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Tetzaveh 5774

This week’s parasha is the only one in the final 4 books of the Chumash that does not either mention Moshe by name or have him as the speaker. How does our tradition explain this anomaly? In next week’s portion, in his attempt to convince Gd not to destroy Bnai Yisrael after the sin of the Golden Calf, Moshe says, Now if you will forgive their sin [well and good] but if not, erase me from the record that You have written! (Exodus 32:32) The Ba’al Turim says that Moshe places a curse on himself with his very own words, thus, he is erased in the parasha. But, why is it this week’s portion for Moshe’s moniker absence? The Vilna Gaon points out that Moshe’s yahrtzeit, 7^th of Adar, always falls during the week we read parshat Tetzaveh. Of interest is the patterned practice in edited books of Chassidic commentary that are ordered by the weekly portions – one finds that there is an absence of commentary on the very parasha in which the book’s editor died. Others note that this week's portion is part of Moshe’s prophetic curse as the definite article in Moshe’s curse ‘that’ אשר has the same gematria (numerical) value as Tetzaveh תצוה, 501. Finally, an explanation given as to why Moshe’s name is absent is found in his great humility. Other portions begin with Gd saying, Speak to Bnai Yisrael or Say to Bnai Yisrael…this week he is told ‘Tetzaveh’ (Command) Bnai Yisrael…says Moshe, ‘who/what am I to command them?’ So, Moshe leaves his own name out of the text.

Terumah 5774

 

וְעָשׂוּ לִי, מִקְדָּשׁ; וְשָׁכַנְתִּי, בְּתוֹכָם --And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.(Exodus25:8)

When Gd said to Moshe, let them make Me a sanctuary, Moshe said behold the heavens and beyond the heavens cannot contain You (I Kings 8:27) and you say let them make Me a sanctuary?! Gd responds, ‘Moshe, it is not the way you think it is….build the tabernacle and I will contract myself and descend amongst them as it says And there I will meet with thee, and I will speak with thee from above the ark-cover.’(Exodus 25:22) It is analogous to a king who has a daughter. While she is a minor, the king may see her in the marketplace or on the streets and speak with her. Once she maturesthe kings says, ‘now that she is a woman it does not honor her to speak to her in public, rather, make me a canopy under which I will speak with her.’ Similarly, while Israel was in its infancy, Gd appeared to it by the waters, at the sea, and on the mountain. After receiving the Torah, thus becoming a mature nation, Gd says that it no longer honors Israel to be spoken to in public, rather, let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. (MidrashYalkut Shimoni).

 

Mishpatim 5774

You shall not ill-treat any widow or orphan. If you do mistreat them, I will heed their outcry as soon as they cry out to Me, and My anger shall blaze forth and I will put you to the sword, and your own wives shall become widows and your children orphans. (Exodus 22:21-23)

By deduction/definition, after a man dies his wife and child are widow and orphan, respectively. Why does the text state explicitly that …your wives shall become widows and your children orphans? The tradition, by way of the Mechilta, explains that these added words inform the potential perpetrator that there will be no witnesses to his death and that, accordingly, his wife will never be permitted to remarry and his children will never receive inheritance from him – for without testimony of death the assumption is that the missing person may still be alive in captivity. May one also infer from these words that collective punishment is permissible – that is, one’s own family will justifiably suffer punishment from his criminal act? In this way, the punishment of his family is to serve as deterrent for his unlawful behavior – and his own death is only a part of the warranted penalty.  

 

 

Yitro 5774

 

וַיֹּאמֶר חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה, אֵלָיו:  לֹא-טוֹב, הַדָּבָר, אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה, עֹשֶׂה... וַיִּשְׁמַע מֹשֶׁה, לְקוֹל חֹתְנוֹ; וַיַּעַשׂ, כֹּל אֲשֶׁר אָמָר. -- And Moses' father-in-law said to him: 'The thing that you are doing is not good'…And Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said.(Exodus18:17-24)

Let's get our minds around what this text is telling us: the greatest of all teachers, Moshe Rabbeinu, gets and implements advice from a non-Israelite priest on how to best serve Gd and the people. What is the reason that Gd chooses to honor Yitro in such a manner – is it not enough that Yitro has a Torah portion named after him? Is Gd showing Yitro's greatness by pointing out Israel's own deficiency?! According to the Ohr HaChayim (18^th cent. Morocco), the reason for this episode is to show this and every following generation that the other nations of the world have giants of wisdom, intellect and understanding, and that Gd did not choose Israel to be a 'nation of priests' and Gd's 'treasured nation' because of Israel's intellect or wisdom. Gd chose Israel for 2 reasons: its peoples' capacity of acts of benevolence and out of Gd's love for the patriarchs/matriarchs who founded the nation. 

B'shalach 5774

 

וַיְהִי, בְּשַׁלַּח פַּרְעֹה אֶת-הָעָם, וְלֹא-נָחָם אֱ-לֹהִים דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּים, כִּי קָרוֹב הוּא - And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that Gd led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines, for it was near (Exodus 13:17)

These opening words of the parasha explain the purpose of 40 years in the desert. Gd chooses not to take the Israelites to the Landof Israel by way of the most time efficient route. The reason mentioned is that this route would cause them to engage more quickly in the war necessary to conquer the inhabitants of the homeland, the Philistines – who resided up to the coastal plain of the Land, and the worry was that the Israelites would fear the war and return to Egypt. With the sheer number and magnitude of all of the miracles that Gd performs in order to execute the Israelite exodus from Egypt – plagues, splitting the sea, manna, water from rocks and more – why would Gd decide not to ensure their safety and just bring the Israelites home quickly? Perhaps the answer is found in a response to the question of why does evil exist in the world….were it not for evil, there would be no recognition and appreciation of good.

 

Bo 5774

In this week’s parshat Bo we read The length of time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.(Exodus 12:40) This verse is problematic to the critical reader. Months ago in parshat Lech Lecha we read that Gd says to Avraham, Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. (Genesis 15:13) Additionally, the numbers of years the Israelites were physically in Egypt totals 210. How do we reconcile the contradictions of these numbers? Rashi explains that from the time of Isaac’s birth to the time of the Israelite exodus from Egypt was 400 years as calculated thusly: Isaac was 60 years old at the time of Jacob’s birth. Jacob was 130 years old upon his entering Egypt. The Israelites were in Egypt for 210 years which gives a total of 400 years. Gd’s prophecy to Avraham of 400 years takes place during the ‘brit betarim’ which occurs 30 years before the birth of Isaac. This week’s 430 is the number of years from Gd’s decree of Israelite homelessness; 400 is the number of years from the first of Avraham’s Jewish offspring to the Exodus, and 210 is the number of years the Israelites were in Egypt. For the curious, Rashi calculates the actual years of enslavement as 116.

 

Shmot 5774

A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Yoseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and strong than we.” There is no mention of the Israelites usurping power from the Egyptians. No word about Israel’s accumulating greater wealth or assets at the expense of the indigenous population. No indication of Israel’s being non-cooperative, rebellious, or causing problems. This Egyptian ruler simply saw the Jews as a potential threat which was enough to warrant our enslavement and the eventual slaughter of our newborn males. It is part of the human condition to suspect ‘the outsider’ as it is quite normal to have anxiety over that which is foreign to us. It was not Pharaoh’s fears of Israel that was his sin; it was the actualization of those fears expressed in action. An individual need not berate herself for her thoughts, but only for the resulting unkind acts. Incidentally, how is it that a relatively small number of Israelites are labeled ‘numerous and strong’? Teaches R’ Yisrael of Rejean: When the Children of Israel are united as one nation they are so strong and enormous that there is no nation that can dominate it. כן ירבו...

 

Vayechi 5774

For a visitor not familiar with the Shabbat dinner rituals, one of the most striking elements of the evening is the parents’ formal blessing of the children. As the parents place their hands on the head of each child, hopes and prayers for that child’s spiritual development and relationship with Gd are affirmed. When a daughter is blessed, the introductory words mention our matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel. One would expect the blessing for boys to follow suit and mention our patriarchs Avraham, Isaac, and Jacob – yet they are absent from the blessing. The origin of the ritual is revealed in this week’s parsha, Vayechi, as we see Jacob saying to Joseph’s sons, “By you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying: Gd make you like Ephraim and Menashe.” Still, why ‘like Ephraim and Menashe’? What do these 2 possess that the patriarchs do not? Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, the twelve sons of Jacob….rivalry and enmity permeate the relationships. Ephraim and Menashe are the first brothers at peace among siblings; it is this peace that Jacob prays will be a blessed example for the Children of Israel.

 

Miketz 5774

And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men thereof; and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none who could interpret them for Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:8)

According to Rabbi Ze’ev Tzvi Klein (חכמה עם נחלה), the wise men of Egypt were not able to decipher Pharaoh’s dreams because they, mistakenly, believed that the world only goes according to natural law.  The dreams of Pharaoh ran counter to natural law, for according to natural law the strong defeat the weak and the sick fall before the healthy.  In these dreams, the weak ate the mighty and as such it was beyond the scope of the Egyptians’ understanding.  However, Joseph was educated in Jacob’s house with a very different perspective – one that is aware of Gd’s activity that is not limited by natural law.  Thus, after hearing the dreams Joseph immediately recognized the Divinity of the message and says, “what Gd is going to do has been told to Pharaoh.” (Genesis 41:25)  Joseph understands that there is a Creator who determines natural law and alters it according to Her desires.

 

Vayeishev 5774

And he related it [the dream] to his father and to his brothers; his father scolded him, and said to him, ‘What is this dream that you have dreamt? Are we to come – I and your mother and your brothers – to bow down to you to the ground?’  So, his brothers were jealous of him, and his father kept the matter in mind. (Genesis 37:10-11)

About these verses a question is raised:  in the first verse, after hearing of Yoseph’s second dream and seeing the other brothers’ hatred for Yoseph after the first dream, Yaakov chastises his son; then, after seeing the brothers' jealousy of Yoseph, we learn that Yaakov kept the matter in mind…what occurred to cause Yaakov to change his manner about Yoseph’s dreams? If someone innocuous makes a grandiose claim about herself then people are quick to be annoyed by this person’s foolishness/stupidity.  However, if people hold envy or jealousy towards the claims of the person, this reaction is an indication of the speaker’s stature.  At first, Yaakov was angry at Yoseph and his absurd childishness; after Yaakov saw the jealousy of the other brothers he realized that Yoseph is someone to whom others would pay attention.