Thursday, January 10, 2013
The Eternity of the Jewish Nation
6:11 AM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
By Rav Moshe Sternbuch
History repeats itself
"A new king
arose over Egypt” (1:8) Rashi: “Rav and Shmuel: one says he was
really new, and the other one says: His decrees were new”
According to
the latter opinion, if these edicts were renewed, what were the contents of the
original edicts?
Initially,
Paroh wanted his Jewish subjects to become totally assimilated and he was
opposed to the territory of Goshen becoming a semi-autonomous kingdom. Thus, he
had suggested to “appoint them livestock officers over my cattle” (Bereishis
47:6). In other words: “Let us all become one nation and let them serve our
religion.” When this attempt failed, and our ancestors refused to change their
names, language or clothing, Paroh decided to enact laws that denied them any
rights as citizens, and emphasized that they were nothing more than slaves who
had nothing in common with their host nation. From our viewpoint, the initial
policy was no less a decree than the new one. It may have been sugarcoated, but
the policy was identical: to destroy our religious identity.
This scenario
repeated itself in Western Europe. When the ghetto walls were removed, large
numbers were enticed into assimilating into the surrounding non-Jewish culture
by being offered equal rights and opportunities. Unfortunately, this strategy
succeeded only too well in many countries, and after more than a century, the
country, which up to that time in many ways epitomized everything that Western
culture had to offer, renewed its edicts. Within a very short period, these new
laws resulted in crimes which by common consent outdid even the terrible
misdeeds of Paroh’s compatriots.
Gratitude
“Who did not know Yoseph” (ibid)
Paroh
did of course know about Yoseph. According to the second opinion, he knew him
personally, and even according to the first opinion, he must have heard about
everything he did for the benefit of the nation. However, when someone lacks
gratitude he pretends that his benefactor never did anything worthy in the
first place, in order to soothe his conscience. The medrash says that
someone who is ungrateful to a human benefactor will also deny that he is a
recipient of blessings from the Creator, and will eventually deny His very
existence, just like Paroh did.
By
contrast, we are enjoined not to despise the Egyptian since we were strangers
in his country (Devorim 23:8). Notwithstanding their persecutions, we are
still meant to feel gratitude towards them for hosting us in times of trouble
(Rashi ibid). The Torah puts such great emphasis on feeling gratitude
for others, so that we may come to feel gratitude towards the Creator, whose
kindness is limitless.
Protesting injustice
“Let us deal shrewdly with them” (1:10)
Chazal
tell us (Masseches Soto 11a) that Bilom who advised Paroh to kill the
Jews was punished by death at the sword, whereas Iyov, who kept quiet, was
punished by having to endure terrible suffering. Why did his mere silence
warrant such a severe punishment?
This
teaches us what a serious sin it is to hear about plans to commit mass murder
and remain silent and indifferent as if this matter is of no concern to him. They
say in the name of the Brisker Rov zt”l
that Iyov was punished measure for measure: he kept quiet thinking that
protesting would not help anyway, in return for which he suffered afflictions
which made him cry out even though he knew that his cries would not alleviate
his suffering.
When
a fellow Jew is suffering spiritually or materially, and we are able to
protest, but do not care enough to do so, being concerned solely with ourselves
and those closest to us, we must realize that this is a serious transgression. Similarly,
when decrees are enacted endangering our spiritual or material welfare we are
duty-bound to at least cry out and object to such measures, in order to show
that we care. Even if our protests are not crowned with success, we will at
least have done our bit.
expecting the redemption
“And his sister stood from afar, to see what would happen
to him” (2:4)
Chazal
say that because she waited here, Miriam was rewarded by having the whole
nation wait for her when she became a meztora after she spoke negatively
about Moshe Rabbeinu. On the face of it, she did little more than satisfy her
natural curiosity to see what would transpire with her baby brother, so why did
this act deserve such a great reward?
The first
thing we will be asked when we are judged is whether we expected (tzipisa)
the redemption. Rav Yechezkel Abramsky zt”l
noted that it does not say “kivisa leyeshuah,” because every believing
Jew hopes for the redemption. The question we will be asked is whether we
expected it the same way that we expect someone to arrive for an appointment at
a prearranged time. We don't hope that the person will arrive. We expect
him to. Hashem has not revealed a prearranged date for Moshiach to come,
but we are meant to hope and wait for him in eager anticipation and expectation
bechol yom sheyavo.
Similarly,
Miriam waited with the conviction that the yeshuah would come for her
brother. She did not know exactly how, but she harbored no doubts that he would
be saved, and merely waited to see what form the salvation would take.
Qualities of true leaders
“He struck the Egyptian” (2:12)
Rashi on the previous possuk states
that Paroh had appointed Moshe over his house, and yet when Moshe saw one Jew
hit another, he did not keep quiet and rationalize that his job was to deal
only with lofty royal matters and not with a dispute between two private Jews.
Instead, he risked his own life when he saw one Jew raise his hand at another.
No matter how
busy they are with public matters, our gedolim have always been
concerned for each and every individual. That is why they are called our
"shepherds", and why Moshe Rabbeinu and Dovid Hamelech practiced this profession. Each and every
sheep is equally dear in their eyes.
Rav Sternbuch once met someone who, when he
became a rov, went to see Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzhinsky zt”l.
Rav Chaim Ozer asked him what he felt
to be the duties of a communal rov. He answered with a whole list of tasks such
as maintaining appropriate kashrus standards. Rav Chaim Ozer responded that he
had forgotten the main thing: a rov must take care of widows and orphans.
Education
“Moshe consented to stay with the man, and he gave his
daughter Zipporah to Moshe” (2:21)
Chazal tell us
that Yisro agreed that Moshe would marry Zipporah on the condition that the
first son produced by their marriage would be handed over to idol-worship and Moshe
agreed. Moshe was punished for consenting to this when his grandson Micho
served idol worship.
The Gerer
Rebbe, the Beis Yisroel zt”l, explained that Yisro’s request is not to be understood literally. He
rather argued that it would not be feasible for Moshe to bring up all his sons
in an insular Torah-only environment. At least one son should be exposed to the
philosophy of idol worship, so that he would be able to refute it. Moshe
Rabbeinu was punished for agreeing to this request, because, as we saw
last week, it is a parent’s job to ensure that his children receive an
intensive Torah education. There will always be enough people to engage in da
me shetoshiv outreach activities, and it is not a parent’s job to educate
their children by exposing them to non-Jewish or anti-Torah material.
Eternal nation
“The thorn bush was burning with fire, but the thorn bush
was not being consumed” (3:2)
Throughout
history, our foes have endeavored to destroy us physically or spiritually, and
when they witness our suffering they imagined that this nation, which is such a
thorn in their eyes, was finally going up in flames. However, we are a nation
that defies any laws of nature or history, so that even when the bush is
burning it never becomes consumed, and since we enjoy special Divine
Providence, we will remain an eternal nation.
UtiliZing the potential of the Shovevim
Period
“Now [ve’atah], behold, the cry of the Bnei Yisroel has
come to Me” (3:9)
What
is the meaning of ve’atah in this posuk? Perhaps
the prayers of the nation in Egypt had not been recited with sufficient
outpouring of emotion, but Hashem, taking into account their dire situation and
suffering, said He would nevertheless be willing to accept their prayers
"now" even though they had not sufficiently repented, because of the state
of the generation. We too should plead with Hashem to have regard to the
condition of our generation and hasten our redemption.
We
have entered the period of Shovavim, and the commentaries make a
distinction between superior [illa’a] and inferior [tata’a]
repentance, saying that although, strictly speaking, in order for repentance to
be effective the sinner must want to repent due to a feeling of awe before the
greatness of Hashem (yiras haromemus), in our situation today in this
bitter exile, when tumah is so pervasive to such an unprecedented scale,
Hashem listens to the cry of the Bnei Yisroel and makes do with "low-grade” repentance, which is motivated by yiras haonesh (fear of punishment). The main thing is to regret the past and remove
any trace of tumah from our homes. If we do so, Hashem will
surely have pity on us and listen to our prayers.
HAshem awaits
“Hashem said to Moshe, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh”[I will be
what I will be]” (3:14)
The
more that we let Hashem into our lives and make Him part of it, the greater
will be the Divine Providence that we enjoy, as it says: "Let Your mercy,
O Hashem, be upon us, to the extent that we have waited for You" (Tehillim
33:22). Similarly, says the Kotzker Rebbe zt”l,
Hashem tells us: "I will be wherever I will be”, i.e. wherever someone lets
Me in and wants Me to be there.
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1 comments:
Amen!
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