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Chomer Lidrush
Some ideas to turn your gears heading into the parsha.
1) When it touches you to your very soul, you can’t help but scream out
Besides for authoring astonishing Torah thoughts, Rav Moshe Wolfson, zt”l, mashgiach of Torah V’Daath and leader of Emunas Yisroel in Boro Park, wrote a phenomenal sefer on tefillah, V’Ani Tefillah (sadly, out of print). In it, the mashgiach makes a striking point on our parsha that can impact our everyday life.
Chazal (Sanhedrin 106a) describe the respective fates of Paroah’s advisors when he decreed that the newborn Jewish babies should be killed. Billam advised that the babies be killed, and he too was killed. Iyov remained silent, and therefore suffered horrible challenges in his life. Yisro disagreed with Paroah, and fled, so he merited to have his descendants sit as scribes for the Sanhedrin.
The Brisker Rav explained that in Iyov’s sufferings, he called out in pain. Hashem reproached him, asking, Why do you yell? Does the yelling abate your pain at all? Iyov answered that of course it didn’t, but nonetheless, when one is in pain, they scream out – they cannot help it. When Paroah issued his decree, Iyov was silent, and his silence showed that the decree did not pain him at all. Had it indeed hurt him, he would have yelled.
When something hurts us, we yell. What makes us scream? What are the events in the world around us, right now, that touch us so deeply we can only yell?
2) ״אני שייך לעם״
Moshe is part of a small group of figures in Tanach whose life is covered in-depth from the moment they are born. One of our past RCA presidents, Rabbi Moshe Gorelik, notes that there is still much we don’t know about his life: his younger life is not mentioned at all, and the Torah seems to come out of nowhere with “and Moshe grew up, and went to his people, and saw their affliction” (2:11). What happened in between being plucked out of the Nile and now?
Rabbi Gorelik suggests that the Torah didn’t skip Moshe’s upbringing at all. Of course, growing up in the palace, Moshe had an awareness of the enslaved people building cities all around him. The moment that Moshe “grew up” was this very moment described in the pasuk – when he looked and saw that they were his brothers. The moment Moshe “lent his eyes and heart to be with them in their pain”, as Rashi parses it, is the moment he grew into being the leader he was destined to become.
Rabbi Gorelik buttresses his reading with support from three stories told in the pasukim: killing the Mitzri who was abusing Jews; defending Yisro’s daughters by the well; drawing water for Yisro’s daughters and their flock. In all three episodes, we see Moshe pick a side, aide the oppressed or needy. These are the foundational moments of Moshe’s life, his “youth”. Full piece available here.
Did our chomer help you over Shabbos? Want to see more or less of an idea? Let us know!
Manning the Media
1) “Last night, our synagogue burned to the ground.”
You Can Taste the Fires in the Back of Your Throat, by Peter Savodik, The Free Press
Devastating wildfires continue to rage across Los Angeles County, with the Palisades and Eaton fires having burned over 37,000 acres combined. At least 24 people have died, and more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed. Officials warn of a "particularly dangerous situation" as strong Santa Ana winds are expected to return, potentially fueling further fire growth and hampering containment efforts.
The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, a more than 100-year-old Conservative synagogue, was destroyed in the fires, and Chabad of Topanga rescued their two Torah scrolls, including one brought from Europe after the holocaust.
It can be difficult to comment on terrible events like these – and, of course, we’re thinking constantly of our affected chaverim – but we’d like to leave you with Peter Savodik – editor at The Free Press – and his account of fleeing his home last week.
2) It seems, Baruch Hashem, that we have a deal.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a phased ceasefire in Gaza, aiming to end this ongoing war. As of this writing, the deal is said to bring the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and outlines steps for Israel's strategic withdrawal from Gaza.
In The Free Press, Michael Oren argues that the terms of the proposed deal reflect the security vulnerabilities exposed on October 7, suggesting that the government’s failures to protect its citizens became its responsibility to strike this deal.
From a different angle, Seth Mandel at Commentary argues that the deal’s drawbacks include the release of Palestinian prisoners, potential future hostage-taking, and Hamas’s continued control of Gaza. Similarly, Times of Israel editor and founder David Horovitz argues that the current deal to release Israeli hostages is a necessary but deeply flawed compromise. He stresses that every hostage must be freed, but warns of the long-term risks posed by Hamas’s survival.
Whichever way you look at it, we stand on the precipice of seeing more than a year-and-a-half's worth of tefillos answered. While there has been no small amount of sorrow along the way, we are on the verge of mothers being reunited with children, children with parents –– our reservations being what they may be, we’re nonetheless preparing for a moment of joy and profound gratitude to the Master of the Universe.
Read something that made you think? We’d love to read it, too – and then feature it! Drop us a line and let us know how we’re doing.
Did our chomer help you over Shabbos? Want to see more or less of an idea? Let us know!
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