| |
 |
|
|
|
Beshalach When R' Mendel of Kotzk was a little boy he turned to his teacher and asked, "In the desert, when the Jewish people were eating the Mon (Manna) and every family was receiving its needs from Heaven, how did people give Tzedakah (charity) to one another?" After the Melamed admitted he did not know, the little R' Mendel responded, "Perhaps they gave charity of their knowledge. Those with greater understanding shared it with those who had less." Throughout our history the Mon was an example to all that sustenance derives directly from Hashem. So when one is successful and Hashem's blessing towards him is with abundance, do not say, "Look at my wonderful success and the work of my hands." Give thanks to Hashem in recognition of the source of your good. If, G-d forbid, things do not go so well, and you find yourself in a difficult situation. Do not give up hope, keep up the battle . Recognise the source of all good - Hashem - can relieve your situation in an instant. A man once complained to R' Boruch of Kosov. "Rebbe, Whatever business scheme I dream up invariably fails and I am unable to support my family." Answered R' Boruch, "You are making a mistake. Nowhere does the Torah promise a person success for the schemes he dreams up. The Torah does promise that Hashem will send blessing 'upon all the work of hands.' It is your task in life to work, not to scheme. If you work diligently, you will see blessing." Moshe and Aharon were brought back before Paraoh. "Go serve Hashem your L-rd," he said. "But exactly who will be going?" "Young and old alike will go," replied Moshe. "We will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our sheep and cattle. For it is a pilgrimage festival to Hashem for us all." "May Hashem only be with you just as I will let you leave with your children!" replied Paraoh. "You must realise that you will be confronting evil. No!! Let the males go and worship Hashem, for that is what you really want!" With that he had them expelled from his presence. The Malbim explains. Paraoh believed - as is found in many of the early faiths - in dual deities. One good, the other evil. The people would serve the good deity in order to generate good and try to pacify the evil deity so it would not harm them. While to the evil deity they would sacrifice animals in order to satisfy its blood lust and they feared to bring before it their children, to the deity of good they would bring their families and serve before it with music and joy. For this reason Paraoh asks, "But exactly who will be going?" If you are going to serve the good deity, fine take with your children, however, you will have no need for your sheep for sacrifice. If you intend to serve the deity of evil, then leave your children and take with your sheep for sacrifices. To this Moshe answered, "We will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our sheep and cattle. For it is a pilgrimage festival to Hashem for us all." Our G-d is one - who rules all and He desires the service of joy and happiness together with sacrifice. According to the Akeidas Yitzchak, Paraoh's intention was. "You have such a great and awesome G-d. If so who must serve Him? Only the special elders amongst you. Those who have much spiritual and theological training. So choose which ones will go." To this Moshe responded, "It is a pilgrimage festival, and on a pilgrimage festival we all must go." Some see in Moshe's response the thought - all must make up a community. A community that loses and leaves behind its youth ends up an old age home. A community that abandons its elders is an orphanage. Blessed are youth whom the wisdom of the elders guides them, and elders who are strengthened by the enthusiasm of their youth. Only then is it possible to have a festival for Hashem. The Yismach Moshe says: A community that does not have its youth with it must mourn and not celebrate. We can only celebrate in merit of and with the youth. As the Gemara says, "Yerushalayim was destroyed only because they stopped the Torah learning of the children." May we merit to increase Torah learning amongst all and especially among the youth so that Yerushalayim will be speedily rebuilt with Moshiach's coming. "And you must relate to your son on that day saying, on account of this did HaShem act for me when I came out of Egypt. And you must have a sign on your hand, and a memorial between your eyes in order that HaShem's Torah should be in your mouth..." (13:8-9). The Torah commands us to educate our children and teach them about the miracles that HaShem performed for us in Egypt, in order to draw them closer to Torah. This will only be possible if the parents themselves, by their deeds and actions, show their children how they should live. The tefillin on the arm remind us that to be an observant Jew requires action, while the tefillin on the head remind us that we need to use our intellect. Together, the tefillin symbolise that we must dedicate both our deeds and minds to HaShem. The Torah is advising us that when we teach our children about HaShem and His Torah, in order to achieve the desired results we must make sure our lessons are neither contradicted by our actions nor by the thoughts we express, and most of all, "that HaShem's Torah should be in our mouth" all of the time. (Chasam Sofer) |
