STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS BO
5777
“FROM A FRIEND”
Rabbi Binyomin Rabinowitz[1] related the following story
about his father, Rabbi Yisroel Rabinowitz zt’l[2]:
“During his adolescence, my father learned in the
Lomza yeshiva in northeastern Poland .
When the Germans began bombing in 1939, the air-raid sirens immediately began
blaring, and everyone in the town would immediately escape into the shelters[3]. The shelters were located in
the middle of the street. Everyone would climb down a ladder into the shelter
and tensely wait for the bombing to cease.
“During one such raid my father was with a large
group of people in the shelter, where a baby kept crying. The relentless
wailing intensified the already tense feeling in the shelter, but the baby
could not be soothed. After some time my father approached the man holding the
baby and asked him what was bothering the baby. The father replied that the
baby was thirsty and they had no water to give him. My father turned around and
started heading for the ladder leading to the street. The father called after
him, “Where are you going? If anything, I should be the one going to risk my
life for my son.” My father replied, “You have a family. If anything happens to
you, you will leave behind a widow and orphans. But I am just a bochur. My
parents are far away. If anything happens to me no one will have to cry for
me.”
“With that my father
climbed out of the shelter and began hastily running towards the nearest
building. As he did so he noticed a German plane flying frightfully low, as it
neared him it let loose a barrage of bombs. One of those bombs fell directly
into the shelter he had just departed from, instantly killing everyone inside.”
The time of the redemption
had finally arrived. Just as G-d had promised, the night before Pharaoh had
aimlessly circulated the streets of Goshen
in desperation to locate Moshe, whereupon he begged Moshe to leave the country
immediately. The Egyptian pride had been shattered and the former captors
hurried the Jews to leave their land.
The Torah then relates: “The
Children of Israel carried out the word of Moshe; they requested from the
Egyptians silver vessels, gold vessels, and garments. G-d gave the people favor
in the eyes of the Egyptians and they granted their request; and they emptied Egypt .[4]”
Rashi notes that they
carried out Moshe’s earlier instruction which was to adhere to G-d’s command[5],
“Please speak in the ears of the people: Let each man request of his friend and
each woman from her friend silver vessels and gold vessels.”
Truthfully, the verse seems
to be redundant. If in fact the Torah already recorded that the Jews solicited
the gold, silver, and clothing of the Egyptians, why does the Torah repeat it
again just prior to their hastened departure?
The Vilna Gaon explains
that Rashi was bothered by the lexicon of the earlier verse, “Please speak in
the ears of the people: Let each man request of his friend and each woman from
her friend”. How can the Egyptians be referred to as friends after all of the
tormenting and oppression they had subjected the Jews to[6]?
Furthermore, why did G-d need to initiate this instruction by asking the Jews
to ‘Please’ do it? Wouldn’t they be more than happy to demand of the Egyptians
a small portion of compensation?
The Gaon answers that in
order for the Jews to be granted their request that the Egyptians hand over to
them all of their valuables and wealth carte blanche at the time of the
redemption, they had to merit it. First, they had to demonstrate selflessness
and love to each other. That was G-d’s original request that he “please”
speak to the people and request that they borrow and share with their own
friends – their fellow Jews, and demonstrate fraternity and devotion. Because
they did so, at the time of the redemption they were indeed able to ask the
Egyptains for their wealth. This is the deeper meaning of the latter verse,
“The Children of Israel carried out the word of Moshe” i.e. which was to create
a spirit of kindness and devotion, and therefore, “They requested from the
Egyptians… G-d gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians and they
granted their request.”
A well-known businessman
once arranged to have a private audience with the Chasam Sofer. “Rebbe,” he
began, “I’m sure you are aware that I am known to be a very wealthy person. But
recently business has been difficult and I have lost all of my wealth. Please
give me a blessing that my fortune should turn around and I should regain my
wealth.” The Chasam Sofer answered, “You have an impoverished brother. Help him
and your money will return.” The merchant replied, “Rebbe, as soon as I regain
my wealth I will help him generously.”
The Chasam Sofer shook his
head, “At the beginning of parshas Va’era when G-d informed Moshe that the
commencement of the miraculous redemption was imminent, G-d declared[7],
“And also I have heard the groans of the Children of Israel whom Egypt
enslaves.” What did G-d mean “And also I have heard”, as if someone else heard
first?
“The answer is that when
the enslavement became unbearable and there was almost no hope for the Jews,
they began to help each other. Despite the severity of their oppression when
one Jew cried out another came to his aid despite utter exhaustion. When that
occurred G-d declared, “Just as they have heard each other’s cries, And also
I have heard their cries. It was their selflessness that granted them the
merit to redemption.
The Chasam Sofer concluded,
“I didn’t mean that you should only help him when you are again financially
comfortable. You need a merit right now. Help him despite your difficult
situation and that will give you the blessing to regain your wealth.”
Tanna D’vei Eliyahu[8]
writes: “When the Children of Israel were in Egypt, they gathered together and
sat together, and the all formulated one group, and they made a covenant
together that they would perform kind deeds with each other, and they would
preserve in the hearts the covenant of Avrohom, Yitzchok, and Yaakov, and to
serve their Father in Heaven alone…”
The Chofetz Chaim explains
that when the Jews saw that their situation was virtually hopeless from a
natural perspective, they decided to make this covenant together. They knew
that if they performed acts of kindness with each other G-d would perform
kindness with them.
This idea is expressed
clearly in the Yerushalmi[9]:
“The Holy One, blessed is He, said to Israel, “My son, if you see that the
merits of the patriarchs and the merits of the matriarchs have been depleted,
go and cling to kindness…”
The Chofetz Chaim explains
that this is the meaning of the words that Klal Yisroel recited in their
magnificent Song at the Sea[10],
“With Your kindness You guided this people that You redeemed.” It was in the
merit of the kindness they performed with each other that G-d redeemed them out
of kindness.
This is also the meaning
behind the beautiful words of the prophet[11]:
“So says G-d, ‘I recalled for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your
nuptials, your following me into the desert, into an unsown land.” It was our
kindness that served as the catalyst for G-d’s kindness.
The prophet states:
“Behold, I will redeem you – the end as the beginning.” The miracles that we
will yet witness with the advent of Moshiach and the process of redemption will
in many ways parallel the redemption from Egypt .
At times, we may wonder if
we possess sufficient merits to be worthy of the ultimate redemption. But there
is one area in which Klal Yisroel still excels and is unquestionably worthy,
i.e. in our kindness and helping each other. One need look no further than at
the classified section in the back of one of the major Torah-Jewry newspapers
on any given week where there is an entire section dedicated to announcing
different gemachs (free-loans). There are gemachs for cribs, tables, equipment,
tools, and clothing.
If one G-d forbid needs to
be in the hospital there is a Bikur Cholim room set up for any Jew, no matter
what his level of religiosity is. The room is regularly re-stocked with free
food, and reading material, and the room itself provides for a brief respite
from the intensity of the hospital. When a woman in our community has a baby,
there is an immediate mobilization to ensure that meals are provided for the
family for some time. The same holds true in the face of a tragedy, G-d forbid.
What a nation! What a
people! With all of our shortcomings and despite all of our internal and
external challenges, the covenant that our forefathers made in Egypt lives on.
We revel in it and it is one of our defining features, and ultimately, we will
again merit redemption because of it.
“And also I have heard”
“The end as the beginning”
Rabbi
Dani Staum, LMSW
Rabbi,
Kehillat New Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance
Counselor – ASHAR
Principal
– Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor
[1] Rabbi Binyamin Rabinowitz is the
founder of Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch. He related this story, as well as the
following thought from the Chasam Sofer, at the bar mitzvah of Avrumy Lazarnik,
Sunday, 26 Teves 5771.
[2] Rabbi Yisroel Rabinowitz was the
Rabbi at Kehillas Ohel Moshe in the Bronx, and the author of two volumes of
‘Kol Bo’ on the Shulchan Aruch.
[3] The Germans bombarded Lomza mercilessly because it was the
first major city near the East Prussian border.
[4] 12:35-36
[5] 11:2
[6] See Bava Kamma 37b where the
gemara explains that when the Torah refers to ‘a friend’ it refers exclusively
to a fellow Jew.
[7] 6:5
[8] Eliyahu Rabbah 23:9
[9] Sanhedrin chapter 11
[10] “Az Yashir” in parshas Beshalach
[11] Yirmiyah 2:2
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