Living with Depth

Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Parshas Yisro recounts the great day when Hashem gave the Torah to Am Yisroel, setting us apart and giving us the guide by which we live.

We studied the parshiyos leading up to this defining moment. We studied the Jews’ servitude in Mitzrayim, Divine makkos, deliverance from slavery, traversing the Yam Suf, war with Amaleik, and, finally, arriving at Har Sinai to receive the Torah.

After all they had been through, they had finally arrived at the level of belief that was necessary to receive and observe the Torah. All of creation was a preparation for this moment, and here they were camped at the Har Hashem.

It was at this time that Yisro, the gentile father-in-law of Moshe, came to visit. Having heard about the exodus from Mitzrayim, Krias Yam Suf and Amaleik’s war, he decided that he had to join the Jewish people. In the lead-up to the discussion of Matan Torah, the Torah discusses Yisro’s visit and the parsha is named for him.

Now, we need to realize that Yisro wasn’t the only person who had heard about what happened. The whole world heard about it. Krias Yam Suf was a viral event. Everybody heard about it, because wherever they were, their water split and they were consumed to find out why and how that occurred. It was the viral, trending news of the day. That’s all people were talking about.

But then it became yesterday’s news and people forgot about it and moved on to the next thing. In our day, news stays hot for about fifteen minutes. Back in those days, things stuck around for longer because the vehicles of communication were limited. Also, they didn’t have torrents of earth-changing news like we do in the modern era, as the world barrels towards Moshiach and has lots to accomplish in order for him to be able to come.

So why was Yisro the only person to come check it out? Why weren’t there Yam Suf cruise ships loaded with people from around the world coming to see for themselves where the miraculous occurrence took place? What was so special about Yisro? It is unlikely that he was the only one who was inspired.

Apparently, people the world over were impressed and awed. Many were probably inspired, but it wore off long before the miracles could impact them in any way. Before it could have any effect on them, they were on to the next thing.

This phenomenon affects us until today. People hear about something that happened and it sends shivers up their spines. They discuss it and muse about it and are all shaken up. You’d be forgiven for thinking that they would never be the same. But then they get back to doing whatever it is that they do, and just as soon as it happened, it is forgotten. You know it’s true. It happens every day. There is such a deluge of news and information and people’s attention spans are so short that they go from one thing to the next, without giving anything much thought.

People can go through entire days, weeks and months without giving anything much thought. Such conduct is anathema to a Torah life. A Torah Jew thinks about everything that happens and learns from it. He hears of a tragedy and he takes it to heart. He learns mussar from it, as he is reminded of the fragility of life. He says Tehillim for the victim and sees if and how he can help. He sends food for the family and helps with the financial load.

And if the worst happens and someone is niftar, he feels the pain and reacts like a Torah Yid, performing a slew of mitzvos, from levoyas hameis, to nichum aveilim, to tzedakah, to learning and doing maasim tovim as a zechus for the niftar.

He is affected by what happened and, in its wake, seeks to improve himself and the world.

When he does a mitzvah, it is not by rote, but with forethought and kavonah. He makes sure that he is performing the mitzvah as directed by the Shulchan Aruch, concentrating on what he is doing and not cutting corners.

Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach would tell the story that happened at the vort of a son of Rav Boruch Frenkel-Teumim, known for his sefer, Boruch Taam.

His son was engaged to a girl from a wealthy family. At the vort, the families sat down to speak. The Boruch Taam was unhappy, and the girl’s mother was upset to see him that way and thought that maybe he wasn’t satisfied with the shidduch. She asked him what was wrong.

He told her that he was distressed because he had just heard that the water carrier was sick and unable to be at the vort.

She asked him why he would be so upset over the illness of the lowly water carrier that he wasn’t able to enjoy his simcha.

Rav Frenkel-Teumim left the room where they had been speaking and announced that he was breaking the engagement. He explained that he doesn’t want his son to marry into a family that doesn’t feel the suffering of another person.

That is how Torah Jews relate to other people. They don’t just hear of another’s sadness and go on to the next thing. They take it seriously and think about the other person and what they are going through.

Rav Moshe Shapiro told a story that he heard from his father-in-law, who heard it from the Chofetz Chaim.

As Shabbos was coming to a close in the town of Kalush, a simple Jew was reciting Tehillim with tears streaming down his face. Another simple person was watching and wondering what was causing the man so much pain and what he could do to help. He went over to the man, excused himself for intruding, and asked him to share what was causing him so much anguish.

The man was overcome emotionally and shared his burden. He had an older single daughter who was getting on in years. She was a fine girl, but he had no money to pay for a wedding and couldn’t afford to give a dowry, so he was pouring his heart out to Hashem for help.

The man who had taken an interest in the distraught Yid broke out in a smile, as he told the man that he had a son, a fine boy, who was looking for a shidduch. He suggested that his son meet the other man’s daughter, and if things would work out, they would marry each other.

Indeed, they married and gave birth to five Torah giants, among them the authors of the Ketzos Hachoshen and Kuntrus Hasefeikos.

The Chofetz Chaim would point out that the story illustrates the power of tefillah - how Hashem heard and responded to the man’s tefillos. It also shows the power of a Yid’s chesed. Through his care for another Jew, the man was able to help him out of his tzorah. It is no wonder that their union produced outstandingly great people who benefit Klal Yisroel until this very day.

The man could have just felt bad for the poor person with the Tehillim and passed him by, davened Maariv, and gone home and made Havdolah, totally forgetting about what he had seen. But that is not the way a Torah Jew behaves. He stops, looks and is affected. He thinks about what he can do to alleviate another’s suffering.

The only person who heard about Krias Yam Suf and Milchemes Amaleik and was affected long-term by the events was Yisro. He was the only one who thought about what happened and allowed the experience to transform his life. He didn’t just go on to the next thing.

The pesukim recount: “Vayichad Yisro… And Yisro rejoiced over all the goodness that Hakadosh Boruch Hu did for the Jews and rescued them from Mitzrayim… And he said, ‘Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods…’ And he brought korbanos to Hashem…”

No one else came to the Bnei Yisroel in the midbar saying, “Atah yodati kee gadol Hashem.” Everyone else remained with their pagan beliefs. They couldn’t be bothered to think about what happened and certainly not to the degree that it could change their life. They were blissful in their simplicity as they passed the ketchup and quickly went on to the next thing before the news could affect them.

This is why the Torah interrupts the chapter of the Bnei Yisroel’s travels in the midbar to tell the tale of Yisro’s arrival. A prerequisite for Kabbolas HaTorah is to be thoughtful and serious about life. Think about what is going on and take it to heart so that it affects you as you learn from what happened to improve yourself.

Moshe Rabbeinu was chosen to lead the Jewish people out of Mitzrayim and towards Kabbolas HaTorah and Eretz Yisroel because he stopped at the burning bush to ponder what was happening as he pursued kedusha even as he was shepherding Yisro’s flock of sheep.

Living a life of depth and meaning is necessary in order to accept and grow in Torah.

Divine acts are intended to teach us the power of Hashem. Torah demands that hisorerus has a lasting impact, leading to improvement and growth.

That was the lesson of Yisro, and that is why his parsha was placed before Kabbolas HaTorah. That is why the parsha of Kabbolas HaTorah is named for Yisro.

We have to be open to hearing and examining what is going on and learning from what transpires to dedicate our lives to the truth and live honest and upstanding lives. We must study the lesson of Yisro and be affected by what transpires in our communities and around the world. We must not be apathetic, unaffected and untouched by what is going on.

If there is a war in Eretz Yisroel and millions of Jews can’t sleep at night in their own beds, we should think about them and daven for them and help them however we can. If there is a war and good people are getting killed, leaving behind weeping parents, spouses, and children, we need to feel their pain. We need to let them know that we feel their tzaar and seek ways to let them know that they are not alone. The economy of Eretz Yisroel has tanked and millions of people are suffering. We need to feel their pain and see if and how we can help the suffering people in some way.

There are plenty of people closer to home who are suffering and in pain. As Torah Jews, it is incumbent upon us to know that people are in pain and to seek out ways to help them. We can’t ignore what is going on. We can’t apathetically just leave it for “the askonim” to get involved. It is a precondition of being bnei and bnos Torah that we feel their pain and care enough to do something about it.

Not every problem is cured with money. Often times, just the fact that another person notices and cares is enough to bring some light to a dark situation.

Every one of us has the ability to improve the world. Each of us can reach out and help others. We can all bring meaning and warmth to the lives of our neighbors, friends and fellow Jews. If only we cared. If only we tried.

We can’t permit ourselves to be swallowed up by social media, clicking and clicking like mind-numbed robots, immune to feeling and thought as our fingers scroll from one page to the next, without taking notice or bettering ourselves and anyone else. We need to rid ourselves of devices that dull our senses and sink our souls.

We need to read publications that improve and educate us, and not be busy with silly, nonsensical hock. We need to think more and think deeper. We need to concentrate on what we are doing. We need to learn more Torah on a higher level and perform mitzvos with greater focus and joy.

This Shabbos, as Parshas Yisro is lained, let us stand at attention and imagine ourselves at Har Sinai, being transformed into bigger and better people, cognizant of our holy neshamos and what is expected of us.

The Roller Coaster of Life

Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

After learning the first parshiyos of Shemos, we arrive this week at Parshas Beshalach, which depicts the exit of the Bnei Yisroel from the awful experiences of Mitzrayim. So many years later, we are overcome with joy and universally refer to the Shabbos when Beshalach is read as Shabbos Shirah, the Shabbos of Song. 

But as we study on, we learn that following the joyous redemption from Mitzrayim, the Bnei Yisroel began complaining, doubting Moshe Rabbeinu and expressing a desire to turn around and go back to a life of servitude.

They were able to bounce back from their depression, return to a lofty level, and chant Oz Yoshir. They appreciated all that Hashem had done for them, recognized His greatness, and sang the eternal shirah, which we recite every day.

After experiencing a trying, sad or insulting circumstance, a person sometimes thinks that it’s all over. But later, he views it in retrospect and sees that awful experience as a springboard for a new opportunity or self improvement. He looks back at what happened and realizes that everything he went through was Divinely planned and for his betterment. When it all comes together and he is able to appreciate what Hashem did for him, he is overwhelmed by Hashem’s kindness and shirah bursts forth.

At Krias Yam Suf, everything became evident to everyone at the same time and the whole nation sang shirah.

Describing the song, the Torah uses the singular tense of the word shir, to sing. The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh remarks that the posuk states, “Ashira, I will sing,” because, at that moment, there was no separation between the multitudes of people who had traversed the Yam Suf. There was complete achdus, as the people were all of one mind in putting the whole story together and grasping what had been done for them, followed by the immediate need to express their gratitude.

The moment before Oz Yoshir was when everything came together. These same Bnei Yisroel, who just a few pesukim earlier had been complaining about being redeemed, and who doubted, grumbled and expressed a wish to return to servitude, suddenly simultaneously realized Hashem’s greatness and total dominion over every facet of creation. At Krias Yam Suf, they finally saw and understood the glory of Hashem.

Taking this a step further, we can answer a question raised by Chazal in the Medrash and in the Zohar. They question why the Torah uses the term shirah to describe Oz Yoshir. Shirah is lashon nekeivah. Shir is lashon zochor and would have been more appropriate.

We can explain that the Bnei Yisroel at Krias Yam Suf perceived that they were the ultimate recipients of the Ultimate Giver. In seforim, the appellation for one who receives is “bechinas nukva.” Through the use of lashon nekeivah, the Torah signifies that, at that moment, the Bnei Yisroel recognized themselves as recipients. It was this realization and appreciation that enabled them to rise to the level of proclaiming the ultimate shirah and allowed them the zechus to sing the enduring song of creation, which we repeat in perpetuity.

Rav Yechezkel Levenstein, a master of emunah and bitachon, whose messages of faith sustained the Mirrer Yeshiva in its darkest hours, was said to derive his inspiration from reciting the shirah each morning. Talmidim relate that before reciting Oz Yoshir, he would prepare himself as he did for Shema or Shemoneh Esrei, realizing that he was entering a new dimension in avodah.

When the shirah is read in shul, the entire congregation rises to hear it read with its unique, festive “trop.” The laining then continues with yet another central moment in our history. Klal Yisroel, a nascent nation, is confronted by Amaleik. We read about Moshe Rabbeinu raising his hands, inspiring his people to victory. When he lowers his hands, the Bnei Yisroel begin to falter. This story is written as a timeless lesson. Hashem tells Moshe, “Kesov zos basefer ki macho emcheh es zecher Amaleik - Write this down and write that the milchomah will endure, milchomah laHashem b’Amaleik midor dor.”

Rashi and the Ramban quote the Medrash (Tanchuma, Seitzei 11), where Chazal teach that the existence of Amaleik prevents the Kisei Hakavod from being whole and renders Hashem’s Name incomplete.

Since Amaleik has such a corrosive influence, why is he allowed to exist to confront us in every generation? Why does Hakadosh Boruch Hu allow him to survive, when He could have made him and his nation as extinct as all the other nations that haunted us and are long gone and forgotten?

Perhaps the reason Amaleik is permitted to exist is that, as the Jews saw on the banks of the Yam Suf, our lot is not to live within perfection, but, rather, to create perfection within what is given.

The path of our nation has always been strewn with obstacles. We have always traveled a road that is not flat, but full of hills and valleys, peaks and drops. We are the people who went from intense labor to witnessing the glory of Hashem, seeing makkos wreak havoc on the lives of our captors. We went from the appearance of Moshe, who promised to save us, to an increased workload, followed by offering the Korban Pesach in defiance of our brutal hosts and, finally, baking matzos and marching off to freedom.

We quickly grew afraid of the freedom and began longing for a return to Mitzrayim. That valley was followed by the peak of shirah, when everything became clear. The Bnei Yisroel saw their past, present and future merge into a seamless song.

And then, following the apex of clarity, came Amaleik.

Amaleik is a reminder that we can never be at peace. We can never rest. We can never let loose and think that we have overcome so much and can deal with anything that can pop up in our way. Life is not like that. We always have to be on guard.

Knowing that Amaleik exists reminds us that there are challenges around the corner and that we must be prepared for them. Unexpected issues invariably crop up, just as there were challenges back when the Jews were comfortably on their way to the Promised Land.

Until the arrival of Moshiach, there will be ups and downs. There will be periods of intense joy and times of dreadful sadness. There will be birth and death, weddings and divorces, employment and unemployment. Just as we can never be complacent, we must never grow despondent and we must never say that times will not get better. We must never be lulled into thinking that things happen without reason. We must never become depressed, thinking that we are alone.

Life is like a roller coaster. The little cars roll along the track, slowly making their way up the hill until they reach a high point. From there it’s downhill, with the momentum of the descent propelling them into the valley and then the next height. Up and down the cars go, around and around, providing frightening lows, invariably followed by great thrills.

And so it is in life. There are lows and there are highs and they follow each other. The hills of life allow us to regain our strength and appreciation of our abilities, injecting us with energy and stamina to propel us out of the inevitable lows that can follow.

Today, we don’t face off against Amaleik as we once did, but his presence is felt too often. 

Amaleik is present in those evil people who kill and torture Jews. It is present in the nations of the world that seek to crimp Israel and not allow it to destroy its enemies. It’s there in the rise of anti-Semitism, pushing senseless hatred of Jews, just because. It sounds ridiculous, but Amaleik is out of the fringes, claiming that a tunnel in Crown Heights was used for the ritual murder of gentile babies.

We see evil battling good in the Holy Land and we see the Jews trying to defeat the forces of evil. We saw devastating tragedy on the holy day of Shabbos and Simchas Torah. So many killed, so many hurt, so many held by savages. And people wonder why. We see others giving their lives to fight the evil. And we see the world seek to block Israel from achieving victory over the evildoers. We see an American president and secretary of state seeking to pull defeat from the jaws of victory as they unite Arab countries and lobby Israeli politicians to break apart the coalition, dump the democratically elected Netanyahu, and establish a Palestinian state, which would be an existential threat to the Jews of Eretz Yisroel.

They plant articles in the media blaming Israel as the obstacle to peace and the threat to stability in the Middle East, while they push the long debunked so-called two-state solution. The talking points take hold and people here and in Israel buy into the message that Netanyahu is done and should go.

Moreover, Amaleik is the voice that pushes for compromise on matters of halacha, telling people that they don’t have to be so stringent in the observance of mitzvos. The modern-day adaptation of Amaleik’s credo of “asher korcha baderech” tells people to take it easy and not spend so much time learning or fretting about matzos and other mitzvos. It tells people to complain about the cost of matzos, as they overspend on their cars, clothes and vacations.

Then there are those who mock good people. They relish finding fault with good people and seek to bring them down. The Vilna Gaon taught that the baalei machlokes are Amaleikim. The Gaon was referring to those who upset the communal equilibrium. Instead of allowing people to follow their proper leaders, a tough guy, or demagogue, or wordsmith, or jester arises and preaches that disagreements are healthy. They convince people to battle someone who did or said something inconsequential with which they disagree and cause division amongst our people and derision of the good. The Gaon says that such people are the progeny of Amaleik.

At the conclusion of the parsha (17:11), as we battled the biblical Amaleik, Moshe Rabbeinu raised his hands, telling us to be strong, to stand tall and proud, and not to be buffeted by the winds of opposition and Amaleik. When Moshe’s hands were raised, the Jews were victorious, but when they were lowered, the Jews began to lose.

The only way to effectively battle Amaleik is by the Moshe of the generation raising his hands as a lighthouse for all to follow to safe shores and not become entrapped by the guile, demagoguery and sweet words with which the progeny of our most bitter enemy attempt to lead people away from the path of Torah and mesorah.

We must maintain our fidelity to the truth, to Hashem, to Torah, and to the Moshe who raises his hands high and does not succumb to the pressures brought on him by smaller people.

The Torah (17:12) informs us that Moshe is not able to do it on his own. He requires help. The posuk depicts Aharon and Chur standing alongside Moshe, supporting him and his weary uplifted arms, “mizeh echod, umizeh echod.” The task is great, even for Moshe.

Perhaps the heroes of the account with Amaleik are Aharon and Chur. Rather than fatalistically concluding that the Jewish people must be realistic and recognize that they were destined to lose against a much stronger foe, and instead of saying that Amaleik is too strong an enemy for them and that there is no point in fighting on, they grasped Moshe’s arms and helped wave them aloft, proclaiming, and bringing about, victory.

Today, too, the heroes are those who stand on the side of Torah and halacha, giving chizuk to all that’s right and good.

There is a plan, and it has almost finished unfolding. Our dedication to Torah and its values provides the fuel it needs to reach its joyous end. We may be in a valley now, but the renewed achdus, movement of teshuvah, and increased limud haTorah provide what we need to climb back up the hill and stay there. As the posuk we recite daily following Oz Yoshir states, “V’olu moshi’im b’har Tzion,” we will return victoriously atop the Mount of Zion and recite the ultimate shirah very soon.

Bursts of Light

Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

These weeks we study the parshiyos of the Torah that lead up to our exit from Mitzrayim after generations of our forefathers being enslaved there. Ever since we were young children, we have looked forward with anticipation to the stories of the makkos that lead to Yetzias Mitzrayim.

We learn in this week’s parsha about the second to last makkah, which was that of choshech, darkness. Mitzrayim was frozen in a thick, blinding darkness, which prevented the people there from doing anything or moving at all. The Jews were unaffected and had light wherever they went.

Chazal teach that only one-fifth of the Jewish people merited leaving Mitzrayim. The others were not worthy of redemption and perished while the shroud of black engulfed Mitzrayim. Those who lacked the strength of faith to maintain their belief in Hashem and remain loyal to their customs and traditions died under the cover of darkness.

Rishonim and Acharonim remind us that what transpired to our forefathers is a precursor of what will happen to us. “Maaseh avos simon labonim.” The trajectory of the Jews in Mitzrayim foretells what will happen to us as we approach our period of redemption. The Jewish people, dispersed around the world, will be faced with many challenges. We will suffer until the appointed time arrives.

Today, we live in the period of ikvesa deMeshicha, leading up to Moshiach’s arrival. Just as during the period leading up to the redemption from Mitzrayim there was a plague of darkness, so too, in our day, there is darkness all around us.

Those who stick with Torah and mitzvos have light, as the posuk states, “Ki ner mitzvah v’Torah ohr.” Those who remain faithful to Torah and mitzvos have light with which to guide them when all is dark and gloomy and keep them on the proper path. Those who forsake religion in the face of challenges lose the wherewithal to sustain themselves in troubled times and sink in the swamp of depravity, greed and anxiety.

We are confronted by a constantly changing society, one that is plagued by ebbing morals and a host of temptations that threaten to plague our lives. New problems arise daily. In order to merit Moshiach, we have to exert ourselves to remain faithful to that which makes us great. We have to remember why we were created and what our mission is. When we undertake an action, we have to think about whether it brings us closer to Moshiach or draws us away from him. If it will bring the geulah closer, then we should continue what we are doing, and if we assess that it will not hasten the geulah and will not bring light to the world, we should refrain from that action.

We are confounded by many tests as the level of tumah rises around us and so many are blinded to the obvious truth.

The challenges are tough. The tests to our emunah and bitachon are great. Tzaros abound. The good suffer, the weak squabble, and Jews around the world fear the future.

We can only imagine what transpired during the awful period of Egyptian slavery, as tens of thousands of grandchildren of Yaakov Avinu gave up hope. Mitzrayim, with its dark and corrupt values and attitudes, appealed to them. They viewed Judaism as backward and constricting. And then the plague of darkness descended on the country and those poor souls slipped away into oblivion.

The challenge is to realize that what appears to be light, what seems to be an illuminated approach or idea, might well be darkness.

At a time that cries out for light in so many ways, let us each do our share to shine some light on a dark world and help reveal the truths about the occurrences of our time, so that we can prepare for Moshiach. We see many things that are plainly obvious to us, yet we see how the media, culture and outside world misinterpret and lie in order to further their agenda. In the outside world, darkness rules, truth is of little importance, and lies are of no consequence.

Just as in Mitzrayim the Jews were subjugated by hypocritical people and a hypocritical king, so too, in our day, hypocrisy abounds, especially when it comes to Jews and the current war. Countries that have killed people with wild abandon bring charges against Israel for battling terrorists bent on its destruction. While tens of thousands of people are killed in Africa with nobody caring or taking notice, the world is suddenly concerned when Israel fights to live in peace. Russia invaded a neighbor, committing war crimes and wanton destruction and death, but nobody seems to mind enough to make a tumult about it. There are no protests, no resolutions, nothing in the mass media about the terrible genocide. The world is only concerned with little Israel, as protests against it continue across the nations of the West and East.

As Iran is at the doorstep of acquiring a nuclear weapon, if they don’t already have one, we don’t see any of the nations and leaders who swore they would never let Iran get a bomb doing anything about it. A country that is a sworn enemy of the West, which has unleashed armies of terrorists against myriad countries, continues on its murderous path, with nobody doing anything to stop it.

And then we are told that President Biden, ostensibly the leader of the free world, is furious at Israel’s prime minister because he is not letting up on his fight against terror. Terror threatens Western countries, yet America’s president does nothing to punish the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism. Instead, he seeks to rein in the one country that is battling terrorists who threaten all and to reward the group that perpetrated genocide against Israel on October 7^th by rewarding them with a state of their own from which to battle Israel.

Jews who have been living peacefully in Europe, the U.S. and Canada are facing anti-Semitism on a level unseen in the past couple of generations. Schools, from elementary to high school to college, now not only condone Jew-hatred and bias, but also educate their students to despise Jews. Ancient canards that many thought were dead and buried long ago are once against vibrant and accepted as fact.

The State of Israel was founded with the Zionist dream that if there would be a Jewish country, anti-Semitism would end and Jews would be accepted among the family of nations. It hasn’t exactly worked out that way.

This week, The New York Times sought to promote “diasporism,” the idea that Israel need not play a central role in Jewish life. Their article cited a quote from a New York Jewish writer, who wrote, “When I die, I hope it will be here in New York, the promised land…” I read that and the frightening, prophetic words of the Meshech Chochma in Bechukosai about those who believe Berlin is Yerushalayim, immediately came to mind.

People are confounded, wondering why the world hates us and why they judge - and treat - us so hypocritically. Those who study and follow the Torah don’t have such issues, for they know the truth as expressed by the Ramban at the end of this week’s parsha.

Hashem brought the makkos to show all that He created the world and runs it, causing everything that happens to happen. When He wills it, He keeps the world going according to its regular way of functioning, but when He wills it differently, He changes things around and proves that He is in charge.

This is why the Torah instructs each generation to teach the next one that Hashem redeemed us from Mitzrayim and how He did it, through many miracles. Thus, Yetzias Mitzrayim is a constant reminder that Hashem causes everything to happen and nothing happens by itself. There is a reason for everything. Hashem watches over each one of us with kindness. Those who perform the mitzvos properly are rewarded and those who do not are punished. We are never alone and things don’t happen just because a tyrant, or an enemy, or a competitor, or a child or spouse woke up in a bad mood that day. It happened because Hashem caused it to, for reasons not always understood by us.

This is why we observe many mitzvos as zeicher l’Yetzias Mitzrayim, to remember that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim, because remembering that He took us out reminds us that Hashem created the world and controls it and everything that happens in it and to us.

Tefillin is one of those mitzvos. The posuk commands us at the end of the parsha to affix tefillin to our arms and heads: “Vehoyah l’os al yodcha uletotafos bein einecha ki b’chozek yod hotzianu Hashem miMitzroyim.” Tefillin on our arms and forehead is a sign that Hashem redeemed us from Mitzrayim with a strong hand. Every day, when we put on tefillin, we reach back to the time of Yetzias Mitzrayim, remembering what we are all about and our relationship with Hakadosh Boruch Hu.

In next week’s parsha of Beshalach, we learn of the “monn,” a supernatural food which Hashem sent every morning (except Shabbos) so that the Jews in the Midbar would have what to eat. Moshe told Aharon to take some and put it in a flask for safekeeping to remind the Jewish people that Hashem is the one who feeds them.

Rashi cites that in the days of Yirmiyohu hanovi, when he admonished the people for not studying Torah, they responded that if they would forgo their jobs and learn Torah they would not be able to provide for themselves and their families. Yirmiyohu removed the container of monn and told them that just as Hakadosh Boruch Hu provided for your forefathers in the desert, so too He can provide for you.

This concept is reinforced by the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 1:5), which states that a person should recite parshas hamonn, the pesukim of the Torah which speak about the deliverance of the monn daily, to strengthen the belief that Hashem provides us with our food. Rishonim write that people who recite these pesukim daily will never lack for food.

Every time we eat something we thank Hashem for the food and are reminded that He created the world and provides for everyone, thus strengthening our emunah and earning for us zechuyos to merit Hashem’s continued blessings.

The mitzvah of Kiddush Hachodesh, also in this week’s parsha, reminds us on a monthly basis that we should never despair. Although the moon shrinks and disappears, it always returns to its former glory, size and strength. The Jewish people, as a nation and as individuals, should never perceive loss and hardship as eternal setbacks. Hashem watches over us and provides us the ability of resurgence and growth.

As we see forces of darkness and fiction vying for control, we should strengthen our emunah and bitachon in Hashem and live our lives in the way that we will find favor in His eyes.

We are to be a nation of truth and morality, decency and honesty. We don’t get down when others knock and mock us, and we don’t get blown off track by hypocrites, buffoons and attention-seekers with bullhorns.

We remember who we are, what we are, and that we are led by the Creator, Whom we follow.

In a world where greatness is elusive, mediocrity is mistaken for superiority, fairness has been replaced with intolerance, love and acceptance with hate, we must remember that there is strength in humility and nobleness in character and we follow our convictions, those of our forefathers throughout the ages, whether they are popular today or not.

Torah and mitzvos are beacons of light - the light that drives out the darkness of makkas choshech that characterizes our day. May they continue lighting our paths and brightening our lives until the coming of Moshiach very soon.

Sing in the Darkness

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz 

Let your mind paint the scene. At the time that Paroh decreed that all Jewish baby boys be killed upon birth, Moshe was born prematurely so that the Mitzriyim would not be aware that he was born. He was set afloat in a small boat/basinet in the Nile River, with his sister watching nearby to be able to follow him and ensure his safety. The daughter of Paroh came by and decided to rescue him. She brought him back with her to the palace and raised him as her son.

Subsequently, Moshe was forced to flee and went to Midyan, where he married a daughter of the righteous Yisro. His father-in-law gave him a job, tending his flock of sheep. Moshe was walking with his flock in the desert when he came upon a sight that captured his attention and concentration.

There was a fire burning inside of a bush, and though the branches were burnt, the bush wasn’t being consumed by the fire. He wondered how that could possibly be and surmised that perhaps there was something supernatural going on that was rooted in holiness. Why else would Hashem cause him to pass this phenomenon?

The Medrash (Bereishis Rabbah 39:1) states that just as his ancestor, Avrohom Avinu, studied the world and concluded that it could not have come into being by itself, Moshe perceived that Hakadosh Boruch Hu was announcing His Presence. Moshe recognized that this was to become a defining moment in his life.

As he stood at the bush engrossed in thought, the Ribbono Shel Olam addressed him, telling him that he had been selected for a lofty mission, with the goal of saving His people and leading them out of Mitzrayim.

Moshe asks for assurance. “When the Bnei Yisroel will ask me who sent me, what Name shall I tell them?”

Hashem told him to say that He appeared to him with the name “Ehkeh asher Ehkeh - I will be with them through this golus and all the subsequent travails and hard times.”

Moshe’s life had changed drastically. From being a lowly shepherd in a strange country, the Creator had spoken to him and appointed him as his messenger to return to Mitzrayim and tell the poor, abused, impoverished nation of slaves that freedom was in the air and they would soon be leaving Mitzrayim as free people. Hashem would take them for His nation, and there would be a spectacular exit, after which He would take them to the land He had promised to their forefathers, Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov.

Though Moshe was the humblest person who ever lived, he could have imagined that his message would be cheerfully welcomed as the people who had only known slavery would hear that their oppression, misery and anguish would soon end.

However, that didn’t happen. When he gathered them together and gave over Hashem’s message of emancipation, they didn’t listen to him.

The posuk recounts, “Velo shomu el Moshe mikotzer ruach umei’avodah kashah - They didn’t listen to Moshe because they were short of spirit and overworked.”

Perhaps they wanted to listen and they wanted to hear what Hashem’s messenger had come to tell them, but they were unable to. They couldn’t listen. They were incapable of hearing the words that spoke of a transformation that would soon change their lives. They were so dispirited that they could not process the message promising a better tomorrow.

Like every posuk in the Torah, this posuk is recorded for posterity to instruct and guide us. The words and their lessons remain relevant for eternity. The story of the people too tired to hear the words they had been awaiting for two hundred years is relevant to us in our day.

We live in a state of anticipation, always awaiting good news. People nowadays are glued to the news, waiting for something good to happen. They wait for the war to end in Gaza. They wait for the hostages to be returned. They wait for airlines to resume flying to Eretz Yisroel so that they can afford to go and again be in the land of our avos. They wait for news that the economy has turned around, that an election has taken place and the party of the anti-Semites has been thrown out. People wait for news on a cure for cancer, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, Alzheimer’s and all the other dreaded illnesses that people are suffering from.

And most of all, we wait for the news to spread that Moshiach has arrived with a message similar to the one Moshe Rabbeinu brought to Mitzrayim - that our redemption is here.

Suddenly, it has once again become acceptable to be anti-Semitic. Universities believed to be institutes of higher learning are exposed to be nothing of the sort, instead, they are incubators of radical leftist ideology and rabid anti-Semitism. Each day, there is news of an attack or a rally, which remind us that we are in golus and not nearly as safe as we had imagined.

We view the news of the day and we seek to find in them hints portending the coming of Moshiach. We know that everything is from Hashem. We see in wars and tragedies, triumphs and recessions, words of the nevi’im coming alive, leading, we hope, to the geulah.

Our emunah guides and inspires us, even when times are rough. It allows us to see past the darkness and the rough times, knowing that just as night is followed by day, so, too, rough times are followed by good times.

The period of the First World War was very difficult for the Jews of Eastern Europe. Entire towns and cities were emptied of their Jewish inhabitants, who were forced into exile with no source of income. They faced hunger and all sorts of deprivation. Many were drafted into the Russian army, never to be seen again. Yeshivos were also greatly affected, going from place to place, existing on mere morsels of food.

A bochur was very depressed and couldn’t pull himself together. He approached the Chofetz Chaim and bared his soul to him, stating that he could not continue. “Rebbe, ich ken nit oishalten.” The rebbe of Klal Yisroel looked at the bochur and said to him that he could strengthen himself by looking at the history of Am Yisroel all the way back to the beginning of time.

Adam Harishon was created on Friday and sinned that same day. After a few hours, the sun went down and it became dark. He thought that the world was ending and cried to himself that his sin destroyed the world. He fell asleep and woke up the next morning to find the sun rising. He realized that this is the way of the world. It gets dark and then it gets light.

The Chofetz Chaim told the poor boy to take the message of Adam to heart and to know that every period of sadness is followed by a period of good. That is the way Hashem created the world, as the posuk says in Bereishis, “Vayehi erev, vayehi voker - There was night and then there was day.”

The same applies in our day. Look at the Holocaust, when six million of our brethren were brutally murdered. Many more were displaced, ending up around the world as poor refugees in strange countries, many with minimal religious life.

Those same survivors were gifted by Hashem to be able to rebuild their lives, remarry, and give birth to a new generation of Torah Jews. Yeshivos grew, communities expanded, and now Yiddishkeit flourishes in cities and towns across the globe. There are more people learning in yeshivos and kollelim today than before the war. Organizations are burgeoning as the population multiplies.

The sun set during the Second World War, but then it rose and continues to strengthen.

The remarkable growth was led by people who, though beaten and robbed of everything, never got down. Their faith allowed them to dream and to do where others thought it would be impossible to resurrect that which was. Nothing could get them down. Each day was viewed as a chance at coming back and rebuilding, step by step, piece by piece, brick by brick, and person by person.

They had spirit, and their spirit carried them as they benefitted from Hashem’s help.

But there are always bitter people who have no spirit. Surrounded by opportunity and blessing, they focus on the negatives, locked in and held back by the inability to see beyond the sadness and darkness of the past. Their lack of faith precludes them from dreaming of a better day and pushing themselves to overcome the gloom and working towards building and rebuilding. They can’t acknowledge greatness in others, nor do they possess the self-confidence to achieve anything themselves.

There is so much goodness in our world. Despite the bad and sad parts, there is much to be happy about if we would just look for it. We forget that we are blessed to live in a land of plenty, which provides for the poor and those unable to make ends meet. Despite the increasing decay, we are able to dedicate ourselves to lives of Torah and kedusha, accomplishments and success.

Torah and mussar keep the person who studies them active, optimistic, energetic and positive. It shapes an individual into a mentch, a person who respects others and is worthy of respect himself.

The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh (6:9) explains that the reason the Jews in Mitzrayim were not able to listen to the words of Moshe was because they were not bnei Torah. Torah broadens a person’s heart, he says. Had they been bnei Torah, they would have been receptive to Moshe’s message.

We, who have been granted the gift of Torah, have no excuse for not being open to hearing the words of the Moshe Rabbeinus of our generation and those who seek to improve our lots and help us prepare ourselves for the geulah.

Hakadosh Boruch Hu appeared in the burning bush to signify to Moshe to never give up on the Jewish people. Despite how blackened they are, Moshe was to know that they will never get eaten up and will never be totally destroyed.

Hashem was also indicating to Moshe that no matter how religiously diseased the Jewish people appear, there is always a flame of holiness burning inside of them. You can meet a Jewish person and think that he has strayed so far from the path of Torah that there are no longer any sparks left in him. Know that he has a neshomah, and in that neshomah there is a pilot light such as the one that used  to remain lit in stoves, ovens and boilers.

The small flame remains lit, waiting for someone to flip the switch. When that happens, a torch can be ignited inside of that person. It is our duty to inspire people who have strayed and get that fire going, and sometimes it happens by itself in response to outside stimuli.

Since the awful day of October 7^th and the resultant war and eruption of anti-Semitism, untold thousands of Jews who had strayed had their switch flipped and they began to seek a connection to Hashem and to Torah and mitzvos.

We should never give up on anyone.

We should always look for the good in everyone, and when the good is not evident, we should seek to uncover it.

In our own lives, we should note all the good we have and be thankful for everything. We should be thankful for the shuls we have to daven in and the yeshivos and botei medrash spreading Torah and kedusha to a thirsting people. We should be thankful for the peace and tranquility that we enjoy, and for the homes, the heat, the cars, the gasoline, the electricity, and everything else that we are blessed with in this country.

No matter how bad we think things are, there are always many things to be thankful for. Lately, people have adopted the daily habit of writing down things that they thank Hashem for. Try it and you will be amazed by how much good there is and how kind Hashem is to you every single day.

It is heartening and it can be therapeutic. It creates an opportunity to sing in the darkness of golus. Despite all that is going on in your life and in the world, there is always much to be thankful for. By appreciating Hashem’s kindness, we become encouraged to take steps that we were hesitant to take, to aim higher in Torah and avodah, to know that with proper tefillah, emunah and bitachon, there is nothing that can stand in our way.

When we learn the parsha and read the posuk, “Velo shomu el Moshe mikotzer ruach umei’avodah kashah,” let us ensure that we aren’t worn down without spirit. Let us keep ourselves focused to see sights and sounds pointing to imminent geulah, may it arrive speedily in our day.

Golus Mentality

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

 We are now almost three months into the Gaza War, which began when thousands of Hamas terrorists crossed into Israel from Gaza and slaughtered 1,200 Jews, wounded many more, and took 240 hostages.

While the government says that it will examine what went wrong after they defeat Hamas in the current war, news agencies and others have done their own investigations and the results are damning.

Apparently, the Israeli army is as dysfunctional as many of the other Israeli government ministries and offices. Over the years, the army has built up a superman reputation, with Israelis and foreigners believing that this army is the strongest and the best anywhere.

On October 7^th, their cover was blown and it became evident to the entire world that the Israeli army and intelligence are seriously lacking. The only reason they won battles and wars was because Hashem wanted them to. This time around, for reasons we are not yet privy to, Hakadosh Boruch Hu withheld His assistance and a terrible tragedy ensued.

The country had fallen into the belief that their enemies are powerless and they are all powerful, able to defeat them in one fell swoop. They failed to consider that their miraculous victories were just that - miraculous and brought about by Hashem. This hubris brings about defeat, as Hashem angers and removes His protective shield from those who believe that they can do everything without Him.

It also caused the commanders, generals and intelligence experts to ignore the many reports that Hamas was preparing an attack such as the one that occurred. They believed that there was no way the Arabs could even think of breaching their borders, let alone perpetrate the awful massacre and carnage that they carried out. So, as the information came in, it was ignored, and those who were delivering it were reprimanded for continuing to bother their superiors with evidence that couldn’t be real.

When October 7^th came along, the army was taken completely by surprise, undermanned, disorganized, deployed far from the area, and incapable of responding for many long hours. Meanwhile, the people they were charged to protect were getting killed.

Immediately, many of the people who survived and their relatives, as well as people across Israel and the world, recognized the Yad Hashem and began turning towards Him. People realized that Zionism is not their savior and living in Israel is not a substitute for geulah. Everyone grasped that we are still in golus. The events that have followed the massacre around the world have only reinforced that the Jewish people are in exile, awaiting the geulah.

How are we to achieve the geulah?

The Ramban, in his introduction to Sefer Shemos, writes that Shemos begins by retelling how the Bnei Yisroel went to Mitzrayim. This is because Sefer Shemos is the tale of golus and geulah, and going down to Mitzrayim was the beginning of the golus.

The golus did not end, says the Ramban, until they returned to the land and the high spiritual levels of their forefathers. When they left Mitzrayim, even though they were no longer enslaved, they were still exiled, for they were in a foreign country. After receiving the Torah at Har Sinai, they built the Mishkon. When Hashem rested his Shechinah in the Mishkon, they had finally reached the levels of their fathers and were now also a merkovah for the Shechinah.

That was when they were redeemed. And that is why Sefer Shemos ends with the discussion of the Mishkon. The circle was completed.

We always understood that the Bnei Yisroel were redeemed when they left Mitzrayim, and they were certainly free once they had crossed the Yam Suf. They sang shirah, which would seem to indicate that at the moment of their celebration at the other side of the sea, they were completely freed from Mitzrayim.

Why was the circle of geulah incomplete until the construction of the Mishkon?

Rav Dovid Cohen, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Chevron, explains in his sefer Mizmor L’Dovid, based upon the Vilna Gaon (Shir Hashirim 1:4) and the Maharsha (Kesubos 7b), that the redemption of the Bnei Yisroel was accomplished in three stages.

Yetzias Mitzrayim was the foundation of the nation. Matan Torah then created a bond between Hashem and His people, similar to kiddushin, betrothal. The descent of the Shechinah to the Mishkon cemented the relationship, akin to nesuin, marriage.

Rav Cohen quotes the Medrash Tanchuma (Bechukosai 3), which states that the reason Hashem redeemed the Jews was for them to build the Mishkon and for the Shechinah to rest there.

Thus, until the Mishkon was completed and the Shechinah was among them, they were not geulim. Apparently, geulah, freedom, is not achieved until the exiled person returns to his pre-golus status.

Just to be freed from slavery is not redemption, because a person is not redeemed until he can freely perform the tasks for which he was created. If a convict leaves jail but is under house-arrest, then even when he is in his own home, he is not free, because he cannot go about his life and pursuits.

The purpose of Am Yisroel is to be a merkovah for the Shechinah. Until the nation returned to their forefathers’ level of closeness and avodah, they were in exile. Although, superficially, it appeared that they were freed from bondage, they were captives until they could be spiritually where they were prior to being exiled in Mitzrayim.

Sometimes we think that we are free. After all, there are no constraints placed on us and we can live as we please. In addition, Jews in Israel have returned to our historic homeland. In truth, as we see now, we here, and them there, are golim until we reach the level of the avos and merit the Mikdosh and Shechinah among us.

To be carefree and aimless, with no values or direction, is not freedom. To be redeemed means to be put in a position to be able to take on your mission and complete it.

Yosef Hatzaddik singularly possessed the ability to maintain the spiritual level of his father, Yaakov, even in exile, but the rest of the Bnei Yisroel sank in the foreign land. Yaakov blessed Yosef for his fortitude, stating, “Becha yevoreich Yisroel.” For all time, Jews will bless their children to be as Menashe and Efraim, loyal to their heritage even amidst the effects of golus.

Yosef’s inherent ability to remain in an exalted state even in golus enabled him to battle the effects of Eisov and his descendants. Therefore, the first Moshiach will be from his offspring. Moshiach Ben Yosef will arrive and prepare the world for the redemption. When he completes his job, Moshiach Ben Dovid will reveal himself and bring the geulah we are all waiting for.

The ability to excel in golus that Yosef personified was inherited from his mother, Rochel. It is for this reason that of all the avos and imahos, she is buried alone along the road to Bais Lechem. Only Rochel could exist and fulfill her tachlis far from home, alone.

We learned last week in Parshas Vayechi that when Yaakov asked Yosef to bury him in Eretz Yisroel, he excused himself for not burying Rochel in the Me’oras Hamachpeilah or at least in Bais Lechem. Rashi explains that she was laid to rest along the road that leads into and out of Eretz Yisroel so that when the Jewish people would be driven into exile after the churban Bais Hamikdosh, they would stop and pray at her kever. She would rise up and beg for Hashem’s mercy.

When that tragic period occurred, Hashem told Rochel, “Withhold your crying, for there will be a reward for your actions, and the children will return to their home.” The language of the posuk seems strange. Why does it connect the reward for action with the return of her children to their ancestral home?

Perhaps Yaakov was telling Yosef that he buried Rochel along the road to Bais Lechem because she shared the ability he possessed, which would allow her to fulfill her mission while alone in golus. If someone else were buried there, the klipos of golus would envelope them and they would not be able to help the Jews as they were driven out of Eretz Yisroel after the churban Bais Hamikdosh.

Yaakov, as he was about to pass away, turned to his beloved son, Yosef, and told him that because he possessed the ability to fight Eisov in golus and maintain his level of kedusha, he can now appreciate the mantel that was being placed on him, which he inherited from his mother. “Know that she was placed there for a purpose,” Yaakov said, “and that you and she embody that power throughout the ages.” That is why when Yaakov completed his request of Yosef concerning his burial, he said that Am Yisroel would bless their children to be like Menashe and Efraim.

This is also the understanding of the response to the cries of Rochel at the time of Golus Nevuzaradun: “Minee koleich mibechi ve’ainayich min dimah ki yeish sochor lifuloseich… veshovu vonim ligevulon.”

Hashem told her not to cry, because as a result of her strength and the traditions she passed on through Yosef of being able to survive alone in golus, the Jews would return from exile. The two concepts are intertwined, because in reward for maintaining that ability, her son, Yosef, would spawn Moshiach and begin the redemption that will return her children from exile.

Only Rochel would be able to receive that reward, and only she would be able to remain all alone on the side of the road. In order for the others to endure the golus, they had to be united together in the Meoras Hamachpeilah in Chevron.

To survive the golus and accomplish our missions, we must be united. If we splinter off and go out on our own, we can become enveloped by the kochos hatumah and sink. We must remain united, with common goals, determined to fulfill our missions, so that we can become geulim. If we want our condition to improve, we have to work on returning to the levels of our avos.

Chazal state that the Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed because of sinas chinom. We commonly understand this to mean that it was a punishment. Because this aveirah was prevalent among Klal Yisroel, they were punished with the removal of the Bais Hamikdosh.

We can also understand that in a spiritual but also physical way, the churban was brought about by infighting. There were the camps of the Tzedukim and the Perushim, and they were at each other’s throats. The Tzedukim mercilessly killed the Perushim, starving them and causing them to die of thirst. Their acts of sinah, hatred, towards their brethren enabled the Romans to militarily defeat the Jews and destroy the Bais Hamikdosh.

Every generation in which the Bais Hamikdosh is not rebuilt is considered to be a generation in which it was destroyed. If it has not been rebuilt in our day, it is because sinas chinom is still among us. If Jews would love each other, care about each other, and be able to disagree without canceling those who don’t agree with them, Moshiach would be here.

You don’t have to be a prophet or a genius to see the sinas chinom that prevents Moshiach Ben Yosef from announcing that the end is near.

Each of us, in our own way, has the ability to end conflict, to bring people together, and to enable the sparks of kedusha that endure to be united in forming a large fireball that will burn through the golus.

We have to do more to support good people. And we have to remember that whatever we do and wherever we are, we are bnei Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov, heirs to a golden tradition, bearers of an eternal torch. We must ensure that the flame endures and that the traditions continue, so that Rochel and Yosef will rejoin us soon.

If we would work to make the world a better place, we could overcome differences and spread goodness, holiness and Torah, lighting up the world so that we could all be geulim.

The golus mentality is one of separation and division, dissension and disagreement, derision and negativity.

Let us remain loyal to the traditions and teachings of our rabbeim, zaidehs and bubbehs. Built on foundations of Torah, avodah and mesorah, what motivated them was their desire to return to the levels of our avos and imahos, getting closer to Hashem and persevering until Moshiach would come.

Wherever we are and whatever we do, let us strengthen our emunah and bitachon in Hakadosh Boruch Hu and recognize that everything that happens is from Him. Let us strengthen our devotion to Torah study, shemiras hamitzvos, and remaining loyal to our mesorah.

Doing so will bring us protection and victories, communally and individually, and will bring about the geulah sheleimah speedily in our day.