The Weekly Shtikle - Bo

This week's shtikle is dedicated for a refuah sheleimah for my father.

Please include Reuven Pinchas ben Yehudis in your tefillos.

In the zechus of a refuah sheleimah I am including a beautiful thought I heard from my Zadie (father's father.)

 

In this week's parsha, (12:2) B'nei Yisrael are given their first mitzvah as a nation, the mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh. This mitzvah deals, in general, with the setting of our calendar. It vests in the sanhedrin and those empowered by the sanhedrin, the authority to intercalate months or years (i.e. determine the length of the month or the occurrence of a leap year.) The complex calculations and procedures pertaining to intercalation are called sod haIbur. As the word sod, secret, implies, this is part of the deeper realms of Torah.

 

The gemara (Shabbos 147b) relates a story about the dangerously mystical powers of the wines of Prugaisa and waters of Diumses. The great Rabbi Elazar ben Arach visited these wonders and was overcome and forgot his learning. When he returned, he got up to read the aforementioned pasuk. Instead of reading "Hachodesh hazeh lachem," this month shall be for you, he switched the dalet for a reish, the zayin for a yud, the chuf for a beis and misread, "hacheireish hayah libam," and their hearts were deafened. The Rabbis prayed for him and he returned to his normal self. Nevertheless, it is quite shocking for such a notable sage to be overcome to such an extent. Is it possible that R' Elazar was so deeply influenced that he forgot how to read an elementary pasuk?

 

This mysterious performance of R' Elazar may, perhaps, be explained by referring to a beautiful explanation by the Gaon of Vilna. The pasuk (Yeshayah 6:10) says "Make the heart of the people fat, make their ears heavy and smear over their eyes; lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return..." The pasuk, referring to the sealing off of the path of repentance, starts off with the heart, then the ears and then the eyes but continues backwards from the eyes, then the ears then the heart.

 

The GR"A explains that eyes, ears and heart correspond respectively to Torah shebichsav, the written tradition, Torah sheba'al peh, the oral tradition, and sodos HaTorah, the deep secrets of the Torah. The study of Torah shebichsav and Torah sheba'al peh, will ultimately lead to understanding of sodos HaTorah. The neglect of Torah study will first deprive an understanding of sodos HaTorah, to be followed by forgetfulness of Torah sheba'al peh and finally, even Torah shebichsav will no longer be comprehensible. However, if diligent and continuous study is resumed again, first the eyes will begin the study of the written tradition, followed by careful and concentrated attention with the ears to the oral tradition and, eventually, by persistent study, the heart will regain the ability to penetrate and comprehend the deep secrets of Torah.

 

We can assume that R' Elazar ben Arach, the ma'ayan hamisgabeir, (Avos 2:8) did not forget the written and oral traditions. However, by reading "Their hearts were deafened," he made a personal statement, a cry for help. This pasuk, "Hachodesh hazeh lachem," which commands us to put into practice the sodos HaTorah, was now beyond his reach. By allowing himself to be drawn to the wines of Prugaisa and waters of Diumses, his heart became deafened and no longer had the capacity to comprehend sodos HaTorah, including sod ha'ibur. The rabbis answered his outcry and prayed for him and his mastery of sodos HaTorah was returned to him.

 

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

This week's shtikle is dedicated for a refuah sheleimah for my father.

Please include Reuven Pinchas ben Yehudis in your tefillos.

 

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

 

In the plague of barad, hail, HaShem brought down hail accompanied by kolos, thunder. The hail also seemed to include rain. However, points out Minchas Yitzchak, when Paroah demands that Moshe pray that the plague end (9:28) he asks him to pray that the thunder and the hail should cease, but he does not mention the rain. This is because, as Rashi has mentioned many times, Egypt did not receive rain and relied solely on the Nile for irrigation. Therefore, Paroah would have been more than happy for the rain to stay. They needed it. However, when Moshe davens to HaShem, the pasuk (33) recounts that the thunder, the hail and the rain ceased. Thus, when Paroah observed this, as the next pasuk tells us - that he saw that the rain, the hail and the thunder had ceased (note how the order is switched from the previous pasuk) - he hardened his heart for he saw that his request wasn't fully carried out.

 

Have a good Shabbos and chodesh tov.

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

This week's shtikle is dedicated for a refuah sheleimah for my father.

Please include Reuven Pinchas ben Yehudis in your tefillos.

 

Most young children are already familiar with the epic story of Moshe being placed in a basket and ultimately being retrieved by Paroah's daughter. I had always understood that Yocheved placed the basket in the river such that it would be carried downstream, come what may, as Miriam kept watch. However, a number of different nuances in the pesukim have led me to believe otherwise.

 

Yocheved places the basket in the suf, the reeds. That's not really where one would but a basket for the purpose of moving down the river. It would be quite likely to stay in place. Da'as Zekeinim writes that the gomé was used because it looked similar to the reeds and provided camouflage. Rashba"m writes further that Yocheved was trying to hide the basket among the reeds.

 

I'm therefore led to believe that perhaps Yocheved was not necessarily intending to part ways with her baby. Perhaps they knew what times of day the Egyptians came around to check for children had the baby hidden during those times. It's unclear exactly what the plan would have been. But the last clue that leads me down this line of thinking is the description of Miriam's task. Vateisatzav – Miriam stationed herself in one place. If the basket were floating down the Nile, one would expect that she would have to follow along. Rather, it seems the basket was meant to stay in place while she kept watch from afar.

 

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

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, 12 Teves, was the 13^th yahrtzeit of Rabbi Joseph Schechter of Ner Yisrael. This week's shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmaso, Yoseif ben Eliezer Z'ev.

 

Just before he passes away, Yaakov delivers a charge to each of his sons individually. Some of his words speak to the individual traits of the children as well as some of the challenges they have already faced. However, as expounded upon by Targum Onkelos, much of what Yaakov delivered to his children – blessings or otherwise – was a prophetic glimpse into the future of each child's progeny, based on his strengths. These prophecies were, for the most part, of a communal, tribal nature. For example, he spoke of Yehudah being the perennial tribe of royalty and Zevulun dwelling along the coast. There is one glaring exception – the blessing for Dan (49:16-18). Spanning a number of pesukim, it seems to be focused on one individual – Shimshon.

 

In examining why Dan's blessing seems to deviate in this way, it is certainly noteworthy to point out the unique circumstances of Dan as reported in last week's parsha. Indeed, it is a point very commonly dwelt upon in a mussar context. While most of the brothers built sizeable families, Dan had but one son, Chushim. And yet, by the time we reach the census in Bemidbar, Dan has become the second most populous tribe. (Although, in truth, as a son of Yaakov, Yosef had more.) Dan and Chushim teach us to never underestimate the potential of a single individual.

 

With his beracha to Dan, Yaakov was indicating that this will be the hallmark of his tribe – the great power that can be wielded by just a single person. And this why the prophecy is focused on Shimshon alone as he would be the manifestation of that trait generations down the line. I later saw this idea expressed in Sha'arei Aharon, quoting Marpei Lashon and Yalkut Ruveini, citing other members of the tripe of Dan who exemplified this trait throughout history.

Chazak, chazak, venischazeik!

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: You Make the Call: Aveil Mitzrayim

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