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שבת שלום - פרשת וארא - ראש חדש
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch
Rav Herschel Shechter's shiur about Ahavat Hashem and Yirat Hashem |
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News and Notes
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The yeshiva was honored
to host numerous guest
speakers this week.
On Tuesday morning, Rav
Meir Goldvicht shlit"a
spoke to our students
on issues in Kodashim,
while on Tuesday night,
Rav Yitzchak Cohen shlit"a
offered his unique style
of mussar in the Beit
Midrash. On Wednesday
morning, Rav Mordechai
Willig shlit"a offered
a shiur on Perek HaZorek
in Gittin (which our
students are currently
learning in morning seder).
It was a special pleasure
to hear words of Torah
from these tremendous
talmidei chachamim, and
our students enjoyed
the shiurim immensely.
On
Thursday afternoon, Dr.
Barry Eichler, Dean of
Yeshiva College and Professor
of Bible and Cuneiform
Studies, and formerly
Professor of Near Eastern
Languages and Civilizations
at the University of
Pennsylvania, spoke to
our students about the
contrasting views of
creation as presented
in Torah and other ancient
near eastern documents.
This was a fascinating
and crucial lecture,
as it presented our students
with a Torah approach
for dealing with some
of the archeological
issues that arise from
academic study of the
Bible.
On Monday,
our students participated
in our annual visit to
Yad Vashem, the Israel
Holocaust memorial.
Everyone was very moved
by this unforgettable
experience.
This
Shabbat is an in-Shabbat,
and will be hosted by
Rav Meir Arnold and his
family. In addition
to joining the yeshiva
for the inspiring davening
and the delicious meals,
Rav Arnold will be giving
several shiurim on the
topic of "MiShib'ud L'Geulah
in Our Own Lives", including
"Freedom to Recognize
Hashem in our Everyday
Lives", "Stressed-In",
"Freeing Hostages: At
What Price?", and "Ode
to Toasted Toads: Leapfrogging
Over Pressure". The
Oneg Shabbat will take
place at the home of
Rav Jeffrey and Elyssa
Aftel at Rechov Shimon
89b, and the Melaveh
Malkah will take place
at the home of Rav Yaakov
and Naomi Arram at Nachal
Micha 15/2 at 8:00 PM
on Motzaei Shabbat.
If
you are in the neighborhood,
please join us!
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All of My Plagues
By Rabbi Scott Kahn
In Parashat Va'eira, we witness the first seven of the ten plagues visited upon Egypt: blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, animal disease, boils, and hail. When warning Pharaoh about the upcoming hail, Moshe states in G-d's name that, "This time I am sending all of My plagues to your heart, and in your servants and your nation, so that you will know that there is none like Me in the entire land (Shmot 9:14)." Why does G-d introduce this plague with the statement that it is somehow equivalent to "all of My plagues"?
The Maharal of Prague, in explaining an enigmatic statement of Rashi on this verse, offers a possible approach to the above question. He cites Rabbi Yehudah's well-known statement in the Hagadah that the ten plagues can be subdivided into three groupings: the first three plagues of blood, frogs, and lice ("dtzach"); the following three plagues of wild animals, animal disease, and boils ("adash"); and the final four plagues of hail, locusts, darkness, and the slaying of the firstborn ("b'achav"). Far from merely presenting a mnemonic device to enable individuals to remember the plagues, Rabbi Yehudah was hinting at a thematic similarity which unites each group; each set of plagues contained a particular didactic message directed at Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
The first group was intended to demonstrate that these plagues were not the result of magic or any particular human agency, but instead were the work of G-d alone. Pharaoh's magicians attempted to duplicate these plagues, but the third plague of lice was punctuated by the magicians' cry, "This is the finger of G-d!" The second group demonstrated that G-d not only has great power, but that He rules the world through "hashgacha pratit" - that is, by distinguishing how He treats different people in different situations, rather than simply treating every individual in the same manner. Accordingly, there is specific mention of the Israelites' exemption from the negative effects of these three plagues: "And I will set apart the Land of Goshen - upon which My people stands - on that day, so that there will be no wild animals there; so that you know that I am Hashem in the midst of the land."
Although the first two sets of plagues conclusively demonstrated to Pharaoh that G-d is powerful and operates the world through hashgacha pratit, there was, as yet, no demonstration that He was, indeed, the One and Only power. For this reason, the final set of plagues was unleashed. These plagues were fundamentally different from those that came before, for these plagues were supernatural in the extreme. These were plagues that were absolutely without precedent, and which were absolutely unlike anything that had ever occurred on earth beforehand. The hail contained within it fire as well as ice; the plague of locusts was so severe that "beforehand there was never any locust plague like it, and afterwards there never will be again"; the darkness was fundamentally unique in that people were unable to move, as well as see; and the slaying of the firstborn climaxed the horror in a way never before experienced by human beings.
Given that the final four plagues were fundamentally dissimilar and more powerful that those that preceded them, and because they were intended to demonstrate Hashem's absolute power and control, G- d's introduction to the hail that He was going to unleash "all of My plagues" is now comprehensible. For G-d was not introducing the plague of hail per se, but rather the entire group of four final plagues which did, indeed, represent His absolute ability to impose His will. Consequently, they are described in unique terminology to differentiate them from the six that came beforehand.
The Vilna Gaon offers a different answer to the same question. He explains that G-d punishes the wicked through three agents: fire, water, and wind. The agent of fire is seen in the destruction of Sodom; the agent of water in the great flood in the days of Noah; and the agent of wind in the dispersal of the builders of the Tower of Babel to the four corners of the globe. Similarly, these agents are apparent during the ten plagues: the water turned to blood and produced frogs, ashes - a product of fire - were used to spread the boils, and the wind brought the locusts to Egypt. But the plague of hail uniquely contained all three agents, for the hail itself was made of frozen water, it contained fire within it, and it was accompanied by the sounds of thunder, carried through air currents. Because the Egyptian hail was a composite of all three agents of punishment, it is introduced with the phrase, "This time I am sending all of My plagues."
Just as our ancestors experienced redemption from Egyptian bondage through the manifestation of G-d's power, may we experience the gilui Shechinah - the revealing of the Divine Presence - when Hashem redeems His people in the geulah shleima. May it occur speedily and soon!
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