Sruly Schnair

והיה כאשר ירים משה ידו וגבר ישראל

It happened when Moshe raised his hand Yisrael was stronger. (17:11)

Chazal (Rosh Hashanah 29a) ask: “Was it Moshe’s hands that won the battle or lost the battle? Rather (the Torah) teaches you: As long as Klal Yisrael mistaklin k’lapei Maalah, looked Heavenward and subjected their heart to their Father in Heaven – they would prevail. When they did not, however, they would fall.” Horav Yosef Nechemiah Kornitzer, zl, renders Chazal’s statement homiletically. He focuses on one of the most important verities that plays a major role in Klal Yisrael’s merit to achieve success: achdus, unity, harmony among Jews. As long as we are united, fused together with the common goal…

Home -> 5783 -> Beshalach

ואהרן וחור תמכו בידיו

Sruly Schnair In Beshalach, 5783

And Aharon and Chur supported his hands. (17:12)

When Moshe Rabbeinu raised his hands, Klal Yisrael became stronger. However, his hands were becoming heavy. To prevent his hands from descending, Aharon and Chur placed a stone beneath him, so that he could sit, and they supported his hands – one on each side. Horav Moshe Shternbuch, Shlita, observes that Moshe’s two supporters in the war against the evil Amalek were two individuals – his brother, Aharon, and his nephew, Chur, who had disparate natures and approaches toward serving Hashem. Aharon was the consummate ohaiv shalom, v’rodef shalom, loved peace and pursued peace. He was a pacifist who sought…

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ויאמר אליהם... מי ומי ההלכים... ויאמר משה בנערינו ובזקנינו נלך... כי חג ד' לנו

Sruly Schnair In Bo, 5783

He (Pharaoh) said to them, “Which ones are going…” Moshe said, “With our youngsters and with our elders we will go… because it is a festival of Hashem for us.” (10:8,9)

Pharaoh finally showed a crack in his armor. He was prepared to allow some Jews to leave, and he was willing to negotiate concerning who may leave and who must remain. Moshe Rabbeinu replied that he had no room for negotiation, no juncture for compromise. They were all leaving. Pharaoh countered, saying that he would allow the adult men to go. Moshe said it was insufficient, “We will go with everyone – from our youngsters to our elders.” They were at an impasse, with Moshe insisting on including the young children and even feeble elders, and Pharaoh contending that this…

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והיתה צעקה גדלה בכל ארץ מצרים אשר כמהו לא נהיתה וכמהו לא תסף

Sruly Schnair In Bo, 5783

There shall be a great outcry in the entire land of Egypt, such as there had never been and such a there shall never be again. (11:6)

Moshe Rabbeinu warned of the impending plague of makkas bechoros, smiting of the firstborn. He added that the cries of grief would supersede any cries that had been and any cries that would ever be. These are strong words coming from the individual who was the medium for the last nine plagues that had devastated Egypt. One would expect that such words would have shaken up the Egyptians to their very core. The Midrash HaGadol, however, relates a dialogue that ensued between an elderly Egyptian woman and Moshe. The woman screamed, “You are a false prophet! An old woman who…

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ולא יהיה בכם נגף למשחית בהכתי בארץ מצרים...ואתם לא תצאו איש מפתח ביתו עד בקר

Sruly Schnair In Bo, 5783

There shall not be a plague of destruction upon you when I strike in the land of Egypt. (12:13)…You shall not leave the entrance of the house until morning. (12:22)

The Jews were warned to stay home during the destruction that Hashem was wreaking in Egypt. What about the Jew who left his house? Did he perish together with the Egyptians? Rashi alludes to such a situation when he comments concerning the pasuk, “There shall not be a plague of destruction upon you.” If a Jew happened to be in an Egyptian home during the plague, was he smitten together with his Egyptian host? No. This was Hashem’s promise: “Jews will not die.” Mishnas Rashi wonders why there is a question that a member of the Jewish People would suffer…

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קדש לי כל בכור... ויאמר משה אל העם זכור את היום הזה אשר יצאתם ממצרים... והיה כי יביאך ד'

Sruly Schnair In Bo, 5783

Sanctify to Me every firstborn… Moshe said to the people, “Remember this day on which you departed from Egypt… And it will come to pass that Hashem shall bring you.” (13:1,2,4)

Rarely does a mitzvah receive such a hakdamah, foreword, prior to presenting the actual mitzvah to Klal Yisrael. Apparently, the mitzvah of kiddush b’chorim, sanctification of the firstborn, is tied directly to the story of the Egyptian bondage and the ensuing exodus. First, we note that unlike for the b’chor of an animal whose kedushah is pronounced by the declaration, Harei zeh kadosh, “This is sanctified,” this declaration does not suffice for a human firstborn. It is critical that we expend much effort in raising the infant b’chor to achieve Heavenly kedushah. This is the idea behind prefacing the mitzvah…

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קח את מטך והשלך לפני פרעה

Sruly Schnair In Vaeira, 5783

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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אמר אל אהרן נטה את מטך והך את עפר הארץ והיה לכנים

Sruly Schnair In Vaeira, 5783

Say to Aharon, “Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land; it shall become lice. (8:12)

Rashi explains that Moshe Rabbeinu could not bring the plague of lice on Egypt, because it meant striking the ground, something Moshe could not bring himself to do. The dust of the earth protected him from being discovered when he used it to conceal the corpse of the Egyptian whom he had killed. For Moshe to have struck the land would have been a blemish on his attribute of hakoras hatov, gratitude. Chazal teach that whoever denies the favor he benefitted from his fellowman will not stop there. He will also one day deny Hashem’s favor as well. One whose…

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

Sruly Schnair In Vaeira, 5783

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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ויהי ברד בכל ארץ מצרים על האדם ועל הבהמה ועל כל עשב השדה

Sruly Schnair In Vaeira, 5783

And there will be hail in the entire land of Egypt, on man and beast, and on all the grass in the land of Egypt. (9:22)

The Torah could have simply stated that hail would rain down throughout the land of Egypt. Recording the detail – man, beast, grass – begs elucidation. The Brisker Rav, zl, derives from the excess verbiage of the pasuk that the barad, hail, descended only on those places wherein man or animal were to be found. In those areas uninhabited by man or animal and where grass did not grow, no hail came down. Furthermore, earlier, when Pharaoh was warned to quickly gather the animals to safety, it was not meant specifically to bring the animals inside, so that they be…

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והיה כאשר ירים משה ידו וגבר ישראל

It happened when Moshe raised his hand Yisrael was stronger. (17:11)

ואהרן וחור תמכו בידיו

And Aharon and Chur supported his hands. (17:12)

ויאמר אליהם... מי ומי ההלכים... ויאמר משה בנערינו ובזקנינו נלך... כי חג ד' לנו

He (Pharaoh) said to them, “Which ones are going…” Moshe said, “With our youngsters and with our elders we will go… because it is a festival of Hashem for us.” (10:8,9)

והיתה צעקה גדלה בכל ארץ מצרים אשר כמהו לא נהיתה וכמהו לא תסף

There shall be a great outcry in the entire land of Egypt, such as there had never been and such a there shall never be again. (11:6)

ולא יהיה בכם נגף למשחית בהכתי בארץ מצרים...ואתם לא תצאו איש מפתח ביתו עד בקר

There shall not be a plague of destruction upon you when I strike in the land of Egypt. (12:13)…You shall not leave the entrance of the house until morning. (12:22)

קדש לי כל בכור... ויאמר משה אל העם זכור את היום הזה אשר יצאתם ממצרים... והיה כי יביאך ד'

Sanctify to Me every firstborn… Moshe said to the people, “Remember this day on which you departed from Egypt… And it will come to pass that Hashem shall bring you.” (13:1,2,4)

קח את מטך והשלך לפני פרעה

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

אמר אל אהרן נטה את מטך והך את עפר הארץ והיה לכנים

Say to Aharon, “Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land; it shall become lice. (8:12)

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)

ויהי ברד בכל ארץ מצרים על האדם ועל הבהמה ועל כל עשב השדה

And there will be hail in the entire land of Egypt, on man and beast, and on all the grass in the land of Egypt. (9:22)

YEARS

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