KabbalaOnline.org Bo 5783 Chasidic Masters Insights on the Torah Reading
KabbalaOnline.org Bo 5783 Chasidic Masters Insights on the Torah Reading
Dedicated
in honor of
LINDSAY ROSENWALD
on the occasion of his birthday.
May he be blessed with a year of much material and spiritual success and
happy occasions in the best of health.
Like Frogs Jumping into Dough
Chasidic Masters
Beginner
"And
the Nile will swarm with frogs, and they will come up and go into your houses,
into your bedrooms and even into your beds. They will go into the houses of
your servants and of your people, into your ovens and into your kneading
troughs." (Ex.
7:28)
The Sanz-Klausenberger Rebbe taught (in Divrei Torah #677) that
a Jew is required to learn from the self-sacrifice of the frogs which came to
plague the Egyptians. (Parshat Va'eira) They are an
example of how to serve G‑d with self-sacrifice.
When
are the kneading troughs found next to the oven? When the oven is hot and the
dough is ready to bake. The frogs voluntarily went into the glowing hot ovens
even though they were not commanded concerning the sanctification of G‑d's
name, nor were they promised any reward for being the agents of the plague.
They gave their lives for the sanctification of G‑d's holy name in carrying out
the plague. All the more so we, who are commanded to sanctify
G‑d's name (through total self-sacrifice), are required to go to any necessary
length to ensure the sanctification of G‑d's name in the world.
The
Jews in Egypt did actually gain inspiration from the frogs in the concept of
self-sacrifice. When they were commanded to take
the Passover sacrifice, each family took a sheep and tied it to their
bedposts, where it remained for the next five days. The Egyptians saw this they
demanded an explanation exclaiming, "What are you doing with our deity
tied up on the bedpost!" (Ex.
12:1-6)
The
Jewish People could have answered that they were going to treat the sheep like
pets, drinking their milk and shearing their wool, but they greatly desired to
serve G‑d with total self-sacrifice. Instead they told the truth, at great risk
of their lives. They told the Egyptians that they intended to slaughter the
animal as a sacrifice to the Hebrew G‑d. The Egyptians could only gnash their
teeth in frustration; powerless to respond. (Tur Orach Chaim 430
in the name of the Seder HaOlam)
The
decisiveness of the Jewish Nation is really quite amazing because at that time
they were entrenched in 49 levels of spiritual impurity and almost on the verge
of spiritual annihilation. In fact, they were still dabbling in idol
worship. (see Ex.
12:6,21) Normally, only a person of exceptional stature is allowed
by Jewish Law to give his life to sanctify G‑d's name. An ordinary Jew is
required to demonstrate self sacrifice only for the three cardinal transgressions;
idol worship, forbidden sexual relationships and murder. And at that time, it
might have even been questionable if the Jewish People were on that level. How
then was it permitted for them to challenge the Egyptians and risk their lives
to sanctify G‑d's name?
Rabbi Moshe Teitlebaum
of Uhely (Yismach Moshe, Ki Tisa, p.188) writes that
perhaps it is because they began keeping the Shabbat in
Egypt. (See Tur Orach
Chaim 281) Our sages have said that one who keeps Shabbat
according to all its laws is forgiven from any transgressions, even if he
served idols as heartily and enthusiastically as the generation
of Enosh. (Shabbat 118b) Furthermore, in the place
where baalei teshuva [penitents] stand, even
perfect tzadikim are not granted admission. (Shabbat 34b) Therefore,
at that critical moment, the Israelites were elevated by the mitzvah of
Shabbat. They were thus permitted to carry out the mitzvah of
taking the Pascal Lamb, at great personal risk, and thereby affected a
resounding sanctification of G‑d's name.
[Source: www.nishmas.org
|
Click on
Subscribe to receive any of our free newsletters in your email. |
“I Love You, Ascent!”
is the new online Facebook community for Ascent’s friends and alumni.
It’s free, join us today:
bit.ly/loveascent - interact, have fun, or just hangout! See you
there :)
|
|
|
|
|
Donate here for US tax benefits Donate here for UK tax benefits Donate here for Israel tax benefits |
|
KabbalaOnline.org is a project
of Ascent of Safed |
|
Comments
Post a Comment