week begins with the words, “Vayakhel Moshe es kol adas Bnei Yisroel.” Moshe returned from receiving the Torah on the day after Yom Kippur and all of Klal Yisroel flocked to him to hear what he brought them.

There is a lesson here for us that is relevant throughout the year. The Jewish year, just like Jewish life, is composed of peaks and valleys, times of joy and times of pain. Every period has its specific avodah, whether it is a day that is spent in shul or one that is spent eating and drinking. Even on a routine day, our life is loaded with opportunity and meaning.

The time that passes will never return, and every moment that arrives is unique.

Mimochoras Yom Kippur is the day following the most exalted twenty-four hours of the year. How can you top that? Any day that follows must be a downer, maybe even a day off, without its own specific recipe for growth.

Our parsha opens on that day, mimochoras Yom Kippur, when Moshe Rabbeinu gathered the nation. As they stood listening to him, they were once again together, b’achdus, and they merited the Mishkon.

Following his return from Har Sinai after the chet ha’Eigel, Moshe called out, “Mi laHashem eilay - Everyone who remains with Hashem come to me.” Only the bnei Levi answered the call. But following that, the Jewish people repented for their involvement with the Eigel and understood that when Moshe speaks, everyone should listen and obey.

The parshiyos of Vayakhel and Pekudei conclude the five parshiyos that discuss the construction of the Mishkon and its design. The building of the Mishkon began after Yom Kippur and continued until Rosh Chodesh Nissan.

The work required hundreds of workers and large amounts of material. To facilitate its construction, there was a fundraising campaign in which everyone participated. When the Mishkon was completed, the festivity lasted twelve days.

Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky points out the incongruity between the effort exerted into building the Mishkon and the original intended duration of its existence. The Bnei Yisroel left Mitzrayim on Pesach and were to travel in the desert until reaching the Promised Land. Had the sin of the meraglim not taken place, they would have entered Eretz Yisroel in a matter of months and would not have wandered in the desert for thirty-nine extra years. Why, then, was so much effort and expense invested in constructing a temporary edifice? Why all the specifics, precise measurements, and exhaustive work?

The Mishkon, epicenter of holiness, repository of Hashem’s presence on this world, defied time. Although the Mishkon would be temporary, its effect would be eternal. While it was only meant to last for several months, it represented the ideal that every day could be spent in the presence of Hashem. No day, or even part of it, should be taken for granted or wasted. Every minute is precious and can generate greatness. We know nothing about which day or which moment is most important.

Every action is eternal, every teaching of Moshe is eternal, every halacha is eternal.

Klal Yisroel, newly-cleansed from the chet ha’Eigel and desirous of the return of a proper relationship with Hashem, appreciated the opportunity to construct a dirah batachtonim. And they knew that in a relationship, there are no off moments. For however long it would stand, they would ensure that the Mishkon would be a place where Hashem would, kevayachol, be comfortable.

They understood that building the Mishkon was an act of teshuvah for their sin and they immediately responded to the appeal. It did not matter that the Mishkon was to stand for only a short period of time, for they would take advantage of the opportunity to become closer to Hashem, and in that merit they would enter Eretz Yisroel and build the permanent Bais Hamikdosh.

Their efforts were a labor of love.

As the Mishkon was completed, Moshe Rabbeinu blessed the Jewish people, stating, “Vihi noam Hashem Elokeinu aleinu.” Rav Simcha Sheps explained that they were blessed upon the completion of the work and not when they began it, because Moshe knew that there would be an initial burst of enthusiasm for the project. He didn’t have to bless them at the outset. He feared that the initial euphoria would wear off and they wouldn’t be able to maintain the proper spiritual levels to merit the Shechinah remaining among them. When the job was done and the Mishkon was set up, Moshe was able to look on with pride at the lesson his people had learned.

In the great mussar yeshivos, every talmid was infused with an awareness of the greatness inherent in man, referred to as gadlus ha’adam.

Every day is a gift from Hashem and worthy of expending the effort to construct a Mishkon - a place for Hashem - in our hearts. Every day presents new opportunities to grow, learn and achieve greatness. Every day deserves cleanliness and preparation for Godliness.

The posuk states, “Vayavo’u kol ish asher nesa’o libo” (35:21). Every man “whose heart lifted him” came to work on the construction of the Mishkon.

The Ramban states that none of the people who were engaged in building the Mishkon had learned that trade, nor did they have any previous experience. They were the people who responded to the call of Hashem. Niso’om libom, their hearts lifted them. They were consumed with the desire to fulfill the wish of Hashem. They didn’t say that they weren’t trained for anything that the Mishkon required. They didn’t say that the work was too difficult. They didn’t say, “Leave it for someone else to do.” The Mishkon was built by men of greatness who ignored their shortcomings and pushed themselves to do what they didn’t know they could to serve Hashem.

Perhaps, in light of our understanding, we can appreciate the lesson. Our year doesn’t consist of “on-days” and “off-days,” and our nation doesn’t boast capable people and those who are absolved of work. Every day has its special light, and on any day we can accomplish something.

They achieved greatness. They brought the Shechinah to this world. They received the brocha of Vihi Noam and the Mishkon lasted much longer than anyone thought it would. In fact, the Mishkon was never destroyed. It lies in hiding, waiting for the day when we can appreciate our blessings, the potential that lies in each moment, and all join together and summon the inner strength we all possess to put aside differences and work together to reestablish a dirah laHashem batachtonim.

They sinned with the Eigel and were punished. They learned from their mistake and adapted their behavior to be able to return to Hashem’s embrace. They dedicated their efforts to the construction of the Mishkon reinforced with the knowledge that every day, every person and every halacha is important and is transformative. 

They wouldn’t return to the Eigel ever again. They wouldn’t allow people who seek to dilute the greatness of Am Yisroel to convince them ever again to compromise on Moshe’s teachings.

May we merit the construction of the Bais Hamikdosh speedily in our day.

Resisting The Lure

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

The trajectory of this country has been transformed drastically since the presidential election. With the arrival of the new administration, entire concepts have changed, definitions of words have been revised, things that were considered dangerous for the country have been embraced, protections have been done away with, and borders have been thrown open for illegals, though you’re not allowed to refer to them as illegals anymore.

Last Thursday, Congress basically declared the Bible racist and discriminatory and may yet seek to criminalize it, as the morals and values that have held the world together and governed human interaction since the Bible was given have been junked, and if you dare speak or write of them in a positive way, you are derided and cancelled.

President Trump earned the votes of 75 million Americans, more than any previous incumbent president running for re-election, but he couldn’t compete with a lethargic candidate who barely campaigned and nobody really liked or cared about. Joe Biden couldn’t speak a coherent sentence unless he was reading it from an ever-present teleprompter, and even then he made so many mistakes that his handlers kept him locked up in his basement away from the public and media.

Yet, every time the media mentions the contention of Trump and his voters that the election was not wholly kosher, they make sure to let you know that such claims are “false” and “baseless.” Press neutrality is done. The press now acts as advocates for the leftist positions they have lobbied so hard for over the past few years.

Iran’s claims are not labeled as false. That would be going against the administration’s drive to enter into an agreement with one of the country’s most bitter foes. Trump brought Iran to its financial knees, now Biden seeks to regenerate them and enable them to return to their bitter terror war against the interest of democracy and freedom. Palestinian lies are never disputed. After all, boosting them hurts Israel. In addition, Biden and his group are restoring their relevance and funding that Trump removed as punishment.

On Purim, Israel was under a strict lockdown. Police were stationed around Yerushalayim to ensure that no chareidim enter, as they might mingle with their families and that can’t happen. On Monday, the Cabinet met and decided that the lockdown could be eased and stores, hotels, restaurants, and catering halls could begin opening.

What happened? Was there a new scientific report that enlightened the Cabinet members? Did the medical experts decide overnight that the coast is clear and the virus is beaten? Don’t believe that that is what happened.

A political decision was made that if they don’t stop torturing the people, there will be a heavy price paid at the election polls in three weeks. Voila! It’s all safe now. The vaccines have done their job and it’s time to restore the people’s freedoms lest they revolt.

This is similar to what is going on in this country in the public school system. Millions of children are not allowed back into school and it has nothing to do with science and nothing to do with medicine. It has everything to do with lazy teachers, powerful unions, and feckless Democrat politicians. 

New York’s governor was touted by politicians across the country as the go-to guy for corona. He won awards and shamelessly promoted a book he wrote on leadership, because he was the undisputed expert. He bashed President Trump at every opportunity, despite Trump’s best efforts to help New York and the country.

The governor targeted the frum community for public derision and whipping, doing his best to besmirch us and ruin the summer for thousands of our children. Those who mock us at every opportunity joined the bandwagon. After all, they were following the leadership of the governor, and everything he said and did was based on science. Shouts of aivah and dina demalchusa were thrown in our direction, and when Cuomo was sued, the yefei nefesh were aghast. “Don’t you guys know that we are in golus?” they cried.

Well, now the truth has been revealed for all to see and Cuomo is dead in the water, as his feared emergency Covid powers, which affected the lives of 19 million people, are about to be stripped away.

How do these things happen? How are fictions successfully plied to millions of people, who blindly accept them? Had they given some thought to what was happening, they would have had reason to doubt the narrative.

Such is the way of the Soton. Once he gets his foot in the door, it’s hard to get him out. We have got to be smart enough to perceive what is real and what is fake, who is good and who is evil, who is working for our benefit and who is consumed and motivated by selfish ego.

Covid cases are rapidly dropping across the country, but you wouldn’t know it. There seems to be a move afoot to suppress that information, for Covid gives the left a perfect cover to suppress freedoms and press ahead with its socialist programs. As Covid recedes, the economy rises, but you wouldn’t know that either, because if the economy is improving on its own by capitalist forces, who needs a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, only a tenth of which goes to fight the coronavirus and help those affected by it? But that’s a different story.

It is not hyperbole to say that our freedoms are at stake, that white people are under attack, that taxes will soon go the direction of gas prices, and that many things that have been taken for granted will disappear.

Such is the pattern of socialists around the world. After promising a utopian paradise, they go on to destroy all economic growth. Inflation rises to no end. There are shortages of everything. Wherever they go, ruin follows. Great speeches and promises of free stuff and free money never materialize. First everyone gets all the goodies they want and then everything begins to dry up. Look at Venezuela, a prosperous country, flush with oil revenue, with a bright future. The people fell for a socialist leader and voted him into power. Within a couple of years, the good times were replaced with corruption, destruction, bankruptcy, hunger and starvation.

How does it happen? Why would anyone give up freedoms, wealth, decency, sensible laws, a comfortable life, and everything that comes with it? Why would they trade that for a concept that has failed wherever it has been introduced? 

Because that is the way of the Soton and the Yeitzer Hora. They present to you alternate realities and convince you that what is detrimental is beneficial and what is wrong is right. They use every tool available to prove to you that night is day and evil is virtuous.

Anybody who is not principled with a strong moral character and blessed with faith and solid beliefs can be corrupted. The only question is the difficulty in flipping them.

This week, we will learn Parshas Ki Sisa and once again review the catastrophic collapse of the Jewish people as they were at their apex. And then it all fell apart. As Moshe Rabbeinu was receiving the Torah, the people were collecting their golden jewelry to melt them down and create a little calf to replace their leader.

The idea is bizarre and baffling. How can the most knowledgeable Jews who ever lived, known as the Dor Dei’ah, have forsaken their Moshe and the Torah and traded them in for a little cow that they themselves made that morning?

These were people who personally witnessed more miracles than anyone else. It didn’t require faith for them to believe in the makkos and the nissim at Yetzias Mitzrayim. They themselves were there and had seen them with their very eyes. And then they were ready to give it all up.

Rashi (32:1) quotes the Gemara (Shabbos 89a) which goes to the root of the error. It says that Moshe had promised the Jewish people that he would return in forty days. They became confused in their count and the Soton created darkness and confusion in the world so that they would assume that Moshe had died. But the people did not fall for that and told the Soton that Moshe was alive. They believed he would return as he had promised them that he would.

Then the Soton produced an image of Moshe’s body being carried in a casket in heaven. The people saw that and became convinced that Moshe would not be returning to lead them. They created the Eigel and we are still being punished for their act to this day.

The question is often posed: Why was the sin considered so great that they were deserving of severe punishment? Since they were shown the bier of Moshe, why are they blamed for trusting their eyes?

The Alter of Kelm explains that a person must work hard to develop a deep intelligence. We must be smart enough to ensure that nothing can ever convince us that the truth is not true. We have to have a proper understanding of the world that cannot be shaken, no matter what proofs are thrown at us.

If Moshe promised that he would return with the Torah, they should have had enough faith in him to know that he would be returning and nothing should have been able to shake them from that conviction.

When we know that the Torah is a Toras Emes and represents the absolute truth, nothing that anybody says can change that. No proposed theories or proofs can alter the fundamental knowledge of the veracity of Torah.

When the people saw the vision of a dead Moshe, they should not have permitted what they saw to fool them. A room full of people can all see the same thing and each person can view it differently. What they say is based upon their intelligence, understanding, biases, and previous experiences.

The story is often told of the teacher, or rebbi, or mashgiach who took a blank sheet of paper and placed a small dot on it. He held it up to the class and asked the students what they see. Most students said that they saw a blank page. Only the perceptive ones saw the dot staring at them.

Rav Berel Soloveitchik, rosh yeshivas Brisk, once told a story during Chumash shiur. He then went around the room, asking talmidim to repeat the story. Each one retold the story differently than it was originally said. He made the point that people repeat anecdotes that they heard from other people, who heard them from other people, and then they draw lessons from the story, while, most likely, by the time you hear the story, it bears slight resemblance to what actually occurred.

The Dor Dei’ah, the people who had experienced the loving Hand of Hashem and had studied from and been led by Moshe, should have seen past the subterfuge and known that there was something wrong with what they were observing. With their depth of understanding, they should have perceived that there was a sleight of hand manipulating the image and the picture had been photoshopped.

Once the Soton has convinced you to veer from the teachings of the Torah and your teachers, he has you firmly in his grip and will continue plying you until you are in a netherworld you never thought you would occupy.

Once the Soton was able to convince the Jews that Moshe was dead, from there he was quickly able to send them down the slippery slope, and by the next morning they were sunken in a sea of promiscuity and sin as they celebrated their new leader, the cow. Overnight, they had gone from being the holiest to the most depraved, despicable bunch.

By the time Moshe returned some hours later and called for those loyal to Hashem to rally to him, only shevet Levi raised their hands. The others were too far gone. They had despaired when convinced that Moshe was gone, and then, when he did return as he promised he would, they ignored his call. They had gone over to the dark side and couldn’t come back.

Life often throws challenges of this sort our way. Things appeal to our senses, tempting us against our better judgment. We find ourselves being seduced by outward appearances and scenes that the Soton paints for us. We disobey our teachings, traditions and common sense, because we are dazzled or enraptured by something we can’t resist pursuing. We convince ourselves that there is nothing wrong with our behavior. We resort to all kinds of excuses and rationales to justify our actions.

Ever since Covid began, the internet has invaded our lives more than ever. People who had avoided it and limited its use are now all in, doing all their shopping, fundraising, communicating, and much else there. Besides everything else, it dulls people’s thinking and sensitivity. Everything is boiled down to quickie glances. People look at something for a few seconds and think they understand it, while, in fact, all they have is a superficial glance and a superficial description of whatever it is that they are interested in. Everyone becomes an expert in things they know nothing about, and it becomes that much harder to reach and teach them. 

If the intelligence of the am chochom venavon gets crimped, it becomes much easier for the Soton to play with us and send us down the path of those who sinned with the Eigel.

Just look at the Democrats and what they were able to do, from convincing millions of people to vote for a deeply flawed candidate to having the entire country sit quietly on their hands as they set about remaking it in an image a majority of the voters were unable to foresee.

We need to be smart about what we do and how we lead our lives and what we permit into our house. It is not a conspiracy theory to note that the Soton plants subliminal messages which affect the thinking of those who lack the depth of understanding that is required to be aware of the hazards and inducements to veer just a drop from the proper way. The drip-drip influences change the perceptions and thought process so that without realizing the change, a person begins viewing things differently.   

The question was posed to the Chidushei Horim why the Aseres Hadibros had to be written on the luchos. Everyone heard them as they were being transmitted at Har Sinai, why was it necessary to write them. The rebbe answered that the Aseres Hadibros were written as well on the hearts of the Jewish people.

And what good was having the Aseres Hadibros written on their hearts?

In 1930 the Chofetz Chaim called a gathering of rabbonim to discuss a certain issue he felt was of great importance. At the meeting some of the gathered disagreed with him about how necessary it was to fight the government edict he was upset about. One of the rabbonim, gave voice to what others were thinking. He asked the Chofetz Chaim “vu shteit dos,” on what basis did he conclude that this matter was of enough significance that it was worth jeopardizing the community’s standing with the government over this. “Where is this written in halacha?,” the man concluded.

The Chofetz Chaim raised himself, opened the buttons of his kapota and pointed to his heart. “Es shteit duh. It says it right here.”

That is what is meant when we say a person has a “Yidishe hartz,” a Jewish heart. Deep down we know the truth. Every Jewish person is born with the words of the Aseres Hadibros written on his heart. When we remain in touch with our core, we are protected from the Soton and his attempts to steer us wrong so that we violate that which makes us great and good.

Before we act, think or do something, we should point at our heart and consider “vos shteit duh,” what is written there. Is what I am about to do consistent with what is written on my heart or is it not. If it isn’t, we shouldn’t permit ourselves to undertake that action or entertain that thought.

Let us recognize fact from fallacy. Let us be sure that we lead our lives based on a path of truth and fidelity, following the Torah every step of the way and the guidance of our Torah leaders in our day-to-day lives. We will thus become conduits of Kiddush Sheim Shomayim, reflecting the truth of Hashem and His Torah for all to see.