Shalom Friends;
This week, our Parshat HaShavua — Parshat Yithro is being sponsored by Julian Hurwitz of Ramat Beit Shemesh dedicated Lilui Nishmas for the Yahrtzeit of his Father Shlomo Leib ben Chaim Ephraim and for shmirat hanefesh, refuat hanefesh and the safety of the Chayalim and the liberation of the remaining deceased hostage and his return home for Jewish ritual burial, as well as for the good health and security of kol Am Yisrael. To Julian, many thanks for your sponsorship and continued kindnesses.
You can celebrate a Simcha — a birth, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShavua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShavua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
Subscribe to the Israel and the Sin of Expulsion blog, to ask questions or to sponsor a Parsha Vort at: olehchadash@yahoo.com
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Torah records:
“Yithro rejoiced over all the goodness that Hashem had done for Yisrael, that He rescued him from the hand of Egypt.” (Sefer Shemot, Perek 18, posuk 9 rendered to English in “The Sapirstein Edition, The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary”)
“The Sapirstein Edition, The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary” provides explanation of “Yithro rejoiced over all the goodness,” (ibid, pages 210 – 211) :
The goodness of the manna, and the well of water that accompanied them through the wilderness, and the Torah, but above them all, he rejoiced “that He rescued them from the hand of Egypt.”
Yithro was aware of the dividing of the Sea of Reeds and the war with Amalek… [“The Sapirstein Edition, The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary” citing Rashi on Sefer Shemot, Perek 18, posuk 1] Liberation from actual Egyptian bondage was also a “goodness.” This is indicated by the phrasing of the posuk; “that He rescued them from the hand of Egypt.” is not divided from “all the goodness that Hashem did to Israel” by a Vov, which would have meant “and.” This shows that “that He rescued him from the hand of Egypt” is part of that goodness, and not a separate act. Since the posuk mentions it [“that He rescued him from the hand of Egypt”] specifically, this indicates that it was the source of special joy in Yithro. [“The Sapirstein Edition, The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary” citing Amar N’kei]
Rabbi Dovid Feinstein, in his Sefer, “Kol Dodi, asks a question on the above posuk, and provides commentary (pages 117 – 118) :
Why did the escape from Egypt make a stronger impression on Yithro than any of the other good things Hashem had done for the Jews? The giving of the Torah at Har Sinai was no less awe inspiring, and the daily provision of food directly from Shemayim in a barren desert to millions of hungry people must also have impressed him. Why was the Yetziyot Mitzrayim singled out as the most important?
To answer this question, [there are] four different terms that Hashem uses in His promise to redeem the Jews at the beginning of Parshat Va’eira: “And I will take you out from the burdens of Mitzrayim, and I will rescue you from their servitude, and I will redeem you with an outstretched hand and with great judgements. And I will take you to Me for a people…” [Rabbi Feinstein citing Sefer Shemot, Perek 6, posukim 6-7]
The last of these promises, in which Hashem promises to make the Jews His people, seems to be in a completely different realm from the first three, which relate to freeing them from the Egyptians. We must, however, understand that [it] is the keystone of the whole process. If the Jews had simply left the land of Egypt and gone elsewhere, there would be nothing to keep them from slipping back into the spiritual morass [noun: any confusing or troublesome situation, especially one from which it is difficult to free oneself; entanglement] they had sunk into in Egypt, the bondage to the physical world, with its pleasures and demands.
Therefore they needed something to keep them on the high spiritual level that they had attained when they witnessed the miracles that had been done to the Egyptians.
Following the four expressions of redemption mentioned above, Hashem makes a fifth promise: “And I will bring you to the Land.” [Rabbi Feinstein citing Sefer Shemot, Perek 6, posuk 8] This also follows the fourth promise, to make the Jews Hashem’s people by giving them the Torah, which could be fulfilled in its entirety only in the Land, [in Eretz Yisrael].
The point here seems to be that Yithro, in returning to Moshe with Tzipporah and their (Moshe’s and Tzipporah’s) two sons, sought to join with Yisrael and “rejoiced over all the goodness that Hashem had done for Yisrael,” perceived Hashem’s glory. Rabbi Hershel Reichman discusses perceiving Hashem’s glory in his Sefer, “Living the Chassidic Legacy, Lessons Based on Shem Mishmuel, Volume One” on Sefer Shemot (pages 243 – 244) :
Hashem came down to Har Sinai to speak the Ten Commandments. “Vayeired Hashem — Hashem came down” [Rabbi Reichman citing Sefer Shemot, Perek 19, posuk 20) can’t be taken literally, since Hashem doesn’t have a body. Motion is foreign to Him: He is everywhere. Accordingly, Targum Onkelos translates “vayeired” not as motion, but as igelei — a revelation.
…The world is filled with Hashem’s glory — “melo chol Ha’Aretz kevodo.” [Rabbi Reichman citing Yishaya 6:3) Hashem’s presence is found everywhere. Since we are essentially spiritual beings, we should be able to see it all the time. However, we don’t see Him everywhere, even though He is; our weak perception serves as a barrier to block our awareness of Him. At Har Sinai, Hashem removed the blindfolds that stop the Human spirit from seeing Him. Hashem let Himself be perceived. This is what Onkelos means — igelei, Hashem revealed Himself.
Chassidus teaches a basic rule of the spiritual world and the interplay between man and Hashem. In the human experience, we oscillate [verb – used without object: to swing or move to and fro, as a pendulum does] between perception and non-perception of Hashem. Surprisingly, Hashem does not control this — it is controlled by people. He would reveal Himself, but we are the ones who don… blindfolds. The prophet says, “…Your sins create a barrier between you and Hashem.” [Rabbi Reichman citing Yishaya 59:2] Our own failings preventing us from seeing the glory of Hashem. He would allow Himself to be seen if only we would remove our masks.
This author would differ with the use of the words “see” or “seeing” Hashem’s revelation and would rather use words like feel or perceive — the latter word (perceive) Rabbi Reichman seems to use interchangeably with “see.” The word “see” seems too tangible (adjective: capable of being touched; discernible by the touch; material or substantial) or literal (adjective: being the primary or strict meaning of the word or words; not figurative or metaphorical)
But what Rabbi Reichman seems to be saying is that we can feel, perceive Hashem in our lives day-to-day, and collectively we can feel, perceive Hashem in events on a national and international level.
Knowing that this will probably go into the Guinness Book of Records as the longest run-on sentence in history; whether or not we collectively feel, perceive Hashem’s glory regarding preemptive war scenarios, i.e. the Six Day War, or the Yom Kippur War where the Egyptians halted their advance and had a portion of their army surrounded when IDF forces crossed the Suez Canal into Egypt while a mass Syrian tank onslaught was turned back and reversed by a mere handful of Israeli tanks, or the Entebbe rescue of over 100 Israelis held hostage thousands of miles from Israel hijacked by Arab terrorists, or Hamas “jumping the gun” to invade Israel before Hezbollah and Iran were ready, Israel’s recent total destruction of Syrian and Iranian air defenses, the explosive pagers, or US presidential elections where an incumbent president bows out of a reelection campaign and his party puts up a “word-salad” vice president as the nominee and a running mate who made up false, bogus stories about his military prowess and lost decisively to a previous president — the greatest friend of Israel in American and modern-day Israel’s history, just to name a few — not even “scratching the surface,” or whether one, on an individual level feels, perceives Hashem revealing Himself — the parking space which opens up, the shidduch made, the business success, the healthy birth of a child — again not even scratching the surface; Hashem is everywhere if we would open our consciousness and hearts to feel, to perceive Him.
May our government and military bring about the total and complete, Final and Decisive victory over Hamas, their 7 October so-called “civilians(sic)” collaborators and the entire terror cabal, B’Yad Hashem, and become Totally self-sufficient as to manufacture of military equipment and aircraft, weaponry, munitions — heavy munitions, as well as showing independence of actions responding to any threat, regardless of so-called “super powers.”
May we see, from here on, that border guard personnel at all points of possible danger are listened to and treated with respect and dignity. May we see our Chayalim totally eradicate Hamas, Islamic Jihad, those so-called “civilians(sic)” who collaborated on 7 October, as well as Hezbollah, the Houthies, the Mullahs of Iran and all their terror accomplices while liberating the remains of the one deceased hostage and his return home for Jewish ritual burial, B’Yad Hashem and mandated by a government secure in it’s foremost service of, and emunah in HaKadosh Borchu, B’Ezrat Hashem! And may we see the restoration of true unity within Am Yisrael. May these words come to fruition B’Esrat Hashem.
May we, the B’nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently re-settled in Gush Katif, once the IDF, by the Yad Hashem, destructs and eradicates the wild beasts of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, all other terror entities, and if necessary Iran, and that our brethren be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them, that the thrice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes and the oft-destroyed Yeshiva buildings in Homesh be rebuilt, as well as the buildings of Yishuv Elchanan, all at total government expense. May our Chayalim return from battle unharmed — physically, mentally and spiritually and may all of the remaining hostages brutally taken by the wild beasts of Hamas be liberated and brought home to their families. Baruch Hashem that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard is now in his sixth year at home in Eretz Yisrael and continues in a new chapter in his life. May Esther Yocheved bat Yechiel Avraham have an aliyah in Shemayim and may her spirit and memory continue to lift Jonathan to at least 120 years. May the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem — as with the return in April, 2019, via Russia, of the remains of Zachariah Baumel, the recent recovery of the remains of Tzvi Feldman as well as the recoveries of the remains of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin from the Gaza War of ten years ago. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V’Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nei Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem Al’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b’yamainu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
Good Shabbos!
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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
Moshe is available for editing of English language documents, articles, manuscripts and more. Please be in contact with him at olehchadash@yahoo.com for your English language needs.
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