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כי דור תהפוכות המה בנים לא אמון בם

For they are a generation of reversals, children whose upbringing is not in them. (32:20)

Horav Tzvi Hirsch Ferber, zl, adds a practical, sadly common, insight concerning the dor tahapuchos, generation of reversals, when everything is topsy turvy. Veritably, the way of the world should be that a father teaches/sees to his son’s Torah-learning development and focuses on his spiritual growth. Conversely, the son is responsible for the support of his father. As a parent ages, daily work becomes a greater challenge. It is up to the son to arrange for his father’s sustenance and wellbeing. Today, however, it is the other way around. Fathers no longer involve themselves or care about the son’s Jewish…

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וירעו אותנו המצרים

The Egyptians mistreated us. (26:6)

The Egyptians were cruel to us, making us suffer and imposing harsh slavery on us. We cried to G-d, G-d of our ancestors, and He heard our voice; he saw our suffering, our harsh labor, and our distress. (26:6,7) Interestingly, Chazal (quoted in the Haggadah) interpret each of the latter phrases: our suffering; our harsh labor; and our distress. They appear, however, to have ignored the beginning of the pasuk, Va’yareiu osanu ha’Mitzrim, “The Egyptians were cruel to us, making us suffer and imposing harsh slavery on us.” In the Haggadah, the second part of the pasuk is explained as…

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ונסתם ואין רדף אתכם

You will flee, though none chase after you. (26:17)

Fear of an unknown enemy (or demons, in today’s vernacular) is a terrible curse. It is a miserable way to live. To be beset by imagined fears and phobias takes a toll on a person. His life comes to a halt, his cognitive lucidity off balance, because he is afraid to do anything out of fear of consequences. The systems upon which a person’s basic needs are built are interrupted, often taking down the “victim” and those who have the misfortune to be in his proximity. A modern-day term for describing fear of an unknown enemy which one has convinced…

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ויהי ביום השמיני קרא משה לאהרן ולבניו ולזקני ישראל

It was on the eighth day, Moshe called to Aharon and his sons and to the elders of Yisrael. (9:1)

Rashi explains that, when Moshe Rabbeinu summoned Aharon, he also asked the zekeinim, elders, to join them. It was important for the zekeinim to hear/see that Al pi haDibur Aharon nichnas u’meshameish b’Kehunah Gedolah, v’lo yomru meieilav nichnas, “In accordance with the statement (dibur) of G-d, Aharon enters and officiates in the office of Kehunah Gedolah, and they should not say he enters the office of Kehunah Gedolah on his own.” Apparently, Moshe Rabbeinu was concerned that the people would criticize the appointment of Aharon HaKohen as Kohen Gadol. Thus, he underscored that it was al pi haDibur, by Hashem’s…

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וזאת תורת המנחה

This is the law of this meal-offering. (6:7)

In Parashas Vayikra, the Torah addresses the laws of the Korban Minchah. The Torah (2:1) begins the laws of Korban Minchah with a word not used regarding any of the other korbanos nedavah, voluntary offerings: Nefesh, soul (v’nefesh ki sakriv). Rashi explains that, concerning a Korban Minchah, the Torah makes an exception, since this inexpensive korban is usually the offering which a poor man brings. Hashem says, “I will regard it (the korban of an ani, poor man) as if he had offered his very soul. Concerning the Korban Minchah, Chazal (Menachos 110a) teach, Echad ha’marbeh v’echad ha’mamit, ubilvad she’yichavein…

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ואתה תדבר אל כל חכמי לב אשר מלאתיו רוח חכמה ועשו את בגדי אהרן לקדשו לכהנו לי

And you shall speak to every wise-hearted person whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, and they shall make the vestments of Aharon, to sanctify him to minister to Me. (28:3)

The Torah refers to the craftsmen who fashioned the various vessels used in the Mishkan and the priestly vestments which the Kohanim were enjoined to wear when performing the avodah, service, as chachmei lev, wise-hearted people. The pasuk states that Hashem filled these men with chochmah, wisdom. Why was it necessary for these men to be invested with Heavenly wisdom? Ramban explains that the Bigdei Kehunah, priestly vestments, require that its manufacture be lishmah, for its purpose, and it is possible that it even required kavanah, intent, as well. In order that they understand what they are doing, Hashem infused…

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קח את מטך והשלך לפני פרעה

Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh. (7:9)

What “merit” did the mateh, staff, have that it was used as the medium for carrying out some of the plagues against Pharaoh and the Egyptian people? Rabbi Go’el Alkarif suggests a powerful mussar, ethical lesson, to be derived from here. Prior to Horav Yisrael Salanter’s public emergence as the preeminent founder of the mussar movement, he lived quietly in Memel, Germany, with an idea, an idea that would transform the Jewish world. His innovation was to focus on mussar also. In addition to studying Gemorah, Jews should also work on their middos, character traits, refining and honing them, so…

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ולא יכלו החרטמים לעמד לפני משה מפני השחין ... ויחזק ד' את לב פרעה

The necromancers could not stand before Moshe because of the boils … Hashem strengthened the heart of Pharaoh. (9:11,12)

Concerning the previous plagues, the Torah writes that Pharaoh personally strengthened/hardened his heart. Regarding makkas shechin, boils, the Torah attests, Va’yichazek Hashem es lev Pharaoh, “Hashem strengthened Pharaoh’s heart.” What had transpired to catalyze this change? Ramban explains that as long as he was surrounded by his magicians, Pharaoh was ashamed to concede the truth: he had lost control. Hashem was stronger. The Jewish people should be permitted to leave. Pharaoh the rasha, wicked, would never allow anyone to observe him in a moment of weakness. It might denigrate their perception of him as a deity. When Egypt was stricken…

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הבה נתחכמה לו פן ירבה

Come, let us outsmart it lest it become numerous. (1:10)

Pharaoh no longer remembered how Yosef had brilliantly led the nation through a major economic crisis. He looked around and saw that the immigrant family of seventy Jews that had originally come from Canaan had now become a nation of thousands, growing exponentially. They had become too numerous and too strong. Something had to be done about them. He foolishly thought that he could contend with Hashem and control the destiny of Klal Yisrael. He was clearly wrong. When our nation received the Torah at Har Sinai, the Torah records the event. Va’yehi kol ha’shofar holeich v’chazeik me’od, “The sound…

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ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע ... ויפגע במקום וילן שם

Yaakov departed from Beer Sheva … He encountered the place and spent the night. (28:10,11)

Chazal (Megillah 17a) glean from the word sham, there, that this was the first time the Patriarch lay down to sleep. He had spent the past fourteen years “hidden” within the yeshivah of Shem and Eivar. I use the word “hidden” to underscore that Yaakov Avinu became a part of the yeshivah in such a manner that no one even knew he was there. He studied day and night, focused on one thing: learning Torah. The question that should be addressed is how Chazal knew that Yaakov was in the yeshivah. Simply put, after calculating Yaakov’s age at present and…

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