We are better...... - VaEra

Anyone who reads reads our Parasha at least one time should be asking "Why doesn't Pharaoh just let Bnei Israel leave?!" Hashem hits him over and over again and he just refuses to do Teshuva and free Bnei Israel, right you'd say that Hashem strengthen his heart however his free will was not taken away from him till after the 5th plague and till then he was able to give up and let them go.... 

Meanwhile I ask a different question, are we different from Pharaoh?!, I agree, non of us is an evil ruler, we all have good hearts, we all want to do the right thing, we help others, so on that perspective we are different thank Hashem, however there's one thing we are for sure still need to work on. 

There's a joke about a secular Jew that drove to Yerushalaim and was looking for parking around the Kotel. After two hours of driving around he hopelessly looked up to the sky and said "Hashem if you find me a parking spot right now I am starting to keep Shabbat, Holidays, Kosher", he then saw a parking spot right in front of him, right away he says "Ah, never mind I just found one myself".
Sadly this joke is the story of our life. 

At times of controversies when no one can help we right away turn to Hashem, praying with Kavana higher than the biggest tzadikim, we promise things, we take upon ourselves to start praying everyday, to give tzdaka, to do something extra, but when everything goes back to normal we forget our promises. It's all good again so oh well.... Just like Pharaoh did, as long as he suffered he yelled out to Moshe to pray to Hashem and make the pain go away yet as soon as things went back to normal, he right away forgot the words he said, and in return he lost everything.

If Hashem is sending us hard times it means he wants us to get close to him, if we didn't need anything from Hashem we obviously wouldn't speak to him, give your son an unlimited American Express credit card and I can guarantee that you'll hear back from him maybe one day when something goes wrong, that's the nature of Human beings but one of our jobs in this life is to overcome our "defects" our Yetzer Hara, that's why we read the Torah over again every single year, each parasha, each pasuk and each word of the Torah is a guidance for us to live happily ever after (in this world and in the world to come), the main reason for Hashem hitting Pharaoh so many times is in order for us to take the moral of the story and apply it to our daily life.

So why wait for things to "go wrong" why not get close to Hashem now when everything is still all right?, it says "Haboteach be Hashem chesed yesovevenu" the one who trusts Hashem will be surrounded with benevolence. And then, even in the hardest times you'd know that "Kol man deavid rachamana letav avid" whatever Hashem does, he does for the best. 
So maybe living a worry free life isn't that unrealistic after all it's just part of our Torah, Baruch Hashem.

The Lesson of Gratitude

Shlomo hamelech says "Mikol melamedai hiskalty" the pshat is that you must learn from your teachers or mentors but if you look closely at the language being used you can see a slightly different interpretation, "mikol melamedai" meaning every person has something to teach me or rather there's something for me to learn from every person.

In our Parasha we learn a fundamental lesson from Pharaoh himself. The pasuk says "vayomer Pharaoh el amo hine am bnei israel Rav ve Atzum mimenu" (Bnei Israel are growing and  taking over Egypt), how does that make pharaoh so cruel?, when Yosef was alive he turned the entire nation into slaves for pharaoh, he made them move around all the time, they had no freedom, no land, no possessions, yet you had this one nation who emigrated from a different country and was free all over the country and very wealthy while the Egyptians themselves had nothing.

Looking at it from the eyes of Pharaoh and the Egyptians they werent doing anything wrong by doing the right thing for their country and making Bnei Yisrael salves so what is it that makes Pharaoh so cruel? You can easily argue that he just wanted the best for his land.

The "Emet leYaakov" brings this question and he gives an answer which is fundamental for our lives.

Really you can argue that Pharaoh was a great king only seeking the best of his nation, however what makes him a relentless leader is his lack of "hakarat Hatov" (gratitude).

If not for Yosef and Yaakov Avinu the entire Egyptian nation would not last for the 7 years of Hunger. Yosef's wisdom kept Egypt wealthy and thanks to Yaakov the hunger lasted for only 2 years. It's as if Yaakov and Yosef gave the Egyption nation life again yet Pharaoh disregarded the past "Asher lo Yada et Yosef" he didn't "know" Yosef and Rashi says didn't want to know.

We must always have hakarat hatov to our fellows and people who helped us even a little in our life.. A person can be very caring, passionate, great speaker but the lesson from Pharaoh is if you don't have gratitude then it all means nothing.

From here you can understand how much hakarat hatov (gratitude) we must have to our parents that if not for them we wouldn't be here and from the moment we were born they ran their whole life around us.

Look even further, how much gratitude we must give to Hashem Itbarach that give us our life every morning, and not just then but every second we live it's with the mercy of Hashem and who knows if we even deserve all of this chessed.

Let's all learn from Pharaoh what's the wrong thing to do and try to have more Hakarat Hatov to the people around us.

Nursing & Kindness

"וַתִּירֶאןָ הַמְיַלְּדֹת אֶת הָאֱלֹהִים וְלֹא עָשׂוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֲלֵיהֶן מֶלֶךְ מִצְרָיִם וַתְּחַיֶּיןָ אֶת הַיְלָדִים"

"The midwives, however, feared God; so they did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but they enabled the boys to live."

Pharaoh saw that Bnei Israel keep growing and taking over mitzraim so he put a decree to throw every baby boy that is born into the Yeor (the main lake in Egypt). The two nurses that were in charge of assisting the Jewish ladies to give birth were Pua and and Shifra and they did not follow Pharaos command due to their fear of Hashem.

The question to be asked is why does the Torah has to specifically tell us that they didn’t follow Pharaoh’s command due to their fear of Hashem.

Many times in our life we do acts of Chesed (kindness), we see an old man gets on the train and we get up to let them sit, we see a lady with a carriage trying to get up or down the stairs and we help her, the question is what pushes us to help and do what we do.

Most of us do things in order for others to see how kind we are and as great as it is, it’s not the real reason we should be doing things for. What should lead us to do kindness and help others is “Irat Hashem” “fear” of Hashem. That doesn’t mean an actual “fear”, what it really means is knowing that Hashem is everywhere and watches us every second and is putting us through situations to see if we will do the right thing in his “eyes”.

We can be people of True kindness or people of Selfish kindness, it’s all about the Kavana, the motif behind the action and that, only Hashem knows as the pasuk says “HaAdam ire laayin ve hashem ire lalevav” “the person can only see what his eyes show him but Hashem sees the heart of a person” and at the end of day that’s what matters.

If one is truly devoted to Hashem, he will always help others and always try to fulfill the will of Hashem regardless if there are people around watching him or not. That was the mainspring of the Nurses when they kept the Baby boys alive regardless of the decree of the king of the world at the time.

We always need to ask ourselves, do we give tzdaka in shul leshem shamaim or so that people will think how charitable we are?, do we learn Torah so that Hashem will send us blessings in our business or do we learn Torah becauase that is the ratzon of Hashem Itbarach?, Do we give a friend a ride so that one day if we need something he will “return the favor” or do we want to fulfill a mitzvah from the Torah of “VeAhavta leraacha kamoach” “Love your friend like you love yourself”?

Now we can also understand the Gemara Masechet Berachot daf 28: before Rabbi Yochanan's passing, his students came to him and asked for a blessing, so he blessed them that they should have fear of Hashem as much as they have fear of human beings.

Always ask yourself “Would you do the same thing if you were all alone and nobody was watching?”

it says in Tehilim “Ki Amarti, Olam Chessed Ibane” “I said, A world will be built on Kindness”, A world can only be built on Chessed however the kind of Chessed that builds the world is the Chessed we do leshem shamaim, for “heavenly sake” as the pasuk says “Ki amarti” “I said” (Hashem said).

That is the lesson from the Shifra and Pua (midwives) to the entire world.

(Based on the teaching of Harav Elazar Menachem Shach in his book Talmudo Beyado)

The First Chapter to LIFE.

"Moses received the Torah from Sinai and gave it over to Joshua. Joshua gave it over to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets gave it over to the Men of the Great Assembly."

The first paragraph of Ethics of the Fathers start off with the line above, and many ask the question why does it matter that Moshe received Torah from Sinai and passed it on and on and on....

Also why does it say Moshe received Torah from Sinai?, Moshe received Torah from GOD.

The simple explanation to the first question is to show you that our Torah has a source, it's not just made up and came from no where. A deeper lesson you can learn from this is what we see at the end of Pirkei Avot and in Masechet Megila daf 15. "haomer davar beshem omro mevi geula laolam" (one who says something in the name of its speaker brings redemption to the world)

When the Sages wrote Pirkei Avot (ethics of the fathers) they wanted to teach us right in the beginning that no matter what we say we must always bring the source. Our gaava (pride) makes us say things as if we came up with them and many times we take credit for ideas and statements we didn't originate, However the lesson is to overcome this desire of Kavod and learn to be Anav (humble).

That is also the answer to why it says "Moshe received Torah from Sinai", the Midrash tells us that the mountains came in front of Hashem and told him that the Torah should be given upon them due to their size and height, yet Hashem chose the smallest of all, what looked like a Hill next to all the other mountains, that was mount Sinai.

We learn from here that Torah can only be "bought"/"Studied" by Anava (humbleness). Our biggest rabbais are undoubtedly the most humble people in the world, they never think of themselves as anything more than other people and they welcome each person with much love and caring and that is the foundation for receiving our Torah!

(Inspired by the words of Rabbai Greenman)

Shavua Tov everyone much Hatzlacha!

Boe Beshalom - Shabbat Shalom!

יום הַשִּׁשִּׁי. וַיְכֻלּוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ וְכָל צְבָאָם

וַיְכַל אֱלהִים בַּיּום הַשְּׁבִיעִי מְלַאכְתּו אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה. וַיִּשְׁבּת בַּיּום הַשְּׁבִיעִי מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּו אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה: וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלהִים אֶת 

יום הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אתו. כִּי בו שָׁבַת מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּו אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא אֱלהִים לַעֲשׂות 

If you count 7 letters from the letter "Yud" at the end of the word Shishi (שישי) you'd get the letter Shin (ש) count seven more and you'd get a Resh (ר) keep going 7 more letters and you get an Aleph (א) and finally 7 more letters and you get a Lamed (ל).

Only the creator of the world can encode the name of "Israel" in skips of 7 (hint to the 6th days of creation and 7th day of Shabbat), in the paragraph that talks about the Shabbat and how Hashem rested on that day.

Shabbat Shalom umevorach to ALL AM ISRAEL. May we all see blessings and Salvation!

The Song of the life of a Jew

וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב, אֶל-בָּנָיו; וַיֹּאמֶר, הֵאָסְפוּ וְאַגִּידָה לָכֶם, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-יִקְרָא אֶתְכֶם, בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים

Our Parasha tells us that Yaakov wanted to tell his sons what will happen in the end of the days but he then lost his “Ruach Hakodesh” The Holy Spirit and couldn’t tell them the future anymore. The Midrash says that at this moment he thought maybe they weren’t righteous enough so they all said together “Shema Israel Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad” Hear O Israel Hashem our God, Hashem is one, then Yaakov thanked Hashem and said “Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto leolam va-ed” Bless is the name of his honour forever.

What does that mean and what is so special about the Shema Israel?

The Netivot Shalom opens the book with the following words “The Shema Israel is the song of the life of a Jew.” 
The Shema Israel is a testimony that Hashem is the only power that runs this world.

The power of a Yehudi is not a strong army or a smart government; it’s the power of Tefilah, prayer, the power of our Tongue, so much that Shlomo Hamelech said “Mavet ve Chaim beyad lashon” (life and death are in the "hands" of your tongue).

The last letter of the first word of the Shema is Ain (ע) and the last letter of the last word is Dalet (ד) together it’s Ed (Witness). When we say the Shema Israel, we not only testify that Hashem is the only power that’s ruling the world but we also state that he is ONE, meaning, even though we all look different from each other, and nature seems very diverse and divided it is just an illusion, it is really all ONE, and that is Hashem. My Rosh yeshiva said as a milta debdichuta (a small joke) That this is also the reason why we say the Shema with our eyes closed, because as soon as you open them it doesn’t seem true anymore :]

There’s an interesting Gemara in Masechet Megila daf 4. It says that sometimes a person feels a little worried or scared without any legitimate reason, just an inner feeling and the reason for that is every person has an Angel above him that protects him and sometimes there are certain Mezikim (bad spirits) around the person that the angel can see but the person can’t, and that’s why you’d get this inner feeling so in order to make them go away you should close your eyes and say the Shema Israel, that is the power of the Shema.

שמע ישראל ה' אלוקינו ה' אחד

I am Black, but Comely

Shlomo Hamelech says in Shir Hashirim, “shechora ani ve nava” (I am black, but comely: definition=attractive).

How could such a Pasuk make any sense? The answer is given 2 Psukim later, where it says “Al tiruni she ani shecharchoret, she shazaftani hashemesh” (Look not upon me, because I am black,because the sun hath looked upon me), This Pasuk, is the answer to all our problems in galut.

G-d chose the Jewish nation and by that separated us from the rest of the nations, the reason He did that was not for us to take the Torah (the manual of the world) and keep it to ourselves but to be a light onto the nations and teach them the word of G-d.

What does that have to do with the two psukim mentioned above?, We the Jews, are counting the Months and Years according to the Moon while the rest of the world counts according to the Sun. the Second Pasuk clearly says “Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me” Meaning, the sun, which represents the Nations of the world, which have been influencing and persecuting the Jewish nation and therefore we had turned Black (dirty and impure).

Every day, the moment we step out of our houses we are being bombarded with the life style of the Goyim. Whether it’s minimal clothing, sexuality, politics, etc.. and that can cause us to assimilate and become like them, however, we have something much stronger than this: we have the Torah.

Hashem loves us so much that after everything we had done, and all the times that we had doubted him, he says “em lo tedi lach, hayafa banashim”(if you don’t know, you are the most beautiful woman), When Rabbi Akiva read this Pasuk he started crying, they asked him why is he crying and he answered, “No matter how many times we had tried Hashem, and how many times had we gone off the way, he still loves us more than anything!”.

Even though we are deep in exile and unfortunately we think that we are dependent on the goim, Hashem tells us NO, all we need is Emuna, trust in Hashem.

“Et tzara hi leyaakov” (time of crisis is to Jacob) – The nations of the world have no interest in us or the state of Israel, We are trying to defend ourselves yet being accused for attacking innocent people. No one is fighting terror today; it’s all a cliché and a war of interests and politics. So who else do we have to turn to if not The creator of the world, our Father, Hashem!

History doesn’t Lie, when we turned to Him and asked Him for help He was always there for us and now it’s time to finally ask Him for redemption!

B”H I want to wish all of you who took time to read this, and also those who did not, and all AM Israel, Hatzlacha and Osher, Ve B”H Od Hashana beyerushalaim habnuya!!!