From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006
2:45 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Bo,
5766
Not So
Fast
By Rabbi Joshua (cautiously known as The Hoffer)
Hoffman
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 8
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With gratitude to the
Almighty for sustaining me, and a prayer that He continue to do so, this week's
message completes eight years of Netvort. Thanks to my readers for their
comments, questions, suggestions and words of encouragement, and a special tip
of the Hoffer kippah to my editor/ distributor, for his continued
assistance.
In memory of my friend Rabbi Moshe Chaim
Dombey, z"l, Torah scholar and educator, founder and manager of Targum Press,
who passed away this week in Yerusholayim. Rabbi Dombey was a close student of
Rav Aharon Soloveichik, zt"l, during his years in Beis Medrash LeTorah in
Skokie, Illinois, and maintained his connection after moving to Eretz Yisroel,
as well. May his memory be a blessing.
After the plague
of darkness, God tells Moshe that He will bring one more plague upon the
Egyptians, after which Pharaoh will release the slaves. He then asks Moshe to
speak to the people and have them ask of - or borrow from, according to some
commentators - the Egyptians vessels of silver and of gold. In Netvort to
parshas Bo, 5759 (available at Torahheights.com), we offered three explanations
of how this request from the Egyptians actually generated a feeling of esteem
for the Jews on their part, as reflected by the Torah's statement that God gave
them grace in the eyes of the Egyptians (Shemos 12:36). We did not, however,
discuss the impact of the request on the Jews own mind-set. One can ask, after
all, why there was a need to ask the Egyptians for their possessions. As the
rabbis have pointed out, the Hebrew slaves had worked without pay for hundreds
of years, and were therefore entitled to some compensation. They could, of
right, have just taken whatever they wanted, as the Netziv points out. In this
regard, it is important to note that while some commentators, both medieval and
modern, say that the people were told to ask for an outright gift, others
explain that the were told to ask for a loan. Although this was a loan they
would never repay, there was nothing dishonest about it, because of the huge
debt the Egyptians owed them (for more on this question see Rabbi Elchonon
Samet's work, Iyunim Beparshos HaShavua, second series, on parshas Bo). Why,
however, did they need to ask for a loan, rather than demand that they be paid
their back wages ? The Netziv explains that this was actually done as a
subterfuge, so that the Egyptians would pursue the Jews once they realized that
they made off with their capital. I would like to explore a more essential
reason, suggested by Rabbi Yitchok Meir Alter, the first spiritual leader of the
Gur dynasty, in his work Chidushei HaRim.
Rabbi Yitzchok Meir
explains that since this was the beginning of the nation's encounter with
wealth, God did not want them to receive that wealth in an unrestricted way.
Rather, He wanted there to be some sense of responsibility involved. This
explanation goes along well with something I recently heard from Rabbi Menachem
Leibtag, of Gush Etzion. He said that the Jews themselves did not realize that
when they left Egypt, they were leaving on a permanent basis. Moshe's request to
Pharaoh that they be allowed to go on a three-day journey in the wilderness to
serve God was meant not only to persuade Pharaoh to release them, but also to
persuade the Jews themselves. Otherwise, they would not have initially accepted
Moshe's proposal that they leave Egypt and go to another land on a permanent
basis (the question of why Moshe asked Pharaoh for a three-day leave rather than
an outright release is also the subject of considerable debate among the
commentators. Those interested in a further discussion of the topic are referred
to Rabbi Samet's essay in parshas Bo, series one). Following Rabbi Leibtag's
explanation, the Jews, when they asked for the loan, actually believed that they
would need to pay it back, and, thus, the necessary curb on their attitude to
their newly acquired wealth, as explained by Rabbi Yisroel Meir, was in place.
Rabbi Yisroel Salanter often pointed out that the test of riches can sometimes
be greater than the test of poverty. By placing some notion of responsibility,
or indebtedness, on the nation at the time when they first experienced wealth,
then, they were armed to deal with this challenge.
A
descendant of Rabbi Yitzchok Meir, Rabbi Yisroel Alter, in his work Beis
Yisroel, to parshas Bo, cites the explanation of the Chidushei HaRim, and adds
that a similar purpose lay behind God's command to bring the Pesach sacrifice on
the night of the redemption. In this instance, the people were now able to
indulge in a good meal after a lifetime of eating the meager provisions provided
them by the Egyptians. Here, too, there was a danger that this initial encounter
would be approached in the wrong way, and set a tone for the nation's general
approach towards eating. Therefore, their first meal had to be part of a service
to God, so that they would approach it with the proper perspective. Rabbi Yosef
Dov Soloveitchik, zt"l, has pointed out that the Torah's prohibition of not
engaging in the practices of the Egyptians (Vayikra 18:3), although it entails
certain specific restrictions, also points to a general malaise of Egyptian
culture, which was the worship of pleasure. On the first night of their release
from slavery, then, it was important that the nation not be allowed to be caught
up in overindulgence, as can happen to people who suddenly attain freedom. Rav
Soloveitchik has, in fact, pointed out that the entire Passover seder is a study
in contrast between the Jewish approach to a feast, which centers around
spiritual values, and the non-Jewish approach, which centers around the purely
material aspects. This approach, according to the Beis Yisroel, was initiated on
the night of the redemption, in order to prevent the nation from beginning its
journey from slavery on the wrong note.
My teacher, Rav Aharon
Soloveichik, zt"l, noted a further aspect of caution that was mandated on the
night of the redemption, as symbolized by a detail in the bringing of the Pesach
sacrifice that evening. The Torah commands that blood from the sacrifice should
be sprinkled on the doorposts. Although there is a dispute, in the Mechilta,
whether this blood should be sprinkled on the inside of the doorpost or the
outside, Rashi follows the opinion that it should be sprinkled on the outside.
The reason for this, explained Rav Aharon, was to make sure that the people
would not go awry and indiscriminately engage in acts of violence on the night
of redemption. Even the French Revolution, which was fueled by the slogan of
'liberty, fraternity, equality,' resulted in tremendous violence and killing on
the part of its leaders. In the revolution of the redemption from Egypt,
however, the people were not to engage in violence, but, rather, in a meal
centered on the Pesach sacrifice that reminded them of their debt of gratitude
to God.
Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi
Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.
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