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Shemos
I. Simple Faith
1. 'I am the G-d of your fathers...' (Shemos
3.6)
I heard from the *Tzaddik *Rebbe Noach (of Lechovitz) *ZY'A, that the
Baal Shem Tov said to his *Talmidim, 'After all that I have achieved in
understanding the supernal secrets of the *Torah, and the sources of the
*mitzvos, and after all the enjoyment that I have attained from this, I
put aside all of these levels of knowledge and I strengthen myself with
simple faith in *HaShem. Ich bin a nar un ich gleib [Yiddish: I am a
fool and I believe.]
He ended by saying that the Baal Shem Tov saw the source of all things,
and even so he put it all aside to grasp the fundamental principle of
'Simple faith in HaShem.'
My teacher Rebbe Mordechai of Lechovitz said that the Baal Shem Tov
further explained, 'even though it says '"The simple man believes in all
things" (*Mishleh 14.15), it also says that "HaShem watches over the
simple ones." [Meaning that while it may seem to be a bad thing that in
matters of faith one acts with simplicity, however HaShem has promised
that He watches over the one who has simple faith.] (*Tehillim 116.6)
(Letter 24 in sefer Yesod HaAvodah from Rebbe Avraham of Solonim)
*
2. I have heard from people who are well known for relating stories
correctly that the Chasid, the holy Grandfather, my great uncle Rebbe
Meshulim Zushya *ZT'L (of Anapoli), said that 'I am not expecting a
reward in the world to come for the service of HaShem that I did after I
understood the true greatness of HaShem. I am only waiting
for the reward for the service of HaShem that I did when I served him
with simple faith. [When I served Him] because it was what I had
received as a tradition.' [The service of HaShem done with simple faith
is much higher then service of HaSHem that is done with high levels of
understanding of the nature of HaShem.] (#3 Sefer Egra D'Pirka teachings
of Rebbe Tzvi Elimeilech of Dinov.)
* * *
II. *Tshuva
3. 'You don't give straw [Heb. tevan] to your servants, and they say to
us to make bricks. [Heb. Leveinim].' (Shemos 5.16)
'Straw' is similar to the Hebrew word for 'wisdom' [Heb tevunah] and
understanding. While 'bricks' can refer to tshuva according to what
*Chazal say in the *Talmud tractate *Shabbos 45 'At all times your
garments should be white [Heb lavanim]' [The verse is understood by our
Rabbis to mean that one should always be clothed in white,
symbolizing that he is constantly doing tshuva.]
This is the meaning of the verse: Straw, i.e. understanding, isn't given
to Your servants. [Which means that we are lacking in proper
understanding of the nature of HaShem.] And bricks, i.e. tshuva, You
wish for us to do? This is a big question. How can we begin to do tshuva
if we are lacking in understanding? HaShem should first grant
us wisdom and understanding and then we will merit to do a complete
tshuva. (p. 33 sefer Alna D'Chaya a collection of teachings from various
Chassidic Rebbes. This is from Rebbe Shlomoh of Karlin ZY'A
*HY'D)
* * *
III. The work of the Yetzer HaRah
4. 'They set task masters over them to afflict them with their burdens'
(Shemos 1.11)
It says in the sefer Toldos Yaakov Yosef that the 'tasks' here means the
anxieties that people have in their life. The *Yetzer HaRah has the
power to make a person have anxiety. Most of the time the Yetzer HaRah
uses these anxieties to drive a person away from the service of HaShem.
From morning to night, and then from night to morning people are
occupied with these anxieties. He goes to sleep with them and wakes up
with them. And so his whole day goes by.
Each person has anxieties according to his nature and position in life.
We are not just talking of the businessman or the worker, even those who
are sitting in Yeshiva learning are filled with anxieties. It comes
either from money matters or other things. Because of these anxieties he
can't pray, he can't understand his learning, he doesn't know what he is
saying, and he doesn't even know who he is. One of the most important
things the Yetzer Harah works on are these anxieties, and this is the
meaning of 'to afflict them with their burdens.' [The Yetzer HaRah tries
to afflict them with constant anxiety.]
Another *peshat in this verse could be according to what it says in
Sefer Lekutim from the *Ari Z'L. He said, 'All the mitzvos that a person
does while he is still wicked, or the Torah that he learns at that time
not only does it not add strength to the side of holiness but the exact
opposite. It adds strength to the side of the Yetzer HaRah. About this
person [who learns while being a sinner] it says, "To the wicked man G-d
says, why do you discuss my Torah?" This means that he takes something
that is holy and puts it in an unclean and unholy place. With this he
adds to his sins and makes them too great to carry.
However when he does tshuva he takes back all these mitzvos, etc. and
brings them into the side of holiness. That is the meaning of tshuva
[lit. return], i.e. he returns these holy things [i.e. the mitzvos] to
the side of holiness. He then gets a double reward in that he weakens
the Yetzer HaRah and removes the holiness that it has taken. He also add
strength to the side of holiness through his tshuva. This is what the
Rabbis meant when they said, 'his willing sins become merits for him.'
[By doing tshuva he makes all those sins into big mitzvos. Until here is
from the Ari Z'L.]
Similarly it was taught in the sefer Chesed L'Avraham that when a person
does mitzvos a portion of the 'light' [i.e. holiness] from this remains
as a garment for his *nashama. Likewise when one does a sin there comes
on him an 'unclean' garment for his nashama. With this garment he is
'clothed' when his nashama leaves this world.
From this idea we can understand why the verse says, 'To the wicked man
G-d says why do you discuss my Torah?' Since his nashama is in the hands
of the Yetzer Harah all his mitzvos add more strength to the Yetzer
HaRah. It comes to him and says, 'his prayer belongs to me', and he
takes it as his own. However by the strength of tshuva
he can repair this so it will be as it was in the first place. He can
break the Yetzer HaRah and return the mitzvos to where they belong.
These will then become acceptable to HaShem and his sins will be
considered as merits. [Until here is from Chesed L'Avraham.]
With these ideas the sefer Yaros Dvash explains the simple meaning of
what we say in the Piyyut "Adir Ayom v'Norah" [that is sung at the meal
after the Shabbos has ended]. '[Rescue] the sheep from the hands of the
shearers.' When people want their sheep to grow a lot of wool they first
feed them special foods which the sheep like to eat and
which make the wool to grow faster. The sheep enjoy this because as the
wool grows they get warmer and warmer. They don't know that the whole
purpose of this is in order that the wool should be cut off of them. The
faster it grows the sooner they will be shorn of the wool.
The same is with the Yetzer HaRah. Sometimes it sees that [due to the
sins of the person] he has no more mitzvos or good deeds, and so the
Yetzer HaRah has nothing to take from him. Therefore he lets him have a
rest. Then the person does tshuva and starts to get some mitzvos and
good deeds. All this was in order that he should have something to take
later. So we pray that HaShem should rescue the sheep from the shearers.
We should not be like sheep waiting to be shorn. We should not do
mitzvos only so that the Yetzer HaRah should have what to take from us.
We should merit to do mitzvos for the sake of HaShem, with holiness.
This could be the meaning of the words of the verse, 'and they placed
over them task masters [Heb sarei masim]. *Rashi says that it means
'officers that take tax [Heb mas]'. This refers to the Yetzer HaRah who
takes a 'tax', which are the mitzvos and the Torah that people learn.
(p. 63b sefer Divrei Emunah teachings of the Rebbe of Toldos
Aharon ZT'L)
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Glossary:
Arizal: Hebrew initials of the words: Adoni Rabbenu Yitzchok
Zechorono LeVaracha our master Rabbi Yitzchok. Better known as
Yitzchok Luria the great 16th century
Kabbalist
Chazal: Hebrew initials for: Chochmenu Zichrona Levaracha (Our
sages of Blessed memory) Used to refer to Rabbis of the Talmud.
HaShem: Noun used in place of G-d. Lit. The Name
HY'D: Heb. HaShem Yimkom Domov: HaShem should avenge their blood.
Mishleh: One of the books of the Tenach, called in English
Proverbs.
Mitzvah (mitzvos):
One of the commandments of the Torah.
nashama: Hebrew word for soul.
peshat: A method of Biblical interpretation based on finding the
simple meaning in the Torah.
Rashi: The primary commentary on the Tenach.
Rebbe: Leader of a Chassidic group or a teacher
Shabbos:
Tractate in the Talmud
Shemos: Second book of the Torah. Called Exodus in English
Talmid (Talmidim): Disciples of a Rebbe.
Talmud: An ancient work of Jewish law.
Tehillim: Hebrew name for Psalms.
Torah: a. First 5 books of the Jewish Bible
b. Also refers to
the whole of Jewish law
c. also common term
for a chassidic teaching
Tshuva: Hebrew word for repentance
Tzaddik (Tzaddikim): lit. Righteous. Another name for a Chassidic
Rebbe.
Yetzer: lit. Inclination. It is Jewish belief that every Jew has
both an evil and good inclination within him, that are at 'war' to see
which of them the person will follow.
Yetzer Tov: Heb. Good Inclination
Yetzer HaRah: Heb. Evil Inclination.
ZT'L: Hebrew initials of the words: Zechor Tzaddik LeVaracha (The
memory of a Tzaddik - Righteous person is a blessing.)
ZY'A: Hebrew initials of the words: Zechiso Yagan Aleinu (His
merit should protect us.)
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Copyright (c) 1997 by Moshe Shulman
(mshulman@virtual.co.il)
All rights reserved.
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