Vaeira – Peninim on the Torah

ואלעזר בן אהרן הכהן לקח לו מבנות פוטיאל לו לאשה

Elazar, son of Aharon HaKohen, took for himself from the daughters of Putiel as a wife. (6:25)

Rashi explains that the name Putiel alludes to two of the ancestor’s of Elazar’s wife. She was of the seed of Yisro, she’piteim agalos l’avodah zarah, “who fattened the calves for idol worship,” prior to his learning about and accepting the true G-d. Also, she was of the seed of Yosef who is called Putiel, she’piteim b’yitzro, “he overcame his evil-inclination.” In this sense, her father came from either Shevet, the tribe of Efraim or Menashe, and her mother was of the seed of Yisro. Thus, Elazar was either Yisro’s son-in-law or grand-son-in-law. In his commentary to Meseches Sotah 43a,…

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ויקח עמרם את יוכבד דודתו לו לאשה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vaeira, 5774

Amram took his aunt, Yocheved, as a wife. (6:20)

As a general rule, we do not find many women’s names mentioned in the Torah. Mentioning Yocheved’s name is, therefore, unanticipated and gives us food for thought. Yocheved gave birth to three pillars of Judaism, leaders who nurtured our nation during its forty-year sojourn in the wilderness, but is this the primary source of her distinction? Horav Arye Leib Heyman, zl, posits that Levi ben Yaakov Avinu named his daughter – as well as his sons – with names that correlated to the mechiras Yosef, the sale of Yosef. He felt a greater sense of guilt and responsibility, since his…

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ולא שמעו אל משה מקצר רוח ומעבודה קשה... הן בני ישראל לא שמעו אלי ואיך ישמעני פרעה. ואני ערל שפתים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vaeira, 5774

But they did not listen to Moshe, because of shortness of breath and hard work… “Behold Bnei Yisrael have not listened to me, so how will Pharaoh listen to me? And I have sealed lips!” (6:9,12)

Rashi observes that Moshe Rabbeinu’s response to Hashem is considered one of the ten kal v’chomer arguments to be found in the Torah. Kal v’chomer translated literally means, “light and weighty.” This refers to the extrapolation from a minor premise to a major one. Thus, Moshe argues, “Behold the Jews (who would want any opportunity to leave) did not listen to me, so how can You expect Pharaoh to listen?” The commentators question this kal v’chomer, since the Torah had already given a reason for the refusal of the people to listen. They had already given up. The persecution had…

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המוציא אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vaeira, 5774

Who takes you out from under the burdens of Egypt. (6:7)

The word sivlos, which is translated as “burdens,” is used by the commentators (Kotzker Rebbe, zl) to connote a sense of complacency in adapting to slavery. Thus, sivlos is connected to savlanus, patience, reticence. The Jews had become content, accepting their situation in life, obsequiously willing to submit to being Egyptian slaves. Furthermore, they had become part of Egyptian culture to the point that it had become their culture, their mindset. The Egyptian way of life was not foreign to them; it was not an anathema. It was the way they were willing to live. This bespeaks the galus, exile,…

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ואלעזר בן אהרן הכהן לקח לו מבנות פוטיאל לו לאשה

Elazar, son of Aharon HaKohen, took for himself from the daughters of Putiel as a wife. (6:25)

ויקח עמרם את יוכבד דודתו לו לאשה

Amram took his aunt, Yocheved, as a wife. (6:20)

ולא שמעו אל משה מקצר רוח ומעבודה קשה... הן בני ישראל לא שמעו אלי ואיך ישמעני פרעה. ואני ערל שפתים

But they did not listen to Moshe, because of shortness of breath and hard work… “Behold Bnei Yisrael have not listened to me, so how will Pharaoh listen to me? And I have sealed lips!” (6:9,12)

המוציא אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים

Who takes you out from under the burdens of Egypt. (6:7)

YEARS

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