Parshat Beshalach - Freedom and Slavery: A Jewish Perspectuve

The Torah teaches us (״ויסב אלקים את העם דרך המדבר ים סוף״ (יג:יח - “Hashem turned the people towards the desert to the Sea of Reeds.” Rashi, quoting the Medrash, says we learn from this pasuk that at the Pesach Seder: even a poor person cannot eat until he reclines, עד שיסב, because that is what Hashem did to the Jews. Rashi’s assumed connection here is based on the language in the pasuk ויסב, literally “and he turned,” but is similar to the word הסבה, to recline.

What does this mean? Although the words look and sound similar, there is no apparent connection between Hashem turning the Jews to the desert and the obligation of a poor person to recline in freedom at the Pesach Seder. What was Rashi trying to impart to us?

The Chatam Sofer explains this in an unbelievable way. By the exodus from Egypt the Torah says ״ויוצא את עמו ישראל מתוכם לחירות עולם״ - And Hashem took out the nation to a free world. חירות עולם is to be defined as freedom “from the world.” Even kings and the wealthy are slaves; they are slaves to their material desires. In other words, when Hashem took the Jews out of Egypt, their freedom was not just that they were no longer slaves in a physical labor sense, but they were free from the material desires of this world. Hashem brought them to the desert, a location that was totally barren, but they had everything they needed. They had all the food they needed and they didn’t need to buy new clothing, as their clothes grew with them.

From here we learn that even a poor man has to recline like a king at the Seder because freedom refers to a man who rules over his own world. Freedom is about breaking free of our physical desires.  Even the poor are able to do this,  and when they do, their life turns into one of freedom. For this reason, even they must recline at the seder.

Rashi is teaching us an invaluable lesson in what freedom really is; it is not freedom to do whatever you want. Rather, it is freedom from your physical desires so that you can focus on the spiritual side of life.

With this in mind, perhaps we can shed light on the opposite of freedom: slavery or עבדות.

אנכי ה' אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך בארץ מצרים מבית עבדים (שמות כ:ב)

Hashem tells us that He saved us from being slaves to פרעה so that we can become עבדי ה׳.

Unlike the rest of the world who view not being slaves as the equivalent of freedom -  free to do whatever you want whenever you want to, we as Jews have a very different perspective on freedom. Judaism views חירות like this: we were freed to become slaves, but not slaves of a physical kind. We were freed to become slaves of G-d, and serve Him.

We see this in the beginning of Hashem’s appointment of Moshe:

בהוצאתיך את העם ממצרים תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה.

Rashi and the Sforno explain that Hashem says  the entire reason for taking the Jews out of Egypt was to bring them to הר סיני three months later to give them the Torah. We see that עבדות = קבלת התורה.

Q: How exactly is עבדות about קבלת התורה?

A: Based on the Sforno one could say that עבדות = קבלת עול מלכות שמים. When a person accepts upon himself the entire Torah it is like an עול, a yoke; accepting it whether it is easy or not, whether it appears  good or not. That is what the Jewish people said at Har Sinai, נעשה ונשמע. First we will do and only afterwards will be try and learn the reasons for those commandments.

Rav Yisrael Salanter explains that an individual’s purpose in the world is to toil in fulfilling mitzvos and learning Torah. It is a lifelong battle of a מלחמת מצוה always trying to do what is expected of you. If you are rich, are you using your money the way Hashem wants you to? If you are poor, how are you responding?  Our responsibility is to toil; the outcome is not always what is important, rather it is our effort that matters most. Our obligation is להתייגע בעבדות ה, but not just in the areas of things that are easy for us, but we have to toil in the areas that are harder for us and not in our nature to perform as well.

R’ Yisrael explains this is the problem with many people: They do what is easy for them, or they do what they seem to understand, but if it is against their nature or they do not understand, then they don’t do it. They rationalize why they don’t have to be concerned with it. That is not serving Hashem! That is serving your master halfway. So the חידיש is to serve Hashem in ways that are not as easy for us.

We learn the following lessons from all of this:

1. Freedom means to be free of physical desires so we can focus on the spiritual.
2. Hashem freed us from the slavery of Egypt so we can become servants of Hashem and devote our lives to following His ways. This means to follow His ways even if we don’t understand the why.
3. Hashem put us on earth to toil; to struggle. It is hard work. We are supposed to work on ourselves and try to keep growing in our commitment to Torah and Mitzvot.

Parshat Bo: Our Personal Exodus from Egypt

We now enter the parshiyot of יציאת מצרים, the exodus from Egypt. For generations, the exodus from Egypt has been the foundation our faith in Hashem - our emunah. Why and how is this so?

Parshat Bo concludes with the mitzvah of tefillin. והיה לאות על ידכה ולטוטפת בין עינך כי בחזק יד הוציאנו ה׳ ממצרים - “And it shall be a sign upon your arm, and an ornament between your eyes, for with a strong hand Hashem removed us from Egypt.” (Shemot 13:16).

The Ramban explains that Hashem created the world in a way that we all have free will: the choice to believe or not to believe. It is a confusing world, with many things that draw us away from Hashem and Torah. To counteract this force, Hashem performed the miracles of יציאת מצרים to demonstrate His existence, His creations, His knowledge of everything that goes on in the world, and his rulership over all creation. To that end, Hashem gave us mitzvot זכר ליציאת מצרים, to remember the exodus from Egypt. He gave us the mitzvah of Shabbat, Pesach, Tefillin and many others that the Torah specifically states are a remembrance of that exodus. The goal is that our performance of this miztvot will help strengthen our faith in Hashem.

My Rebbi, Rabbi Moshe Weinberger would often explain that when a person wants to grow in his Judaism, there is an evil inclination that tries to convince us that we are not worthy of serving Hashem. Afterall, we are mere mortals - how can we connect to the master of the universe? After the sins we might have committed, how could we ever change to become beloved in the eyes of our creator? The answer to this is

זכר ליציאת מצרים, remembering how Hashem took us out of Egypt. We must remember Jews had been on the 49th level of impurity, and they had a matter of weeks to raise themselves up to be worthy of receiving the Torah...AND THEY DID! The miracles of the exodus strengthened their faith in Hashem; it allowed them to re-prioritize their lives, to focus on religious growth. They understood this: No matter what they had done, they could always return to Hashem.

And so it appears to me that he mitzvah of Tefillin is teaching us two things:

1. As with all mitzvot, it is a physical act that draws us closer to Hashem. It is physical, but it is our way to connect to the spiritual. We should never underestimate how our physical exteriors impact our actions. When we put on tefillin, wear a kipa, dress in a modest way, etc., there is impact on how we connect to the Torah in the way Hashem intended.

2. We must remember that we can always grow; can always return to the ways of Hashem. Regardless of how we have acted in the past, we have the free will to change. The tefillin is placed on the weak hand to remind us that even when we feel incapable of growing, we must remember that every Jew has within him, the power to create his own exodus from Egypt.  We can all become great!

Parshat Va'era: Learning from Greatness

The first few parshiyot of Sefer Shemot contain a narrative with Moshe and Aaron as leaders, albeit with a completely different leadership style. Leaders come in all different shapes and sizes. Some make impact on the world, some on a country, some on a single community. Others may impact only their immediate family. Regardless, they are leaders and they have an impact on people with potential to change their lives.

When we are young, we look at leaders and “great” people and feel we want to be exactly like that person. When I was young, we all wanted to “be like Mike (Michael Jordan).” At that moment, we get totally subsumed and aspire to be exactly like that individual. As we mature, we come to understand that every person is different and has different strengths and weaknesses; our focus shifts to glean different attributes from different great people, so that we can encompass the great qualities of many great people.

Just a few weeks ago, on December 20th, the 8th of Tevet, one of my Rabbeim passed away at the age of 95. Rabbi Yosef Weiss was a Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University and taught rabbinical students for over 65 years. He was a great person; he was someone that many of you reading this post have probably never heard of. And yet, he taught Yoreh De’ah (main laws of Kashrut that is necessary to obtain Rabbinic ordination) to hundreds of students who would go on to become Rabbis and teachers in communities throughout North America and Israel. His greatness impacted not just his hundreds of students, but also on the communities of Jews  those Rabbis serviced.

I could never be as great as Rabbi Weiss, but there is one attribute of his that I try to emulate myself and try to inculcate in my children and students. Try to comprehend what it means that he taught the same subject for over 65 years - it is truly amazing.  I could never do that. Didn’t he get bored? Didn’t he think it was time for a change? Even once he was too fraile to come to the yeshiva, YU sent boys to his apartment in the Upper West Side of Manhattan to learn with him. 65 years the same subject every year?

The thing I remember most from my year learning with Rabbi Weiss was that each day, at some point in his shiur, he would stop talking and write down his thoughts -  his own chidushim on the topic. We would sit for a minute or two, sometimes five minutes until he was done and ready to continue the shiur. This taught me something very important. It taught me  that despite the fact he taught this class over 40 times before he taught it to me, he was learning and thinking about something new each time he learned it. He never looked at Torah the same way twice - there was always something new to be learned; always something of value and significance to take away from the same class he taught over and over again.

This is a profound lesson for all of us. The Torah is so vast;  we can learn the same pasuk 65 times and find new insights each and every time. We have to approach the Torah with that same expectation; there is no such thing as ‘we learned it already.’ This is especially important for our children who are growing up in a society of instant gratification, and the need for the newest gadget, toy, or piece of technology. When they learn Torah they too expect it to be new and flashy. When it isn’t so flashy, they tend not to appreciate it as much. We need to encourage them to look deeper, beyond the surface and they will find greatness.

Parshat Vayigash - Some Questions Are Better Than Their Answers

As educators, we are taught to encourage our students to question, think deeply and not to take everything at face value. There are some questions that are better than their answers. In this week’s parsha, I believe we find one such example. The parsha describes the story of Yaakov and Yosef being reunited. After years of thinking that Yosef is dead, Yaakov is told that Yosef is alive and he travels to Egypt to meet him. Imagine the scene, the emotion, the excitement. When they finally see each other, the Torah says,

וירא אליו ויפל על צואריו ויבך על צואריו עוד (מו:כט)

According to most commentaries, this means that Yosef saw Yaakov, he fell on his neck and wept. Rashi points out the usage of the word ויבך, and he cried, is singular. This is meant to teach us that only Yosef cried. Really? Yaakov who had just found out that his son was alive and he doesn’t cry? What is even more difficult to understand is that Rashi says the reason Yaakov didn’t cry at that moment (I am sure he did cry later, even though the text doesn’t discuss it) is because he was busy reciting Kriat Shema. Of all the time in the day to say Shema, now Yaakov says it? Could he not have said it earlier in the day? Later in the day? And why didn’t Yosef have to say Shema at that moment?

Let’s explore a few solutions to these questions; but think we might come to the realization that the question is in fact better than the answer.

1. Since Yosef had attained a level of malchut in Egypt and there is a commandment for Jews to honour malchut, Yaakov was actually on a mitzvah mission to honour malchut. Additionally, there is a principle of עוסק במצוה פטור מן המצוה, that one who is involved in mitzvah is exempt from other mitzvot that come his way, for fear that he might not fulfill the first one properly. Therefore, until the scene of being reunited, Yaakov was exempt from the mitzvah of Shema. Only once he arrived and showed honour to the malchut completing that mitzvah, did his obligation of reciting Shema return. He thus had to fulfill it before losing the opportunity.
2. With a slightly different twist, the K’tav Sofer suggests that Yaakov came to show honour to the malchut, to Yosef as a king. But Yaakov wanted to show he was coming to honour Yosef due to the malchut that Hashem had bestowed upon him -- not because of some honour that Pharaoh bestowed. For this reason, he stopped to say Shema, which is the ultimate display of accepting the yolk of heaven upon oneself.
3. The Maharal says that the moment Yaakov saw Yosef, he understood that it was not just that Yosef was alive, but that he was a king. He now understood the chesed that Hashem had performed and thus he recited Shema at that moment to declare his acceptance of the yolk of heaven. This teaches us that when something good happens to us, the first thing we need to remember is that only through the chesed of Hashem do good things happen to us.
4. The sefer Kol Yehuda remarks that as part of Shema, we recite, ואהבת את ה׳ אלוקך בכל לבבך ולכל נפשך, this implies that loving Hashem supersedes the level of any other love that one has.  Therefore, since Yaakov had so much difficulty in his life, whenever he would say ואהבת את ה׳ it was not such a novelty because he didn’t have that much else to love aside from Hashem. However, at a momentous event like meeting up with Yosef, that Yaakov felt the love of Hashem בכל לבבו, and thus he recited Shema.
5. My friend, Jeff Kirshblum suggests an alternate idea in that Yaakov lived a very difficult life. He grew up with an evil twin brother, he struggled with his father-in-law, Lavan. He was led to believe that his beloved son Yosef had been brutally murdered. One might suggest that Yaakov lived a difficult life. Even the years he studied in the Yeshiva of Shem and Eber, he was constantly worried that Eisov might catch up with him. When he met Rachel, he foresaw her early death and he had to work additional years to marry her. It was Yaakov’s faith in Hashem that sustained him throughout the years. When he was finally reunited with Yosef, this could have been the first moment of unadulterated joy he had known in years, maybe even ever. Yaakov took that joy and used it to thank Hashem. How could he not take this wonderful moment to thank Hashem? The message here is that we often turn to Hashem when things are difficult and we need His help. Yaakov is teaching us that we need to thank Hashem at times of joy as well.

I leave it to you to decide;  are any of these answers as good as the question?

Parshat Miketz - Dreams: What Do They Really Mean?

The parsha begins with the famous episode of Pharaoh’s dream. There is a vision of seven robust and beautiful cows that emerge from the river, followed by seven ugly and skeletal cows. The ugly and skeletal cows proceed to consume the robust and beautiful cows, whereupon Pharaoh awakens from the dream. He then falls back asleep and has a second dream, seeing seven healthy ears of grain sprouting forth from the ground, followed by seven thin and scorched ears of grain. In a similar pattern, the seven skinny and scorched ears proceed to consume the seven healthy ears. The pasuk then says something quite interesting that I never stopped before to think about:

ויהי בבקר ותפעם רוחו וישלח ויקרא את כל חרטמי מצרים ואת כל חכמיה ויספר פרעה להם את חלמו  ואין פותר אותם לפרעה. (מא,ח)

“And it was in the morning: His spirit was agitated, so he went and summoned all the necromancers of Egypt and all its wise men; Pharoah related his dream to them, but none could interpret them for Pharaoh.”

We all have dreams. Some  more memorable than others. What in the world was so concerning about this dream that Pharaoh awoke after the first dream? What could have gotten him so agitated after the second dream that had him call in all of his advisors and magicians to help him understand the dream? Why was he so concerned?

Rav Shimon Schwab suggests that as a powerful ruler, Pharaoh was used to seeing the strong defeat the weak, and the many defeat the few. Being the ruler of a powerful and strong country, he had been sitting confident. When he suddenly saw a vision of the weak eating the strong and then the same vision came a second time, he was scared that perhaps this was a message that his throne was in danger of being overtaken. This is why he called in his magicians and advisors; to share both his concern and his need for being sure he was understanding the message correctly.

It is therefore not a coincidence that parshat Miketz always falls out on Chanukah, as a hint to infer that the weak can in fact defeat the strong. This juxtaposition reinforces that Pharaoh’s concern was real and well founded. It appears that Hashem used this vision to “wake” up Pharaoh to confirm his interpretation. What is interesting is that this was not the ultimate message Hashem intended for Pharaoh to walk away with.

The above explains why Pharaoh was concerned. But how are we to understand the end of the pasuk? Despite repeated attempts by his magicians, Pharaoh was not convinced any of them had interpreted the dream properly. Why didn’t he like their interpretations? Furthermore, a young Jewish child is taken out of prison. He interprets the dream and immediately Pharaoh and his officers agree  he got it right. What is going on here? Why did they like his interpretation better?

One could argue the Egyptian magicians suggested interpretations like the one where Pharaoh would have seven sons, and then they would die, and other such suggestions that would affect Pharaoh personally (see Rashi). Yosef’s interpretation stood out because his dream was big; it wasn’t about Pharaoh as a person, but rather it was about Pharaoh as a leader. It was about his country; that there would be seven great agricultural years, followed by seven years of famine. Yosef explained that Hashem was warning Pharaoh to save his people by saving up food during the years of plenty. Pharaoh was a wise leader; he understood  this interpretation had to be correct; that Hashem was speaking to him as a leader.

The message for us? We have to see life beyond ourselves as individuals. For those of us who are married, we have to see the world as “we.” For those of us who have children, we have to see the world as “we.” All of us have a place in the community, and as the saying goes, “we rise by lifting others.” We, the collective we, should always seek ways in which to help another; to be a source of guidance and support. Apropos at this time of the year: The shamash is the candle that lights the others. Be a shamash.

Chanukah: The Laws and Customs

In lieu of my usual Thought on the Parsha, I share with you two articles and nine audio shiurim on the Laws of Chanukah.

Articles

1. The Laws of Chanukah

2. A Chanukah Dilema

Audio Shiurim
CLICK HERE for the accompanying sefer "Shloshim Yom Kodem L'chag"

1. Laws of Chanukah #1 - Introduction 
    
2. Laws of Chanukah #2 - Additions to Tefilla, Who is Obligated to light the Menorah?
    
3. Laws of Chanukah #3 - Time for Lighting
    
4. Laws of Chanukah #4 - The Candles, Oil, and Wicks
    
5. Laws of Chanukah #5 - Proper Placement of the Menorah
    
6. Laws of Chanukah #6 - The Brachos, Which Direction to Light From?
    
7. Laws of Chanukah #7 - Lighting a Candle from another Candle, Hadlakah Ose Mitzvah
    
8. Laws of Chanukah #8 - Deriving Benefit from the Candles, Lighting When Away from Home
    
9. Laws of Chanukah #9 - Guest Part 2, Lighting in Shul, Erev Shabbat, Motsei Shabbat

A Chanukah Dilema

With Chanukah fast approaching, I thought we would take a detour from our typical parsha thought and take a look at one aspect of this special upcoming holiday.

Every year in early November, I am confronted with the same halachic dilemma.  In the mail, I have received an invitation to the wedding of a friend or family member.  The problem is that the wedding date is the Sunday of Chanukah and the wedding is called for 4:00 pm.  You are probably wondering what could be the problem with a wedding during Chanukah?  Moreover, why is the problem specific to Sunday?

Of course, there is nothing wrong with a Chanukah wedding, in fact what better day of joy is there to get married on.  However, the problem that we are faced with is, when to light the Chanukah candles?

The normal time for lighting the candles is sometime at or after sunset (depending on your custom – see Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 572/1.)  On the average year, that means you light at or after 4:45 pm. (Toronto time) If it is impossible to wait until sunset to light, the question arises if one can light earlier? In fact, this is the subject of great debate, to which the Shulchan Aruch (572/2) rules that one may light from Plag Haminchah, which is 1 and ¼ halachic hours before the stars appear, in the average year approximately 3:35.  The Mishnah Berurah  (572/2) even permits you to make the brachot in such a case.

A second halacha to keep in mind is that not only do we begin lighting after sunset, but preferably the latest time to light is “until the people cease to walk about in the street.”(Shabbos 21b)  Although the Shulchan Aruch (572/2) says that this is only thirty minutes after sunset, Rav Moshe Shternbuch (Teshuvos V’hanhagos Vol. 1. Siman 390) says that nowadays, since out door lighting allows people to walk in the streets until a much later time, one could light the candles until approximately 9:00 pm.  This is of course only the latest time to light if you are depending on people outdoors seeing the candles, thus fulfilling the aspect of Pirsumei Nisa.  However, if there are people awake in the home, one may light even past 9:00 pm. (Mishnah Berurah 572/11)

With the wedding called for 4:00 pm, when are we to light candles?  

There are three possible alternatives and one must determine which of them apply to one’s individual situation.  The first alternative would be to light just before leaving for the wedding (assuming that is after Plag Haminchah).  However, this is obviously not a preferable option since the Shulchan Aruch permits it only in a case of great need and although the Mishnah Berurah permits one to recite a bracha on such a lighting, that is subject to great debate and therefore, should only be relied upon when absolutely necessary.  

The second option would be to appoint a Shaliach (agent) to light for you in your home at the proper time.  This is obviously not always logistically possible, but if it is, one may want to consider it in certain circumstances.  

The third possibility would be to wait until one returns home from the wedding to light.  However, since that will likely be after the time “people cease to walk about in the street,” this would only be permissible if there is at least one other family member up while the candles burn.

Which option is more halachically preferable?  That question is easy.  Wait until 4:30, light at the proper time and then go to the wedding late.  Unfortunately, that will often not be a socially acceptable alternative.  The use of an agent to light for you would not be the best alternative in this scenario because of the principle that “Mitzvah Bo Yoter Mi B’shlucho,” which means that it is better to do a mitzvah personally than through the use of an agent. The use of an agent then would only be used in a case where you are leaving to go on a trip and will not have a chance to light later on, and then it is better to use an agent to light at the proper time for you in your house than for you to light at Plag Haminchah. (Sheivet Halavi Vol. 4, Siman 6)

Therefore, we are left to decide between lighting early at Plag Haminchah or later upon returning from the wedding.  It would appear that since as mentioned previously many authorities do not permit you to make a bracha when lighting at Plag Haminchah, it would be preferable to light late upon returning from the wedding.  Again, it is important to note that this is only permissible if there is another family member up when you are lighting.  (Piskei Teshuvos 572/3)

If this is the case, we are left with one more challenge. There is a halacha that when we have mitzvot that have to be done at a certain time, we are not allowed to eat a meal before performing the mitzvah, lest we forget to do the mitzvah. For example, we are not allowed to eat once nightfall hits before doing bedikat chametz, on Friday night, we are not allowed to eat once Shabbat begins until we recite kiddush, etc. So too here, once it gets dark, one is not allowed to eat before lighting the menorah. So does my suggestion really work? How can you enjoy the wedding if you cannot eat?

I once presented this question to Rav Hershel Schachter, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva University and he told me there was an easy solution to this problem. Since the whole concern is that we might come to forget to do the mitzvah, if you ask someone to formally remind you later when you get home that you need to light the menorah, that reminder is good enough to remove the concern, thus allowing you to eat and enjoy the wedding meal.

I hope it is now clear why I am hesitant to open any wedding invitation that I receive in early November. And although I do not wish to complicate the planning of a wedding any more than necessary, it seems clear that it would be preferable to have the wedding begin sometime after sunset as to permit the proper fulfillment of the mitzvah of lighting Chanukah candles.  However, if that is not an option for the caterer or if you are just a guest invited to a wedding, then we have outlined a course of action that can help you both enjoy the great simcha of a wedding as well as fulfill the mitzvah of lighting Chanukah candles.