February 11, 2006 Parshas Beshalach

13 Shevat 5766 Volume 20, Number 16

The Trial of Affliction, Contemporary

Halacha

S
Finding a Partner
The Trial of Affluence
everal years ago, a grandson of devise another game plan: "The Rechush Gadol—the great boun- for Life (Part 2)

T
Rabbi Zevulun Charlop

mine spent the last days of hunt for the Rechush Gadol." ty. This is what Hashem prom-
Pesach with us. It being the first ised Avraham when He told him
he Biblical sources
Rabbi Yosef Blau

time his family had not attended
our Seder, my grandson wanted
me to give him another chance to
find the Afikomen on " Shvi'i shel
Pesach," the last day of the Pesach
holiday, to make up for the regular
Afikomen he had missed during
the Seder nights. I explained to
him that the Afikomen is a
Mitzvah prescribed exclusively for
the Seder night, and we would be
guilty of the prohibitive com-
mandment of Bal Tosif – adding
to the Mitzvah – if we instituted
an Afikomen during the last days
of Pesach as well… he was not
mollified.
My grandson nagging me for an
Afikomen opportunity, I had to
that his descendants would leave
It may some- with Rechush Gadol after serving
outlining the meeting
of a husband and wife,
times be hard the Egyptians for four hundred
years (Bereishis 15:14). The idea their relationship, and the
to recognize conveyed by the Rechush Gadol purpose of marriage, are
Hashem's fits more appropriately with the vague and subject to multi-
notion of prizes and expensive ple interpretations, as we
Presence and
gifts, and I felt that he Rechush saw last week. All this
believe in Him Gadol hunt was the perfect game ambiguity should create
when things for my grandchildren to play on doubt about any statement
the second days of Pesach. The proclaiming a particular
are going ill game itself is "played" with the process as the authentic
with us. same rules as the Afikomen way for a religious couple
search; the grandchild (I suppose to meet. In the modern
Whereas on the first days of all children can play this game as Orthodox community,
Passover we recall through the well) must look for the Rechush which is both rooted in tra-
Matza the Oni, the affliction of Gadol Matza that has been hidden dition and integrated into
our ancestors, on the second days in a clever place by the father or
American society, confu-
of Passover we focus on the grandfather. When the young
sion is the result. The lack
of a sense of modesty and
continued on page 3

the advocacy of intimate

T
T abl e Torah Learn From Paraoh’s Mistakes
Oren Kaufman
he pasuk says, “It was told to the King
of Egypt that the people had
fled…and they said, ‘What is this that we
have done that we have sent away Israel
from serving us?’” (Exodus 14:5). Paraoh
had previously demanded that Israel leave
Egypt. However, now that Israel had left,
the Egyptian King recognized the loss to
his nation: all of their slaves were gone.
As with Paraoh, our moments of greatest
insight usually come only after an event or
situation has occurred. From this perspec-
tive we can look back and recognize the
value of a past experience. Conversely,
continued on page 2
when we are in the midst of an activity –
tefillah, a Torah lecture, or a visit with a
friend – we often fail to grasp its signifi-
cance. Our challenge is to strive for the
wisdom to be able to see the meaning in
life as we experience it – and not when it is
too late.

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A
From Yam Suf to Marah
Noah Cheses
s Hashem freed the Jews
from the Egyptian bondage
and led them through the parted
Yam Suf, the “Jews witnessed the
great might exercised by the
hand of Hashem against the
Egyptians” (Shemos 14:31). This
great historical moment sparked
religious enthusiasm, as the
Jewish People broke out into a
beautiful song exalting the great-
ness of Hashem. (This elegant
song is commonly known as “Az
Yashir,” a prayer that is recited
every morning in Shacharis.) In
striking contrast to this event of
religious fervor, the next scene
depicted in the
Torah is that
of the Jewish The
Nation com- complaints
about the
plaining about
the bitter
water
M a r a h .
in
bitterness of
the water
Seemingly, the
great religious
enthusiasm reflected the
people’s
that they had
narrow-
displayed
while leaving
Egypt quickly
dissipated as
mindedness
soon as they
faced an obstacle. Their faith in
Hashem and His servant Moshe,
affirmed so intensely just a short
time ago, seemed to have quickly
vanished. The obvious perplexi-
ty in this parsha is how the
Jewish People could have fallen
“so far so fast.”
Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch
explains that the faith exhibited
by the Jewish People as they left
Egypt was premised on the
notion that Hashem only
involved Himself in events of
immense global importance.
The people thought that
EINAYIM L’TORAH • 2
Hashem only cared about mat-
ters that had a cosmic signifi-
cance, such as inflicting the
Egyptians with plagues, taking
the Jews out of slavery, and split-
ting the sea. However, at the
same time, the Jews believed that
Hashem did not care about the
seemingly “small details” of life.
With an appreciation of their
faulty belief system, it can be
understood why the Jews com-
plained about the taste of the
water. It was not that the Jews
were on such a high level at the
splitting of the sea and then
“sank down,” but rather, that the
Jews never
really had a
complete
understand-
ing of
Hashem to
begin with.
The com-
plaints about
the bitterness
of the water
reflected the
people’s nar-
row-minded-
ness, as the
J e w i s h
Nation did not have a complete
understanding of the manner in
which Hashem relates to the
world. Rav Hirsh explains that
the Jews needed a full forty years
in the desert before they were
able to internalize the notion that
every intricate detail emanates
from the will of Hashem.
The Baal Shem Tov offers
another approach to the original
problem. The verse about the
episode of the bitter waters
recounts, “The Jewish people
came to Marah and could not
drink of the waters because they
[the waters] were bitter” (15:23).
continued on page 3
Finding a Partner for Life (Part 2)
behavior before marriage
that has become the norm
in the broader society has
created a need to separate
from the culture. At the
same time, arranged mar-
riages do not reflect the
world of educated and
independent young adults.
A few generations ago, it
was customary for a couple
to get married at an age that
would be illegal today. Even
if it were legal, the extended
number of years of educa-
tion needed to have a pro-
fession, and the changes
and growth of the man and
woman during those years,
effectively eliminate that
option.
One of the implications of
the year or two of learning
in Israel is the exposure to a
religious world which has
different standards of
acceptable social interaction
from the way students func-
tioned in high school.
Returning to Yeshiva and
Stern, the student finds an
environment which is unlike
high school or Israel, and
this often increases confu-
sion and anxiety. Some
return to old patterns of
interaction while others no
longer accept them as reli-
giously acceptable.
This should not be viewed
in isolation. The changed
role of women in society,
the fact that many intend to
work outside of the home
after they marry, will have
an impact on their function-
ing as wives and mothers.
While the women struggle
with finding a balance, we
continued from page 1
educate our young men as if
nothing has changed.
This is a significant element
of the broader question of
defining the goals of a com-
munity whose initial goals
have been achieved and
taken for granted. It is no
longer difficult to work in
any field in American socie-
ty while keeping Shabbos
and kashrus. Many young
men wear a kippa at work
though their fathers never
did. One can be an
Orthodox Jew and become
a leader in industry, work in
any profession, and even
run for a national political
office. The question has
become whether this is con-
sistent with a profound
commitment to religious
growth.
Before we can create a
model for marriage, it is
necessary to clarify the
parameters of the lives we
want to live. A critical part
will be defining the desired
interaction between hus-
bands and wives. How they
should meet should not be
discussed in isolation.
Keeping halakhic norms
should be a given; it is in the
realm of defining what is
appropriate that needs clari-
fication. I suspect studying
our sources alone will not
suffice to produce guide-
lines.
From Yam Suf to Marah
vhv, ohn,
In a homiletic reading of the verse, the Baal
Shem Tov interprets the pronoun “they” as
referring to the Jewish people, rather than as
referring to the water. According to this
interpretation, the verse now reads, “the
Jews could not drink the water because the
Jews were bitter.” The problem was not that
the water was actually bitter, but rather, the
problem was the negative perspective of the
Jewish people. Just as a depressed person
may interpret regular happenings as “nega-
tive,” the “bitter” attitude of the Jews at the
time made the regular water taste bitter to
them. Although the Jewish people had great
faith in Hashem, they were still colored by
the negativity that had been generated during
The Trail of Affliction, The Trial of Affluence
man or girl finds the Rechush Gadol, he or
she receives a reward which ought to be even
more valuable than the Afikomen!
The Bnei Yisroel's collection of this "great
bounty" came in two stages. The first stage
occurred when the Egyptians, in a miraculous
turnabout, sent the Bnei Yisroel away with
expensive farewell mementos that they had
ostensibly borrowed. The second stage, when
the Bnei Yisroel picked up from the Red Sea
shores on Shvi'i shel Pesach, a week after the
initial Exodus, the gorgeous armor of their
drowned, Egyptian pursuers. This armor sur-
passed by far the wealth they had collected in
Egypt, and in fact, Moshe had to coerce Bnei
Yisroel to depart from their Red Sea riches
(Shimos 15:22).
There are two explanations for the need for
coercion here, which, superficially, seem alto-
The Greatest Jewish Music
Tzvi Simcha Cohen • (646) 387-8573 • TSimcha@gmail.com
continued from page 2
the two hundred year period of slavery. The
slave mentality, marked by bitter cynicism,
was ingrained into the collective psyche of
the Jewish People. The nation was unable to
rid itself of this outlook and, thus, it only
was eliminated when the “older” generation
died out in the desert.
Hashem responded to His people’s com-
plaints about the water and “instructed
Moshe regarding a tree, which Moshe [then]
cast into the waters and the waters became
sweet (15:23-25).” Why was a tree used to
sweeten the water? The Torah is referred to
as an “Eitz Chayim,” or a “Tree of Life.”
Thus, the best cure for the cynical outlook of
the Jewish people was to adopt a Torah per-
gether contradictory. Rashi says that Moshe
continued from page 1
literally had to tear them away from the Red
Sea because they were so engrossed in accu-
mulating the expensive remnants of the
Egyptian cavalry. The Zohar, however, under-
stands the need for force here in an entirely
new perspective. The Jews did not want to
depart form the Red Sea because never before
had they sensed so vividly and unmistakably –
the presence of the Shechinah.
My grandfather z"l, saw no contradiction
between Rashi's understanding and the
Zohar's. There are two tests of faith – nisayon
ha'oni, the test of affliction, and nisayon
ha'osher , the test of affluence. When dark
times hit, it is often difficult to recognize
Hashem's Presence and believe fully in His
ultimate guiding hand. However, even a more
difficult test is the test of affluence: to believe
spective, as represented by the use of the
tree. The optimistic approach of the Torah
influenced the Jewish People, thus convert-
ing the bitter waters back to their original
sweet taste.
There are unfortunate occurrences in life
that are objectively bitter. However, there are
still many more times when we judge things
to be bitter despite the fact that they are not
so in reality. There are also many times that
we complain about the small details in life,
not realizing that everything comes from
Hashem. Hopefully, by internalizing both
the Torah perspective and the fact that
everything comes from Hashem, we will be
able to drink only sweet waters.
in Hashem and heed His Word in times of
well being and ease. A person's recognition
of Hashem even in affluent times can be an
even more sublime vision than in a time of
adversity. There is no contradiction here
between Rashi and the Zohar. Bnei Yisroel's
powerful awareness of Hashem came precise-
ly because of their preoccupation with the
riches at the sea. And this is what Chazal mean
when they say: "What the plainest maidser-
vant saw at the Red Sea was not seen evenby
Ezekiel in his marvelous conjuring of the
chariot."
"We are expected," I told my grandson, "To
feel the Shechinah when we are flushed with
Rechush Gadol, and indeed, it is possible for
us to reach higher peaks of Yedias Hashem in
wealth than in poorness.
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PARSHAS BESHALACH • 3
Parsha Points in Beshalach
Ephraim Meth
• Hashem has the Jews meander in the desert, lest they scurry back to Egypt when confronted
with war.
• Paraoh’s pursuit frightens the Jews, but Hashem reassures them of victory. Einayim L’Torah
• Moshe miraculously splits the Red Sea! The Jews pass through on dry land while the 500 W. 185th Street
Egyptians simultaneously drown. New York, NY 10033
www.einayim.org
• Moshe leads the men in a song praising Hashem for the present and future salvations. editor@einayim.org
Miriam, Moshe’s sister, leads the women in a similar song.
• The Jews complain about food three times: in Marah, the waters are bitter; in the Desert of Executive Director
E d i t o r s IBrand
Yehuda n Chief
Siyn, they request bread and meat; in Refidim, there is no water. In each case, Hashem mirac-
Yehuda Brand
ulously sustains them. Managing Editors
Pinchas Friedman
Josh Weinberg
• Hashem provides the Jews with mon, heavenly bread. The Jews gather it every morning, but E x e c u t i vFriedman
e Editors
Pinchas
gather the Shabbos portion a day early. Some people hoarded the mon, and it spoiled. Zev Koller
Associate Editors
• Amalek attacks us! Moshe appoints Yehoshua to repulse the attack. With the help of Moshe’s Dovid Skversky
Josh Vogel
prayers Amalek is vanquished, and Hashem declares eternal war on its remnants. Josh Weinberg
Zev Koller
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EINAYIM L’TORAH • 4 PARSHAS BESHALACH