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February 10, 2012

Forty Years, part II

by Digital Maggid

 די כנענים וואס האבן געוואוינט אין ארץ־ישראל און האבן געהערט אז זייער לאנד איז צוגעזאגט געווארן צו די אידן, האבן נישט געוואלט אז דאס פאלק ישראל זאל הנאה האבן פון זייער בליענדיג לאנד און פון זייער גרויסן פארמעגן, דעריבער, האבן זיי פארברענט זייערע פעלדער, האבן אויסגעריסן די ביימער, האבן פארניכטעט די פרוכטן, האבן צושמעטערט די הייזער און אנגעפילט די קוואלן מיט ערד.

Di K’nanem vos hobn gevoynt in Erets־Yisroel un hobn gehert az zeyer land iz tsugezogt gevorn tsu di Idn, hobn nisht gevolt az dos folk Yisroel zol hanoe hobn fun zeyer bliendig land un fun zeyer groysn farmegn, deriber, hobn zey farbrent zeyere felder, hobn zey oysgerisn di beymer, hobn farnikhtn di frukhtn, hobn tsushmetert di heyzer un ongefilt di kvaln mit erd.

The Canaanites who lived in Erets־Yisroel (Land of Israel) and heard that their land had been promised to the Jews, did not want the people of Israel [the descendants of Jacob/Israel - ie, the Jews] to take pleasure in their prosperous land and from their great possessions; therefore, they burned their fields, uprooted the trees, destroyed the fruit, smashed the houses and plugged up the wells with dirt.

Hashem Yisboroch (Gd) saw their actions and said: “I promised my servant, Abraham, that I would bring his children into the land that was “zavat khalav ud’vash” [flowing with milk and honey] and because the Canaanites have destroyed the land, I am not bringing them in here now. I will detain them in the wilderness forty years until the land prospers and is built anew.”

The Canaanites saw that a long time had gone by and the Israelites had not entered their land. They began to take account of all that they had destroyed. They dug new wells, built houses, planted trees and sowed seed. And after forty years when the Jews entered the land of Canaan, they found a fresh and prosperous land just as Gd had promised to their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The Jews were in the wilderness for a long time in order to show the nations of the world the miracles and wonders that Gd did for his people; in order to take revenge on the gentiles who murdered the men of the Tribe of Ephraim, and; in order to instill enough fear in the nations of the world that they would not dare to wage war against the Israelites.

After the Jews got out of Egypt, the kings of Edom, Moab, Amon and Amalek tried to wage war with them, but not only weren’t they victorious, but they didn’t even success in getting near them because Gd surrounded his children with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night just like a fence.  Just as a shepherd who collects one of his sheep and surrounds it with a fence so that wild animals won’t be able to get near it and hurt it, so Hashem (Gd) surrounded his people on all sides and no nation could hurt them.

The nations saw the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire and a great fear befell them. They did not wage war with the Jews the entire time that they were in the wilderness.

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February 9, 2012

Forty Years, part I

by Digital Maggid

Forty Years in the Midbar (Wilderness)

זייער א לאנגע תּקופה זענען די אידן געווען אין מדבר, פערציג יאר זענען אריבער פון די צייט וואס זיי זענען ארויס פון מצרים ביז זיי זענען אריין אינעם צוגעזאגטן לאנד — ארץ־ישראל.

Zeyer a lange t’kufe zenen di Idn geven in midbar, fertsig yor zenen ariber fun di tsayt vos zey zenen aroys fun Mitsrayem biz zey zenen arayn inem tsugezogtn land, Erets Yisroel.

The Jews were in the wilderness for a very long time. Forty years went by from the time they left Egypt until the entered into the Promised Land — Erets Yisroel.

Immediately after the splitting of the Reed Sea, the Ministering Angels said to Hashem Yisboroch (Gd) that the time had come to give the Torah over to the Israelites who, on Her account, merited going out from slavery to freedom. Gd said to them: “My children have not yet had enough time to regain their strength from the crushing labor they did in Egypt. They have not yet rested up from the distress they suffered there. Therefore, I will show them the miracles and wonders associated with presenting the Torah, I will do good by them, and only after that will I give them the Torah.”

Although Erets Yisroel (Israel) is found at a distance of three days’ walk from Egypt, Gd did not bring the Jews into the land immediately, but he led them in the wilderness for forty years. Why?

There’s a story about a king who wanted his only son to inherit his entire fortune. The king thought in his heart: “If I give all my treasures to my son now, while he is small, he will not know how to watch over such a great fortune. It is better if I wait until he is grown. Then he will understand more and know how to use wisely the treasures that I am giving to him.”

So did Hashem (Gd) do with the Jews. He didn’t want to give them the Torah or immediately bring them into Erets Yisroel, as they did not know how to fullfil the mitsvos, they did not know the laws of contributions and tithes because they were not accustomed to keeping the Torah. And another thing… when the Jews would [first] enter into the land and be busy with planting gardens and fields and building houses, they would not have time to learn Torah. Therefore, Gd caused the Israelites to be lost in the wilderness for forty years so that they could receive the Torah and learn what is written in Her. They should fulfill their mitsvos without worrying about parnasa (livelihood); they should eat manna and drink well water and be able to learn Torah without any obstacles. And only then would Gd bring them into Erets Yisroel.

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February 8, 2012

Moshe’s Words to the Jews after the Splitting of the Reed Sea, part II

by Digital Maggid

Hashem Yisboroch (Gd), who knows the thoughts of every person, will get so angry with Gog Umagog that he will cast great stones down from heaven on him and on his army, killing them. Then kings will try to fight with the Israelites in the “End of Days” (Acharit haYamim), but all will fail and Gd will send Eliyahu haNovi (Elijah the Prophet) who will stand on Mt. Zion and herald the Redemption. All nations, including the wicked amongst the Jews, will greatly fear Gd in the End of Days because all the sinners will be punished then and only the righteous Jews and gentiles who respect Gd and his mitsvos will merit the Resurrection of the Dead and the days of Moshiach.

In the End of Days there will be a great light in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) that will shine from one corner to the other.  The residents of the world will see this magnificent light, they will walk toward it until they come to the city of Jerusalem, and there, Gd will send down the temple that Moshe saw when he was in heaven. In the temple, Gd will sit on his throne with the nation of Israel all around him. Each nation of the world will pass by Gd’s Throne of Glory and will be judged on those who served idols that had no reality in them. Gd will tell them that they should turn to their gods of wood and stone and ask for their help because today is the Judgement Day. And then no one will help the nations, and all will be burned in the fire. Also, the Jews will pass by Gd and he will ask them: Who is your Gd and to whom do you bow down? The Israelites will then answer in a loud voice: “You, Gd, are our father and only to You do we raise our heads, always.”

At that time will the Israelite nation merit complete redemption.

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February 7, 2012

Moshe’s Words to the Jews after the Splitting of the Reed Sea, part I

by Digital Maggid

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.”

 

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February 5, 2012

The People Heard

by Digital Maggid

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.

 

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February 3, 2012

The Jews between Pharaoh and the Reed Sea

by Digital Maggid

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.

 

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February 2, 2012

The Egyptians Chase the Jews, part II

by Digital Maggid

A groysn nuts hobn di mitsrayem gehot fun di Idn vos hobn ge’arbet bay zey on a fardinst, nor ersht ven zey zenen aroys fun mitsrayim hobn di Mitsrayem gezen vi groys zeyer shodn iz.
The Egyptians had great use for the Jews who worked without pay. Not until they were out of Egypt did the Egyptians see how great their loss was.

There’s a story of a man who had received a field as an inheritance and sold the field for a small price. The man who bought it from him plowed the field and found water and planted fruit trees on it. When the previous owner of the field saw the beautiful fruit that had grown on the trees, he sighed and said: “This rich and prime field was in my hand and I sold it for nothing.”

This can be compared to yet another story. A man received an inheritance of a palace in secluded place. The palace was not pleasing to him and he sold it for a cheap price. The buyer found treasures of silver and gold in one of the rooms of the palace. The seller found out and was very annoyed that he had sold the palace. So also when the Jews were in the hands of the Egyptians. The Egyptians were holding a great treasure and didn’t know how much it was worth. Not until the Jews were out of Egypt did they see how useful and valuable they were and how great the loss to the Egyptians was when the Jews left.

The whole time the Jews were in Egypt and were despised by them, Hashem Yisboroch (Gd) had reason to punish them. This is like a king who had an officer who was responsible for the entire country, and for every sin that any one of the people committed, he would punish the officer. When the officer left, the king became concerned that he now had no one on whom to pour out his anger and whom he could punish. So it was when the Jews were out of Egypt. There was no reason to punish the Egyptians. Nevertheless, the troubles of Egypt were not over, because they chased after the Jews and Gd drowned them in the Reed Sea. Only Pharaoh’s daughter, Batyah, merited the World to Come in the Garden of Eden, because she had saved Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our Teacher) from drowning in the river.

In order to convince his people to pursue the Jews, Pharaoh promised them to divide up equally the possessions they took from the Jews, and not take everything for himself as every other king would do. Not only that, but he also promised his people much silver and gold from his treasury and the treasury of Yosef, who had been the vice-king of Egypt and who had collected much silver and gold in the time of the famine in Egypt.

The king took his trusty steed and hitched it to the wagon himself, though this was not the duty of the king. He went out at the head of the people, which also not customary for a king, because he must not to appear at the head of the fighters so as not to be affected, but in order to reach the Jews, the king set aside his due honor and did not spare his own life, but quickly went out at the head of the military to go after the Israelites.

The distance that the Jews had traveled in the course of three days, the Egyptians traveled in only one day. They did not get tired, nor did they get sick along the way, so that they would have no regrets and not return to Egypt or fail to survive for the punishment that awaited them at the Reed Sea. Pharaoh, who understood the science of the stars and knew a lot of what was to be in the future, saw that a great misfortune would happen to the Jews in the wilderness, and none of the escapees from Egypt would get out of the wilderness and enter into the land of Israel. Therefore, he set out to reach them with ease and with a joyous heart. But his end and the end of his people Pharaoh had not seen and he did not know that they would be drowned.

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January 31, 2012

The Egyptians Chase the Jews, part I

by Digital Maggid

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.

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January 27, 2012

The Jews Leave Egypt, part I

by Digital Maggid

The Egyptians, who had suffered greatly from the ten plagues that Gd had brought upon them, were very happy when the Israelites got permission to leave their land. This is like a heavy man riding on a donkey. The donkey, who has a heavy burden laid on him, can’t wait for the man to get off him. The man, for whom the riding is difficult, also can’t wait to get down from the donkey. And when he comes to the place to get down, the man is happy and the donkey, whose burden is lightened, is even more happy. So it was also with the Jews and the Egyptians. The ten plagues were hard for them, and oppressed them greatly and they couldn’t wait for the Jews to leave their land and for their troubles to cease. The Jews also hoped every day for their liberation, and when the hoped-for day arrived, the Jews rejoiced and the Egyptians rejoiced even more, since the decree of the plagues was lifted.

In order to facilitate the departure of the Jews, the Egyptians didn’t even bury their dead from the plague of the first-born, but helped the Jews gather up their belongings and load them on their donkeys and camels. Also, the Egyptians gave the Jews many gifts, herds of cattle and sheep, silver and gold and asked them to leave Egypt quickly and blessed their departure that their first-borns would no longer die.

Gd’s joy was not complete when his people left Egypt, because he remembered the people of the Tribe of Ephraim who had been killed some years back when they thought that the time of the redemption had come and they left Egypt without Gd’s supervision, so they were killed as they happened on the land of Palestine, which is on the border of the land of Israel.

There’s an exemplary story of a king who marries off his son with exceeding joy until suddenly they tell him that another one of his sons has died. For the king it was so difficult to be happy on the day of the wedding and at the same time, to mourn the death his other son. So too was Gd’s joy at the liberation of his children mixed with sadness about the death of another group of his children.

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January 27, 2012

Angel v. Angel

by Digital Maggid

The Angel of the Egyptians vs. the Angel of the Jews

When the Jews received permission from the king to leave his land, the angel of the Egyptians went to Hashem (Gd) and said: “I have a complaint against the Israelites who are leaving Egypt. Please send their angel, Michael, so I can bring my complaint to him and hear his response.” Hashem called the angel Michael, and the angel of Egypt said to him: “It was decreed by Gd that the Israelites should be enslaved to the Egyptians for 400 years. So far it has been only 210 years. I demand that they not leave this land until they have worked the number of years that it was determined for them to work.”  Michael didn’t know how to answer the angel of the Egyptians, so Hashem answered in his place, saying: “I will defend my children. The whole edict of slavery that was determined for them was because of Abraham’s question, ‘bamah eyda ki irashenah‘ (how will I know that I will inherit it?). And he asked this after I promised him the land of Israel, and then I decreed that his children would be strangers in a strange land and there they would work 4oo years. I did not tell Abraham in which land they would work, therefore, I have reckoned the beginning of the 400 years from the day that Yitsik (Isaac) was born, and the years that I decreed they would be slaves have passed since then. Therefore, the Jews are leaving Egypt now in accordance with law and no one can detain them further.”

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