Appreciation

'Say to Aharon, "Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt...and they shall become blood..." (Shemot 7:19) G-d said to Moshe, "say to Aharon: Take your staff and strike strike the dust of the earth; and it will turn into lice throughout the whole land of Egypt." (Shemot 8:12)

In this week's Torah portion, Va'eira, Moshe is sent down by G-d to Egypt to redeem his brothers & sisters, the Jewish nation. During Pharaohs decree decades earlier, that every male born must be thrown into the Nile river and drowned, Moshe's mother Yocheved gave birth to Moshe. But instead of handing him over to the Egyptian authorities, she placed him in a secure basket, and placed it into the river. Miraculously, the basket flowed along until it is seen by Pharaoh's very own daughter, Batya, who saves the boy (incidentally, Batyameans 'daughter of G-d.' She is named such in honor of her saving one of G-d's children, Moshe.) Needing a mother to nurse the baby, Yocheved (mother of Moshe) is chosen. She nurses & raises Moshe, teaching him of his heritage and people, before he is given back to Batya's care. One day, already an adult in Pharaoh's household, Moshe walks out of the palace and sees an Egyptian taskmaster brutally beating a Hebrew slave. A man of action, Moshe utters a secret name of G-d, killing the Egyptian, and buries him. When Pharaoh finds out, he wants to kill Moshe, so he runs away, only to return many years later upon G-d's command.

When Moshe returns to Egypt, he demands the release of his people from slavery. When Pharaoh scoffs at this cheeky request, G-d strikes the Egyptians with 10 plagues. What's peculiar, however, as noted at the top of this page, is that G-d tells Moshe to take part in bringing down the plagues, but only the last 7 of them. It is his brother Aaron who is told to take part in the 1st 3: Water turning to blood, frogs and lice infestations. How come? The Midrash explains: "Since the river protected Moshe when he was thrown into it, it was not stuck by him at the plague of blood or that of frogs, but was instead struck by Aharon." (Midrash Shemot Rabah 9:10) And the lice? "It was not fitting that the dust be struck by Moshe because it protected him when he killed the Egyptian & hid him in the sand, so it was instead struck by Aharon." (Rashi)

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A well-known Rabbi once went to visit a wealthy philanthropist for a donation. This was a man who, albeit not personally observant, supported the Torah study of many institutions. Curious, the rabbi asked him why he did this. Where did he develop such sensitivity towards yeshivot? He gave the following explanation: "I was a wild teenager, going from trouble to trouble. My parents sent me to Radin to the yeshivah of the saintly Chafetz Chaim. Perhaps there I would be inspired to calm down. Regrettably, I was not accepted. I just was not considered yeshivah material. I was not granted permission even to sleep overnight in the yeshivah. Where would I spend the night? The Chafetz Chaim said, 'You can stay at my home.' So, I went home with the Chafetz Chaim.

"The Chafetz Chaim's idea of home was a two room shack. He gave me his own bed. The room had no light and no heat. Apparently, the great Torah leader was a very poor man. I was a young boy, accustomed to a hot meal and a warm bed. Laying there at night, I was shivering from cold, tossing and turning, trying to fall asleep. The Chafetz Chaim walked in and noticed the frigid air in the room. Thinking to himself, 'It is too cold in here for such a young boy,' the sage took off his long frock, which was probably going to be his protective clothing for the night, and placed it on me, over the covers.

"Years later, I became a wealthy Jew. Although I had never become observant, I have never forgetten that incident, how the Chafetz Chaim took off his coat and covered me. I was a total stranger and he owed me nothing. Yet, he felt my pain and showed his love for me. I never forgot that feeling of being cared for and loved by a total stranger. I was so moved by that act of unsolicited kindness that whenever a representative of a Torah institution approaches me for a donation, I give it to him gladly. I will never forget that cold night in that little house, and the elderly man with the giant heart. That coat has kept me warm ever since."

The Torah teaches us the importance of gratitude. If Moshe showed such appreciation to water and earth, how much more so must we to human beings who treat us so well.

Shabbat Shalom!

-Rabbi Daniel

Burning, Not Consumed

'Moses was pasturing the flocks of Jethro, his father in law, the chief of Midian, and he led the flocks after the free pastureland, and he came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within the thorn bush, and behold, the thorn bush was burning with fire, but the thorn bush was not being consumed. So Moses said, "Let me turn now and see this great spectacle why does the thorn bush not burn up?"...and God called to him from within the thorn bush...And Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look toward God.' (Exodus 3:1-6)

In this week's Torah portion, Shemot, we are introduced to the great Jewish leader Moshe (Moses), who is born and raised in Egypt during the times of Jewish enslavement under Pharaoh. After fleeing from Egypt, Moshe settles as a shepherd for his father-in-law in a neighboring land. One day, he sees a thorn bush on fire, but miraculously it wasn't being consumed at all, as seen in the above text. G-d then directs Moshe to redeem his people. Why did G-d use a burning thorn bush as a medium to appear to Moshe and communicate with him? What was its significance?

Our Sages teach that a prickly thorn bush causes pain. The thorns signified the trials and tribulations the Jewish people would go through in the future. It would be painful, G-d was showing Moshe. But as much as the people would be burned, they would never be consumed. The Jewish people will always survive intact as before. What was Moshe's reaction to G-d's first communication with him from the thorn bush? "And Moses hid his face." Let's look one step deeper at this story.

The Mystics teach that G-d was offering something special to Moshe. When G-d Appeared in the thorn bush, He was offering Moshe a chance to see the world from a Divine perspective. To understand why there would be persecution of the Jewish people, to give G-dly insight into the age old question of why do bad things happen to good people. Many may have jumped at this incredibly profound opportunity. But Moshe refused and looked away. He did this because he preferred to see the world from his people's perspective in times of pain and hardship. Moshe knew that once he saw life's events from a heavenly perspective and saw the hidden purpose for pain, he would lose some of his inner ability to defend and argue with G-d in the future when tribulations befell his people. He chose to side with his people from their lower perspective.

This story sheds insight into the fact that all of life's trials and tribulations have an inner, Divine intention for the good, even if we don't see it. It also shows us what a true leader is. Moshe refused to lead at first, too humble to feel worthy. He chose the needs of his people over all else. May God grant us leaders like these today, especially in Israel and the USA, and ultimately send us the truest leader of all, our righteous Mashiach speedily in our days.

Shabbat Shalom!

-Rabbi Daniel

Latkas and Doughnuts: The Inner Dimension

It's the 3rd Night of Hanukkah tonight, and already my digestive system is pleading with me: "What's with all of these donuts and Latkas!? Spare me, please!" Now, I know you'll tell me that the whole miracle of Hanukkah we commemorate centers around the finding of one last jar of oil in the Temple and that's why we eat all of these oily foods. But let's take a deeper look.

What were the Syrian-Greeks trying to stamp out from the minds and hearts of the Jewish people? Unlike during the times of Purim where a decree was sent for the annihilation of the Jews physically, the oppression of our people by the Greeks was not on our bodies but on our souls and our beliefs.

The Greeks valued beauty: Art, music, philosophy, intellectual pursuit. Socrates, Plato, Homer, Aristotle. If we look back to the Biblical story of Noah and his 3 sons after the flood, the love of beauty in Greek culture makes perfect sense. Noah cursed Cham (look there for reasons why), blessed his son Shem (whom Abraham descended from) with spiritual truth, and blessed his 3rd son Yefet with beauty (Yefet had a son named Yavan, the progenitor of the Greek Empire). Noah wished, however, that this beauty "should be found in the tents of Shem." That true beauty could only truly be found when in a Godly, spiritual context.

But the Torah happens to be a beautiful work, full of philosophical and intellectual debate. It's the #1 best-selling book in History! [I'll have to check Harry Potter statistics later]. It has an original and all-Powerful Author as well. So what was the Greeks' problem? They should have rejoiced in the fact that they could fulfill the wishes of Noah, that spiritual beauty and aesthetic beauty could combine together in perfect harmony. It's known that there was a point in history when this harmony resided. The Talmud mentions an event when the mighty Greek ruler Alexander the Great, when greeting the Jewish sage Shimon Hatzadik, 'alighted from his chariot and bowed down before him...he exclaimed: Blessed is the G-d of Shimon Hatzadik!' Many respectful incidents between Roman rulers and the Sages of Israel exemplify this as well.

The later Greeks' annoyance, however, centered not on the Torah's intellectual beauty. No, the Greeks disliked that the Torah didn't remain just as another intellect. Mitzvot and Jewish ritual weren't considered by the Jews as mere customs and tradition. Jews considered Torah and Mitzvot to be God's Divine Will; that there's something beyond what the human intellect can reach on its own. That there's a higher, Divine reality.

Back to the oily Latkas and Donuts. Jewish mysticism likens oil to the Essence of Torah. Many examples are given why, one being that just as oil's nature is to pervade through and through whatever it comes in contact with (just ask your mother who had to clean your pant's stain ), so too the deepest truths of Torah pervade every fabric of our reality. As the "blueprint of the world", every aspect of life and of our world can be found in Torah on some level.

But unfortunately, oil can't be healthily consumed raw! For consumption of oil, it has to be cooked or fried with something. Spiritually speaking, this need to mix raw oil with dough, or potatoes and onions, or some other more tangible food, represents the need for the Essence of Torah (oil) to come down in a more tangible, "edible" way that we can comprehend, for pure Godliness would be too lofty for us mortals to handle. But through "cooking" and "baking" this Divine wisdom into words and teachings that we can understand, we are able to digest and internalize this divine wisdom and message. This is Torah, from its practical laws to its mystical aspects: 'Digestible' Godliness.

May we all take advantage of the 'donuts & latkas' (Torah and Mitzvot) in our midst throughout the entire year beyond Hanukkah, and let the Essential oil reveal our essential connection to God. And may the 'beauty of Greece' be found in 'the tents of Shem' - the tents of Divine purpose and meaning. Now go enjoy those latkas and doughnuts!

Happy Hanukkah & Shabbat Shalom!