A Fake World

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Every day, it becomes clearer to us that we live in a fake world. That doesn’t mean that we are fake, that our families and possessions are not real, and that everything that makes up the world is fake. It means that the underpinning of the world, the currency that keeps it going, is fake.

The leaders of governments are fake. They are fictitious and hypocritical. They project a certain image, while, in reality, they are far removed from the picture they create of themselves. They promise one thing and deliver another. They pretend to be one political persuasion to get into power, and then, when they do, it becomes obvious that their beliefs are the diametric opposite of what they promised they were.

They profess to be motivated by a pursuit of justice and fairness, but their actions prove that what they care about is amassing money and power. Innocent little guys stand no chance, as all the appointments and contracts go to those who pay their way in, and the corrupt.

They adopt positions of strength that are dutifully promulgated by their spokespeople, but when they speak without their teleprompter, they are shown to be weak and ill informed. They mandate a course of action for the citizens, which they don’t follow in their own lives when they think nobody is watching. They create regular-Joe images of themselves, portraying themselves as regular hardworking people who can empathize and identify with the concerns of the citizenry, while, in truth, they have greatly enriched themselves and live lives far removed from those of the people they seek to govern.

We see elyonim lematah vetachtonim lemaalah. Unqualified people are promoted to high positions and we become disillusioned. We have a president who regularly demonstrates his lack of intelligence, ruining the country’s economy and bringing the nation close to war with Russia.

In Eretz Yisroel, we see people in power who have set their goals on destroying the Jewish character of the Jewish state. The only other motivation for them is power; nothing else is important. All their so-called Zionist beliefs are shunted aside to appease their Arab enablers. We wonder how it can be that such a group of frauds, hypocrites and liars can be permitted to lead the country.

It is not only politicians and leaders who are fake. Many people we encounter seem to be flippant with the truth. People create fictions about themselves and then try to lead their lives according to those fabrications. They project images of wealth, happiness and much else, while, in truth, they are broke and broken. Such is the way of the world. But that is about to be morphed to a new extreme. Today, we are told that society’s next frontier is the “metaverse.”

The way it was explained to me, thousands of developers and dozens of huge cutting-edge companies are busy at work creating the metaverse, a new world that exists on the internet and in people’s minds in which users live their lives through creating avatars, which are graphical images of themselves, or, as we would call them in pedestrian terms, mentchies.

In the really fake realm that is currently being developed, people, living through personas that they have created, go to stores and buy homes and property in the metaverse world. They meet other people there. For example, instead of traveling to the city to meet a lawyer, your mentchie meets the lawyer’s mentchie in a Starbucks store in the metaverse. You have your conversation and then go back home, all while lying on your couch.

You can be everything that you aren’t. Until now, people who couldn’t make it lived and succeeded through their sports heroes and teams, as well as through creating stories about themselves and living through them. That may no longer be necessary, as people will be able to create for themselves their own virtual life.

While all this fiction sounds bizarre, it is essentially an extension of the sheker, the fiction, that is congruent with olam hazeh, this world in which we live.

Is there truth in this world? As we reported last week, two weeks ago, a man left Britain and landed in Texas, whereupon he went to a synagogue in a town most people never heard of and took four Jews hostage. He ranted about Jews and Israel, and thought that he would be able to free “Mrs. Al Qaeda” from an American jail. The hostages managed to escape and the Islamic terrorist was killed. To us, it was an obvious anti-Semitic incident. But not to the world. The FBI special agent in charge said, “It was not specifically connected to the Jewish community, but we are continuing to work to find a motive.” This from the once universally respected FBI of J. Edgar Hoover. As ridiculous as the statement was, it was picked up and propagated around the world by serious news organizations.

Imagine if that happened with any other group. The FBI and the media would be bending over backwards with the usual inane platitudes. But not when it comes to the Jews. And that is the way it has been since Har Sinai. It is a fact that ever since we became a nation, the world has hated us and wished to do away with us. Sometimes it is obvious, and other times it isn’t, and our time seems like it has a dangerous potential.

Eighty years ago, the Nazis held their Wannsee Conference and plotted to rid Europe of its Jewish population. Though they came awfully close, we have come back. We are stronger and there are more people learning Torah than ever before. For several years after the Holocaust, there was some overt sympathy for the Jewish people. By now, that has dissipated, and most nations of the world are lined up against Israel, as are the media. The incident in Texas was just one small example.

This past weekend, a large group of rabbonim gedolim attending the Dirshu Siyum and Masa Tefillah in Vilna detoured to the historic Šnipiškės Snipichock Cemetery in that city. In the freezing cold, as snow fell, dozens sat at the site of the huge centuries-old Jewish burial site that was defiled by Lithuania. It was not enough that the Lithuanians worked with the Nazis to murder 95% of the country’s Jewish population, but they built a stadium in middle of the cemetery in 1971, and office and apartment buildings in 2005. After much lobbying by Jewish groups and members of the US Congress, they have promised not to disturb remains anymore, but many doubt their sincerity. By being there, they made a powerful statement that world Jewry is concerned about that site and will remain vigilant about protecting that which is there.

Last week, we lained Parshas Yisro and the parsha of Kabbolas HaTorah at Har Sinai. This week, we follow with Parshas Mishpotim, which deals with financial laws. Chazal (cited by Rashi, Shemos 21:1, “mah harishonim m’Sinai af eilu m’Sinai,”) explain that the connection between the two parshiyos is to demonstrate that even the laws that we think are rational and could have been devised by man were also handed to us at Sinai, and it is for that reason that we follow and are guided by them.

Laws developed by man are dependent upon the zeitgeist, culture and values of the time, and are therefore subject to constant change. The laws that govern decency and honesty and inter-person business activities are as immutable as those that pertain to Shabbos.

While previously that may have sounded far-fetched, witness the changes that have overtaken the criminal justice system in this country and you will realize that nothing can ever be taken for granted. There is no guarantee that simple common sense and notions of self-preservation and communal good will always guide the laws of even a cultured and educated land.

But deeper than that is that in the almah d’shikrah, in the world of fiction in which we live, the only truth is Torah. Thus, when Chazal taught, “Mah harishonim m’Sinai af eilu m’Sinai,” they were saying that when truth was brought to this world when the Aseres Hadibros were given to the Jewish people on Har Sinai, it gave them the ability to also faithfully fulfill the laws given to them in Parshas Mishpotim.

This is the explanation of what Chazal say (Mechilta, cited by Rashi in Parshas Yisro 18:13), “Kol dayan shedon din l’amito… k’ilu naasah shutaf l’Hakadosh Boruch Hu b’maaseh bereishis - Whoever judges truthfully becomes a partner with Hashem in creation.” Because the world is an olam hasheker, someone who brings truth into the world has partnered with creation. This is accomplished with the koach haTorah.

Thus, Mishpotim comes after Yisro, because after emes was given to the Yidden at Har Sinai, they were able to accept the dinim and are able to properly adjudicate disputes (Sefas Emes, Mishpotim 658).

This is also the reason why when Yisro advised Moshe to appoint sarim for the Jewish people to teach and administer justice, he set as two of the qualifications that they should be anshei emes, men of truth, who are sonei betza, they despise money. The position of power is only given to people who have demonstrated through their mastery of Torah that they can be depended on to be honest and truthful in all they do. A person whose value system is not based upon Torah cannot be trusted to judge fairly. It is not necessarily because we fear that he will be corrupted. It is because his thought process is suspect.

In this world of sheker, we often find reason to become depressed. But knowing that although the world is addicted to things fictitious, and things are frequently not what they appear to be or what we think they should be, it is comforting to know that the Torah provides refuge for us.

If we study and dedicate ourselves to the chukim and mishpotim of this week’s parsha and the other parshiyos of the Torah, we can create an oasis for ourselves. Studying the holy seforim, such as Chovos Halevavos, Mesilas Yeshorim, and Sefas Emes, among so many others, restores our faith in ourselves and trains us to think and act like Torah Yidden. The anshei emes and sonei betza in our midst are examples for us to follow and people for us to learn from.

This week, we bentch Rosh Chodesh Adar, the month that ushers in the special season of simcha. Chazal say, “Mishenichnas Adar marbin b’simcha - When Adar comes, we increase our happiness.” A Jew must always be joyous, yet there is something about Adar that prompts us to be happier than usual. The month of Purim reminds us that all is transitory, the wicked ones do not rule forever, and, in the end, the good people win when they call out to Hashem.

Let us look towards the good, recognizing that light will soon replace the darkness and evil will be defeated by righteousness. If you have patience and faith, there is no reason for anguish, gloom or depression, and there is never cause for dejection and for giving up.

It’s Adar! Cheer up!

Making the Move

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

One Shabbos, Rav Chaim Leib Auerbach and his young son, Shlomo Zalman, walked from the Shaarei Chesed neighborhood of Yerushalayim to Meah Shearim to participate in a Kiddush. As the two were walking, something caught Rav Chaim Leib’s attention.

To his astonishment, he saw an older man dressed in pajamas standing on his porch smoking a cigarette. Chillul Shabbos was rarely seen in Yerushalayim in those days.

Rav Chaim Leib turned to his son and said to him in Yiddish, “Close your eyes. Don’t look at that sheigetz.”

The sheigetz spoke Yiddish and overheard the conversation. He became very upset and called down to Rav Auerbach in Yiddish, “Are you calling me a sheigetz? How can you call me a sheigetz when I had a conversation with Hakadosh Boruch Hu?”

Rav Chaim Leib was quiet as the man continued: “You heard correctly. Me, the sheigetz, I asked Hashem a question and He answered me. I’m no sheigetz.”

He put down his cigarette and shared his story.

“I was born in Russia to Jewish parents. My father died when I was very young. I grew up with goyim, went to school with them, and was eventually drafted into the Russian army. One night, we were fiercely attacked. Everyone around me was killed. I looked out at the battlefield and was shaking with fear. I was the only survivor. I began to wonder why I was chosen to live.

“I crawled into a foxhole and began to talk to Hashem. I said, ‘I don’t know if You exist. I was orphaned as a young child. I grew up with goyim. I was never in a shul. I don’t know anything. But if You are really out there, please show me a sign. I will stick my hand out of the bunker, and if a bomb or bullet comes and shoots off one of my fingers, I will know that You exist. I will begin going to shul, studying your Torah, and living the life of a proper Jew.’

“And that is what happened. I stuck out my hand, a bullet whizzed by, and it blew off my finger.”

He held up his hand and said, “Take a look. You’ll see that I am missing a finger.”

“Do you hear what I’m telling you? How do you call me a sheigetz? I am a Jew Hashem has spoken to.”

After begging the man’s forgiveness, Rav Auerbach asked the man the obvious question: “So tell me, how is it that you are standing here, smoking on your porch in public on Shabbos in Yerushalayim ihr hakodesh? What happened to you that you ended up like this?”

“After that happened,” the man responded, “I promised Hashem that I would improve my ways. I would daven in shul and begin to study Torah. For months, I looked for a shul and couldn’t find one. Then the army discharged me and I went to live with my mother. I felt bad for her and stayed with her. There was no shul in her town. And so it was that I kept pushing off fulfilling my promise until I forgot about it.”

Rav Shlomo Zalman would repeat the story and say that he remembered it his entire life. He would add that in life, there are times of great inspiration, and when they come, we must immediately act upon them. “That man,” Rav Shlomo Zalman said, “must have had a great neshomah for such a story to happen to him. Had he immediately gone to a shul to daven and learn, he would have become a great person.”

Instead, the man procrastinated and found excuses as to why today is not the right day to do teshuvah. Every day, he pushed it off to the next, until the inspiration to improve was totally gone and forgotten.

This story is a lesson to us all. How many times are we inspired to be better, to do better, to daven better, and to learn more, and then nothing happens? We hear a good speech, we read something inspirational in the Yated, we have a geshmak in a Tosafos, Daf Yomi starts a new masechta that we never got around to learning, or we notice something about Mishnah Yomi. We see it every week on the front page and it seems so easy to do.

And then, what happens? If we don’t grab the opportunity, if we don’t open the Mishnayos when the interest is high, then we forget about it until the next week, when we are reminded again. We are inspired to improve ourselves in some aspect of our lives. But if we push it off until tomorrow, until we are rested, until we finish our work, until we have time, until we are able to clear everything off our desk and concentrate on this new project, then, more often than not, it never happens.

Every fundraiser knows that it is better to leave the meeting with a check than with a pledge. Not because the person is bad, not because he was lying when he pledged, but because the inspiration that caused him to pledge the higher amount wears off, and he forgets, and when he remembers, he is no longer as motivated as he was when you spoke to him about the cause.

This is an introduction to this week’s parsha of Yisro. We wonder why the parsha is named for him and what was so special about him. We know that he must have been a special person to merit having Moshe Rabbeinu as a son-in-law, and we search to ascertain what was special about him.

The posuk relates that Yisro heard about the wondrous things that Hashem did for Moshe and Klal Yisroel. Yisro traveled with his daughter, Moshe’s wife, and their two children, and joined Klal Yisroel as they camped at Har HaElokim. The Torah does not tell us explicitly why Yisro decided to come. In fact, the Gemara (Zevochim 116a) cites a machlokes regarding whether he came before or after Kabbolas HaTorah.

Apparently, the fact that he came is more important and more laudatory than when he came. This is because Yisro was not the only outside person who heard about the makkos, and the many nissim in Mitzrayim and at Krias Yam Suf, but he is the only foreigner who left his home and traveled to join Am Yisroel on their miraculous journey as they left behind centuries of slavery and embarked on becoming worthy of the Am Hanivchar appellation. What about the rest of the world? Millions upon millions of people everywhere heard the fantastic stories that transpired with Am Yisroel. It was on the proverbial front page of the newspapers all across the world, and yet it had no effect on them.

Everyone knew about the makkos, everyone knew that the sea had split for the Jews and drowned the superior Mitzri army, but nobody did anything about it. They read the paper and discussed the latest news every day over breakfast, lunch and supper, and then they said, “Pass the ketchup,” and were on to the next thing. Any awe that they had for the G-d who had caused all of those wondrous things to happen was immediately lost, as they moved on to the next thing. There must have been some good people, or a few intelligent people, or some people who were looking for direction in life or to improve themselves and their condition. But none of those people, and nobody else, gave much thought to traveling there to check it out for themselves.

Nowadays, people don’t like life in one state and hear that in a different state masks are not mandatory, nor are there onerous taxes. They pick themselves up and move there to try something new and give it a chance. During the period of Yetzias Mitzrayim, only Yisro was astute and honest enough to venture to Har HaElokim and check things out for himself.

He was the only person in the world who was looking to grow and to learn and to improve. Therefore, when he heard about what happened, he didn’t just go on to the next topic of conversation, but used it as a learning and teaching moment, every day getting a step closer to the day when he was prepared to take the big step and make a move to change his life.

I came to this thought last week when I went to Philadelphia to be menachem avel the Kamenetsky family, who were in aveilus upon the passing of Rebbetzin Tema Kamenetsky a”h.

One of her sons told me something very striking. He said that his mother would read the Yated from cover to cover, and each time she finished an article, she asked herself what she could learn from it. What devar mussar or hanhagah tovah was there that she could take from it?

Such is the epitome of an aim b’Yisroel. That is the way a person who seeks to grow and become closer with Hashem reads a newspaper, and that is the way we should all read the newspaper. We should always be looking for opportunities to improve. When we are inspired, we should act upon it and not procrastinate. As Chazal say (Pirkei Avos 2:5), “Al tomar lichshe’efneh eshneh, shema lo siponeh.”

It goes without saying that we shouldn’t be wasting our time with material that has no redeeming value and nothing that we can learn from it. As bnei and bnos Torah, we have to manage our time better and not waste it on reading and discussing meaningless things.

One of the ills of the internet, besides everything else, is that it causes a dulling of people’s intelligence and senses, as they troll through one site after the next, reading silliness and getting lost in superficiality. Their heads then become occupied with shallowness and stupidity. It takes over their conversation and thought process, clouding their vision and understanding. Their senses and intelligence become dulled.

The concept of acting upon inspiration without delay may be included in the middah of zerizus, to begin and to perform a mitzvah with quickness and enthusiasm. This is evident from the admonition of the Mesilas Yeshorim (Chapter 6), where he explains the statement of Chazal (Pesochim 4a) that zerizin makdimin l’mitzvos. He says that “just as it requires perception and foresight to be protected from the yeitzer hora, which seeks to interfere with our actions and prevent us from performing mitzvos properly, so too, perception and foresight are required to grab on to mitzvos and to perform them without losing them. A person who is lazy and not fastidious in pursuing mitzvos and holding on to them will lose them and will remain empty of them.”

Yisro was a zoriz, and the Torah places his story in the parsha of Kabbolas HaTorah to teach us that if we are to properly study and observe Torah, we would do ourselves well to learn from the way Yisro acted. He heard the stories and stopped to perceive them and what lessons they contained for him. When he realized that they demonstrated that there is an ultimate truth in this world that emanates from the Creator, he forsook his high position, good income and comfortable home and surroundings, and quickly rushed to join the Creator’s people in the desert.

With this, we can understand Rashi’s explanation of the posuk (Shemos 18:8) which states that Moshe told his father-in-law, Yisro, everything that Hashem did to Paroh and Mitzrayim on account of Am Yisroel, and also what took place at Krias Yam Suf and during the battle with Amaleik. The question is: Why did Moshe have to tell him everything? The posuk (18:1) states that he already heard everything and that was why he came. Rashi explains that Moshe told him everything to be mekarev him to Torah.

Moshe Rabbeinu did that because all the inspiration in the world and all the goodwill cannot stand up to the nature of man and the interference of the yeitzer hora. Yisro had demonstrated that he was on a higher level than every other existing human outside of Am Yisroel. He did what nobody else did and acted upon the news that he had heard. But no person, as great as he may be, is protected against the yeitzer hora, as the Mesilas Yeshorim writes and as everybody knows from personal experience. As Hillel taught (Pirkei Avos 2:5), “Al taamin b’atzmecha ad yom moscha - As long as you live, don’t believe in yourself.”

Without being grounded in Torah, the inspiration doesn’t last. Without a Torah foundation, the edifice crumbles and won’t stand. Our thoughts and actions must be based upon Torah in order for them to be long-lasting, real and effective.

Recently, all the talk was about teachers’ pay and whether it should be raised and how. Long debates ensued and everyone had an opinion. It was the talk of town in many towns, in the coffee rooms and at the dinner tables. And then a terrible story took place in Eretz Yisroel and everyone seemed to have forgotten about the teacher crisis. People were aghast and distraught, demanding that an investigation be initiated and changes be made. It was a terrible story, a really awful and painful one, and it did demand that changes be made and lessons learned. But then, just like that, the story receded, and everyone found something else to talk about.

Let us learn from Yisro, and from Rebbetzin Kamenetsky, and from other gutteh Yidden, who are zerizin b’mitzvos, and take the time to think matters through clearly and take a mussar lesson from things that happen. Let us always seek to improve our spiritual situation, our middos and maasim tovim, so that we become better people and help make the world a better place, worthy of the coming of Moshiach, speedily in our day.

Vision

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

This week’s parsha of Beshalach is associated with the splitting of the sea at Krias Yam Suf, where the Jewish people finished their exit from Mitzrayim. It was there that they beheld the splendor of Hashem, as never before. It was there that they realized the promise of Hashem, “lokachas lo goy mikerev goy.” They not only achieved independence from Mitzrayim, but became an independent nation.

Coupled with this theme is that of “re’iyah,” the ability to see, and through vision perceive the truth and appreciate reality.

But before that happened, the Torah tells us (Shemos 14:9-14) that the Mitzriyim regretted their decision to free the slaves and chased after them, approaching them as they camped on the banks of the Yam Suf. The posuk relates that Paroh neared and “vayisu es eineihem vehinei Mitzrayim noseia achareiheim vayiru meod,” the Bnei Yisroel raised their eyes and saw that Mitzrayim was chasing after them and they feared greatly. The people cried out to Moshe, who calmed them and told them, “Al tirau, hisyatzvu ureu es yeshuas Hashem, have no fear, watch the salvation that Hashem will do for you today, and the way you saw Mitzrayim today, you will never see them again forever, ki asher re’isem es Mitzrayim hayom lo sosifu lirosam od ad olam. Hashem yilochem lochem v’atem tacharishun. Hashem will fight for you and you will be silent.”

It’s all about vision and perspective. They saw Mitzrayim chasing after them and feared for their lives. Moshe Rabbeinu calmed them and told them that they would never see Mitzrayim again the way they were seeing them that day. And then he tells them that Hashem would fight for them and they would be rescued.

Prior to Hashem separating the sea for them and leading them through it to make their final split from Mitzrayim, the freed slaves were not yet an “am”; they were not yet their own independent nation. They still viewed Mitzrayim with the type of awe and fear that a slave has for his master. They viewed Paroh as an arrogant, tough and strong leader, whom they feared and dreaded.

That was only until Krias Yam Suf, whereupon Hashem took them as His “goy mikerev goy.” From then on, they never viewed Mitzrayim again with any measure of respect or fear. They were now Hashem’s people. They saw how Hashem had finally beaten Mitzrayim and recognized that Paroh and his nation held nothing over them and could no longer harm them.

Following Krias Yam Suf, the pesukim (Shemos 14:30-31) relate that at the shores of the Yam Suf, “Vayar Yisroel,” the people saw and thought that they beheld the ultimate judgment and precision of Hashem’s rule. First, “Vayar Yisroel es Mitzrayim meis al sefas hayom,” they saw the Mitzriyim lying dead on the banks of the sea, and then “Vayar Yisroel es hayod hagedolah asher asah Hashem b’Mitzrayim,” they appreciated the might of the Hand of Hashem. And then “Vayiru ha’am es Hashem vaya’aminu baHashem uveMoshe avdo, they feared Hashem and believed in Him and His servant Moshe.”

As they became a nation, they saw the truth and appreciated it, and it caused them to fear and believe Hashem.

It’s all about vision and perspective.

Shortly thereafter, once again, the people veered from Hashem and complained that they didn’t have enough food to sustain them in the desert. Hashem sent them slov birds in the evening so they would have meat, and in the morning, He sent them a type of food coated with protective dew.

The posuk (ibid. 16:15) relates that in the morning, when this food was spread out for them to eat, “Vayiru Bnei Yisroel,” the Jewish people saw the food and asked each other what it was. They called it monn. Again, we encounter the word “re’iyah,” seeing. This time, they saw something they didn’t understand, so they turned to Moshe, who explained to them what they had seen. They followed his instructions and were satiated with monn for the rest of their sojourn in the desert.

Further in the parsha (ibid. 16:29), we encounter “re’iyah” again, when Moshe admonishes the Jewish people about Shabbos. He says, “Re’u ki Hashem nosan lochem es haShabbos - See that Hashem has given you the day of Shabbos.”

Re’u. See. See the Shabbos. See that Hashem gave you Shabbos. Use your eyes, use your gift of vision and perception, and you can understand and appreciate the gift of Shabbos. See that you are getting a double portion of monn on Friday (Rashi), and see that no monn falls on Shabbos. Observe and you will be observant.

The truth of Shabbos is plainly evident. Our nation came into being in a parsha of “re’iyah.” We are blessed with vision, on a basic human level as are others, but beyond that, we have the ability to perceive what is beneath the surface, comprehending what is really going on and how it relates to us.

When we don’t comprehend what we see, we turn to the Torah for guidance.

In times when there are smokescreens that blind the eye from seeing what is going on and, more importantly, block us from understanding events, we don’t have to feel lost. We turn to the Torah. In times of darkness, such as ours, the Torah provides for us the light to illuminate our path and properly see and understand what is going on, when others are not able to.

Witness what is currently going on in this country and around the world as things happen that seem to make no sense and people argue about plainly obvious facts.

People who speak of tolerance, openness and working together show themselves to be consumed by hate and totally intolerant of anyone who disagrees with them. The Democrats are led by a weak, incompetent, challenged president who dips lower in the polls with every passing day. As projections show them losing the Senate and House in the upcoming election, they hit on a new campaign tactic to try to show that former President Trump and the Republicans plotted an insurrection to remain in power in coup-like fashion last year on January 6^th. They held a grand festival on January 6^th marking the one-year anniversary, with a full court press, including speeches by the president and vice president and wall-to-wall media coverage portraying Trump and the 74 million people who voted for him as threats to democracy.

Covid rages on, despite Biden’s promises that he would end it. The vaccines he touted and forced on people have proven ineffective in stopping the disease, and now people are told to get vaccinated to reduce the severity of the illness when it strikes. Federal mandates have led to staffing shortages, combined with the mounting number of workers sick with the disease.

Democrats might no longer cry to defund the police. Instead, they do away with bail and let most arrested criminals go free without any charges.

When inflation began roaring, the administration and media experts foretold that it was a temporary blip. That also has been proven false, as it continues unabated thanks to faulty economic policy. And they wonder why crime is rising in Democrat-controlled cities.

They will do anything, except see what is going on and engage in actions that would lead them to remain the majority party by providing leadership in troubling times.

It is fascinating and troubling, and like everything in this world, it is a parable for our own reality and journey through the world, where the yeitzer hora attempts to block us from seeing.

It all depends upon our vision, how we see things.

The one who seeks to lead us to sin knows that if he can paint things a certain way, he can delude us to sin in ways we would never have dreamt of. No person can consider themself safe from the evil designs of the yeitzer, who clouds our vision and then perception of what we are doing, causing us to engage in hurtful and sinful activities.

We know that everything that happens is for Klal Yisroel. From the news, we are to take lessons and improve ourselves. Instead, we discuss the goings-on. This one is a fool, the other one is a misguided narcissist, the third is a murderer, and so on. These things happen for us to learn from them and to improve ourselves, our thoughts and actions, so that we don’t become like them.

For example, when we see how the Left is corrupt and blinded to the truth, we must extrapolate from that not to become as sightless, obtuse and oblivious to the truth as they are.

Seeing involves more than good eyesight. It takes focus, clarity and a passion for truth.

We work hard to maintain proper focus. The moral lives we lead, coupled with Torah study and mitzvah observance, perfect our vision and perception so that we are better able to see things clearly.

“Re’u.” We are encouraged to see and think, to have opinions and insights, to exist not in an echo chamber but on an island where we clarify for ourselves “mah chovaso ba’olamo,” what life is all about. We remain honest to our purpose and are not overwhelmed by what others say and see.

These parshiyos of Yetzias Mitzrayim and Krias Yam Suf introduce us to our destiny, to who we are. But in order to realize it, as we study the parshiyos, we have to keep our eyes open and appreciate the significance and relevance of each posuk.

“Re’u ki Hashem nosan lochem…” Our task is to learn to see what we are being given and what is going on all around us.

So many times, we go wrong because we take certain things for granted and mess up our thought process. Having the right information alone is not enough, for if we do not think, we make mistakes.

Rav Chaim Soloveitchik would ask children riddles to sharpen their minds. For example, he would tell them that there was a blind man who would raise one finger to signal that he wanted to eat. When he wanted to drink, he would raise two fingers. The great Rav Chaim would then ask the children what the blind man did when he wanted to eat and drink.

The children – and most adults – wouldn’t realize that he said the man was blind, because now they were focusing on the question of how many fingers the man should raise. They would forget that the man could speak and hear, and therefore they didn’t think of answering that when he wanted to eat and drink, he would simply say so.

They had all the information they needed to answer the question, but their minds were conditioned to process it incorrectly.

Our egos, our patterns of thought, and the way things have always been done impede us and hamper our thought process.

We think we know everything. We think we understand everything. We may have perfect vision, but if we impair our comprehension with preconceived notions, then we will not be able to come up with the proper response to the questions and problems of the day.

People look at the same sets of facts and figures, yet understand them differently. Everyone sees the same information, but they process them according to their own biases. Where some see bravery, others see cowardice. Where some see love and concern, others see hate and cynicism. Some see freedom fighters, while others see terrorists. The facts don’t change. The perception does. Numbers don’t lie, but people from different backgrounds explain them differently.

People become trapped by the way they see the world and are unable to see things differently than they have been conditioned to, so their thinking is skewed and their reactions are off target. They are encumbered by what they have always done and by what they have been taught, so their predictions are expected and often wrong.

We are infused with the drive to be great, to study Torah yomam volaylah, to seek the truth, to constantly engage in introspection and self-improvement. We never rest in our pursuit of knowledge and excellence. We set high goals for ourselves. We are not locked into anything.

As we learn Torah, our minds are trained not to take anything for granted. We learn a Gemara and think we understand it, and then the Gemara brings a proof disputing what we had thought was the halacha. One Amora concurs and another disagrees. Rashi explains the dispute so carefully and succinctly, and we think we understand the concepts. But then we look in Tosafos and everything is turned upside down. We learn the Rishonim and think that we have a klorkeit. We look up the halacha in the Shulchan Aruch and are satisfied that we understand the whole sugya from beginning to end.

But then we look in the Mogein Avrohom and he brings a Maharshal. We study it and think that now we really have come full circle and got it down pat. But then the Mogein Avrohom asks many questions on him and turns everything around. We are convinced that now we have the sugya. But then we look into other Acharonim and they dispute the Mogein Avrohom, which to us made so much sense. We realize that we understand very little. And we plug deeper, horeving to get a handle on the entire sugya. In this fashion, we plumb the depths of sugya after sugya, daf after daf, masechta after masechta.

We realize that it is only with an open mind, honesty, consistency and hard work that we can even hope to understand anything.

We must not allow ourselves to be misguided, sidetracked, or become angry, sad or depressed. If someone wronged us, we exact revenge by doing good, by excelling in what we do and making the world a better place. We don’t let ourselves be brought down by anything. We retain our faith in Hashem, and when we do, He will save us, much the same as He saved our forefathers as they stood on the shores of the Yam Suf.

We endeavor to put our egos aside and perceive the truth. We do not become entombed in our bubbles of fantasy, blinded and unable to confront reality. In an upside-down world, we retain our ability to sense right from wrong, generosity from avarice, and justice from cruelty. No one can take that away from us, as long as we remember our mantra: “Re’u.”

This week, we suffered the passing of Rebbetzin Tema Kamenetsky, a brilliant woman and a trailblazer in many ways. Eschewing the prevalent culture in that time, she studied at Rebbetzin Kaplan’s fledgling Bais Yaakov. She then took as a chosson a man who would study in Kollel, Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky, quite an unpopular choice seventy years ago.

She did it because she had good vision, one based on Torah.

As a young Kollel couple they lived very frugally in Lakewood and then for her whole life. She sought nothing for herself other than to support her husband and raise her children in the Torah way. With little fanfare she was steadfast in her mission, moving with her husband to the wilderness of Philadelphia, as Rav Shmuel taught Torah, raised thousands of talmidim and breathed Torah attitudes and perspectives into the city and then the entire country and internationally.

She raised a family of greatness, nurturing her children as they grew, to see things the Torah way and to grow in Torah, avodah and midos tovos. Her dedication to her husband was boundless as she stood by his side, traveling with him and tending to him. An early adherent of living a healthful lifestyle she lovingly treated her husband and family to regiments of healthy foods and vitamins. She knew that a healthy body can help to better serve Hashem, grow in Torah and help countless people surmount the up and downs of life.

She also taught and supported people in Yiddishkeit, health issues and life in general. She always had a nice word and thoughts to offer in her most humble manner. She saw the good and the truth and did her best to attain them. She succeeded in all she did because she had proper vision and yearned to see the positive and affect people in a positive way.

Her emunah, bitachon and devotion to Torah guided and sustained her in all situations. She was short in stature but tall and strong as she epitomized what it means to live a proper life of halacha, tzinius and mussar.

She set an example for all to follow.

The parsha ends with our first encounter with our archenemy, Amaleik. He and his progeny will always be around, together with the Soton and the yeitzer hora, until the coming of Moshiach, seeking to entrap and destroy us. We prevail by keeping our eyes and hearts focused in – and guided by - Torah and seforim kedoshim; and stay away from nonsense and those who purvey it. See things through the eyes of Torah! See things the way your rabbeim, grandfathers and grandmothers did.

By doing so, we will merit to speedily see the great day we all await.

Bnei Torah

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

This week’s parsha completes the cycle of the ten makkos that Hashem visited upon Mitzrayim. It is striking that despite all the various warnings, punishments, pleas, havoc and destruction rained down upon him and his people, Paroh and the Mitzriyim stubbornly remained frozen in their inability to recognize Hashem’s domination.

How is it that a ruler whose primary job is to care for his country’s welfare and safety refuses to recognize the plainly obvious? How is it that his people didn’t revolt against him after suffering because of his obstinate arrogance?

The Alter of Slabodka asks a penetrating question. The novi Yirmiyohu (2:2) relates that Hakadosh Boruch Hu told him to tell the Jewish people, “Zocharti loch chesed ne’urayich… lechteich acharei bamidbor b’eretz lo ziruah…I remember the favor you did Me, that you followed Me into the desolate desert...” upon leaving Mitzrayim.

Why does Hashem refer to the fact that the Jews followed Him into the desert as a “chesed”? These are the same people who witnessed the makkos in Mitzrayim and the wonders at the Yam Suf. They are the same people who were freed from enslavement and wonderfully set free by Hashem. Why would they not follow Him wherever He would lead them?

For the answer, we turn back to Parshas Va’eira.

Hakadosh Boruch Hu told Moshe (Shemos 6:6-7) to tell the Jewish people that He would redeem them from Mitzrayim using the four words of geulah: “Vehotzeisi… Vehitzalti… Vegoalti… Velokachti…” Following that promise, the next posuk says, “Vidatem ki ani Hashem Elokeichem hamotzi e’schem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim – And the Jewish people will know that I took them out of Mitzrayim.”

The Ramban writes that the statement referring to geulah, “Velokachti es’chem li l’om,” which is the fourth expression of geulah, refers to the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai, because it was then that we became the Am Hashem. If so, why does the posuk wait until after “velokachti” to state that “you will then know that I am your G-d who has taken you out of Mitzrayim.” They would know that Hashem was their redeemer as soon as they got out. They didn’t have to wait until Har Sinai to know that Hashem had freed them. Why, then, does the Torah foretell that after they would receive the Torah, they would recognize that Hashem was the One who took them out of bondage in Mitzrayim?

When Moshe appeared before the Bnei Yisroel and told them that Hashem promised that the redemption was on the way, the posuk (6:9) recounts that they did not accept his prophecy, “mikotzer ruach umei’avodah kasha.”

The Ohr Hachaim explains that they were not able to accept what Moshe told them because they were not yet bnei Torah, as they had not yet received the Torah. Thus, they did not possess the necessary breadth of heart.

A person who is devoid of Torah, as the Jews were at that time, as they had sunk to the lowest levels of depravity, does not have the ability to process information, understand what is happening, and accept what is being told to him, even by a person such as Moshe Rabbeinu. Without Torah, a person cannot understand whether what is happening to him is good or bad, and cannot always discern between good and evil, friend and foe, entrapment, enslavement and freedom. Torah connects a person to Hashem and to his neshomah, sparking his chochmah, binah and daas.

The people who were enslaved in Mitzrayim never knew a different life. They were slaves. Their parents were slaves. Their grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, and all their relatives as far back as anyone could remember were slaves. A person without Torah is not able to believe the message, let alone absorb it.

The people worked very hard, but on the other hand, their owners provided for them. They had where to sleep and what to eat. They were acclimated to the climate and the culture.

Would leaving be a good thing or a bad thing? Would they have what to eat and where to sleep? Is it even a good idea to dream of getting out of this place? No one has ever had any success escaping this country. Is it worth thinking about something that is almost impossible to happen?

“Velo shamu el Moshe mikotzer ruach umei’avodah kasha.” They were confused. They didn’t have the ability to think straight and intelligently. Because without Torah and the direction of Torah, we are unable to dissect what is going on around us. Not only that, but we are even unable to perceive what is happening in our lives. A person had a job that he didn’t like and then was fired. Was it a good thing or a bad thing? Now he doesn’t have income, but perhaps now that he has no choice, he will be driven to find something that will bring him more satisfaction.

A person who is a ben Torah is a beneficiary of a positive thought process and is in touch with Hashem. Not only is he able to think clearer, but he is blessed with emunah and bitachon, understanding that Hashem cares for him and provides for him, and that there is good in everything that happens to him.

Say, for example, that you are speaking to an irreligious person and are attempting to convince him to perform mitzvos. You try talking to him about tefillin and mitzvos that you think are easy to perform. He won’t hear of it. It makes no sense to do these things. “Why should I do them?” he says.

So you go back to creation. To us, the fact that the world was created is simple and basic, and every time you examine a leaf or look at a flower or think about your body and parts of your body, you are in awe of the beauty and brilliance of creation.

Take a tiny frog or any creature. It has a brain, heart, lung, intestines, fingers, eyes, a nose, and ears, and they all work, keeping this adorable little animal alive and hopping around. Can any rational thinking person really believe that this frog came into being from a piece of dust that evolved? That an oak tree, with its root system, branches, leaves, and photosynthesis, just happened out of thin air?

But that is how people who have no Torah think and nothing you say will convince them otherwise. Unless you study Torah with them. If you take a Jew who knows nothing about Yiddishkeit and learn Torah with him, you will see how Torah study affects him. After studying a small amount of Torah, his appetite will develop to study more and then progressively more. And then, he, on his own, will be asking you about mitzvos. Even if he is learning Gemara Bava Kama or Chumash Shemos, his neshomah is awakened, his heart is widened, and he is receptive to the idea that Hashem created the world and gave us the Torah.

With this, we understand why it is only after Hashem foretells that He will bring the Bnei Yisroel to Har Sinai and give them the Torah that He says that then they will know that it was Hashem who redeemed them from slavery and took them out of Mitzrayim. This is because it was only after they received the Torah that they were able to fully appreciate what was done for them and Who had done it.

They were able to realize that they had been at the door of the fiftieth shaar hatumah, and had they not come out at that time, their fate would have been doomed. They were able to grasp that they were taken goy mikerev goy to become the great nation that they became. Without Torah, they still would have had their doubts and would have attributed everything that happened to them, from the makkos to Yetzias Mitzrayim, to foreign powers.

Thus, we understand how Paroh and his nation could have stubbornly refused to recognize that Hashem had punished them for the way they treated the Bnei Yisroel and that it was about time they heeded Moshe’s repeated warnings. They had no Torah and thus were not able to comprehend the plainly obvious.

Paroh had his magicians copy the initial makkos, and thus was able to comfort himself that they weren’t brought by the G-d of the Jews, but rather through magic. Although that didn’t ease the pain and didn’t remove the effects of the makkos, it provided Paroh and his people with an excuse to continue their behavior.

Even when his magicians could no longer produce, Paroh and his people attributed the makkos to natural phenomena. They blamed them on climate change and global warming, on strong winds, plentiful rain, drought, pandemics, or many other scientific causes, much as we see today, doing anything to deny the existence of the Creator.

With this, we understand, as well, why Hakadosh Boruch Hu refers to the Bnei Yisroel following Him into the desert when they left Mitzrayim as a chesed. It was a chesed because the nation was not yet formed. They were slaves who had been at the lowest level of tumah and were still bereft of Torah. Therefore, they could not be expected to follow Hashem. They could have attributed the splitting of the sea to science and winds, just as scientists and non-believers do today. The fact that despite their complaints and despite their not yet having the Torah, they still believed in Hashem enough to follow Him into the midbor - that was a chesed.

With this, we also understand why Hashem did not complain when the Jews did not listen to Moshe when, utilizing the four eternal promises of geulah which we celebrate at the Seder every year, he told them that they would be redeemed. Hashem and Moshe accepted that they did not accept the comforting words.

When the malochim in the form of nomadic drifters visited Avrohom and Sorah, one of them told Avrohom that he would return in one year and Sorah will have given birth to a son (Bereishis 18:10-14). Sorah heard the conversation and laughed, thinking that at their advanced age, it was impossible for her and Avrohom to give birth to a child. The posuk recounts that Hashem complained to Avrohom, asking why Sorah laughed. Despite her old age, nothing is beyond Hashem’s abilities.

Why was there a complaint against Sorah for not believing a prophecy that was considered scientifically impossible, and there was not a complaint against the Jews who didn’t accept Moshe’s prophecy of redemption?

The answer is that we know that Avrohom observed the entire Torah (Yoma 28b), and thus it stands to reason that his wife, Sorah, did as well, for it is extremely difficult for an observant man to live with an unobservant woman, as any married person would know.

Additionally, we know (Bereishis Rabbah 84:4) that Avrohom converted men to his belief and Sorah converted women. That would indicate that she was a firm believer in Hashem.

Since she was a bas Torah, it was a valid complaint against her when she didn’t believe that it was possible for her and Avrohom to have a child, and it was perceived as a chisaron in emunah. But, as the Ohr Hachaim says, at the time that Moshe appeared before them and spoke the prophecy of geulah, the Jews were not yet bnei Torah, and thus there wasn’t a complaint against them when they didn’t have the ability to process his words and trust them.

In our world, as well, things happen that often defy simple explanation. People struggle to understand how they can happen and what the reaction should be. We need to know that without Torah, we understand nothing. Without Torah, we are lost and confounded.

In every age and in every time, things happen in our world and in the world in general that are difficult or impossible to understand. People wonder how it can be. How can it happen? Why did it happen? We are the eternal people, and for all time we have turned to the Moshe Rabbeinus of the generation for guidance, instruction and support.

Scoffers and people who are not bnei Torah accuse us of every sin in the book. They say chareidim are cruel and heartless, don’t care about their children and don’t care about people’s feelings. They paint us as Neanderthals locked in the past, cave dwellers in ghettos, because we don’t mouth exactly the words they want us to when they want us to.

When a chareidi person is found to be an evil abuser, we are all abusers, they say. They say that we all don’t care about what he did and his victims, when nothing could be further from the truth. Of course we abhor evil; of course we care about his victims and all victims. Of course we condemn a man who used his position to cruelly and sadistically take advantage of people and ruin untold numbers of lives.

There is no group more compassionate collectively than chareidim. The amount of chesed performed with victims and others is hard to fathom. Our hearts break. Many tears are shed. There are many professionals, rabbonim, tzaddikim and fine members of the community who work hard and with much compassion to help heal victims and other people in need of support. It is ridiculous to say otherwise.

Our Torah is a Toras Chesed. It is what defines us and guides us, no matter what anyone says.

And the same is true when a religious person is caught stealing or engaging in improper financial dealings. We are all tarred with the same brush. All chareidim are thieves, they shout. All chareidim are cheats, they say to each other. Their schools are no good. Shut them down. They need to be taught how to act civilized and how to interact with other people. And as many examples as you will show them of fine, upstanding, titans of industry whose word is gold, who are known and respected internationally for their integrity, it is never good enough. They will continue saying and believing that all chareidim are corrupt because of the misguided actions of an individual.

Our Torah is a Toras Emes. It is what defines us and guides us, no matter what anyone says.

Let us all resolve to learn more Torah on a deeper level, adhere to its mitzvos, harchakos and halachos, and seek its leadership and guidance, being a light to others, helping, nurturing, soothing, strengthening, comforting and demonstrating that we are a mamleches kohanim vegoy kadosh.