REVEALING THE HIDDEN WISDOM OF THE MYSTIC MASTERS
ב”ה
19 Sh’vat 5772 | י״ט בשבט תשע״ב
Parshas Mishpatim: Exodus 21:1-24:18
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Text of Parshah (Hebrew & English Linear Translation) |
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Text of Parshah with Rashi’s Commentary |
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Parshah in a Nutshell |
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Aliyot Summary |
May Hashem bless all our work this week.
מיט זיין ברכה
Seeing the great miracles that were done for the Jews in the exodus from Egypt and in the splitting of the Reed Sea, Moshe was afraid that they would be proud of themselves and brag about their strength and wisdom, and that they would not remember that only with the will of Hashem (Gd) were the miracles done. And Hashem would get angry with them and would no longer help them in war. Therefore, Moshe prayed to Gd saying: “Gd, my Gd! When the Amalekites come to wage war on your children, cast a great fear on them so that they run away, and when the Emorites hide in the Arnon River and suddenly attack the Israelites, don’t let them kill your children. I beg of you that you be with your people until they cross over the Jordan. When they enter the land of Israel in front of their leader, Yehoshua (Joshua), they should inherit the land and settle in it just as you promised Abraham our Father!”
Moshe turned to the Jews and said: “My dear brothers, you should know and always remember that not with wisdom nor with power nor with wealth can one take over a state, but only with the strength of the Creator and with His will will you win in war. And if you do the will of Gd and if you fulfill his mitsvos, he will always help you against your enemies.”
At the same time, Moshe told them a bit about what would be in the age of Moshiach (the Messiah).
Before Moshiach comes, there will arise a powerful king, Gor Umagog, who will gather 71 powerful nations and go up to the gates of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem). This king will think to himself: “Pharaoh, the king of Egypt was a fool who wanted to annihilate the Israelites and issued an edict to throw into the river only the males and not the females, and so, a great portion of the Israelites remained and quickly increased rather than being annihilated. Balak, the king of Moab, likewise did not act with wisdom when he wanted to curse the Israelites and forgot that their Gd always only blesses them. Evil Haman (from the scroll of Esther), who also wanted to annihilate the Israelites, did not take into account the power of the Jewish Gd to rescue them. I am not so foolish as they. Before I go out to war against the Jews I will wage war on their Gd who is in heaven.”
The miracle that happened at the Reed Sea reached the ears of all the nations of the earth. Many of them were angered that this showed the unimportance of the gods in whom they believed. With the drowning of the Egyptians, the Oybershter (Gd) showed that their gods could not help them at all. The peoples of the world were jealous of the Jews who had gone from oppressed slaves to liberated heros who were on their way to a new land that would be theirs, and they had with them all the Egyptians’ treasures.
The kingdom of the Egyptians had been destroyed. The people who had, up till then, paid taxes to the Egyptians, stopped paying because the land of Egypt was no longer ruled by anyone, but on the contrary, they had all been killed in the plagues and been drowned in the Reed Sea, and the few that remained were left without possessions.
The Philistines, who lived next to Erets Yisroel (the Land of Israel), having heard that the Israelites would be passing through their land, were very afraid that the Jews would take revenge on them for having, years ago, killed the men of the tribe of Ephraim who had left Egypt before the time for the Redemption had come.
The kings of Moab were afraid that the Jews would take revenge on them for the fighting that took place between the shepherds of Abraham and the shepherds of Lot, the father of the Moabites.
The kings of Canaan were very afraid because they knew that their land had been promised to the Jews, and if the Gd of the Jews promised them the land of Canaan, no power in the world could prevent him from carrying out his promise.
Therefore it is written: “Sham’u amim yirgazun, chil achaz yoshvei plashet … namogu kol yoshvei K’na’an” (Nations heard it and trembled, a trembling came over the inhabitants of Philistia … all the inhabitants of Canaan were melted). All the nations feared the Jews whose Gd guarded and helped them continually.
The fate of the nations who were to be oppressed by the Jews was that they would be dispersed throughout the world, just as the Egyptians were dispersed. When the Jews found themselves under the authority of the nation, that particular nation would grow in power and become rich and recognized that this was on the merit of the Jews. When the Jews liberated themselves from the burden of the nations, those who had treated the Jews badly soon received a severe punishment and their kingdoms fell.
ב”ה
12 Sh’vat 5772 | י״ב בשבט תשע״ב
Parshas Yitro: Exodus 18:1-20:23
Resources:
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Text of Parshah (Hebrew & English Linear Translation) |
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Text of Parshah with Rashi’s Commentary |
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Parshah in a Nutshell |
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Aliyot Summary |
May Hashem bless all our work this week.
מיט זיין ברכה
Gd was capable of drowning the Egyptians in the Nile and did need to bring them to the Reed Sea. He did so only in order to show the Egyptians and everyone else his strength and power. Gd also wanted to show his people, the Israelites, his wonders so that they would believe in him and obey him. So Gd introduced in the hearts of the Egyptians the boldness and the will to pursue the Jews and to boast of their ability to kill them, and ultimately, Gd would drown them in the Reed Sea.
So that the Jews would not flee from the Egyptians who were pursuing them, Gd placed wild animals across from the Jewish camp. The Jews were in the middle of these ferocious wild animals and from another side, Pharaoh’s army on powerful horses wielded swords and shot arrows. Pharaoh’s army set up opposite “Ba’al Tzifon” [in Hebrew, lit. Lord of the North] who was one of the Egyptian gods, and the king and his slaves offered sacrifices to the god and hoped that he would help them.
There was much fear, shock and commotion in the Jewish camp. There were four groups in the nation: In one group were the people of Reuven, Shimon and Issachar, who said: “It’s better for us to go into the sea and drown than return to Egypt and be slaves.” To them, Moshe said: “You will not drown in the sea. Stay here and you’ll see the salvation that Gd will work for you today.” In the second group were the people of Zevulun, Benyamin, and Naftali, who wanted to go back to Egypt and beg the king’s pardon. To them Moshe said: “Do not fear the Egyptians. You are seeing them now for the last time.” In the third group were the people of Yehuda, the heroic ones who decided to wage war on the Egyptians and give into them. Moshe said sternly to them: “You must not wage war. Hashem will wage war for you, and you shall be silent. None of you will die.” In the fourth group were the people of Gad and Dan, who also wanted to raise up within the Egyptian camp and suddenly attack them. Moshe did not agree with them and told them to remain in their places and pray to Gd for help.
Meanwhile, the Jews remembered the words of their father Yakev who said not to wage war with swords and bows, but with prayer and supplication to the Creator of the world. The Jews stood and cried out with a mighty voice: “Ana Hashem, hoshi’ah na!” (we beg you, our Gd, help!) Being in trouble, the entire people Israel repented and threw away every single idol they had brought with them from Egypt. They prayed with broken hearts to Gd for help. Hashem was pleased to hear their prayers and to see that they repented. Just as they cried out to Gd when they were slaves in Egypt, and their cries ascend to heaven, so also now did Gd hear their voices and he descended to rescue them from the hands of their pursuers.
Inem fertn tog funem aroysgang fun di Idn fun Mitsrayim, hobn tsu zey gezogt di Mitsrayishe militer-firer, vos zenen aroys mit zey tsuzamen k’dey tsu farzikhern zeyer tsurikkumen keyn Mitsrayim, az s’iz gekumen di tsayt zey zoln tsurikgeyn azoy vi zey hobn tsugezogt far Paro ven zey hobn farlangt aroysgeyn nor k’dey tsu shekhtn far zeyer G-t.
On the fourth day of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt, the Egyptian military commanders who had gone out with them to ensure their return to Egypt, told them that the time had come for them to go back, as they had promised Pharaoh when they wanted to leave Egypt to make sacrifices to their G-d.
The Jews, who had not considered returning to Egypt and who knew that they were on their way to Israel, told the Egyptian commanders that they were no longer Pharaoh’s slaves and would not be returning to Egypt. The commanders became very angry with them and wanted to bring them back by force. But they were not successful and the Jews beat them and wounded them and killed a number of them. Those who remained alive quickly returned to Egypt and told the king that the Jews would not fulfill their promise and would not return to Egypt.
Amongst the Israelites there were those who began to have fear, lest the Egyptians run after them and bring them back to their land. But Moshe, who believed in the help of Gd, empowered them, promising that in the name of Gd, nothing bad would happen to them, and if the Egyptians did approach them, at no time would they be able to bring them back.
Meanwhile, Pharaoh and all his ministers and slaves heard what the commanders who had gone out with the Jews had told them. The king got very angry and regretted that he had allowed the Jews to leave his land. It was enough that he had received the ten plagues through them, but now he’d lost a very good work-force and where would he ever get such faithful and hard-working slaves as the Jews?
There’s a story of a master who told his slave to bring him a fish from the market. The slave went and brought a not-so-fresh fish that had a bad smell. The master got very angry and asked the slave what he would choose for a punishment: to eat the fish he had brought, or would he rather pay the master a sum of money. The slave chose to eat the fish. He began to eat the rotten fish but couldn’t continue. He begged his master to change his punishment. And the same thing happened with Egypt. They received three punishments for making the Jews work at crushing labor: To begin with, they received ten plagues; after that, then their money and possessions were taken away; and finally, they lost the people and were left without any slaves.
Digital Maggid
