Rabbi Frand on Parshas Va’eyra
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissochar Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah
portion: Tape # 82, Astrology: Is It For Us? Good Shabbos!
We Knew It Was Right Then, And It Is Right Now!
In this week's Parsha, we find the posuk [verse], "And G-d spoke to Moshe
and Aharon and commanded them regarding the Children of Israel and
regarding Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to take the Children of Israel out of
the land of Egypt" [Shmos 6:13].
There is an interesting Talmud Yerushalmi in tractate Rosh Hashana,
which infers from this pasuk that while still in Egypt, G-d commanded
Moshe to give over the Mitzvah of Freeing Slaves to the Jewish people
[Shmos 21:2-6]. When the pasuk tells us that Moshe and Aharon were to
command the Children of Israel, it means that they would be delivering
a command for the future: when they live in the land of Israel, and
they have Jewish slaves, they should send them out to freedom after 6
years.
The question is obvious. Why is this an appropriate time to tell them
about 'shiluach avadim?' They are slaves themselves. They don't own
anything. They certainly don't own other slaves. Is it appropriate to
give a person a mitzvah when he is years and years away from the ability
to ever fulfill that command?
The answer, says the Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva, zt"l, is that there was no
more appropriate time to tell them about 'shiluach avadim' than this very
moment. Now they are slaves; now they know the feeling of having no
freedom; now they know what it was to have a master.
It is a difficult thing to send away a slave. When one has a worker who
has worked for him for six years, it is not easy to send him away. It
will be very difficult to fulfill that mitzvah. If G-d would have given
them that mitzvah later on, when they already had their own slaves, they
would have heard it in a different fashion.
One needs to hear something at a time when he will be most sensitive
to it. The Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva said that one has to "seize the moment."
There are moments in life which must be grabbed and seized. One has to
grab the occasion, because it is fleeting. Now is the time to tell them
about sending away poor slaves. Now it will make an impression. Now it
will be meaningful.
This lesson of seizing the moment is something that we have to do in our
daily lives. There is an unbelievable Gemara in Sanhedrin [20a] which
explains the pasuk [Mishlei 31:29] "Many daughters have acted with
valor, but you have exceeded them all." The Gemara says: 'Many daughters
have acted with valor' refers to Yosef, the son of Yaakov, who overcame
temptation with the wife of Potifar; but 'you have exceeded them all'
refers to Palti ben Layish. The deed of Palti ben Layish far exceeded
Yosef HaTzadik's accomplishment.
What did Palti ben Layish do? The Talmud relates that King Saul had a
daughter who was married to David, but Saul argued that based on a
technicality she was not married to David and she legally had no husband
[despite the fact that according to halacha, David was right and King
Saul was wrong]. Saul took this daughter and gave her as a wife to
Palti ben Layish.
Palti ben Layish was faced with the following situation: He could not
refuse King Saul; he had to take her as a wife. Yet, he knew very well
that this was a married woman. There he was in the bedroom, the first
night, with a woman who was an 'eishes ish.' What does he do in order
that he should succeed in withstanding the temptation? The Gemara says
that he took a sword and stuck it in the ground and said "Anyone who
'occupies himself with this matter' will be stabbed by the sword." The
Gemara goes on to say that because of this tremendous act that he did,
he had the help of Heaven and he lived for years with this woman and
never once did he touch her. G-d saved him from sin.
What was so magnificent about the act of sticking the sword into the
ground? Why did he merit this unbelievable "siyata d'ishmaya" [help
from Heaven] that for years he never touched her? What was so
significant about sticking a sword in the ground?
The answer is that on that first night, Palti ben Layish knew what was
right and what was wrong. On that first night, he had his priorities
straight. On that first night, he knew that she was a married woman and
that she was off limits. But, he also knew that as time went on, as the
days and the months and the years passed, those feelings would
dissipate. He would come up with a 'heter' -- he would find an excuse.
He would do something.
Therefore, he said to himself, "I need a reminder; I have to seize the
moment." There are moments when one does not rationalize, when one can
clearly see the truth. Those are the moments to seize as our permanent
reminders.
This, says the Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva, is something that we must do so many
times in life. There are many occasions when we will be put into
situations where in the beginning we will know what's right and what's
wrong. But, later on, there will be considerations -- financial
considerations, professional considerations, all sorts of
rationalizations. How do we know what is right and what is wrong? We
have to seize the moment. We have to stick that symbolic sword in the
ground and say to ourselves "I know what's right and what's wrong, and I
am not going to let my morals slip; I am not going to let my standards
slide!"
That is the lesson of Palti ben Layish. And that is the reason why G-d
tells the Jews about freeing slaves, right here, when they are still
slaves and they are sensitive to what is right and what is wrong.
We have to grab the opportunity so that when the time comes, when we
have temptations and questions, we will always be able to look back and
say "We knew it was right then -- and we know it is right now!"
Glossary
shiluach avadim -- sending slaves (to freedom)
eishes ish -- married woman
siyata d'ishmaya -- Help from Heaven (Aramaic)
heter -- permissive ruling
Personalities & Sources:
Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva -- Rav Chaim Shmulevitz (1902-1978); Mir, Jerusalem.
This week's write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissochar Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah
portion (#82). The corresponding halachic portion for this tape is:
Astrology: Is It For Us? The other halachic portions for Va'eyra from
the Commuter Chavrusah Series are:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection
of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
and is available through your local Hebrew book store or from
Judaica Express, 1-800-2-BOOKS-1.
