Rabbi Frand on Parshas Va'eyra
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: Tape # 401,
Hierarchy of Brochos. Good Shabbos!
Manipulation of the Dates of Exile
The pasuk [verse] states, "And the children of Kehas were Amram, Yitzhar,
Chevron, and Uzziel. The years of Kehas' life were a hundred and thirty-
three years." [Shmos 6:18]. Rashi points out that although the Torah
speaks of a 400-year exile of the Jews, we learn from this pasuk that
these years did not occur entirely in the Land of Egypt. Rather, the exile
began with the birth of Yitzchak.
The proof that part of the 400 years occurred outside of Egypt is that
Kehas himself was born in Canaan. We know from the verse that Kehas was
the father of Amram, who was the father of Moshe. Were we to add together
the full duration of the lives of Kehas, Amram, and Moshe, they would not
total 400. So when we consider the overlapping years of their lives, the
fact that Kehas was born in Canaan, we know that the duration of the exile
in Egypt was certainly much less than 400 years.
Rav Elya Meir Bloch makes an interesting observation. G-d issued a decree
that Avraham's descendants would need to be in exile for 400 years. G-d,
in His wisdom, knew that in order for the Jewish people to experience the
purification process that was necessary for receiving the Torah, they
needed to spend 400 years in "exile." But He was also infinitely
knowledgeable in the status of His nation. He knew that, as things turned
out, if they were to spend 400 actual years in Egypt, they would have
never been able to emerge from exile. As it was, they had sunk so low
spiritually that they could not remain in Egypt for even a moment longer.
The "400 years" were like a sliding scale. They could have begun much
earlier. They could have begun much later. G-d "decided" when the 400 years
began, based on the spiritual status of the Jewish people. As it turned out,
the clock started when Yitzchak was born.
Rav Bloch says that in our current long exile, there have been periods --
in our times and in times before us -- that people have said that one time
or another is the time that the Redemption will come. There have been
great people who have recorded dates and have claimed that "this will be
the year" when the Messiah would arrive. These great individuals have
ostensibly been "wrong" because Moshiach did not arrive at the specified
times.
Rav Bloch says that they were not necessarily wrong. Just like the Egyptian
exile was to last 400 years, but it was up to G-d to decide when to start
the counting, this exile too has a fixed duration. But the exact time when
G-d will decide to start the count and therefore when it will end, really
depends on us. If the Jewish nation merits for Moshaich to come at a certain
point, he will come at that point and the calculation of the appropriate
duration will "work out". Likewise, if things become so bad -- like they
were in Egypt -- that G-d must bring Moshiach to rescue us before it is too
late, then too, the appropriate duration will "work out".
If other conditions had been met, each of the suggested dates had the
potential to meet the criteria for both Moshiach and for the duration of the
current exile. The Talmud quotes the pasuk in Yeshaya, "The smallest will
increase one thousand fold and the youngest into a mighty nation, I am
HaShem, in its time (b'eetah) I will hasten it (achi'shenah)" [60:22]. The
Talmud points out that there are two designated times for redemption:
Redemption "in its time" or redemption which "I will hasten". That does not
mean that even the designated time (b'eetah) will be a sliding scale. The
"b'eetah" of the Egyptian exile would have been after 400 years of slavery
in Egypt, but G-d hastened that redemption. [Sanhedrin 98a] Our redemption
too, we pray will be hastened. But even if it will not, it does have an
absolute stopping point based on its pre-ordained duration.
The prognostications throughout the generations or the times in our history
when people felt the time was "ripe" for Moshiach were not necessarily
incorrect times for his coming. For some reason, however, the generation was
not worthy. Just like G-d manipulated the dates of the Egyptian exile, he
has the ability to manipulate the dates of our present exile as well.
Moshe Rabbeinu Did Not Learn The Lesson of The Frogs
There is an interesting Baal HaTurim in this week's parsha. In his cryptic
and enigmatic fashion, the Baal HaTurim always provides food for thought.
The Baal HaTurim points out regarding the phrase "and raise up (v'ha'al)
the frogs on the land of Egypt" [Shmos 8:1] that there is only one other
occurrence of the verb v'ha'al in the Torah. The other occurrence is just
prior to the death of Moshe's brother: "Take Aaron and Elazar his son and
bring them up to Hor HaHor" [Bamidbar 20:25].
What is the connection between raising the frogs and raising up Aharon to
Hor HaHor? The Baal HaTurim references a passage in the Talmud that
praises the frogs of Egypt for being prepared to jump into the ovens to
obey the command of G-d. The Gemara states that the frogs that jumped into
the hot ovens were miraculously saved as a reward for their self-sacrifice
in sanctifying G-d's Name. [Pesachim 52b]
The Baal HaTurim states that Moshe and Aharon had an opportunity to
sanctify the Name of G-d. When obtaining water for the thirsty nation at
Mei Merivah, they should have spoken to the rock. By hitting the rock
instead of speaking to it they made less of a Kiddush HaShem. As a result
of that, they died. This is the connection. Why did Aharon have to die on
Hor HaHor? Because he failed to learn the lesson of the frogs and make a
supreme Kiddush HaShem, as they did.
However, in last week's Parsha, when Moshe complained to G-d that he was
not doing anything to rescue Israel, G-d answered, "Now you will see what
I shall do to Pharoah" [Shmos 6:1]. The Talmud infers: NOW you will see
what I shall do to Pharoah, but you will not see what I will do to the 31
kings of Canaan -- because you will not be there. [Sanhedrin 111a]
The question is obvious. This is not the time or reason for Moshe losing
his chance to enter Eretz Yisrael. Moshe did not lose the ability to enter
Eretz Yisrael because he questioned G-d's ability to save the Jews at the
start of the Exodus story. How do we reconcile this statement of the
Talmud with the explicit pasukim which trace Moshe's inability to enter
the Land of Israel to his sin of "failing to sanctify G-d's Name" at Mei
Merivah?
I saw the interesting insight into this contradiction. It was, in fact,
Moshe Rabbeinu's questioning of G-d in last week's parsha that sealed his
fate. The Rabbeinu Yonah says that there is one sin for which there is no
atonement -- namely the sin of desecrating G-d's Name. If a person makes a
Chillul HaShem, not even Yom Kippur, not even suffering will atone. Only
death atones. But even though there is no atonement for Chillul HaShem,
there is one mitzvah that can counteract it: the mitzvah of Kiddush HaShem
(sanctifying G-d's Name).
Even if a person has severed his relationship with G-d by making a Chillul
HaShem, there can nevertheless be a rebirth in that relationship through
Kiddush HaShem. We are uncomfortable using the terminology, but it as if
one who has died spiritually (as a result of desecrating G-d's Name) is
now "born again."
This is why the frogs lived. They jumped into the hot ovens that should
have made them die, but by virtue of the Kiddush Hashem that they
accomplished, they came back to life.
This is the message of Chazal: Moshe Rabbeinu's fate was sealed when he
challenged G-d to do more, at the end of Parshas Shmos. However, at Mei
Merivah he had the opportunity to erase that sin and to create a Kiddush
HaShem. Had he done that, he would have been granted "rebirth". A new
Moshe Rabbeinu, so to speak, would have emerged -- uncontaminated by the
decree of "NOW you will see what I will do to Pharoah". That new Moshe
Rabbeinu could have entered into Eretz Yisrael.
Moshe Rabbeinu failed to accomplish that Kiddush HaShem at Mei Merivah. He
failed -- as the Baal HaTurim writes -- to learn from the frogs what
Kiddush HaShem can accomplish. Therefore, he remained with the unfortunate
decree that he could not enter the Land of Israel.
[Editor's Note: As we find many times, our Biblical heroes are judged by
the strictest of standards, such that even slight deviations from ideal
perfection are counted as a desecration of G-d's Name. Perhaps a better
way to view this is as a failure to achieve the level of sanctification of
G-d's Name that would have been appropriate for people of their stature.]
This write-up was adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tape series on the weekly Torah portion.
The complete list of halachic topics covered in this series for Parshas
Va'eyra are provided below:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection
of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
