והגדת לבנך

EZRA BOYS PESACH DIVREI TORAH ט"תשע

Welcome all! You’ve made it! All that hard work thatyour mothers/wives have put in to cleaning andcooking for Pesach, with a little help from you, isnow complete, and attention can now turn toactually celebrating and creating a meaningfulPesach for you and your family. We have puttogether a booklet of Divrei Torah to help youachieve this goal, as well as giving a platform forsome of our wonderful madrichim to write anddisseminate Torah to the wider community.Everyone should be able to benefit from theirknowledge and energy, not just their chanichim, andthose that are around them on a weekly basis.

This year is a very special year for Ezra Youthmovement, as it is the 100th anniversary of thefounding of Ezra, in Germany in 1919. There havebeen and there will be numerous events to markthis special occasion over the course of 2019, but Ithought that it would be worthwhile to dwell for afew moments on the central idea behind any youthmovement, and why this is so centrally connectedto the Yom Tov of Pesach.

Before בכורותמכת , Moshe relays to Bnei Yisrael awhole series of instructions for the night of the 15thNissan, applicable at the same time as the Egyptianswould be suffering the plague (כח-א:יבשמות) . Thereare many interesting aspects to this set ofinstructions, but a key one is the focus on thefuture. Moshe informs the Bnei Yisrael that they willalways celebrate this day as the day that they cameout of Egypt, as part of a seven day festival, whichwill have a whole series of laws specifically aimed atcommemorating the various miracles that hadoccurred already or were still to occur that night.

In addition to the future celebration of Pesach,Moshe adds in a specific instruction regardingeducation and one’s interaction with one’s children.

" לכםהזאתהעבודהמהבניכםאליכםיאמרוכיהיהו"

(כו:יבשמות )

It is not only here that Moshe focuses on thequestions of the children. In the following parsha,after Bnei Yisrael have left Egypt he repeats the lawsthat he taught them, and again he includes specificconsiderations of the future questions of thechildren.

לי'העשהזהבעבורלאמרההואביוםלבנךוהגדת"

(ו:יגשמות " )ממצריםבצאתי

אליוואמרתזאתמהלאמרמחרבנךישאלךכייהוה"

(יד:יגשמות )עבדיםמביתממצרים'ההוציאנוידבחזק

Why is this even on Moshe’s mind at this point?Why does he keep repeating himself, emphasisingthe questions that the children will have in thefuture? Why does he seem to phrase the way weshould remember that which happened in Egypt asthe answer to the children’s questions? Do we notneed to remember that which happened in Egyptfor ourselves, not just in order to teach it to ourchildren?

The author of the Haggadah also has the samefocus. He begins with the נשתנהמה , the questionsthat the children ask, and continues on to describethe four different types of sons who each need to betaught about the story of מצריםיציאת in their ownindividual way.

This same theme is also seen in the halachos andminhagim of the night. We start the seder as soonas possible after night in order to ensure that thechildren are not yet asleep, and there are manyweird and wonderful minhagim whose sole aim is totrigger interest and questions from the children.Why is this the case, why is our interaction with andteaching of our children key to the whole night?

אל תקרי בניך אלא בוניךJoel van Messel

נ יעקב בן שמואל"לע

מצריםיציאת was not just the point in time at whichBnei Yisrael came out of Egypt but it was themoment in time at which we were formed as aindependent people, a free nation. 15th ניסן 2448was the first day of the new nation and Moshewanted to take full advantage of this momentousoccasion. He wanted to instil in Bnei Yisrael not justthe practical laws that they needed for the night ofthe 15th ניסן but also fundamental principles thatwould ensure that the nation would flourish andprosper, being able to build itself not only physicallybut intellectually and emotionally as well. The key tothis is education, education and education.

To defend a land, you need an army. But to defendfreedom, you need education. You need familiesand schools to ensure that your ideals are passed onto the next generation and never lost, or despairedof, or obscured. The castles of freedom are housesof study. Its heroes are teachers, its passion iseducation and the life of the mind. Moshe realizedthat a people achieves immortality not by buildingtemples or statues, but by engraving their values onthe hearts of their children, and they on theirs, andso on until the end of time. (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, ALetter in the Scroll)

We don’t refer to Moshe as our liberator, lawmaker,or miracle-worker. Instead, we endear him with“Rabbeinu”, our teacher. The secret of Jewishcontinuity is that no people has ever devoted moreof its energies to continuity. The focal point ofJewish life is the transmission of a heritage acrossthe generations. Time and again in the Torah we aredrawn to dramas of the next generation. Judaism’sfocus is its children. Avraham's first words to 'ה are"what can you give me, if I am without children?"Rachel says: "Give me children, for without them itis as if I am dead." To be a Jew is to be a link in the

chain of generations. It is to be a child and then aparent, to receive and to hand on. Moshe ‘receivedthe Torah at Sinai and passed it on…’ and so mustwe. Judaism is a religion of continuity. (RabbiJonathan Sacks, Will We Have JewishGrandchildren?)

This is a never ending mission because the Jewishpeople are eternal. There is never a point in time inwhich we can rest on our laurels and believe thatwe will be eternal, without continuing to educateand instil in the next generation the core values ofJudaism and of belief in ’ה . If we continue along thistreasured path, then we will always be a freepeople, one that can endure horrors yet bounceback again. Our minds can never be enslaved andour values can never be edited, and this has stoodthe test of time.

Chazal say, בוניךאלאבניךתקריאל , “don’t read ‘yourchildren’, rather ‘your builders’. Jews have neverforgotten this, and Judaism has always remainedchild-centred. Specifically on Pesach, throughtriggering interest and questions from our children,and telling them the story of מצריםיציאת , we relivethe secret of Jewish renewal. As long as we continueto educate our young, and pass on our values, ourJewish identity will remain strong.

It is this central idea that has powered Ezra over thelast century. Empowering the youth, instilling valuesand educating them is no easy task, but it is the keyto the survival of the Jewish people. The strongeryouth organisations are, the stronger the Jewishpeople. We daven that the next 100 years of Ezrashould match and outshine all that has beenaccomplished in the previous century, and daventhat בירושליםהבאהלשנה .

אל תקרי בניך אלא בוניךJoel van Messel

נ אריה בן שלום"לע

There are several reasons given why this טוביום is called.פסח One explanation is that פסח is made up of the twowords “ סחפה ”, “the mouth talks.” On ,פסח there is aunique focus on speech and conversation; the Torahinstructs us to tell our children about מצריםיציאת andchildren ask the 4 Questions. Why is speech so importantto ?פסח

Rav Yitzchak Hutner ל"זצ said that at the time ofcreation, free will and the ability to reason separatedhumanity from other beings. The freedom of choice is alevel up from acting based on need and instinct, asanimals do. A מדבר is the highest form of being, and onlyman is able to speak and clearly express thoughts.

Rav Hutner points out that we find the power of speechdescribed in a unique way. The Rambam called thesection of תורהמשנה dealing with speech (vows,promises, oaths, etc.) הפלאהספר – The Book ofAmazement. The word ”פלא“ - “wonder” is also used inother contexts to refer to speech. Why this term? Theanswer is based on an understanding of the word ”פלא“offered by the Rema. In his explanation of יצראשר , theRema writes that the root פלא signifies a connectionbetween the physical and the spiritual. We thank 'ה forgiving us a functional, physical body which can achievelofty spiritual accomplishment. Because of this gift, wedescribe 'ה using the root פלא at the end of the ,ברכהwhen we say “ לעשותומפליא ”. The power of speechunites the physical and the spiritual. Consequently, theRambam chose the term ”פלא“ to describe thosephysical utterances that have a legal and spiritual effect.

'ה didn’t give inanimate objects ,מצוות nor did Hecommand vegetation, animals and other wildlife, asthese other creations are lacking the power of speech. Itis a power that we must use to fulfil our purpose forexistence: to serve 'ה . In addition, as mentioned above,speech is related to our freedom of choice. We canchoose whether we will use our speech for proper orimproper purposes. We have the freedom to serve 'ה or

reject Him, we have the freedom to use speech forour 'העבודת or to oppose Him. Speech is theembodiment of the unity between physical and spiritual,and it is how we raise our everyday, mundane actionsinto spiritual ones.

By the סוףים , the ישראלבני sang the שירה that we sayevery day in ישיראז . Why do we sing praises of 'ה uponthe downfall of our enemies? When we see the worldoperate, we often see bad things happen to goodpeople, and vice versa. Why does that happen? Wecannot understand 'ה , and only He knows the wholepicture and context. When we see good people suffer,we are viewing the world as it appears to us and we maythink that it is wrong. However, when we see evil peoplesuffering, we understand a bit more what is happening,and may even know the reason why 'ה is punishingthem. We understand that the physical destruction ofevil is actually spiritual, that it was decreed in .שמיםWhen we have a convergence of spiritual and physical,we must notice it, and we do so by using the veryconvergence that exists in our bodies – speech. We singa song. We use our physical power of speech to singspiritual thanks to 'ה for His goodness. We thank 'ה for anewfound freedom that He has granted with the organthat represents freedom – our mouth.

Until ישראלבני were freed from ,מצרים we wereenslaved, forced to serve human masters. We had nochoice over our destiny. Then came מצריםיציאת , where'ה redeemed us. We were now free, physically andspiritually. We were free from the backbreaking labourand we were free to serve 'ה . On Pesach, 'ה gave us ourfreedom again, and the idea of ,חירות freedom, ismentioned all the way through .פסח Our physicalfreedom came with our spiritual freedom. Wecommemorate this freedom in the most appropriatemanner, in a way which demonstrates that we recognisethe responsibility of our freedom; with our mouths, withsongs and with stories. ,פסח a combination of " סחפה ", isthe perfect name.

Pesach’s Power of SpeechUri Schmulian

נ אסתר דבורה "לעבת שלמה יוסף

An interesting question that can be raisedregarding Seder Night is the status of the matzah.In different circumstances, it seems to representdifferent commemorations. We call it the Bread ofAffliction ( עניאלחמאהא ), but eat it while leaning,like aristocratic free men. It's the food that waseaten during the years of slavery, but the Torahrecords it as the food we ate on the way out ofMitzrayim, due to our rushing for emancipation. Itseems to represent both incarceration andfreedom, and this contrast needs to be explained.

Another similar question can be raised withregards to the matzah’s timings. We eat it threetimes throughout the Seder proceedings (save forthe nibbling during the meal when we still thinkmatzah tastes nice), once by itself, then as part ofKoreich, and finally the Afikoman as part ofTzafun. What is it that the matzah represents ateach of these stages? Can’t we just fulfil themitzvah by eating it once?

A central principle of Seder Night is בגנותמתחיל

בשבחומסיים , we begin with disgrace andconclude with praise. With less fancy wording,this means we begin with the bad and finish withthe good. While the expression itself tends torefer to the journey from our idolatrous rootsuntil the point where we became G-d fearinginhabitants of Eretz Yisrael, there’s nothing tosuggest that it’s limited to this journey alone.Perhaps something similar can be applied to thematzah; while its origins may be found in slavery,captivity and destitution, for our nation and ourstory, it demonstrates freedom and a rush toworship Hashem. This could explain the intervalsat which we eat matzah. At the beginning, when

we eat matzah by itself, it displays ourdependence on it in Mitzrayim. We then equate itto the bitterness by eating it with the maror. Thennext time we eat it, it is as the culmination of amassive meal, clearly displaying our freedom andthe luxurious circumstances in which we now findourselves. Perhaps this arc denotes the changingnature of matzah, on our journey from Mitzrayimand also in how we remember the contrastingmessages that matzah has for us.

Maybe, this concept can apply to us in our lives aswell. Naturally, we are born selfish and all taking.We aspire to become as generous and giving toothers as possible. This too relates to מתחיל

בשבחומסייםבגנות , as we progress through lifeattempting to become as praiseworthy as possible(albeit not necessarily in pursuit of any praiseitself). By the end of our life, we are expected tobe of a much more favourable stature than at thestart.

Over the past century, tens of thousands ofpeople have found themselves taking a leap inthis journey through Ezra. People have learnedkindness, generosity, friendship - praise-deservingtraits - all the while contained within the frumJewish principles Ezra advocates. This is aconstant quality of the organisation, which mostothers around the world cannot aspire to, thatharmonisation of (genuine) frum Judaism andenjoyment at the same time. This component ofEzra will last far beyond the centenary landmark,and as long as Ezra continues, so too willcountless people find themselves taking stridesalong their own personal paths of בגנותמתחיל

בשבחומסיים .

Matzah: The Bread of Free SlavesEli Hyman

אברהםנ יצחק שלום בן "לע

מתחלה עובדי עבודה זרה היו אבותינו

ועכשו קרבנו המקום לעבדתו

’Originally our ancestors were idolworshippers but now Hashem broughtus in to his service. ’

The Gemara in Pesachim says thatthere is an obligation to start theHaggada with the disgrace of the Jewsand to end with the praises. There aretwo opinions as to what the disgrace is,Rav says the disgrace is the idolworship of Terach, Avraham’s fatherwhereas Shmuel says, it is being slavesto Pharaoh in Egypt. A message we canlearn from this halacha of starting withdisgrace and ending with praise, is thatwe can change as people, and that ourchange is desired and loved byHashem. From the bottom level inMitzrayim, Hashem chose us andelevated us above all other nations.

R’ Moshe Sternbuch says that one’sbackground and past has no effect onone’s ability to become close toHashem. One of the tactics of theyetzer horah is to convince a person hecannot change because of his past or

background. The Haggada tells us thatthis is not true. The door to repentanceis never closed. The Chasam Sofer saysthat this shows the lengths to whichHashem goes to show He loves us.When we were steeped in idolworship, Hashem still chose us eventhough he had no incentive to do so.

When the Haggada uses the word,ועכשו we can see that Hashem is notlooking at our past, rather he is lookingat our present. This shows that weshould not be weighed down by ourmistakes when trying to change, ratherwe should be like Hashem, whoaccepted the Jews, even when they allhad sinful pasts.

Unconditional ElevationMickey Chabbat

נ אסתר בת ששון ניסים ם"לע

In the Torah, the sequence of theplagues is split, with the first seven inParshas Va’eira and the last three are inParshas Bo. The question is why?Would it not have been better to groupall the plagues together?

The Rambam brings an interestingexplanation, suggesting that the twosets of plagues served two differentpurposes. The first group were apunishment for Pharaoh and theEgyptian people for afflicting theJewish people and forcing them to dohard labour. The second group ofplagues were to show the might ofHashem. After the hail, the Egyptianswere clearly defeated; therefore,Hashem was acting purely for theonlooking nations, including the BneiYisrael, so that they would not forgetHis strength and how He revealedhimself to them on this occasion.

The Abarbanel offers an alternativeexplanation, by explaining thedifference between the differentgroups of plagues in terms of thereaction of Pharaoh towards them. Up

until the hailstones, his reaction isvirtually uniform; he asks Moshe forthe plague to be removed, Moshedavens and Hashem stops the plague.However, after the hail, there is anoticeable change. When Moshemakes the request for the Jewishpeople to go to the desert, Pharaohasks “ ההלכיםומימי ” - “who is going?”There is a change in his attitude as hehas started to engage in opennegotiations. Since there are alreadysigns that Yetzias Mitzrayim was aboutto take place from the seventh plagueonwards, therefore, they arementioned separately

We can learn an important lesson fromhere as to how we should behave. Theminute we allow some leeway in theway we act, even if only a “little bit”,we are opening up a place for theyetzer horah to take hold and cause usto sin, just like Pharaoh. The same istrue with the positive, once we startwith small things, the obstacles tomove on to greater heights arecleared.

A small change can make a big differenceGavriel Goldin

נ חנה הדסה "לעבת שמעון הלוי

The הגדה says: “ אדםחייבודורדורבכל"

להלללהודותחייביםאנחנולפיכך...לראות

which loosely translates as “In everygeneration we are required to seeourselves as though we were the onessaved through Yetzias Mitzrayim andtherefore we are required to sayHallel”.

Why is it important to consider it asthough we ourselves were saved,specifically in this part of the Haggada?In addition, why is there ajuxtaposition between this statementand Hallel?

The Brisker Rov provides us with aninteresting answer. There are two kindsof :הלל

• Hallel shel Kriyah and

• Hallel shel Shira.

Hallel shel Kriya is what the AnsheiKnesses HaGedolah established and iswhat we say 18 times a year duringShacharis: the eight days of Sukkos, thefirst day of Pesach, Shavuos, and theeight days of Chanukah. Hallel shelShira is what we say when we

experience salvation from excessivepain and suffering. However, only theindividual or individuals whoexperienced the salvation are the onespermitted to say Hallel, not anyoneelse, even if they witnessed the event.The Hallel that we say in the Haggadahis Hallel shel Shira. The only way weare permitted to say it is if we were theones saved. Therefore, the author ofthe Haggada informs us that before wesay Hallel we are required to considerourselves as though we ourselvespersonally were saved, which will thenenhance our mitzvah of יציאתסיּפור

.מצרים Only then are we permitted tosay the Hallel of the Haggada, which isthe Hallel shel Shira.

HallelAvi Serfaty

ט"והגדת לבנך תשע

יצאהואכאלועצמואתלראותאדםחייבממצרים

“The person is obligated to see himself as ifhe went out of Egypt.”

It makes sense for children to celebrate theanniversary of their parents’ wedding. Afterall, if their parents had not wed, they wouldnot have come into this world. It is thus animportant event, not just for the parents,but for children as well. But is it alsoimportant for the children to review themenu that was served at the wedding? Is itnecessary for them to know every detail? Ofcourse not. The important thing is that theirparents were married.

With regards to the events that took place inYetzias Mitzrayim, we are grateful that weleft a place of slavery, but why are wecommanded so strongly to tell over, and tosuch great length, every detail of it?

We learn from this, writes Rav SimchaWasserman, that this is not a series ofevents that happened in just thatgeneration, but they also have an effect onour everyday lives. Ramban in Parshas Bosays that Yetzias Mitzrayim demonstratedthe fundamentals of emunah in Hashem.First of all, existence of Hashem and Hispower were visibly and powerfullydemonstrated. It was also clear that the

world does not function like a machine thatwas created to run by itself. In addition,Hashgacha, the idea that Hashem is involvedin what is going on in the world wasdemonstrated, as well as prophecy. WhenMoshe Rabbeinu said something, ithappened exactly the way he said it would.

Ramban says that since these fundamentalsare essential, they were demonstrated sodramatically on the time of our formation sothat we should always remember them eventoday. We should learn the lessons ofemunah from the miracles and wonders thataccompanied our leaving of Egypt.

Thus, we say in the Haggadah, “in everygeneration, a person is obligated to seehimself as if he went out of Egypt.” Everyperson should feel as if he personallyexperienced the entire process of YetziasMitzrayim in its entirety. We should begrateful for it. It is not enough to know thatthere was a “wedding”. You must also learnlessons from it. In order to learn thoselessons, we must know what actuallyhappened in Mitzrayim down to the lastdetail.

Reliving Yetzias MitzrayimBenjy Wieder

ט"והגדת לבנך תשע

The holy tzaddik the Baba Sali, Rabbi YisroelAbuchatzeira zt''l was renowned for his wondrousmiracles and his ability to help his fellow Jews throughdivine intervention. In fact, his very name Abuchatzeira,came about through a miraculous incident that occurredwith his great grandfather, Reb Shmuel Abuchatzeira.Many years earlier in Morocco, the Baba Sali wouldrecount that originally the family name was Elbaz, but itwas changed after the following story.

R’ Shmuel Elbaz was a holy Jew but was very poor. Hishome was bare, and his family had little on which tosubsist. This did not stop R’ Shmuel from continuing tolearn Torah and perform good deeds wherever he couldfind them. On one occasion, he needed to traveloverseas in order to fulfil a Mitzvah. The only problemwas that he had no money to pay the ship fare. This mayhave caused a man of lesser stature to reconsider hisoptions, but not with R’ Shmuel. He would not let theminor nuisance of a lack of funds stop him. With littlemore than his bitachon in the Helping Hand of Heaven,he made his way down to the docks looking for a shiptravelling to his desired destination.

Before long, he found what he was looking for. A largepassenger ship was due to set sail that very day and R’Shmuel found the captain and inquired as to theavailability of space aboard the ship. The captain saidthat there was space and then told him the cost of thetrip. Of course R’ Shmuel did not have the money andtold the captain as much. Without so much as a furtherglance in his direction, the captain abruptly turned andwalked away. That seemed to be the end of that.

R’ Shmuel stood there for a moment, deep incontemplation. Then he decided that if he could not geton board the ship, there was little more for him to dothen sit down and resume his learning. Surely, if Hashemwanted him to fulfil his mission, the opportunity wouldpresent itself. He opened up his bag, removed his seferand the small rag he carried around with him on which tosit. He spread the rag on the sandy beach of the floor,opened up his sefer and sat down to learn. He wasted

not an extra thought on the ship that was, at that verymoment, pushing off from the docks.

To the amazement of every person present, save for R’Shmuel himself, as soon as the ship began moving offinto the deep water, the carpet on which sat R’ Shmuel,lifted off the ground and began moving forward, as if it inpursuit of the ship that scored the holy man sitting on hisrag. It hovered slightly, floating on top of the water as ittravelled in steady progression behind the hugepassenger ship. All the while, R’ Shmuel sat deep inconcentration, with his nose buried in the sefer that hewas learning.

The people on the ship could not help but notice thisamazing phenomenon. A ‘floating carpet’ was literallychasing their ship, and the man with the long beardsitting on it, seemed not the least bit interested. Thecaptain came running to see what all the fuss was about.He too was amazed and a bit disheartened that this holyman was the same one he had not allowed onto the ship.He called out “Please honoured Rabbi, come along theship! Hoist yourself up on the ladder that is beinglowered for your benefit”.

R’ Shmuel just looked at him from on top of his carpetand replied “When I wanted to board, you didn't want.Now when you want me to board, I don't want to” andhe didn't. The carpet continued following, right behindthe ship, to the amazement of most of the passengersand the consternation of the captain and a handful ofothers. R’ Shmuel arrived at his predetermineddestination right on time, and was on shore even beforethe ship’s passengers could disembark.

Of course, the tale of the holy man and his travellingcarpet became known throughout. From that time on R’Shmuel was only known as, and referred to as‘Abuchatzeira’ - ‘Father of the carpet’.

AbuchatzeiraStory

ט"והגדת לבנך תשע

On the seventh day of Pesach, we read the firstpart of Parshas Beshalach, which describes קריעת

סוףים and the שירה that the Bnei Yisrael sangafterwards. Rabbi Frand asks in the name of theChiddushei HaRim, why does the passuk say אז

ישראלובנימשהישיר – “Then Moshe and the BneiYisrael will sing this song”, describing the inשירהthe future tense, why doesn’t it say that thenMoshe and the Bnei Yisrael sang the ?שירה Chazalanswer that the use of the future tense here is anallusion to המתיםתחיית . Rabbi Frand asks on this,why does the allusion to המתיםתחיית in theTorah occur here? What is the significance of thispoint in time?

The Tolner Rebbe answered this question basedon another question. At the start of the ,שירה theBnei Yisrael refer to 'ה in the third person – סוס"

ביםרמהורכבו ”. However, later on in the שירה

they start referring to 'ה in the second person –ימינך“ …”. What is the reason for this change? TheZohar answers this by saying that Bnei Yisraelwent through a spiritual transformation during

סוףיםקריעת . Beforehand, they had a rather basiclevel of .אמונה This is because they had only seenmiracles occur with the Egyptians, with themsuffering during the plagues and the Bnei Yisraellargely continuing on as normal, and therefore itwas more of a third person concept for them,which is why they start off describing 'ה in thethird person. However, after they experienced

סוףיםקריעת and the myriad of miracles thataccompanied it, the miracles had occurred tothem, giving them a much higher level of ,אמונהcausing them to describe 'ה in the second person.They were able to actually point to 'ה and the

miracles that He did and say that this is my G-d,this is His right hand.

This explains why המתיםתחיית is hinted to here.אמונה is faith in something that we do not knowexists and yet still believe in. At this point in time,Bnei Yisrael were unable to have אמונה as theyhad actually experienced 'ה ’s miracles. Therefore,'ה chose this moment in which to allude to תחיית

.המתים This was something that they had notexperienced and witnessed and so they were ableto have אמונה that this would occur. Since blindbelief in 'ה was no longer possible as He hadbecome a reality for them, they were given theconcept of המתיםתחיית in which to believe.

The Belzer Rebbe gave an alternative answer.Following the war, he saw that most chassidimwere disheartened and didn’t want to singzemiros on Shabbos. He explained to them thatwhen סוףיםקריעת occurred, the majority of theJewish people weren’t there, as Chazal explainthat 80% of them died during the plague ofdarkness. He described how when Moshe cameto the Bnei Yisroel and told them to sing, theyresponded in shock asking how could theypossibly sing when so many members of theirfamilies had died in Egypt. Moshe replied that thisvery song would be the source of המתיםתחיית inthe Torah, showing them that although they hadlost so many members of their family, they wouldeventually return. After hearing this, they werecomforted, allowing them to go and sing the,שירה praising ’ה for all the miracles that He haddone for them.

קריעת ים סוף Gadi Finn

ט"והגדת לבנך תשע

It was customary among many of theold kehillos to appoint the communityleaders on the seventh day of Pesach.The Bnei Yissachar, Rav Tzvi Elimelechof Dinov zt"l gives the following reasonfor this custom. Chazal teaches us"sustenance of a man is as difficult toattain as splitting the sea”. Since wecommemorate the miracle of יםקריעת

onסוף the seventh day of Pesach, itstands to reason that this is theappropriate time to elect thoseresponsible for supporting andsustaining the community. Just as 'ה

made it His business to split the seaand save His chosen nation, so do wefollow in His ways and see to it that Hispeople are cared for and sustained.

A second reason stems from theGemara in Pesachim, which describeshow the different tribes were arguingwith each other over which one shouldgo down to the סוףים first. Finally, thetribe of Binyomin jumped ahead, andstrode into the sea. The leaders ofYehudah, however, were distraughtover this turn of events and beganheaving stones at them. In this merit,

Shaul, from the tribe of Binyomin, wasappointed the first king of Israel, untilthe time when the tribe of Yehudah,Dovid HaMelech, took over. Similarly,we too appoint our leaders on this day,when the tribe of Binyomin earned itsright to the kingdom.

Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlit”a adds aninsight to this episode of Yehudah andBinyomin, by recounting what occurredto a Jewish soldier in the Russian army.A young conscript, Zalman Leib, wasordered by his officer to scout ahead ofthe troops in order to uncover anyhidden mines that were buried there,at a great risk of his own life. BaruchHashem, he survived to tell this over.

To their credit, the tribe of Yehudahthrew stones at those entering into thesea before them, not in anger andfrustration, but as a means to stopthem from being the ‘guinea pigs’ ofthe Bnei Yisrael, sent into the unknownand risking their lives. The leaders ofthe tribe of Yehudah, themselves,wanted to do this.

Seventh DayBenjy Wieder

ט"והגדת לבנך תשע

The Mishna states (Yadayim 3:5): “…the whole world isnot as worthy as the day on which the Song of Songs wasgiven to Israel; for all the Writings are holy but the Songof Songs is the Holy of Holies.” What do we findcontained in this holiest of all books? Praises of thehuman body: Cheeks, eyes, hair, teeth, lips, and neck,almost the entire body is given an elevated status. Chazaltell us that the praise of each body part is focused on thespecific act that these parts perform in the service of 'ה .

A prime example of this type of praise is found with theverse “How beautiful are your soles in sandals, O prince’sdaughter! (7:2)” The Gemara in Sukkah says: “Rabamade the following exposition: What is the implication ofwhat was written, How beautiful are your soles insandals, O prince’s daughter?’ How beautiful are thesteps of Israel when they go up [to Jerusalem] tocelebrate a festival!” The soles are a relatively small bodypart. However, in the holiest of all Writings, they are afocus and praised. What is the reason for the praise?Soles pay a part in allowing a person to make the journeyto Jerusalem for the רגליםשלש . Because of this role,soles are praised. If soles, a small body part, are praised,then certainly the major organs and limbs must bepraised for the roles they play in the service of 'ה . It isbecause the limbs, and really the entire body, serve ',ה inessence singing His praise, that 'ה sings praise of thebody. This praise is not just any praise. It is one that iscontained in the holiest of all the writings. It is onecontained in a book that “the whole world is not asworthy as the day on which it was given to Israel.” Whydoes the body deserve such praise?

Rav Nosson Finkel, explained that we know that 'ה

created man “ אלקיםבצלם ". Each component of the bodyis a part of this holy image. With each mitzvah done byor with an organ or limb, we see the splendour ofcreation, and the holiness of 'ה is evident. When we useour bodies for the service of 'ה , we are assuring that ourbodies, our images of 'ה , are acting as the conduits ofholiness that they should be. Every person has the innateability to fill the world with the splendour of 'ה by using

his or her body properly, in a way which brings honour to'ה . Because we are all created in 'ה 's image, we have atremendous responsibility in assuring that this imagedoes not become sullied or tarnished. When we actproperly with every limb, we become a manifestation of'ה 's holiness. It is because of this amazing capacity ofeach limb that השיריםשיר was chosen to be thereceptacle for the praises of the human body.

We know that Pesach is a holiday on which we celebrateour freedom. We were freed from physical enslavementand from spiritual bondage as well. Perhaps it is becauseof the dual aspect of our freedom that we read שיר

השירים on Pesach. Once 'ה released Bnei Yisrael fromEgypt, they were free to serve 'ה with both body andsoul. On Pesach, we focus on using our power of speech,which we said is the prime example of the convergenceof physical and spiritual. השיריםשיר contains manypraises of the body, the physical. Why is the bodypraised? Is it because of the aesthetic value of thehuman form? No. It is because of the spiritual value ofthe human form, something very physical, somethingthat we often remove from the realm of spiritual. Tofocus on the newfound freedom that Pesach celebrates,we read השיריםשיר . This book, the holiest of all,contains the praise that comes when symbiosis existswithin ourselves, when our physical body is usedspiritually. The unity of physical and spiritual was onlypossible when we were free from bondage in bothrealms, a liberation that Pesach commemorates. Becausewe can now use our physical for the spiritual, we sing thepraise of the physical (which is spiritual as well) onPesach, as השיריםשיר .

שיר השירים - The song of bodies?Josh Resnick

ט"והגדת לבנך תשע

כי גאה גאה סוס ורוכבו רמה בים' אשירה לה

“I will sing to Hashem for He is most high: horse and it'srider He threw into the sea”

When the Jewish people sang the song of thanks to 'ה forthe myriad of wonders that He performed for them, theybegan by describing a major element of the miracle at the

'ה“,סוףים lowers the mighty to the ground, and lifts thedowntrodden to the heights of Heaven”. We learnt theimportance of humility, and the evil effect boastfulness canhave on the sole of human being.

After World War II, the Polish authorities decided to build ahighway through an old Jewish cemetery. The members ofthe local Chevra Kadisha, were ordered to remove all thebones to a new resting place. To their amazement,however, they found one body that had not decomposed,the sure sign of righteousness. But even more amazing, thebody was buried in the robes of a priest! The ChevraKadisha members inquired among the elders of the town,and this is a story that they were told.

In this little Polish town, there was a Gabbai Tzedakah bythe name of Reb Naftoli. He was well respected, and wouldalways distribute any funds that he had received, withfairness and integrity. One day, after he had alreadycollected quite a sum of money for a dire emergency, aman knocked on his door.

“Reb Naftoli, please you must help! I have nowhere else toturn,” he begged.

The man, already burdened by the expense of a largerfamily, had a child who was quite ill, and their medical billswere putting their family under tremendous financialdistress. Wordlessly, Reb Naftoli got up, and went out tocollect again. People helped, but not like the first time.Then, Reb Naftoli returned home exhausted, but satisfiedthat he had done the right thing.

Soon after, there was a knock on his door again. A man'sroof had caved in on his home, and the man was in thedoorway. His family of 10 were left homeless. Could RebNaftoli please help?

I can't go around collecting again Reb Naftoli thought tohimself. Three times in one day. Who would even look at

him anymore! Yet here stood an unfortunate soul whoneeded help.

Without a hint of a sigh, Reb Naftoli stood up and began tocollect funds. This time he went to call upon the son of awealthy merchant. Reb Naftoli found him entertainingsome of his friends at the local pub.

“Don't tell me you're collecting again!” the young elitistscreamed in disbelief.

Reb Naftoli tried to explain that he wasn't there by choice.He needed to raise money for family of 10. But his wordswere drowned out, as the man and his friends began to goto ridicule Reb Naftoli mercilessly. This went on for sometime.

Suddenly the young man had an idea. “Naftoli, I’ll tell youwhat. My friends and I will give you the entire amount of 20zloty that you need. All you have to do is to walk throughthe main street of town wearing a priest's robes.” Theentire crew burst out in another round of laughter.

Their merriment turned to amusement though when RebNaftoli agreed. They all walked behind him, singing, hootingand laughing. It was a terrible sight, but Reb Naftoli got the20 Zloty that the homeless man needed. Then Reb Naftoliwent home a broken man. He threw the priest's robes thathe had been given into the back of his closet and collapsedonto the bed.

A year later the Sanzer Rebbe, Rav Chaim Halberstam,passed through the same town. As he was passing thehouse where Reb Naftoli lived, he exclaimed “I smell thefragrance of Gan Eden!”

He went into the house and began to question Reb Naftoliabout what he could have done that would cause thefragrance of Gan Eden, to deserve to descend upon hishome. Reb Naftoli recounted the incident of the priest'srobes. Rav Chaim commanded the burial society, that whenthe time will come, Reb Naftoli should be buried in thesame priest robes, his own personal כהונהבגדי . The angelsof destruction would not dare touch him.

Needless to say they didn't.

Buried in priest’s clothesStory

ט"והגדת לבנך תשע

There is a Midrash which quotes the passukregarding Sefiras HaOmer. “Seven completeweeks shall they be”. The Midrash asks, whenare they considered 'complete'? The Midrashanswers that they are considered completewhen the Jews are doing the will of 'ה . Thereare two obvious questions that strike a personfrom this Midrash. Firstly, why did Chazaldeviate from the simple understanding of theword 'complete'? Complete means full, countseven full weeks. Secondly, Bnei Yisrael have notyet received the Torah. They do not have anymitzvos to do yet, so how can Chazal demandthat we do the will of Hashem in order tocomplete the count, if we have not yet beencommanded of His will?

HaRav Osher Weiss Shlit”a answers that, firstly,one has to understand the purpose of'completing' the count. The purpose is inpreparation for Shavuos. It is to get us ready toreceive the Torah from Har Sinai, not just in thatgeneration, but in every generation. It is aperiod designed to allow us to grow to be ableto receive the Torah. Secondly, one mustunderstand that being a Jew doesn't stop at theend of the Shulchan Aruch. There are two facetswithin Yiddishkeit, Halacha and Judaism. Thereare mitzvos, but there are also things we aremeant to do regardless whether wecommanded, we are expected to be act in ajewish way.

Chazal opted out of the simplisticunderstanding of the word 'complete', in orderto focus the passuk on the purpose of the

counting, the spiritual elevation to a pointwhere one can receive the Torah. In otherwords, we must count seven complete weeks,and how is this period of seven weeks deemed'complete', to have fulfilled its purpose? Whenthe Jews do the will of 'ה . What is the will of'ה ? At this point one has to bear in mind that inthe first counting there were almost no mitzvos.The Torah hadn't been given to Bnei Yisrael yetwhen they first counted the Omer of their ownaccord. What did they do? They became moreJewish or moreover they became less Egyptian.They took the direction of the mitzvos they hadalready been given, to kill and eat the god ofthe Egyptians, and to put aside the calendar ofthe Egyptians and run their own months. Theseinitial mitzvos told the Bnei Yisroel a clearmessage, ‘ 'ה wants you to be Jewish to theexclusion of whatever you were steeped inbefore, even if it is as mundane as a calendar’.

This period of the Omer that they counted, andwhich we were later commanded to countbetween Pesach and Shavuos, is a periodwherein we shake off whatever outside culturewe live in, and strive to become more Jewish. Itis not a period where we focus necessarily onour dedication to the mitzvos of 'ה , but ratherto being 'ה 's people, a special people not likeany other.

Sefiras HaOmer

ט"והגדת לבנך תשע

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