(Beshalach 13:17) It happened when Pharoah sent out...
The expression "sent out" implies an escort or accompaniment. Thus Pharoah escorted B'nei Yisrael out of Egypt with honor (Mechilta). At the End of Parshas Shemos we discussed how the plight of the children of Israel in Egypt became unbearable when Pharaoh decreed that they would be responsible for gathering straw in addition to the already back breaking labor of their servitude. It was as if a sword had been handed to Pharaoh with which to murder them.
Yet, G-d was the true source of this decree. It was his way of getting them to agree to leave their homes and possessions and impulsively go out into the desert without provisions with this additional burden, the children of Israel could think only of how to rid themselves of their brutal masters and intolerable labor. It is inconceivable that Bnei Yisrael would even consider returning to Egypt of their own free will.
During their final days in Egypt, however, the Egyptians befriended B'nei Yisrael and lent them gold and silver vessels. Pharaoh himself turned out to escort Moses and Aharon and even beseeched them "to bless him as well" (12:32)
Alas this is the error which seems typical of the Jewish People. Foolishly, we tend to quickly forget the iniquities perpetrated against us by the nations of the world. All they need do is to favor us with the slightest smile, and we believe that they have become our dearest friends.
After experiencing the honor accorded them upon leaving Egypt, B'nei Yisrael now believed the Egyptions would treat them like human beings. When they said "Better we should serve Egypt" (14:12) , and "Let us choose a leader and return to Egypt" (Bamidbar 14:4), Moses showed them Joseph's coffin, saying, "Consider Joseph's treatment by the Egyptians. He saved them from starvation and brought wealth to the entire country yet they still made his brothers slaves, those same brothers who had come to live in Egypt at Pharaoh's invitation. Can such ingrates be trusted?"
Insights in the Torah, Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin
2.02.2015
1.09.2015
WHY THE NEED TO DESTROY AMALEK? BY RABBI ELIYAHU KIN
This is a great shiur which talks about who Amalek is and how we can fight him. It also touches on the theme of birur, separation.
8.31.2014
ELUL
"The ways of God are straight.
The tzaddik uses them for progress;
The rebel comes to failure by them."
(Hoshea 14:10)
The ways of God are straight. There should be no possibility of taking the wrong turn. There are no turns. But if one does not want the truth... If one rebels... Even the ways of God, even the precious gifts of God can lead to failure.
When one is making progress in the life of the spirit many doors open before him. But there is no standing still. If one thinks one is standing still, in truth he is falling. This is our situation. We are falling continuously, but we don't know it. There is nothing worse that this.
The very "ways of God" used by the tzaddik as a means of progress lead to failure when used by the rebel. Everything is a test. The very means given by God to achieve aliyah- spiritual ascent -can be used by the yetzer ha-ra for the opposite.
(Michtav Me'Eliyahu, Rabbi Eliyahu E Dessler)
11.19.2013
PARSHAT VAYISHLACH; ESAU AND 400 MEN
In last week's parsha we read;
Jacob raised his eyes and saw--behold, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men-- so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two handmaids. He put the handmaids and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. Then he himself went on ahead of them and bowed earthward seven times until he reached his brother. Esau ran toward him, embraced him, fell upon his neck, and kissed him; then they wept.
According to our sages;
In their new found brotherly love, Esav insisted on escorting Jacob, and offered to slow down as much as necessary to keep pace with the slow-moving flocks and family. Jacob, however, wanted to end the reunion as quickly as possible: whether or not Esav's kisses were sincere, the momentary friendship could not be expected to last indefinitely.
We are told, it is an immutable rule that Esav hates Yaakov.
In the future Esau will wrap himself in a tallis, sit down next to Yakov and say to him, "You are my brother"....Yakov will say to him, "My brother, you will not be like me. "I will lead you to death, I will be the pestilence that leads you to Sheol (Hoshea 13,14). Had I upheld degrees that you promulgated against me, I would have been guilty at the eyes of Heaven. Had I violated them, you would have killed me? (Yalkut Shimoni, Yirmiahu 333)
In February, 2006, Pastor John Hagee, Founder and National Chairman of Christians United for Israel, decided the time had come to create a national grassroots movement focused on the support of Israel. He called upon Christian leaders from across America to join him in launching this new initiative. Over 400 Christian leaders each representing a denomination, mega-church, media ministry, publishing company, or Christian university answered the call and Christians United for Israel was born.
In 2013,The pro-Israel Christian group Christians United for Israel (CUFI) brought more than 400 Christian leaders to Washington, DC, to lobby against President Barack Obama’s nomination of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, the Weekly Standard reported.
"That was Esau's intention when he told Yakov, "Let us travel together and I will go before you (Genesis 33,12). He wanted them to join together in both this world and the world to come, to meet each other halfway, with each modifying his conduct until they were alike (Yalkut Shimoni, Genesis 133). Indeed, Esau will even adopt certain tenets of Judaism-such as monotheism, the Divinity of the Torah, and reward and punishment-but only if Israel will give up some of its heritage. Similarly, according to Tanna D'Bei Eliahu Zuta(19), Esau proposed. "Give up some of the mitzvos that divide us. You will thereby enjoy this world and still have half the world to come. Isn't that enough? (Bais Halevy, Vayishlach).
I loved you, says HASHEM; but you say, 'How have you loved us?' Was not Esau the brother of Jacob--the word of HASHEM--yet I loved Jacob. But I hated Esau; I made his mountains a desolation and [gave] his heritage to the desert serpents. Though Edom will say, 'We have become destitute, but we will return and rebuild the ruins,' thus says HASHEM, Master of Legions: They may build, but I will tear down! They will be called the boundary of wickedness' and 'the people whom HASHEM has condemned forever.'
Malachi 1:3-5
10.10.2013
SEPARATION IS THE KEY TO REDEMPTION
We live in a world where the lines between Jew and non-Jew have not just been blurred but completely destroyed.
We live in a world where the person praying next to you in shul or at the kotel could just as easily be a xian rather than a Jew.
We live in a world where Judaism has been mixed with idolatry to form a new religion called Judeo-xianity.
We live in a world where Orthodox Jews call xians brother.
We live in a world where the goyim want our inheritance and are getting help from Jews to take it from us.
We live in a world where Orthodox Rabbis call idolaters righteous gentiles and come to the defense of these idolaters against fellow Jews.
We live in a world where xians are living and conducting prayers and worship services every morning in a religious yishuv in Israel.
But this must come to an end. Either we stop it or Ha Kodosh Baruch Hu will. We still have free choice but HaShem will only let his name and his holy mountain be desecrated for so long.
SEPARATION IS THE KEY TO REDEMPTION!
We live in a world where the person praying next to you in shul or at the kotel could just as easily be a xian rather than a Jew.
We live in a world where Judaism has been mixed with idolatry to form a new religion called Judeo-xianity.
We live in a world where Orthodox Jews call xians brother.
We live in a world where the goyim want our inheritance and are getting help from Jews to take it from us.
We live in a world where Orthodox Rabbis call idolaters righteous gentiles and come to the defense of these idolaters against fellow Jews.
We live in a world where xians are living and conducting prayers and worship services every morning in a religious yishuv in Israel.
But this must come to an end. Either we stop it or Ha Kodosh Baruch Hu will. We still have free choice but HaShem will only let his name and his holy mountain be desecrated for so long.
SEPARATION IS THE KEY TO REDEMPTION!
8.22.2011
MY THOUGHTS ON PARSHAT EIKEV
In parshat Eikev we read:
“It was at the end of forty days and forty nights that Hashem gave me the two stone Tablets, the Tablets of the covenant. Then Hashem said to me, “Arise, descend quickly from here, for the people that you took out of Egypt has become corrupt: they have strayed quickly from the way that |I commanded them: they have made themselves a molten image”
Hashem said to me, saying, “I have seen this people, and behold! It is a stiff-necked people. Release Me, and I shall destroy them and erase their name from under the heavens, and I shall make you a mightier, more numerous nation than they!”
Our sages say that it was only the erev rav who committed idolatry with the golden calf and a small percentage of the Jews from the tribe of Shimon. So why was Hashem so angry? Angry enough to wipe out the entire Jewish people. Every single Jew except Moshe! Was no one innocent? No. No one was innocent because even those who didn’t participate stood by did nothing to stop it.
...there were Jews, few though they were, who were guilty of idolatry. The rest of the people did not resist the Eirev Rav or the Jewish worshippers. this constituted either sidlent acquiescence or lack of faith, which was a condemnation of the nation as a whole. (Ki Tisa 32:7-10)
Aharon had exposed the shame of the people, for not only the sinners were at fault, but those whose failure to repond had made it possible. This revealed the ignominy of the nation, for they had been disloyal to God and Moshe. (Commentary on Ki Tisa 32:25)
Only after Moshe completely destroyed the golden calf, as our sages said
For as long as the sin was still in existence, it came under the category of “the warped which cannot be repaired”(Koheles 1:15;seeChaggigah9)
and fasted and prayed for 40 days and 40 nights, did Hashem show mercy and only those who were guilty of outright idolatry died.
We can see how severely Hashem views idolatry or the pretense of it.
Moshe stood at the gateway of the camp, and said, "Whoever is for Hashem, join me!"
Moshe asked the Jews to make a decision and stop straddling the fence. Their response showed the depth of their spiritual fall, for only the Levites stepped forward: though the rest of the people were loyal to G-d, they would not dedicate themselves uncompromisingly to His service.(Commentary on Ki Tisa 32:26)
There are many Jews who do not “cling” to the goyim but they see their neighbors hosting xians, bringing them on tours to their communities and accepting donations (bribes) from them and they disapprove but do nothing and say nothing. There is no sitting on the fence when it comes to Am Yisrael you have to choose a side. If you aren’t on the side of Hashem and Torah you are on the side of evil. When some of Am Yisrael sin we are all held responsible and we are all punished. We have a mitzvah to rebuke our brother and an obligation to remove the evil from within our midst.
From here emerges the fundamental contrast between the thinking of G-d and the alien culture of the nations and the assimilationists among our own people. In G-d's Torah, tolerance toward evil is inappropriate and impossible. There does not exist any concept of coexistence between good and evil. Quite the contrary , an oft repeated decree and command is this: "Destroy the evil from your midst! Destroy evil from Israel!"(Deut. 13:6;17:7,12;19:19;21:21;22:21-22,24;24:7). Time and time again, G-d commands us regarding the need to separate between good and evil, so as to eradicate the evil from our midst.(Or HaRa'ayon)
“It was at the end of forty days and forty nights that Hashem gave me the two stone Tablets, the Tablets of the covenant. Then Hashem said to me, “Arise, descend quickly from here, for the people that you took out of Egypt has become corrupt: they have strayed quickly from the way that |I commanded them: they have made themselves a molten image”
Hashem said to me, saying, “I have seen this people, and behold! It is a stiff-necked people. Release Me, and I shall destroy them and erase their name from under the heavens, and I shall make you a mightier, more numerous nation than they!”
Our sages say that it was only the erev rav who committed idolatry with the golden calf and a small percentage of the Jews from the tribe of Shimon. So why was Hashem so angry? Angry enough to wipe out the entire Jewish people. Every single Jew except Moshe! Was no one innocent? No. No one was innocent because even those who didn’t participate stood by did nothing to stop it.
...there were Jews, few though they were, who were guilty of idolatry. The rest of the people did not resist the Eirev Rav or the Jewish worshippers. this constituted either sidlent acquiescence or lack of faith, which was a condemnation of the nation as a whole. (Ki Tisa 32:7-10)
Aharon had exposed the shame of the people, for not only the sinners were at fault, but those whose failure to repond had made it possible. This revealed the ignominy of the nation, for they had been disloyal to God and Moshe. (Commentary on Ki Tisa 32:25)
Only after Moshe completely destroyed the golden calf, as our sages said
For as long as the sin was still in existence, it came under the category of “the warped which cannot be repaired”(Koheles 1:15;seeChaggigah9)
and fasted and prayed for 40 days and 40 nights, did Hashem show mercy and only those who were guilty of outright idolatry died.
We can see how severely Hashem views idolatry or the pretense of it.
Moshe stood at the gateway of the camp, and said, "Whoever is for Hashem, join me!"
Moshe asked the Jews to make a decision and stop straddling the fence. Their response showed the depth of their spiritual fall, for only the Levites stepped forward: though the rest of the people were loyal to G-d, they would not dedicate themselves uncompromisingly to His service.(Commentary on Ki Tisa 32:26)
There are many Jews who do not “cling” to the goyim but they see their neighbors hosting xians, bringing them on tours to their communities and accepting donations (bribes) from them and they disapprove but do nothing and say nothing. There is no sitting on the fence when it comes to Am Yisrael you have to choose a side. If you aren’t on the side of Hashem and Torah you are on the side of evil. When some of Am Yisrael sin we are all held responsible and we are all punished. We have a mitzvah to rebuke our brother and an obligation to remove the evil from within our midst.
From here emerges the fundamental contrast between the thinking of G-d and the alien culture of the nations and the assimilationists among our own people. In G-d's Torah, tolerance toward evil is inappropriate and impossible. There does not exist any concept of coexistence between good and evil. Quite the contrary , an oft repeated decree and command is this: "Destroy the evil from your midst! Destroy evil from Israel!"(Deut. 13:6;17:7,12;19:19;21:21;22:21-22,24;24:7). Time and time again, G-d commands us regarding the need to separate between good and evil, so as to eradicate the evil from our midst.(Or HaRa'ayon)
8.19.2011
TORAH TRUE JEWS DO NOT SUPPORT GLENN BECK
No one who supports Glenn Beck and his rallies ever says "the Torah says" or "the halachah says". They all say "I feel" or "I think". Torah true Jews base their thoughts and actions on halachah so here is the halachah.
Lets start with Jews calling Beck a righteous gentile. He is not.
The Rambam says:
Anyone who accepts upon himself the fulfillment of these Seven mitzvoth and is precise in their observance is considered one of the Pious among the Gentiles and will merit a share in the world to Come. This applies only when he accepts them and fulfills them because the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded them in the torah and informed us through Moses, our teacher, that even previously, Noah's descendents were commanded to fulfill them. However, if he fulfills them out of intellectual conviction,he is not a resident alien, nor of the Pious among the Gentiles, nor of their wise men.**(Hilchot Melachim U'Milchamoteihem 8:11)
Any xian will tell you they are not "under the law" meaning Hashem doesn't "command" them to fulfill any mitzvot. Any mitzvah they do, they will tell you, is because their false god yeshu did them or told his followers to do them.
**this principal may be derived from the Mishnah's statement (Sanhedrin 90a) that Bilaam will not receive a share in the world to come.
Bilaam was the prophet of the goyim, he believed in Hashem and Hashem spoke to him. He even "blessed Israel" three times with blessings. Yet according to our Sages he was not a righteous gentile nor does he have a place in the world to come.
Mormon's believe there are many gods and each person can choose which to worship, which is why Beck can say,
"Things will be okay if you live your life in accordance with the God of your understanding".
Mormon's also believe that every human being has the capability to reach godhood. This makes Beck an idolator.
In Sefer HaMitzvot it is written,
It is a negative commandment
213.not to turn astray after idol-worship, neither in thought nor in word, nor even by watching
426.to show no mercy to idol-worshippers
(that we should have no kind feelings for those who worship idols, and nothing about them should be good or pleasing in our eyes; in other words, we should remove far from our mind, and it should not[ever] arise in our speech, that there could be anything of value in one who worships in idolatry, and he should find no grace or favor in our eyes)
436.the precept to destroy an idol and all objects in its service
(at the root of the lies the purpose of eradicating the name of idolatry and every memory of it from the world)
Lets start with Jews calling Beck a righteous gentile. He is not.
The Rambam says:
Anyone who accepts upon himself the fulfillment of these Seven mitzvoth and is precise in their observance is considered one of the Pious among the Gentiles and will merit a share in the world to Come. This applies only when he accepts them and fulfills them because the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded them in the torah and informed us through Moses, our teacher, that even previously, Noah's descendents were commanded to fulfill them. However, if he fulfills them out of intellectual conviction,he is not a resident alien, nor of the Pious among the Gentiles, nor of their wise men.**(Hilchot Melachim U'Milchamoteihem 8:11)
Any xian will tell you they are not "under the law" meaning Hashem doesn't "command" them to fulfill any mitzvot. Any mitzvah they do, they will tell you, is because their false god yeshu did them or told his followers to do them.
**this principal may be derived from the Mishnah's statement (Sanhedrin 90a) that Bilaam will not receive a share in the world to come.
Bilaam was the prophet of the goyim, he believed in Hashem and Hashem spoke to him. He even "blessed Israel" three times with blessings. Yet according to our Sages he was not a righteous gentile nor does he have a place in the world to come.
Mormon's believe there are many gods and each person can choose which to worship, which is why Beck can say,
"Things will be okay if you live your life in accordance with the God of your understanding".
Mormon's also believe that every human being has the capability to reach godhood. This makes Beck an idolator.
In Sefer HaMitzvot it is written,
It is a negative commandment
213.not to turn astray after idol-worship, neither in thought nor in word, nor even by watching
426.to show no mercy to idol-worshippers
(that we should have no kind feelings for those who worship idols, and nothing about them should be good or pleasing in our eyes; in other words, we should remove far from our mind, and it should not[ever] arise in our speech, that there could be anything of value in one who worships in idolatry, and he should find no grace or favor in our eyes)
436.the precept to destroy an idol and all objects in its service
(at the root of the lies the purpose of eradicating the name of idolatry and every memory of it from the world)
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