A Thought on Parshas B'shalach

...v'lo yachlu li'shtos mayim mi'mara ki marim heim..." (15:23) "...but they were not able to drink the Waters of Mara because they were bitter..." Moshe led the people to Mara, but they complained that the waters there were bitter. They named that place Mara, which means "Bitter". HaShem then showed Moshe a tree, which he threw into the water. Then the water became sweet and the people's thirst was sated. There is more going on here than meets the eye. HaShem has Moshe lead the thirsty people to this oasis, yet the water is too bitter to drink? The people complain, yet this earns them a supernatural remedy? There are different approaches to this passage. ibn Shu'aib draws on a lesser-known midrash. The Torah is most delicately illustrating for us, in subtle ways, that there were those among the people whose struggles with faith were more intense. They were the first to assume Divine neglect, or even malevolence, when events did not please them. They viewed the post-Yam Suf trek as random wandering, and had cynical thoughts about both Moshe and HaShem, ka'va'yachol. This meant that once they had reached the pessimistic conclusion that they were going to die of thirst and rot in the wilderness, they could not change gears and appreciate or even recognize when something positive was now occurring. This is an example of what some call cognitive dissonance theory. When one has reached a conclusion and is fixated on it, new information will only strengthen one's prior conclusion, rather than freeing them to rethink and reinterpret in view of the new emerging information. ibn Shu'aib writes, "when someone has horseradish in his mouth, sweet things will also taste bitter to him." The people who had convinced themselves that they were going to die in the desert were unable to accept that Moshe had brought them to healthy waters. They were sure that this was a trick, and were unable to drink the water ki marim heim - because they, the people, were embittered. The words "because they were bitter" are not referring to the water! They are referring to the people! The embittered ones could not swallow this emerging truth that there were actually sweet waters awaiting them in the wilderness. HaShem showed Moshe a tree, and he threw it into the water. ibn Shu'aib observes that the word is not really "he showed" (which would have to be written with an alef after the reish.) Rather, the word means "he taught". Moshe utilized "the tree", which is synonymous with Torah. He taught those whose faith was weak to rethink, to reframe, and to learn a Torah outlook. Torah can be the remedy to our embittered assumptions. It can be a source of refreshment when our perception needs sweetening. Good Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Bo

"...k'chatzos ha'lyla..." "...around midnight..." (11:4) Much has been written about the contrast between the Torah stating that the final makka occurred "at midnight" (12:29) and Moshe's seemingly tentative phrasing this as "around midnight." Rashi and others cite Chazals as to different ways of understanding this. Let's step back. What is so important about having a "midnight"? We can understand the concept of midday, chatzos ha'yom, which can be tracked and calculated by the sun's position in the sky overhead. Midday marks the transition from morning to afternoon (midday is also called "noon") and this is important for clocking events, for preparing for the visible onset of dusk and night, and for many halachos which revolve around the pinpointing of midday. Midnight, on the other hand, seems much less pivotal. Firstly, we cannot really track midnight through observing the overhead sky. There is nothing going on up there in the darkness that might compare to the daytime sun's position throughout the day. Moreover, night is dark, midnight is dark, and after midnight it is still dark, with hours remaining before we spot signs of the blackness lifting (ibn Ezra has written that this is the real meaning of alos ha'shachar - when the blackness rises) after which we then see the beginning of first light, daybreak and dawn. So, what is the importance anyway of midnight from our experiential view point? Even in halacha, there are relatively few areas where midnight is significant, as compared with noon. ibn Shu'aib helps us here. He begins by alerting us to the fact that midnight, by virtue of it being beyond the regular person's ability to identify it, must have some other-worldly properties. It is a time that HaShem calculates and clocks, and perhaps we could add that only HaShem knows when it occurs. That is a transcendent concept, and midnight's invisible intangible dimensionless quality makes it less a mortal, and more a cosmic or Divine, concept. Yet, we acknowledge that midnight is special. Dovid HaMelech proclaims (Tehillim 119:62) "chatzos layla akum l'hodos Loch al mishpatei tzidkeka" - Midnight I arise to praise You for Your judgements of righteousness. ibn Shu'aib observes that King Dovid is revealing to us that midnight is the time when we thank HaShem for invoking both justice (mishpat) and charitableness (tzedaka). This is a curious blend, for how often can we look at the harshness of mishpat and consider it charitable? ibn Shu'aib explains that Dovid is actually defining and illuminating for us the cosmic midnight: because we cannot see the higher and deeper activities Above when all is dark, we prepare for wondrous miracles; this is when HaShem will decree that an event which may be punitive at one level is redeeming and interventional at another level. The example is the makkas bechoros: this plague struck the Mitzri'im mercilessly yet it also facilitated the salvation of Benei Yisroel. The synthesis of two opposing forces, destruction and salvation, is beyond our comprehension. Harsh judgment and clemency are not natural companions. Yet, says Dovid in his psalm, "midnight is when justice and salvation can coincide". Midnight is when we might blur boundaries and not see clearly, yet it is the time Above when all is clear and lucid. Once a saga unfolds, we too can see the perfection and precision. Dovid does not say "at midnight I arise; he says, "Midnight: I arise..." He is defining the concept of midnight for us. Therefore, explains ibn Shu'aib, when Moshe tells Pharaoh "k'chatzos ha'layla" HaShem will make His Presence known, he does not mean "around midnight." The letter chof here is chof ha'dimion, a prefix denoting comparison. The verse's translation is "in a midnight-like manner, HaShem will make His Presence known." Midnight is the time when we cannot see what things, or how things, are going on. Midnight-like Divine acts are those events which only HaShem can craft, far beyond our comprehension and recognition, yet with an exactitude which takes all things into account, with paradoxical synchronicity. K'chatzos means "as if things are separate when they really are not." K'chatzos ha'lyla means "just like when perceived darkness actually masks the synthesis of apparent opposites." The midnight-like appearance of makkas bechoros will indicate that only HaShem has dominion over all worlds, all forces, all fates and all living things. Good Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Va'era

"...u'shmi HaShem lo nodati la'hem..." (6:3) "...but with My Name "HaShem" I did not make Myself known to them..." HaShem reveals to Moshe that when He communicated with the Patriarchs, the Name of HaShem was not used. It is important that we grasp the meaning of this. ibn Shu'aib begins with a midrash on the verse in Koheles - "la'kol ais" - there is a time and season for all things (3:1). The midrash explains: "HaShem had a fixed time for creating the universe; He set a time for Avraham to call out to His Name; he set a time for Moshe to introduce revealed manifestations of Divine Omnipotence". ibn Shu'aib explains: our verse does not say that HaShem did not reveal His Name to the Patriarchs; rather, He did not make Himself known to them through that Name. The Avos were on a supreme level of sanctity and were in intimate communication with HaShem. Our verse, however, intends to teach us that there is a time for all things, and despite the madreigos of the Avos, the time had not arrived for them to experience or encounter the Divine through those forms of miraculous manifestations which the Jews in Egypt needed to witness. HaShem advised Moshe that only now had the time arrived when His people needed to see wonders and signs involving the altering of nature. It was Moshe's merits which granted him the catalyst-status in "channeling" those Divinely sent miracles. The era of the Avos had not required such supernatural manifestations. Current events in Mitzrayim, however, required current interventions. ibn Shu'aib now asks the theological question: does this imply that all things which occur have been predestined? Does this midrashic approach suggest that events are fixed and set so that all that happens in the world is inevitable? The midrash would seem to imply that the persecutions in Mitzrayim and the response from Above were all pre-programmed. They had to happen, and had to occur when they did. But - what about free will and choice? What about autonomy? What about schar and onesh, if all things actually happen through prior scripting? If the wondrous Divine responses had already been etched into the calendar of history, that means that the deeds of the Mitzri'im, and of Benei Yisroel, were already in process and bound to happen. Have we no role in authoring our own deeds? Have individuals and has humanity and life itself been fully determined by Divine decree since the beginning of time? ibn Shu'aib responds that this is the deeper meaning of Rabbi Akiva's concise lesson (Avos 3:15) "ha'kol tzafoi v'ha'reshus nesuna" - all things have been foreseen yet permission has also been granted - HaShem has inscribed everything in His sefer from the beginning of time, yet "zeh sefer toldos Adam" (Bereishis 5:1) - every person writes his own sefer; we all are the authors of our life scripts. We do have that reshus, that autonomy. There needed to be a sense of HaShem in the world. Avraham wrote that chapter. There needed to be an exile, and a wondrous salvation. Moshe wrote that chapter. Have you written any good books lately? Good Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Shmos

"...va'yomer HaShem ma zeh b'yadecha v'yomer mateh..." (4:2) "...and HaShem said, what's that in your hand, and Moshe said "a staff"..." This week, some of the more midrashic comments of ibn Shu'aib caught my eye. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that I am now on a plane thousands of feet above the earth, and thousands of miles from my destination, and watching the deep blue sky has swept my thoughts to someplace more mystical. Knowing me the way I know myself, I might have been drawn in thought into one of my favorite places, the desert, in that ibn Shu'aib comments about how Moshe Rabbeinu encountered the voice of HaShem out alone in the desolate wilderness. He actually writes that the desert lends itself to communion, in that its air is pure and clear and no one else is there to interfere with our solitude. But I moved past that, probably because I will be unable to lose myself in the desert this year of aveilus, being bound to minyanim so that I can iy'H recite the Kaddish. Even my flying schedule is now governed by the clocking of minyan accessibility. Baruch HaShem for these halachos which provide gedarim for divrei kedusha, and for how we grieve. So, on to the midrashic writings of ibn Shu'aib, drawn from his less known sources in Chazal. The Torah relates that in the desert, at the episode of the burning bush, Moshe was exposed to a stick, a snake, and a skin ailment. What were the implicit messages to Moshe when HaShem presented him with those experiences? HaShem showed him that his stick or staff turned into a snake, then the snake became a staff again, then his hand scaled over, then recovered. Then HaShem reveals that Moshe now has 'all of the wonders in his hand'. What is some of the deeper meaning? ibn Shu'aib writes that the snake-and-skin significance was to remind Moshe that early on in our history (Bereishis 12:17), another Pharaoh had been afflicted with bodily ailments when he treated our people with treachery. HaShem was now exposing Moshe to the reality that this had happened through Divine enactment, and heralded the selfsame fate which awaited the current Pharaoh now. This Pharaoh too would be afflicted, and brought down. The snake symbolism hinted at the snake-role served in this life by nations such as Mitzrayim. Our sages have taught us that in Mitzrayim, our people was exposed to the lowest levels of decadence and impurity. This parallels the "snake", which is an animal which slithers along the ground, scraping the lowlands and the dirt, out for no good. ibn Shu'aib actually adds that in the Divine system, the "Sar" of Mitzrayim, which is the counterpart force for "maaseh eretz Mitrayim" which decadent people engage in, is the Nachash HaKadmoni. That nachash had its role in the Gan Aden of Adam and Chava, and it continues to surface throughout history as the nether forces which desecrate the human mission and the spiritual ideal. Moshe ran from the snake, and ibn Shu'aib brings the midrashic perspective that when the stick transformed into a snake, this revealed to him that the forces of tuma are truly powerful in our world, and that they can transform reality. Lives can be altered. Holy can be made profane. This is a frightening reality, and one which terrified Moshe. This is why he ran from the stick which turned into a snake. It signified terrific destructive potential. When HaShem then instructed Moshe to grab the snake by its tail, this signified that living a life of purity through Torah elevates a person so that he has energy of his own, stronger power through HaShem to eradicate impurity and overpower it, provided that he truly seeks to vanquish all traces of evil. HaShem's Torah has the capacity to transform us, and can make the ignorant wise, the uncouth virtuous, and the mundane sublime. This is how the snake turns back into a stick, yet this is not just a plain piece of wood. This stick is referred to by HaShem (4:24) as 'all of the wonders in your hand.' ibn Shu'aib cites a source that this was a 'stick' which Adam had discovered in Gan Aden. It was created Erev Shabbos during the days of Bereishis, so it embodied some other-worldly qualities. Adam gave it to Chanoch, who gave it to Noach, who gave it to Avraham, who gave it to Yitzchak, who gave it to Yakov, who gave it to Yosef, who had it in Mitzrayim. When Yosef died, Pharaoh confiscated his belongings, and kept this mystical stick. The magicians and sorcerers of Mitzrayim held the stick in their archives until Yisro, who was the greatest of the Chartumim, took it back with him to Midian. It was there that Moshe, his son in law, saw the stick, and recognized its provenance - on the stick were the letters Dalet, Tzadi, Chof, Ayin, Dalet, Shin, Bais, Alef, Ches and Bais. We know of those letters as the "mnemonic of Rabbi Yehuda" in the Pesach Haggadah, and we think of them as the abbreviation for the 10 Plagues. What the midrash reveals is that those letters held a more mystical significance. They were the bridge between Shomayim and Aretz, the tool for bringing the Divine Presence into an active role during galus. Even in the depths of Mitzrayim, where virtually all kedusha was eclipsed, the use of DaTzaCh AdaSh BaChaV - focused utilization of the language of Torah - would repel the darkness and offer sanctity and salvation. Moshe now grasped the wondrous role which this staff would take as a catalyst for salvation. Our lessons this week are that goodness can and will be tainted by the lure and influence of the profane. The profane can really obliterate goodness. Sincere quests to regain goodness and purity can succeed, and can annul the damage done during decadence. However, that antidote must be very pure and precise. It requires utter sincerity and commitment to recovery, and it must entail the word of HaShem, and it must utilize the word of HaShem as it has been etched into authentic tradition. Our sages have said that "a little light can banish much darkness", but that light must shine without interruption or impediment if it is to penetrate past the shadows and blackness. Good Shabbos. D Fox