Jewish Pain - Beshalach 5771

15:26 (כָּל-הַמַּחֲלָה אֲשֶׁר-שַׂמְתִּי בְמִצְרַיִם, לֹא-אָשִׂים עָלֶיךָ, כִּי אֲנִי יְרוָר, רֹפְאֶךָ) This is a promise to Klal Yisrael that they will be well taken care of by the Borei Olam.  Many Meforshim ask that it says at the beginning of the Posuk (כָּל-הַמַּחֲלָה אֲשֶׁר-שַׂמְתִּי בְמִצְרַיִם, לֹא-אָשִׂים עָלֶיךָ) that the diseases that Mitzrayim had will not befall Klal Yisrael (כִּי אֲנִי יְרוָר, רֹפְאֶךָ) because I am Hashem who heals you. First of all, why do you need to be healed if you don’t have any (מַּחֲלָה) in the first place? Secondly, what is the (כִּי) because I am Hashem who heals you that is the reason that there is no (מַּחֲלָה)? The Posuk doesn’t seem to make sense.

Rav Druk K’darko prefaces his Teretz by talking about an incident. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was in the Hospital and he expressed himself to the doctor in Hebrew using the word Yissurim for the pain he was feeling. The doctor asked him what are Yissurim as it is not a modern Hebrew word. So he answered him that K’aivim, I have pain. Afterwards, Rav Shlomo Zalman thought about it. Why is it that in Rabbinic Hebrew, Klal Yisrael gave a name Yissurim to pain?

When a Yid has pain he tells himself Devarim 8:5 (כִּי, כַּאֲשֶׁר יְיַסֵּר אִישׁ אֶת-בְּנוֹ, יְרוָר אֱלֹריךָ, מְיַסְּרֶךָּ) Ki Kasher Y’yaaser Ish Es B’noi Hashem Elokecha Miyas’reka. That when Hakadosh Baruch Hu causes a person to have pain it is for a purposeful reason just like when sometimes a person has to punish his child so he realizes that it is for a purpose. That is why the name Yissurim is given by Yidden to some sort of a Tzar.

Rav Druk says, (כָּל-הַמַּחֲלָה אֲשֶׁר-שַׂמְתִּי בְמִצְרַיִם, לֹא-אָשִׂים עָלֶיךָ) Mitzrayim got punished for the sake of punishment. That Hakadosh Baruch Hu says he will not give Klal Yisrael. Ai we see that Klal Yisrael does suffer from illnesses, Tzar, and discomfort? (כִּי אֲנִי יְרוָר, רֹפְאֶךָ) Hakadosh Baruch Hu says that when I the Ribbono Shel Olam give you some sort of disease some sort of a Patch, it is not L’sheim Patch, It is not just a punishment. When the Ribbono Shel Olam gives it then that is something that is being done for a Refuah, to help heal something. So the (כִּי ) fits well. (כָּל-הַמַּחֲלָה אֲשֶׁר-שַׂמְתִּי בְמִצְרַיִם, לֹא-אָשִׂים עָלֶיךָ, כִּי אֲנִי יְרוָר, רֹפְאֶךָ) when I Hakadosh Baruch Hu cause a difficulty to you it is (רֹפְאֶךָ) as a Refuah.

The Spoiled Mon - Beshalach 5771

16:20 ( וְלֹא-שָׁמְעוּ אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, וַיּוֹתִרוּ אֲנָשִׁים מִמֶּנּוּ עַד-בֹּקֶר, וַיָּרֻם תּוֹלָעִים, וַיִּבְאַשׁ; וַיִּקְצֹף עֲלֵהֶם, מֹשֶׁה)When the Man came and Moshe Rabbeinu said don’t leave over any Man until the next day which Dasan and Aviram did. So the Man became wormy and spoiled. Moshe was angry with them. When the Torah says (וַיִּקְצֹף) there was something significant for Moshe Rabbeinu to be angry about not just that they didn’t listen to him. Here it would seem that for Klal Yisrael this was a good event that took place. Here Klal Yisrael saw that if they don’t listen to Moshe and they leave over Man until the next day that it turns wormy and spoiled. Isn’t that wonderful?  Why did Moshe Rabbeinu become angry over it?

Rav Druk brings an insight based from a Meshech Chochmo. Why was it so that they only had one days worth of food each time the Man fell and of course it was two days worth of food on Friday or Erev Yom Tov? The reason was to make Klal Yisrael Maminim in that since they don’t know where their food would come from the next day they would rely on the Borei Olam for their sustenance.

What got Moshe Rabbeinu upset? Until this incident Klal Yisrael collected Man and every night they were obligated to finish it because they couldn’t leave over any until the next day (אִישׁ, אַל-יוֹתֵר מִמֶּנּוּ עַד-בֹּקֶר). They had to finish all of the Man. They had a Yeitzer Hora of where will they get food from the next day. This was a tremendous Nisayon for them and they passed the Nisayon. Klal Yisrael didn’t leave anything over and Moshe Rabbeinu said eat it today and have faith.

Dasan and Aviram come and leave over until the next day and it becomes spoiled. Moshe Rabbeinu realized that now Klal Yisrael will not have a Nisayon. Every night they will of course finish the Man as anything left over will anyway become spoiled and wormy by the next morning. Suddenly their Kiyum of this Mitzvah of finishing the Man each night will not be Lishma. It will not be because they have Bitachon or faith, it is going to be because there is no sense of them leaving it over. That is why Moshe got upset. Dasan and Aviram cheated Klal Yisrael out of a tremendous Maaseh that was a Zechus in the Middas Habitachon of Klal Yisrael.

Money - Beshalach 5771

15:22 (וַיַּסַּע מֹשֶׁה אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל מִיַּם-סוּף, וַיֵּצְאוּ אֶל-מִדְבַּר-שׁוּר; וַיֵּלְכוּ שְׁלֹשֶׁת-יָמִים בַּמִּדְבָּר, וְלֹא-מָצְאוּ מָיִם) The Shira ends right before this Posuk. There was (אָז יָשִׁיר) and (וַתִּקַּח מִרְיָם) then a (ס). Then we have this Posuk. The Posuk mentions that they left Yam Suf and travelled and that 3 days later they didn’t have water. The connection between leaving the Yam Suf and the fact that they didn’t find water is what we are going to try to explain. Rashi says (ויסע משה: הסיען בעל כרחם שעטרו מצרים סוסיהם בתכשיטי זהב וכסף ואבנים טובות, והיו ישראל מוצאין אותם בים, וגדולה היתה ביזת הים מביזת מצרים, שנאמר (שיר השירים א יא) תורי זהב נעשה לך עם נקודות הכסף, לפיכך הוצרך להסיען בעל כרחם). Rashi is explaining that Moshe Rabbeinu forced Klal Yisrael to leave Yam Suf against their will. The Biza of the yam Suf included gold, silver and valuable stones and the Yidden were loading up with the Bizas Hayam and Moshe had to pull them to leave.

Rav Druk mentioned a Maiseh that happened with his grandfather. He prints the name of a wealthy man who lived in Yerushalayim and Rav Druk’s Zaide had gone to visit him. He came into a fancy elaborate house. There were servants walking to and fro. When he came into him there was a beautiful fancy table set up with the breakfast meal which was about to take place. However, when the wealthy man came in and sat down to eat, he ate half of a bread and he stopped. It seems that he had a certain illness that did not allow him to eat and he couldn’t properly enjoy his meals.

Later, when Rav Druk’s Zaide left, he passed by a person who was a water carrier which was a very menial job and this man was eating a sandwich with some vegetables and he was enjoying it. He learned from that that wealth is not everything. There are times that people have wealth and they can’t enjoy it either for emotional or physical reasons. Money is not everything. This is something that Rav Druk’s Zaide passed down to his Eineklich.

Rav Druk said now I understand the connection here in the Posuk. (וַיַּסַּע מֹשֶׁה אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל מִיַּם-סוּף) The Yidden had just left Mitzrayim after the Heilige night of Korban Pesach & Bris Milah, and Klal Yisrael was suddenly intoxicated by all the gold, silver, and valuable stones. Moshe Rabbeinu couldn’t pull them away and it was very difficult to get them to leave. (וַיַּסַּע מֹשֶׁה אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל מִיַּם-סוּף), suddenly they were very wealthy men each and every one of them. The Ribbono Shel Olam showed them. (וַיַּסַּע מֹשֶׁה אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל מִיַּם-סוּף), now you have everything, (וַיֵּלְכוּ שְׁלֹשֶׁת-יָמִים בַּמִּדְבָּר, וְלֹא-מָצְאוּ מָיִם) suddenly they had nothing. With all their gold and silver they didn’t have water. You can’t drink the money. It showed Klal Yisrael that wealth doesn’t solve all problems.

As it says in the Sefer, All he is missing in life is a better income and wealth. If he has wealth everything else will be fine. It is not that way. Human beings are challenged in that sometimes when someone has money the Ribbono Shel Olam has to remind him that the money is not everything. This is a beautiful insight into this Posuk.

Agav, I would like to mention that I had mentioned a number of weeks ago that in Dikduk there is something called Binyan Kaveid (we had this in Parshas Noach when Noach sent out the Yonah from the Taiva – (וַיְשַׁלַּח)). When you have a verb and there is a Dageish in the middle letter of the word, that Dageish indicates a change in meaning. (וַיַּסַּע מֹשֶׁה אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל) This word (וַיַּסַּע) means that Moshe forced them to leave. There is a Dageish in the Samach which is Binyan Kaveid. When we had the word (שַׁלַּח) it meant to send away without expecting the person to come back.

Animal Food? - Beshalach 5770

16:3 וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֲלֵהֶם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, מִי-יִתֵּן מוּתֵנוּ בְיַד-יְרוָר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, בְּשִׁבְתֵּנוּ עַל-סִיר הַבָּשָׂר, בְּאָכְלֵנוּ לֶחֶם לָשֹׂבַע:  כִּי-הוֹצֵאתֶם אֹתָנוּ אֶל-הַמִּדְבָּר הַזֶּה, לְהָמִית אֶת-כָּל-הַקָּהָל הַזֶּה בָּרָעָב When Klal Yisrael started receiving the Man they had really requested Lechem and Basar. The Gemara says in Maseches Yoma that Klal Yisrael had animals which they had taken out of Mitzrayim so they were asking Sheloi K’hoigen, however, Lechem they really didn’t have so they were asking K’hoigen. So the Man was received without any measurement of punishment. Since the measurement of Man that fell was only an Aisiris Ha’eifa which is not a whole lot of food, what did the animals eat in the Midbar as we already mentioned last week, everyone had at least 90 Chamoirim full of the booty of Mitzrayim? Animals don’t eat meat and Klal Yisrael had no way of growing bread.

How Much Kugel? - Beshalach 5770

A Pshat in the Parshas Haman: The Rama at the end of Siman 242 which is at the beginning of Hilchos Shabbos writes, there is a Minhag to eat a type of food that has a layer on top and on bottom to have a reminder of the Man which had a layer on the top and on the bottom of Tal. This is where the Minhag of eating Potato Kugel comes from. Potato Kugel has a layer on top and on bottom. This is a Zeicher to the Man. The one day of the week that Man did not fall on is Shabbos. Shouldn’t the Minhag of eating Kugel be the other 6 days and not on Shabbos? The Biyur Halacha actually brings this Kasha from Kadmoinim in Siman 242.

Toisafois answers that it is a Zecher that Man did not fall on Shabbos. The Toras Chaim offers another answer that we don’t have a Zecher to the Man of the past in the Midbar we are doing it as a reminder of the Man we will eat in the times of Mashiach when we will be Zoiche to a number of foods that are mentioned. K’negged the Livyasoin we eat fish on Shabbos. K’negged Shor Habor we eat meat on Shabbos. K’negged the Yayin from the Sheishes Y’mei B’reishis we drink Yayin on Shabbos. K’negged the Man that we will eat when Mashiach comes, we eat Pas(h)tida (something that has a layer on top and on bottom like Potato Kugel.)

There is actually a Nafka Mina between the 2. The Man fell 6 days a week. So the Friday night Seuda is a time that we had Man already in the normal way from Friday morning. So it is only a Chiddush on Shabbos day that no Man fell. According to the first Teretz that we said that we eat Kugel L’zeicher that Man did not fall, we should actually eat the Kugel Dafka by day and not Leil Shabbos. According to the second reason that Shabbos is a Mei’ein Yoim She’kuloi Shabbos which starts Friday night, you can eat Kugel on Friday night as well. Yisrael Kedoishim eat Kugel Friday night and Shabbos day. This would be a Nafka Mina between the 2 reasons brought here.