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Friday, January 22

The Weekly Shtikle - Beshalach

Mazal tov to my cousins, the Shliachtzibur family of Los Angeles, upon the birth of their daughter, Chaya. Mazal Tov to the parents, the grandparents, the great grandparents, and to my Oma Jakobovits, the great great grandmother

 

    The shiras hayam has a tendency to grab all the attention in this week's parsha. After all, it is commonly referred to as Shabbas Shirah. However, there is another important theme that is interwoven into the parsha, the importance of Shabbos as a fundamental tenet of our faith. I suppose it would not sound right to call it Shabbas Shabbos. But Shabbos nevertheless plays a pivotal role in the parsha. Indeed, Rashi writes (15:25) that at Marah, B'nei Yisrael were first commanded to keep Shabbos. As the parsha continues, we learn many important aspects of Shabbos. The episode of the manna teaches us the importance and holiness of Shabbos, which HaShem has given us as a day of rest and thus, the manna did not fall. This is, of course, the reasoning behind the two loaves that we must have present at each meal. This episode also functions as a source for the rabbinic prohibition of exiting the city limits on Shabbos. And finally, Moshe's instruction to eat the manna on Shabbos (16:25), and the specific wording thereof, is the source for the Biblical obligation to eat three full meals on Shabbos.

 

    Surely, there is a connection between the confrontation at Marah and the ensuing teaching of the laws of Shabbos. The impatient complaining at Marah indicated a lack of faith in HaShem as the Creator. The waters were bitter and so it was assumed that they could not drink them and declared "What shall we drink?" They approached the situation from a perspective of nature, without the full belief that HaShem could make those very waters drinkable. Thus, the miracle that was done for them was quite illogical. HaShem could have made candy cane fall from the sky but instead, it was a tree - bitter in its own right - which made the water sweet. This miracle demonstrated to B'nei Yisrael that it didn't have to all make sense. With the level of Divine Providence to which they were privy, the laws of nature need not be followed.

 

    Shabbos is the mitzvah through which we assert our faith in HaShem as the Creator. Shabbos is empty and meaningless if we don't fully recognize that HaShem created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. We declare this belief in the kiddush which is the "zachor" aspect of Shabbos. The "shamor" aspect demands that we refrain from melachah on Shabbos. Although the challenges of previous generations are much less evident in our time, the prohibitions of Shabbos have traditionally created difficult situations relating to parnasah. In refraining from work on Shabbos and jeopardizing ones livelihood, the keeping of Shabbos can lead to the question "what shall we eat?" At Marah, we were overly concerned that under normal, natural circumstances, we would not have what to drink. By observing the "shamor" of Shabbos we show our trust in HaShem that we will provided for, despite the problems Shabbos might potentially create. Thus, it was here at Marah where it was absolutely necessary to initiate the weekly observance of this holy day. Immediately, B'nei Yisroel are commanded to keep Shabbos and on numerous occasions, are reminded of its paramount importance.


Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
Happy 9th Birthday, Dikdukian!
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 15

The Weekly Shtikle - Bo

A special Weekly Shtikle mazal tov to my cousins Yona & Libby Seliger on the birth of their new baby girl, Rachel, born this week. Mazal tov to the extended Seliger, Fordsham and Jakobovits mishpachos.
Another oldie but goodie, especially pertinent to those who are currently learning the Dirshu Mishnah Berurah cycle:

    The pasuk in Bemidbar 3:13 states "Ki li kol bchor byom hakosi kol bchor b'eretz Mitzrayim". In the hakdamah to maseches S'machos (found in the back of maseches Avodah Zarah) it is asked that the pasuk in this week's parsha states "vayehi bachatzi halayla v'HaShem hika kol bchor..." If the plague occurred at night, why does the pasuk in Bemidbar say "b'yom?" The answer given there is that the makah was initiated at night, and they were struggling until the morning when they died. Maharsham states that it is because of this that we find that pidyon haben is usually performed during the day, because the actual death of the first born was during the day.
 
    Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurebach, zt"l, points out that this concept may answer an interesting discrepancy between the birchos keriyas shema of the morning and that of the night. In the morning we say (after shema) "mimitzrayim ge'altanu... v'chol bechoreihem haragta". At night we say,"hamakeh v'evraso kol bchorei mitzrayim, vayotze es amo Yisrael mitocham..." At night, the term haka'ah is used, whereas in the morning, harigah is used. Furthermore, at night the exodus is mentioned after the killing of the first born, whereas in the morning it is mentioned before. The explanation is that at night we refer to what happened at night. The initial haka'ah, smiting took place at night and the exodus followed after. The actual demise of the first born occurred in the morning and that is what we refer to. By then, the geulah  had already begun because B'nei Yisrael were already on their way out.
 
Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
Dikdukian: Talented Locusts
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 and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com

Friday, January 8

The Weekly Shtikle - Va'eira

After being rejected by B'nei Yisrael "out of anguish of spirit and hard work," Moshe Rabbeinu is instructed to appear once again before Paroah. Moshe responds with a logical argument, (6:12) "behold, B'nei Yisrael have not listened to me. How then will Paroah listen to me for I am of uncircumcised lips?" Rashi comments that this is one of the 10 instances of the use of á fortiori argument, better known to most as kal vachomer, in the Torah. The full listing is discussed in the midrash (Bereishis Rabba 92). However, many ask that this kal vachomer does not follow logically. The Torah tells us exactly why B'nei Yisrael did not listen Moshe. If this reason did not apply to Paroah, then Moshe's logic appears faulty.

 

Sefas Emes takes a very practical approach to this difficulty, one with which Rabbeinu Tam preceded him by many hundreds of years. The Torah may tell us why B'nei Yisrael did not listen to Moshe, but Moshe, at the time, was not necessarily aware of that reason. Without the knowledge of B'nei Yisrael's inner feelings, Moshe's kal vachomer did, in fact, follow logically.

 

R' Yaakov Weinberg, zt"l, offers a deeper insight into Moshe's logic. When Moshe Rabbeinu came before B'nei Yisrael to lead them out of bondage, they should have come to a realization of their importance and sanctity for which they merit such a great deliverance. They chose, instead, to spurn this opportunity and reject Moshe. If B'nei Yisrael could not come to realize their own sanctity and merit, argued Moshe, how could Paroah possibly come to this discovery?

 

(It occurred to me recently that it is rather strange that we are able to stop at the end of this pasuk (8) when Va'eira is read during the week and at Mincha. This is indeed one of the more depressing moments in the saga of our subjugation in Mitzrayim, especially for those who don't know the ending. Moshe is supposed to be leading a great deliverance and even his own people won't listen to him. How is it permitted to end an aliyah on that note?)


Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
Dikdukian: Dikdukei Va'eira by Eliyahu Levin
Dikdukian: Leshon Yachid veRabbim by Eliayhu Levin

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

Friday, January 1

The Weekly Shtikle - Shemos

After hiding Moshe for three months, Yocheved is forced to send her away for she can no longer hide him from the Egyptians. Rashi (2:3) writes that Moshe was born after only six months of pregnancy and that is what gave Yocheved the three month period in which she was able to hide him until the time of his expected birth. What is intriguing about this Rashi is that the entire parsha, Rashi quotes from the gemara in Sotah that deals with this episode. The gemara (12a) writes that Yocheved actually became pregnant before Amram divorced her and then took her back three months later. The Egyptians made a mistake and calculated from when Amram remarried her. It seems quite clear from the gemara that Moshe was born after a routine nine month pregnancy but it was the three month error that the Egyptians made at the beginning of the pregnancy that gave her the time. For some reason, Rashi chose to pass over the gemara in Sotah and instead quote the Midrash HaGadol on this pasuk. Why?

 

The Da'as Zekeinim MiBa'alei Tosafos seem to try to reconcile the two midrashim and suggest that they are not actually arguing with one another. However, I don't quite see how it works. This question is dealt with in the sefer Rashi HaShaleim. They answer there that in the order of the pesukim, the conception of Moshe is recorded after Amram takes Yocheved. Therefore, it is in greater accordance with peshat to interpret the episode like the Midrash HaGadol than like the gemara in Sotah.  


Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
Dikdukian: Random Dikduk from Shemos by Eliyahu Levin

Please visit the new portal for all Shtikle-related sites, www.weeklyshtikle.com
The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com