Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hello, my friends, and welcome back to this week's episode of the Practical Partnership podcast. This is Rabbi Shlomo Cohn and I hope you are well. It is definitely cold outside with the weather in the northeast and really much of the United States being well below freezing. So I hope you're warm. And actually maybe this episode some Torah thoughts from this week's podcast will warm your neshama with the fire of Torah. And before we begin, as always, if you have questions, comments, just want to say hello.
[00:00:34] Tell me how you like this podcast. Don't be shy. Send a quick email. Rabbi shlomo kon k o h nmail.com I'd love to hear from you. This week's Parsha is Parshas Va'ira. And really, in this week's Parsha, we'll begin the Jewish people's exodus from the land of Egypt. The Parsha starts off with the back and forth between Hashem, G. D and Moshe Rabbeinu. G. D commands Moshe to begin the redemption, to take the Jews out of Egypt. He gives over to Moshe Rabbeinu to Moses, the four expressions of redemption, which actually we commemorate by drinking the four cups of wine on the Seder night on Passover.
[00:01:19] Moshe demurs.
[00:01:22] He tries to not be the one to take the Jewish people out of Mitzrayim. But Hashem tells Moshe, this is the commandment that I want you to do. I want you to take the Jews out of Egypt. He tells him exactly what to do to approach Paro, to give him a warning, to tell him, let the Jews go, and if not, they will be stricken with plagues. Moshe Rabbeinu follows the commandment of Hashem, the commandment of God. He approaches Paro and asks him to let the Jewish people go. Paro refuses. And thus begins the plagues. The Parsha tells us in this week's Parsha, the first seven plagues begins with the plague of blood. The second plague is a plague of frogs, where frogs go over the land of Egypt. The third is License, which covers the entire land of Mitsrayim. The fourth is swarms of wild beasts come and attack the Egyptians. The fifth plague is an epidemic which strikes the entire, um, cattle and everything in the land of Mitsrayim. The sixth is boils, that all the people in Egypt are struck with boils. The seventh in this week's Parsha is the plague of Hail. And in each one of these, um, plagues, miraculous plagues that strike the Egyptians, they are warned by Moshe beforehand, and Paro refuses to Let the Jewish people go. And afterwards, when the plague happens, it's the same storyline. Paro asks Moshe Rabbeinu, please stop and I'll let them go. And then he changes his mind and backtracks and doesn't let the Jewish people go. And this will continue into next week's Parsha, where we have the culmination of the plagues with the last of the three plagues, with the culmination of the Jewish people leaving the land of Mitzrayim. The first idea I want to share with you today takes us to the beginning of the Parasha. Now, the first verse in the Parasha reads as Vayedabelokem el Moshe Vayomer e'eni Hashem G D spoke to Moshe and said to him, I am Hashem.
[00:03:30] Now if you look at Rashi, the great commentator who explains to us, gives us insight into the Chumash, he says as follows. Vayidaber elokem ham Moshe and G D spoke to Moshe. Dab're soy mishpat al shey Hiksha ledaber velimer lama Hariyosa la Amhazeh. That Rashi tells us that Hashem spoke to Moshe at this point in a harsher tone.
[00:03:56] And actually the different names of God, the different names of Hashem referenced to in the Chumash have different meanings. Someone once actually asked me a question, is God male or female?
[00:04:10] And, you know, you might laugh at that question. What do you mean, God? Is God male or female? But there is some, um, truth to the question, not to the actual, um, not that God's female or male, God forbid, God is not a person. But what I think the person might have been referencing to is that sometimes the name of Hashem m is in female tense and sometimes it is in male tense.
[00:04:36] And actually, because in Hebrew there's different tenses for male and for female. So. And the commentators explain that the different names of Hashem have different attributes, that Hashem has different attributes. And when each name has specific attributes about Hashem, and it gives us an idea of the tone, I guess, and the, uh, and uh, the attribute of Hashem that's in motion and use at the time. So for example, in this week's Parasha, it says Vayedaber Elokim el Moshe, vayom rey levani Hashem.
[00:05:09] The name of God Elokim denotes justice, strict justness. And the name of Hashem at other times is Rahamim, is mercy. But over here, specifically in this week's Parsha, when Hashem is having A conversation or Moshe Rabbeinu speaking to Moshe Rabbeinu and giving him a commandment to go to Paro, he uses the name, his name, which is Elokim, which is justice, which is strict justice. And Rashi tells us that the reason why Hashem spoke to Moshe, I guess, quote, unquote, more sternly with the name of justice is because Moshe Rabbeinu spoke, I guess, according to his level, badly on the Jewish nation.
[00:05:52] And the insight that Rashi is telling us that in last week's Parasha, when Moshe Rabbeinu comes to the Jewish nation to tell them that they're going to be redeemed, they didn't listen to him. They didn't listen to him at all.
[00:06:04] And in fact, in last week's Parsha, when Moshe Rabbeinu and Moses approaches Paro to let the Jewish people go, he says, you know what? I'm going to make it harder for the Jewish people. I'm going to make them get their own bricks, their own straws. I'm going to increase the quota on them of how many bricks they have to produce. So the Jewish people said, what are you doing to us? This is even harder than before. So Moshe Rabbeinu came back to God and said, why have you done evil to this people? Why have you sent me right from the time I came to power to speak your name? He did evil to this people, but you did not rescue your people. Right? That's what Moshe Rabbeinu says to Hashem. And now in this week's Parasha and continuation of the storyline of the Exodus, God is speaking back to Moshe Rabbeinu, to Moses, and he says that he uses his name Elokim, which is justice, which is strict judgment.
[00:07:01] And the question is, what did Moshe Rabbeinu, what did Moses do wrong? You know, it seems like Moshe is being quote, unquote, punished here, or he's, you know, getting a little bit reprimanded by God for how he spoke to him regarding the Jewish nation, meaning he said, Moshe asked Hashem, he's like, how you sent me here to rescue the Jewish nation. And I'm trying to do that. And now it's harder on them than before. It's Pharaoh came down, even harder on them, and they haven't been rescued yet. They're still sitting in slavery. And now in this week's Parasha, God is sort of reprimanding Moshe Rabbeinu, Moses, and telling him, like, you know, he's using the name of justice. And saying he's speaking to him more sternly, you know, for us to understand that he's giving him, you know, he's giving him a little reprimand. And if you think about this a little bit more, it's stronger. Because what's the job of a leader? A leader is meant to advocate for his people. And we see other times, um, throughout Jewish history and even in Tehillim, in Psalms, where we see that this sort of. We come to Hashem, like, why have you, um, forsaken us? We have these wordings in the. In Tanakh, in Tehillim, and even Moshe Rabbeinu himself. At other times, in the Chumash, in the Torah, we see he advocates for the Jewish nation, right? One of the most famous is by the sin of the golden calf, he says, if you're not going to save the people right now, erase me from your book. He says, if you're not going to save the Jewish nation for what they did, erase me. But over here, where Moshe Rabbeinu is advocating for the Jewish nation, he seems to be getting a reprimand. So what happened? What did he do wrong? And what can we learn out from this for our lives?
[00:08:52] Now, uh, there's an insight here by Rabiakov Naimon, that the reason why Moshe Rabbeinu was reprimanded wasn't because he advocated for the Jewish nation. That's something he's supposed to do. Like we said before, that's the job of a leader to represent his people even before Hashem, obviously, in this respectful way. So why did Moshe Rabbeenu get punished? Or, you know, why did God speak to him sternly? And the answer to that is actually in the words that he used. He said when he spoke to Hashem about what had happened to the Jewish nation, you know, and how that things are harder on them. After he had approached Pharaoh, he said, why have you made this bad thing happen to the Jewish nation?
[00:09:41] Why have you made this bad thing happen? And the insight here is that we have to know. Kol D'ovid, Rahmana Latav Ovid. Everything that G D does is for the good, whatever happens. Now, obviously, we have a hard time understanding this when we see suffering to our eyes, you know, how is that good? How is that positive? And the answer to that is it's something which is hard to swallow at times. But there's a bigger picture here.
[00:10:15] And even over here with the slavery, the commentaries tell us that really the Jewish nation was supposed to be in Egypt for 400 years, but yet they were only in Egypt for 210 years. So how does that work out? Because we know that when God spoke to Abraham, he said, your children will be there for 400 years, but yet we were only there for 210. Based on the calculations, how long the Jewish nation was there. And the commentaries tell us the reason that why we weren't there for 400 years is because in the 210 years, they were so intense and so hard, it was as if the Jewish nation was there for 400. So in essence, the fact that the slavery got harder at a certain point and more intense sped up the process of the Jewish nation being redeemed. So it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Right? It wasn't a bad thing. Maybe it was bitter, but it wasn't bad.
[00:11:15] And that is actually why Moshe Rabbeinu was reprimanded, because, fine, you could advocate for your people. You should do that. You're supposed to do that. But you shouldn't say it's bad because we don't know what's truly bad or not bad. Right. Um, and there is a concept. Everything that Hashem does is for the good.
[00:11:36] And ultimately, everything that happens to us, there's a reason for it, and there's a positive reason for it. M. We can't see it all the time, but we have to know that it's not bad. It could be bitter.
[00:11:50] And the example that's given is that if someone has to take a bitter medication that doesn't taste good, is it bad?
[00:11:58] No, it's ultimately good because even though it tastes very bad, but. Or it's bitter, it's ultimately saving the person. There's so many examples that we have where the things we do that at that moment, it's. You know, you could say it's uncomfortable, but you wouldn't say it's bad. Right. Someone who works out, exercises, you know, if it hurts to push a little harder, is that bad? No, it's good. You're making yourself healthy. And that's why Moshe Rabbeinu was taken to task, uh, not for advocating against, uh, not for advocating for his people, but rather for using the term bad. And I think the outlook for us is that when it comes to life, to try to, you know, even though it's hard, we have these challenging moments. The only way we get to a point of feeling and knowing that everything Hashem does is for the good is by telling us this and by imbibing it and thinking about it. When the challenging things happen. I'm not saying it's going to make everything go away, but knowing this idea that everything's for a reason and everything we're supposed to feel and do, it has a certain outcome. And we're part of that process. We have this mindset. It helps us overcome. And I think a lot of our experiences going through life, we could look back and say how a lot of things that we went through, even at that moment, they were not positive. But maybe coming out of it, we're able to see the good and how we gain from it.
[00:13:21] Second idea I want to share with you today continues in the first few Sukim, the first few verses of, uh, this week's Parasha. So Hashem is telling Moshe Rabbeinu, now is the time to redeem the Jewish people. It has come.
[00:13:36] And the verse reads as B'nai Yisrael asher mitzrayim avidimoisom vezkar es brisi. It says, moreover, I have heard the groan of the children of Israel whom Egypt enslaved, and I have remembered my covenant. Now again, we'll go to Rashi. Rashi says, as kemosh et tzavti vaamadity abris ah yeishali lekayim lefikach shamati yis nakas B'nai yisrael Hanoiakim asher mat mitrayim ma vida maisam the Ezekor Yisrael. Uh, Bris. Keep it. Bris bin habsaram omartiloi ve'gam es hagoyashir yavoidu Don Ono, meaning Rashi is telling us that what Hashem was saying here is that I remember the pact, the covenant that I made with Avraham Avinu, that I'm going to take them out of B'nai Yisrael. And now that I heard their groans, I heard their cries about the intensity and the pain, the suffering of the enslavement in Egypt. I'm taking them out. So I saw a question which is brought down. I thought it was a great question that Eliabarach Finkel. He says, uh, he asked the question as follows. We know that God made a covenant with Avraham Avinu, with Abraham years, um, earlier, that he said first he told him that his children would go into Egypt into slavery. And he also made him a promise that he would take his children out of slavery at the appropriate time.
[00:15:09] Now, if God made a promise to Abraham to take the Jewish nation out of Mitsrayim at the right moment, at the time that they were destined to go out. Why was it necessary for him to hear the cries of the Jewish nation? Why was that part of the calculation? Why was that needed? If God made a deal, it was time for him to come through on that deal, to finish the deal to take the Jews out. What was this? He heard their cries, and then he's going to remember the covenant. He heard their pain, and then he's going to take them out of Mitzrayim, take them out of Egypt. Why was it necessary for them to, you know, for Hashem to hear the cries first before he took them out?
[00:15:52] And he explains, Rebelli Baruch explains that from here we see a very important concept, that there's different things that are going to come to us. God willing, you know, we daven Rosh Hashanah that we should have a good year and good things should happen to us, and when we pray throughout the year, that good things should happen to us. But even if something is destined to come to somebody, or it's because it's ruled in heaven, that a person's supposed to get a certain good thing, let's say they're supposed to get, you know, uh, a certain amount of money or whatever it is, they're supposed to go free, whatever every person could think of what's good for them or what we think is good for us. But either way, there could be a situation where even if a person has something quote unquote coming to him, if he doesn't daven for that thing, if he doesn't pray to Hashem for whatever it is, for Parnasseh, for livelihood, for health, for success, for, you know, for a shidduch, uh, for a match to find his soulmate, it won't come, that in order to access the blessing and all the good things that God has in store for us, even if it's decreed upon us that it should come, we. We have to pray for it, we have to dive into Hashem that it should come. It's sort of like it's the access code for us to get the blessing, to open the door for everything to flow into our lives. You know, it's, uh. The example I once heard is that, you know, if you have an airport, there's tons of planes flying around an airport, but if you don't have the air traffic controller directing things, giving clearance for landing, nothing's going to land. You're just going to have airplanes going around. And that's why, even though Hashem promised to take the Jewish nation out of Egypt, he still needed to hear their cries. And that's why the posse tells us that Hashem, uh, heard the cries, and then it was time to let the Jews out of Mitzrayim, because the cries were able to access that redemption that was going to come to the Jewish nation and sort of in our lives as well. Hashem has good stuff for us. You know, hopefully it's, you know, all the things we want, or maybe we shouldn't take it for granted. The things we have that we want to continue having those things, we need to daven for them. Because even if it's decreed on Rosh Hashanah for us to get those good stuff, Parnassah for livelihood, for health, happiness, all the good things we want, we still need to daven for it, to access it, and to bring it into our lives. And he brings down something very fascinating. We know from the verses that Moshe Rabbeinu was very hesitant to be the one to take the Jewish nation out of Mitzrayim. And one of the reasons why Moshe Rabbeinu did not want to be the one is the reason he gave is because he had a speech impediment. And this is what the verses tell us. Um, outright it says, moshe Rabbeinu had a speech impediment, and he wasn't able to speak properly. And Hashem, ah, tells him, anyways, no, you're going to be the one to do it. And it's brought down from the Ramban Nachmanides that G D could have healed Moshe Rabbeinu. He could have healed Moses. Speech impediment. Why didn't he heal him? You know, he just continued, moshe Rabbeinu always had this impediment when he spoke, he wasn't able to speak properly.
[00:19:22] And the Ramban tells us something fascinating, that the reason why Moshe Rabbeinu wasn't healed from his speech issue was because he never davened for it. Meaning God would have healed him if he just would have davened to be healed. He never did. And that's why he always had that speech impediment. And this is a very important, I think, idea for ourselves in our own life, our own lives, that, you know, we have things maybe that we're used to or maybe, you know, Baruch Hashem, thank God our lives are going well. So number one is it's important to the daven for the things that we have that they should continue. That if we're receiving blessing and good things and livelihood, health, we shouldn't just take it for granted. That it's coming to us, we have to daven for it, we have to pray for it. And, and also it's important for the things that we do need, you know, could be it's coming to us if we just have to speak to Hashem to daven. And maybe this is a bigger conversation in general because when it comes to davening, we have obviously Chachris, Mincha and Ma'riv. There's set prayers that the Anshiknes, Sagdola, the men of the great assembly establish for us to pray every day. Special tfilos that were brought, they were formalized for us to say. It's a uniform prayer system for everyone to do. But that's one aspect of prayer which is important and we should try to aspire to. But there's another aspect of prayer which is also very important and we need to remember about it when it comes about having a connection to Hashem, um, and that's speaking to G D in your own words, from the depths of your heart. So there's the formulated prayer which the men of the great assembly established, which is something we do on a daily basis. And yet at the same time, there's another level of prayer which comes from the heart, which is in your own words, to speak to God when you need something, when you don't need something, to have that connection. And it's also important to discuss the idea of tefillah, uh, what tefillah is all about and why God set up a system in this way where we have to ask for the things we need and for the things we have to continue asking for them. You know, and just to give a short idea on this is because the whole idea of tefillah is about that connection to Hashem. It's about the connection to G D. And G D wants to give us good. God is a meitav. He's a do good. He always does good to us. Right? Like we said in the first idea in this week's Parasha, everything that God does is for the good. Even the things that see seem quote, unquote bad. And God wants to do good for us. He wants to give us and give us, but we have to have that connection. We have to daven for it. And that's maybe on, you know, if I give an idea on one foot, why it's set up in this way is because it's about that connection with Hashem that when we pray to God, we are opening up that pipe and letting everything flow into our lives. So with that I'm going to finish for today's podcast. I hope you all enjoyed. If you have any questions, comments, or just would like to reach out to say hello, feel free to send me an email at Rabbi Shlomo cohenmail.com have a great day.
