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שבת שלום - פרשת שמות
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch the video shiur by Rav Pesach Wolicki
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News and Notes
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On Sunday morning, the yeshiva was honored to host
Rav Mordechai Willig, shlit"a, rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University.
Rav Willig gave a shiur on the place of secular studies in the life of a ben Torah.
The following evening, we were honored to hear words of Torah from
Rav Herschel Schachter, shlit"a, rosh yeshiva and rosh kollel
at Yeshiva University. Rav Schachter spoke about the chain of the mesorah,
and spent time answering students' questions on such topics as relationships between
Jews and non-Jews in the workplace, a woman's role in Judaism, the status of changes in human
behavior since the time of the Gemara and their effect on Halachah, and the place of chumrot in Jewish life.
We wish mazal tov to Dov Adler, Dov Muchnick, and
Shimshon Seligson, who completed Seder Zera'im on Tuesday,
and celebrated with a siyum in the Beit Midrash. We're looking forward to their
continued growth in Torah, and anticipate many more siyumim to come!
Our shana alef and shana bet students are currently in Tzfat,
as they complete a four-day tiyul to the North of Israel.
On Wednesday, they hiked Nachal Chziv, visited Rosh Hanikra,
and spent the night at Kibbutz Lavi, where they had a kumzitz.
On Thursday, the students hiked up Har Arbel, took a bike tour,
and visited the kivrei tzaddikim in Teveria.
Friday and Shabbat will be spent in Tzfat.
Along with touring the old city and the artists' quarter,
our students will be meeting with a mekubal, and enjoying the unique atmosphere of Shabbat in Tzfat.
We thank Rav Yaakov Arram for being with the students throughout the tiyul;
we thank his family, and Rav Daniel Katz and his family,
who are joining the yeshiva in Tzfat for Shabbat.
(Click here for the complete tiyul schedule)
Finally, we wish mazal tov to Sara Wolicki,
daughter of Rav Pesach and Kate Wolicki, who celebrated her bat mitzvah on Thursday night.
May you continue to grow in Torah, and always be a source of pride to your parents, your community, and all of Am Yisrael.
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The Three Signs: Pharaoh's Perspective
By Rabbi Pesach Wolicki
In one of the most popular scenes in the Torah, Moshe is sent by G-d to take the People of Israel out of Egypt. This is the scene that takes place at the burning bush. Moshe is concerned that the people will not believe him when he claims to have been sent by G-d. G-d responds by giving Moshe three miraculous signs for him to perform in order to convince the people that he is in fact the messenger of G-d.
"Moshe responded and said, 'But they will not believe me and will not listen to my voice, for they will say: "G-d did not appear to you?"' G-d said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' He replied, 'A staff.' He said, 'Cast it on the ground.' He cast it on the ground and it became a snake; and Moses fled from it. Then G-d said to Moshe, 'Stretch out your hand and grasp it by the tail. He stretched out his hand and seized it, and it became a staff in his palm 'So that they may believe that Hashem, the G-d of their fathers, appeared to you; the G-d of Abraham, the G-d of Isaac, and the G-d of Jacob.' G-d said to him further, 'Put your hand into your bosom.' He put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out, his hand was leprous like snow. He said, 'Put your hand back into your bosom.' He put his hand back into his bosom; and when he took it out of his bosom, it reverted to be like his flesh. 'If they do not believe you or pay heed to the first sign, they will believe the second. And if they do not believe even both these signs and still do not heed you, take some water from the river and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you take from the river will turn to blood on the dry ground." (Shemot 4:1-9)
A number of questions arise from this passage. The most important issue is the nature and specific meaning of these three signs. A number of explanations are presented in the classic commentaries. Some focus on Moshe and the lesson for him in these signs. Others focus on their message for the People of Israel. For example, the Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 3:12-13) offers a meaning for Moshe and a meaning for Israel for each of the signs.
I would like to suggest a different approach to the symbolism of these signs with an eye toward answering two other questions. First, why does G-d demonstrate only the first two signs for Moshe - essentially having Moshe practice them - and not the third? The second problem stems from G-d's later directive to Moshe to perform these signs before Pharaoh. (Shemot 4:21; see Pirke deRabi Eliezer 48; Ramban Shemot 4:21) As mentioned above, the classic explanations of these signs deal with their meaning for either Moshe himself or for the People of Israel. If these very same signs were also to be performed before Pharaoh, we must understand what their meaning and message was for Pharaoh and the Egyptians. If they have no specific meaning and message for Pharaoh, G-d should certainly have given Moshe alternative signs to perform before Pharaoh.
To understand the symbolism of Moshe's three signs for Pharaoh, it is necessary to understand what resonance the symbols in these signs had in Egyptian culture at that time. In other words, for these signs to carry any message for Pharaoh, he must readily understand that message.
The Power of a Staff-Snake
The first sign is Moshe's - or Aharon's - staff turning into a snake and back into a staff. It is important to note that snakes were a symbol of magic and protection in Egypt. More specific to Moshe's sign, it was common for Egyptian gods to be depicted holding snake-wands. A statuette recently found by archaeologists in the Ramasseum in Egypt depicts a female sau, a type of magician, who could supply magical protection. She holds a snake-wand in each hand. The snake-wand was a sign of magical power and protection in Egypt.
Aharon's staff turning into a snake serves to mock the powers of Egyptian sorcery. This point is made even stronger byAharon's staff then devouring the staff-snakes of the magicians of Egypt (Shemot 7:12). By performing this sign before Pharaoh Moshe was saying, in effect, "I do not believe in your gods and yet, not only is my staff a snake and vice versa, but my staff-snake can even devour yours. What of your protective and magical powers now?"
The Meaning of Leprosy
According to Sir James Frazer, ancient Egyptians believed - as did many other ancient pagans - that leprosy afflicted those sinners in particular who sinned by eating of the flesh of a sacred animal. (Golden Bough Ch. 49 section 4) It is precisely this 'sin' that the Israelites were going to commit in the worship of G-d in the desert. It is for this reason that Moshe and Aharon asked Pharaoh to allow the Jews to travel to the desert. As Moshe makes clear later after the third plague. "Pharaoh summoned Moshe and Aharon and said, 'Go! Bring offerings to your G-d in the land.' Moshe said, 'It is not proper to do so, for we will offer the deity of Egypt to Hashem our G-d. Behold, if we were to slaughter the deity of Egypt in their sight, will they not stone us?'" (Shemot 8:21-22)
Seen this way, the second sign, like the first, is a mockery of Egyptian beliefs. Moshe is again saying, "It is G-d, and not the offended Egyptian deities, who determines who does and does not have leprosy. Who is and who is not considered a sinner is in the hands of the G-d of Israel alone."
The Nile
It is common knowledge that the Nile was a worshiped as a god in by Egyptians. The Nile was seen as the giver and sustainer of all life. This was a natural pagan result of Egypt's dependence on the rising tides of the Nile for economic well-being.
Moshe's third sign - turning water into blood - was not about just any water. G-d specifically tells Moshe to "take some water from the river" (4:9) and turn it into blood. The river obviously refers to the Nile. This explains the reason that G-d could not have Moshe demonstrate the sign while standing at the burning bush - somewhere in the Sinai peninsula. The point of the sign is not to turn water into blood. It is to turn the Nile into blood.
This third sign too is an obvious affront to Pharaoh's Egyptian pagan beliefs. This is especially so considering that the Pharaoh was seen as the creator and protector of the Nile.
The Beginning of the Plagues
It is important in light of the central purpose of the plagues to try to understand these events from Pharaoh's perspective. As is made clear from numerous texts, the primary purpose of the plagues was not the salvation of the People of Israel from Egypt. That could have been accomplished without all of the plagues. The purpose of the plagues was the refutation of the gods of Egypt in the eyes of the Egyptians.
"I shall harden Pharaoh's heart and I shall multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh will not heed you, and I shall put My hand upon Egypt. And Egypt shall know that I am G-d, when I stretch out My hand over Egypt." (Shemot 7:3-5)
The "signs" and "wonders" mentioned in these verses do not begin with the plagues. Understood from the perspective of the Egyptians, the repudiation of the gods of Egypt begins with the three signs given to Moshe at the outset of his mission.
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