P E S A C H | 1 5 N I S A N 5 7 7 1 | 1 9 A P R I L 2 0 1 1ABRIDGED PARSHA PARTNER ACHAREI MOS ENCLOSED

Perhaps the most conspicuous incon-sistency centers around the joyous singing of the song v’hishe’amda. In

this song, we proclaim “v’hi” – “And it,” – i.e. the covenant G-d made with our fore-fathers, “has sustained us throughout the generations.” Knowing that G-d’s protec-tive hand has been, and always will be there for us, is reassuring and certainly cause for celebration. But, for some rea-son, the song goes on to remind us that we will always have enemies! “In every generation, the enemies of the Jewish people stand ready to wipe us off the face of the earth”. How refreshing!

A “toast” to Ahmadinejad… now let’s eat! Is that really something to sing about? Rabbi Chanoch Ehrentreu, the author of the Kometz Hamincha, notes that the

term “v’hi,” (“it,” in “it has sustained us”) refers not only to the sacred covenant between G-d and His people, but also to our past suffering. He explains that “it,” [our suffering] — has sustained the Jewish nation. The reason is that both in Egypt and beyond, whenever we were attacked as a nation, Jewish unity came to the surface. That unity, which often comes about only when we experience “it” (the suffering), is what has shielded us from the evil designs of our enemies. G-d smiles upon us when there is unity in our midst — even if we’ve fallen short on other aspects of our obligations to Him. This passage in the Haggadah reas-sures us that even though our enemies will continue their attempts to tear us apart, we will always remain unified. This is truly something to sing about.

Year after year, the Jewish people are beset by threats, warnings an danger – both in Israel and abroad. An innocent Israeli family is brutally murdered by cold-blooded terrorists while rockets target people’s homes. If one would consider the headlines alone, it would be difficult to approach the Pesach Seder with a joyous heart. The “v’hi she’amda” song however, places our suffering in perspec-tive. Though we can never replace those we have lost, we can take a measure of comfort and pride in the unity that emerges among Jews from across the Jewish landscape whenever we face such afflictions. Jews, no matter how they iden-tify themselves, see each other’s losses as their own. It is this special unity that will sustain us, and which gives us something to sing about.

Creating unity and community among Jews of all backgrounds is at the core of our mission at Partners in Torah. Through the learning and long-distance friend-ships that develop among Jews from around the world and from every walk of life, we’re bringing Jews together and spiritually enriching their lives. In only one hour a week, the bond and family ties that wer forged at Mt. Sinai, are rein-forced through the study of our heritage. You too can take part in this special en-deavor by joining Partners in Torah today. Yes, it’ll be the most rewarding hour of your week. But more importantly, it’s a chance for us all to experience Jewish unity from a place of joy and inspira-tion… minus the suffering.

Wishing you and your family a joyous Pesach,

Rabbi Eli Gewirtz

Pesach Perspectives | RABB I ELI GEWIRTZ

T holiday of Pesach celebrates the Jewish people’s redemption from the slavery of Egypt and ourmergence as a free people. As we go through the Seder, we relive the miracles and won-

ders ourancestors experienced during the Exodus from Egypt. Yet, one of the aspects people often overlook with regard to the Seder is its numerous inconsistencies: We recline comfortably in our chairs and have others pour wine for us in keeping with the idea that we should feel like royalty on this night, but, at the same time, we eat bitter herbs to remind us of the bitter nature of our slavery. We performthe ritual washing of hands before eating the vegetable dipped in salt water but we do not recite the accompanying al netilat yadaim blessing. Even the matzah we eat symbolizes both the bread of our affliction and the bread that was baked in haste at our redemption.

Who — אחד מי יודע In the song (אKnows One — which is sung at

the end of the Seder, each number from 1 to 13 is associated with something which has a unique connection to the Jewish people (e.g. matriarchs, books of Torah, days until circumcision). The number 9, however, is used to refer to the nine months of a woman’s pregnancy, which is relevant to non-Jews as well. How is this concept distinctly connected to the Jews?

-Hashem told Moses to com(בmand the Jewish people to place

the blood from their Passover sacrific-es on their doorposts to serve as a sign so that He will pass over their houses without harming them (12:13). As Judaism scorns superstitious symbols, what purpose did it serve to have this symbol on their doors to protect them and ward off evil, especially given the fact that Hashem knew who was inside of each house?

Even though Rashi writes(ג(12:15) that eating matzah is

only obligatory on the first night of Pesach and optional for the remain-der of the holiday, the Vilna Gaon maintains that one who nevertheless consumes matzah for the duration of Pesach is considered to be performing a Biblical commandment. This would

seem to be analogous to the laws of Sukkos, in which eating bread in the sukkah is obligatory only on the first night of the holiday and is option-al for the duration of Sukkos. Why then would a special blessing (leshev ba’sukah) be recited by one who choos-es to consume bread in the sukkah for the duration of the holiday but not by a person who voluntarily eats matzoh?

The Medrash teaches that one (דof the merits by which the Jews

were redeemed from Egypt was that they preserved their customary mod-est dress and did not adopt the stylish fashions of the Egyptians. Why did Hashem tell Moses (3:22) to instruct the Jews that in addition to gold and silver vessels, they should also “bor-row” the Egyptians’ clothing, and how could they wear these garments after generations of insulating themselves from such clothing? (Meged Yosef)

Just prior to the Exodus from (הEgypt, the Jews were given

the mitzvah of sanctifying the new month based upon the testimony of witnesses about the sighting of the new moon. What connection could there be between following a lunar calendar (vs. a solar one) and the exo-dus from Egypt?

The Mishnah (Pesachim 10:5) (וrules that a person is obligated to

view himself as if he actually took part in the Exodus from Egypt (12:41). As we are thousands of years removed from the physical Exodus, how is it possible for a person to fulfill this seemingly impossible legal require-ment? (Rabbi Elozar Shach quoted in Me’Rosh Amanah)

Why would Hashem give so many (זmitzvos (see e.g. 13:9) all with the

purpose of remembering the Exodus from Egypt? (Sefer HaChinuch Mitzvah 16)

Judaism teaches thatHashem (חdoesn’t punish any person

unless he has done something to war-rant it. Although Pharaoh deserved to be punished for enslaving the Jewish people, why did the common Egyptian citizens deserve to suffer at the hands of the ten plagues?

The Tur writes (Orach Chaim(ט417) that each of the three

Biblical festivals is associated with one of the forefathers, with Pesach cor-responding to Avrohom Avinu. What connection(s) between the two can there be?

For Discussion Around the Seder Table

Wishing all our Partners and Friends a Joyous Passover. חג כשר ושמח

With regard to the Torah’s wording of this prohibition, Rabbi Shmuel Born-sztain, author of the Shem Mishmuel

commentary, asks why the Torah uses the apparently superfluous words “in which you dwelled.” If the Torah intended to prohibit such practices, it would have been sufficient sim-ply to state, “Do not perform the practices of the land of Egypt.” Since the fact that Jewish people dwelled in Egypt is obvious, what is the Torah adding with these extra words?Astonishingly, the Torat Kohanim commentary suggests that the extra words indicate that it is the very fact that the Jewish people dwelled in Egypt that caused the Egyptians to become even more degenerate than they would have been in the first place. What could this pos-sibly mean? This is especially perplexing given the fact that the Jewish people are praised for maintaining their modesty throughout the long years of slavery in Egypt.Rabbi Bornsztain explains that when an evil person dwells alongside a righteous person, the righteous person, by his nature, will try to influence the evil person to change his ways. If the righteous person fails, the evil person does not maintain his status quo; he intensifies his immoral behavior to the point of severing any attachment to the righteous person.When the Jewish people failed to raise the Egyp-tian’s level of morality, the Egyptians degener-ated even further. This can also explain Rashi’s comment (Leviticus 18:3) regarding the Egyp-tians living in Goshen – the center of Jewish life –as being the most degenerate of all.The reverse is true as well. When the Jewish people influence the surrounding society in positive ways, that society will become even

more holy. The following story suggests that this is true not only with regard to Jews and non-Jews but also to observant Jews and their less-committed brethren.A group of Rabbis in Israel recently met with a local police chief to discuss a communal issue. When the delegation entered the obviously secular policeman’s office they were surprised to see a photo of a young “ultra-orthodox” fam-ily prominently displayed on his desk. Noticing their curiosity, he related that, as a rookie cop, he was assigned to crowd control duty during demonstrations in an ultra- Orthodox neighbor-hood. It was an extremely hot day, and he was in no mood to be there. As both the tempera-ture and his irritation rose, he decided that if any of the Orthodox stepped out of line, he would beat them with every ounce of his strength.Suddenly, an old woman began approaching him. “Ma’am, do not come any closer,” he said. “If you come any closer, I’m going to have to hurt you!” The woman ignored him and con-tinued approaching him.“Lady, if you don’t step back, I promise you’re going to regret it. Get out of here!” Still no reac-tion. “Lady, I warned you twice – now you’re go-ing to get it!” And he raised his club to strike her.At that moment, the old woman held up her hand to speak. “It’s a very hot day, and you must be terribly uncomfortable standing in this line,” she said. “I brought you some water. First, take a drink. Then you can beat me if you want.”“When I got home I decided that any group of people that can produce a woman like that can’t be all bad,” he recalled. “There was a reli-gious family in our neighborhood, so I told my daughter to start playing with those girls. This picture is my daughter and her family.”

Our generation finds itself in the midst of an epic struggle. On the one hand, much of society is drifting further and further away from even the most basic norms of morality. On the other hand, more people are embracing their Jewish heritage than at any other time in history. As such, no matter where we are on the spectrum of Jewish observance, we have the power to ex-ert a positive influence on the people around us. Every effort we make in that direction, no matter how small, has the potential to transform people’s lives for generations to come.With the lesson of this story, we can now un-derstand an explanation given by the K’sav Sofer (1815-1871) for our confusing Medrash. He explains that human nature is that after we are miraculously saved from peril, we express our gratitude to Hashem for watching over us and rescuing us from danger. However, we certainly don’t feel appreciation at having been placed in the situation to begin with, as we would clearly prefer to have never been placed in the line of danger than to have been exposed to death and rescued from it. To counter this, the Medrash comes to teach us that the Torah’s philosophy is that a person who brings a Korban Todah is required to express double gratitude – not only for his salvation, but also for being exposed to the perilous situation from which he was rescued. Although it may not have been clear to him at the time, and may still not be apparent at the time of his bring-ing his sacrifice, he is nevertheless expected to recognize that the suffering itself was ultimately for his benefit. Suffering can effect atonement for misdeeds or bring in its wake unexpected good. It is incumbent upon the sufferer to feel and express appropriate gratitude.

Even if we aren’t there yet, and aren’t able to see the good in a given situation, the knowl-edge that it is there, and that we will eventually understand, should give us the strength to per-severe with faith and trust until the goodness is revealed.

Parsha Perspectives | RABB I DAVID ORDAN

PA R S H A S A C H A R E I M O S | 1 2 N I S A N 5 7 7 1 | 1 6 A P R I L 2 0 1 1

“Do not perform the practices of the land of Egypt in which you dwelled…” Vayikra 18:3

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