The Weekly Shtikle - Mishpatim

A special Weekly Shtikle mazal tov to my niece Rochel Leah (née Shonek) Greenwald and her husband Shua on the birth and brith of their son, Reuven Pinchas. Mazal tov to the extended Greenwald, Shonek and Bulka families and may the little one grow to be a merit for his namesake and follow in his ways.

Today, 23 Shevat, marks the 4^th yahrtzeit of my Oma Jakobovits. The shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmasah, Chayah Sarah bas Zechariah Chaim, z"l.

With the devastating news coming from Eretz Yisrael this week, there has surely been much anguish and tze'akah on a national scale. Apropos of these recent developments, I made an intriguing discovery regarding this word as it appears in our parsha and in numerous other occurrences throughout the Torah. (For a deeper look into the parsha connection, see this week's heart-wrenching video installment from Noam Jacobson.)

A Concordance lookup shows 19 instances of the root tza'ak in total in the Torah, two of which are very close to each other in the week's parsha (22:22 and 26). In both instances - regarding the persecution of widows and orphans and the improper withholding of a garment as collateral - the pasuk speaks not only of the outcry of the victim but also HaShem's heeding those cries. This reveals a fascinating nuance in the precise translation of Targum Onkelos. The word used for tze'akah is kevilteih, a kuf-beis-lamed root. The targum of eshma/veshamati, and I will heed, is ekabeil, seemingly "I will accept." Sure enough, it is the exact same root, kuf-beis-lamed.

I feel this observation is significant enough in its own right. But it gets more interesting. The very first mention of tza'ak, (Bereishis 4:10), when HaShem describes the blood Hevel crying out, the same translation is found – kavlin. There are various other instances as well. However, there are also numerous cases where a different word is used. When the Egyptians cry out to Paroah (Bereishes 41:55), when the officers do the same (Shemos 5:15) and regarding the betrothed girl (Devarim 22:27) the word tzivcha is used. This seems to denote a simple scream. There is a clear pattern. In all of those cases the cries are directed at humans. Even Esav's cry when he finds out his blessings have been stolen (Bereishis 27:34) are interpreted to be just an exclamation and not a prayer of any sort. So all of these are rendered with the tzadi-vuv-ches root.

The initial examples cited are all cries to HaShem, even if metaphoric (such as blood.) These are assigned a special word. Perhaps we can interpret this choice of root, nearly identical to that of HaShem's listening, as a means of indicating that these cries are always accepted by HaShem. By definition a call to HaShem will always be answered, whereas screaming to mere mortals can often prove futile and fruitless.

There is yet another root commonly employed by Onkelos in similar situations. Any time Moshe cries out to HaShem (Shemos 8:8, 14:15, 17:4) the root tzadi-lamed-yud is used. This is to be interpreted plainly as prayer.

There is still more analysis to be done on this topic. There is another root, zayin-ayin-kuf which is used periodically. This seems to be unique to Targum Onkelos. There might be other patterns used by the other targumim. Finally, the passage relating the apparent death of Paroah (2:23-24) does not contain the exact word tze'aka. However, the kuf-beis-lamed root is used for both shav'asam and na'akasam. Nevertheless, I believe some solid patterns in Onkelos have been uncovered.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup

Dikdukian: Tricky Vowels

Dikdukian: Answer vs. Torture
Dikdukian: Give it to me
Dikdukian: Ha'isha viladeha

Dikdukian: Jewish Milk

Dikdukian: Three Strikes and you're out

Dikdukian: The Ox and his Friend

Al Pi Cheshbon: 10,000 Kikars

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Yisro

At the beginning of this week's parsha we are once again given the reason behind the naming of Gershom (18:3-4): "Ki ger hayisi b'eretz nochria", because I was a stranger in a strange land. Here, the explanation of Eliezer's name is given as well, "Ki elokei avi b'ezri, vayatzileini micherev Paroah", apparently referring to Moshe's escape from execution at the hands of Paroah. At first glance, these names seem to be out of order. The cause for the naming of Gershom seems to have been preceded by that of Eliezer. Moshe was a stranger in Midyan after he escaped from the hands of Paroah. My Rebbe in Eretz Yisrael, R' Yeshaya Greenwald suggests that perhaps there is a different explanation behind Gershom's name. In the years leading up to Gershom's birth, Moshe realized that although he seemed at home in Egypt as a prince and leading quite a good life, he was nevertheless a stranger in a strange land. So Ki ger hayisi... is in fact referring to Moshe's years in Mitzrayim rather than those in Midyan. This explanation is supported by the fact that Moshe says "Ki ger hayisi," in the past tense, even while he is still living in Midyan (2:22).

Another interesting point concerning the naming of Gershom and Eliezer: For Gershom it says "vesheim ha'echad Gershom". And than for Eliezer, "vesheim ha'echad Eliezer". One would have expected the use of ordinal numbers such as "Sheim Harishon... vesheim hasheni" in this case. Why are they both referred to as "ha'echad"? R' Greenwald suggests that the answer may lie in the Midrash on the pasuk (2:21) "Vayoel Moshe," which states that Moshe made a pact with his father-in-law to give his first son to Avodah Zarah (or some manifestation thereof.) Therefore, Gershom was the "ben ha'echad," the one son for Avoda Zarah and Eliezer was the "ben ha'echad" laShem.

Perhaps the answer to the second question could be used to answer the first. Since Moshe had this pact with Yisro, he didn't want to mention any specific praise of HaShem which would convey to Yisro that he had not kept to the deal. Therefore, Gershom was given a more generic, religion-less name while Moshe waited until his second child to mention the praise of HaShem for saving him from Paroah's sword but it indeed did come first.

Have a good Shabbos.

 

Eliezer Bulka

WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: By the Thousands

Dikdukian: Many Who Fear God

Dikdukian: Letzais

Dikdukian: On top of Old Smokey

Dikdukian: Ram veNisa by Eliyahu Levin

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Beshalach

The second to last of the many episodes that make up this week's parsha is the confrontation at Masah uMerivah. The double name seems somewhat anomalous. Indeed, the pasuk (17:7) does explain that there were two aspects to this episode but more explanation is needed to understand the nature of the two.

B'nei Yisrael quarreled with Moshe saying (17:3), "Give us water so that we may drink!" Moshe counters "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test HaShem?" Ibn Ezra explains that there were two distinct groups involved in this episode. The first group were truly in need of water and this led to their altercation with Moshe. However, there was another group that still had water which they brought from Alush (their previous stop as per Bemidbar 33:14). They wanted to challenge HaShem to see if He would provide water. To the first group, which had at least some semblance of a legitimate complaint, Moshe answered "Why do you quarrel with me?" To the second, he charged, "Why do you test HaShem?"

The site is therefore aptly named Masah uMerivah after the two separate aspects of the confrontation. However, notes Ibn Ezra, the second group surely angered HaShem more than the first. Thus, in Sefer Devarim (6:17) we are warned "Do not challenge HaShem as you did at Masah." Merivah is not mentioned.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Happy 18th Birthday, Dikdukian!

Dikdukian: Ba'al Tzefon

Dikdukian: Exceptions Ahoy

Dikdukian: Midash, HaShem...

Dikdukian: Leave us Alone

Al Pi Cheshbon: Chamushim

AstroTorah: The Gemara's Aliens? by R' Ari Storch

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The Weekly Shtikle - Bo

This week's shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas Dovid Pesach ben Tzvi Hirsh HaLevi whose 5^th yahrtzeit is this coming Tuesday, 6 Shevat.

There is much discussion regarding the exact methodology and pattern behind the ten plagues - what the plagues represented individually and as a whole and why they were in their specific order. I would like to focus on a specific subset of the ten plagues. In four out of the ten plagues, Egypt was invaded by animals. This animal invasion seems to have a theme of its own. Rashi (Bereishis 1:26) writes that man was created to rule over the fish, the birds and the animals. However, if man is not worthy, he will become subservient to the animals. This four-pronged attack from the animal kingdom served to prove that the Egyptians had reached that level of unworthiness and they needed to be shown that they were no longer in charge.

The first animal invasion was that of frogs. Although the frogs invaded the land, there is very specific mention of their emergence from the water and their subsequent return to the water after the plague was over. The Nile, which the Egyptians worshipped as a deity of sorts, was completely out of their control.

The invasion of lice came from the ground beneath the feet of the people. The attack of the wild beasts symbolized the Egyptians' defeat above ground as well as being invaded from the outside. Finally, the locusts represented the animal kingdom's establishing aerial supremacy, as it were, over Egypt. The four animal infiltrations together symbolized Egypt's loss of power and ultimate subservience to the animals in all physical realms of our world.

 

Have a good Shabbos.

 

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

 

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
Dikdukian: Talented Locusts

Dikdukian: Better not Butcher This One

AstroTorah: Korban Pesach in the Sky by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: The Death Star (Ra'ah) the classic by R' Ari Storch

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Va'eira

The first aliyah of this week's parsha contains the famous 4 terms of redemption that are a prominent theme on the seder night. There is an intriguing nuance between the first and last of the four terms, discussed by R' Yoseif Salant in Be'er Yoseif. We are told (6:6) "vehotzeisi eschem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim," I will extricate you from the hardships of Egypt. In the very next pasuk, we are told following the fourth term, "velakachti," that we will know that it is HaShem who took us out "mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim." The repetition of this phrase in the adjacent pasuk is odd enough on its own. But it is made even more curious by the fact that the first sivlos is written without a vuv, while the second is with a vuv.

R' Yoseif explains that there are two types of hardships. The unending back-breaking toil was a very clear and present physical strain. At the same time, we as a nation suffered significant spiritual damage by the centuries spent in the loathsome empire of Mitzrayim. These are much more difficult to feel and identify and may not be immediately apparent. When HaShem facilitated our exodus – the first of the four steps – only one form of hardship was clearly removed. Therefore, sivlos is written without a vuv, as if it were singular – sivlas. Velakachti refers to the giving of the Torah after the 49-day cleansing process leading up to that monumental event. Only after that would we truly appreciate and understand the duality of the hardships from which we were rescued. So the phrase is repeated and with the vuv in sivlos, to indicate this new realization.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

 

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: Plurals and Singulars

Dikdukian: Netziv and the Missing Yud

Dikdukian: The Strange thing about Frogs

Dikdukian: Dikdukei Va'eira by Eliyahu Levin

Dikdukian: Leshon Yachid veRabbim by Eliayhu Levin

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The Weekly Shtikle - Shemos

A special Weekly Shtikle mazal tov to my niece Rachelle (Levy) on her marriage this week to Binyamin Zev Bausk. Mazal tov to the extended Levy, Bulka and Bausk mishpachos.

As sefer Shemos begins, before Moshe Rabbeinu is even born, we are told of the great heroism of Shifrah and Puah who defy Paroah's orders to abort all newborn boys. When confronted by Paroah, they manage to escape retribution with a believable alibi. After this, we are told (1:20) that HaShem did good for the midwives and the nation multiplied and increased greatly. What is the good that HaShem provided to the midwives? We are likely familiar with Rashi's interpretation. The reward is spoken about only in the next pasuk – "vaya'as lahem batim." But the obvious difficulty with this is that the two phrases are separated. If the expounding of vayeitev is vaya'as, why aren't the two phrases next to each other?

Malbim explains simply that Shifrah and Puah put themselves in grave danger of personal harm and Paroah even understood they were not being completely honest with him. Nevertheless, HaShem did good to them that Paroah decided not to punish them in any way.

Ohr HaChayim, however, provides an understanding that works with the flow of the pesukim. When we toil and put all of our efforts into a specific task, sometimes the success of that task is the greatest reward we can get. Therefore, vayirev ha'am, the great growth and thriving of the nation, which was a direct result of their efforts, was itself a great reward.

Have a good Shabbos.

 

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
Dikdukian: Nothing to See but Fear Itself

Dikduian: Bas Paroah
Dikduian: From the Children of the Hebrews
Dikduian: The Strange Thing about Straw
Dikduian: Affliction
Dikduian: Raamseis

Dikduian: Dikduk Observations on Shemos by Eliyahu Levin

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The Weekly Shtikle - Vayechi

This past Sunday, 5 Teves, was the 47^th yahrtzeit  of my wife's grandfather, Rabbi Dr Israel Frankel, a"h. This week's shtikle, a most appropriate one, is dedicated le'iluy nishmaso, Yisroel Aryeh ben Asher Yeshayahu.

This coming Sunday, 12 Teves, is the 17^th yahrtzeit of Rabbi Joseph Schechter of Ner Yisrael. This week's shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmaso, Yoseif ben Eliezer Z'ev.

Two geography notes:

When Yaakov blesses Yoseif and his children before he blesses all his sons together, he tells Yoseif (48:22), "I have given you an additional shechem, more than that of your brothers." Rashi offers two interpretations of the word "shechem." He explains, not without adequate support from other pesukim in Tanach, that the word "shechem" means portion. In halachah, the first-born son receives a double portion of the inheritance. Instead of Reuvein being the beneficiary of that privilege, it was granted to Yoseif as both his sons received a portion in Eretz Yisrael. The other explanation offered by Rashi is that this is a reference to the city of Shechem. In reward for his toil in assuring his father a proper burial, Yaakov granted the city of Shechem to Yoseif for burial and as an extra portion of land for the inheritance of his descendants.

In sefer Yehoshua (21), we are given an exhaustive list of the different cities that were designated for Kohanim and Levi'im. Among the cities designated for Levi'im was Shechem. Additionally, we are told in the previous perek that Shechem was a city of refuge for accidental killers. That being so, of what significance is this gift to Yoseif if his descendants would not ultimately settle in that city?

The gemara (Makkos 10a) presents a similar difficulty with a different city. Chevron was another city that was designated for Kohanim as well as a city of refuge. However, we are told (Shofetim 1:20) that Chevron was given to Caleiv ben Yefuneh as decreed by Moshe Rabbeinu. Abbayei's answer is a single word, parvadaha, the origin of which is the subject of some discussion. The essence of his response seems to be that the fields and courtyards around the city were given to Calev. Perhaps this answers the above question as well. Although Yoseif's descendants may never have settled in Shechem itself, the fields and courtyards were available to them and this was indeed a significant gift for Yoseif.  (Unfortunately, today, the inhabitants of that city are not descendants of Yoseif by any means.)

 

 

When Yaakov's sons bring him back to Eretz Canaan to be buried (50:10), they reach "Goren HaAtad asher be'eiver haYardein." The term eiver haYardein in most cases refers to the eastern side of the Yardein. Also, since the word eiver implies a crossing over, and they started off to the West of the Yardein, "eiver haYardein" would seem to imply the Eastern side. This is hard to understand for there is a rather direct route from Mitzrayim straight up to Chevron without encountering the Yardein. Why would the brothers end up on the other side of the Yardein?

The easiest answer to this question is that of the Chizkuni, that here "eiver haYardein" refers to the western side, as it does in Devarim 11:30. However, the most interesting answer is that of Rabbeinu Meyuchas, that in bringing Yaakov to be buried, the sons went around Eretz Yisrael in the same manner that B'nei Yisrael did when they left Mitzrayim. The sefer Torah Sheleimah quotes from an obscure source that this is the meaning of the pasuk (Tehilim 114:3) "hayam ra'ah vayanos," for the ark of Yosef, "haYardein yisov le'achor," for the ark of Yaakov, that the sons of Yaakov had the Yardein split for them at the same point that it split for B'nei Yisrael. So, suggests Rabbeinu Meyuchas, they were indeed on the eastern side of the Yardein as part of their journey and that place, "Avel Mitzrayim," was indeed "Avel haShitim" where B'nei Yisrael cried for Moshe Rabeinu.

Chazak, Chazak, veNischazeik!

Have a good Shabbos.

 

Eliezer Bulka

WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: You Make the Call: Aveil Mitzrayim

Dikdukian: Efrasah – what is your real name?

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