Parshat Shemot

This Dvar Torah was taken from the www.ulpanor.com

Enjoy 

This Shabbat we will read the first Torah Portion "Shemot"  

in the book of Exodus.  The Torah tells us how the children of Israel multiply in Egypt.

Threatened by their growing numbers, Pharaoh enslaves them and orders the Hebrew midwives to kill all male babies at birth.They do not comply, and he commands his people to cast the Hebrew babies into the Nile.

A child is born to Yocheved, and placed in a basket on the river, while the boy's sister, Miriam, stands watching from afar. Pharaoh's daughter discovers the boy, raises him as her son, and names him Moshe. (Taken from water).

 As a young man, Moshe leaves the palace and discovers the hardship of his brethren. He sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and kills the Egyptian.

The next day he sees two Jews fighting; when he admonishes them, they reveal his deed of the previous day, and Moses is forced to flee to Midian.

There he rescues Jethro's daughters, marries one of them - Tzipporah, and becomes a shepherd of his father-in-law's flocks.

G?d appears to Moshe in a burning bush at the foot of Mount Sinai, and instructs him to go to Pharaoh and demand: "Let My people go, so that they may serve Me."

Moshe claims he is not worthy of this mission. 

And Moses said unto God: 'Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?' (Exodus 3, 14)

Then G-d tells Moshe to tell a certain phrase to the People of Israel:

Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, hath appeared unto me, saying:

I have surely remembered you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt.

It appears that there was a tradition among the People of Israel that whoever would come with the words "PAKOD PAKAD'TI ETTKHEM..." - "I have surely remembered you", will be indeed the savior of the People of Israel from the Egyptian slavery.

However, nobody understood what was the big deal in telling that phrase. Anybody could do that!!!

How could it be a sign of the SAVIOR? 

But now, when Moshe came with the above phrase to the People of Israel, it changed the entire perspective and the understanding of its significance.

We need to remember that Moshe had a speech problem.

As he describes himself in the next Torah portion:

But Moshe said to the Lord, "If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?" (Exodus 6, 12).

Actually Moshe was not able to close his lips and pronounce those consonants that require lip closure.

These consonants are: 

B, P, V, M, W

Thus, normally Moshe would not be able to say: PAKODPAKAD'TI ...

But now People of Israel witnessed a miracle of Moshe being able to pronounce perfectly the above phrase.

Therefore they came to believe that Moshe indeed was the messenger of G-d and their savior. 

Shabbat Shalom, 

Yoel & Orly

www.ulpanor.com

Parshat Veyechi

It is widely known that Yaakov Avinu switched his hands when giving a bracha to Efraim and Menashe. In Judaism, the right hand generally comes first, but in this case, Yaakov placed his right hand on Efraim and left on Menashe even though Menashe was older. This is not the only switch from younger to older in this week's Parsha. Yaakov also switches the order of the brachot that he gives his sons. In Bereishit 49:13-15 he gives Zevulun a bracha before Yissachar even though Yissachar is older. Why does he make this switch? The Chizkuni provides an explanation. According to him, Yaakov blesses Zevulun, who was involved in business matters, first because he supported Yissachar, who learned Torah all day. Zevulun’s hard work allowed his brother, Yissachar, to study Torah. Chazal teaches us that “Greater is the enabler than the doer” (Bava Basra 9a), meaning that one who enables another to do a mitzvah is greater than the one who actually performs the mitzvah. By facilitating the learning of Torah, one not only displays great honor for Torah, but also merits tremendous Zechut. Zevulun deserved to go before Yissachar in the brachot because he made it possible for Yissachar to live his life the way that he wanted, engrossed in Torah study. Yaakov Avinu, in changing the order of the Brachot, is teaching us the importance of facilitating Torah study in Jewish life. The enabling of performing mitzvot is an essential Jewish value that gets rewarded just as much, if not more, than the actual completion of the mitzvah.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Steven Penn

PS  - This week we completed a Siyum HaTanach in Memory of Ezra Schwartz. As a school we said 

חזק חזק ונתחזק for the siyum and for the ending of Sefer Berehsit 

Dvar Torah - Parshat Vayigash

Dvar Torah - Parshat Vayigash

In this week’s Parsha, Yosef finally reveals himself to his family. He tells his brothers “It’s me, I'm Yosef.” His brothers don't know what to say - they're scared. They know that it is because of them that Yosef has been in Mitzrayim all of this time, and they are nervous that he will still be upset that they sold him. Yosef tells them not to worry, that this is all part of Hashem’s plan.

The brothers go back to Yaakov and they tell him with excitement that Yosef is alive and in Mitzrayim. Innitially, Yaakov does not believe this is real. In the Psukim we see that there is something he sees that convinces him that Yosef, in fact, is alive. It was not a picture, nor was it a video. He sees agalot, wagons, and all of a sudden he connects that Yosef must be alive. The wagons reminded Yaakov of some learning of Torah that he had been learning with Yosef before he left. Yaakov picked up on this secret message which Yosef knew that he was guaranteed to understand. 

The power of learning together - with a parent, a son, a teacher, or a friend. It had been numerous years, but it still was a connection for Yaakov and Yosef.  

On Monday, as a school, we are finishing the 929 chapters of Tanach. Students, parents, and grandparents have signed up to finish this learning together.  As a school we will mark this tremendous learning with "chazak chazak" to be proud of our accomplishment. 

I have started building many model cars with my son, we have only finished one - but we're very proud of it because it is finished. It is great to start something, but it is a different feeling when you have finished it. We will all feel that feeling of fulfillment on Monday when we finish the Sifrei Hatanach. 

Ezra Schwartz was a boy who planned to spend his year in Israel. He had made an amazing goal for himself - to finished the Sifrei Hatanach by the end of his year. He was not able to complete his dream of finishing Tanach, so as a school, in his memory, we are helping him complete that goal. Please feel proud that you're part of a community that is finishing this together. 

Learning Torah with your family, friends, and teachers is something that will last a lifetime. The connection of learning Torah was something that lasted for Yaakov and Yosef for many years. If you have not signed up already, there are more slots available. Please choose and family member or a friend to learn with, so that we can finish Tanach, as a community, in the memory of Ezra Schwartz. Click here for link to siyum

דבר תורה - פרשת וישב

דבר תורה - פרשת וישב

Are we all messengers from Hashem? Put here on earth for a specific purpose? 

When Yosef was sent to check in on his brothers in Shechem, he meets a man. The man asks Yosef what he is looking for and offers guidance in finding his brothers. 

 וַיִּמְצָאֵהוּ אִישׁ וְהִנֵּה תֹעֶה בַּשָּׂדֶה וַיִּשְׁאָלֵהוּ הָאִישׁ לֵאמֹר מַה-תְּבַקֵּשׁ.

Who was this man?

Rashi explains that this was גבריאל, an angel sent from Hashem to direct Yosef to his brothers. Hashem needed Yosef to reach his brothers in order that events of Yosef going to Mizrayim could unfold. To that end, Hashem sent גבריאל down to the field to make this happen. 

The Ibn Ezra explains this pasuk in a different way. That Yosef found a passer by, a regular person like the word implies, איש.   This man helped Yosef find his way and started the course of events that led to Bnai Yisrael going to miztrayim.  What lesson can we learn from this man? 

For one, we can learn that Hashem is guiding the events in our lives. We might not always understand the reason, but Hashem has a plan and an overall purpose for each one of us. Lesson number two, that we can learn from the explanation of the Ibn Ezra, is that all of us can be and are agents of, or messengers from, Hahsem.  This " Man " was an example for all of us. We are here for a purpose and every interaction could alter future events.  We need to step up and be the "man" in each situation - perhaps that is why Hashem put us in that situation.

Chanukah is coming up very soon, and we see that there is a connection from that story to this week's parsha.The chashmoniam recognized that they were placed in a situation that could alter history, and they took the opportunity that was presented to them. Had no one stood up and said "מי לה' אלי", the story, and our history would have unfolded completely differently.

We should all look at the situations and opportunities awe are put in, and  choose to be the man. Do the right thing, say the right thing, and help that person because maybe that is why Hahem put us here.