Torah Teasers
Parshas Bo
1. After having second thoughts and calling back Moshe and Aharon after their warning of the upcoming Makas Arbeh, Paroh tells them (Bo 10:10), “Yehi CheinHashem Imachem Ka’asher Ashalach Eschem V’Es Tapchem.” “So be it. May Hashem be with you just as I will send you and your little ones.” This seems to imply that just as he will not send their children, he will not send them. Then right after that, he says, “Take only the men.” Was he letting them go or not? Ans…If you’ve ever taken a child to Shul, or anywhere for that matter, you know that in order to serve Hashem properly you need peace of mind. Peace from the children that is. The Shalal Rov brings Rav Moshe Yehuda Leib MiKutna who explains with this concept the above enigmatic conversation between Paroh and Moshe and Aharon. Paroh asked Moshe, “Do you think Hashem will be with you if you take the children? With them around, it will impossible to get any real service done. Therefore, if you are serious and not just using this as a ploy to escape, then you will take only the men. Your demand to take the children undermines your secret intention to escape.”
2. During Makas Arbeh, Paroh asked Moshe to daven to take away the dreadful locust. Moshe davened and the Torah says (Bo 10:19), “Lo Nishar Arbeh Echad Bichol Gvul Mitzrayim; “Not a single Arbeh remained in Egypt’s borders.” Has there been locust damage since then? Ans… Rabbeinu Bichaye, who lived in the 13th century, says that Moshe’s tefila helped to this day. “It is well known,” he writes, “that locust do not do damage in Mitzrayim. Even when there is locust that ravage Eretz Yisrael, when they cross the border to Mitzrayim, they do not eat anything. The tefilos of Moshe are trustworthy forever,” says Rabbeinu Bichaye. “Similarly,” he says, “to conclude Makas Tzfardei’a, Moshe told Paroh (Vaeira 8:5) that he can rid Mitzrayim of Tzfardei’a, ‘Rak BaYi’or Tishoarna.’ They will remain in the Nilus.’ ” “Even to this day,” says Rabbeinu Bichaye, “there is an animal called an ‘Altimasa’ or crocodile that lives in the Nilus. Every now and then it will come out and swallow two or three people in one shot. It cannot be killed with spears or arrows unless it is struck in its stomach. It has a poison on its body that can harm people even after it is already dead. These are the Tzfardei’a of the Makos. True to Moshe’s words, they still remain in the Nilus.”
3. Hashem told Avrohom that his children would be enslaved in Mitzrayim for 400 years. Yet they left after 210. Many Meforshim offer explanations justifying how Bnei Yisrael were able to leave before their time. However, the Ben Ish Chai has a problem with this whole approach. When they left Mitzrayim the Pasuk says (Bo 12:42), “Leil Shimurim Hu Lashem L’Hotzium MeiEretz Mitzrayim; This was the night that Hashem waited for as they were destined to leave Mitzrayim.” This implies that they were always scheduled to leave Mitzrayim on this night even though it was not yet 400 years. Ans… The Ben Ish Chai explains that the four hundred years in Mitzrayim was the workload Hashem gave Bnei Yisrael to be Misaken what needed to be fixed and to be mivarer the nitzotzos that were trapped in the galus of Mitzrayim. Although there was 400 years of work there, Hashem set a deadline to take them out on the night of Pesach. How did they manage? They did their best, and Hashem in His compassion did the rest for us by shining His Shechina. This is a lesson for all generations as the end of the pasuk says, “Shimurim L’Chol Bnei Yisrael L’Dorosam; In every generation Hashem gives us a job.” We struggle to survive each Galus and be Mikadesh Shem Shamayim. If we give 100% effort and try to accomplish the impossible, Hashem will do the rest, just like He did in Mitzrayim.
4. The Torah tells us to wear Totafos Bein Einecha. Totafos mean Tefilin Shel Rosh. Chazal explain that they are called Totafos because there are four compartments in them for the four Parshiyos, Shema, V’Haya Im Shamo’a, Kadesh Li, and V’Haya Ki Yivi’acha. Tat in the language of Katfi is two and Pas in Afriki is two, adding up to the four parshiyos. Why would the Torah call our Holy Tefilin a name comprised of a numerical equality of two foreign languages? Ans… The Shanyim Mikra brings in the name of the Shela HaKadosh explains that each of the seventy languages has a bit of Lashon Kodesh mixed in to it. No language is totally bereft of the Holy tongue. Bnei Yisrael however received the Holy language in its entirety. Tat and Pas are both Lashon Kodesh used in another language. It is for this reason we say, “VRomemanu MiKol Lashon;” Hashem elevated us with our pure undiluted language from all the other nations that only merited bits and pieces.
5. Moshe Rabbeinu, over and over again, demands from Paroh to let them go for three days to serve Hashem. Why would he speak something not true? Did this come from Hashem, as Moshe Rabbeinu would never alter a single word of Hashem’s command? Does Hashem need to trick Paroh? Ans… Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky answers that Bnei Yisrael were supposed to stay in Mitzrayim 400 years. Even though in retrospect we say that the time started from Yitzchok’s birth, the reality is that we were supposed to be in Mitzrayim itself for 400 years. The reason for Moshe’s appearance on the scene was that Hashem saw Bnei Yisrael would not make it another year without being lost forever. Their spirit had sunk too low. Hashem wanted Bnei Yisrael to go to the Midbar to serve Him and be Michazek their emuna, rejuvenate themselves, and then return to Mitzrayim to finish up the gezeira. Only because Paroh refused, even after 9 makos, was there a change of plans, and final departure from Mitzrayim

In days gone by, the Mah Nistana was a much more innocent affair. Kids were not taught the Mah Nishtana in school, but rather it was up to the kid to notice strange things going on at the Seder and asking on his own volition.
On Seder night, when the Imrei Emes was a little boy, his father the Sfas Emes of Gur started his Seder and waited expectantly for his young son to start inquiring about odd happenings. The Imrei Emes sat quietly without the slightest hint of a puzzled look on his face. The Sfas Emes started to do more strange things in order to get the boy to ask, but to no avail. He even started to move things on and off the table, turn the talbe over, and other wild antics just to break the boy’s calm demeanor, but nothing would make the Imrei Emes flinch.
Finally, the Sfas Emes asked his son if he noticed anything different about that night’s meal. The Imrei Emes said that of course he did. Then why, asked the Sfas Emes, did you not seem alarmed and ask any questions?
The little boy answered with pure innocence, because I know my father is a smart man and whatever he does, he has a very good reason for doing. That is why I am not the slightest bit disturbed.
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Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach held L’Halacha that hearing by Krias Megilas Esther through a hearing aid, one could not be Yotzei. Rav Shlomo Zalman’s mother Tzivya was hard of hearing and wore a hearing aid. When Rav Shlomo Zalman became Bar Mitzva he learned how to read the Megila so that he can read it for his hearing impaired mother.
On Purim, his mother would remove her hearing aid and Rav Shlomo Zalman would read the megila with all his might close to her ear so that she could be Yotzei. He continued this for many decades.
After many years of practicing this minhag, one of Rav Shlomo Zalman’s children mentioned to him that he doesn’t think his mother can really hear all the words, despite his best efforts. Rav Shlomo Zalman answered, “Know my son that I never imagined that she hears the Megila K’Halacha. All that I do for my mother is only to make her feel good and to honor her.” (Halichos Shlomo Orchos Halacha 2:29:1)
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A few weeks ago someone was sitting Shiva for his sister together with his brother-in-law in Yerushalayim. One afternoon a person walked in but seemed confused. It turned out that he was in the wrong house and needed to be at the home of someone with the same name a few streets over.
One of the family members explained to him that this was a Shiva house and now that he already walked in, he can be Minachem Avel. As it happened this person was one of the gabbaim of Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman. The husband of the Nifteres had been a talmid of Rav Aharon Leib over fifty years ago. They traded stories of Rav Aharon Leib’s greatness then and now and the gabbai was Minachem them and went on his way.
Later that day when the Gabbai arrived at Rav Aharon Leib’s house back in Bnei Brak he mentioned that he he met a talmid from Rav Aharon Leib’s youth through a crazy mix up. Although Rav Aharon was not familiar with the long forgotten name, as soon as he heard this from the Gabbai he said that if his talmid is sitting Shiva he must go be menachem him. He asked the gabbai to get his things and please take him immediately to Yerushalayim, where he sat with the Avel for twenty five minutes before going back home.
Rav Aharon Leib is close to one hundred years old and has a schedule busier than almost anyone on the planet. His trips to Yerushalayim are not very frequent and are planned in advance. Yet, when he heard a talmid lost his wife, there was nothing to discuss, only to drag his feeble body to comfort him.
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In the home of Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, everything was Hefker. Anyone off the street could come in and take whatever they wanted and no one in the family was allowed to utter a single word. Families would sometimes come in and take a room for themselves and no one would say anything.
His son, the Brisker Rov said that he once came to his own bed at night and found someone lying in it. He had no place to sleep that night but didn’t say anything to anyone about it.
Rav Dovid Soloveitchik Shlit”a said that one time his father, the Brisker Rov was writing a Dvar Torah that his Father Reb Chaim told him to write for him. As he was in middle of writing, a shlepper barged in from the street and asked the Brisker Rov for the pen. The Brisker Rov told him he would give it to him in a minute when he is finished writing. When Reb Chaim heard this he screamed, “What is going on here that we don’t lend our pens…” (Holchei Nesivos – Middos Tovos)

“It turns out that the term “Jew” in the linguistic game signals an exclamation of joy, as in: “A day off? Jew!”
Professor Marc van Oostendorp, a linguist from Leiden University, on how Dutch teenagers are using “Jew” to mean “cool” or “awesome” in English.

“Israel is our closest friend and democratic ally in the Middle East. Adding Israel to the Visa Waiver Program will boost business, tourism, and job creation here in the US and enhance cultural ties between our two nations.” Brad Sherman (D-California), on drafting a new bill — the Visa Waiver for Israel Act of 2012 — that would exempt Israeli citizens from needing a visa to enter the United States for up to 90 days for tourism or business purposes.

“I just tell people, ‘If I wanted to work on Saturday, I have this 24/7 job available. I come to shul to pray.'” Jack Lew, President Obama’s current chief of staff and his pick for Treasury secretary, on people who talk to him about politics in shul.

“It is a security risk to allow him to join services with Jewish inmates from the general prison population. He can cover the toilet with a sheet and pray in his cell.” The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruling of Jan. 11, on William Harry Meece’s (a Kentucky death row inmate) request to pray on Shabbos in the prison’s chapel.
≈ Great Sayings By Great People ≈
“Be cautious of excessiveness and drastic sudden improvement [in Avodas Hashem] for it can be your downfall. Too much oil is the reason the flame is extinguished.” – Chovos HaLevavos, Shaar Ahavas Hashem
“Supporting Talmidei Chachomim is the obligation of every Jew. It is not Tzedaka but rather payment for their service of learning Torah for us, as we are all obligated to learn.” – Sefer HaChaim by the brother of the Maharal MiPrague
“When faced, with a decision, ask yourself, “How would I decide if it were Ne’ilah right now?”” – Reb Yisroel Salanter
“Do not hit a child too much. No one ever got smarter from being beaten.” – Rabbeinu Gershon (Bava Basra 21a)
“No one dies of hunger…they die of shame.” – Rav Yisroel Salanter

Know Your Gedolim…

Talk the Talk — Walk the Walk

A Jewish boy comes home from school and tells his mother he’s been given a part in the school play.
“Wonderful. What part is it?”
The boy says, “I play the part of the Jewish husband.”
The mother scowls and says, “Go back and tell the teacher you want a speaking part.”
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A wagon train left the east, heading to California. Half way there, they started running out of food. As they started across the plains, they saw an old Jewish man sitting outside his front door. The wagon master stopped and went over to the old man and asked if he knew where they could buy food, because they were getting real low on supplies. The Jewish man thought for a while and said, “I don’t know, but there is a bacon tree over the next hill.” “A bacon tree?” the wagon master said. “Yes, a bacon tree,” the old Jewish man said. The wagon master thanked him and went back to the wagon train and explained to everyone that there was a bacon tree over the next hill. So off they went. After getting over the hill, a bunch of Indians attacked and killed everyone but the wagon master.
He managed to crawl back to the old Jewish man’s cabin. When he got to the old man he said, “You told me there was a bacon tree over the next hill, and when we got there, a bunch of Indians ambushed us and killed everyone except me.” The old man looked a little puzzled and reached inside his coat and pulled out a book that said, Jewish-English Dictionary on how to speak proper English. After thumbing thru a few pages he exclaimed, “Oy Vey!….not a bacon tree……a ham bush.”

The Geula — What to Expect
To Live In A World of Only Good
There are two states of existence – two ways to be. You can be striving, or at rest. Fighting, or at peace. Estranged or betrothed. Yearning or satisfied. On the road or at home. In the Torah, the first state is called galus (“exile”), and the second state is called geulah (“redemption”).
For much of our 4000-year existence, we’ve been in galus. It started when Hashem appeared to Avrohom and commanded him to “Go you from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land which I shall show you.” Avrohom reaches Eretz Yisroel, but must almost immediately leave it because of famine. Avrohom’s grandson, Yaakov, is forced to flee to Charan, and subsequently compelled to follow Yoseph to Egypt. Yaakov’s descendants are liberated from Egypt after four generations of exile and slavery, only to wander for 40 years in the wilderness. Yehoshua conquers the Land, but the fighting continues for hundreds of years, right through the reign of Dovid Hamelech (877-837 BCE). That was followed by the 40 tranquil years of Shlomo Hamelech’s reign — described by our sages as a time when “the moon was in its fullness”; but after Shlomo’s passing, the people of Israel split into two kingdoms, and from there on, everything was basically downhill, until the destruction of the Bayis and the Babylonian exile in 423 BCE. We returned after 70 years of exile in Babylon, but this was never a complete redemption, as internal strife and external enemies plagued us throughout the Second Bayis Era. Then came the destruction of the Bayis Sheini in the year 69 of the Common Era, following of which has been one long chain of sorrows and struggles.
A fundamental principle of the Jewish faith is that galus will end and will be supplanted with a “true and complete redemption.” After thousands of years of living in a world that’s out of sync with our deepest selves, we will enter an era of eternal peace and tranquility, a world that is “wholly Shabbos and rest, for life everlasting.”
What would it be like to live in such a world? A world without death, pain or suffering; a world without struggle or striving, anxiety or yearning; a world without deadlines or hassles, without effort or achievement. What would we do all day?
We cannot imagine such a world, because today we have very little understanding of what “rest”, “peace” or “tranquility” even is. We have the weekly island of heaven called Shabbos, and the daily moments of tranquility we create with prayer. But these are but subtle tastes of the real thing. We know that the way things are now, are not the way they should be. But how should they be?
All we know is that galus is bad, very bad. And that geulah will certainly be infinitely more good than galus is bad. But what would this goodness be? Living in a world in which rest is rest from toil, satisfaction is the satisfaction of want, and fulfillment derives only from the fulfillment of striving, we can only form a most vague and abstract idea. Like a person who has been blind from birth trying to imagine what colors are. As Rambam put it, “how these things shall come to pass can only be known when they come to pass.”
Has this made our yearning for redemption less acute? On the contrary. The fool strives for only that which he can apprehend. The wise person understands that the truly desirable lies beyond the scope of present understanding.
There was a Chassidishe rebbe who stated that in the time of Moshiach, we will yearn for the days of galus. We will miss the challenges, the effort and the toil, even the pain and the suffering, for the unique kind of achievement and fulfillment only these can bring. Yes, we will long for galus. But not nearly as much as we yearn for redemption today. Im Kol Zeh Achakeh Lo B’Chol Yom SheYavo!

Halacha Trivia ­ Amein To A Three Year Old’s Bracha?
The Shulchan Aruch (215:3) paskens that you may answer amein to a bracha that a child makes before eating food because their bracha is valid since they are “Bnei Chinuch”, they have reached the age where they must make brachos. The Mishna Brura understands from the Michaber (based on the Pri Megadim) that this is only if the child reached the age of chinuch for brachos which is 6 or 7 years old. Rav Yisroel Yaakov Fisher was asked (Even Yisroel 8:14), if so why do we answer amein when a 3 or 4 year old make a bracha since this is Kineged the Mishna Brura?

Rav Fisher gives two reasons why we must answer amein even after the bracha of a 3 year old. First, he says that for some reason, the Mishna Brura assumes that the Shulchan Aruch says you must say amein when the child reaches the standard age of chinuch for most mitzvos. He, however, holds that the Shulchan Aruch obligates you to say amein as soon as they start making brachos in practice, which means that they are already obligated to do so for chinuch.

The second reason he gives is that if the child is old enough to say brachos, he certainly is old enough to learn to answer amein. If we don’t answer amein to his bracha, what kind of chinuch is that?

This Week in History….
7 Shvat: In 1943, plans were finalized to deport the Jews of Athens, Greece. In the Holocaust, 77 percent of Greek Jewry were murdered — 60,000 Jews.
9 Shvat: Yahrtzeit of Rav Eliezer Silver (1882-1968), who served the Jewish community of Cincinnati for four decades. He is best known for efforts to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. As head of the “Agudas HaRabbanim,” he raised millions of dollars and used the funds to produce counterfeit documents — in the end directly saving at least 10,000 Jewish lives.
11 Shvat: On this day in 1601, Hebrew books that had been confiscated by Church authorities were burned in Rome.
12 Shvat: In 1945, the Russian army liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp.
13 Shvat: In 1807, Napoleon created the French Sanhedrin, a Jewish communal structure sanctioned by the state. (The French Sanhedrin sat in a semicircle, following the custom of the Sanhedrin in Yerushalayim)
Bible. This week’s Torah is B’Zchus: Firstborns — The Bechor, who was saved when Hashem killed the firstborn of Mitzrayim.
Distributed by the Chevre Marbitz Torah D’NMB

Created By Rov Allen Sherman
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