Shalom Friends;
Our Parsha Beshalach vort is being sponsored by Jonathan and Debbie Sassen of Ramat Beit Shemesh dedicated lilui nishmas Jonathan’s mother Tova bat Yaakov and dedicated for the safety of the Chayalim and the liberation of all remaining hostages and that they’re brought home whole physically, mentally and spiritually as well as for the good health and security of kol Am Yisrael. To the Sassen family, many thanks for your sponsorship and for your continued kindnesses.
By the way, friends, Rabbi Jonathan Sassen has co-authored a great Sefer, “The Science Behind The Mishnah” with Rabbi Joel Padowitz. The Science Behind the Mishnah engages inquisitive minds with fascinating explanations of scientific topics encountered in Mishnayos Berachos.
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 HaShevua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShevua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
skype: mark.burt3
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Rabbi Zelig Pliskin cites Sefer Shemos Perek 14, posuk 30 and comments in his sefer, “Growth Through Torah” :
“And on that day, The Almighty saved Israel from the hand of Egypt…”
The Ohr HaChayim comments that the Torah states that on that day they were saved, which was the day that the Egyptians who pursued them perished in the sea. Even though they were already liberated on the day they left Egypt, they were not really considered saved since they did not feel secure in relationship to the Egyptians.
We see from this that even though in actuality a person is free, he is not really considered free unless he personally feels free. To be truly free, one must feel free and that is up the person. A person who worries and feels insecure is a person who is imprisoned even though he is not behind bars and noone will harm him. A person has a great deal of control over their thoughts if he works on it. The greater your mastery over your thoughts, the greater freedom you will experience in your life.
Rabbi Shmuel Goldin cites the opening posuk of our Parshat Beshalach in his sefer, “Unlocking the Torah Text” on Sefer Shemos and comments (page 101 – 104) :
“And it was when Pharaoh sent out the people, and Hashem did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines [P’lishtim as transliterated from the Hebrew text], ki karov hu (as it was near), for Hashem said: ‘lest the people reconsider upon seeing war, and return to Egypt.'” (Rabbi Shmuel Goldin rendered to English Sefer Shemos, Perek 13, posuk 17)
No sooner do the Jews depart Egypt than they are confronted by a Divinely ordained detour.
The word “ki,” according to the Talmud, translates variably in the Torah, dependent upon the context: “Reish Lachish said: ‘Ki serves four possible meanings — if, perhaps, however, because.'” (Rabbi Goldin citing Talmud Bavli Gittin 90a) Of these four translations, only “because” fits our passage. That interpretation, however, leaves… the basic question, why would Hashem avoid a specific path “because it was near”?
Numerous commentaries, including Rashi and the Ibn Ezra, offer a straight-forward pshat approach… which preserves the translation of “ki” as “because Hashem avoids taking the Am Yisrael through P’lishtim territory because of the proximity of this path to Egypt would have… facilitated the Am’s retreat from battle.
The Rashbam… explains that Hashem’s concern for the Jews transcended the possibility of war with the P’lishtim alone. The path through P’lishtim territory was “near” — the most direct route to… Canaan. The Jews, however were not prepared for all of the battles that would face them in the conquest of the land. Hashem, therefore, diverts them from the shortest way to Canaan and leads them on a circuitous path in order to prevent a disheartened retreat to Egypt. (Rabbi Goldin citing Rashbam on Sefer Shemos, Perek 13, posuk 17)
With the Jews’ liberation from Egypt, the rules begin to change. Until now, …Hashem fought on their behalf. Now, the transition to independence requires that the B’nei Yisrael must learn to fend for themselves. Even… when… Hashem does intervene to complete the destruction of Egyptian might in the waters of the Reed Sea, Hashem does not act [against the Egyptians and their chariots] until the B’nei Yisrael take their destiny into their own hands and begin to move into the sea. (Rabbi Goldin citing Rashi on Sefer Shemos, Perek 14, posuk 15)
Had Hashem waged a Divine battle against the P’lishtim, had He even miraculously protected the B’nei Yisrael from attack, the wrong
message would have been transmitted. The time has come for the Jews to begin fighting their own battles. They are ill-prepared for such a challenge, however, at this moment. Hashem, therefore, moves to avoid the confrontation.The endpoints of Parshat Beshalach chronicle a striking transformation. While the Parsha opens with Hashem shielding the Jews from the mere possibility of conflict, it closes, ironically, with the Jews’ victorious in battle. The final scene of Beshalach describes the unprovoked attack upon the Jews by the nation of Amalek and the ensuing battle from which the erstwhile [adjective: former; of times past] slaves emerge triumphant. (Rabbi Goldin citing Sefer Shemos, Perek 17, posukim 8 – 13)
Rabbi Goldin concludes (sefer, “Unlocking the Torah Text” on Sefer Shemos, page 104) :
The band of Jews, slaves, ready to retreat at the first hint of hostilities, has evolved, by the end of Beshalach, into a successful fighting force. The march toward nationhood has begun in earnest.
The modern-day Israeli military has, over the nearly 76 years of Israel’s modern-day nationhood, become one of the most potent, powerful fighting machines in the world. Witness the Six-Day War, the great military turn-around from near catastrophe on the two fronts of the Yom Kippur War and the daring Entebbe rescue of the 103 remaining Israeli hostages and flight crew. However, Israel’s government seems to have always felt constrained (verb — used with an object; to force, compel or obligate) by the United States in it’s conduct of military actions against enemy nations, as well as against terrorist cells or organizations and their sponsor nations. We recall back to the Sinai Campaign in 1956 when then President Eisenhower compelled then Prime Minister Ben Gurion to totally retreat from the Sinai. And through the years, we’ve seen this American constraint play out repeatedly through the years up to the barbaric, animalistic attack by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and all of their terrorist buddies on Israel on 7 October, 2023, the killing of over 1,200 Jews on that day, thousands injured, over 250 Jews and others taken hostage — the worst, most horrific carnage of Jews since the Sho’a and the deaths in battle of over 840 Chayalim as of this writing.
American government constraint of Israel in the Sinai Campaign, could well be chalked up to Israel’s modern-day adolescence and the feelings of not feeling collectively free as a nation and government in the backdrop of the effects of the Sho’a of the previous decade.
However, this feeling of American constraint of Israel, of Israel not feeling personally and collectively free as a nation, seems to have lingered over the years, in large part due to dependence upon large amounts of American-made weaponry and munitions for which there should have been an evolution toward Israeli self-sufficiency (adjective: able to supply one’s needs without external assistance) as well as free of answering to American “diplomatic channels.” This dependence on large amounts of American-made weaponry and munitions looms large in light of the current “ceasefire deal” with release of drips and drabs of 33 hostages either alive or deceased over the next month and a half, in exchange for release of thousands of bloody-handed terrorists, while 65 hostages remain captive to Hamas.
This feeling of not feeling personally and collectively free as a nation seems, in recent years, to have filtered down to the top military command echelons, combined with a generous amount of personal hubris as they seem no longer to be victory-oriented in combat, but seem to be useful tools of the current American administration’s constraints.
Both the top military commanders — the generals, and the political/governmental leaders bear grave responsibility for the heinous 7 October attack on two levels. The top military commanders in terms of discounting credible intelligence repeatedly reported by their subordinates — even threatening a subordinate with incarceration, bringing about incarceration of others who reported on similar preparations by barbarians to strike in Yehudah and the Shomron and other decision-making blunders.
The apparent spiritual weakness of Israel’s political/governmental/military leaders who seemingly lack the strength of character needed to develop the means toward self-sufficiency and self-reliance, rather than allowing the US administration and the “UN” to invoke a double-standard upon us, to make demands, with possible leverage of future military aid and support, over how Israel should be conducting the war, invoking dual standards concerning Gazan “civilians” which the US and all other national armies have never adhered to in any conflict in history.
Israel has a great opportunity, with the incoming Presidency of Donald Trump and his administration, to display strength of character, assert personal and collective freedom as a nation and to establish self-reliance, B’Yad Hashem, and military self-sufficiency.
As Rabbi Pliskin noted above:
A person who worries and feels insecure is a person who is imprisoned even though he is not behind bars and noone will harm him. A person has a great deal of control over their thoughts if he works on it. The greater your mastery over your thoughts, the greater freedom you will experience in your life.
Not withstanding the current horrendous “ceasefire” and drips and drabs of hostages in exchange for thousands of bloody-handed terrorists, may it be that our Chayalim, regardless of the machinations of their high command, emerge totally victorious — eradicating from the face of the earth Hamas, their terrorist buddies and the so-called “innocent civilians” of Gaza who joined with Hamas in their murderous deeds, that the Chayalim return home whole — physically, mentally and spiritually and that the Chayalim Liberate and bring home all remaining hostages. And may we see the restoration of true unity within Am Yisrael.
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 fifth 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 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zechariah_Baumel/ remains of Zachariah Baumel, as should the remains of the two chayalim 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 see, in 5785, the REAL Jews from the Ukraine and Russia as well as the US and Canada, the real Jews via matrilineal descent, make Aliyah enmass — via thorough review by Misrad HaPanim. And may we soon and finally see the total end to the Communist Chinese Wuhan Lab corona virus pandemic and all like viruses and variants. 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!!!
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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.
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