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Parashat Re’eh – Roots and Identity – 2009

Parshat Re’eh August 13, 2009

When a person wants to validate his identity, he delves deep into his roots, verifies the provable facts; he can even check his genealogy and examine the origins that manifested into what he is. Parshat Re’eh is the historical substantiation of Israel as a nation in the Land of Israel. After passing through the Jordan and reaching on that day to the holy site of the Mountains of Gerizzim and Eval, a clarification was made to all of Am Yisrael- Devarim: 27:9 “This day you become a nation to the Lord your G-d”. After the long journey of 40 years in the desert, with it’s fiery ordeals there were those that begged to turn back to Egypt, thinking of Egypt as a home (and conveniently forgetting their servitude there), – Numbers 14:4 “and we will return to Egypt”. Those people believed that their roots and original identities were in Egypt, in the cozy way many of feel about Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Paris, Berlin or any other galut city Jews grew to know and love. They knew well that their founding fathers came from the Land of Israel but conceived them as being isolated tribes from that place.

On the day they entered the Land, in our parsha, the passuk emphasizes “This day you have become a nation”. Even on Har Sinai, at the time of the giving of the torah, Hashem said: “Vehayeetem li segulah mekol haamim”, in the time frame of the future tense, “and you WILL BE a chosen nation”- when you come into the Land, because there is no nation without a land. There is no Israel without the word of G-d. This had to happen first (the giving of the Torah), then the covenant on the two mountains later. But they were not entering a new land, they were not conquering a new patrimony: They were returning to their original roots, to the same land that the forefathers received Divine revelation, to the same land where the founding fathers, the roots of the identity of all of Israel as a people remained forever.

And now that we have returned to the Land in these truly redemptive times, what is more expedient, suiting the occasion of Israel in her restored glory, than returning to her original home in the Land of Har Gerizzim and Eval in the Land of Shechem, the Land of Abraham, Jacob and Yosef, where the sons return to the fathers and confirm the Divine domain in and for all of Israel.

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Parashat Pinchas – “Honoring Heaven” – 2009

Pinchas July 10, 2009

“Honoring Heaven”

Has drama taken an upscale since Hollywood came on the scene, or were people always attracted to the stage? The emotionalism one feels after a good “hot” story measures its success. Sometimes fans get confused between the agents of the plot, the actors, in their performance and in their everyday lives as regular people. They believe that maybe they are super heroes. Sometimes the celebrities themselves loose their identities. We have seen this many times, and even in the recent past. They become the image of great distinction and fame, feed on attention based on the illusion of their image. It all becomes “me”, “how do I look now?”, and “if it feels good, do it”. But it is not always a happy end for them.

Our sages tell us that when Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron the High Priest, from the tribe of LEVI, came to spear Zimri, from the tribe of SHIMON, the souls of Nadav and Avihu and Eliyahu the prophet entered him- all whose zealousness worked solely for the honor of heaven. This was no heat of the moment act of insane passion, but stepping out of himself, Pinchas was rectifying a wrong done to the sanctity of the name of G-d. We may see him as a “hot” hit-man, but his sole concern was indeed honoring heaven.

Let’s go back in time to another incident that involved SHIMON and LEVI by the same token of zealousness. They could not bear the disgrace made to their sister, Dina when she was raped by the king of Shechem, Shechem ben Chamor. Before taking action, they realized and understood the atrocity of the act, the abomination that this dreadful blow had brought to Bnei Yisrael. In order to rectify not only what was done to Dina, but to the honor of Yisrael, they took a whack at Shechem based on the fundamental principle of honoring heaven.

Going through time, we see the tribe of Levi was the torah leaders in Egypt. They did not partake in the sin of the golden calf. We see Moshe Rabbeinu striking the Egyptian that hurt a fellow Jew. This is a clear example of knowing and realizing a low, low reality for Am Yisrael and rectifying it. The tribe of Levi was given the work in the Tabernacle and the preisthood. Later in history we are witness to the Chashmonaim from the tribe of Levi, with Mattityahu as their leader. There were plenty of Hellenists living at that time and parts of Am Yisrael had given in to the strange and paganistic culture. This did not faze the Chasmonaim a bit. They knew what was right and re-established the holy vocation in the Temple. This was all in the name of honoring heaven at a time when it was hard to perceive what was right and what was wrong. Hashem gave them miracles and we celebrate this victory every year on Chanukah.

What about Shimon though? Zimri is a prince of his tribe. He is a well known aristocrat. Our sages bring down that Kozbi was none other than the daughter of Balak himself. There’s no way we can judge Shimon favorably on this issue. To enter the holy site and copulate was a fanatical statement – “You can all go fly a kite, if it feels good-do it.” He wanted people to look. Zimri challenged Hashem by making himself G-d. This was not a happy end for him.

When a person feels on fire to make an impression in the world, let him ask first if he is giving free play to his emotions about himself or if what he is doing is simply and exactly honoring heaven.

Dear Readers, Please read Pinchas 2008as well- it explains geographically just actually how close we are to the protagonists of this parsha.

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Parashat Balak – Anti-Semitism – 2009

Balak July 1, 2009

Anti-Semitism is a real phenomenon. What gives it power is the failure of people to identify it. Balak is a powerful leader that seeks to bring Am Yisrael down to it’s knees. Balak knows about Segulat Yisrael yet thinks that if he uses an evil magician to undermine the jewish people, he can over-ride Hashem. This parsha deals specifically with the forces of evil in their fight against righteousness. When it becomes hard to identify what an enemy is really doing, the victim usually gives in to the side of powerlessness. This method of camaflougued anti-Semitism has been used countless times throughout history, including the not so distant past of the 1930’s when the administration leaders, non-jews and jews as well,in the US denied the facts of what Nazi Germany was planning for the Jews of Europe. The world powers of that time, including the “allied countries” too had trouble assessing the situation. People could not fathom that in the boom of industrial revolution and the modernization of the world, an evil so sadistic would eventually succeed. This is how the Germans rose to power. In a war like this, the fine line between reality and illusion is manipulated by the enemy. No-one identified the monster.

The truth to winning such a war is recognizing that there is in fact a war.

Harav Arielle Bar Tzadok wrote in his” war against evil”,”Illusions, fear, and lies severely limit the soldier on the battlefield and could seriously contribute to his defeat, more than his being out-gunned by the other side. There are far too many people, not just soldiers, who do not know how to think properly, to diagnose, to analyze situations within appropriate depth and insight. These people are subjected to one of the many forms of psychic attack. The attack could have either slowly or quickly broken down the rational mind, leaving him/her open to the influence and subject of submission. Independent rational thinking, coupled with one’s own ability to experience spiritual reality personally, makes a person become spiritually and psychically strong. One also must stand on the foundations of faith.”

This is where we begin to identify. Why is it that people closer to Torah values are more aware of what is happening today with modern day “Balaks”? Why are the court jews and all the jews that voted for a President that has the audacity to govern where jews will live ( and according to him- not live)- not blinking? When a person believes in Hashem and the light He wishes to bring into the world through the Jewish people living in their Land, the example of living prophecy coming true, he will certainly see a red light blinking when he hears a world leader calling for the restraint on natural growth in ancient Jewish places like Itamar, Shilo, Chevron and yes, even EAST Jerusalem. It is easy for a person with a real identity, based on faith to see the psychic attack on the horizon. Removing jews from their rightful place, is the most concentrated form of evil you will ever see. It is hard to discern this behind modern day, sweet talking, mesmerizing good talk.

Don’t be fooled.

Hashem is all good. This we know in complete faith. These enemies of ours, they keep coming at us but we have resilience in knowing the secrets of the Torah. Doing good is one thing. It is done through acts of kindness, learning, praying, etc…. But there is something else that is revealed to us in this parsha. It is turning something bad into something good. This is the highest level of worship. Fire and water really can never connect through the normal form of nature. A person in a body, using his senses of seeing, smelling, hearing, touching and tasting and viewing the world through those abilities, swims through life perceiving what he perceives. When in tune with the fine perceptions that being connected with Hashem allots, a constant flame burns on the altar of a person’s soul, the place presumeably hidden, like most of reality. The miracle of being able to see the unseen is the gift given to the believer : Perception.

“How goodly are your tents, Ya’akov and your mishkenot (prayer halls), Yisrael.” The curses intended, when identified, were turned into blessings. So we too, in knowing the foundation of faith is being always able to see the good that comes out of the bad. But first, we have to be able to know that even when it looks bad and we can IDENTIFY it- THEN the tables turn. This can only be done when we have Hashem in us always, and we stand strongly rooted into Him through our souls. All of this appears to be unseen, but you have to be able to look past the “Times, Daily News, BBC, CNN etc…”

Dear Readers,

Every house built in our historical ancient legacy gives empowerment to all of the jewish people and in essence, all of those that hold on to torah values. Our great sages, throughout all the generations lived with faith. Today we have even more. G-d has given us the opportunity to live the prophecy. We have lived to see the bad become good countless times. Those that seek to curse Israel will no doubt sink on the sinking ship of their empires. It is time for jews to make the decision now about where they stand on these extremely pending issues. It really is time to identify the situation and stop sweeping the crumbs under the rug. When we made aliyah 24 years ago, times were good in the US. But the foreshadowing of this day was clearly felt for those of us who psychically had the advantage…

For those of you who can find a way to make a difference for the people that live out on the front line, please see our paypal option. Thank you.

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Parashat Korach – “Ma-aseh avot siman lebanim” 2009

Korach June 18, 2009

Every story in the Torah tells us something about then and how it applies to now. This is called “Ma-aseh avot siman lebanim”= what happens in the lives of our forefathers serves as a lesson and warning to us, their children, now. In the previous parsha, we learn of the tribal leaders that brought the children of Israel out of Egypt but who suffered from erroneous vision pertaining to the Land of Israel and not trusting Hashem in his promise about this. This parsha focuses also on harmful vision, when the Torah authority of Moshe Rabbeinu was challenged. The revolt, led by Korach Datan and Aviram was ultimately answered by Hashem’s response when the earth opened up and swallowed the rebels. They blackballed Moshe Rabbeinu’s superiority in delegating the sacred spheres of the work of the High Priests. This attitude stemmed from pure arrogance, as they wanted the prestige and position in direct contradiction to humble Moshe who acted solely as the agent of Hashem.

Subverting the Divinely ordained authority of our Sages and Rabbis is a theme that has unfortunately repeated itself all through-out time. This is done in a number of ways, changing the context of a law in order to have an easier lifestyle, misinterpreting Hashem’s will because of the lack of fear of heaven, and assimilating. Today it is difficult for us to really see Divine intervention as it was in the days that the ground opened up its mouth and swallowed the arrogant. Today it is a harder test because your vision has to be so acute just to see the hints of what happens in your life and feel the Divine Providence guiding it. You may even be a lone fish swimming upstream.

Following G-d’s law is a privilege, but as we choose to follow it, we can’t choose to change it. True, there are 70 faces to the torah. Don’t let this confuse you. There may be many spices to it- but the Torah itself is one. If even a person who calls himself a torah authority does something intrinsically against the torah, like condoning the surrendering of parts of the Holy Land under the “lie” of peacemaking with murderous enemies, this is a perversion of the Torah! If someone calls himself a Rabbi, yet overlooks halacha like the laws of kashrut or spiritual impurities, he is no Rabbi, but someone looking for a position of power and prestige, like the people that bought priesthood in the days the 2nd temple stood in a blasphemous act of haughtiness and self pride- nothing to do with what Hashem wanted from them.

These last 2 parshiyot clearly tell us that we have to listen to Hashem and what he wants. If we can internalize into our hearts our specific reason for coming into the world, into our specific course of life, then maybe we would understand a little more what Hashem wants specifically from us in this place at this time. This is what we learn from these parashot. It doesn’t say anywhere in the torah to wear a garment made just of techeylet, but the commandment is to explicitly wear it on the fringes of the tzitzit any deviation from this path is going against the word of G-D. It doesn’t say a Levi has the job of a Cohen, nor can a Yisrael go into the chamber of chambers. Every person, born into this world has a path they have to choose, yes- but Hashem has put them into their life to do their specific job. May we make our choices from the authority Hashem’s torah!

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Parashat Shelach – The Spies – 2009

Shlach June 11, 2009

Israel is a place that is difficult to describe. It depends on the eyes of one’s mind: if they are open or closed. The portrayal that the spies gave was not based on figments of their imaginations, but visualization based on the tunnel vision these spiritual people had when they beheld a seemingly physical land. They were afraid of its physicality. They gaped at the giants (who chazal tell us had no shadows), beheld the disproportional huge fruits, and wondered at the funeral processions that went on endlessly. Spectating the strong people that dwelled there, they perceived the carnal nature of their existence and shuddered thinking that something was certainly wrong.

The spies were the chiefs of the tribes of Israel. Their commentary, through the mouth of supremacy, is what shaped the subjective opinions of all of Am Yisrael. These leaders preferred to remain in the desert, the portraiture of spiritualism, and learn Torah. They were later held accountable for their complaint. “Why has the Lord brought us to this Land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should be prey? Would it not be better to return to Mitzrayim?” Their prejudice was a class prejudice that placed them above the glass ceiling looking down with a bird’s eye view, which in fact was a worm’s eye view.

Not knowing that “Na-aseh Ve’nishma”- we will do and we will listen, applies equally to the goal of self sacrifice, for the ultimate purpose of Hashem’s will, that the torah was a blueprint for the intended life in the Land of Israel. Instead of the children entering the land, knowing it, loving it, tilling it’s soil, building homes, and sanctifying it- the spies refused to actualize G-d’s name by letting them in. They became terrified at the very thought of leaving the manna, the clouds of glory, the pillar of fire, the miracles. They had difficulty leaving this comfort, where they nursed spirituality all day long. An important Torah brought down by Harav Chaim Hacohen (Hachalban) focuses on the complaint about the worry for the children’s safety and welfare. The image we see of a young child eating is one of him crumbling most of his food while only a little enters his mouth and is digested. The spies feared that the new generation of children would not have the liberty to eat “spiritual food” all day, but rather be occupied with the meddlesome business of task after task, crumbling their torah time away.

Only, the Land of Israel is not like any other land in the world. It is so alive that even it’s inanimate features look you in the face and tell you a story. The intuition you feel there is so great that if you are afraid of it, it can wear a shroud. It can look like any beach and bar tourist attraction. It can have nastiness. It can seem indifferent to the sacrilegious acts against it. That is the test. On closer inspection, it is the place Hashem chose to reveal judgment in mercy, the accused- innocent. To turn a blind eye to the hidden reality of the Land of Israel is to sin the sin of the spies.

The job of the child is to preempt, to construct for the next generations to follow. Ephraim were the first to leave Egypt. Maybe that’s why the picture on their banner is one of a child. May the parents of Jewish children all over the world let their children do the holy job of plowing the fields of the Land, the Land that all of humanity gleans the light of Hashem and His HOLY torah. May we see continued growth and many many more children thriving on the ancient hills and valleys of the Land that Hashem promised before time to the Jewish people.

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Parashat Emor – The Power of Speech – 2009

Emor May 8, 2009

If I write Emor and Omer (in English) it’s pretty much the same word, only scrambled. The fact is, Emor is always read during the Omer and they actually are interconnected. All through the Omer we count aloud, we say which day it is until the ultimate day of Matan Torah on Shavuot. We then received the eseret hadibrot, dibrot from the word- daber- to speak, to say. It was the day Hashem actually spoke to Am Yisrael on Har Sinai. Emor, vayomer, ve’amarta, all words from this parsha, deal with speaking and saying. Hashem tells Moshe to say to Am Yisrael about Shabbat and the chagim. He tells Moshe how to instruct the Kohanim. As a leader, although humbled by a lisp, (he was also very humble) Moshe had the direct job of transferring Hashem’s will into words that become actions done by all the components that make up the Jewish nation.

Oonkelooss brings down that a man has the ability to speak in order to do good, to do chesed, to make the world a better place. This puts him above the animal who also likes to eat, sleep, find a comfortable place to live, etc. How is this good done, by good speech. A person can make it or break it depending on what he says. What he says really begins with what he thinks. That’s when Rabbi Akiva comes into the picture. Rabbi Akiva says, “Love your neighbor as yourself and judge him favorably”. This was a hard lesson for his talmidim, because during the Omer at that time, 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva perished because they could not implement that into their torah studies. So, the Omer became a time of mourning for Am Yisrael, a time of being more reflective about how to perceive your neighbor, your spouse, your best friend, your parent. Even if you see a person that looks wicked and bad, a sinner, a differentiation must be made between his sins and the sinner himself, who has a pure soul.” Hevey Dan Lecol adam lekaf zechut” means that you really don’t know an inkling about all the good a person does because you see him in narrow vision. Thinking right about someone is the rectification for a broken down world. Saying the right thing is the foundation of our lives, if it’s between ben adam lamakome or ben adam le’chavero. Even if you find yourself in a bad place, if you can connect to the holy letters of the torah and think of good things to say, the atmosphere can be transformed and you can have chizuk. We know in previous generations the davening that was done in Bolshevist and Hellenist settings was able to keep the spark of holiness aflame even in those dark times.

I can tell you from my own experience at holy places that have been desecrated, like Kever Yosef and the sons of Aaharon HaKohen, that while standing in piles of dung and seeing only garbage rotting on the holy graves, the words of our holy prayers seemed to ignite such a spiraling fire of eish kodesh, that the Kiddush Hashem in the chilul Hashem stood out even more than in a regular setting.

Perhaps the theme of today’s day and age is speaking. It’s done through emails, faxes, blackberries, cell phones; we are basically talking all day. We can talk in a conference meeting on the phone all together at once too. This means that the power of Malchut has reached the point in which we can tell the world exactly who we are, what we are, where we are- NOW in the Land of Israel FOREVER TO ETERNITY. People, you need to use your speech, you need to be heard at this most critical time. The highest form of speech is of course, prayer- that is helpful too!

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Parashag Shemini – A shining Light 2009

Shemini April 18, 2009

A candle can be fed or extinguished by the wind, depending on how it blows. If it blows too hard, the flame separates from the wick, therefore it blows out. If the steady air feeds, it waxes at an even pace. A person has a soul, which is considered a flame. Here too, it could go in both directions. A person giving in to despair and sadness can “put out” his own flame. He can also burn and blaze about something so passionately, even out of the realm of his capacity to contain his zeal. That’s when the candle burns out too- only it burns down too quickly until there is nothing left. A middle road, a moderate flickering should always be the norm in a person’s life. If he can maintain a constant light despite the ups and downs, the passions and disappointments he faces, his candle will always burn. This is very important guided imagery that Rabbi Nachman of Breslov brought down to us over 200 years ago.

He connects this Torah to what happened in this parsha, Shemini, with the sons of Aaron the High Priest, Nadav and Avihu. They had such a burning desire that it actually burned them alive. They had not internalized that containing a passion, even for G-d, is really what G-d wants. Our Rabbis say that Nadav and Avihu did not marry because they felt that without the hassle of everyday home life, a wife, children, etc. they would be able to serve Hashem better without distractions. They invented a new way in which they thought in their perception of worship would be more practical. They wanted to be closer to G-d and they overstepped the boundary.

We have ideas all the time about how to be close to G-d. The truth is we live in this world of asiyah. We don’t live in heaven but we live on earth. And for that very reason Hashem gave the Torah to the world. The Torah is everlasting and has in it everything we need to know about how to be, what to do and when and where we should be. We don’t have to offer any strange fires or put on airs. In order to spread the light, each soul’s candle shines out. When all the little candles are gathered together (in Achdut) a very great light shines forth. At this time of Omer, when we remember the students of Rabbi Akiva that died because of the lack of unity, it is time to focus more on coming together.

Dear Readers, This past Shabbat my husband and daughter and I had the privilege of taking a nature walk down the path that leads to the not so far away resting place of the sons of Aaron the High Priest, Itamar and Elazar. Of all the people in the world reading about these sacred ancestors, here we were, facing the place where they were laid to rest. If EVER anyone ever tells you that these holy places belong to another people, please know – it is our legacy! Today the graves are surrounded by those that throw trash and refuse unto the holy sites. There is no uproar in the Jewish community about this. This is perplexing and very troubling. The same fate, if not worse is at the Tomb of Joseph. Joseph, who gathered the brothers together to become Shechem echad- the righteous example of the unifying force, and the world prefers to be silent. Remember, these places are the backbone of our identities. They can never be erased, like the words on the Torah scroll we read every Shabbat. Itamar is the name of our great grandparents. If the President of the U.S. should make the mistake to say it belongs to someone else, please inform him otherwise!

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Fear of G-D – Rashi on Genesis

Fear of HaShem – Genesis February 13, 2009

Rashi in his commentary on the book of Genesis brings down on the first verse of the Torah, the words of Rav Yitzchak – “Why did the Torah begin with the story of creation instead of beginning with the first commandment we received as the Jewish nation – the Mitzvah of declaring the new moon (Rosh Chodesh). If we look deeper into the teachings of Rav Yitzchak he was asking – why does the Torah invest the entire book of Genesis and the beginning of the second book of Shmot discussing our forefathers and the birth of the Jewish nation? Isn’t the most important goal receiving the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Torah? Why must we learn all the stories of our forefathers and the birth of our nation first? The answer lies in one verse in the book of Psams 111:10 “The fear of Hashem is the beginning of wisdom” The first and foremost step in receiving the Torah is the fear of G-D! The Talmud in the Tractate of Shabbat brings down on page 31b the following parable” Rabba Bar Rav Hunah says any man that has Torah and does not have the fear of Hashem is likened to a treasurer that was given the keys of the inner chamber but not the outer chamber- How is he going to get in? Rabbi Yani declared how unfortunate this man is that made a gate to a house but the house he never built! Rav Yehudah says that G-D did not create the world only for us to fear him. As it says in Ecclesiastics 3:14 “God has done it, that men should fear before him.”

If we look deeply into the words of these Rabbis we see that the purpose of creation was for us to fear G-D. The study of Torah is supposed to be a means to bring us to this highest goal of fearing Hashem. The first book of the Torah which accounts the stories of our forefathers brings us close to Hashem by teaching us to have faith and fear G-d by their lofty examples in dealing with all the tests placed before them. Only after this are we ready to receive the Torah.

Today we live in a world of intellectualism. Just like people enjoy a good meal and to have fun they enjoy a nice Daf Yomi or any other intellectual experience. We must never forget that the major goal in learning Torah is to bring us and the world to a higher spiritual level of fearing G-D. The intellectual experience, challenges and enjoyment of learning are not the goal of our study. Obviously it is fantastic that one enjoys studying the word of Hashem and takes pleasure in the intellectual experience since this will enhance his incentive to study more Torah – but let us remember why we are studying! The Torah that was given thousands of years ago, way before any secular code of etiquette, is the backbone of the entire world; it is our job to raise this banner and bring light unto the nations.

Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Moshe Golsmith, Itamar

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Parashat Bo 5769

Bo January 28, 2009

The combining of the letters bet and aleph form the name of our parsha, “Bo”. In gematria this equals the number three (aleph being one and bet being 2). The theme of three comes up 3 times: the last 3 plagues in Egypt that resulted in Bnei Yisrael’s exodus (the locusts, the darkness, and the dying of the first born). The three initial mitzvot that are paramount to all mitzvoth: Mitzvat kidush hachodesh- sanctifying the new moon, Pesach – accounting the relinquishment of Egypt on Bnei Yisrael, and Brit Milah- circumcision. They were also commanded to prepare themselves for 3 days in order to make the pasical sacrifice. These are all primary mitzvot , the fundamental foundations for kabalat hatorah. (the receiving of the torah)

The new moon of Nissan at the start of a new year signifies Am Yisrael who glean the light from the Source, not from their own power, but constantly replenishing and lighting up the dark night with G-d’s torah. In the bloom of this spring time their heydays begin. The keystone in faith begins to turn and unlock barriers that were placed as obstacles by Pharoh and Egypt. They were finally able to exit in order to enter the destined realm, the Land of Israel, a land of milk and honey.

What made it so difficult for Pharoh to let the people of Israel go?

Pharoh considered himself a Supreme Deity, but no man can be G-d. Our sages say that he went down to the Nile to take care of his basic human needs, not wanting anyone to know that he was indeed bound to confined human limitations. He was a clever man, knowing many languages, yet despite even his claims to clairvoyance, his farseeing extrasensory skills only added to his fall. He refused to accept Hashem. Sometimes a person imagines about himself all different things and forgets totally that G-d did all of this for him. If someone has a talent, he was blessed with a special gift. When someone becomes a rising star, true he strived to reach those heights- but it was with G-d’s help that he achieved it. Pharoh’s heart was not open to this idea. He really believed himself as the sun that shines from it’s own power. Then came the plagues. Pharoh’s mind may have said, “Hark! Something is amiss!”, but his heart was locked and bolted. His self love destroyed Egypt. This is the worst form of idolatry. This is why he despised the idea of going to worship.” Who is there to worship if not me? “.

Miracles happened, the unpredictable occurred above the realm of nature. This completely contradicted the natural process of things but this was done solely for Am Yisrael. What could Pharoh do now? When a person can internalize the power of G-d, he can be redeemed to the point where he could see himself as having left Egypt right now!

Shabbat Shalom Leah Goldsmith

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Parashat Shemot 5769

Shemot January 2009–01–15 Aside from beginning a new book in the Torah, a new era also begins for the people of Israel, as we read in the opening of the Parasha “a new king took over Egypt who did not know Yosef.” After settling in the comfortable land of Goshen at first Bnei Yisrael maintained their special faith which had been interconnected with the Land of Israel. Jacob enjoyed his final years in Egypt, but requested to be brought back for burial to the Ma’arat Hamachpela. Even when he was alive he said, “We have come to sojourn (temporary residence) in your land.” (Berieshit 47:4). His generation held the ideal of Eretz Yisrael as top priority. This perception diminished however as they became more comfortable, the connection to their ancestral Land was lost. They became easily influenced by Egyptian politics and religion. They began to worship their idols and felt most comfortable inside their fleshpots. They descended to the 49th rung of the ladder, almost assimilating altogether. But the lull in this haven did not last. This is when slavery began. Things got even worse and they began to be oppressed. From oppression it escalated into Pharoh calling for the immediate annihilation of all male babies. Notwithstanding, the redeemer was raised right under his nose in his very house from infancy. Hashem said to Moshe Rabbeinu: “I have heard the suffering of my people… and I will bring them into a good Land flowing with milk and honey. (Shemot:3:7-12) There is a terrific concept in kabbalah that stresses that you can never know where redemption will come from. We see this time after time. Only in the last parshiot Yosef the slave becomes Yosef the President. Ester goes to live with none other than Achashverosh in order to bring salvation to Am Yisrael. The turn of events reveal sudden and sensational bends on the Jewish history rollercoaster that was built before time. Moshe Rabbeinu eventually reveals his true identity but what foreshadows the story of our redemption is “a new king who took over Egypt that did not know Yosef.” The Yosef story was good but short lived Let’s see what next Tuesday, January 20 2009 brings us. Shabbat Shalom Leah Goldsmith