B”SD

DIVERSION AND DEFENSIVENESS: PARSHAT VOEYRAH

Shira Smiles shiur – 2016/5776

Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein

            When Moshe and Aharon first approached Bnei Yisroel and told them that Hashem had remembered them, had seen their suffering, and was going to redeem them from Egypt, the elders and Bnei Yisroel believed that this would come to pass. Just a short time later, Moshe transmits a fuller message of the process of salvation that Hashem has outlined for them. Yet now, Bnei Yisroel “did not heed Mosher because of shortness of breath and hard work.” What has changed to cause this change of heart?

            Then Hashem tells Moshe to go back to Pharaoh and tell him to send Bnei Yisroel from his land. Moshe argues with Hashem and presents an “a fortiori” argument – kal vachomer. Moshe argues that if Bnei Yisroel didn’t listen to him, how will Pharaoh listen to him? This argument is one of ten kal vachomer examples in the Torah, writes Rashi. Then Moshe completes his argument by saying that he has “sealed lips”, a comment that seems to have no bearing on the main argument.

            Before beginning an analysis of Moshe’s argument, it is important to understand that any mission includes three trust components, trust in the originator of the mission, faith in the messenger, and faith in the validity of the mission itself. In this mission, then, it was important the Bnei Yisroel have complete faith in Hakodosh Boruch Hu, faith in Moshe as Hashem’s emissary, and complete belief that the mission would be accomplished and they would soon be redeemed. Each of these elements plays a part in the various interpretations of the kal vachomer Moshe uses.

            Perhaps we can begin with Rabbi Weinberg’s contention in Shemen Hatov that Moshe’s statement of being tongue tied is exactly where it belongs, at the end of the argument. Rabbi Weinberg believes that Moshe’s inability to speak is a result of Bnei Yisroel’s not believing in him rather than the cause. If I can’t convince Bnei Yisroel, argues Moshe, what can I possibly say that would convince Pharaoh? Further, the Chasam Sofer adds, that if Bnei Yisroel don’t believe in the promise to their forefathers and don’t get up and leave Egypt on their own on the strength of that promise, Pharaoh will argue that he certainly doesn’t have to send them out. If Bnei Yisroel, who are believers and the children of believers don’t believe in Hakodosh Boruch Hu, writes Rabbi Rebo in Minchas Michoel, how will Pharaoh who never believed in Hashem to begin with believe in Him now? Along the same lines, the Modzitzer Rebbe notes that if Bnei Yisroel don’t believe that the redemption is imminent, the mission, (rather than believing in the Redeemer), why should Pharaoh believe?

            The Torah tells us that after Moshe’s earlier approach to Pharaoh in the last chapter, Pharaoh not only didn’t release Bnei Yisroel but actually made their work harder, no longer providing straw for the bricks but still demanding the full production quota. It was this change in circumstances that seems to be the catalyst for Bnei Yisroel’s emotional and spiritual change. The text itself seems to validate this interpretation, stating that shortness of breath and hard work caused Bnei Yisroel not to listen to Moses.

            However, Rabbi Dunner in Mikdash Halevi explains that the heavier workload was also part of Hashem’s plan, but Bnei Yisroel did not think about it deeply enough. Had Moshe succeeded in the initial request, Bnei Yisroel could have ascribed the power either to Moshe as a powerful messenger or to Pharaoh himself who now chose to free his slaves. Hashem wanted Bnei Yisroel to put their faith totally in Him and not in His emissary. Only when they would have given up all hope in the human element would Hashem intercede, and Bnei Yisroel would put its complete faith in the Sender rather than in the messenger.

            What does it mean that Bnei Yisroel were short of breath and had hard work? Rabbi Egbi, citing the Lev Eliyahu,  explains the connection in Chochmat Hamatzpun. It is relatively easy to believe intellectually that there is a God Who created and runs the world. But to continue in that faith, to feel it viscerally and make it part of your life is much more difficult. If something physical or material comes in the way of that faith, the faith may dissipate. Cold reality can puncture holes in faith and “let out its air”. To present an analogy, you may believe you can climb to the top of the Empire State Building, but halfway through, you start panting for breath and take the elevator. You may have persisted and reached the top, but you took the easier way out. When faith takes the easier way out, as here, the result is akin to avodah zoro, idol worship, because you sacrificed your faith in Hashem for physical or material convenience. If Bnei Yisroel no longer believe because of this new hardship, what can I say to convince Pharaoh to believe?

            Rabbi Schlesinger derives an important precept from this narrative. If you are to convince or influence others, you must first believe in the validity of your argument. To apply this to our current national situation, only if we believe that the Land of Israel is rightfully ours can we convince any other people that it belongs to us. Rabbi Ochion in Ohr Doniel extends this idea to parenting. If one is to be an effective parent, one must not only verbally teach the children proper behavior, but one must also model that behavior in one’s own home. No father will convince his son to go to shul regularly if he himself seldom goes to shul.

            It is in this vein that Rabbi Schwab explains Manoach, Samson’s father’s request that the angel who predicted Samson’s birth should appear to him again. Manoach was not asking for clarification of the laws of a nazirite. He undoubtedly knew the laws. He was asking how he could raise a nazirite if he himself was not a nazir and therefore wasn’t bound by those laws. A new reading of the text of what the angel told Manoach implies that Manoach was now instructed to take on the laws of nazirut himself, because one cannot teach unless one is willing to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

            Getting back to the shortness of breath, or the depression of Bnei Yisroel, Rabbi Egbi cautions us how easily we can lose faith when we are faced with difficult physical or material circumstances. If we lose our faith, we are putting our own will in control rather than Hakodosh Boruch Hu, and we are falling prey to a form of avodah zoro. We may start rationalizing small transgressions as a means of earning more money or feeling less hunger until we give up on many of the laws. Therefore it is important never to let depression take over.

            Maintaining one’s faith is indeed very difficult. The Modzitzer Rebbe posits that therein lies the very definition of kal vachomer. Having faith appears to be kal, a very easy mitzvah. We have trained ourselves to say baruch Hashem, blessed is God, and im yirtze Hashem, please God. But in reality, maintaining one’s faith is extremely chamur, strict and difficult. If that were not the case, if we had constant faith in Hakodosh Boruch Hu, we would worry much less and have minimal stress, feeling and knowing that Hashem is in control and does what’s best for us. In fact, it is through strengthening our emunah and bitachon that we can persevere in a life full of traps and stumbling blocks, writes Rabbi Gamliel Rabinowitz in The Essence of Emunah.

            How can one bolster his emunah? Rabbi Berkowitz offers a suggestion. If one does some introspection not only of life’s major events, but of the overlooked details and seeming coincidences that make up the fabric of one’s life, one may notice patterns that begin to lead to the whole of one’s life. But we are only in the middle of the megillah of our lives, we generally cannot see the whole story, much as Bnei Yisroel couldn’t see Hashem’s hand in all the royal and political drama of the Purim Megillah until the entire saga concluded.

            But one needs quiet time and solitude to contemplate and trace the patterns in one’s life and in the world, and eventually reach the end truth and belief in the Creator explains Rabbi Miller in his Shabbat Shiurim. When Pharaoh added to the workload of Bnei Yisroel, they had even less time to contemplate  the world and to search for meaning. They stopped at where they were at, in the midst of slavery, and couldn’t progress in their thinking. So although they had believed Moshe’s initial report, they were now stuck in a rut and couldn’t trace the events back to the Ribbono shel olam. This is the hint of the idolatry that the Medrash alludes to as preventing Bnei Yisroel from now hearing and believing Moshe’s message. And this is the source of all avodah zoro. Scientists can trace the universe back and show multiple causes to how the world came about in its present state. But at some point, they stop questioning because it interferes with the theories they desire to keep, theories that may more likely keep them in control. They will not go back, for example, to where the first speck of matter came from, for that would obligate them to acknowledge a Creator. Man stops midway in his contemplation.

            And this is how we get the conflict within the minds and souls of Bnei Yisroel, for the mind of man can hold conflicting ideas and emotions within it. On the one hand, they believed in Moshe, but when life got even harder, they did not have the leisure of quiet and rest to contemplate the Redeemer and the redemption to its conclusion.

            If Bnei Yisroel were so overwhelmed by the stress of their work that they couldn’t internalize the message Hashem was sending through Moshe, how could Pharaoh absorb the message? In fact, the work and stress of Pharaoh was even more overwhelming that that of Bnei Yisroel. If Bnei Yisroel didn’t listen because of the stress, how could one expect Pharaoh to listen? Rabbi Ezrachi in Birkat Mordechai explains the stresses in Pharaoh’s life. Pharaoh considers himself a god, so much so that he took care of his biological needs early in the Nile early in the morning lest anyone should see him and realize that he’s only human. Pharaoh had to carry on this charade every moment. If Bnei Yisroel were already stressed out because of their hard work, how much more so must Pharaoh be in his constant role as a god who created himself as well as the world.

            Moshe’s argument was appropriate to the moment. Now, in the midst of this hard work, Bnei Yisroel don’t believe in the mission, don’t believe in me, and don’t even believe in You Who has sent me. Then how do you expect Pharaoh to listen?

            Building faith is a lifelong process that needs space and quiet to see and hear the Godliness in the world.

            Let us now discuss the concept and reason for this kal vachomer. The practice of using kal vachomer (a fortiori argument) is one of the thirteen ways one can use to try to understand the Torah, and appears only ten times in all of Tanach. According to Rabbi Pinchas Friedman, Moshe asked Hashem to establish kal vachomer as one of the paths of understanding the Torah and to mandate it with his angelic court. To understand Moshe’s insistence, we must first understand the central theme of Moshe’s life, writes Mikdash Halevi. All we know about Moshe and what motivated him was his love for Bnei Yisroel. Even hitting the rock instead of speaking to it, a digression that cost him entrance into Eretz Yisroel, was for the sake of the people. Had Moshe spoken to the rock to give water and the rock had complied, it would reflect badly on Bnei Yisroel to whom Hashem speaks and who often fail to comply with His will. But by hitting the rock, Moshe could argue that Bnei Yisroel would also comply if they were hit. (This interpretation of hitting the rock for the love of Bnei Yisroel is in addition to the better known interpretation of Moshe asking Hashem to “erase me from Your book”, destroy me too if You would destroy the people.)

            Rabbi Friedman continues. If Pharaoh should listen to Hashem, how would it look for Bnei Yisroel? How would I be able to open my mouth and argue on their behalf? Moshe pleads with Hashem before the actual event and before the giving of the Torah to put this kal vachomer in place, to make sure that Pharaoh will not listen as well. Hashem responds by ensuring that He will harden Pharaoh’s heart. Lest you think this is unfair to Pharaoh who may have wanted to do teshuvah, Pharaoh has already indicated that he doesn’t want to listen. If he were to do teshuvah, it would be an empty teshuvah based on fear of the plagues rather than true belief in God. Therefore Hashem hardened his heart so that it would be unaffected by the hardship the plagues imposed.

            Moshe was arguing with Hashem that although he could do nothing about the emotional and psychological state of Bnei Yisroel at this time, he doesn’t want to make matters worse by having them appear as less responsive to Hashem’s words than Pharaoh is. Moshe wanted to establish this reality through a kal vachomer to protect the honor of Bnei Yisroel.

            Moshe teaches us that just as the people need to believe in their leader, the leader must also believe in the people he is representing, love them, fight for them and protect them.

            The Prophet Hosea presents a similar model of dialogue with Hashem in defense of Bnei Yisroel. The Talmud records the background to Hosea’s prophecies. Hashem tells Hosea that Bnei Yisroel has sinned, to which Hosea replies, “All the world belongs to You. Go exchange them for another nation.” Bnei Yisroel is the beloved of Hashem and we have a long and beautiful relationship with Him. While Bnei Yisroel errs, Hosea argues, please look at the big picture and find the good that is in this nation. Chances are, You won’t find it in another nation.

            We are a nation of believers. When life gets so difficult that it seems we cannot breathe, that is when we need to pause, take that breath, look Heavenward, and live by the faith that Hashem is always in control.