Parshas Bo

The mitzvah of pidyon haben the Torah tells us to consecrate our firstborn sons to Hashem’s service, for Hashem killed all of the Egyptian bechorim and the jewish ones were saved.
What is the reasoning behind this - because Hashem punished the Egyptians through their firstborns all the future firstborns born into Klal Yisroel become holy? Why is there a need for a tradeoff?
Let us try to understand why was it that the firstborns were the ones who were punished.
One of the basic concepts in yehadus is that Hashem is the beginning of everything. It is He who created and preceded the world and before that there was nothing but He. Paroh and the Egyptians didn’t want to accept that as the truth. Thus they worshiped sheep which is the first of the horoscopes to show that the beginning and everything that comes after that is contributed to the stars and mazalim. As Hashem created his nation and thus made his name known to the world He wanted to show and prove that it is He who was first. The way to do this was by wiping out anything that was viewed as a ‘competition’ to his oneness. That is why Klal Yisroel slaughtered the sheep for their korban Peasach and that is why all the firstborns- including those of the slaves had to be killed. In order for the bechorim of Klal Yisroel to be saved they had to purify themselves and consecrate themselves to Hashem and his oneness. Only through them being a light onto nations and showing that all beginnings channel back to Hashem could they be saved.

A HUGE Mazel Tov to my Parents, Grandmothers and oldest brother- Mr. S. on the birth of their great/grand/son may he see much nachas from him and the him and the whole family!
And a Mazel Tov to my cousin T. R. on the birth of his son!

The first sign that Moshe showed Paroh that Hashem was ruler of the universe was that he threw his stick to the ground and it turned into a snake. The Kotzker has a short vort where he says that this sign was to prove that Klal Yisroel was the chosen nation. He doesn't explain what about the stick turning into a snake proves that.
I was thinking we could understand this with a Rashi in last week's Parsha. Rashi says that the first time Hashem told Moshe about this sign it was a sign to Moshe that he spoke lashon horah about Klal Yisroel. The sign to Paroh was that Moshe who only spoke about Klal Yisroel was punished, so too Paroh who enslaved them would definitely be punished.

Parshas Shemos

We know that 'Ain haShechina shora elah metoch simcha'- the divine presence doesn't manifest itself only when one is in a state of happiness. Moshe as being worthy of leading Klal Yisroel- definitely felt the pain of what Klal Yisroel was going through. Reb Klonimus Kalman Zatzal Hy'd, in his sefer Aish Kodesh (the torah he said in the Warsaw ghetto) asks, how was Moshe able to manage thees two conflicting emotions of being b'simcha and that of feeling the anguish of his fellow Jew?
He answers that the above mentioned rule that one must be b'simcha to be able to reach the level of prophecy is only in a time that the Shechina is in a state of happiness. But the times in history when Klal Yisroel was going through hardships and the Shechina was in pain, the only way to reach the Shechina was through feeling the pain of Klal Yisroel and thus being in the same state of mind as the Shechina itself. This may be a symbolism of the burning bush. The first prophecy that Moshe saw taught him this lesson- that the only way to climb the ladder of spiritual success is through feeling and living with the pain that our fellow brothers are feeling.

Point to Ponder Vayichi

When Yaakov blessed Yosef's sons Ephraim and Menashe he 'guided his hands' so that his right one should be on the head of the younger brother Ephraim even though Yosef had set them up in the correct order, the older Minasha on the right.
If for whatever reason Yaakov felt that Ephraim desereved to be blessed with the right hand, why didn't he move Ephraim to his right side? Why did he only move his hands and yet let them stand in the correct order?

Parshas Vayichi

When the Shevatim went to bury their father Yaakov in Mearas Hamachpaelah, Esav countered that the final burial spot in the cave belonged to him and not Yaakov. The Shevatim started arguing and tried to prove to him that Yaakov was the legitimate heir and they sent Naftuli down to Mitzraim to bring the deed to prove it. Dan had a son by the name of Chushim, who was deaf. Seeing that Yaakov wasn't being buried he asked someone what the problem was and they told him that Esav was preventing them from burying Yaakov, so he went and killed Esav.
Why was it that no one else had the courage to do what was seemingly right? Why was Chushim the only one who knew what had to be done?
R' Henoch Liebowitz Zatza"l explains that when a person is caught up in a argument or debate he can't focus, all he looks for is a way to prove that he's right and he looses sight of the objective. That's what happened to the Shevatim. They were trying to prove that they were right and failed to see that this was all a disgrace to Yaakov whose body was in front of them. The only one that wasn't involved and all worked up- was Chushim. He couldn't hear and therefore wasn't caught up in the political aspect of it, all he saw was a great Chillul Hames - and thus was able to see and do what had to be done.

Happy Anniversary to Reb Z!!!

Point To Ponder- Parshes Vayigash

In Parshas Vyeshev Rashi tells us that all the Torah Yaakov learned in the yeshiva of Shem and Ever, he taught to his son Yosef.
Why did Yaakov send Yehudah to Mitzraim to open a Yeshiva and not give the job to Yosef who was in Mitzraim already?

Mazel Tov to Y. H. on the birth of a baby girl!

Just a Thought- The Life of Yosef

After being sold by his own brothers, Yosef - a seemingly unwanted individual, finally gets some stability in his life when he was working as a head butler for Poteifar, a minister in Mitzraim. We all know the story of how he overcame the great test and didn't succumb to his yetzer harah. What was his reward for all this? He was thrown into prison once again unwanted and downtrodden. What would our reaction be? We would say "Hashem enough of all this. This is the reward I get for withstanding the greatest challenge of my life, to be thrown down once again!". But that is not how Yosef looked at it. In every stage of his exile we see that Hashem was with him, he always saw the good in what was happening, always found strength from his connection to Hashem and even in a foreign prison all alone he kept his head held high and was successful there. At the end of the story we see where this all lead him. Because he was in jail he was able to interpret the dream of the 'sar hamashkim' and thus start the process of becoming the king of Eygpt. It was because he was in jail- the excuse for him to give up on all hope - that gave him the opportunity to become a king.