The Weekly Shtikle Blog

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Friday, February 7

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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Friday, January 31

The Weekly Shtikle - Bo

This week's shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas Dovid Pesach ben Tzvi Hirsh HaLevi whose 5th 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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Friday, January 24

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 – sivlasVelakachti 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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Friday, January 17

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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Friday, January 10

The Weekly Shtikle - Vayechi

This past Sunday, 5 Teves, was the 47th 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 17th 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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Friday, December 27

The Weekly Shtikle - Mikeitz

I have always found Mikeitz to be somewhat of a unique parsha. While dialog in the Torah is traditionally terse and concise, I find the exchanges in Mikeitz to be more thorough and detailed. Additionally, the text is rich with evocative narrative detailing various emotions such as Yoseif being moved to tears on numerous occasions. Yet, with all this extended detail, there is still so much left to be analyzed and interpreted, particularly when it comes to the exchanges between Yoseif and his brothers. Shaarei Aharon enumerates 23 different approaches to understanding the initial charge of espionage and the brothers' response.

 

One chapter of the story that caught my attention was the imprisonment of the brothers on the premise that one of them would have to return to retrieve Binyamin. This is followed by Yoseif's change of heart, opting instead to send them all home and only detain one brother. After this is suggested it is recounted, (42:20) "vaya'asu chein," and so they did. What did they do? Not only did they not seem to act right away, it was ultimately Yoseif who separated Shimon. Many commentaries conclude that this simply indicates that they agreed. This is followed by the heart-wrenching exchange between the brothers as they finally begin to lament their treatment of Yoseif. Why is this triggered precisely at this moment? Why did they not express these feelings when they were all thrown in jail?

 

The first approach I will explore is that of R' Yaakov Kaminetsky in Emes L'Yaakov. He understands that when Yoseif charged his brothers with espionage, the charge itself wasn't as significant as the greater lesson he was trying to convey to the brothers – that things aren't always as they seem. Sometimes, one can be absolutely sure of something but if he takes a good, honest and unbiased look at the situation, he discovers things to be quite different. The brothers were most certain that Yoseif was deserved of death or slavery and acted upon that conviction swiftly. Now, the viceroy of Egypt was certain that these men were spies and incarcerated them. He then comes back three days later having reconsidered his charge. Additionally, if he sends only one brother back, he would not be capable of hauling the produce necessary for the rest of the family. So, despite his high position of authority, he is able to rethink his position and recant. The brothers got the message. That is why they, too, only at that moment, begin to regret their treatment of Yoseif and the lack of compassion they exercised when carrying out what they had perceived to be a just punishment.

 

This beautiful approach still leaves the words "vaya'asu chein" unexplained. For this, we turn to Mahari"l Diskin's analysis. Yoseif's revised plan involved detaining just one of the brothers. It was initially up the brothers, in theory, to choose which one of them would stay behind. This is problematic as it touches on a quandary discussed in Yerushalmi (Terumos 8:4) regarding whether it is permissible to give over a single person to the authorities in order to save others. This topic is far too vast to cover here but it seems that a drawing of lots would be a suitable method of deciding who is chosen in this case. This is what the brothers began to do as they discussed their guilt in the treatment of Yoseif. Reuvein therefore pleads his case that he should be excluded from this lot since he advocated for the brothers to let Yoseif be. (See the text of the Mahari"l Diskin for a much more thorough discussion about the nuances of such a lottery.) So that is why the brothers are discussing what they did to Yoseif at this juncture and the discussion itself is the explanation of "vaya'asu chein." Since the brothers could not agree on how to choose one of them, Yoseif stepped in and made the decision for them, grabbing Shimon who certainly bore much of the responsibility for his fate.

 

Have a Chaunkah Samei'ach, a good Shabbos!

 

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

 

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
Dikdukian: Clear the Halls (Chanukah)

Dikdukian: Na'asah Nes

Dikdukian: Who's agitating my dots?

Dikdukian: Be Strong

Dikdukian: Just Do It!

Dikdukian: You Make the Call: Ukra'ahu


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Friday, December 13

The Weekly Shtikle - Vayishlach

Before his meeting with Eisav, Yaakov engages in an epic battle with a mysterious foe. Although Yaakov seems to overpower him, his adversary pulls a crafty maneuver on Yaakov's sciatic nerve and causes the showdown to come to an abrupt end. We are told (32:33) "Therefore B'nei Yisrael shall not eat the sinew of the vein which is on the hollow of the thigh until this day for he touched the hollow of Yaakov's thigh in the sinew of the vein." Indeed, we are forbidden from eating that part of the animal due to its significance in this episode. However, this pasuk does not appear immediately after the fight. The Torah first tells us that the sun had risen and Yaakov was still limping on his thigh. Only then does the Torah proceed with "Therefore..."

I believe the message here is that the prohibition against eating the sciatic nerve is not simply because it was used to end the battle with the angel. The significant fact in this episode is that this injury caused Yaakov lingering pain. The confrontation between Yaakov and what is commonly accepted to have been the angelic manifestation of Eisav is often understood as a harbinger of the eternal strife between Yaakov and Eisav, a constant war of values and ideals (See Sefer HaChinuch Mitzvah 3.) This war is never won, at least not until the end of days. Yaakov's injury symbolizes our weak point that Eisav is able to exploit. It is not simply the initial injury that is significant. It is Yaakov being hampered by that injury even after the sun rose bringing the dawn of a new day that symbolizes the constant thorn in our side that is Eisav. This is why we must constantly be mindful of this threat and thus, refrain from eating the sciatic nerve.

Have a good Shabbos.

 

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: The Great Dishon Confusion

Dikdukian: Appearances

Dikdukian: Efrasah, What is your Real Name?

Al Pi Cheshbon: Goats and Amicable Numbers by Dr. Ari Brodsky

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The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com

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