פּרשׁת
בּשׁלח
Now on to
the rest of the parsha: So, I would like to, with the Help of Hashem,
share with you 10 inspiring insights on this parsha:
1) Says the Nikolsburger Rebbe (Rebbe Yosef Yechiel Michel
Lebovits shlita): Even if, with Hashem’s Help, we beat the Yetzer Hara,
we must never let down our guard. As we can see from the first verse of
this parsha, even after Paroah sent the Jewish nation out from Egypt, there was
still a chance of them returning! Not only this, but the Yetzer Hara will
always come after us and continue to pursue us - like Paroah did.
However,
he explains, Hashem is always with us. And just like He led us through
the longer way of the Wilderness in order for us not to return to Mitzraim, so
too, He goes to “every length”, so to speak, to help us overcome our Yetzer
Hara. It might not always seem so, says Reb Lebovits shlita, but our
loving Father is always right there for us to catch us if we fall, Chas
V’Shalom. (From Nikolsburg.org)
2) So, as we know, Hashem split the sea for us and we walked through
on dry land. The Torah says ‘And the B’nei Yisroel went on dry land in
the midst of the sea’.
Says the Noam
Elimelech (Rebbe Elimelech M’Lizhensk zt”l); the Miracles at the Splitting
of the Sea taught the Jews to recognize the Miracles Hashem does for us every
day.
This is
implied by the above verse, he explains: ‘And the B’nei Yisroel went on dry
land in the midst of the sea’; even when we are walking on dry land - the
“normal” thing - it is just as miraculous as when we were walking through the
Sea.
Some
people just think that most things are nature; but they are not.
Everything is actually a total Miracle from Hashem, He is Blessed -
including the “normal way of the world”. (From Sefer Likutei Shoshana)
3) So, after the splitting of the Sea and the drowning of the
Egyptians, etc. the Torah attests that the Jews had faith in Hashem and in
Moshe His servant.
Writes Rebbe
Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin zt”l (Tzidkas HaTzaddik 154): “Just
as one must believe in Hashem, so too one must believe in himself. This
means that one must believe that Hashem is interested in him…… This is the
meaning of the verse ‘the [nation] believed in Hashem and in Moshe His servant’. Moshe represents
all 600,000 Yidden of that generation. They believe that Hashem desires
them and that He has Nachas Ruach from their good side….”
4) So, in the very next verse, the People sang to Hashem for His
Kindnesses. And this is a very special song!
It is written
in Sefer Chareidim (73) “Whoever says Az Yashir and thanks his Master
for all the kindness He did to our Forefathers and to us, out loud and with
great joy, as though he just left Mitzraim, all of his sins will be forgiven.
He is like a child who was just born, without any sins.”
5) Towards the end of the fourth Aliyah, the Torah tells us about
how the Jews came to Marah and ‘they could not drink the waters there
because they were bitter’.
Says the Baal
Shem Tov zt”l: What does it mean ‘they were bitter’? It
means the Jews were! Everything seemed bitter to the People because they
were bitter. (Quoted in The Stone Edition Chumash)
6) Hashem tells us in the last
verse of the fourth Aliyah ‘If you will surely listen to the voice of
Hashem, your G-d, and what is upright in His eyes you will do, and you give ear
to His Commandments and guard all His Statutes; all the sicknesses that I put
upon Egypt I will not put upon you, for I am Hashem your Healer.’
Asks Rebbe
Tzvi Hirsch HaKohen zt”l: If Hashem won’t put the sicknesses on us,
what is there to heal?
So, he
quotes a story that the Sultan of Egypt once asked the Rambam zt”l how
he knew that he was such a good doctor - since he was never ill, he never
needed treatment!
“That is
precisely the test of a good physician:” replied the Rambam zt”l, “To
prescribe a health regimen that will prevent his client from getting sick.”
Says
Rebbe Tzvi Hirsch zt”l; this is what Hashem is saying: “Because I am your
Healer, I will see that you not suffer the diseases inflicted on the
Egyptians.” (Quoted in Four Chassidic Masters)
7) But there is a different interpretation of this verse: Rebbe
Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin zt”l explains that what Hashem is telling us here
is that even when He does bring hardships, etc. upon us - it is all to
heal us! He is always our Healer!
8) So, in the sixth Aliyah, Hashem rains down food from Heaven for
us - the Mon.
Explains HaRav
Shlomo Yosef Zevin zt”l: The Mon teaches us three things: #1,
We get exactly what we need. Just like each person got enough with the
Mon, so too, we all get the food and stuff that we need. #2, As we are
taught in the Gemara, the Mon was so pure that we did not even need to
go to the bathroom from it - it caused no waste. This teaches us that the
food we eat - and the money we buy it with - must be extremely pure. We
must earn our money and food honestly. And #3, We are told that a person could
taste whatever they wanted in the Mon. And this teaches us, he explains, that no matter
what Hashem gives us - you can make it “taste” however you want. And it
is all in our attitude. (From Sefer LaTorah Vi'LaMoadim)
9) The Bnei Yissaschar (Rebbe Tzvi Elimelech Spira zt”l)
quotes from HaRav Menachem Azaryah of Panu zt”l, who says that we would
say a Bracha on the Mon.
Why do we
say a Bracha on Mon? It’s so spiritual already! Says Reb Spira
zt”l, (one of his three suggestions), that it teaches us that no matter what
level we get to - we must always continue upward (as we know, a Bracha elevates
food). (From Sefer Bnei Yissaschar)
Always continue ascending Heavenward.
10) Okay; so, towards the end of the parsha, the Jews “test” Hashem,
and they ask ‘Is Hashem among us or not?’ And then in the next verse,
the Torah tells us how Amalek came and waged war with us.
Teaches Rebbe
Menachem Mendel Hager zt”l - the first Vizhnitzer Rebbe; because we
had doubts as to whether Hashem was in our midst or not, Amalek came and
attacked. For the Gematria/numerical value of the word ’safeik’ (doubt) is
the same as the word Amalek. (From Sefer Tzemach Tzaddik)
We should
try to make sure not to have doubts about Hashem and His Torah, and may Hashem
help us not to, Amein vi’Amein.
A Guten Tog und Voch all! Kol Tuv!
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