VOLUME 109 NUMBER 1
Teves 24, 5784
January 5, 2024
PARSHAS SHMOS
Candlelighting Time 4:31 PM
We find ourselves in a quagmire. Deplorably, we were massacred about three months ago and we are fighting an enemy that is bent on our destruction as we well know. The valiant struggles that we are witnessing in Israel to eliminate our foes seem endless and the vitriolic assaults against us are entirely false yet accepted by millions on every continent! There are very few that are willing to defend what is occurring in Israel and we find ourselves isolated amidst an ocean of anti-Semitism coming from all sides. What is our anticipated salvation from the war that we are enmeshed in and how do we find safety and security in these distressful times?
Truth be told, Moshe our revered leader faced the same challenge when he was sent to redeem the nation from bondage in Egypt. Hashem told him that the time had come for their emancipation from slavery. He went to Pharoah and demanded the release of the nation and he was spurned. Not only that but the workload that had been placed upon the people was increased and much hardship ensued. Therefore, Moshe pleaded with Hashem why he had sent him for this impossible task which only led to harsher treatment and not to salvation. The response to Moshe was sharp and unrelenting. Even though the Midrash clearly states that Moshe only objected to his mission because he was defending the honor of the people that they should not be subjected to such torment and suffering, nonetheless he was barred from entering into the land of Israel for his lack of faith in Hashem.
Rabbeinu Bachya in great length discusses that the last exile and its eventual liberation will resemble what our forefathers endured in Egypt and their eventual delivery from slavery. He cites the words of the prophet Yirmiyahu who posed to Hashem the following query. Are the evil successful because they are being remunerated for a mitzvah that they performed or are we subjected to pain and anguish in order to increase and augment the reward that we will receive in the future? Hashem responded that the primary intent is to expand and add to the eventual reward that awaits us. It is difficult to perceive what transpired in Egypt. We do not have extremely detailed records of the brutality of the Egyptian captors but we do know that they tossed children into the walls of the structures that our people were building. That should give us an unmistakable indication of the insensitivity and heartlessness of what they faced then.
Although much of the horror that was perpetrated upon those poor souls who suffered immeasurable agony and pain has been publicized, we can never truly feel their grief and sorrow. Yet we must attempt to sense and realize their horrible experiences and of those who can no longer express their innermost feelings because they did not survive that catastrophic disaster on one of holiest days of the year, Shemini Atseres. However, we must firmly believe and accept that in the days preceding the final chapter of our long and grueling travel through disaster and calamity, it is part of Hashem’s master plan that we undergo and persist in the face of these adversities. When we merit our absolute liberation from this lengthy and dreadful exile, then we will fully understand all the details that occurred and receive our reward for our faith and trust in Hashem.
A BYTE FOR SHABBOS
When Moshe was sent afloat on the Nile, Miriam was watching to see what would happen. She did not know how he would be saved she only understood that Hashem would protect him. And that is what happened as we know that Pharoah’s daughter stretched out her hand beyond its regular length and was able to miraculously pull him in.
CHOFETZ CHAIM
GOOD SHABBOS
ALTHOUGH WE ARE UNDERGOING EXTREME DIFFICULTIES AS CAN BE WITNESSED WITH THE ONGOING CASUALTIES THAT WE SUFFER DIALY, HOWEVER, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTICE AND OBSERVE THE INCREDIBLE HEVENLY ASSISTANCE THAT WE ARE RECEIVING. DESPITE THE GLOBAL COMMUNITES’ PROTEST AGAINST ISRAEL AND THE INNER OBJECTION TO OUR PRESIDENT’S SUPPORT OF ISRAEL, HE CONTINUES TO ENCOURAGE THE WAR AGAINST HAMAS AND PROVIDES CONTINUING FINANCIAL AND MILITARY FUNDING FOR THE ARMY.
