START THE DAY THE TORAH WAY 9th March 2014 ז אדר

Today, as no doubt you are all aware, is the Yahrzeit of Moshe Rabbenu. The Gemora tells us that not only this was his yahrzeit, it was also his birthday which was on ז אדר. The same Gemora, in Megillah, relates that when Homon threw his lots, the פור, on which the name Purim is based, he was pleased that it fell on the month of Adar because he knew that Moshe Rabbenu had passed away on that day. What he did not know was that Moshe Rabbenu was also born on the same day.

We all know that Moshe Rabbenu was the greatest of the novi’im, of all the prophets that the Bnei Yisroel have ever had and that his prophesy was true. This is one of the 13 ikrim that the Rambam enumerates.

In order that we should perhaps obtain a glimpse, at least, of the greatness of Moshe Rabbenu, I think we need to go back to the beginning of Shemos, where we are told וילך איש מבית לוי ויקח את בת לוי, man went forth from the house of Levi and he took as a wife, the daughter of Levi. The Torah continues ותהר האשה ותלד בן, the woman became pregnant and bore a son, and then the Torah continues ותרא אותו כי טוב הוא, and she saw that he was good. Finally, the Torah says, ותצפנהו שלשה ירחים, and she hid him for three months.

What I find remarkable is that there is no mention of a name, it does not say that Amram took Yocheved and they had a son Moshe, no names are mentioned whatsoever.

Later on in Torah, when the Yichus of shevet Levi is enumerated in detail, it states quite clearly that Amram went and took his Aunt Yocheved, the daughter of Levi and they had Aharon and Moshe as well as Miriam. But here at the time of the birth of Moshe no mention is made of who his father or mother were, or a name for him either. I find this very strange, in fact, we do not find this type of wording anywhere else in Torah I believe. Why should it be so?

Furthermore, if we look at the life of Moshe Rabbenu, we find a very unusual pattern, he was hidden in the bulrushes, found by Basya the daughter of Pharaoh, brought into the palace of Pharaoh and lived there for a number of years, brought up in a non-Jewish palace in a non-Jewish atmosphere. He then went out and saw the oppression that was meted out to his Jewish brethren, killed an Egyptian who was hitting a Jewish person and fled to Midian when he was reported to Pharaoh who wanted to kill him. He remained in Midian for many years and had no contact with all his Jewish brethren.

In Midian, he married Zipporah, the daughter of Yisro who had been the Kohen of Midian but had become disillusioned with all types of avodah zorah.

When he was approximately 79 years of age, he had a special revelation, a burning bush. There Moshe was instructed by Hashem to go back to the Yidden in Egypt and tell them that they were going to be freed. He was also informed that Pharaoh will not listen to him and that Hashem will mete out punishment to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Moshe was instrumental in bringing the ten makkos on Egypt. Eventually Moshe was able to take the Bnei Yisroel out of Egypt, as we all know.

That was not enough. The same Moshe led the Bnei Yisroel to the Yam Suf and the famous krias Yam Suf, the miraculous splitting of the Red Sea (the Reed Sea) took place. After that the Bnei Yisroel went for a further six weeks into the wilderness, reached Har Sinai and this same Moshe, was the one that went up to receive the Torah as well as the Aseres Hadibros written on special tablets of stone, which were miraculous. The Yidden had this once off experience of a revelation of Hashem actually speaking to them, all the Yidden together, 600,000 males of 20 years upwards and a few million women and children.

The Gemora in Shabbos tells us in detail how great Moshe Rabbenu was. He went up to Heaven and disputed with the malochim as to who should receive the Torah and explained to them that the Torah includes mitzvos which only human beings can perform, not angels. Remember Moshe went up to heaven for forty days and did not eat or drink all that time. This was repeated three times in the space of 122 days.

All this was למעלה מן הטבע, supernatural.

When he went up to be instructed regarding the whole of Torah shel b’ksav and Torah shel baal peh, unfortunately, the mixed multitude, the ערב רב, persuaded the Yidden to join in and worship the golden calf, the עגל הזהב.

Moshe Rabbenu was sent down from Heaven because of this, with the Aseres Hadibros, the tablets in his hands. He threw them down, broke them and proclaimed מי לה' אלי, who will join me, in punishing the Yidden who had actually served the idol. We know that the whole tribe of Levi joined in, but the same Moshe then appealed to Hashem not to destroy the Yidden, ויחל משה את פני ה' אלקיו. Finally, the Torah says וינחם ה', Hashem reconsidered his intention to destroy the Bnei Yisroel immediately and replaced it with the residue of that sin, leading to punishment from time to time, as we are aware.

Moshe was indeed a remarkable man, he could perform all these miracles, and he could also stand up on behalf of the Bnei Yisroel as the needs be.

From where did he have all these כוחות?

The Zohar Hakodesh tells us an interesting fact. Three times in Torah our great ancestors are called by their name, twice in repetition. At the time of the עקידה, just when Avrohom was about to kill Yitzchok, an angel came and said אברהם 1 אברהם, don’t kill him, don’t harm him at all.

When Yaakov was about to go down to Egypt having learned that Yosef was the viceroy of Pharaoh, Hashem appeared to him in a vision at night and said, יעקב 1 יעקב and Hashem told him, Don’t be scared you are going down to Egypt, I will bring you back, Yosef will place his hand on your eyes etc.

The third time that Hashem called an individual was at the burning bush, when He said משה משה and Moshe answered Hineni, here I am.

The Zohar tells us that whereas in the first two cases, a line is put between the first word “Avrohom” and the second “Avrohom” and the first “Yaakov” and the second “Yaakov”, there is no line between the repetition of the word Moshe. The reason for this, states the Zohar, is because Moshe was on the same elevated level from the time he was born until the time he passed away. He was an איש אלקים, all his life. Avrohom and Yaakov had to elevate themselves from a lower level to a higher level and the line between in the cases of Avrohom and Yaakov indicate this.

When Moshe was born, the Torah states, ותרא אותו כי טוב הוא and Chazal tell us נתמלא הבית אורה. The House became full of light. This means that the Shechinah came down with the baby.

Let us return to my question much earlier on as to why no names were mentioned when Moshe Rabbenu was born, not his father, not his mother and not his own name.

Chazal tell us that the early men, the ראשונים, knew why they gave a particular name to their children, it could have been because of a happening later in the person’s life, such as ,פלג כי בימיו נפלגה הארץ, because during his lifetime and not when he was born, there would be the דור הפלגה, the generation that built the tower of Babel. In the case of many of the children born to Yaakov the names are an indicated of what was going to happen or had just happened. For instance, דן was because Rochel said Hashem has judged me, דנני etc.

However, in each case, a name sets a boundary or boundaries for the person, it is a sort of צימצום, a curtailment. What I am suggesting is that Moshe Rabbenu was born on such an elevated level that a name would have been a צימצום for him which would have affected his greatness and his ability to perform miracles and to be למעלה מן הטבע. To emphasise this, even the names of his father and mother at the time of his birth were also not mentioned. Therefore there would be no curtailment, spiritually in respect of this, our greatest prophet, the person who brought down the Torah to the Bnei Yisroel.

I am reminded of a story about the Sfas Emes, the second Gerrer Rebbe, who was a genius from boyhood. Another great Rabbi, a lot older than him, met him and was astounded by his depth of knowledge and his piety and asked him “How did you reach such a level”. The Sfas Emes explained with a parable, about the person who was climbing up a very high mountain, lets say Everest, and of course, it took weeks to reach the summit, when he got there, he found a child playing and he said to the boy “How did you get here?” to which the answer was  “I was born here”.

Similarly, Moshe Rabbenu was born at this very high level and as we are told by Chazal, his prophesy was of a higher category that any other Novi. He saw with a clarity that no other prophet ever enjoyed, that which Chazal call אספקלריה המאירה.

At the beginning of פרשת מטות, Rashi comments on זה הדבר אשר צוה ה', that Moshe was the only Novi who could use the expression זה הדבר, this is the commandment of Hashem, because he was only one who saw things absolutely clearly. The other prophets had to use the expression, כה אמר ה', Hashem said (something) like this.

We also find that Hashem told Aharon and Miriam, How could you dare speak about Moshe Rabbenu בכל ביתי נאמן הוא, in My entire house he is the trusted one. At that time, the Torah says והאיש משה ענו מאד, the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה, more than any other person on the face of the earth.

I believe that Moshe’s humility stemmed from the fact that he had been given the privilege of being the nearest to Hashem and having experienced revelation after revelation carrying out the various makkos etc. and he, therefore, understood more than any other human being, how small he was, in comparison with the mightiness of the infinite ה' יתברך.

The Zohar states איתפשטותא דמשה בכל דור ודור, the influence of Moshe continues in each generation.

We are now approaching Purim and I mentioned that Homon was happy that the Pur, the lot, fell on Adar, because Moshe Rabbenu passed away on ,ז אדר of which today is the anniversary. Homon did not realise that Moshe was also born on ז אדר.

When Mordechai learned about the decree against the Yidden, he took the Jewish children and learnt Torah with them. This, together with the תפילות and fasting brought the downfall of Homon. Eventually, ונהפוך הוא אשר ישלטו היהודים המה בשונאיהם, the opposite happened, the Yidden (led by Mordechai Hatzaddik and Esther Hamalka) ruled over their enemies.

The Torah shel b’ksav and Torah shel baal peh which Moshe Rabbenu brought down from Har Sinai and which he taught the Bnei Yisroel for 40 years continues to be the focal point for us Jews, and on which our whole lifestyle is based. It is also the pillar on which the world exists.

At this moment, we are faced with a spiritual crisis in Eretz Yisroel. The continuing learning of Torah in a pure manner, על טהרת הקודש, together with תפילות of ourselves and our brethren worldwide will ensure that the attempt to undermine the Charedim in Eretz Yisroel will fail and ונהפוך הוא אשר ישלטו היהודים המה בשונאיהם.

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The Vital Role Of Jewish Women

The Gemora (Sotah 11b) statesדרש ר' עוירא בשכר נשים צדקניות שהיו באותו הדור נגאלו ישראל ממצרים, “As a reward for the righteous women in that generation Israel were redeemed from Egypt”.

The Gemora then goes into detail as to how the Jewish wives collected together food and drink and took them to their husbands in the fields and consequently gave birth to children who the ladies looked after very carefully. When the Egyptians sensed what was happening, there was a miracle and the children disappeared into the ground in the fields and although the Egyptians tried to plough the fields etc. there was a great miracle and they came out alive and returned to their parents homes and were the first, in fact, to say זה קלי ואנוהו- This is our G-d and we glorify Him. When the Children of Israel sang the Shirah.

Where did these Jewish women have the understanding and dedication to accomplish these things. Times were very dangerous, the Jews were enslaved, their husbands were overworked, harshly treated and hardly allowed to come home, but the ladies showed tremendous courage and vision.

I think that we must go back to the story at the beginning of Shemos where the King of Egypt decreed that all Jewish boys should be killed and called in the Hebrew midwives, Shifra and Puah and gave them precise instructions but the midwives did not follow the decree of the King and caused the boys to live. As we also know, the Rabbis had told us that these two were, in fact, mother and daughter, Yocheved and Miriam. They refused to comply with the King’s commands and blandishments and showed their strength of character. For that, of course, they were richly rewarded as Rashi states, they founded בתי כהונה לויה ומלכות, The Kohanim, Levi’im and Kings descended from them. They were a shining example as to how to behave, with courage and dedication.

Furthermore, the Midrash tells us about Miriam, that when her father Amram divorced his wife Yocheved because of the decree of Pharaoh against the boys, Miriam said to her father that his decree was even harsher than that of the King, in that parents could not have any children if they had separated. Amram then remarried Yocheved and Moshe Rabbenu was born, the eventual saviour of the Jews in Egypt. That was not enough for Miriam , when after three months he was put in a cradle on Yam Suf, the Reed Sea, she watched from afar and when the daughter of Pharaoh Basya took the child, asked whether she would like to have a wet nurse and Yocheved therefore was called in as we all know from the story written in Torah. Miriam showed vision and understanding.

We also, of course, are aware that this was the same Miriam that took the ladies together after Krias Yam Suf and they sang songs of praise to Hashem.

The righteous women had excellent role models as we can see.

I believe that this was only part of a long chain and that in order to trace back the actions of these women of valour mentioned above one has to go back to our great matriarchs.

It is interesting to note that Yaakov Avinu, Jacob, when he had his children did not name any of them (except the last one when his wife died in childbirth and re-named him as Binyamin) and if one looks carefully, one finds that either Rachel or Leah named child after child. There is only one exception, that is Levi where Rashi mentions a medrash that an angel came and gave him the name based on what Leah had said. It seems rather strange that Yaakov should not name his children, why did he leave it to his wives? It seems to me that there was a very practical reason.

Yaakov lived with Lovon a first class rogue in a town with many other people with a similar reputation. Furthermore, Yaakov’s job looking after the sheep of his father-in-law meant that he was away from home day and night, as the Torah tells us vividly in his final speech to Lovon when their confrontation took place just before Yaakov returned to Eretz Yisroel. Yaakov therefore decided that as he was so rarely at home, his children were at risk and his wives the great צדקניות, righteous ones, Rochel & Leah would have the responsibility of dealing with their chinuch, upbringing of the children and in order to give them an even greater feeling of responsibility they should name the children. They carried out the job of bringing up the children very well. All twelve sons were righteous as we well know.

Going back even further, Rivka, the wife of Yitzchok had twins and was told before they were even born that they would go their separate ways. She had one son who was איש תם יושב אהלים, a perfectly good boy who learnt in the Yeshiva of Ever. Unfortunately, her other son was not that way inclined and although he managed to hide his true behaviour from his father Yitzchok, he did not deceive his mother Rivka. When it came to giving the brochas she ensured that Yaakov should receive them and afterwards made it clear to Yitzchok her feelings towards Eisav and his wives and really opened Yitzchok's eyes to the true situation. She knew how and when to exercise her motherly feelings.

However, I do not believe that it stops there. If one goes back to the first generation Avrohom and Soroh, we know that Soroh saw that Yishmael was intent on spoiling Yitzchok’s purity and holiness and asked Avrohom to send away Hogor and Yishmael which Avrohom was very loath to do. She was proved right because Hashem said to Avrohom listen to Soroh, do as she says.

The chinuch, education and upbringing especially of small children is very much in the mother’s hands. Starting from the great matriarchs, Soroh, Rivka, Rochel & Leah one sees a pattern which Shifra and Puah (Yocheved and Miriam) continued to adhere to and which the other mothers of Israel continued to emulate as mentioned in the Gemora I commenced with above. The Midrash Rabba (Bamidbar Chapter 3 number 6) on the verse מוציא אסירים בכושרות, Hashem took out the Children of Israel who were in bondage, states רבותנו אומרים בזכות הנשים האמהות הכשירות , “Our Rabbis say that the word Bekosharos means in the merit of the women, the Matriarchs who were worthy”.

If one takes the gematria, the numerical value, of the words נשים צדקניות, Noshim Zidkonios, it adds up in total to 1,060.

שרה, רבקה, רחל, לאה - Soroh, Rivka, Rochel and Leah have a numerical value of 1,086. This is the 1,060 of נשים צדקניות noshim zidkonios plus 26 which is the equivalent of the numerical value of the name of Hashem, namely that Hashem permeated all the actions of the noshim zidkonios, the Matriarchs.

שפרה, פועה, יוכבד, מרים Shifra, Puah, Yocheved, Miriam adds up to 1,078. This amounts to 1,060 plus 18 which is Chai, meaning life, alluding to the fact that through them was born the מושיען של ישראל The saviour of Israel, namely Moshe, as well as alluding to the Gemora quoted earlier on about the children being kept alive, Chai, whilst under the ground, by a miracle.

This attitude to life has continued through all generations. Jewish women of valour and righteousnessנשים צדקניות who have imbued their children with belief and faith in Hashem and continue to do so. The golus Mitzraim followed by the geuloh the exile in Egypt followed by the redemption was the prototype for all future exiles and redemptions until Moshiach will come. In every generation there are different trials and tribulations and our generation is no exception. The woman of the house sets the tone, be it kashrus, Shabbos, Taharos Hamishpocha, sheltering the children from exposure to outside influences such as the media and of course, chinuch yelodim, the general upbringing of the children. Fathers are, of course, involved, but, especially when the children are small, it is the mother who ensures that the child washes negel vaser, makes a brocho, is told what is permissible to eat, teaches the child good manners etc. This has come down as a yerushah, an inheritance from the generations commencing with our holy matriarchs, Soroh, Rivka, Rochel and Leah and will continue .עד ביאת גואל צדק במהרה בימנו אמן

Until Moshiach will come speedily in our time

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