From: "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash" To: yhe-holiday@vbm-torah.org Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 14:06:07 +0200 Subject: SPECIAL PESACH PACKAGE PART 1 Reply-To: "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash" Priority: normal X-MIME-Autoconverted: from Quoted-printable to 8bit by acis.mc.yu.edu id HAA13212 YESHIVAT HAR ETZION ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM) ********************************************************* YHE-HOLIDAY: SPECIAL HOLIDAY PACKAGES PESACH 5759 Part 1 ********************************************************* In memory of Pinhas ben Shalom (Paul) Cymbalista z"l. Niftar 20 Nissan 5752. Dedicated by his family. ********************************************************* 1. Eliyahu the Unifier of Worlds, by Rav Elyakim Krumbein 2. "Measure for Measure:" On Two Keywords in the Story of the Exodus, by Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot 3. Making Ha-motzi over Matza on the Seder Night, by Rav Shlomo Levi 4. Owning Stock in a Company which Possesses Chametz During Pesach, by Rav Asher Meir 5. Korban Pesach - The Minui Process ********************************************************* Eliyahu, the Unifier of Worlds By Rav Elyakim Krumbein Translated by Michael Hattin The image of Eliyahu the Prophet breaks down one of the fundamental assumptions of our existence, namely, that a great divide separates our material world from the upper spiritual realms. Eliyahu frequently appears before the Sages of the Midrash and the Talmud, always in the guise of a comfortable inhabitant of both worlds and as a link between them. Abravanel (Melakhim 2:2) attributes this to Elisha's request of Eliyahu to place upon him "a double amount of his spirit." Elisha expressed the desire that Eliyahu would continue to cause his spirit to rest upon him even after Eliyahu's ascent to heaven. Eliyahu responded by saying: "If you see me taken from you, then your request will be fulfilled." Elisha's stance on the separating line between the two worlds was the bridgehead that allowed Eliyahu's personality to continue to have an impact. There is no doubt, Abravanel concludes, that Eliyahu's appearances in the study halls of the sages "was the consequence of Elisha's request that Eliyahu should continue to communicate with him all of his life; this possibility remained operative for the sages." Eliyahu appears to be a phenomenon sui generis, but it seems that in fact a general truth is reflected through him. The Or Ha-chaim (Bemidbar 21:17) writes: The main part of a person's reward for the performance of the mitzvot only occurs in the spiritual world ... and this makes it necessary for a person to leave this material world in order to receive his just reward from God's gracious hands. We see that death is the result of human sin, which implies that in the absence of sin, human beings would be immortal and therefore lacking their eternal reward! The mystics explain, however, that in the absence of sin a person would ascend heavenward while alive and inhabit the upper chambers. An example of this is the fate of Eliyahu the prophet who ascended heavenward to receive his reward and escaped the taste of death. A delineation between the worlds is neither necessary nor intrinsic. If we would merit it, all of us ö and not only Eliyahu ö would be able to freely experience passage between them. R. Zadok Ha-kohen of Lublin expressed the idea contained here (Resisai Layla 11): In truth, all the matters of this world are also by the hand of God, and this world and the next are not at all different realities. Both of them are called "Olam," a term which is all-encompassing. The sole difference between the two is that one of them is called "Ha-zeh" or "this world" because it is apparent to the eye; the other is called "Ha-ba" or "the next world," because it is hidden (ne'elam). The link between these worlds is the source of all unification. It should therefore not surprise us that Eliyahu appears as the one who effects unity in various spheres of human life, as the verse states (Malakhi 3:24): "He will return the heart of parents to children, and the heart of children to their parents." The Mishna at the end of Eiduyot ascribes to Eliyahu the role of reconciling disagreements and forging peace. Our Sages further state (Kiddushin 70a): "Whoever marries a woman who is improper for him - Eliyahu binds him and God lashes him," because such a person has transgressed by desiring an inappropriate unification. THE QUESTION ö THE KEY TO UNIFICATION Occasionally, a person merits discovering a spiritual deficiency within himself, but does not know how to fill it. He is asphyxiated by the boundaries of the concrete, trapped by the conceptual limits of the material world, and sanctity lies beyond his purview. He requires a key, a guide to show him the way to unify the spiritual realm and the material one. Here, too, we can derive lessons from Eliyahu. Eliyahu is charged with another task ö "Let it remain in abeyance until Eliyahu comes," "The Tishbi will resolve difficulties and questions." Here, Eliyahu is responsible for resolving doubts and answering difficulties. Eliyahu's revelations are tied to a question. Any other appearance of his is without meaning. "Should Eliyahu appear to inform us that we may not conduct the chalitza ceremony with a sandal, we would not listen to him" (Yevamot 102a). We know that it is in fact permissible, and whatever Eliyahu reveals to us without being asked, will not change our minds. The key to Eliyahu's revelations, to the unification of the worlds, is the question. A halakhic query leads to a halakhic resolution. If we are searching for an existential revelation, then we are required to ask an existential question. The questions which are in the realm of "teiku" or "let it remain in abeyance" are those which human reason cannot resolve. These constitute the link between this world and the next, because they bring us close to the limits of our insight. A man lives his everyday life according to his reason, but as soon as he realizes that his intellect cannot solve his true problems - to understand his life and his world - he stands at the threshold of the next world. One of this century's philosophers declares in the introduction to his book that he has set for himself a double goal: firstly, he intends to resolve all of the problems that have confronted philosophers from time immemorial. Next, he will also demonstrate how the resolution of these questions lacks meaning. The true questions will continue to gnaw away at us, and there is no answer to them. These questions are not of a relaxed nature, to be politely discussed around the coffee table, but in fact arise as cries of anguished despair. These questions arise out of the realization that the human intellect, with all of its glory, is powerless to answer them. The solution to these problems exists, but it is beyond our grasp. Elisha expressed just such a question as his mentor was about to leave him: "Where is Hashem, the God of Eliyahu?" According to the text, this cry brought about the resting of Eliyahu's spirit upon him. While Eliyahu was alive, Elisha could learn Torah from him and could benefit from his guidance. Now, however, Eliyahu had vanished, and although Elisha did his best to stem the waters of the Jordan River as he had been taught, it was to no avail. The answer was to be found with his mentor, beyond the divide between the worlds. At that moment, Elisha realized in the depths of his heart that this world without the next is an impossible goal, a riddle that cannot be solved; it is like the waters of the Jordan that slip away from his attempts to stem them and mock his efforts. Elisha reaches the moment of crisis, and at that moment the question bursts forth from the depths of his being. Only then does Eliyahu descend in the whirlwind to unify this world with the next, as the response that unites with the question. This notion constituted an integral part of Eliyahu's training while he was yet alive. At Mount Carmel Eliyahu asks the people (I Melakhim 18:21): "For how long will you hesitate between the choices?" In the absence of this question, Eliyahu knows that even the descent of a heavenly fire will not change the situation. First it is essential to raise one's consciousness to realize the deficiency of not having posed the question. The people did not respond to his query; was silence an indicator that the question had in fact pierced their callous hearts? In the depths of their souls did they come to the realization that lives of hypocrisy are without any meaning and that there is no reason to go on without a revelation from above? The results seem to indicate that Eliyahu's attempt failed. The people did not rise up as single entity to cast off the yoke of Ba'al worship, and Izevel the foreign queen of the Kingdom of Israel continued with her evil machinations. Although with their mouths they cried out, "Hashem is God!" they were perfectly content to continue leading their lives in a world understood as a self-contained unit, which did not need any sort of meaning from higher realms. It is even possible to bring down fire from heaven, but if that fire does not come to answer a soul- wrenching question, it will return to its heavenly source and life will continue unchanged. The chasm between the worlds will continue to exist. THE CRY OF YIRMIYAHU Yirmiyahu, like Elisha before him, knew the secret of the crisis point that could unify the worlds. His outcry occurred when God commanded him to purchase and redeem the field of Chanamel his cousin, as the Babylonian siege around Jerusalem began to tighten (32:16): "Surely, you are God!" Certainly, human intellect realizes that God has allowed for the possibility of destruction and re-establishment, surrender and hope. But an intellectual realization of this fact is insufficient to deal with existential issues that go beyond conceptual problems. This prophecy was communicated to human beings of flesh and blood who were asked to live two polar extremes simultaneously. On the one hand, they see imminent destruction before their eyes as the enemy ramparts rise against the city walls, and on the other hand, they hear with their ears the prophecy of consolation: "Fields will yet be bought in this land." For Yirmiyahu this was too much. How can a tortured soul, confronted by the horrors of the present, store up such hope for the future? Why need such a prophecy be communicated to a broken people? It was precisely this crisis which precipitated the prophetic response. Alone, isolated and trapped by our material limitations, the human soul is not capable of containing tragedy and hope as one. But "I am Hashem the God of all flesh, is anything too wondrous for Me?" From My perspective, in the world of absolute truth, everything is alive and eternal, and there are no contradictions. The promise of redemption is not any less concrete than the certainty of destruction. Yirmiyahu's crisis prepared his heart for the second prophecy. This second communication added nothing in terms of factual content, but did contribute immeasurably in terms of spirit. Yirmiyahu discovers a powerful trust and faith, which are able to transcend the black and hopeless reality surrounding him. But this discovery required an internal about-face - the realization that such strength is not to be found in natural reason but derives from a higher reality. In the context of our discussion, mention must also be made of the Book of Iyov, which in sum total poses a single existential question, a hopeless attempt to grasp through the intellect the meaning of suffering. It is this inability of reason to solve the problem that brings about God's revelation out of the whirlwind. A PERSON KNOWS EVERYTHING ö EXCEPT TO ASK Yirmiyahu inveighs against those who fail to ask, "Where is God?" (2:6,8), against the Kohanim and teachers of the Torah who prefer to pretend that they have all of the answers. "I made myself available to those who did not inquire; I said, 'Here I am,' to a nation that did not call My name" (Yishayahu 65:1). Prophecy was within the reach of the people, but they exhibited no interest, because they lacked the insight to realize that did not understand! For the modern man, this world is enough. The scientific explanation of life and the world describes, in a numerical and quantitative fashion, the inter- relationship of the components of existence. We fool ourselves into believing that science addresses the spiritual content of the world and presents us with an adequate explanation. Modern man therefore has no chance of discovering Eliyahu, who unifies the worlds. Modern man comes to the next world only through death, which is the absolute negation of his life in this world. This, however, is not a new phenomenon. According to our sages, Achav claimed that he had erected an idolatrous image on every furrow, and that it was impossible to traverse the fields because of the all of the rain that fell as a result (Sanhedrin 113a). This represents the construction of an illusory mechanistic model of existence, which is self-sufficient and has no room for a spiritual dimension. The pressing of a button, the entering of a number into an ATM brings a person complete satisfaction. The behavior of the gods is completely predictable ö one need only supply their needs and the rains will surely come. Eliyahu realized that it is impossible to bring a people with such an attitude to the next world except through the vehicle of "death," which is the complete abnegation of this world. And so the rains were halted, until the right hour would come for the event at Mount Carmel when the people's eyes might be opened. They might then realize that the world is an unfathomable mystery, and all of the mechanistic explanations are nothing more than diversions and superficial illusions. ELIYAHU ON SEDER EVE Questions stand at the center of the Seder experience. With great insight, the Haggada distinguishes between different types of questioners. The wise son realizes that notwithstanding all of his wisdom, he still does not understand. He understands the statutes and laws intellectually but is still searching for their deeper meaning. The wicked son shows no interest in answers, and poses theoretical questions to demonstrate his perspicacity. The simple son has not studied; his spiritual needs consist in acquiring the basic knowledge that he lacks. It appears that the greatest educational effort of the Haggada is directed towards the child who does not know how to ask. Great thought was expended by the Sages and by those who came after them to properly fulfill the mitzva of "You initiate him." There is no indication whatsoever that this child is mentally deficient or intellectually lacking. His only limitation is that he does not know how to ask, he is afraid of admitting that everything is so incomprehensible. On the contrary, it is precisely the intellectually gifted who are likely to suffer from this deficiency. Those Seder rituals that are uncommon and even seem strange provide a significant allusion to our existential state in this world. Their goal is to bring each one of us to recognize the boundaries of our understanding, and to deeply desire to transcend those limitations by posing the QUESTION. The hope is that then "God will fulfill all of our requests" and the door will be opened for the entrance of Eliyahu the Prophet. (See also R. Zadok Ha-kohen, Resisei Layla, 11, and R. Elimelekh Bar-Shaul, Ma'arkhei Lev, p.14ff.) ********************************************************* "MEASURE FOR MEASURE:" ON TWO KEYWORDS IN THE STORY OF THE EXODUS by Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot Translated by Kaeren Fish It is well-known that the stories of the Exodus contain many examples of "midda ke-neged midda," where we find the Egyptians suffering the same fate that they imposed - or planned to impose - on Bnei Yisrael (1). Sometimes, such parallels are emphasized by means of similar wording or other literary devices. In this article, we shall concentrate on the repeated use of the two word stems k-b-d ("heavy", "hard") and h-z-k ("strong") in the first part of Sefer Shemot. It is interesting to note that the saga's two great adversaries, Moshe Rabbenu and Pharaoh, King of Egypt, are both presented in these terms. Moshe Rabbenu describes himself as "kevad peh u-khevad lashon" (Shemot 4:10 - heavy of speech and of a heavy tongue), and consequently clathat he is unworthy of appearing before Pharaoh in order to bring Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt. Pharaoh, on the other hand, is described throughout as "kevad lev," hard-hearted (e.g. 8:11, 8:28, 9:7). This hard-hearted king, in response to Moshe's demand to "Let my people go," decrees: "Let heavier work (tikhbad ha- avoda) be laid on the men, that they may labor in it; and let them not regard vain words" (5:9). In the end, it is the "kevad peh u-khevad lashon" himself who prevails over the "kevad lev." Parallel to the shoresh k-b-d, we also find the word root h-z-k being used throughout the story - especially in the description of the ten plagues. In the chapters dealing with the plagues we find that the strengthening or hardening of Pharaoh's heart is mentioned ten times. In the plagues of blood, lice, boils, locusts and darkness, the Torah speaks of the STRENGTHENING of Pharaoh's heart (either by his own doing or by God's intervention), while in the plagues of frogs, gnats and pestilence the Torah speaks of the HARDENING of his heart (2). The plague of hail is unique in that both actions are mentioned: "...And he hardened (va-yakhbed) his heart, he and his servants. And the heart of Pharaoh was strengthened (va-yechezak), and he would not let Bnei Yisrael go..." (9:34-35). Within the cycle of the plagues we already find the foundation of "midda ke-neged midda," as pointed out by the commentaries (3), for during the first five plagues Pharaoh acts autonomously ("He hardened his heart"), while from the sixth plague (boils) onwards, "God strengthened Pharaoh's heart" (9:12), "For I have hardened his heart" (10:1). God punishes Pharaoh for hardening his heart and causes his heart to be strengthened (independently of his will) in order that the entire weight of Divine anger can be brought down upon him. But beyond this internal cycle, we find further evidence of verses and events which counter the "hardness" and "strength" of Pharaoh. Pharaoh "hardens" (mechazek) his heart over and over again for the purposes of holding onto Am Yisrael and perpetuating their slavery, but when the time comes for the Exodus, the Egyptians try to hurry them: "The Egyptians urged (va-techezak) the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste" (12:33). Bnei Yisrael are commanded to remember that on the day of the Exodus, "God took you out by strength of hand (be-chozek yad)," and when laying tefillin each day we are commanded to remember that, "with a strong hand (be-yad chazaka) God brought you out of Egypt" (13:9). Keeping this emphasis in mind, the first sign shown to Moshe Rabbenu takes on particular significance. His staff turns into a snake, and God commands him, "Stretch out your hand and take (ve-echoz) its tail" (4:4). But when Moshe obeys the command, the Torah says, "And he stretched out his hand and grasped (va-yachazek) it" (ibid.). As becomes clear from peshat (as understood by the author of the Midrash Rabba and others - see footnote 4 below), the snake is symbolic of Pharaoh or of Egypt, and Moshe is destined not only to hold it (le-echoz) but to grasp it with strength (le-hachazik), thus turning it into dry wood devoid of any strength or life. We may even see this as a continuation of the hint mentioned to Moshe Rabbenu in the previous chapter: "But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, unless it is with a strong hand (be-yad chazaka)" (3:19). (5) The climax of the Exodus story is the splitting of the sea, and here the pattern we have traced also reaches its climax. God tells Moshe Rabbenu, "I shall strengthen (ve-chizakti) Pharaoh's heart and he will pursue after them" (14:4), and then God uses a new expression for the first time: "And I shall gain honor (ve-ikavda) by Pharaoh and by all his host." After all the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, the story progresses towards its culmination: God will be honored through the Egyptians. The backdrop is ready for an extraordinary and miraculous event. After the internal arguments within the Israelite camp have ceased and the nation is ready to enter the sea, the Torah once again repeats and emphasizes: "And I will strengthen (mechazek) the heart of Egypt (not only Pharaoh's heart!) and they shall follow them, and I will gain honor (ve-ikavda) by Pharaoh and by all his host, his chariots and his horsemen. And Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor (be-hikavdi) by Pharaoh, by his chariot and his horsemen" (14:17-18). Now the miracle takes place - the sea opens, the nation proceeds and the Egyptians pursue them, but: God looked to the Egyptian camp through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and brought confusion into the Egyptian camp. And He took off their chariot wheels, that they drove heavily (bi-khvedut). It is specifically now (6), at this point of heaviness (kevedut), that the Egyptians sense that the battle is lost: "And the Egyptians said, Let us flee (anusa) from Israel, for God fights for them against Egypt" (14:25). (7) In light of this perspective on the story of the Exodus, the significance of the conflict between Bnei Yisrael and Bnei Edom in Sefer Bemidbar (chapter 20) is to be noted. This encounter is the first instance of conflict between the new generation of Bnei Yisrael and another nation. The majority of these Jews were never in Egypt, at least not as adults. Moshe Rabbenu takes this opportunity of reminding them of the Exodus: Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the travail that has befallen us, how our fathers went down to Egypt, and how we dwelt in Egypt for a long time, and how Egypt troubled us and our fathers. And we cried to God and He heard our voice, and sent an angel and took us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the outskirts of your border. (Bemidbar 20:15-16) Moshe's intention in mentioning the history of Am Yisrael is not clear: is he trying to emphasize their suffering in order to arouse compassion and kindness on the part of Edom, or is he conveying a veiled threat (8) - "Look what happened to the Egyptians, who tortured the first generation of Bnei Yisrael!" (9). Either way, Edom's message is clear: "You shall not pass. And Edom came out against him with many people and with a strong hand (be-am kaved u-veyad chazaka)." Here, too, the parallel with the story of the Exodus is inescapable. Edom is saying, as it were, to Israel: "The 'hardness and strength' are now in my hands and not in yours; the second generation of Israelites will not benefit from the path of 'strength and hardness!'" Bnei Edom have not learned the lesson of what God did to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, which we commemorate every Pesach. May all the "Edomites" relearn this lesson speedily, in our days. (This article originally appeared in Megadim 22 [Tamuz 5754], pp. 81-83.) FOOTNOTES (1) See, for example, Amos Chakham, Da'at Mikra on Sefer Shemot, vol. 1, p. 282, note 58. (2) On the relationship between "hardening of the heart" and "strengthening of the heart" and the structure of the plagues, see the lengthy discussion in R. Mordekhai Breuer's book Pirkei Mo'adot, vol. 1, pp. 193-208. (3) See Rambam, Hilkhot Teshuva, chapter 6; also Abarbanel and others throughout their commentaries on the story of the plagues. (4) "Rabbi Eliezer said: The reason why the staff turned into a snake was to represent Pharaoh, who is called a snake, as it is written: 'So says the Lord God, Behold, I am above you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great serpent.' And He called the leviyatan a 'piercing serpent,' for it bit Israel. God said to him: 'You have seen Pharaoh, and how he is like a snake; in the future you will strike him with your staff, and in the end he will be like wood. Just as the staff does not bite, so will he not bite'" (Shemot Rabba, parsha 3, 12). See also Ibn Ezra, as well as Nachum Sarna, Exploring Exodus (New York, 1986), pp. 57-60. (5) Especially if we explain the words "ve-lo be-yad chazaka" as "unless with a strong hand." See Rashi, Ibn Ezra and Ramban, ad locum. (6) Here the providence of "midda ke-neged midda" reaches its climax, as Chazal commented in the Mekhilta on this verse: "R. Yehuda s The same way that they meted out, You meted out to them. They said, 'Let heavier work (tikhbad ha-avoda) be laid on them,' and You paid them back in the same way; therefore it is written: 'And they drove heavily (bi-khevedut).'" It may also be that Chazal saw as the basis for the famous explanations of the multiplicity of plagues which Egypt suffered at the Yam Suf (as we recite in the Haggada: "In Egypt they suffered ten plagues, and at the sea they suffered fifty plagues," etc.), the special terminology of "I shall gain honor (ve-ikhabda) by Egypt." This is the only instance of God expressing Himself thus - describing the punishment which He will bring upon the Egyptians. On this point see Amos Chakham, Da'at Mikra - Sefer Shemot, vol. 1, p. 244. (7) Perhaps this is really the conclusion of a circle which began with the story of the snake, symbolic of Pharaoh, when Moshe fled (nas) from it, and here, ultimately, Egypt flees (anusa) from before Bnei Yisrael and their leader, Moshe Rabbenu! (8) See in Midrash Lekach Tov, "'And we cried out to God and He heard our voice' - by this they indicated that God was close to them when they cried out." In the words of the Midrash Ha-gadol: "We rely neither on the sword nor on battle... we have nothing but the voice by which our forefathers swore, as it is written, 'The voice is the voice of Yaakov,' and so long as we cry out to God in our suffering, He answers us..." See Rashi (Bemidbar 20:18): "You pride yourselves on the voice which you inherited from your father, and you say, 'And we cried out to God and He heard our voice.' I shall come out to you with that which I inherited from my father, 'And you shall live by your sword' (Bereishit 27:40)." (9) The Torah's use of the parallel words, "He sent an angel (malakh) and took us out of Egypt," and then, at the beginning of this parsha, "Moshe sent messengers (malakhim) from Kadesh to the king of Edom," emphasizes this possibility! ********************************************************* For direct questions or comments regarding this shiur, please write to HOLIDAY@ETZION.ORG.IL ********************************************************* TO UNSUBSCRIBE, SEND EMAIL TO LISTS@VBM-TORAH.ORG Unsubscribe yhe-holiday ********************************************************** Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash is on the web at http://www.vbm-torah.org *********************************************************** Shiurim may be dedicated to various occasions - yahrzeits, semachot, birthdays, etc. Please e-mail yhe@vbm-torah.org for an application. *********************************************************** Internet & e-mail list hosting for the VBM provided courtesy of: The Yerushalayim Network (http://www.yerushalayim.net) a Centennial Project of the Orthodox Union (http://www.ou.org) *********************************************************** YESHIVAT HAR ETZION ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433 E-MAIL: YHE@VBM-TORAH.ORG or OFFICE@ETZION.ORG.IL Copyright (c) 1998 Yeshivat Har Etzion. 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