A thought on Parshas Beshalach

"...va'yiru ha'am...va'yaminu...""...and the nation feared... and they believed..." (14:31)

Bringing us to the very brink, as our enemy pursued us to the shore of the sea, was a necessary step along our path to spiritual development. Fear of Heaven, and belief in G-d, are both foundations of our being a Torah nation.

Rabbeinu Bachya illustrates this: Chazal instruct us to respond "Amen" when we hear prayers or blessings. Amen comes from the word emunah, belief, as we see in our verse above. It is a way of declaring "we believe this! We accept this!" Each time we hear a bracha or tefilla and we answer amen, we are endorsing the words of that prayer.

Chazal state (Nazir 66b) that "the one who answers amen is even greater than the person who recites the prayer." Rabbeinu Bachya explains with an analogy. When two people give testimony to a fact, they record their declaration and sign the document. One of them has to sign first, obviously. Once he signs, however, the entire validity of the document now hinges on the action of the second witness. If he refuses to sign, then the initial testimony is useless. If he signs, then he has actually concretized the validity of the entire document. So too with our prayers. Someone has to go first, so we all let the chazan or shliach tzibur recite the prayers and blessings. His words are a declaration of his fear of HaShem and also declare his belief in the Above. However, it is only with the response of those listening, those who will answer amen, that the testimony is confirmed. Those who answer amen are "signing the document" and make it valid.

Remember this over Shabbos. When we talk, are absorbed in whatever occupies us, or are distracted during the chazan's repetition of the amida, for example, and we fail to proclaim amen, we are neglecting a major exercise of belief in HaShem. We are failing to support the testimony of whoever is leading our prayers and in essence are implying that we do not agree with all of the above...

Edus HaShem ne'mana...

Good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on Parshas Bo

"...ad ma'sai yiyeh zeh lanu l'mokesh..."
"...how much longer will this be a nuisance to us..." (10:7)

Pharaoh is getting impatient. He is annoyed. First this threat, then another, then a plague, then another complication. Moshe comes back yet again with more foreboding predictions. It is no wonder that Pharaoh complains and wonders out loud, "How much more of this do we have to put up with?"

The mystery question, though, is what does the word "this" (zeh) in our verse refer to? Many commentaries suggest that "this" refers to the overall plague-threat process. Pharaoh is annoyed about the repeated problems. Other suggest that "this" refers to Moshe, and Pharaoh means "how much longer do we have to deal with this person?" After all, notes Rabbeinu Bachya, elsewhere, Moshe is been referred to as "this man" (32:1).

However, Rabbeinu Bachya writes, there is a more intriguing possibility. "This" nuisance that Pharaoh is kvetching about refers to.........HaShem Himself. After all, HaShem is also referred to as "Zeh" (15:2; 13:8.) He is the consummate "This" in a world of this and that.

Pharaoh revealed his primitive view of the Divine. He saw G-d as nothing more than he viewed any of his own deities, as a sort of humanoid entity who gets caught up in the petty issues that most people are involved with. He looked at G-d as some sort of cosmic jester who pokes fun at people, or harasses them, and needs to be bribed, placated or gotten rid of. Even as Pharaoh's kingdom was disintegrating and his nation was on the run and falling apart, he did not really get it. Every time Moshe approached him, he rolled his eyes and said, "what's it going to be this time?" He did not get the message. He did not relinquish control and accept that there was One G-d displaying dominion over every event at every moment.

How often do we regress into such a cognitive cul-de-sac? When things don't work out for us, or the going gets difficult, do we wonder to ourselves how much more of this do we have to put up with until "This" leaves us alone or goes away? Do we understand our interaction with the Above as some sort of unfair game we are temporarily caught up in against our will and against our better judgment? Do we look for quick fixes, superficial solutions, as if we have to recite a formula or say the magic word and "This" will pick on someone else?Rabbeinu Bachya says that "that" line of reasoning about "This" would indicate that one is a kofer b'ikar - one who rejects the truth and reality about HaShem's world.

What do you think about that? I mean, about this? I am sending this off early as I will be leaving shortly for Jerusalem b'e'H. Good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on Parsas Va'era

"...etzba Elokim hee...""...and the sorcerers declared..."this is the finger of the Lord..." (8:15)

When the plague of lice hit the Egyptians, none of local magic tricks could stop it. In fear and with resignation, Pharaoh's sorcerer's acknowledged that this was "the Lord's finger."

An odd expression. What does a "finger of G-d" mean? Is it only an Egyptian idiom or does it have meaning for us as well?Rabbeinu Bachya observes, citing support from Rabbeinu Sa'adia Gaon, that there are three places where the image of a "finger" is presented in helping us understand something about the ways of HaShem.

In Tehillim (8:4), Dovid HaMelech sings "...ki er'eh Shamecha ma'asei etzbosecha..." - "when I see Your heavens, the products of Your fingers." We see from here that "finger work" refers to the wondrous complexity of the heavens above, the planets and celestial bodies. They are HaShem's creations.

Then, in Chumash (Shmos 31:18), we learn about the tablets (luchos even) which were "kesuvim b'etzba Elokim,", written by the "finger of the Lord."Then, we have our own verse about the lice. What is the theme here?The heavenly bodies, the moon, the sun, and the stars all shine on and nothing ever created was bigger than them nor nothing as luminous with traces of primeval light. Beneath them were the luchos which were brought down into the physical world from above yet they shone with even great luminosity, reflecting rays of Divine splendor. Beneath them were the lice. Lice are very small and have no fungible worth or value. Nonetheless, the celestial bodies, the tablets of stone and the lice are all described as the handiwork of the "fingers" in order that we understand that whether small, mighty, majestic or grand beyond comprehension and compare, every thing is the same with regard to HaShem's infinite power and will. Things big and small, great and lowly came to pass because HaShem willed them to emerge.

This humbling message gives perspective of HaShem's omnipotence in contrast with our own lack of complexity. When we get caught up in our sense of intricacy and significance, hearken back to the exclamation of the sorcerers: when the realized that they had reached the limits of their powers and foresaw the limitlessness of HaShem's power, they realized that the most difficult challenge for us is facile for the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth.

This may be the lesson to derive from the Egyptian idiom. Seeing the unfathomable feat of lice appear from nowhere prompted the sorcerers not just to startle with fascination, but to give homage, humbly, that the impossible is possible and "is nothing" for HaShem.

A good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on Parshas Shmos

"...asura na v'e'raeh es ha'mareh ha'gadol ha'zeh...""...let me turn toward it, that I can see this great site..." (3:3)

Rabbeinu Bachya broadens our understanding of Moshe's experience in the desert. There were three facets to his encounter out in the wilderness: the fire, the message, and the Presence.

He first encountered a bush aflame yet not incinerating. At that moment of unclarity, he had assumed that this was an ordinary fire, hence his wonderment. It was after this that he was able to apprehend the message (malach) that something greater was taking place within that vision. After that, Moshe grasped that HaShem's Presence was accessible around that area.

Just as the human eye, after staying in a dark room for a while, cannot face the sunlight head on, but must make a gradual adjustment, so too the mind's eye, which houses the kochos ha'nefesh which are intertwined within the kochos ha'guf. The body's mechanisms are a model for understanding the mechanisms of the soul. This was Moshe's initiation to higher spiritual vision (nevu'a) and HaShem saw to it that his mind and soul were presented with ascending measures of enlightenment.

Rabbeinu Bachya adds that our nation was also exposed to Torah in the same graduated manner. We were given a couple of mitzvos early on followed by the Asseres ha'devarim followed by the giving of the entire Torah.

This is the way of HaShem's world, as well. The sunrise does not burst across the sky with a blazing flash. There is the lifting of the darkness (alos ha'shachar) then the blossoming of the rays (netz ha'chamma) then the dawn appears and the day begins.

This is also the method we must follow in order to best study the ways of HaShem. Some try to rush in quickly as if their velocity and enthusiasm will suffice to rapidly incorporate all of the Torah. Not so, says Rabbeinu Bachya. This is not the derech. The prophet Hoshea (6:3) tells us, "...v'neida nirdefa la'das es HaShem ka'shachar nachon motza'o..." - "let us know by pursuing knowledge of HaShem like the dependable dawn..." Some people do not know how "to pursue" and instead they try to catch the Torah in one leap. This cannot be done. Torah is grasped "like the dependable dawn", which emerges in stages. The mind and soul are made to contain the Torah and knowledge of HaShem but one must make this adjustment along the ladder of mesora and chinuch. This is known as the pursuit of higher knowledge of HaShem.

May we have the merit and gift of better seeing the light as it grows brighter and brighter and may the darkness fade away. Good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on Parshas Vayechi

"...va'yar menucha ki tov...""...and he saw that rest was good..." (49:15)

On the one hand, at times it seems as if there is nothing as good as a good rest. Yet, when we consider in context that this is our patriarch Yakov blessing his son Yissachar, our symbol for devotion to Torah, it is hard to consider that he was extolling the virtues of a nap.

You may have often wondered about the words in the twelfth bracha of our daily Amida. The blessing says, "Hasheeva shofteinu...v'yoatzeinu...v'haser mimenu yagon v'anacha" -
"Restore our judges and counselors, and remove from us sorrow and woe." Is this all one long prayerful request, or is it two clauses, or is it a request followed by a separate thought?The explanation, writes Rabbeinu Bachya, rests within the correct meaning of our verse.
What makes Torah study different than other pursuits? Most forms of work require an active body and a calm mind. Torah, however, requires a calm body and an active mind. A person cannot immerse himself in Torah if his body is busy. He cannot delve into Torah if his heart is pressured and his soul distressed. This is why Yakov's blessing to those who devote themselves to Torah included the ideal that they would discover that "good" (as in lekach tov - Torah is the embodiment of good) rests on one's degree of tranquil menucha. When a person is free from distracting endeavors and demands, he is in a state of seeing that menucha ki tov. He is able to dedicate mind, heart and soul to learning.

This is the vision, then, of Chazal when they formulated that bracha in the Amida. We pray for the return of our Sanhedrin when Torah will once again flow from Tzion. The waters of Torah will again spring forth and our nation will turn with thirst to our sages and teachers. Yet, in order to immerse ourselves in its fountains, we will need to be free of distractions, worries, woe and anguish. Thus, we first pray that our judges and sages be returned. We then express our realization that we will need to ready ourselves for Torah, and so we beg that HaShem also "remove from us sorrow and woe". Only a tranquil and composed person can incorporate the dvar HaShem.

And now you know the story of the rest. Good Shabbos. D Fox