Vaeira – Peninim on the Torah

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vaeira, 5757, V'zos HaBrachah

And Hashem carried out the word of Moshe, and the frogs died–from the houses, from the courtyards, and from the fields. (8:9)

It did not take long for Pharaoh to beg Moshe to implore Hashem to put a halt to the swarms of frogs that were literally infesting his entire country. Moshe prayed to Hashem and the frogs all died. Chazal tell us that the frogs who had entered the ovens miraculously did not die, either in the oven or afterwards! We may question the remarkable reward received by the frogs. After all, if they were commanded by Hashem to enter the ovens, where else should they have gone? A similar question may be asked regarding Chazal’s statement in the Talmud Pesachim…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vaeira, 5757, V'zos HaBrachah

And Hashem said to Moshe, “Say to Aharon, take your staff and stretch out your hand.” (7:19)

Moshe Rabbeinu initiated the last seven makos, plagues, while Hashem told Aharon to strike the river and the earth for the first three plagues. Chazal attribute Aharon’s designation to the fact that the river and the earth protected Moshe. He was placed in the river as an infant to be concealed from the Egyptians, and later the earth covered the Egyptian that he had killed. Moshe benefited from two inanimate objects. Therefore, he must demonstrate his gratitude. This seems to be excessive. The middah of hakoras tov, appreciation, is one of the mainstays of character development, but is it necessary…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vaeira, 5757, V'zos HaBrachah

I shall take you out from under the burdens of Egypt; I shall rescue you from their service; I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm…I shall take you to Me for a People. (6:6,7)

The Torah employs arba leshonos shel geulah, four expressions of redemption, which allude to the distinct stages of the Jews’ liberation from the Egyptian exile. Horav Gedalyah Shorr, z”l, posits that the four expressions relate as equally to the individual as they do to the entire nation. Every person experienced his own personal redemption from the Egyptian culture. Every individual must liberate himself from the shackles of his own enslavement to the yetzer hora, evil inclination. He cites the Sfas Emes, who says that these expressions coincide with the four elements which comprise man: fire, water, wind and dust. The…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vaeira, 5757, V'zos HaBrachah

Moreover, I have heard the groans of Bnei Yisrael whom Egypt enslaves. (6:5)

Upon reading the text, one would think that the use of the word “Ani“, “I (heard)” indicates that it was only Hashem who heard Bnei Yisrael cry. If they had been groaning, why was it only Hashem who heard? The Noam Elimelech explains that the groaning essentially had three manifestations. The first type of cry emanated from the common Jew who had been subjected to back-breaking labor, to the affliction of the Egyptains throwing their baby boys into the Nile River. While most of the people cried over the demeaning and cruel slavery to which they were subjected, there were…

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And Hashem carried out the word of Moshe, and the frogs died–from the houses, from the courtyards, and from the fields. (8:9)

And Hashem said to Moshe, “Say to Aharon, take your staff and stretch out your hand.” (7:19)

I shall take you out from under the burdens of Egypt; I shall rescue you from their service; I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm…I shall take you to Me for a People. (6:6,7)

Moreover, I have heard the groans of Bnei Yisrael whom Egypt enslaves. (6:5)

YEARS

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