Blog Archive

About Me

Rabbi Chaim Coffman
Rabbi Coffman has helped people from all across the spectrum to prepare themselves properly for Orthodox Conversion to Judaism. His students admire his vast knowledge and appreciate his warm, personal attention and endearing sense of humor.
View my complete profile

Followers

Welcome to Rabbi Chaim Coffman's Blog!

I would like to thank you for visiting my blog, Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism.

The conversion process can be a lengthy and daunting one to say the least and I want you to know that I am here to help you through it.

I have been teaching newcomers to Judaism for over a decade and over the last few years I have seen that conversion candidates really lack the support and knowledge they need to navigate the conversion process and successfully integrate into the Orthodox Jewish community.

I created my mentorship program in order to help make this whole experience as smooth and as painless as possible! (Can't do much about the growing pains, though ;)

Feel free to get to know me a little through the posts on my blog and visit the mentorship and syllabus page if you are interested in possible joining us.

I sincerely wish you all the best in your search for truth and spiritual growth.

Looking forward to meeting you,
Chaim Coffman

My Rebbe, Rav Moshe Sternbuch

In case you were wondering why I have all of these articles written by Rav Moshe Sternbuch, he is my Rebbe, and one of the gedolei hador (greatest Rabbis of our generation).

Rav Sternbuch fully endorses me and supports my mentorship program.

He is the address for all of my halachic or hashkafic (practical and philosophical) questions that I or my students may have.

The articles are based on his weekly talks on the Torah portion that the Rav gives in Jerusalem in his kollel. As a member of the kollel I get first dibbs on the photocopies and I type them up for my blog so you can all benefit from the Rav's erudition and insight.
Thursday, December 31, 2015

Parshas Shemos: Why did G-d Send us to Egypt anyway?

"The daughter of Pharaoh said, 'Go. The girl went and summoned teh boy's mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, 'Take this boy and nurse him for me and I will give your pay. So the woman took the boy and nursed him. The boy grew up and she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh and he was a son to her. She called his name Moshe as she said, 'For I drew him from the water" (Shemos 2:5-10)

Moshe would not nurse from a non-Jewish woman and Moshe was then nursed by his mother. He then is taken by Pharaoh's daughter and she essentially raises him in the her father's palace. So right under Pharaoh's nose is the one that will save the Jewish people from his clutches. Why did G-d set it up this way?

The Jewish people were sent to Egypt so that they could learn what it means to serve a king so that they would then be better able to learn how to serve the king of kings! Moshe was brought up in the palace to learn exactly what a king is in this world so he could understand kingship! There are no coincidences in Torah!

This just goes to show if G-d wants to do something, He can do it right under your nose without you even knowing it! A person could be doing something and have the answer right in front of him but G-d doesn't allow him to see it or fathom it. G-d's ways are hidden but sometimes we get a glimpse of why He does things.

In this case the Jewish people are sent to Egypt and are almost obliterated spiritually where G-d has to come and take them out against their will! Not only that but 80% of the Jewish people do not leave Egypt so that means that according to some opinions more than 8 million Jews died in Egypt. If that is true then why did G-d bring them down there in the first place?

The reason was so that the Jewish people could understand kingship in this world. Couldn't G-d have done it another way where the Jews wouldn't have been destroyed spiritually and 80% wouldn't have been wiped out in the plague of darkness. This is one of the mysteries we may never know but G-d felt that was the best scenario.


Here you had Moshe living in the palace of the kings and seeing kingship first hand. The Jewish  people also saw what a king was and when they saw G-d at Mount Sinai they now understood what   kingship was. How would they have understood it had they not been there?

G-d runs the world and intervenes in history. We learn this through the exodus from Egypt. Although His ways are hidden, we sometimes get a glimpse as to why things are done the way they are. Even if we don't, we realize that these things are beyond us and we should let G-d run the world the way He needs to do and we will do what we need to do to serve Him!

Shabbat Shalom

0 comments: