Rav Kook's Ein Ayah: One Who Forgot Torah; Far-reaching Steps to Avoid Danger to the Community; Not Distancing Oneself From the Community

One Who Forgot Torah
(based on Berachot 1:104)

Gemara: Be careful with a scholar who unwillingly forgot his Torah knowledge, for the luchot (tablets given to Moshe) and the broken luchot are [both] placed in the aron (ark).

Ein Ayah: This teaches us that since the goal of wisdom is doing good deeds, a scholar who was involved in Torah study and acquired knowledge all his life has acquisitions of justice and straightness. Although he forgot his Torah scholarship, only the details have been lost. The all-inclusive pure concepts that filled his spirit from the great knowledge and study is not forgotten. This resembles something that a person cannot capture in words, yet the inner spirit recognizes the truth of the straight pleasantness according to its value in Torah and fear of Hashem.

Far-reaching Steps to Avoid Danger to the Community
(based on Berachot 1:107)

Gemara: Do not sit on an Aramite’s couch. …some say that it is literally on an Aramite’s bed, as is illustrated by the story of Rav Pappa. Rav Pappa went to an Aramite’s house. They took out a couch to sit on, and the woman said to him, “Sit.” He responded: “I will not sit until you lift the couch.” She lifted it, and they found a dead baby underneath. From here the Rabbis said that it is forbidden to sit on an Aramite’s couch.

Ein Ayah: Although it is not usually good to be worried about far-fetched dangers, each danger must be estimated according to its context. A libel against Rav Pappa would not have ended with him but, Heaven forbid, would have caused fury against the whole community. Therefore, this story should serve as a reminder for generations so that every Jew knows to realize his great obligation to avoid damage to the community in the way he lives. He should consider non-Jews’ hatred and plots and distance himself from anything that resembles the unseemly in his interaction with gentiles, so as not to aid those who want to devise evil plots. It should be all the more clear that he should not actually be guilty of wronging gentiles. In addition to the intrinsic prohibition to do so, he damages the lives of the community, who may be blamed for an individual’s sin, which can unfortunately happen until Hashem will have mercy on us [and bring mashiach].

Not Distancing Oneself From the Community
(based on Berachot 1:108)

Gemara: Do not pass behind a synagogue at a time that the congregation is praying.

Ein Ayah: This is because separating oneself from the ways of the congregation destroys, Heaven forbid, the nation’s foundations. It is thus proper that those who separate themselves from the community are among those who lose their place in the world to come. The matter of separation is especially prominent in the realm of service of Hashem. When one is disjoint from the community’s service, the spirit of sanctity that enters the hearts of Hashem’s nation as a whole will not enter his heart. Slowly but surely his heart and soul become distant from the Jewish holy qualities, causing bad for him and his offspring by separating them from the nation. When the number of people who do this multiplies, a “‘bald patch” develops in Israel, and the House of Israel becomes fractured and broken into splinters. Therefore, it is worthwhile to stay far away from anything that displays that he does not care to be part of the community regarding service of Hashem, even if that is not his intention. This is because the seriousness of the matter and the negative outcomes that can result are severe enough to distance oneself from it. That is why one must not pass behind a synagogue at the time the congregation is praying.

Unity and Divisiveness in Egypt and at the Sea

HaRav Mordechai Greenberg
Nasi HaYeshiva, Kerem B'Yavneh

"The water was a wall (choma) for them, on their right and on their left." (Shemot 14:29) Chazal comment on this: "This teaches that Samael (the prosecuting anger) stood up and said, 'Master of the Universe! Did Israel not worship idols in Egypt, and you are doing miracles for them?!' ... [G-d] became angry at them and wanted to swallow them up." (That is why it says choma without a vav, as if it said chaima.) The question is, why did Samael wake up only now, at the end of the process, and not at the beginning, during the plagues and the miracles that were done in Egypt?

The Meshech Chochma derives from this an important principle in Judaism. At first glance, the tangible mitzvot between man and G-d are more severe than those between man and his friend, which flow from corrupt traits. For example, idolatry and adultery are punishable by death, whereas there are not even lashes for dissension, lashon hara and rechilut. However, this is only true regarding sins of the individual, whereas regarding societal corruption we find the opposite tendency. The community suffers on account of corrupt traits, more so than the individual. Dovid's generation was righteous, and even so they would fall in battle, since there were tattlers among them. On the other hand, Achav's generation, who were idolaters, were victorious in battle, since there weren't tattlers amongst them. Even regarding the sin of idolatry it says, "Who dwells among them among their contamination." (Vayikra 16:16) In contrast, regarding sins such as rechilut, lashon hara and dissension, David said, "Go up to heaven" (Tehillim 57:6) – i.e., remove Your Presence from them.

We find, similarly, that the sins of the first Temple were idolatry, adultery and murder, and even so the Temple returned after seventy years. The Second Temple, however, where they sinned with social sins, sin'at chinam (baseless hatred) – is still destroyed after two thousand years. "If society is corrupt in their character, it is worse than if they are corrupt in mitzvot." Therefore, the fate of the generation of the Flood was sealed only on account of stealing, since G-d is willing to wait regarding sins between man and G-d, but not on fundamentals of societal morality. The Meshech Chochma continues:

Therefore, regarding the desecration of Shabbat, which has spread in our sins, He will grant them time, because they are a community. Even regarding idolatry [Chazal] said in the Sifrei, "the soul – will be cut off" but the community will not be cut off." However, since they violated ethical norms, they go with swords and arrows to rob and steal, and have become corrupt in character and are like animals of prey, G-d will certainly avenge, and not tarry.

The reason for this is that when the social relationships are weakened, the people are not viewed as a community, but rather as individuals, and as individuals they are judged on the serious sins, such as idolatry and adultery. We find, as well, that G-d forgave Bnei Yisrael for the sin of idolatry at the golden calf, but did not forgive the sin of the spies, which entailed lashon hara and ingratitude to G-d, and they all died in the desert.

With this we can understand Chazal's comment in the Midrash that we began with, that the angels complained at Yam Suf about avoda zara and did not mention anything in Egypt. This is because in Egypt although Bnei Yisrael were corrupt in mitzvot, and even rejected brit milah, yet they were complete in character, and loved one another, and did not speak lashon hara. (See Mechilta Bo 5.) Therefore, as a community, miracles were done for them. However, at the shore of Yam Suf, when they were divided into four groups and argued between them how to act – it was no longer possible to judge them as a community but rather as individuals. Thus, as individuals, they were judged for the sin of idolatry, and there was objection to the miracles that were done for them.

This is what Chazal say on the pasuk, "Ephraim is attached to idols; let him be" (Hoshea 4:17), that even when they worship avoda zara, still, when they are united, they merit miracles despite this serious sin.

This idea is relevant nowadays, when the breach in matters between man and his neighbor has widened. We need to know that the solution is not in the division of the nation. Only one who is not the true mother is capable of saying, "Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut!" The true mother says, "Give her the living newborn and do not put it to death." (Melachim I 3:26-27)

Rav Kook zt"l writes about this in Orot (p. 73):

There is no end to the material and spiritual evils in the division of the nation into parts, even though complete separation, as entertained by those who cut with cruelty, is impossible and will not be. This is literally a thought of collective avoda zara, which we are sure that will not occur. "As for what enters your minds – it shall not be! As for what you say, 'We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, to worship wood and stone,' as I live – the word of Hashem Elokim – I will rule over you with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath." (Yechezkel 20:32-33)

By the Seaside

by HaRav Zalman Baruch Melamed
Rosh HaYeshiva, Beit El

FOUR LEVELS OF BELIEF
"And God chose not to lead them by the way of the Land of the Plishtim, since it was close..." Our classic Torah commentaries note that the situation should have been just the opposite: since the path through the land of the Plishtim was so short, Hashem should have led the Jews in that direction on their way out of Egypt! To answer this question, the sages explain that God wished to ensure the fulfillment of the oath sworn by Avraham Avinu to Avimelech, King of the Plishtim, in which Avraham pledged that he would not chase the Plishtim out of the land; at the time of the exodus, the Plishtim still had some merit to their credit, and in order for them to be forced to leave the land, they would have had to already have "used up their reserve supply" of merit.

In light of the above, it seems that the Children of Israel can only be fully redeemed and settle in the Land when their enemies "use up" their own merits. 

However, elsewhere in the Torah, we learn that there is yet another means by which the Jews will inherit the land. "Not because of your righteousness...but because of the evil of those nations [did you inherit the land]..." we are told. From the negative, we learn the positive - namely, that there are two ways in which one can inherit the land: as a result of the rejection of the non-Jews living there, who lose their grasp on the Land as a result of their wicked behavior - or alternatively, as a result of our own righteousness, our own merits. Our merits may, so to speak, "force" God to return us to our land, and to find another way - other than permitting the non-Jewish nations to live in Israel - to "pay off" any debt He owes, so to speak, to those nations.

The plagues on Egypt were basically lessons on Divine Providence; the message was directed towards the Jews, the Egyptians, and ultimately, to the entire world. The splitting of the Red Sea was really the final class in a series of lessons on the truth of Divine Providence in the world.

On the banks of the Red Sea, the Children of Israel had to finally put into action the newly-deepened belief in God that they were able to cultivate during the plagues. The nation - men, women and children - were now being relentlessly pursued by Pharaoh's entire army. It seemed hopeless: how could a slave nation, and especially its women and children - manage to survive a clash with these soldiers and chariots? This was a dead-end, and the nation of Israel now faced its greatest test of faith to date: Should they give up, or perhaps strive to act out of a deeper understanding of what was happening. Many were likely thinking to themselves: "We could have run away, even tricked Pharaoh, had an escape plan that would have not allowed him to catch up with us...So why in the end, did we go ahead and let him know we wished to go, ask him for his permission to leave his land?" These questions soon made them realize that the entire exodus was Divinely-directed; God wished to have Pharaoh's army reach the banks of the sea, in order to show the world His great hand, a hand that saves Israel from its pursuers - and ultimately avenges those that wish to do the Children of Israel harm.

Our sages teach that at the sea, the Jews were divisible into to four groups. There were those that wished to commit suicide - to jump into the sea; they thought that drowning would be preferable to a harsher, more violent death at the hands of the Egyptians. Regarding this group God says to Moshe: "Stand and see the redemption of Hashem."

There were also those Jews who wished to capitulate to the Egyptians, to retreat to the previous slavery arrangement, hoping that the Egyptians would have mercy on them, It is in regard to this group that God says, "After seeing Egypt today, you won't see them any more, forever."

Yet a third group wished to go to war with Egypt. These people thought that despite the fact that there was no hope of victory, "if we put in our effort, perhaps, with God's help, maybe - just maybe - we can overcome them. Regarding this sector, Moshe says, "God will fight your battle." A fourth element understood the military superiority of Egypt, and preferred to simply pray for God's help. Regarding this group, God said: "...and you will be silent."

Of the four divisions mentioned, the first two cases are basically Jews with religious problems; these are people oriented to resignation, giving up, who feel overwhelmed by difficulties that befall them. The last two groups, in contrast, exhibited two different levels of a more sophisticated belief. The third group believes in Divine aid taking hold once man has exerted his human efforts, in a war, for example. The fourth group represents the highest level of trust in God, in which the power of prayer alone guides the Jew and his service to God.

But the declaration: "Hashem will fight your battle, and you be silent," indicates that the last two groups as well, did not reach a level of belief appropriate to a generation that saw all of the divine signs and wonders that God showed Pharaoh in Egypt. Given what they had witnessed until now, complete faith in God should have been the order of the day - a trust that would have prompted all the Jews to anticipate a certain, God-directed redemption.

SPLITTING THE SEA
Our sages debated the question as to what merit the Jewish people possessed to make the sea split. Rabbi Bannai says that the sea split in the merit of Avraham, regarding whom it is said, "And he split the trees for the burnt offering.’ And here, in this week's portion, the Torah says, "The water split.’"

Others are of the view that the sea split in the merit of Yosef’s bones, which the Children of Israel were carrying with them at the time for burial in Eretz Yisrael. Regarding Yosef, it says: "And he fled [from the wife of Potiphar] and ran outside." In his merit, the Jewish people had the sea split, as it says: "The sea saw and it split."

Aside from the similarity of the words - i.e. the splitting of the trees and the splitting of the sea; the fleeing of Yosef and that of the sea, something deeper is at work here.

There is a lot to learn of Avraham Avinu’s splitting of his wood prior to the Akedah. Avraham could have said to himself: "I will surely find trees on the mountain, why if so, is there a need to hurry? And if I don’t find those trees, I won't be held responsible, but rather someone who was prevented from doing a mitzvah by circumstances beyond his control; in the end, then, I won't be held responsible for failing to sacrifice Yitzchak." Why, then, did Avraham already weigh himself down with the wood at this point in time?

Answer: The splitting of the wood by Avraham Avinu indicates that he had transcended his own nature, that of a father whose conscience cries out against, resists the sacrificing of a beloved son. Avraham Avinu sanctifies himself, to the point that he is able to overcome his most basic human, physical qualities. By doing this, he reveals a characteristic of the Children of Israel, a people which has in it the power to overcome the physical limitations of this world. When this level of kedusha or holiness exists, physical reality cannot stand up against it and prevent if from manifesting itself. Thus, in the merit of "the split the wood" for the binding of Yitzchak, the sea - defying nature - split.

Yosef Hatzaddik stood up daily against the ongoing temptations of the wife of Potiphar. As each day passed, the struggle became more and more intense. The situation was especially acute as Yosef continued to realize that his failure to respond positively to the advances of Potiphar’s wife may very well endanger him, as it eventually did! Perhaps Yosef could have argued to himself that responding would be permissible in order to avert such danger. Despite all this, he withstood the temptations, and in overcoming his natural human inclinations in this respect, he ran away from Potiphar’s wife. Doing this showed that he could transcend his physical human limitations, and allow the unique Jewish quality of holiness to shine through. The sea, too, like Yosef, therefore split, ran away, retreated.

This unique quality of the Jew is not visible to the naked eye. A Divine eye is required. Hashem, who sees into man’s heart, can see it. Even the ministering angels do not merit recognizing this quality. This is why the angels complain to the Creator when they see the fate meted out to the Egyptians: These [the Egyptians[ are idolaters and these [the Jews] are too; if so why do these people deserve to be saved more than these? But God is the one splitting the sea, ushering the Jews through the dry land, and drowning horse and soldier - all in order to illustrate to the entire world, the Jewish quality of enabling the spirit to overcome the physical, the holy, transcend the profane.

Rav Kook on Beshalach: The Influence of Amalek

The treacherous attack of Amalek, striking against the weak and helpless, was not a one-time enmity, a grievance from our distant past. God commanded Moshe to transmit the legacy of our struggle against Amalek for all generations:

“God told Moshe, ‘Write this as a reminder in the Book, and repeat it in Yehoshua's ears: I will totally obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the heavens....’ God will be at war with Amalek for all generations.” (Shemot 17:14, 16)

Erasable Writing
The evil of Amalek invaded every aspect of the universe. Even holy frameworks were not immune to this defiling influence. Therefore, they too require the possibility to be repaired by erasing, if necessary.

For this reason, the Gemara (Sotah 17b; see Yoreh Dei'ah 271:6) rules that scribes should not add calcanthum (vitriol or sulfuric acid) to their ink, since calcanthum-enhanced ink cannot be erased by rubbing or washing. All writing — even holy books — must have the potential to be erased, as they may have been tainted by sparks of evil.

An extreme example of a holy object that has been totally contaminated is a Torah scroll written by a heretic. In such a case, it must be completely burned by fire (Shabbat 116a; Yoreh Dei'ah 281:1). Usually, however, holy objects only come in light contact with evil, and it is sufficient to ensure that the scribal ink is not permanent, so that the writing has the potential to be erased.

Illustration image: ‘Der Torahschreiber’ (Ephraim Moses Lilien, 1914)

The Unique Torah of Rebbe Meir
However, we find one scribe who did add calcanthum to his ink: the second-century scholar Rebbe Meir. Rebbe Meir was a unique individual. The Talmud states that there was none equal to Rebbe Meir in his generation. His teachings were so extraordinary that his colleagues were unable to fully follow his reasoning. Because of Rebbe Meir’s exceptional brilliance, the Sages were afraid to rule according to his opinion (Eiruvin13a-b).

The Gemara further relates that Rebbe Meir’s true name was not Meir. He was called Meir because “he would enlighten (me'ir) the eyes of the Sages in Halachah.” What made Rebbe Meir’s approach to Torah so unique? His teachings flowed from his aspiration to attain the future enlightenment of the Messianic Era. Because of this spiritual connection to the Messianic Era, the Yerushalmi Talmud (Kilayim 9:3) conferred upon him the title “your messiah.”

Rebbe Meir had no need to avoid using calcanthum, since his Torah belonged to the future era when Amalek’s evil will be eradicated. On the contrary, he took care to enhance his ink, reflecting the eternal nature of his lofty teachings.

Rebbe Akiva, on the other hand, taught that scribes should not avail themselves of calcanthum. In the world’s current state, everything must have the potential to be erased and corrected, even that which contains holy content. Only in this way will we succeed in totally obliterating Amalek and his malignant influence. Then we will halt the spread of evil traits in all peoples, the source of all private and public tragedy.

Uniting the Oral and Written Law
The influence of Amalek had a second detrimental effect on the Torah. God commanded Moshe to communicate the struggle against Amalek in two distinct channels. Moshe transmitted God’s message in writing - “Write this in the Book” — and orally — “Repeat it in Yehoshua's ears.” The refraction into divergent modes of transmission indicated that the Torah had lost some of its original unity.

Consequently, the Talmud rules that a scribe may not write from memory, not even a single letter (Megillah 18b). Our world maintains an entrenched division between the written and spoken word. Only with the obliteration of Amalek and the redemption of the world will we merit the unified light of the Torah’s oral and written sides.

Once again, we find that Rebbe Meir and his Torah belonged to the future age, when this artificial split will no longer exist. Thus, when Rebbe Meir found himself in a place with no books, he wrote down the Megillat Esther from memory.

In the time of Mordechai and Esther, when we gained an additional measure of obliterating Amalek (with the defeat of Haman, a descendant of Amalek), the Torah regained some of its original unity. That generation accepted upon itself the Oral Law, in the same way that the Written Law had been accepted at Sinai (Shabbat 88a).

(Gold from the Land of Israel, pp. 127-129. Adapted from Igrot HaRe’iyah vol. III, pp. 86-87 (1917) y Rav Chanan Morrison.)

Shining Miracles

by Rabbi Dov Berel Wein

If a person lights even a small candle in a dark room, the resultant light is instantaneously recognizable. Even the flickering of the smallest of candle shines brightly in an enclosed space that is dark. However, if one is to light even a large candle in a room filled with brilliant sunlight or an excess of artificial illumination, the light of that candle is hardly noticeable.

One can say the same idea regarding miracles. If one views a world full of ever-present miracles, then one individual miracle, no matter how powerful and supernatural it may be, will, at best, cause only a minor, temporary impression. The very definition of miracles is that these are events that do not often occur and are not predictable or subject to rational, scientific analysis.

However, when there is a plethora of miraculous events, miracles themselves, no matter how wondrous they may be, begin to lose their impact and power. A miracle that happens regularly is no longer a miracle at all, but, rather, is part of what people view as being the natural course of events in the world. Miracles that are repeated often eventually become stale and regular and lose their miraculous status.

Witness today's great wonders of nature, of medicine, of technology, and of all other fields that border on the miraculous. When the first rocket with a human inside was launched, it was considered miraculous. Today, it is a weekly event and nothing special for the spectator. The more an experience becomes regular and expected, the less any special quality is attached to it.

When there is a multiplicity of miracles occurring all at the same time, like the candle lit in a room with floodlights, its brightness is hardly noticeable. The individual miracle has lost its power of influence and is already discounted by human beings.

All of this is a preface to understanding the Jewish people after they experienced the Ten Plagues that delivered them from Egypt. The splitting of the sea that delivered them from the sword of the Pharaoh and his army was followed by the miraculous sweetening of the bitter waters in Marah and then the heavenly bread that was given to them for their sustenance. In that floodlit world of miracles, the flame of an individual miracle and its influence waned greatly.

This helps us understand the behavior of the Jewish people throughout their forty-year sojourn in the desert of Sinai. Everything was so miraculous that nothing was special any longer. What resulted was that the evil instinct of rebellion, arrogance and carnal desires continued to surface over and over throughout the Torah.

In our time, the rejuvenation of the Jewish people, the mass study of Torah, the creation and continued growth of the State of Israel in the land of Israel, are all events that border upon the miraculous and supernatural. Yet they, too, are not treated in that manner, for the recognition of miracles is difficult for human beings to maintain and preserve.

For forty years in the desert, the Lord attempted to protect the Jewish people through heavenly intervention, but they did not understand or appreciate what was happening. They only complained. Our Rabbis teach: "One who is experiencing a miracle does not recognize the miracle that is happening at that moment." And so, it is.

The Torah and Judicial Reform

by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky

Did the Supreme Court disqualify Aryeh Deri from serving as a minister because the justices genuinely believed that his multiple criminal convictions rendered him unfit to serve in high office? Or did the Court banish him because it is its last best hope to topple the Netanyahu government and thwart the intended reforms that will dilute the Court’s current nearly unlimited powers? Or maybe it was a combination of the two?

The fact that these questions are legitimate and that we will never know the answer underscores the credibility problem Israel’s Supreme Court has with a large part of the public. On one hand, there are cogent reasons to ban Deri from serving as a minister. But those same reasons easily pertained to banning him from politics altogether. Thus, on the other hand, it is inherently undemocratic to negate the vote of hundreds of thousands of Shas voters who voted for him knowing of his ethical challenges. It seems odd to allow someone to run with the strong presumption that if his bloc won a majority he (the party leader) would become a minister, only to have an unelected judicial body pull the rug out from under him after the election. It is odder still that the Court took this drastic action without even a semblance of statutory support but simply based on the Court’s own conclusions of what is reasonable. No wonder so many thoughtful people think the Court is out of control and needs to be reined in.

In essence, the Court here without authority usurped the role of the prime minister in choosing his cabinet, just as it routinely commandeers the role of defense minister by decreeing security strategy and tactics, just as it routinely appropriates the role of each minister by dictating policy when it is so inclined, just as it arrogates to itself the role of Knesset when the Court invalidates laws or preempts their enactment by leaking that, if passed, the law will be invalidated, and just as it seizes the function of the Chief Rabbinate when the Court deigns to determine conversion standards and which establishments should be deemed kosher.

Israel’s Supreme Court thus serves as a Super Minister (above the Prime Minister), a Super General (above the Chief of Staff), a Super Legislator (above the Knesset) and a Super Posek (above the Chief Rabbis). And it fills all these roles without statutory sanction and without being elected by or accountable to the people - and the Court even controls the selection process of its future members.

Thus, the Supreme Court controls the judicial branch of government and for practical purposes dominates the executive and legislative branches. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that such an institution is a threat to democracy and needs to be reformed. Imagine, for a moment, that the United States Supreme Court decided unilaterally that it is “unreasonable” that Pete Buttigieg serve as Secretary of Transportation and must be summarily fired. That is not an implausible recommendation but it is unimaginable and unthinkable that such should occur because the US Supreme Court operates under constitutional and statutory constraints. No such limits currently pertain to the Israeli Supreme Court; hence the purpose of the reforms.

Is there a Torah perspective on the proposed judicial reforms? The instant answer is negative. The secular court system is not a Bet Din and the High Court is not a Sanhedrin (ironically, the Sanhedrin served a quasi-legislative function – but ancient Israel did not have a legislature). The qualifications of the judges and the standards of evidence applied do not adhere to the Torah’s framework for a judicial system. The laws that the Court enforces (or concocts) do not always conform to Halacha and the Court for more than a quarter century has studiously avoided applying the Foundations of Laws Act (1980) that calls on the judges of Israel to refer to Moreshet Yisrael (the historical heritage of the Jewish people) when a clear statutory framework is lacking.

Instead, it supplants the heritage of Israel and the will of the electorate by basing its most controversial and lawless decisions on, one supposes, Moreshet Tel Aviv, the values of the people (primarily, in the first instances, the justices themselves) whom they deem to be enlightened. And for that, people demonstrate in Tel Aviv and have, through misrepresentations, hysteria, and falsehoods, incited indignation across the world to Israel’s detriment.

And yet, perhaps we can glean some guidance from the Torah as to the substance and desirability of the proposed reforms. What is the purpose of the judicial system according to the Torah? Well, it is to do justice, which is defined as applying the law equally and fairly to all. The Jewish court does not favor the poor over the rich, the alien over the citizen, the Arab over the Israeli, the Muslim over the Jew, the enlightened over the unenlightened, or the secular over the religious. “Justice” is not social justice, economic justice, racial justice, environmental justice, or any other qualifier. To preface “justice” with an adjective is to distort the very concept of justice. “One law for everyone.” That is the primary role of the court.

Similarly, since Halacha is given to us as a holistic (and holy) system, the Jewish court does not fabricate laws or substitute its own thinking for that of the Torah. In our context, the role of the court is not to legislate or to create new laws but to interpret the laws as passed by the Knesset and adjudicate cases and controversies that arise between the citizens. Like the other branches of the Jewish government, the system is intended to elicit the divine presence and make us a holier, more faithful people – not a nation that is enamored with Western decadence.

Furthermore, one of the 613 commandments requires the appointment of judges “in all our gates” (Sefer Hachinuch, mitzvah 491). This is generally done by the people and/or the leadership. The judges do not appoint their successors nor are they given veto power over new nominees as the current Court has, all the better to ensure ideological conformity.

It is worth noting that the authority of the Sanhedrin derived from the Torah (Devarim 17:11) and thus from G-d. The people accepted its rulings because such deference was commanded by the Torah and rooted in one of the 613 commandments. But from where does Israel’s Supreme Court derive its authority? Presumably from the laws of the Knesset that created it and defined its jurisdiction. Thus when the Court exceeds its statutory authority and adjudicates matters beyond its delegated capacity (such as the revolution waged by Aharon Barak that renders any and all matters justiciable) it has no recognized authority. The government and public’s adherence to those rulings would be discretionary but for Israel’s secular media that treat the pronouncements of the Court with greater reverence that they have for the revelation at Sinai and deem dissenters and even questioners as ignoble heretics.

Finally, perhaps the greatest lesson from the Torah relates to the qualifications for judges. Certainly, a Jewish court requires “men of wisdom and understanding, exceptional in the wisdom of Torah, with broad intellectual potential, and familiar with other wisdoms” (Rambam, Laws of Sanhedrin 2:1). For our purposes, though, Rambam (2:7) noted that judges should possess “wisdom, humility, fear of G-d, distaste for wealth, a love for truth, beloved by the people and possessors of a good reputation.” We assume that is hard to find – but note the importance of “love of truth” which precludes having a social or political agenda that the judge seeks to implement. Loving truth means following the law even if it does not accord with one’s personal preferences. The judge should be “beloved by the people,” not deem the people as unenlightened, social inferiors, and “possessors of a good reputation,” not usurping authority on specious grounds and threatening civil war if that authority is not conceded.

The judicial coup d’etat sparked by the Barak revolution has now been joined. Democracy is being defended, not subverted. And the current reforms that seek to limit judicial review, curb the Court’s unlimited powers, restrain its jurisdictional overreach, restore authority to the people, and restructure the judicial selection process have an added advantage: they promote the ideals and values of the Torah as it perceives a functioning judiciary in the kingdom of priests and holy nation.

Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: Is Israel So Different from the Nations?

 #140

Date and Place: 27 Iyar 5668 (1908), Yafo

Recipient: Rabbi Shmuel Alexandrov. Alexandrov was a yeshiva-trained scholar, who was an autodidact in languages, philosophy, and science. He was a very independent thinker who at times angered the Maskilimand at times angered traditional rabbis. He was a member of the Mizrachi movement and tried, over the years, to recruit Rav Kook to take a leadership role within that movement. This is one of many correspondences between the two on matters of Jewish philosophy.

Body: That which it is so popular these days to speak of the development of Judaism is just one side of the coin. It is pleasant to speak about the side of Judaism that is similar to the rest of the nations. However, we need to find the opportunity to also speak freely about that which is different about us in comparison to all the other nations of the world. How long will we be so self-defeating that we should always suspect only ourselves [of being overly proud]?!

There are many praises and high levels of greatness that are found about us in very important sources. Other nations would have proudly raised themselves to a pedestal above all if such things would have been written about them, always presenting themselves as possessing great personal advantages. Once the venom of the imported concept of liberalism started circulating in our blood, we only know how to erase the traits that make us so prominent among our surroundings. We should not diminish the differences even by a hairbreadth from the Kuzari’s categorization of a fifth category (I:103).

Not everything develops. Humanity has developed to become what it is, but Judaism has not. Judaism is the inner essence of humanity and existence in general. In contrast, development applies only to matters of style, and external cloaking, not to inner content. The upper unity, when it shines from one side of the world to the other, unites psychology with general cosmetology. The former needs to be recognized before it can realize its full potential, which stems from life and [spiritual] power. That is where the most lofty freedom and morality show their grandest colors.

The national psychology that burst forth at one quick moment, when the nation was amazingly elevated at the Exodus from Egypt, was unparalleled in world history. The bold elevation in the nation’s psychology was so powerful that it impacted on the development of cosmetology, in the annals of human history. The generation of the desert experienced a historical episode.

It would be a disgrace to falsify our wonderful history and the special power that goes with it. The creation of a unique national psyche is especially indicative of Bnei Yisrael, which is known as “she is unique to her mother” (Shir Hashirim 6:9). Afterward, when the glow of the glorious national psyche, which was influenced by Moshe, the trustworthy shepherd, settled, a process of development began, which affected Judaism like any other nation. However, the foundational lines of elevated greatness impacted by Hashem are never erased from the nation.

The sudden spiritual elevation was lowered by the sin of the Golden Calf and the breaking of the Tablets. However, in the future, their full light will return. The paths of life will then be more visible and light emitting, and, as a result, freer and holier in regards to the sanctity of truth, which is purer than all of the fog that subdues light and presently covers sanctity.

We are now in a period in which we should show all of the lights that we have hidden in our storehouses. Even those whose practical side will not be operative until the distant future, should already be revealed to bolster our national essence, which strengthens our national character. It requires constant nourishment to grow. It would be tragic to think that we could draw the light in a purely abstract form without any practical physical expression (i.e., mitzvot)
.

To share with the world a different reality

by Rav Binny Freedman

In 1925, the American Astronomer Edwin Hubble demonstrated (as an extension of Vesto Slipher’s discovery in 1918) that the Universe was actually not static; it was expanding: every galaxy in the observable proximity of earth (as far as 6 x 1017 miles away) was actually receding at the same rate of speed. This, along with other discoveries, gave rise to the big bang theory: that the entire universe had once been contained in a singularity, a single dot that sat for an eternity in space before it exploded.

Many, including Einstein, resisted the idea of a non-static universe as it implied a beginning and a supernatural external force that caused the big bang, but eventually, even Einstein had to admit a static universe was no longer likely. Indeed, the death knell of the static universe theory may have been Penzias and Wilson’s discovery (for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1965) of the frequency of sound which was the echo of the big bang itself!

Of course, if all matter and energy was initially contained in the original dot of singularity, there was nothing external that could have naturally caused the big bang, which seemed to suggest a Prime Mover (G-d?). Hence Einstein’s reluctance to accept a non-static universe and his statement that “I have not yet fallen into the hands of shamans and priests…”

At this point the scientific community suggested another possibility: perhaps the Universe was expanding but would eventually implode back into a singularity and then, when all that energy contracted to its extreme limit it would explode again and the process would start all over again. In other words, the universe could still be viewed as static with no beginning, just of an oscillating nature with an endless succession of big bangs followed by big crunches followed again by big bangs and so on. In order to support this theory, there had to be enough average density of mass in the universe to allow for all the matter to eventually slow down and begin to reverse the expansion process. And as it turned out, there simply was not enough mass, not by a long shot.

And this led to a fascinating phenomenon as a plethora of scientists, desperate to be able to conclude that the Universe had no beginning, and that there was indeed no Prime Mover or G-d. Many theories were suggested as to where this massive amount of missing mass might be hidden. Perhaps in black holes? Or maybe behind each observable star lay many more hidden stars? Anything but the most obvious conclusion that the universe had a beginning and that all of creation thus may have been created with … purpose.

This week in Parshat (the portion of) Bo, we witness the tragic and yet inevitable conclusion of the battle of wills between Moshe and Pharaoh. After ten plagues, the destruction of Egypt, and finally, tragically, the death of his own firstborn son, Paroh finally exhorts Moshe to leave Egypt; he will finally let the Jewish people go.

And in this dramatic finale the Kotzker Rebbe (Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk) takes note of a curious detail:

As G-d visited the plague of the first-born in the middle of the night, there arose a great cry in all of Egypt, for there was no house that was not spared. (Shemot 12: 29-30) And the verse tells us that “ Paroh arose in the night” (ibid v. 30) on which Rashi comments: (he arose) from his bed (“mi’mitato”).

Think about it: Moshe has given Paroh warning of nine plagues, and each one has indeed come to pass. And this time Moshe tells Pharaoh (ibid. 11:5-6) every first-born will die this night, including Paroh's own son! And Paroh himself according to tradition was a first-born! And… Paroh goes to sleep? He is in bed? Seriously??

Says the Kotzker, there is a very deep idea here a person can become so ensconced in their beliefs that no amount of evidence to the contrary can sway them from their beliefs.

This phenomenon is similar to what happened in the plague of the hail, where, after six plagues Moshe warns Paroh and the people (ibid. 9:19-20) that whatever cattle are left in the fields along with anyone else, will be destroyed in the fields. After six plagues one would think everyone would immediately move everything into the barns. But incredibly, most Egyptians did not. Because to move the cattle would have been to admit that they were wrong, and that their entire lives had been built on a colossal mistake.

And we sadly see this all too often. Thirty years after Oslo, despite all the evidence that ‘land for peace’ did not work there are still significant groups of people who believe if only we would give away yet more land, we would have peace…

Even Shimon Peres, despite all his accomplishments especially as President of the State of Israel, was never able to admit that Oslo was a colossal error, because to admit that might have meant that his entire adult political career was built on a mistaken assumption; and that is a very hard thing to do.

Fascinatingly, after the hail, unlike the rest of the plagues, where Paroh expresses irritation, anger or even fear, here, in the plague of hail, he says to Moshe:

“I have sinned this time. God is the righteous one and I and my people are the wicked ones.” (ibid. 9:28)

In a moment of clarity, Paroh realizes he made a mistake! G-d gave him a way out, and he should have grabbed it. He was perhaps given a chance to accept that G-d runs the world.

Paroh actually recognizes here he has made a mistake, and he even regrets it! He is so close! All he has to do to change everything is decide to make a change and the future will be a whole new world. But he cannot make that change, and, failing to capitalize on the opportunity, once the hail has been removed, falls back into his old ways, and the rest is history.

In 1978 Dr. Robert Jastrow, director of NASA’s Goddard Center for Space Studies (One of the, if not the greatest Astro-physicists of his day), released NASA’s definitive findings on this topic after fifteen years of study declaring that the Universe was indeed open and expanding. To quote the article in the New York Times magazine:

“This is an exceedingly strange development, unexpected by all but the theologians. They have always accepted the word of the Bible: “In the Beginning G-d created Heaven and Earth…” But for the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak, and as he pulls himself over the final rock he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries…”

Paroh teaches us the danger of getting so stuck in the way we see things; we cannot see truth when it stares us in the face. Perhaps that is why the Jews need to leave Egypt; it’s time to share with the world a different reality.

There are so many challenges we face as a world; perhaps we need to approach them from a different perspective. After all, only madmen approach the same problems with the same solutions, expecting a different outcome….

The Yishai Fleisher Israel Podcast: David Friedman, the Fight for Campus, & Remembering the Saintly "Baba Sali"

SEASON 2023 EPISODE 4: Yishai is on the road again! He speaks with former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman about the state of the Abraham Accords, and with Rabbi Schneur Oirechman of Chabad Tallahassee who is fighting assimilation, and with Florida State University student David Glasser who is dealing with antisemitism, and with Joel Griffith who celebrated Israel's new coalition with Young Jewish Conservatives at a swanky hotel rooftop in Miami. Plus: Exodus Torah and the Yarzheit of the Baba Sali, Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira.

Rabbi Ari Kahn on Parashat Bo: It's about the children (video)

Yeshivat Machon Meir: Parshat Bo - The Laws of the Pesach Offering (video)

When Redemption comes around, we tend to pay for it…

by Rabbi Pinchas Winston

This week’s Perceptions is dedicated in loving memory of Moshe Leib ben David, z”l, by the Kedar Family. May his Neshamah have aliyah after aliyah, and may he be a meilitz yoshar for all of Klal Yisroel.

Friday Night
THE SITUATION IS becoming intolerable. When the Right loses the vote, they go back to the drawing table to figure out how to win it the next time. When the Left loses it, they declare war and work on taking through non-democratic means what they lost democratically. In a phrase, they are poor losers.

I agree. This is not yet the time to impose Torah values on non-Torah Jews. I might be shortsighted, but I think it is making very angry people even angrier. Anger with poor sportsmanship usually results in violence. Religious people, especially Charedim, should be cautious. When redemption comes around, we tend to pay for it…

The religious world has its zealots and people who are capable of performing violence against perceived enemies, even within the religious world. But on the whole, religious Jews believe in God, and Torah constricts their whims. They might be angry enough to hurt someone else, but something inside usually stops them. And at least when they stand up for something, it is usually in the Name of God and halachah.

We need both. Lots of people have done horrible things in the past in the “Name of God,” and still do. You need halachah to temper that. You need Torah to tell you Who God is and what He really wants, to prevent acting based upon your own personal interpretation of what He wants. Without halachah, people can convince themselves that they are serving God when they are really serving themselves.

The Jewish “Left” is just an up-to-date version of the Hellenists. We never did solve the problem of anti-Torah Jews back at the time of the miracle of Chanukah, and it has been with us ever since. There is no one harder to talk to about God and Torah than a Jew who has adopted the “Greek” way of life, whether by choice or inheritance. They identify with their yetzer hara, which has turned the world inside out for them, making left right, and good evil.

Last week’s Leftish revolt claimed that Judaism is Nazism, and that the Netanyahu government is the sixth reich. This is crazy, dangerously crazy.

The Left doesn’t profess to be doing the godly thing, because that is not their mandate. They argue that they are doing the human thing. But then again, so did Hitler, ysv”z. It’s the Erev Rav all over again.

Shabbos Day
THE EREV RAV. We were introduced to them in Parashas Shemos with the help of the Arizal (Sha’ar HaPesukim, Shemos). Why did Pharaoh have to deal “wisely” with the Jewish people if he planned to enslave them? He didn’t. That verse refers to the Erev Rav, would-be converts to the “Jewish people” whom Pharaoh had hoped to woo back to Egyptian society. The Jewish people he simply wanted to abuse and break.

The Erev Rav have had a very long history, going back to the 130 years of teshuvah that Adam HaRishon did for his sin (Eiruvin 18b). The Arizal, in Sha’ar HaPesukim (Shemos), details the journey of their souls through history until Egypt. It is remarkable. But even though it sounds as if they may have been sincere converts at the start, which is why Moshe Rabbeinu felt confident about taking them out with the Jewish people at the end of this week’s parsha, in the end they were not only a thorn in our sides but a dagger in our hearts.

We are here, still deep in exile, divided and more confused than ever, because of the Erev Rav. Even worse, the battle against the Erev Rav, even if they do not know who they are, will be our final and worst, as the Vilna Gaon warned:

The joining of Eisav and Yishmael is the result of Armelius, the ministering angel of the Erev Rav, who are able to destroy the Jewish people and the entire world, may God have mercy on us. The main drive of the Erev Rav is to unify Eisav and Yishmael and to separate the two moshiachs (Moshiach Ben Yosef and Moshiach Ben Dovid). Therefore, our main task and battle is to break and remove the strength of the Erev Rav, the klipah of Armelius the Evil, from the Jewish people. The Erev Rav is our greatest enemy, the one who separates the two moshiachs, and the klipah of the Erev Rav works only through deception and roundabout ways. Therefore, the war against the Erev Rav is the most difficult and bitterest of all. We must strengthen ourselves for this war, and anyone who does not participate in the battle against the Erev Rav becomes, de facto, a partner with the klipah of the Erev Rav, and is better off not having being born. (Kol HaTor, Ch. 2, Chelek 2, Os 2)

Two questions. How do you correctly identify the Erev Rav, and how do you battle against them?

Once upon a time, it was easy to know who was Erev Rav and who wasn’t. The Clouds of Glory did not encompass the Erev Rav in the desert as they did the Jewish people, and they did not enjoy the same miracles. But there are many Jewish “stragglers” who do not make it into the “Clouds of Glory” today. That however may be more because they lack enough Torah knowledge, and have been misled in their understanding of Judaism. Many a ba’al teshuvah can tell you how once this described them as well. So, accurately identifying a card-carrying member of the Erev Rav might not be possible anymore.

But in this case, “Know thine enemy” is more a matter of knowing what they want to do, and protecting against that. At the end of the day, and especially at the End of Days, enemies of the Jewish people only come to push the Jewish people to do what they should have chosen to do on their own. Unfortunately, left alone, the Jewish people tend to drift and lose focus. It is the Pharaohs and Erev Ravs of history that jolt us into action and push us to be redeemed.

Shalosh Seudot
IF ONLY MOSHE hadn’t taken the Erev Rav out of Egypt along with the Jewish people, we’d be sitting in Gan Aiden now. There would have been no golden calf, no episode of the spies, no thousands of years of exile and persecution. We would have gone to Har Sinai, received the Torah, traveled only 11 days to Eretz Yisroel and begun the Messianic Era immediately.

Theoretically yes, actually, no.

Even though God did not agree to taking the Erev Rav out in this week’s parsha, it was all part of the Divine plan. Even though the Erev Rav is called the greatest impediment to redemption:

The Erev Rav delay the redemption far more than all the nations of the world. (Zohar, Raya Mehemna)

they are also part of the redemption process. We don’t like it, and we certainly don’t yet understand why, but we also know, at least kabbalistically, that if something happens it was meant to happen ever since before Creation.

In the world of man, the Erev Rav represented a big step backward. In the world of God, there is only forward. We’ll have to wait and see how true that is. In the meantime, we can apply an idea that we already know to be true: adversity builds.

Life and history are about actualizing potential. Some of it happens automatically just by growing up. Some of it happens because we try to accomplish things. But a lot of it happens because things happen to us, much of which we did not plan and, on many occasions, would never have planned. Adversity falls into that category for most people.

But in dealing with our problems and challenges, we are often forced to call on resources we never knew we had, or barely tried to use. Necessity is the mother of invention, or sometimes, just the inspiration to realize hidden or unused potential. And when we’re done, either because we solved the crisis and even if we didn’t, we have gained access to a new part of ourselves and become more whole.

There are two things we do not like on principle: doubt and arguments. We love clarity in life, and it is much nicer and easier when it is two Jews and one opinion as opposed to two Jews and three opinions. But as Rav Hutner, zt”l, points out: look at all the wonderful Torah that has been revealed while dealing with doubt and arguing amongst ourselves in learning. It was always there in potential, but it might have only remained potential if we were not “forced” to find the “hidden” insights to answer difficult questions.

Unquestionably the Erev Rav has dragged down the Jewish people spiritually over history, and still does. Perhaps now more than ever. It might be hard to ID them with any certainty, but in dealing with the problems they have created, we have revealed previously unknown facets of Torah Judaism, and enhanced Torah life for those who have remained loyal. Yes, we’re obligated to “battle” them. But if we do it right and with the proper intention, they will eventually disappear while the Torah will become even more revealed in the world than it ever has been.

Ain Od Milvado, Part 36
IT IS HARD to believe that we have been doing this for nine months now, but the numbers do not lie. Hopefully it is getting through and the concept of God being all there is in life is sinking into our hearts. It is a life’s work.

The Gemora says that a person makes the brochah, HaTov uMeitiv, the One Who is good and does good, when good things happen, and Dayan HaEmes—Truthful Judge—after bad things. But, we are told, in Yemos HaMoshiach we will only make one brochah, HaTov uMeitiv, because then we’ll be able to see the good in what we previously perceived to be bad.

In the meantime, when we make the brochah, Dayan HaEmes, we are really saying, ain od Milvado. Saying Dayan HaEmes means that we believe that whatever “not good” happened to us, we accept and understand it was from God, and actually for our good. We’re not fooled by the human perpetrators or bad mazel, because we know that not even a blade of grass can grow unless an angel, an emissary of God, tells it to grow.

Bad stuff happens. The Gemora acknowledges this, and history proves it. Many of the Tannaim who authored most of the teachings in the Talmud experienced a lot of it first hand, including the great Rebi Akiva. Life in every generation allows what seems to be gross injustices, and according to the letter of the law, they are. If we can right them, we must. If we can’t, we have to work with them, around them, and sometimes through them.

But never can we let them distract us away from God. Never can we let adversity make us doubt God, or His good. Today we may blame God for our misfortunes, and ain od Milvado says that He is, ultimately, the One responsible for them. Later, however, when we get to see our lives in retrospect, we’ll thank God for every last challenge we faced, once we finally get to see what we gained because of them. Many things don’t add up in this world, but they do in the next world. S. And staying strong with God when He appears “weak” to us, makes life add up in the next world in more ways that we can imagine in this world.

Iran's Newest Commitments

by Khaled Abu Toameh

• The Arabs are not only disturbed about Iran's efforts to obtain nuclear weapons, but also its ongoing meddling in the internal affairs of Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.

• In a sign reflecting the Arab concern over the Biden administration's perceived lenient policy towards the mullahs and their nuclear ambitions, Egypt and Saudi Arabia announced in mid-January that they have "agreed on the need for Iran to fully respect its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in a way that prevents it from acquiring nuclear weapons."

• "[W]e need negotiations on specific issues that allow us to eliminate security risks, support stability and bring an end to Iran's interference in Arab affairs." — Tariq Al-Homayed, Saudi journalist, former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, January 15, 2023.

• "The Islamic Republic of Iran will continue supporting the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon and Palestine." — Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahain, iranintel.com, January 13, 2023.

• The mullahs are telling the Arabs that they can continue barking to their hearts' content, but Iran will do whatever it wants in their countries.

• When the Iranian foreign minister says his country will continue supporting the "resistance" in Lebanon, he means that Tehran will continue to provide weapons and money to Hezbollah, the terrorist organization that effectively controls Lebanon and has turned the country into a state of anarchy and lawlessness.

• Like Hezbollah, the Palestinian groups are largely responsible for the misery of the people living under their rule.

• "As for foreign policy, 'Khomeinism' produced a country that lives in an economic blockade for decades and that no longer knows a language other than weapons for dialogue with its neighbors and countries of the world." — Baha' Al-Awwam, Syrian journalist, Al-Ain, December 3, 2022.

• "During the era of former US President Barack Obama, the US wanted to unleash the hand of political Islam in the region, so it supported the 'sons of Khomeini' and 'the grandchildren of [Muslim Brotherhood founder] Hassan al-Banna.'" — Baha' Al-Awwam, Al-Ain, December 3, 2022.

• It seems as though the Obama and Biden administrations are ultimately willing to agree to almost anything the mullahs want and throw in a trillion dollars if the mullahs just please do not use their nuclear weapons -- as Obama candidly put it in 2015 -- "on my watch."

Arab countries are not only disturbed about Iran's efforts to obtain nuclear weapons, but also its ongoing meddling in the internal affairs of Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. Pictured: An Iranian Kheibar Shekan missile in a parade in Tehran, on September 22, 2022. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

The Arab countries are still extremely anxious about the possibility that the Biden administration will return to the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The JCPOA -- signed in 2015 between Tehran and several world powers, including the US -- promises Iran's regime, after a short time, the ability to possess as many nuclear weapons as it likes, the missiles to deliver them, and no constraints on its terrorism or "revolutionary" expansionism.

In 2018, then US President Donald J. Trump withdrew from the JCPOA after realizing that it failed to curtail Iran's nuclear weapons program, missile program or regional aggression and terrorism.

In the past year, reports about the possibility that the Biden administration was working to revive the Iran nuclear deal has sparked fear among many Arabs and Muslims, who have criticized the US for embarking on a policy of appeasement towards the regime of the mullahs in Tehran.

Continue reading>>>>

The Holiness of Time and the Holiness of Man

by HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

The first mitzvah commanded to Israel was to establish a Jewish calendar, as it says, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you” (Shemot 12:2). It is true that time is something that cannot be touched the way a place can, yet our very existence is found within time, just as man, created in G-d’s image, is found in this world.

Time is the order of man’s life in this world. Man’s existence is linked to time and place. There are steps in time, in place, and in man. It is Israel who sanctifies time, as in our blessing G-d who “sanctifies Israel and time” (Yom Tov Shemoneh Esreih). In other words, Israel uncovers the divine content of time, they invest value and content in time and in man’s reality in the world, by dint of G-d’s revealing himself to them. Israel uncovers man’s holiness in the world (see “Sichot HaRav Tzvi Yehuda on Shemot, page 132).

Today, our generation has a great need to discover and strengthen the holiness of time, place, and man. They have to separate and distinguish between “the holy and the profane, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations, between Shabbat and the six days of work” (Havdalah).

The materialistic worldview blurs the holiness of time, space, and man. This worldview leads one to think that all times are equal. The sun rises on Shabbat and festivals precisely the way it rises on weekdays. Therefore, there is not, so to speak, any difference between them. There is no Shabbat, no festival, and no intermediate days within the festivals.

The world is round. Therefore, every place on the face of the earth is equal. Seemingly there is no difference between Eretz Yisrael and the rest of the lands, between Jerusalem and the other cities in the world. This outlook leads us to concede parts of our holy land to the Arabs, G-d forbid. For people with this outlook, there is no difference between the Jewish People and other nations. Therefore, they permit mixed marriages and assimilation among the nations.

How fortunate we are that we merit sanctifying time. How fortunate we are that G-d chose us from amongst all the nations and gave us our Torah. How fortunate we are that are regaining Eretz Yisrael and Tzion. “For the L-rd chose Tzion. He desired it as His abode… The L-rd will not abandon His people, neither will He leave His inheritance” (Yehi Kavod).

Looking forward to salvation,
With the Love of Israel,
Shabbat Shalom.

Who Was Responsible for the Jewish Exodus from Egypt?

BS”D
Parashat Bo 5783
by HaRav Nachman Kahana

Why was Moshe’s name omitted from the Pesach Hagada when he was the most influential personality in the Exodus episode?

I submit:

Because it was not Moshe who in the end brought the Jews out of Egypt, but other messengers who were empowered by HaShem to carry out the end of Jewish servitude in Egypt.

Explanation:
During the final days of our 210-year sojourn in Egypt, including the last 80 years of intense servitude, the newly freed slaves were busy quibbling, bickering and pondering the possibilities that lay before them. To disregard Moshe’s leadership and remain in Egypt where they would establish the first Jewish Commonwealth upon the massive wealth of the defeated Egyptian people, or to follow Moshe into the forsaken desert with little or no preparations or even rational hope of surviving. Eighty percent opted to remain and died during the plague of darkness. The remaining 20% were unsure and procrastinated (“dragged their heels”) with baking bread and packing the minimum essentials, not really enthusiastic with the idea of entering the desert with only a few dry matzot and some water.

Moshe’s calls of persuasion and encouragement did not permeate the membrane of fear that enveloped their slave mentality. They were on the “high diving board” unable to take the final jump into the unknown void.

At this point in the drama, when every Egyptian home was suffering the tenth plague, the Torah informs us (Shemot 12,29-33):

כט) וַיְהִי בַּחֲצִי הַלַּיְלָה וַה’ הִכָּה כָל בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבְּכֹר פַּרְעֹה הַיֹּשֵׁב עַל כִּסְאוֹ עַד בְּכוֹר הַשְּׁבִי אֲשֶׁר בְּבֵית הַבּוֹר וְכֹל בְּכוֹר בְּהֵמָה

ל) וַיָּקָם פַּרְעֹה לַיְלָה הוּא וְכָל עֲבָדָיו וְכָל מִצְרַיִם וַתְּהִי צְעָקָה גְדֹלָה בְּמִצְרָיִם כִּי אֵין בַּיִת אֲשֶׁר אֵין שָׁם מֵת

לא) וַיִּקְרָא לְמֹשֶׁה וּלְאַהֲרֹן לַיְלָה וַיֹּאמֶר קוּמוּ צְּאוּ מִתּוֹךְ עַמִּי גַּם אַתֶּם גַּם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וּלְכוּ עִבְדוּ אֶת ה’ כְּדַבֶּרְכֶם

לב) גַּם צֹאנְכֶם גַּם בְּקַרְכֶם קְחוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתֶּם וָלֵכוּ וּבֵרַכְתֶּם גַּם אֹתִי

לג) וַתֶּחֱזַק מִצְרַיִם עַל הָעָם לְמַהֵר לְשַׁלְּחָם מִן הָאָרֶץ כִּי אָמְרוּ כֻּלָּנוּ מֵתִים

29 At midnight HaShem struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.

30 Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud cry in Egypt for there was not a house without someone dead.

31 Then he (Paro) summoned Moses and Aaron in the night and said, Rise up, go away from my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, serve the Lord, as you said.

32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you said, and be gone. And ask a blessing for me, too!

33 The Egyptians forcefully impelled the people to hasten their departure from the land, for they said, “We shall all be dead”.

Neither the words of Moshe or Aharon in the name of HaShem, nor the impressive miracles that they performed were powerful enough to release the mental paralysis that gripped the Jews at the moment of truth – where shall we go? It was the Egyptian masses who forcefully brought the Jews to the border and propelled them out of the land into the wilderness!

Indeed, the parasha after Bo begins:

ויהי בשלח פרעה את העם

“And it came about when Paro sent the people out”;

Not Moshe and Aharon, but the anti-Semitic king of Egypt and his subjects were HaShem’s vehicle to expel the Jews, as a message for future generations that behind the pretty fence waits a fierce Pitbull. (Visualize the American government and the good people of California and Texas bringing millions of illegal immigrants to the Mexican border and forcing them to cross over.)

My Messages
More than twenty years have passed since I took it upon myself to write these weekly messages. One thousand weeks, 1000 commentaries, minus the several times I failed for reasons beyond my control. Each message was a variation on a single theme: that the time is long overdue for the Jews to leave the spiritual and physical cemeteries of the galut and return home. To return in order to continue our religious and national mission as mandated by the Creator Himself to our fathers Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov from the point that He exiled us from His land 2000 years ago.

As I look back, I grade myself according to two criteria: earnestness and success. For earnestness I give myself a passing mark, but success?! A dismal failure.

Not that I ever deceived myself into believing that I could influence masses of Jews to leave the comforts of their birthplaces to begin new lives in our small, imperiled land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, bordered to the west by water and to the east by Arabs. But at least it would be one more shrill voice vibrating into the consciences of authentic Jews.

I pray to HaShem to permit me another 20 years of writing, but the time has come that I realize that others can do “the job” better than I. So, although I will continue to write, I am aware that there are more active and more numerous forces capable of succeeding in a shorter time and with wider influence than I in bringing our people home.

Who or what will be the catalyst for the next exodus?

Who are these more capable and certainly more experienced activists who will count their success not in tens or hundreds but in millions of Jews they will bring home?

They are the termite-like anti-Semites throughout the US, who are now “coming out of the woodwork”. Their numbers and influence grow like viruses on the campuses, among entertainers, politicians, local priests and ministers. But unlike some viruses for which one can find protection with vaccines, these viruses come with immunity that has been passed on from Paro of Egypt to Nevuchadnezzer of Babylon, to Haman of Persia, to Antiochus of Greece, to the Caesars of Rome, to the Popes of Europe, to the Ukrainians, Russians and Poles, to Hitler, to Stalin, and to the Arafats ad nauseam.

They are immune to the lessons of history, that anti-Semites always lose and for all their efforts they earn a place near the eastern wall of Gehennom. They are immune to the Jews’ calls for virtue, integrity, morality, ethics, and decency.

A group that much be carefully monitored is the one calling themselves the Black Hebrew Israelites. They claim that they are the real Jews. They are motivated by their hate of all whites with their particular hate towards Jews. Black Hebrew Israelite followers have sought out and attacked Jews in the United States on more than one occasion. Between 2019 and 2022, individuals motivated by Black Hebrew Israelitism committed five religiously motivated murders. Black Hebrew Israelites believe that we are “imposters”, who have “stolen” Black Americans’ true racial and religious identity. Black Hebrew Israelites promote the antisemitic Khazar conspiracy theory about Jewish origins. In 2019, 4% of African Americans self-identified as being Black Hebrew Israelites!

The exodus from Egypt has taught us that words, such as those spoken by Moshe and Aaron, as important and impressive as they may be, are not enough to move masses of Jews from the galut to return home.

In closing permit me a short story. Several years ago, as a favor for a certain religious institution, I wrote a weekly column for their Torah publication. At the end of one of my columns I related the following incident:

An Arab entered a bank in Yerushalayim just as the automatic mechanism closed the safe until the following morning. In reply to the Arab’s vocal demand for cash, the teller told him that the safe could not be opened until the following morning. The Arab became belligerent, threatening the life of the teller. At this point, the bank manager approached the Arab, picked him up and threw him out.

While the Arab was nursing his wounds, the bank teller approached him saying: “Didn’t I tell you that the safe is closed until tomorrow morning?” The Arab turned to the teller and said: “Yes. You told me. But he explained it!”

This serious joke was offensive to a certain individual who wrote letters that could have harmed the institution, and I was very nicely requested to discontinue writing for them. Nevertheless, we remain very good friends to this day.

I want to close with the lesson we should learn from the above story. The Arab could not understand the situation when told; he needed an explanation.

We Jews are smarter. Let’s not wait for explanations.

Shabbat Shalom
Nachman Kahana
Copyright © 5783/2023 Nachman Kahana

Rav Kook's Ein Ayah: Finding a Good Wife and The Reason to Eat on Erev Yom Kippur

Finding a Good Wife

(based on Berachot 1:93)

Gemara: “For this every pious man should pray to You for the time of finding” (Tehillim 32:6). Rav Chanina says that “the time of finding” refers to a wife, as the pasuk says, “One who found a wife found goodness” (Mishlei 18:22).

Ein Ayah: “The time of finding” refers to a certain time that has implications for the success of his entire life. The only thing that fits this description is a wife. As Chazal said: “If Hashem reserves for him a pretty/good wife, his life is double” (Yevamot 63b). Then he will be able to spend his life focused on reaching true shleimut (completeness). The opposite is also true. If one has a bad wife, all of his days are polluted by a tormented mental state, and he has to deal with the lowliness of bad attributes, as Ben Sira said: “A bad wife is leprosy for her husband.”

The Reason to Eat on Erev Yom Kippur
(based on Berachot 1:103)

Gemara: “You shall afflict yourself on the ninth day of the month in the evening” (Vayikra 23:32). Do we fast on the ninth? Don’t we fast on the tenth? Rather, whoever eats and drinks on the ninth is considered by the Torah as if he fasted on the ninth and the tenth.

Ein Ayah: There are two elements to the content of teshuva. One is to reclaim the lost positive emotions whose boundaries were ruptured. In regard to this element, staying away from physical pleasures and the normal flow of life is effective. This facilitates his contemplation on the ways of ethics and the work of disciplining himself with the love and fear of Hashem.

The second is the matter of forming, by actual practice, good habits of following a proper path and not allowing his desires to take him on a path that diverges from the path of Hashem. This form of teshuva specifically is accomplished when one is occupied in the physical world and his own desires but does so in appropriate measure. In such a case, he distances himself from the path of introspection and a life of seclusion and still he does not leave behind his complete success in staying away from anything that is against the Torah. This second element of teshuva is the way to complete the teshuva of contemplation and elevate its level.

This is why Erev Yom Kippur is designed and fit for teshuva. By this, we mean that the time is appropriate for the type of teshuva that is based on actual, positive habit forming. This is similar to what the Rabbis said (in Yoma 86b) about one who demonstrates having repented by succeeding in avoiding sin after being placed in the same situation in which he failed previously. Therefore, the teshuva process of Yom Kippur is actually completed specifically through eating and drinking and involvement in physicality while still doing everything according to the Torah and its commandments. That is why whoever eats and drinks on the ninth is considered by the Torah as if he fasted the ninth and the tenth. In this way, after all, he elevates even his teshuva of the tenth, for had it remained just a teshuva of contemplation, it would not reach its goal, which requires him to attach it to action.

Tefilin and Eretz Yisrael

by HaRav Mordechai Greenberg
Nasi HaYeshiva, Kerem B'Yavneh

Parshat Bo concludes with the mitzvah of tefilin (Shemot 13:11,16):

When Hashem will bring you to the land of the Canaanites ... It shall be a sign upon your arm, and an ornament between your eyes, for with a strong hand Hashem took us out of Egypt.

The Gemara in Kiddushin 37a asks, "Why does the Torah mention 'bringing [to the Land]' in regards to tefilin?" It answers, "This is needed as taught in the academy of R. Yishmael: Do this mitzvah so that in its merit you will enter the Land." What is the connection between the mitzvah of tefilin and entering the Land?

Normally, the more that a person invests himself in worldly matters, the more he distances from spiritual pursuits, as the author of the Chovot Halevavot writes, "The more the yishuv (physical world) is developed, the more the sechel (spirit) is destroyed."

However, the Torah does not reject the physical life of the body. It just desires that the physical realm should not become the dominant side of life, but rather it should take its proper place, and should be ruled by the spirit. Through this, the matters of the body will be turned to good, so that, just the opposite, the more the body becomes stronger and bolder, the spirit will also become more holy and elevated.

Tefilin express this idea. Tefilin of the hand corresponds to physical activity, and are next to the heart, which is the source of desire, and which is to be ruled by the brain, which is expressed by the tefilin of the head. Tefilin of the head indicate not only the intellectual aspect of man, but also the Divine spirit in him, as Chazal say, "Then all the people of the earth will see that the Name of Hashem is proclaimed over you, and they will revere you. (Devarim 28:10) – These are the tefilin of the head." ["Shem YKVK Nikra" form the acronym, shin, which is the shin in the tefilin of the head.]

Thus, we say in the prayer before placing tefilin:

He commanded us to place on the hand ... which corresponds to the heart, to thereby subjugate the desires and thoughts of our heart to His service. And on the head, corresponding to the brain, since the soul is in my brain with all my other senses and faculties; they should all be subjugated to His service, may He be blessed. From the shefa (Divine influence) of the mitzvah of tefilin, may the shefa of holy thoughts be drawn upon me, etc.

Eretz Yisrael is a land "flowing with milk and honey," so that there is danger that in it the physical body will be strengthened, and thereby the spiritual faculties of man and of the nation will be weakened. Therefore, the mitzvah of tefilin was given to us as a preparation for entering the Land, so that the spiritual forces will be strengthened, and there will be no concern of the destruction of the sechel through the development of the yishuv.

This was the great concern of the spies, as explained by the ancient Seforim. They were afraid to confront this problem, and preferred to remain in the desert, where one can only be involved with the spiritual realm. However, this is not the goal of the Torah, but rather to prove that it is possible to be involved in worldly matters and to remain connected to heaven. To build the body, but to strengthen the spiritual faculty; to be people, but to behave as angels: "People of holiness you shall be to me." (Shemot 22:30)

The Chatam Sofer writes about this (as has been mentioned before), that R. Yishmael's statement that a person should involve himself in worldly pursuits together with his learning is said only in Eretz Yisrael, where labor itself is a mitzvah of yishuv Eretz Yisrael, and of bringing forth its holy fruits. About this the Torah commands, 'Gather your grain.' However, when we are scattered amongst the nations, and the more the world is developed, the service of G-d is destroyed, R. Yishmael concedes to R. Shimon b. Yochai.

Therefore, the Torah says about the mitzvah of tefilin, "Do this mitzvah so that in its merit you will enter the Land," and there will be no danger of spiritual damage due to material involvement.

Rav Kook zt"l writes that this, apparently, is the reason that the satanic forces are striving that this mitzvah should be observed weakly nowadays, in order to hold back the redemption. Thus, it is important to strengthen and put on tefilin mehudarot, written properly and worn in the proper place. (See Chavosh Pe'er Drush #1)

The Torah's Vision of Our National Role

by HaRav Zalman Baruch Melamed
Rosh HaYeshiva, Beit El

The Torah study is dedicated in the memory of R. Avraham ben-tziyon ben shabtai

SPEAKING CONFIDENTLY
At the opening of this week's Torah portion, God says to Moshe: "Come to Pharaoh, because I have hardened his heart so that I can multiply My miracles in his midst." Question: Why does God not simply say, "Go to Pharaoh?" or "Speak to Pharaoh"? To gain an insight into the answer to this question, we must first understand the predicament of the nation and its leader Moshe at this juncture.

Until now, the start of Parshat Bo, Pharaoh and his nation had already experienced seven major plagues, but had refused to give in and free the Jews. In this situation, many Jews had likely resigned themselves to the status quo, feeling that there was no point in really trying to convince Pharaoh to permit them to leave; it's possible that these doubts even trickled down to Moshe Rabeinu. In response, Hashem had to deliver words of encouragement, a statement that would clarify for them that all of the hardships blocking their immediate redemption were part of a Divine plan, that there was nothing to fear from Pharaoh. "Come before him - showing self-confidence, not as if you've been sent, forced to speak with him, but like someone who has come to fulfill his mission..."

WHY THE PLAGUES?
At first glance, it seems that the plagues that befell the Egyptians constituted a punishment for their refusal to release the Children of Israel from bondage. Our sages tell us, however, that there was another reason for the Egyptian suffering: "The Egyptians were evil," say the rabbis, "as it says, 'I (Pharaoh) and my nation are wicked people.' What caused them to suffer each successive plague? They were firmly convinced of the power of their idolatrous gods to save them. So what did God do? He smote their gods along with them."

On the surface of things - from a purely human perspective - it is possible to offer various "political" explanations for the numerous wars that have erupted between Israel and the other nations throughout history. Just as one may understand the conflict with Egypt as a purely economic conflict (i.e. that Egypt did not want to lose all of its free, efficient manpower, its Israelite slaves.) there are those who would argue that our conflicts with other nations stem from economics, security, territory, and the like.

And yet our sages teach that such is not the case. The deeper roots of the war between Israel and the nations is not political or economic, but spiritual. The Jewish servitude in Egypt was merely a manifestation of the spiritual opposition that Egypt posed to everything that the nation of Israel represents. Therefore, it was not Egypt's desire to hold onto Israel that invited the plagues, but the Egyptians' certainty, their faith in their idolatry, that sparked their suffering.

In our day, too, the nations that rise up against Israel are, in practice, not trying to harm Israel per se, but, rather, so to speak- to harm the God of Israel. The Jewish national renaissance of the last 100 years contradicts the conviction that the Jews should have faded into insignificance, the dustbins of history. According to this view, God has "traded the Jews in" for another nation; He has rejected Israel and chosen others. Thus, our true struggle with other nations is a spiritual one. In response to their efforts to stand in the way of our fulfillment of our duty, we must be sure to raise our voices even more and call in the name of Hashem; we must, through our deeds, continue to prove our complete dedication to Him, and our devotion to the task of sanctifying God's name in the world. By following this plan, we will surely succeed in squelching our enemies: "They rely on their chariots and horses, and we shall call in the name of our God..."

UNRAVELING A MISHNA
The mishna in Masechta Berachot states:
"We recite [in the blessings for the Shma prayer] the passage dealing with the redemption from Egypt [even] at night. Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria said: I am nearly 70 years old, and I never understood why the passage of the redemption of Egypt is recited at night; that is, until Ben Zomah arrived and explained the verse, "...so that you should remember the exodus from Egypt all of the days of your life." If it were only to have said, "the days of your life," I would have learned that the exodus need be recited in the daytime hours only. But the Torah says "All the days of your life." From this, I understand that the relevant passage should be recited during the entire 24 hour period of each day. The sages [disagreed] and said: "[If it had said,] 'the days of your life,' [I would have recited the exodus during] the present period in history. [Now that it says] 'all the days', [I understand that] the exodus will even be recited in Messianic times".

Rabbi Yechezkel Segal Landau points out that the above-quoted verse does not explicitly command us to recite verses dealing with the exodus; rather, it refers to the mitzvah as if it is was well-known, and then defines when it should be performed!

If so, Rabbi Landau asks, is the source in the Torah for the specific obligation to mention the exodus? In his answer, Rabbi Landau explains that there is no need for a special mitzvah (commandment) to teach us that God wants us to mention the exodus, since the main theme of numerous mitzvot is to remind us of the redemption from Egypt. Once we were commanded to adhere to these mitzvot, it is obvious that God wishes us to recount the exodus! This is also the possible reason for the fact that Maimonedes - Rambam - does not enumerate the mitzvah of mentioning the exodus as a separate commandment in his "Sefer Hamitzvot." ("Book of the Commandments")

Recalling the exodus from Egypt is more than just a private commandment; it is in fact related to the entire Torah, and all of the Torah's mitzvot. The exodus from Egypt was the first and most overwhelming manifestation of the chosenness of the Jewish people, of the fact that we are a nation treasured by the Creator of the World. This act of "choosing" us was unilateral, a Divinely-ordained reality that transcends the parameters of a particular mitzvah act. We are bidden to live this truth every waking moment. Thus, the fact that there is no separate mitzvah to recount the exodus, not only does not testify to the fact that there is no value to recounting the exodus, but is rather a testimony to the fact that the obligation to do so transcends the parameters of regular mitzvot.

An additional reason can be offered to why this mitzvah is missing from the Torah is that we are ecstatic to be the nation which God chose from among the other nations, and He imposed upon us to be the carriers of Hashem's ideas in this world. We announce: "Happy our we, how good is our portion, and how pleasant is our lot." We are not in need of a specific commandment that imposes upon us to remember the exodus. It is a pleasant obligation for us that obviates the need for a commandment.

SUBTLE DISTINCTION
According to Rabbi Yosef Babad, the author of the renowned "Minchat Chinuch," there is an important difference between the obligation to recall the exodus from Egypt during the daytime, and the obligation to recall it at night. In his view, since the mitzvah to recite it at night stems from a rabbinic "drasha" (derivation) and is not learned from the plain meaning of the Torah text., the obligation to recite it at night is not as serious as reciting it during the daytime. This point has great implications for a person who takes an oath not to recite the verse of the exodus from Egypt. Regarding all of the mitzvot of the Torah - there is a rule that a person cannot take an oath to refrain from performing a mitzvah, since he has already "been sworn in" at Mt. Sinai to fulfill all of the mitzvot, "and one oath cannot overwrite another." However, this is only true with respect to mitzvot explicitly mentioned in the Torah, but this is not true regarding mitzvot derived indirectly from the Torah - regarding which we were not specifically sworn in on Mt. Sinai. Therefore, when a person takes an oath that he will not recite the exodus verses during the daytime, his oath is invalid. In contrast, someone who takes an oath not to recite the exodus from Egypt at night, his oath is valid, and he must fulfil it.

At first blush, it seems as if that is the night-time recitation of the verses relating to the exodus should be considered the main mitzvah, since the night is when the miracles of the redemption took place. The author of the Passover Haggadah says: "And you should tell your son, saying...it is because of this [that God redeemed me from Egypt - at a time when matzah and bitter herbs are placed before you.] i.e. night." The Mitzvah of telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt -with all of the graphic symbols of the servitude and redemption - must be at a time when the exodus actually took place - at midnight. If so, why is it that, as far as recalling the exodus daily, the prime mitzvah is in the daytime.

A TWO-FOLD DUTY
To understand this paradox, we should remember that two obligations exist: the duty to tell the story of the exodus and the mitzvah of recalling the exodus. Telling the story involves the publicizing of the great miracles that God performed for Israel back then. The purpose of publicizing the miracles is two-fold: 1) To praise and bring splendor to God for his miracles and wonders; 2) To warn the other nations of the world who may be planning to rise up against Israel: Observe what happened to the first nation that tried to do so!

The exact time of the main redemptive miracles was midnight. Our sages ask: Why did Moshe say, in the name of God, that "around midnight, I will 'come out' in the midst of Egypt" - instead of being more specific and saying - "at midnight"? To this query, the rabbis answer: "Perhaps Pharoah's magicians would say: "Moshe is just making this all up." If the magicians' calculation of midnight came out differently than the calculation made by Moshe, God's name would be desecrated. If Moshe were to have said that God would smite the firstborn boys - and at "midnight" according to the magicians, the plague had not yet occurred, the world would have experienced a "Chilul Hashem" - a desecration of God's name.

Some of you may ask: Why should we care if the Egyptian sorcerers err? At most, a minute later, the plague of the first born would begin, and all of the first born Egyptian boys would have nevertheless been killed. If so, why the insistence on saying "about midnight"? We can, however, deduce one central theme from this discussion : God wants to ensure that there is no room for misunderstanding, even for a second regarding His power and the complete truth of his promise to redeem Israel.

Until midnight, the night is at its peak, and, mystically, the attribute of God's strict justice is operative. From midnight and onwards, the strength of the night begins to dissipate, and the Divine attribute of mercy begins to shine on earth. Exact midnight represents the moment of synthesis of judgement and compassion: God's judgement of the nations of the world, and His compassion for the nation of Israel. Herein lies both a hint and a warning to Israel’s enemies in future generations who seek to delay the redemption of our people: The moment of Israel’s redemption is a time of compassion for the Jewish people and of strict judgement for those that try to bring the redemption to a halt! In light of the above, the main obligation of telling the story of the exodus from Egypt is at night.

The recitation of the verses relating to the exodus, however, relates to the recognition of God’s having chosen the Jewish nation to be the carrier of the Divine idea in the world - and the Jewish separateness enables our nation to fulfill its role. This recognition must totally fill the being of every Jewish person. With all of his power, each Jew is called upon to recognize the unique part he must play as a member of the treasured nation. This mitzvah is therefore fittingly placed - when people can best internalize it - at the height of the day, when everyone is up, around, and fully conscious.