Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Parshas Va-era: Giving Of Yourself For Others

Shaaalooommmm sweeeetest friends!!!!

This dvar Torah should be li-ilui nishmas R' Binyamin ben Chana. May his loving, special family know no more pain and may his neshama have a constant aliyah.

Also, lirfuas Sara Leah bas Rivka who is having surgery today. May she have a refuah shleima and enjoy many more years of good health. Also - HaRav Zave Chaim ben Chaya Aidel, HaRav Avraham Yosef ben R' Moshe Chaim, R' Yehoshua Meir ben Rochel Sarah Chaya, Naomi bas Tova and Adina Bas Sheva bas Necha Gittel.  

I also wanted to thank all of the special people who helped me on me recent excursion to the US. May they be blessed a million fold in body and spirit.

In this weeks parsha we read of the makkos that befell the Egyptians. The gemara [Pesachim 53] relates that there was a certain person named Todos Ish Romi would roast a lamb outside of the Beis Hamikdash and the rabbis wanted to excommunicate him [because it appeared that the Jews were eating a korban outside of the permitted area] but refrained from doing so. The gemara inquires - Was he not excommunicated because he was a גברא רבא - a great man, or because he was a violent man - a גברא אלימא.


The gemara's resolves this question by quoting a teaching of this Todos: Why did Chanaya Mishael and Azarya jump into the burning furnace [see sefer Daniel]? They expounded a kal va-chomer from the frogs. If the frogs who are not commanded to give up their lives for kiddush Hashem nevertheless jumped into the burning furnaces [Shemos 7/28], we who are commanded should CERTAINLY jump into the burning furnace!!


There is a story about the Divrei Chaim of Tzanz: He would never give haskamos on sefarim. There was one author who really wanted a haskama so he put his sefer on the shtender of the Divrei Chaim. The Rebbe saw it, picked it up, read for a minute, smiled and agreed to give a haskama. He explained that he saw an explanation that had to be written with Ruach Ha-kodesh.


The pasuk in Tehillim [42] says כאייל תערוג על אפיקי מים כן נפשי תערוג אליך אלקים - As a gazelle cries longingly for rivulets of water, so does my soul cry longingly to You, O Hashem.


First the pasuk uses the male form אייל and then goes into female - תערוג and not יערוג. Why?


First we must know that according to Chazal, the אייל is the צדיק among animals so that when they need rain, all of the animals ask the אייל to daven.


It also says that when an איילת gives birth, since her womb is very narrow she is in much pain. So Hashem in His mercy sends a snake that bites her which opens up the womb and the newborn comes out.


What happens when both events occur at the same time: The איילת is giving birth in pain and is also asked by her fellow animals to daven for rain??


The pasuk says that at this time the איילת "changes its gender" and pretends that it is a male that isn't giving birth, forgets from her own pain and davens for rain.


That is what the pasuk means כאייל תערוג על אפיקי מים this female אייל so to speak transforms herself into a male, forgets her personal suffering and davens for her fellow animals. "כאייל" like a male who isn't giving birth, "תערוג", she [because she is really a female] longingly cries out to Hashem.


When the Divrei Chaim saw this explanation he was blown away and agreed to gie the haskama. For that - he said - you need Ruach Hakodesh!


So when Todos spoke about the sacrifice of the frogs who weren't commanded, and yet gave up everything in order to sanctify G-d's name, the rabbis realized that he is in fact a גברא רבא - a great man and that is why they didn't excommunicate him.


Sweeeeetest friendsssssssss!!!!!


What a great lesson! Forgetting about about one's own pain in order to daven for others.


May we merit to always think of others with love and care!!


Have a sweet blissful shabbos!


Me