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These divrei Torah
were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s
Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: #1232 – Placing A Person
in a Non-Kosher Mental Institution. Good Shabbos!
I will share a
brilliant insight on this week’s parsha from the Tolner Rebbe (Rabbi
Yitzchok Menachem Weinberg of Jerusalem).
The pasuk says in
Parshas Shemos “…See all the wonders that I have placed in your hand, and
you shall do them before Pharaoh and I will harden his heart and he will
not send away the nation. And you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says
Hashem, My son, My firstborn, Israel.'” (Shemos 4:21-22). Rashi writes on
the words “My son, My firstborn, Israel” as follows: “This is an
expression of greatness (lashon
gedula).” In other words, the Hebrew word Bechor here does not
necessarily mean firstborn, it connotes greatness.
After Rashi gives
the “simple interpretation” (pshuto),
he then cites the Medrashic interpretation, which indeed takes the word Bechor in its
literal sense: “Here the Almighty certified the sale of the birthright by
Eisav to Yaakov.” It is as if the Holy One places His signature on the
document of sale that Eisav wrote up, selling his rights of being the
firstborn to his younger brother.
Three questions may
be asked here:
- All the way back in Parshas Bereshis,
Rashi says “There are many Medrashim, but I have come only to
provide the “P’shuto
shel Mikra” (the simple interpretation of Scripture).
This pasuk
that we just quoted is actually just one of the dozens and dozens of
Medrashim that Rashi brings. When Rashi bring a Medrash, it is
because something is bothering Rashi and the “pshat” just
does not adequately solve the issue. Therefore, Rashi marshals a
Medrash to help elaborate a deeper interpretation of the pasuk. The
question we need to pose here is what is the problem with this pasuk? What was
lacking in the simple interpretation, which prompted Rashi to bring
a Medrash for deeper understanding?
- The transfer of the Birthright between
Eisav and Yaakov was an event which occurred approximately 250 years
earlier. Why does Hashem
suddenly certify this sale now?
- This is a generic question. The Halacha is
that a firstborn is entitled to a “double portion” of his father’s
estate—double what any of his brothers receive. Why did the Torah
grant the firstborn a double portion? We just finished learning the
tragic story of Yosef and his brothers. It all started with Yaakov
showing favoritism to Yosef and giving him something that he did not
give to his other sons. The Talmud teaches (Shabbos 10b) that a
father should NOT show favoritism to one brother over another. And
yet here the Torah says that a firstborn receives a double portion!
Why did the Torah do that?
Those are the three
questions: Why was it necessary to bring the Medrash? Why now? And in
general, why does a Bechor get “pi
shnayim“?
To answer these
questions, the Tolner Rebbe postulates three principles:
Principle #1: There
are few things that are more disgusting to Hashem than a person who is a kafui tov (ingrate).
The Medrash of Rav Eliezer states “There is nothing as difficult to
handle for the Holy One Blessed Be He as someone who ignores a favor done
for him.”
Principle #2: The
Meshech Chochma in this week’s parsha explains that a Bechor receives a
double portion because a father owes hakaras
hatov (gratitude) to his firstborn son for having made him
into a father. Fatherhood is an entirely different chapter of a person’s
life, which enhances the worth and essence of an individual. The
firstborn is the one who makes his father into a father.
This Meshech
Chochma basically answers question #3 above, explaining why the Bechor receives the
double portion, and explaining why this is not a violation of a father
showing favoritism among children. The Bechor
deserves the double portion as a token of the gratitude the father has to
him for making him into a father!
Once we understand
this connection between Bechora
(the status of being a firstborn) and hakaras
hatov (the debt of gratitude a person has for someone who did
him a favor), we introduce…
Principle #3: The pasuk says, “A
scoffer (naval)
says in his heart, ‘There is no G-d'” (Tehillim 14:1 & Tehillim
53:2). Rashi, in his commentary on Tehillim, says this pasuk refers
(prophetically) to either Nebuchadnezzar or Titus. However, the Medrash
says the naval
referenced in the pasuk
is referring to Eisav. The Medrash commentaries explain that the reason
that Eisav is considered such a naval
is because he is the epitome of a kafui
tov. The Medrash states that when Yaakov received the Bechora, Eisav hated
him. He said to himself, “I just can’t wait until my father will die, and
then I will kill Yaakov.” But he was not satisfied with just waiting. He
planned to speed up the process by hastening his father’s death. But
rather than do this dastardly act himself, he went to Yishmael and asked
him to kill his (paternal) brother, Yitzchak. “You kill your brother
Yitzchak and I will kill my brother Yaakov, and then we will receive the
whole inheritance between the two of us!” However, the Medrash continues,
part of Eisav’s diabolical plan was that after Yishmael killed Yitzchak
and Eisav killed Yaakov, Eisav intended to kill Yishmael and take the whole
inheritance for himself! This, the Medrash says, is the epitome of a naval.
Thus, the example
par excellence of a person who is a kafui
tov is Eisav. Now, who else in Chumash is a kafui tov? It is
Pharaoh! Why is he a kafui
tov? Look what the Jewish people did for Egypt, to the extent
that the Egyptians themselves said to Pharaoh, “How can you do this? The
Jews saved us. The Jews kept us alive!” When Yaakov Avinu came down to
Mitzrayim, the famine ended. So Pharaoh is also a kafui tov.
If that is the
case, it all comes together. Eisav is a kafui tov. The whole reason for the Bechora
is because people need to show gratitude (to be makir tov). A person
who is not makir tov
has no connection to the Bechora.
Therefore, Hashem
says “I agree. I sign onto the sale of the Birthright from Eisav to
Yaakov because Bechora
is all about appreciating the concept of hakaras hatov.” Eisav, who is ready to
kill his brother, his father, and his father-in-law (Eisav married
Yismael’s daughter) has no connection whatsoever to hakaras hatov and
consequently, not to the Bechora
either!
Therefore, it is now that Hashem tells Moshe
“You tell Pharaoh that I can’t stand him either because Yisroel is my
first born! I certify the transfer of the Bechora away from someone who is a kafui tov. Just as
Eisav was not a makir
tov, you, Pharaoh, are also a kafui tov!”
This explains what
was bothering Rashi, as well. Listen carefully to the two Pesukim. “…Go ahead
and do these signs I have given you in front of Pharaoh. I will harden his heart and he will not send
out the nation. And you shall say
to Pharaoh, thus said Hashem, My son, My firstborn,
Israel.” (Shemos 4:21-22). Note that once Hashem told Moshe that the
signs were to be done “in front of Pharaoh” it was not necessary to
mention the monarch’s name, but rather it sufficed to use the pronouns “his heart” and “he will not
send.” It is clear that the pronouns refer to Pharaoh. Likewise, in Pasuk 22, there was
no reason to mention Pharaoh by name. The pasuk could have just as well said “And
you shall say to him…”.
Why was it necessary to say “And you shall say to Pharaoh“?
That is what was
bothering Rashi. Why does the pasuk
need to re-mention Pharaoh’s name? But now Rashi has an answer. The
reason is that Pharaoh is a kafui
tov. The Ari z”l
points out that the letters of the word Pharaoh (Pay Reish Ayin Hay)
also spell haoref
(Hay Ayin Reish Pay),
meaning the back of the neck, which represents someone turning their back
on someone. The reason the Torah emphasizes Pharaoh in this pasuk is that
Pharaoh represents haoref
– the person who is characterized by a demonstration of ingratitude
towards someone who has done him a favor symbolized by showing him the
back of his neck, turning his back upon him. Pharaoh turned his back on Klal Yisrael, the
nation of Yosef, who saved Egypt from destruction.
Rashi cites the
Medrash to explain why the Torah needs to say “Vayomer el Pharoah”
rather than “Vayomer
E’lav,” to emphasize that the Egyptian monarch is haoref –
characterized by his ingratitude which is symbolized by the back of his
neck. Because of Hashem’s intolerance for those who are ungrateful, he
signed on the Bechora
of Yaakov, eliminating Eisav from that role because Eisav too was a kafui tov. Pharaoh
is being told that he too will receive his punishment now, because like
Eisav, he is a kafui
tov.
Transcribed by
David Twersky; Jerusalem DavidATwersky@gmail.com
Technical
Assistance by Dovid Hoffman; Baltimore, MD dhoffman@torah.org
This week’s
write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissochar Frand’s
Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly Torah portion. A listing of the
halachic portions for Parshas Shemos is provided below:
- # 038 – Husbands at Childbirth
- # 081 – Cholov Yisroel: Necessary or Not
in America?
- # 129 – Giving English Names
- # 176 – Shalosh Seudos in Shuls: Is There
a Problem?
- # 222 – Disposal of Shaimos
- # 266 – The Laws and Customs of Chupah
- # 312 – The Do’s and Don’ts of Naming
Babies
- # 356 – Turning Offender Over to the
Secular Authorities
- # 400 – Sh’nayim Mikra V’echad Targum
- # 444 – The Deaf Mute In Halacha
- # 488 – Marrying Cousins
- # 532 – Learning On Shabbos — A Good Idea?
- # 576 – Davening With Shoes
- # 620 – Kosher Cheese: What Is It?
- # 654 – The Woman Mohel; Laser Milah
- # 708 – Your Child as a Shabbos Goy?
- # 752 – Saving Your Life – How Far Must I
Go?
- # 796 – English Names Revisited
- # 840 – Baby Naming – Whose Privilege,
Father or Mother?
- # 884 – The Corrosive Effect of Non-Kosher
Foods
- # 928 – The Heinous Crime of Mosair
- # 971 – Kissing People in a Shul — Mutar
or Asur?
- # 1015 – Ma’avir Sedrah – Why? When?
- # 1059 – “How Do You Get Called Up to the
Torah?”
- # 1102 – Dressing Jewishly: Is There Such
A Thing?
- # 1145 – Shomer Shabbos Vs Non-Shomer
Shabbos Doctor – Revisited
- # 1188 – Cho’shaid Be’kesharim – Not Giving The Benefit
of the Doubt
- # 1232 – Placing A Person in a Non-Kosher
Mental Institution
- # 1276 – Cap and Gown at Graduation: Is
There A Halachic Problem?
- # 1320 – Sitting Next to Someone Who is
Davening Sh’moneh Esria –Is it Permitted?
- # 1364 – The Halachic Issues Concerning
Hearing Aids
- # 1408 – How Does One Pronounce and Write
the Name Yissocher?
- # 1452 – Ours is Not to Question Why, Ours
is Just to Do and Die – Do We Always Say That?
- # 1496 – Should You Make a Sh’hechiyanu
When You Get the Corona Vaccine?
A complete
catalogue can be ordered from the Yad Yechiel Institute, PO Box 511,
Owings Mills MD 21117-0511. Call (410) 358-0416 or e-mail tapes@yadyechiel.org or visit http://www.yadyechiel.org/ for
further information.
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