The Time Has Come...

For this blog to be put down. It's lived a long and fruitful life, and has since fallen into disrepair and I haven't posted here for months. So I am laying this blog to rest and letting it fly free to the graveyard where abandoned blogs go to rest.

You can continue to follow my daring adventures on Twitter (@iamamiaim), and who knows? Maybe I'll make another blog someday. When I have time to say things that are longer than the 140-character Twitter limit.

So, goodbye to you all.

Parashat Ha'Shavuah: Shemini

Time is of the Essence

            Part of this week's parashah is dedicated to discussing the sin offerings that Aaron and B'nei Yisrael will bring. One of the korbanot to be sacrificed is a goat. Why was B'nei Yisrael required to offer this korban? Chazal explains that this korban parallels another event in B'nei Yisrael's history: the selling of Joseph by his brothers into slavery.

            This seems like an odd time to remind B'nei Yisrael about an incident that occured years before. Why would God want to draw this connection now?

            Ecclesiastes 3:1 says that, “To everything there is a season” and lists a number of different “times” to live, die, weep and dance. Yet one of these verses discusses something else: “A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together” (3:5).

            Analyzing Joseph's brothers’ sin, we see they had “casted” away one of their stones, their own brother Joseph. Cruel as it may seem, this ultimately helped B'nei Yisrael: since he was sold into slavery in Egypt, Joseph and his family were saved from starvation. In comparison, B'nei Yisrael, in the desert, is a nation and not the eleven brothers that sold Joseph into slavery—now, they are a full-fledged nation. This nation saw the Tabernacle as a communal gathering place, where they gathered on Yom Tov and other holidays. As opposed to casting away stones, they are “collecting” their stones together, and become a community.

            During the time of the Brothers, it was necessary to separate Joseph for the greater good of his family, now it is necessary for B'nei Yisrael to congregate and “gather” the individual stones to become part of a larger community.

The brothers needed to separate; B'nei Yisrael needed to come together.

Parashat Ha'Shavuah: Tzav

Then and Now

            It is commonly accepted that we read Parashat Zachor before Purim because Haman was a descendant of Amalek, and Zachor is the commandment upon B'nei Yisrael to “[N]ot forget” (Deuteronomy 25:19) what Amalek did to them. We are also charged with remembering what happened on Purim. Why do we need to remember both things? Additionally, it says in The Scroll of Esther that Haman was an Agagi, or a descendent of the Amaleki king Agag (who fought Saul in Samuel I). Why doesn't the Megillah expressly tell us the connection between Haman and Amalek, thereby not requiring us to read Zachor at all?

            When we look at B'nei Yisrael in the desert (which is when the commandment of Zachor was given to them), they would have been what one might call a “fledgeling nation.” They relied on God for almost everything — food, shelter, and protection from their enemies and the harsh desert climate. In comparison, when we look at the Jews in Megillat Esther, they are a nation, albeit in exile. They are able to band together — as a nation — and fend off their enemies, and ultimately save themselves from annihilation.

            Perhaps these two passages that we read on Purim are not meant to complement each other, but to be compared to one another. When we look at Zachor, we see a nation that is being given everything by God, and that seems to be one of the underlying themes of the last four books of the Torah: B'nei Yisrael's dependence on God. In comparison, we see that God's name is not mentioned once in the entire Megillah; the Jews were able to fend off their enemies without God's direct intervention. In the Megillah, there is no manna falling from the sky. Perhaps these passages show us the growing and maturation of the Jews as a nation that ultimately became what we are today.

Parashat Ha'Shavuah: Terumah

Cedar Trees: Constant vs. Change

“And this is the offering which you shall take of them...

[R]ams' skins dyed red, and seal-skins, and cedar wood...”

Exodus 25:3,5

The Midrash notices something interesting about these verses, which discuss the types of gifts B'nei Yisrael brought to help build the Tabernacle: how is it possible that, in the desert, B'nei Yisrael could find cedar wood? Rashi, quoting the same Midrash, explains that when Jacob traveled to Egypt over 200 years earlier, he had the the forethought to plant these trees specifically to build the Tabernacle.

There is another patriarch who planted a tree: Abraham, who planted a tamarisk tree (an eishel, in Hebrew), also called a salt cedar tree, in the town of Beersheba (Genesis 21:33). What is the connection between Abraham's salt cedar tree and Jacob's cedar tree?

Rashi, on the word “tamarisk”, explains that there are three different opinions as to what Abraham intended to do with the tree. One opines that the tamarisk tree that Abraham planted was actually a whole orchard of trees, with the intention of using the fruits of these trees to serve guests. The other believes that the tree was actually an inn for visitors, while the third and final opinion is that the word eishel refers to housing, that Abraham “planted” his tent in Beersheba, which was open to all. All three of these explanations seem to refer to one of Abraham's distinguishing characteristics: his kindness to guests.

The explanations that Rashi offers are supported by science. Salt cedar trees are able to regrow after fires and floods, and are resistant to many herbicides and chemicals. They can survive at very high altitudes, at elevations of up to 5,400 feet. Because the salt cedar reproduces vegetatively, by creating saplings from existing trees' roots rather than from seeds, it is difficult to completely destroy. Perhaps this is the reason that Abraham specifically picked a tamarisk tree: it symbolizes resilience and the ability to withstand both nature and man. Since it would remain there for a long time; it makes sense that Abraham would pick a tamarisk as a way to symbolize his legacy.

While Abraham's tamarisk tree represents the ability to remain stalwart, Jacob's cedar trees symbolize almost the opposite: his trees were chopped down and used for the construction of the Tabernacle. While Abraham's tamarisk tree did not need to be changed to serve its purpose, Jacob's trees needed to be changed to fulfill their purpose.

Abraham lived knowing that his legacy — his tamarisk tree — would only be carried on only by one of his sons: Isaac. In comparison, Jacob knew that the legacy that he had taken his father would be carried on by all of his sons in turn. In order for his legacy to be established, Abraham had to make sure that it would remain constant, and, like a salt cedar, could grow directly from its roots. Two generations later, Jacob, whose entire family would remain Jewish, knew that his descendants did not need a constant, rather, they needed something that they could use to continue the work that Abraham had started.

Abraham needed to establish; Jacob needed to build.

 

Parashat Ha'Shavuah: Be'Shalach

The Pen vs. The Sword

“The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name.”

Exodus 15:3

This verse, from the Song at the Sea, is one of the many verses in the Torah that describe God. However, the ending of the verse, “[T]he Lord is His name” seems peculiar. Why would it be placed next to a phrase, which depicts God's military strength? 

Looking at the first part of the verse, “The Lord is a man of war,” we can see that this depicts God's military abilities, such as his ability to help B'nei Yisrael defeat Amalek (which occurs later in this week's parashah). Perhaps, then, the second part of the verse, “[T]he Lord is His name,” refers to a different way to fight an enemy: through God's “name”, or through words.

In his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy, English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton said that “The pen is mightier than the sword”. This refers to the fact that words can sometimes, be more powerful than war. Perhaps “The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name” speaks to God’s ability to differentiate between the “pen” and the “sword” and when it is best to use each case.

 

As humans, we granted free will. Every day, we are presented with situations in which we need to decide if the “[P]en mightier than the sword”.  Although the correct response may be very clear to us, in other situations, it is not always that unambiguous.

Parashat Ha'Shavuah: Bo

Carpe Diem

“And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying:

'This shall be unto you the beginning of months, it shall be the first of the year to you.”

Exodus 12:2

One of the basic things that define a person as “free” is their ability to make their own schedules, and to be able to decide when to do something. In comparison, slaves are constantly expected to serve their masters, and therefore do not have the ability to have time to themselves. It seems ironic, then, that at B'nei Yisrael's liberating moment, their time is now being dictated by God. Why, then, would God give this commandment now?

Looking at B'nei Yisrael's journey through the desert, we can see that during their so-called “Freedom,” B'nei Yisrael actually spend a large amount of time complaining about their lives and rebelling against God. Since there is only a seven week gap between Passover, when B'nei Yisrael left Egypt, and Shavuot, (hence the Omer) when B'nei Yisrael first complained, they would probably have been only several weeks into their forty-year journey.

Looking at the concept of Rosh Chodesh, we see that it is the only holiday commanded to us in the Torah that is we celebrate today as an almost regular day. Although we have a special Torah portion that is read, the celebration of the new month is relatively easy. Despite this, however, we have only one day a month to celebrate it.

Although B'nei Yisrael are now “free,” even for a short seven-week period before Matan Torah, God is impressing upon them the importance of time and the ability to use time wisely. Many things in life, once lost, can be regained — broken items can be mended, lost money can be earned. In comparison, time is a commodity that can never be replaced. By giving B'nei Yisrael the holiday of Rosh Chodesh now, God is showing B'nei Yisrael is showing them that, as a free nation, they are now responsible for their time and they must use it wisely.

Isn't This Common Sense?

On Thursday 6 June 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that an employee who sends personal messages or phone calls on a phone, pager, or computer issued by their employer runs the risk of being monitored. This is the result of a law suit brought by police officers from a police department in Ontario, California (isn't Ontario a province of Canada?) who sued the city for reading personal text messages -- some of which were sexually explicit.


Don't we know this already? Shouldn't phones etc. issued by a business be used solely for the business? I mean, the only job that I can think of that would need to sext (send sexually explicit messages, see A Teenager Could Have Figured This Out from 4/20/2010) is someone along the lines of a prostitute. Also, aren't all things issued by a company monitored? I don't have a job, and I know that. For God's sake, there is software out there specifically designed to monitor employee's computers and phones. Of course these people are going to get caught. (Also, if this police officer was married, then his logic for not being discovered for infidelity was totally backwards -- just saying.)


And how is this a violation of a person's rights? If you are using something issued to you by your employer, then you don't own it. How is screening a call / text message on a business phone an invasion of personal privacy? Second, shouldn't a business phone be used for, like, business only? Why didn't the police department to which these officers belong simply demand the phone / computer / pager back from the officers or dismiss them? This should never have come as far as the US Supreme Court having to announce this for America, and this should never have gone to court in Canada.


I'm currently in school. If I use the school's Wi-Fi or a school computer, I don't go using the internet in ways that would make me look bad or disobey rules. I don't send IMs on these school computers. I barely check my Facebook on said computers. If I want to do that (but who still uses an instant messenger anyway?), I do it at home.


You can also see that I'm not alone in my opinion: the Supreme Court voted unanimously that companies are allowed to monitor activity on employer-issued devices.

So, just to conclude:

• This is just common sense.
• People shouldn't use their business phones for cheating on their wives.
• Companies have the right to monitor phone and internet activity on employer-issued devices.
• Who let this case get so far?

Gilad Shalit

Today, June 25th, marks the fourth year that Gilad Shalit has been held captive by Hamas. Throughout these years, Gilad was not given any visitation rights, even by the International Red Cross -- the most recent of these refusals was this Tuesday. His sole form of communication has been a recorded video message released last fall. 


In addition, Hamas is using Gilad as a bargaining chip for the release of 1,000 Palestinian militants. Earlier this year, Hamas released an animated video with the intention of terrorizing the Israeli government and Gilad's family.


I normally don't make appeals on my blog, but I think that if I had to chose to do it for one cause, this would be it. So today, please just keep him in your thoughts today.

Israel MUST Stop...

...giving in to public demands. This is insanity. First of all, Israel has every right to defend itself. The Gaza Strip is home headquarters for Hamas. This militant organization has vowed to destory Israel and restore Palestine. Israel, under the ruling of a completely legitimate vote by the United Nations in 1948, has every right to exist and to defend itself. Since the Gaza Strip is still Israeli territory, it has control over it. Besides, any country has the power to impose and embargo / blockade on another country to prevent import or export of certain objects that can be considered hazardous. (Didn't the US impose an embargo on Iraq a while ago? Didn't a bunch of countries impose an embargo on Iran last month?)


But what if this was happening on American soil? Or British soil? Would everyone be so uptight about the blockade and would the supposed "raid" (remember, these soldiers came on armed, but their guns were not drawn, and they had to wait for permission from superiors before opening fire. This permission was given after the activists started impaling and throwing the soldiers overboard.) be so unethical, immoral, evil, etc.? Hamas has even admitted to the press that there is no shortage of food and relief supplies. These people are all facing poverty on their own free will. They want to be poor.


Now, I perfectly understand why Turkey is all upset -- after all, it was their ships that were boarded. But when Reuters admitted to doctoring an image to remove the knife on an Arab pro-Palestinian activist? That's pushing it. The point is here, people, that Israel had every right to defend itself. It should continue defending itself.


Moreover, it should not give in to all of the pressure by Europe and everywhere else and loosen the blockade. So now, Israel, I'm talking to you: do NOT loosen up the blockade. Keep it up.

Parashat HaShavua: Beha'alotcha

The Candelabrum: Our Ultimate Goals

“And God spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron, saying to him: when you light the candles atop the candelabrum, these candles shall give light.”

Numbers 8:1-2

These two verses, which open parashat Beha'alotcha, discuss the commandment for Aaron (and ultimately his sons) to clean and light the candelabrum every morning. We are told that there are several steps leading up to the candelabrum. Chazal tell us that each stair has greater holiness than the previous. In addition, while Aaron was the only priest to light the candelabrum during his lifetime, it was generally not part of the High Priest's responsibilities and was a task assigned to a regular priest. If the candelabrum was such an important vessel, why was the job of cleaning and lighting it every morning delegated to just a normal preist?

            

 I think that the candelabrum symbolizes human struggle and achievement. With each step we take, we move higher and higher, closer and closer, to realizing our goal, our own personal “candelabrum.” Our “candelabra” can be anything from passing a course to getting into a desired college to getting the summer job that we want so much. I also think that the fact that a regular priest — not just the High Priest — could clean and light the candelabrum in the Tabernacle and in the Holy Temple shows that we all have the ability to achieve our goals.

            

 In addition, we extend this comparison to B'nei Yisrael as a community. Similar to us as individuals, we, the B'nei Yisrael, are working toward a communal goal. This “candelabrum” is to ultimately leave the Diaspora when the Messiah arrives and rebuild the Holy Temple, when the candelabrum itself will be rebuilt — both a physical and a metaphorical realization of our goal. With each step that B'nei Yisrael take as a community to end the Diaspora, we are working toward the goal of rebuilding the Holy Temple and restoring its vessels, the highest level of holiness and the highest possible step. Each step, however small, still makes us holier as a community. The first of these steps took place not to long ago, in 1948, when the State of Israel was brought into existence, marking the first step taken towards reaching our goal: the Jewish dream, that, one day, the Holy Temple will be rebuilt, not by the hands of an elite few, but by ordinary Jews, and the the candelabrum be lit once again by a “normal” priest. This candelabrum will illuminate the world with its light, Chazal tell us, because the windows of the Holy Temple will be wider on the outside than the inside to let as much light from the candelabrum out and light up the world.

Parashat HaShavua: Emor

The Happy Medium

And you shall take for yourself on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm-trees, and branches of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before Hashem, your God, seven days.”

Leviticus 23:40

In Parashat Emor, the different Jewish holidays are enumerated and discussed. Among them, we see the holiday of Sukkot, in whose context the Torah discusses the Four Species the etrog (“Fruit of a beautiful tree”), lulav (“Branches of palm-trees”), aravot (“Branches of thick trees), and the hadassim (“Willows of the brook”). Two of the Four Species species symbolize two different parts of a person's life: the etrog represents this world and the lulav represents the “World to Come”. The hadassim and the aravot, though, represent two different humanistic traits: the hadassim are plain, and are there to remind us to refrain from materialism, and the aravot symbolize humility. Looking at the hadassim, though, a contradiction arises. Were we not commanded to “...be fruitful and multiply and populate the land and conquer it,” (Genesis 1:28) meaning that we, as human beings, should fully indulge ourselves and take advantage of what the world has to offer. In addition, when looking at what the aravot symbolize, we are told that humans were created “...in His own image, in the image of God that created him,” (Genesis 1:27). Why should we not be proud of this fact? After all, we are the only species on earth to be created in God's image!

Looking at the symbolism of the hadassim and the commandment “and conquer it,” we see that they represent a circumstance at one end of a spectrum — either we refrain from all worldly pleasures and never “conquer” the world, or we do the opposite; we “conquer” the world and completely forget to refrain from going overboard. The same applies to the concept of humility and publicly flaunting the fact that we were made in God's image. In both instances, we are presented with rather extreme choices.

Although the hadassim and the aravot, self-restraint and humility, are directly connected to the lulav, or the “World to Come”, they are accompanied by the etrog, which symbolizes this world, and is the brightest of the Four Species, with most pungent smell and taste of all the species. Although self-restraint and humility are required to be a part of the “World to Come”, we must still be able to enjoy some of what this world has to offer, from the color to the taste to the smell. Despite this, we must exhibit self-control.

God has given us free will, He wants us to find the the balance between the two to “Fill up the land and conquer it,” while at the same time, to know when certain pleasures may be considered “too much.” While we were made in God's image, we still must be able to act with humility. Achieving this balance depends on us as individuals. This point of equilibrium may not be a clear 50/50 cut, as some might think. The choice as to where to put this barrier between too much and too little is ours — no one can make this decision for us.

Parashat HaShavua: Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

On Being an "Insider"

“And you shall say unto them: any man from the house of Israel, or from the strangers that sojourn among them, that shall offer a burnt-offering or a sacrifice, and he did not bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to sacrifice it to God — that man shall be cut off from his people.”

(Leviticus 17:8, 9)

These verses contain the commandment that B'nei Yisrael are forbidden to bring a sacrifice outside of the “Tent of Meeting,” or the Tabernacle. The punishment for this transgression is karet. Why would bringing a sacrifice brought outside of the Tabernacle be forbidden? One might say that, perhaps, the Tabernacle is the only place holy enough for sacrifices. One might even argue that personal sacrifices, such as the olah and shelamim, should be brought from one's own house, and not from a communal gathering place, as this might even add a more personal aspect. To help answer this question, consider the following parable:

There was once a king who owned a magnificent palace. Whenever his friends, the nobles, would come to visit, he would invite them into his personal chambers, where they would sit and dine. Other citizens of the kingdom were not allowed to enter these chambers, rather, if they requested an audience with the king, they would have to meet with the king in a public chamber of the palace. One day, a poor beggar approached the palace in the hopes that the person who lived there might be able to give him some money or food. When he approached the gates to the palace, he demanded to speak to the king. One of the sentries that were standing guard over the palace gates ran off to tell the king that a beggar was outside and had requested an audience with him. Instead of inviting the beggar into the public chambers of the palace, however, the king got up off his throne and personally went outside to give the beggar money. Some of the king's servants remarked that the king seemed to have shown more respect to a lowly beggar than he did to his own friends, since the king left his throne to give the beggar money, whereas even the nobles were required to walk through the palace to speak with the king. The king explained that he did not want the filthy beggar to enter the palace, lest he make the palace dirty, whereas the king's friends, the nobles, were clean and dignified, and thus were allowed to enter the palace.

B'nei Yisrael could be compared to the king's nobles. They were personally invited to enter the king's palace — the Tabernacle — in order to bring sacrifices. This was because B'nei Yisrael, at this point, were very close to God, and they were holy, or “dignified.” They had Moses as their leader, who spoke to God face-to-face, not like other prophets, who would receive a prophecy through a dream, riddle, or parable. This generation of B'nei Yisrael had a direct relationship with God, which was why they were not only allowed, but were required to bring sacrifices in the Tabernacle and later in the Holy Temple, God's palace. B'nei Yisrael's camp and, later, the land of Israel, can be compared to the “public chambers” of the king's palace.

We no longer have the Holy Temple or the Tabernacle to bring sacrifices; we are no longer God's “nobles,” who were able to enter the innermost chambers of the palace. Yet, we are also not the beggar, who is not even allowed to enter the palace. (The fact that he is not allowed to enter the palace is an insult to the beggar.) Instead, we are the middle ground — the general public who, while allowed to enter the “palace,” or Eretz Yisrael, although we are not allowed to bring sacrifices. This past Wednesday, we celebrated Yom Ha'aztmaut, marking the anniversary of being able to, finally, re-enter the “public chambers” of the king's palace, or Israel.  It is the Jewish dream to, one day, be able to bring personal sacrifices to God in his “innermost chamber,” a privilege not given to any other nation, and we will be able to rebuild the personal relationship with God that we once had. 

A Teenager Could Have Figured This Out

A recent study was conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the University of Michigan's Department of Communication Studies shows that teens are very attached to their cellphones. They have also embraced text messaging ("texting") as a regular form of communication. While teens love this, parents and schools do not.


Um...please don't accuse me of over-analyzing this. But, let's see: texting is a perfect way to send short, blunt messages under your desk / dinner table  with only a few muscles being moved. Slowly, it seems, texting is taking the place of calling, which is much more obvious to a parent / teacher, since the phone is stuck to your ear -- much more conspicuous. So, let's see: kids love it because they can get away with it, and teachers and parents hate it because their kids get away with breaking school rules, and doing so in a very unnoticeable manner.


Wow, this really is intuitive. Moreover, the survey also says more than 75% of the 800 teens, ages 12 through 17, own a cellphone. More than half of those who own a cellphone admitted to texting during school or other times when using a cellphone for its primary use -- calling -- would normally be prohibited. In addition, the survey also found that teenagers who pay for their own cellphone bills are more likely to "sext" (sending sexy text messages; use your imagination here) than teens who either have their parents pay the phone bill or pay a fraction of it.


Again, this seems obvious: does one really want their parents knowing who they are texting or what the text messages contain if they are sending messages or pictures that are sexually explicit?


This next bit of information is also not surprising: teenage girls are more likely to have their cellphones monitored than teenage boys, although the younger the age, the more parents say they use features such as GPS, by calling to check in, or via a teen's favored method of communication, through text messages. (What I'm writing here is that texting may actually have a potential use for parents.)


Let me just quickly summarize what this survey has proven:

• teenagers love being able to be constantly connected with their friends
• parents and teachers hate it when kids break the rules
• teenagers love breaking rules and getting away with it
• teenagers are less likely to break rules when their parents know what they are doing

So, all in all, this survey just proved, once again, what we already knew.

Parashat HaShavua: Tazria-Metzorah

Three Worlds

This week's parashah begins with the laws of birth and circumcision. Rabbi Bechaye, who lived in 11th century Spain and wrote the book Duties of the Heart, says that a person's life can be divided into three main worlds: the pregnancy, in which the embryo is not yet born, its life in the actual world as a human being, and its death, when the soul returns to Heaven. While these three worlds seem like an obvious way to divide one's life, these “worlds” are symbolic for B'nei Yisrael's life as a nation and how their relationship with God changes throughout the course of their life.

Looking at the first stage, when the embryo is developing, we see a striking resemblance to how B'nei Yisrael are connecting with God in the desert. While the embryo is developing, Chazal tell us (Nedarim 30b) that an angel is sent to teach the embryo every halakhah to the developing embryo. The embryo is also the Garden of Eden, and the embryo is promised that it will ultimately be admitted to the Garden of Eden if it leads a righteous. Looking at B'nei Yisrael in the desert, we see that this is exactly what God, through Moses is trying to do. Moses, especially in the Book of Leviticus, is giving B'nei Yisrael all of the commandments, promising them that, if they are righteous, they will continue to remain close to God — in other words, to enter the Garden of Eden, a land of paradise, just like Israel, which is a land “...flowing with milk and honey,” (Exodus 33:3), and a land in which “...you shall not lack anything in it, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hill you may mine brass” (Deuteronomy 8:9). Although it is hard to compare the two, both the Garden of Eden and Israel are places where B'nei Yisrael are close to God.

Looking at Rabbi Bechaye's second world, we see another parallel in Jewish history. After Moses's death in the Book of Deuteronomy, the Book of Joshua picks up immediately after Moses was mourned, Rashi comments on the words “Moses my servant has died,” (Joshua 1:2) saying that after Moses's death, 3000 laws were lost and never recovered. Just like a baby that is now beginning to meet the world on its own terms, so too are B'nei Yisrael entering a new world and trying survive without a direct connection to God. The angel, who is in charge of teaching an embryo Halakhah, must then erase everything that the embryo has learned before it enters the real world. (We see a number of parallels between this angel and Moses, namely, both were charged with educating B'nei Yisrael.) They no longer have Moses as a spiritual leader with a direct connection to God to immediately answer their questions, rather, they must enter the land and be able to fight their own battles and learn by themselves, without a mentor — Moses or the angel Gabriel — to guide them.

The third world, Rabbi Bechaye writes, is when the human dies and returns to Heaven. While this too has a parallel in Judaism, it does not correspond to an event that has occurred in history. This world represents the coming of the Messiah. While the previous two worlds are relatively short, this world is eternal. It is also when everything will be revealed, when the 3,000 laws as well as countless other works on Jewish law and philosophy, and we will, once again, have a direct connection to God.

Jewish Holiday: Passover

One Step at a Time

“...and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments; and I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am the Hashem your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

(Exodus 6:6,7)

These two verses contain the four expressions of liberation that we read every year in the Haggadah: “and I will bring you out,” “and I will deliver you,” “and I will redeem you,” and the final expression, “and I will take you.” In these verses, God promises to take us out of Egypt, to bring salvation to us from slavery, to redeem us, and to then take us as a nation. Why, however, did God need to give us four expressions of liberation? Why would he not just give us one, such as the last one? Moreover, another question arises. We are told that there is a fifth expression, “and I will have brought you.” Why is this expression not included here? To help answer these questions, consider the following parable:

There was once a child who was rebellious and wanted to stake his own path in life. He would deliberately disobey his parents' orders and, instead of going to school or doing work, the little boy would run out in the fields. His parents often caught him, after which they would scold and punish him. One day, the child had enough and decided to run away from home so that he could be “free”. The boy, however, did not know how to survive alone in the world, and soon began to starve. Nervous that he would die, he ran back home to his parents, where he was accepted with open arms.

At this stage in their lives as a nation, B'nei Yisrael could be compared to this little boy. They were skeptical about the plagues that Moses promised God would bring them. In addition, where B'nei Yisrael to be taken out of enslavement to the Egyptians, and then subsequently giving them all 613 commandments would only make B'nei Yisrael would want immediately to return to Egypt. (This is also a reason for why there is a seven week gap between B'nei Yisrael's leaving Egypt and the giving of the Ten Commandments.) To make the transition easier for B'nei Yisrael, God gave brought them salvation in four separate steps, the first of which, of course, having B'nei Yisrael taken out of Egypt: “and I will bring you.” At this point in their lives as a nation, B'nei Yisrael were completely freed, both spiritually and physically.

As time progressed between the leaving of Egypt and the giving of the Ten Commandments, God slowly implemented the other three expressions of liberation. during these seven following weeks. The second expression, “and I will deliver you,” occurred when at the splitting of the Red Sea. Up until that point, B'nei Yisrael were still in Egyptian territory. They constantly feared that the Pharaoh would change his mind, and that he would chase after B'nei Yisrael and force them to return to slavery in Egypt. As we all know, their fears were soon realized at the Red Sea, when the Egyptians did indeed chase after B'nei Yisrael. After the splitting of the Red Sea and the Egyptians drowning, God had “delivered” B'nei Yisrael safely into the wilderness, where there was no fear whatsoever of the Egyptians. Also, at this point, B'nei Yisrael were starting to re-believe in God, and a new type of relationship was developing between God and B'nei Yisrael: they were beginning to trust in God, which in turn led to God enacting the third expression: “and I will redeem you.”

The third expression, “and I will redeem you,” occurred soon after the splitting of the Red Sea. After the splitting of the Red Sea, B'nei Yisrael were soon stricken by famine and thirst, and during this time, B'nei Yisrael were began to lose faith in God. After the battle against Amalek, however, when B'nei Yisrael saw Moses' hands raised, their faith was not only replenished, but they became even more faithful in God. As a result of B'nei Yisrael's growing faith in God, and He responded by bringing them closer to Him. This, of course, laid the groundwork for the last of the four expressions mentioned by God, “and I will take you.”

The final expression of liberation mentioned in these verses happened over a longer period of time than the other three. The other three happened as a result of one occurrence, whereas the last expression took place between the battle against Amalek and the giving of the Ten Commandments. After this, B'nei Yisrael's and God's relationship continued to grow, until finally, at Matan Torah, the final expression of liberation was fulfilled in its entirety. At this point, B'nei Yisrael were a unified nation, and they were able to carry the responsibilities of Judaism and all of the obligations that it entails.

The fifth expression, which is not mentioned in the pessukim, is “and I will have brought you.” Why was this final expression not mentioned in the pessukim? The Midrash says that this final expression depicts God bringing B'nei Yisrael into Israel — this generation would sin with the spies two years later, and thus would be punished by not being able to enter Israel, so this would not be included with the expression of liberation mentioned in the Torah, since God would not fulfill this promise to this specific generation of B'nei Yisrael. There is, however, a second answer. The expression “I will have brought you” is not in the present tense, like the other expressions — it is in the future tense. The other four expression are the results of actions that happened in the past, of something finished and completed. This last expression, however, is a promise that has not yet been fulfilled. It is still waiting to be completed. The expression, “and I will have brought you,” we are told, will not be fulfilled until the Messiah arrives.