PARSHAT BESHALACH – Shabbos SHIRA 10-11 SHVAT 5772** 02/03/2012
Dear friends “ad 120 b’simcha”
Shalom Uvracha mi’Yerushalayim!
We hope that all of of you are very well B”H.Please join us for ‘shalosh seudos’ tomorrow at about 4:45 pm.

May all who need healing and blessing be healed quickly Amen
have a wonderful Shabbat b’ahavah ubivracha
Sholom

Parshas B’Shalach 5772 —Shabbat Shira 5772
To Get To The Promised Land We Ourselves Need To Change, We Need To Grow

This week’s parsha, B’shalach, opens with the following verses:

“When Pharaoh sent away the people, Elokim did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines because it was the shortest route for Elokim said, “lest the people change their minds, should they encounter war and return toEgypt.” And so Elokim led the people round about by the way of the route leading to theSeaofReeds, towards the Midbar- wilderness.” (Shmos 13:17-18)

Rashi explains that had we followed the more direct route toIsrael, [the shortest route fromEgypttoIsraelis straight up along the Mediterranean coastline] it would also have been easier to return toEgypt. What would possibly cause the people to return toEgypt? The Philistines, who lived along the coast betweenEgyptand Canaan were a strong people, and there was a possibility that they would engage us in war, in an attempt to drive us back toEgypt. Such a war would have made us very fearful and in all likelihood we would run back toEgypt.

“When Pharaoh sent away the people,” why does the Torah credit Pharaoh with sending the people away, when in truth it is Hashem who redeemed us and took us out ofEgypt? Nevertheless the Torah says that Pharaoh sent us away to suggest that Pharaoh still retained some power over us. Even when we finally leave Mitzrayim, when we finally leave our personal Meitzarim – narrows, there remains a significant danger that we might return to our slavery. The slave may even choose to do so. We had left Mitzrayim, but Mitzrayim did not yet leave us.

Stability, familiarity and inertia are very powerful forces in our lives. We must recognize them, and we must also know in what ways they are beneficial to us and in what ways they can prove to be harmful. When we encounter hardships- after having been liberated- ‘outside’ our personal Mitzrayim, the familiarity and stability of slavery may look very appealing. To live as free people, to have to think and exercise freedom of choice and take responsibility for our decisions can be frightening. The Talmud states: “A slave* prefers the freedom of lack of responsibility”. *This is also true for the liberated slave who still has a slave mentality.

Leaving your exile, leaving your Mitzrayim, your ‘meytzarim’, is one thing, getting to the Promised Land is something else. Hashem is always performing miracles for us and saving us from our Evil Pharaohs. But to get to the Promised Land we ourselves need to change, we need to grow. To be sure, Hashem continued to make miracles for us all along the way to Israel, but there remain obstacles that we ourselves must learn to negotiate. ****Removing the obstacle is not always the best for us. Better that we grow and improve our skills in negotiating around and over the obstacles of life. Finally we’ll even realize that it was thanks to the obstacles in our lives that we achieved a greater degree of liberation. B”H for the obstacles …L’chayim.

The Exodus from Egypt provides us with the opportunity to develop and grow towards the ultimate redemption. When leaving your ‘meitzarim’ – your personal narrows, it is important to know “tofasto merubah, lo tofasto” – if you grab too much, you end up with nothing. Or in other words ‘don’t bite off more than you can chew’.

We are bound to encounter past, present and future obstacles along the journey toMt.Sinaiand to the Promised Land. We encounter the same slavery issues again and again. Pharoah keeps on showing up in new disguises of all sorts. Each disguise has a seemingly friendlier and more attractive – [and a very subtle and more sinister] – appeal than the previous one. ‘Pharaoh’s disguise’ inEgyptwas exposed for the evil that it was.

But then the satan of slavery and enslavement puts on another disguise and offers a different ‘treat’ – a ‘sugar coated’ enslavement. What are we supposed to do? Are we to encounter every obstacle head-on? Are there some we should avoid? Are there any we cannot overcome?

Hashem had “hardened the hearts of the Egyptians” but did not interfere with the hearts of the Plishtim, He did not prevent them from attacking us. Instead He led us away from them, into the wilderness. He took us on the long-shorter way.

Within our lives, what do the Egyptians represent, and what do the Plishtim represent? The commentators seek to understand the difference between them. What is the Torah teaching us here, that will help us achieve our complete and ultimate redemption?

Pharaoh and Mitzrayim represent the pursuers, who have acted criminally and harmfully against us, and given the chance, they will continue to pursue and abuse us. The Plishtim represent the obstacles that lie ahead of us. They have not attacked us yet, but they are very likely to arouse our fear and will act to block us in our journey to the Promised Land. They may cause us to run back to our terrible but familiar slavery.

The Midrash relates that a large number of families from the Tribe of Ephraim had leftEgypt30 years prematurely. They had escaped fromEgyptand when they got to the land of the Pelishtim, they were attacked and slain. Their remains were strewn about and remained visible all this time. Hashem was concerned that the sight of this would frighten us into returning toEgypt.

In the process of liberation there is a need to learn from the mistakes of those who came before us, so that we don’t repeat them. But it is also very detrimental to focus on their failures and tragedies, for this would inspire us with a paralyzing fear of moving forward. As is known, many prefer the suffering of familiar slavery over the fear of unfamiliar freedom.

Actually there is something far more sinister about the Pelishtim. According to the Talmud the Pelishtim represent the evil of‘leitzanut’- scorn and disdainful mockery. In the very opening verse of the Psalms, King David says :
Psalm 1:1 Happy is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful.

Said R. Samuel b. Nahmani in the name of R. Jonathan:
“Happy is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked” — that is
our father Abraham …… “nor sat in the seat of the scornful” — for he did not sit in the company of the Philistines, because they were scoffers; as it is said, “And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said: Call for Samson that he may make us sport (Judges XVI, 25). [Talmud Bavli- Avodah Zara 19a]

“Make us sport” is also understood as sexual abuse arising from over indulgence; they forced Shimshon to participate and be the centerpiece in a sexual orgy. Scorn and mockery are the opposite of humility. The ‘leitz’- the sarcastic cynic thinks that he is better and smarter than everyone else. But deep down he knows that he is not, so he resorts to putting everyone down by cynically mocking them. The danger to the newly freed slave is that along his path towards freedom, he will stumble here and there; he may fall and crash here and there. But instead of taking responsibility and working harder at achieving his goals, he is attracted to sit among the bright scoffers and cynics, as they belittle those who haven’t given up. Thus the Egyptians are the slave-masters who pursue us, while the Pelishtim are the cynics we are drawn to when we fall into despair.

The successful route to freedom is not the shorter and ‘easier’ one. Instead Hashem chose to lead us the round about way through the wilderness. In the ‘midbar’- the wild place where man cannot survive naturally, man learns to be humble. It is with deeper humility that we move from level to level of redemption. Humility is the recognition of the truth that we cannot do it alone, we need Hashem’s help all along the way, even as we are doing what we need to be doing. Such is the journey towards freedom, towardsMt.Sinai, there are obstacles that we can deal with and there are those that the only thing we can do with them is to stay away from them.

So here we have a great lesson:
when you feel stuck
when you feel you can’t go any further
go into deeper humility
return to your true higher soul-self
make space for Hashem
make space for other travelers
share their burdens
as they share yours
let Hashem fill you
receive His light and help joyously

To Be Like The Sea: G-D Makes A Condition With Every Person In The World

The Midrash teaches that on the sixth day of the creation, Hashem set a condition for the sea, that when the Children of Israel would come to its shores it would have to split for them; it would have to change from sea to dry land.

Reb Shlomo zt”l taught:
“G-d makes conditions, not only with the Sea. G-d makes a condition with every person in the world. G-d tells each person, ‘There will be one moment in your life when you can save somebody else’s life, there will be a moment when you can do the greatest thing, which I created you for, but you have to be ready to be something else, to go out of your way: Water, to become dry land, to become anything in the world. The deepest secret of life is that I always have to be what I am, but there are moments I have to be not what I am also.’”

Faith in Hashem requires that I should be willing to give up my expectations of Hashem, even my concept of Him. Hashem is greater than and beyond our limited conceptions of Him. If the seed were to limit itself to its current definition of itself, i.e. not willing to go through any experience that would change it, it would never become a tree. If I am not willing to be open to change, if I must always be I, as I am now, then I’ll never be anything more than I am. And if I don’t completely give myself over to His Will, I may never save the life I could have saved, I may never become the person I was meant to become or could have been. I may never get to sing my song, and the song may never sing me!

Hashem will take care of us, Hashem is taking care of us….

The Great Song: ASHIRA L’HASHEM: I SHALL SING TO HASHEM:

“AZ YASHIR MOSHE UVNEI YISRAEL ET HASHIRA HAZOT….” Then Moshe and the B’nai Yisrael [were inspired to] sing this song to Hashem, and they said, “I will sing to Hashem for He is most high, horse and its rider He hurled into the sea” (Shemot 15:1).

Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aharon, took the drum in her hand: and all the women followed her with drums and dancing. Miriam led them in the response: “Sing to Adonoy for He is most high; horse and its rider He hurled into the sea” (Shemot 15:21-22).

[The following teaching is based on the Eish Kodesh, which was written by the Piasetzner Rebbe in theWarsawghetto, and on the teachings of Reb Shlomo Carlebach zt"l.]

We read in the Torah that when we crossed the sea, Moshe and all of B’nai Yisrael, including Miriam and all the women, sang the ‘shirat hayam’ (the song of the sea) to Hashem. Our mothers had complete faith and trust in Hashem’s promise of redemption. They were so certain of the promised Exodus that in anticipation they had prepared and brought along musical instruments. Furthermore, the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt”l teaches that no one experienced the pain of our exile and bondage in Mitzrayim as much as our holy mothers did. No one had as much faith in Hashem’s promised redemption as our holy mothers did. Consequently, our holy mothers celebrated and rejoiced the most.

A question arises: how did everyone manage to sing the same song? Did they all know the song in advance? There are five opinions about this in the Talmud [Sotah 27b, and 30b]:

1) Moshe recited the song and the people would respond at the end of each verse with the words “Ashira l’Hashem- I wish to sing to Hashem” in the same manner as a Gadol- a Chazzan who recites the Hallel on behalf of the community (whereby everyone listens to the Chazzan and the people repeat the refrain). Moshe would say “Ashira l’Hashem,” and they would say “Ashira l’Hashem – I wish to sing to Hashem.” Moshe would say, “Ki gaoh ga-ah – for He is most high,” and they would say “Ashira l’Hashem- I wish to sing to Hashem.” This is the opinion of Rebbe Akiva. Is the 2nd quote of what the people said meant to be the same as Moshe’s second quote: “Ki Gaoh ga-ah – for He is most high”?

2) Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rebbe Yose the Gallilean said, Moshe recited each verse and the B’nai Yisrael would repeat each verse after him, in the same manner as a regular congregant leading the Hallel service.

3) In the opinion of Rebbe Nechemiah, Moshe began the recital and all join in with him and recited the song in unison; they all knew the song, for at the time that the sea was split, all had attained a great level of prophecy.

4) Rabbi Yose Haglili (the Gallilean) taught that at the moment the Shechinah was seen, an infant resting on his mother’s lap, and [even] a nursing child let go of the breast and they said, “This is my G-d and I will adore Him.”

5) Rabbi Meir said that even fetuses in their mothers’ wombs also recited the song.

We are taught that song (music, poetry, etc.) is the quill of the soul. In his sefer, Conscious Community, the Piasetzner Rebbe speaks about windows to the soul; these are gateways to attain higher consciousness, to be in touch with your neshamah. According to the Kabbalah, Shaarei Neginah, the Gateways of Song, are right next to Shaarei Tshuvah, the Gateways of Tshuvah. Great is the power of song!

The Eish Kodesh points out that it is implied in the Torah text that we sang even while enslaved inEgypt. How can this be? In the Talmud we learn that there is a level where it is possible to accept suffering with love, believing that everything is from Hashem. [Sometimes it takes the realization that things could have been far worse, to stimulate us.] However to accept this is one thing, but to sing at that point is extremely difficult.

We know that the prophets could only prophesize when they were joyous. Many prophets lived in very difficult times and many a prophecy was about an imminent tragedy, how then could they be joyous? We find in the book of Samuel I, that in self-preparation to receive prophecy, the prophets would use song and music to bring joy to their heart.

Just how we cope with our difficulties varies from time to time and from situation to situation. Song has the power to bring joy to the heart, to uplift the spirit.

There are times when it is very difficult to sing, when we can’t even sing along with the one who is singing; but at least we can listen to someone else singing and we can say “Ashira l’Hashem”– I too would like to sing to Hashem. And then there are times that we can sing along with someone by repeating after him or her. Ultimately, we will reach the level where we all sing in unison, where all of us, even nursing infants are inspired and infused with joy. And then there is the highest level of all, where the song sings you, like the fetus in the womb. [Thus the opinions noted above are not necessarily conflicting.]

Attaining Joy Requires “Bittul” (Self-Nullification)!

In one of Reb Shlomo’s teachings on Tu B’SHVAT, the New Year of the Trees, he said:

“The Zohar teaches us, ‘V’chamushim alu B’nai Yisrael m’eretz Mitzrayim.’ The literal translation of ‘chamushim’ is ‘armed with weapons.’ But what it really means, is that we were at the final gate, the fiftieth gate of impurity ['chamushim' shares the same root as 'chamishim', which means fifty], the gate from which there is no return, G-d forbid. And at that very split second, we got out ofEgyptand the sea split open. Until the sea split, we thought the redemption was for but three days. Now we know the redemption is forever. Like the seed, you have to descend into such depth, such darkness to grow again. If you didn’t get the redemption at the very second you reached the deepest depths, then you aren’t yet open for it. In Shvat we get the vessels to receive it.”

b’ahavah ubivracha
sholom

Enlighten and deepen your connection with Hashem and your people – please join us at our very uplifting daily Tanya class Mon-Fri 7:30am-8:00am.