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Subject:
Torah/Commentary: Parashat Beshalach -- (Exodus
13:17-17:16),
Commentary on the Weekly Torah Reading for 15 Shvat, 5760
(January 22,
2000) by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
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Torah/Commentary: Parashat Beshalach -- (Exodus
13:17-17:16)
Commentary on the Weekly Torah Reading for 15 Shvat, 5760
(January 22, 2000)
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
EFRAT, ISRAEL, Yom Revii (Fourth Day -
"Wednesday"), 12 Shvat, 5760
(Christian Date: January 19, 2000) (Muslim Date:
12/10/1420), Root &
Branch: Action and Prayer. How does Judaism
orchestrate these two
often contradictory directives? It has often been said that
when one acts,
one must act as if everything depends on us, and when one prays,
we must
pray as if everything depends on G-d. But what does this mean in
theological terms?
This week's portion presents a terrifying picture. After
Pharaoh has
supposedly freed the Israelite slaves, the Egyptian charioteers
relentlessly pursue them. If they continue their flight,
the Red Sea will
drown them. If they stay put, the chariots will crush them.
The Bible records: "Vayitzaku, and they cried out in
prayer" [Exodus
14:10].
Rashi, the primary commentator adds: "tafsu omanut
avotam", "they grabbed
onto the artistry of their ancestors", a poetic reference to
the prayers
established by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob whose "art" is
apparently the "art
of prayer".
Moses then confronts G-d, who we should think would be desirous
of prayer
and whose response is therefore rather strange:
"Why do you cry out in prayer for Me? Speak to the
children of Israel and
let them start moving" [Exodus 14:15].
Here Rashi is even more explicit than in the previous
verse. He comments,
"...This teaches us that Moses too stood and prayed.
G-d said to him, 'It
is not the time now, when Israel is in danger, for you to engage
in lengthy
prayer (l'ha'arikh batfilah)'" [Rashi on Exodus
14:15].
Rashi is telling us that the Almighty is not chiding Moses and
the
Israelites for praying. He is rather chiding them for their
overly lengthy
prayer, for their prayer without action in a situation which
calls for both
prayer and action. All of life requires a combination of
prayer as well as
action, a realization that history is the unfolding of a
magnificent
partnership between human action and Divine intervention.
There is a fascinating Talmudic passage which may well be the
source for
Rashi's condemnation of lengthy prayer devoid of action:
"Rabbi Yosi said: once I was travelling on the road
and I entered one of
the ruins of Jerusalem in order to pray. Elijah...appeared,
and after I
finished my prayer, he said to me, 'My son, why did you go into
this ruin?'
I said 'To pray'. He said 'You ought to have prayed
on the road'. I
answered, 'I feared that a passerby would interrupt me'. He
said 'You
ought to have prayed a short prayer'. I learned three
things from him:
One must not go into a ruin, one must pray on the road, and when
one
recites a prayer on the road one recites a short
prayer" [Babylonian
Talmud, Tractate Brachot 3a].
In effect, Elijah, the herald of Israel's ultimate redemption, is
teaching
R. Yossi, a Talmudic sage who is suffering the aftermath of the
destruction
of the Second Temple, the true act of Jewish prayer: stay
on the road of
action towards redemption, do not get side-tracked by wallowing
in the
ruins, pray while you are engaged in achieving your goal, and
when you pray
on the road make it a short prayer so that there is adequate time
and
energy for human initiative.
The Talmudic passage continues, illuminating one of the most
popular and
poignant of our prayers, the Kaddish: "I heard in the
ruins a divine voice
mourning like a dove and saying, "woe to my children,
because of whose sins
I have destroyed My house". And (Elijah) said to me,
'Not only then, but
whenever Israel enters their synagogues and study houses, and
responds 'May
His great name be blessed' the Holy One blessed be He shakes His
head in
assent and declares 'Happy is the King who is praised in such a
manner'".
The reference is to the Kaddish prayer, a central feature of our
liturgy
and a liturgy recited by mourners at the grave-site of their
loved ones.
"May (G-d's) name become great and holy," it begins,
referring to the
prophetic work of Ezekiel and Zeharia who teach that as long as
the world
is not yet redeemed, as long as tragic suffering and death remain
an
integral part of the world's landscape, G-d's name and essence
are
diminished, G-d is not yet manifest in the fullness of His
greatness and
sanctity.
Hence G-d's name is yet to become great and holy and that
achievement of
redemption depends in no small measure upon our return: our
return to our
land, our return to morality, our return to our G-d of ethical
monotheism.
The Talmudic passage just cited pictures the Almighty as mourning
when the
Israelites merely pray on the road, turn their ruins into
Synagogues and
study houses and recognize their role in making the G-d of
justice and
compassion manifest throughout the
world.
What we gather from this parallel is that there are times when
lengthy
prayers are simply not suitable. What then does G-d
want? The Torah tells
us: G-d wants us to keep moving, to take the step, to start
the journey.
Further evidence linking this theme of prayer and action is found
in two
giants of Jewish thinking --Maimonides and Nahamanides.
Turning to Maimonides, in the very opening halacha (law) in his
section on
prayer, he writes, "To pray is a positive commandment, as it
says, 'And you
shall serve the Lord your G-d'" [Exodus 23:25], Laws
of Prayer, Chapter 1,
Halachah 1].
Examining the section in the Torah from which Maimonides quotes,
we
discover that the verse appears in a sequence dealing with
conquering the
land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the
Canaanittes, the
Hivites and the Jebusites, and a warning not to bow down or
worship their
gods, "...but you shall utterly overthrow them, and break
into pieces their
pillars. And you shall serve the Lord your G-d"
[Exodus 23:23-25].
Maimonides is teaching us that prayer must be linked to the very
concrete
action of combating the evil of idolatry in the world.
Nahmanides has, as his very source for prayer, a verse placed in
the
context of obligatory warfare against a nation rising up to
destroy Israel:
"And when you go to war in your land against the
nation that is
oppressing, then shall you sound the alarm with the trumpets and
you shall
be remembered before the Lord your G-d, and you shall be saved
from your
enemies" [Numbers 10:9, and Nahmanides' Strictures on
Maimonides Book of
Commandments, Positive Commandment 5].
In our own times we can see an example of this tension between
prayer and
action in the following vignette. The city of St. Petersburg was
blessed
with a saintly scholar as its rabbi, Rav Isaac Blazer,
affectionately
called Reb Itzele Petersburger. But one day a rumor spread
that he was a
Zionist, and a delegation announced that he was to be fired for
heresy.
The community leaders argued, do not our prayers recited thrice
daily --
"...Blessed art thou O' G-d, builder of Jerusalem" --
declare quite
explicitly that any return to Zion must depend solely on
G-d! How dare Reb
Itzele attempt to build Jerusalem with his own hands - and with
the help of
non-religious Jews at that!
Rabbi Itzele greeted his accusers with a smile, "You're
right," he said,
"but then what about you Reb Shmuel," he said to the
Judge (dayan) of the
city. "Me", the judge responded, aghast at the
suggestion that he too was
a heretic. "I'm not a Zionist".
Countered Reb Itzele, "But when your daughter recently had
an asthma
attack, didn't I see you take her to a doctor, a non-religious
Jew at that!
And do we not pray thrice daily, 'Heal us O G-d, and we
shall be
healed...Blessed are you O G-d, who heals the sick among your
people
Israel'".
And then Reb Itzele turned to Reb Moshe, the president of the
congregation,
"You're also a heretic. Didn't I see you keep your
business open till ten
o'clock last night? And yet you also pray three times a
day, "Blessed are
you G-d who blesses the years with good sustenance".
Apparently, as in health and sustenance, prayer can only begin
after we
have done whatever it is possible for humans to do. What
G-d is teaching
Moses and Israel must be the rule for all challenges of
life!
Shabbat Shalom from Efrat,
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
**********************************************************************
From Judean Voice ( jsid@dorsai.org)
Subject: Parshat BeShallach
PARSHAT BESHALLACH (by Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane)
"DON'T CRY TO ME, GO FORWARD!!" (written 9 years
ago)
Last year the Gulf War broke out and scud missiles landed in
Israel.
Then, too, it was Parashat BeShallach, and it became quite
popular to
quote the verse in our parsha: "The Lord will fight for you,
and you
shall remain silent" (14:14). Indeed, so many religious Jews
found
this verse both appropriate and symbolic of the Gulf War. After
all,
here were Israeli cities getting bombarded by Iraqi missiles, and
the
official government policy was one of
"self-restraint", or as the
Hebrew term goes, "havlaga". Jews equipped with gas
masks and cages
for their small children sat crouched in their sealed rooms, as
missiles rocked the country. "Everything will be O.K."
they
proclaimed. "Hashem will fight for us". That is,
America and its then
president George Bush will take out those scud launchers and save
us.
Today as well, we see bumper stickers, banners and songs with the
verse, "The Lord will fight for you, and you shall remain
silent",
implying that we need only to say "Tehilim", and Hashem
will do the
rest.
But a closer look at what the Torah and sages tell us regarding
this
verse reveal that those who interpret this verse in the
aforementioned
manner are taking the words entirely out of their true context,
and by
doing so completely distort the awesome lesson that is to be
learned
regarding the splitting of the Red Sea.
A Time To Do - Not a Time to Pray
Firstly, let us see what the Torah says. Immediately following
the
verse, "The Lord will fight for you and you shall keep
silent", is the
verse, "And the Lord said unto Moses, Why do you cry unto
me? Speak to
the children of Israel, that they go forward"! Already,
without even
delving into any of the commentaries, we see that the picture has
changed entirely. The verse is not telling us that G-d will fight
for
you and so in the meantime you can "kick back" and let
Him "worry
about it". What is said here is that the Lord will fight for
you if
you prove to Him that you truly believe in His Omnipotence, and
so
instead of crying to Hashem, simply obey his commandment and
"go
forward" into the stormy sea.
The commentator the "Iben Ezra" writes the following:
" 'You shalt
keep silent' - to counteract the (verse) 'And the children
of Israel
cried (to Hashem)'!" For those whom this is not clear, the
commentary
on the Eben Ezer explains: "Do not cry anymore (to Hashem)
because He
will fight for you. And the meaning is not that you should
refrain
(keep silent) from fighting". Yes. The exact opposite of the
distorted
interpretation constantly given, where the verse "and you
shall keep
silent" means self-restraint and inaction. The Iben Ezra
comes to tell
us that "and you shall keep silent" means to stop
crying to Hashem.
What should you do instead? Act! - with "Bitachon" in
Hashem. This is
in essence the idea that Rashi brings down: "This teaches us
that
Moses was standing and praying. The Holy One Blessed Be He said:
'Now
is not the time to prolong in prayer, when Israel is placed in
distress'. This is also the meaning of the Gemorah in Sota, page
37:
"Moses was engaged for a while in prayer, so the Holy One
Blessed Be
He said, "My beloved ones are drowning in the sea, and thou
prolongst
in prayer before me? He (Moses) spoke before Him, "Lord of
the
Universe, what is there in my power to do?" He replied
to him, "Speak
unto the children of Israel that they go forward. And lift thou
up thy
rod and stretch out thy hand, etc."
Nachshon: Faith Expressed Through Action
The sages tell us that the children of Israel stood trembling by
the
shores of the Red Sea until G-d commanded them that they "go
forward".
They remained paralyzed with fear and did not move. Only Nachshon
did
not hesitate to carry out Hashem's commandment. He lunged forward
into
the raging waters, but nothing happened. Nachshon was not taken
aback.
He descended deeper into the water - up to his ankles, knees,
stomach
- and still nothing happened. Nachshon continued until the water
reached his neck, and then he cried to Hashem, "Oh God, save
me
because the water has come into my soul. I sink deep in mire
where
there is no standing." Only then did the miracle of the
splitting of
the sea occur.(Ibid.)
The lesson is crystal clear. Together with prayer, Hashem demands
maximal effort, for it is only through actual deeds where one's
faith
is tested. Was Nachshon's faith put to the test when he recited
psalms
on the seashore? No. Even jumping into the stormy waters was not
sufficient, for he still had an opportunity to back out. Only by
going
all the way in fulfilling G-d's will did he prove he is a true
believer. Nachshon understood that saying, "I believe"
and then
waiting for the salvation is not authentic faith. G-d demands of
us
that we prove our faith by way of our actions, and not just with
our
mouths. Only by being willing to fulfill difficult, and what may
appear to be "dangerous" mitzvot, do we prove our faith
is genuine.
This is the mistake of those religious Jews who sanctified the
self-restraint policy during the Gulf Crisis. He who saw the
Chosen
People scurrying like roaches into their sealed-off closets while
the
modern day Goliath blasphemed Hashem and His people for 40 days
(and
40-1 missiles), and viewed it as a positive thing,
self-righteously
proclaiming that "G-d will help" does not begin to
grasp the Jewish
concept of what faith is all about. Genuine faith is active
participation in the historical processes. It is the
performing of
actions that seem to cry out danger but which we do in full trust
and
faith and certainty of His power to preserve us.
Not only did we lose our deterrent factor and our dignity during
the
Gulf War, but we also proved our lack of faith. It is this same
lack
of faith that has prevented us from expelling the Arabs, annexing
the
territories, and settling all of the Eretz Yisrael. It is only a
lack
of faith that has brought us to the pathetic and desperate
situation
we now find ourselves in today.
DARKA SHEL TORAH
Weekly Parsha by Binyamin Zev Kahane
Translated by Lenny Goldberg
http://www.kahane.org
ISRAEL
UNITED STATES
Center of the Jewish Idea
Kahane Memorial Fund
POB
34445
218 Rockaway Turnpike
Jerusalem
Suite 265
Phone:
02-9976777
Cedarhurst, NY
11516
Phone:516-902-3102
**********************************************************************
Commentary from Eddie:
In James 2:26, it is written:
" ... so faith without works (action) is dead also"
As you can see from the Orthodox Jewish
commentaries, this
scripture is Hebraic in thought and principle.
Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int'l
**********************************************************************
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