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Sruly Schnair
In Bo, 5754

“And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come saying: what is this? You shall say to him, with a strong hand Hashem has brought us out of Egypt.” (13:14)

In this parsha, Rashi attributes this question to the she’eino yodeah lish’ol, the son who is not even able to ask. This response is given to the wicked son in the Hagaddah! What relationship is there between one who knows not to question and one who is wicked? We may suggest that in Torah chinuch, education, there is no room for compromise. If one receives the wrong education it is tantamount to receiving no education. One who is devoid of Torah will ultimately be satisfied with misleading ideas and thoughts. The foundation of the pedagogic process is the ability to motivate…

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Sruly Schnair
In Bo, 5754

“And it shall be to you a sign upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes.” (13:9)

The Talmud in Menachos 36a derives from this pasuk that one should first put the tefillin shel yad on the arm, then the tefillin shel rosh on the head. When he removes the tefillin he should first remove the shel rosh. For, when the shel rosh is on his head, he should be wearing both tefillin.  There are a number of reasons for this halacha. The Chezkuni suggests a novel pedagogic approach.  Before one can make an external sign, before he can promulgate his ideas and beliefs, he must initially concretize the beliefs in his own mind. They must become…

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Sruly Schnair
In Bo, 5754

“Draw out and take your lambs according to your families and slaughter the (Korban) Pesach.” (12:21)

The Midrash records a distinctive question asked by R. Elazar. He inquires concerning the necessity for the requirement of the Korban Pesach prior to Am Yisrael’s leaving Egypt.  Surely there must have been other mitzvos which would have merited Am Yisrael’s redemption. Indeed, Chazal single out four specific mitzvos for which Am Yisrael merited deliverance. They were morally clean; they spoke no lashon hora; they possessed Jewish pride, retaining their Hebrew names; and they maintained the culture, not changing their national language. Why then was the Korban Pesach an essential prerequisite for their geu’lah, redemption? Chazal respond that they were…

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Sruly Schnair
In Bo, 5754

“And Moshe said; so said Hashem, about midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt.” (11:4)

Rashi cites Chazal, who say that Moshe emphasized the word, about midnight, rather than, precisely at midnight. This was so that if Pharaoh’s astrologers had erred in timing, they would not say that Moshe lied in predicting the time for the plague. This seems unnecessary. What if the astrologers did not err and were able to pinpoint the exact time of midnight? They would still say that Moshe lied, since he said about midnight. What benefit was there in attempting to satisfy the perverted Egyptian mindset? We may advance the question further. It seems that had Moshe said, precisely midnight,…

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