Angel Shoemaker - Mishpatim 5771

23:20 – 23:21 ( הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ מַלְאָךְ, לְפָנֶיךָ, לִשְׁמָרְךָ, בַּדָּרֶךְ; וְלַהֲבִיאֲךָ, אֶל-הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר הֲכִנֹתִי) After Shishi we are told that there would be a Malach accompanying Klal Yisrael in their journey. Then the Ribbono Shel Olam warns us (הִשָּׁמֶר מִפָּנָיו וּשְׁמַע בְּקֹלוֹ, אַל-תַּמֵּר בּוֹ:  כִּי לֹא יִשָּׂא לְפִשְׁעֲכֶם, כִּי שְׁמִי בְּקִרְבּוֹ) Be careful with this Malach, he won’t forgive you, and somehow Hashem’s name is in this Malach.

Which Malach is this? Rashi tells us (כי שמי בקרבו: מחובר לראש המקרא, השמר מפניו כי שמי משותף בו, ורבותינו אמרו זה מטטרו"ן ששמו כשם רבו. מטטרו"ן בגימטריא שקי) That there is a Malach (מטטרו"ן) whose name is the numerical value of (שקי) which is the numerical value of Hashem’s name.

Who is this Malach (מטטרו"ן)? The first thing I will tell you is that this name should not be pronounced. This is something brought Al Pi the Arizal and is also mentioned in some Halachah Seforim including the Kaf Hachaim Siman 5 Os 10. The Chayei Adom is at the end of Klal 5 and brings this concept as well. Therefore, this Malach is called by his nickname Matat which are the first three letters of his name.

Who is this Malach, we have never heard of him? Rabbeinu Bachye here on the Parsha writes that this is Hashem’s beloved Malach.

The Maral in Maseches Sanhedrin 39 explains that every Malach has only one Shlichus and this Malach Matat does the Shlichus of whatever the Ribbono Shel Olam has going on at that time. In a sense, when a builder builds a building he has many workers and each one has a job. He also has a supervisor. In a very crude example, Matat is Hashem’s supervisor.

Who is this Malach? In Maseches Yevamos 16b (11 lines from the bottom) (אמר רבי שמואל בר נחמני אמר רבי יונתן פסוק זה שר העולם אמרו (תהילים לז) נער הייתי גם זקנתי מאן אמריה אילימא קודשא בריך הוא מי איכא זקנה קמיה ואלא דוד אמריה מי קשיש כולי האי אלא ש"מ שר העולם אמרו) The Gemara here refers to the Sar Haolam (שר העולם) which means a Malach called the Sar of the world. Tosafos writes there that it is this Malach Matat. (פסוק זה שר העולם אמרו. קשיא לר"ת דעשה הפייט השר המשרת נער נקרא הוא מטטרון הנכבד והנורא אלמא מטטרון הוא שר העולם שנקרא נער ובפיוט אחר יסד תוקף מטטרון שר הנהפך לאש מבשר משמע דחנוך הוא מטטרון ואי אפשר שיהיה חנוך שר העולם דבפרק אלו טרפות (חולין ס. ושם) אמר דבששת ימי בראשית פתח שר העולם ואמר ישמח ה' במעשיו וחנוך לא היה במעשה בראשית וי"ל דמטטרון אין זה שר העולם והא דנקרא נער לא משום דכתיב נער הייתי וגם זקנתי אלא (ה) נער שכן היה שמו ובפסיקתא בח' שמות של מטטרון מונה נמי נער ועוד דאגדות חולקות זו על זו דבבראשית רבה י"א דחנוך מת כדמתרגמי' כי לקח אותו (בראשית ה) המית יתיה ובריש מסכת דרך ארץ משמע דנכנס לג"ע בחייו). Not much is known about this Malach by most people.

Who is he? The Michtav Eliyahu writes in Cheilek Aleph page 34 about this Malach. Most people are aware that Eliyahu Hanavi never died and he went up to Shamayim and returned as a Malach. There is a second human being who had the same Zechus, a human being before Matan Torah. In Beraishis 5:24 it says (וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ חֲנוֹךְ, אֶת-הָאֱלֹקִים; וְאֵינֶנּוּ, כִּי-לָקַח אֹתוֹ אֱלֹקִים). Rashi explains (ויתהלך חנוך: צדיק היה וקל בדעתו לשוב להרשיע, לפיכך מיהר הקב"ה וסילקו והמיתו קודם זמנו [וזהו ששינה הכתוב במיתתו לכתוב ואיננו בעולם למלאות שנותיו). That this Chanoch too went up to Shamayim alive and he became this Malach Matat. So what I told you until now is a basic Yedia in Yahadus that there was such a person Chanoch who became a Malach Matat which is a beloved Malach.  

A Vort regarding this Malach. The Michtav Eliyahu there brings regarding Chanoch, what was his greatness? Chanoch had a job as a shoemaker. Every stitch that he made he was Miyacheid Michudim. I don’t know exactly what this means but it means something extraordinary. In his work he did something fantastic and that brought him to a great Madreiga.

R’ Yisrael Salanter is quoted in the Michtav Eliyahu as saying the following. He says don’t think that Chanoch had Kavonos Elyonos, that his main focus was on Heiche Kavanos. When you are working for someone you are not allowed to do that. He says that Chanoch in his work as a shoemaker was extra careful with every stitch to do his work faithfully. To do his work and give his employer the full day’s work that he was entitled to. That was his main Kavana. It was not Kavonos Elyonos that would distract him from his work. He did his work faithfully. This is a Vort of R’ Yisrael Salanter printed here in the Michtav Eliyahu.

The Michtav Eliyahu, R’ Dessler has a son in law who should live and be well R’ Yehoshua Gelbzahler Shlita, who is an extraordinary Talmid Chochom and lives today in Monsey. In 1952 Rav Dessler visited R’ Yehoshua Gelbzahler and R’ Yehoshua Gelbzahler complained about this Vort from R’ Yisrael Salanter which his father in law brought. He said how can you make Chanoch into a trustworthy employee, that was his greatness? For that he became a Malach? He complained and he brought that on the contrary that Chanoch was into Yesodos Elyonos. He understood Yechudim of Hashem.  Why do you make him into a regular employee? This was his question to Rav Dessler.

Rav Dessler responded in a letter that is printed in R’ Gelbzahler’s Sefer, Kodshei Yehoshua at the end of Krach Hei (the fifth volume). I saw this Sefer in the Azat in the Mir Yerushalayim and if you can get it, it is definitely worthwhile to learn through this exchange of letters.

As I understand, Rav Dessler’s response is the following. R’ Yisrael Salanter was trying to teach us that there is a concept of extraordinary Kavanos that great people can reach. But you should know one Yesod says Rav Dessler. That any Heiche Kavanos, any greatness can only come if it is tied to Kiyum Hamitzvos. You have to keep one of the Taryag Mitzvos and then you can go to higher levels. For example someone who puts on Tefillin with great Kavana but those Tefillin are Posul, will achieve zero, so you have nothing. Heiche Kavanos must be attached to Mitzvos. That was R’ Yisrael Salanter’s focus. That Chanoch in his first step of Avodah made sure that whatever Kavanos he would have would not detract in any which way from his Avodah to the Ribbono Shel Olam. From the things that he was doing and being Mekayeim the Mitzvah of being a faithful employee. R’ Yisrael Salanter was teaching us that if you see a great man, you want to learn from him? Know that even in his greatness, in his extraordinary level that he had, you should know that his first and foremost Kavana was to be a loyal employee who did the work that he had to do the way he had to do it. An extraordinary exchange of letters and certainly an extraordinary piece of Mussar.

No Break - Bo 5772

The next thought which is from Rav Schwab is not from his Sefer on Chumash but it is from his Sefer on Tefillah by Kriyas Shema where he discusses Yetzias Mitzrayim at the end of Kriyas Shema. I will start with a basic concept and then go to a Kasha and answer.

When Klal Yisrael left Mitzrayim we went from being slaves to Paroh to being Avdei Hashem. There was no in between stage where we were free agents so to speak. The truth is that it is a healthy thing. The healthiest thing is when a person goes from one obligation to another. By marriage we say (Beraishis 2:24) (עַל-כֵּן, יַעֲזָב-אִישׁ, אֶת-אָבִיו, וְאֶת-אִמּוֹ; וְדָבַק בְּאִשְׁתּוֹ). It is healthy to go from a home where you live with parents and you are obligated to follow their wishes to a certain degree and then to get married. It is going from one Avdus so to speak to another. When a person lives alone for a period of time it is very difficult to adapt to living and having to put up with other people. So the healthy relationships go directly to directly to their next obligation and that is what the Ribbono Shel Olam did. They went straight from being Avdei Paroh to being Avdei Hashem.

Now let’s turn to the Parsha. In the Parsha we learn about the Mitzvah of Matzah. (מַצָּה זוֹ שֶׁאָנוּ אוֹכְלִים, עַל שׁוּם מָה). Why do we eat Matzah we ask at the Seder? (עַל שׁוּם שֶׁלֹא הִסְפִּיק בְּצֵקָם שֶׁל אֲבוֹתֵינוּ לְהַחֲמִיץ עַד שֶׁנִּגְלָה עֲלֵיהֶם מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים, הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא). That when we left Egypt our dough did not have time to rise. There are two difficulties with this? First of all it is hard to understand that the dough did not have time to rise. It takes only 18 minutes for the dough to rise. Certainly Yetzias Mitzrayim took longer than 18 minutes. In addition, Chazal say that once one works on the dough, once one is actually kneading the dough it becomes Chometz quickly afterwards and it does not need 18 minutes. 18 minutes is when you are mixing flour and water. However, once it is made into a dough it becomes Chometz more quickly. So what does it mean that there wasn’t enough time? It must be that there was some miracle involved. What was the purpose of the miracle?

Kasha # 2 (הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם). At the outset of the Seder we say this. The Matzah is the same bread that we ate in Mitzrayim because it takes a long time for the Matzah to digest. The Mitzrim fed their slaves Matzah so that they wouldn’t have to feed them again. So that Matzah is the food of Avadim. Now, that is a second reason for Matzah. At the outset of the Seder we give that reason. Then when it comes to (מַצָּה זוֹ שֶׁאָנוּ אוֹכְלִים, עַל שׁוּם מָה) we give the reason of (עַל שׁוּם שֶׁלֹא הִסְפִּיק בְּצֵקָם שֶׁל אֲבוֹתֵינוּ לְהַחֲמִיץ עַד שֶׁנִּגְלָה עֲלֵיהֶם מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים, הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא) that we went out so quickly that it didn’t have time to rise. They seem to be 2 totally different reasons.

Rav Schwab answers that they are not 2 reasons they are one. In Egypt as slaves we ate Matzah. When Klal Yisrael left Mitzrayim they must have been thinking that this dough is going to rise and now we no longer are going to eat the bread of Avadim. (הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא) caused a miracle for a reason. (הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא) caused it not to rise and indeed they were continuing to eat the bread of Avadim because Hashem was saying to Klal Yisrael Avadai Heim, a human being is not a free person. A human being is obligated to do the Ratzon Hashem. This is the Machshava thought on the Parsha.

The True Meaning Of Shalom - Va'era 5771

9:24 (וַיְהִי בָרָד וְאֵשׁ מִתְלַקַּחַת בְּתוֹךְ הַבָּרָד), meaning there was fire miraculously in the Barad. A couple of thoughts on Makkas Barad which of course is the last Makka mentioned in this week’s Parsha. There is an absolutely wonderful Vort in the Sefer Davar Tov, a tremendous insight that comes from a Rashi here regarding the Barad.

Rashi on 9:24 says Neis B’soch Neis, it was a double miracle. Aish V’habarad M’uravin, V’habarad Mayim Hu, the fire and water are mixed. V’la’asos R’tzon Konam Asu Shalom Bainaihem, to do Ratzon Hashem, Shalom was created between them.

He makes a Diyuk here, Asu Shalom Bainaihem somehow implies that there was a new Shalom here. Now actually Kol Zman fire and water are in separate places there is no Machlokes between them anyway that they would need to make Shalom. By bringing them together you didn’t make Shalom, however, the miracle was that there was no fight between the fire and the water. Therefore, he suggests a tremendous insight into this.

What is Shalom, what is peace? Shalom is often thought of as a lack of Ketata, a lack of Machlokes, a lack of fighting. That would be a negative thing, a lack of something, something missing. Actually, Shalom is a Middah, a positive thing. The Gemara in Yevamos 62 mentions that a man who was not Zoche to get married is missing in joy, in Beracha, in Tovah. We understand those. Then the Gemara mentions that a man who does not marry is missing in Shalom. That is a Pliya? It would seem to us on the contrary, that marriage is an opportunity for dispute. The one thing a person who is not married and is living alone has is peace and Shalom. There are no 2 opinions in the house. So why does the Gemara say that one who is not married doesn’t live in Shalom? How does marriage create Shalom?

The answer is this Yesod. To have no dispute does not make Shalom. If a person is alone there is no one to fight with. It is not a Middah of Shalom, it is a lack of Ketata, but that is not what we are looking for as a Middah Tovah to have Shalom. On the contrary, the Middah Tovah of Shalom is possible only when there are two opinions, when there are 2 people. When there is a possibility of discord, then there can be Shalom. Then the Middah of Shalom can exist. Therefore, one who is not married is living without Shalom. Marriage is an opportunity for Shalom.

So too with the Barad and the Aish. When the Barad and the Aish are in two different locations that is not called Shalom as there is no dispute between the fire and the water.  But that is not yet Shalom. To say Asah Shalom Bainaihem means to bring them together, there is a potential for one to be fighting the other, water and fire fighting each other. When they don’t fight that is Shalom.

A Raya to this that Shalom is not only a lack of discord, a lack of argument is from the following. There is a Chakira whether darkness is just the absence of light or is darkness a creation onto itself?

There are those that explain that Choshech is a creation. I believe the GRA in Parshas B’reishis says so. He brings a Raya from Yotzer Ohr U’vorei Choshech. The Posuk says that Hashem created light and created darkness. We see that darkness is not just an absence of light but it is also a creation. With that we can go on. The Posuk continues Yotzer Ohr U’vorei Choshech Oseh Shalom. We see from the same Raya  that Shalom is a creation onto itself and not just an absence of argument. Shalom is something positive. Vayas Hashem. Hashem created something that is positive. Something that has to exist and places a potential for disagreement.

The Sefer Davar Tov adds a very nice thought. We have a rule that when a friend is leaving you say Leich L’shalom and when there is a Meis you say Leich B’shalom. The Gemara in Maseches Berachos says that the proper words with which to say goodbye to someone is Leich L’shalom, go to peace. If someone has passed away then the custom is to say Leich B’shalom, go in peace.

The explanation of the difference in wording is not to use the word Shalom as meaning peace. They talk about Shlaimus, go to Shlaimus. It is missing the literal translation of Shalom which means peace. In line of what we have been discussing he explains, Leich L’shalom, a living person can go to peace and still have a relationship with someone else and have Shalom. However, a Niftar who does not have a potential to have a disagreement with anyone, so it must be Leich B’shalom. Go to a place that there will be Shalom. This is a tremendous insight and a tremendous Mussar as well.

I remember seeing in the Maishiv Davar a Teshuvah that Shalom was created on the second day of creation. On the first day of creation when there is only an oneness, there is no potential for Machlokes and therefore, there is no Shalom. On the second day there is a potential for Machlokes so on the second day Shalom was created.

 That is why the Shir Shel Yom Sheini is Shir Mizmor Livnai Korach in Kapittal 48. It was written by the children of Korach who were involved in Machlokes. The Posuk Yifei Nof M’sos Kol Ha’aretz is in this Kapittal. The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah Darshuns that Yifei Nof, a good wife, M’sos Kol Ha’aretz, makes the whole world seem happy. Again that is the Inyan of Shalom. That is a beautiful thought that comes from this line here regarding Makkas Barad.