Although a literal reading of our verse presents the mitzvos of sanctifying the new moon and of making Nissan the first month of the Jewish year, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, known as the Chiddushei HaRim (1798-1866), suggests that it can also be interpreted to read that Hashem was giving the Jews the ability to create newness and freshness (התחדשות).

While it is true that the natural world appears to be governed by the forces of inertia and habit, and that lasting change seems impossible to achieve, this is only true for those who are governed by the arbitrary laws of nature. The verse tells us (Ecclesiastes 1:9), “What has been is what will be, what has been done will continue to be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”

However, while there is nothing new under the sun, there is constant renewal beyond the sun, in front of Hashem, Who is re-creating the universe every moment. We therefore find that the Lechem HaPanim (the Showbread) in the Temple miraculously stayed completely fresh for seven days. Because it was placed before Hashem in the Temple, it was exempt from the laws of nature which “require” it to become old and stale.

Our verse contains the first mitzvah which was given to the Jewish people as a nation, and it therefore contains this fundamental principle of Judaism. We can take inspiration from the uplifting recognition that we aren’t bound by the past. As long as we recognize that we don’t live under the sun but rather in front of Hashem - and conduct our lives accordingly - we may move our lives in any direction that we desire. The invaluable power of renewal is uniquely ours!

This idea is proven to us daily in the countless stories of miracles we hear. A friend of mine got married later in life and had a difficult time having children. After some time passed, he and his wife decided to seek medical advice. A number of tests and consultations with fertility specialists later, their hopes were dashed when they were told that they were medically incapable of conceiving children. After many years of heartfelt prayer, to the astonishment of the “experts”, the couple’s two adorable sons are happy to prove otherwise!

This anecdote shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the very existence of the Jewish nation is predicated on similar miracles. Most of our Patriarchs – Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Rachel – struggled to have children. Our Sages teach that a number of them were physically barren and incapable of producing the next generation of the Jewish people without miraculous Divine intervention.

Whether we are in need of a medical miracle or merely hoping to finally break a persistent bad habit once and for all, we should take heart from the message of Parshas Bo. With the first mitzvah that Hashem gave to the Jewish people, He taught us that no situation is ever beyond hope. Rather than give in to despair rooted in the verdict of the laws of nature, we can be hopeful by reminding ourselves of the uniquely Jewish power of renewal and change. return to top

Ozer Alport can be reached at ozer@partnersintorah.org

PARSHAS BO\| 5 SHEVAT 5768 \| 12 JANUARY 2008 ARCHIVES In this issue... Parsha Perspectives Parsha Pointers Partner Talk Parsha at a Glance Soul Talk Hey I never knew that; Amazing Parsha Insights. Table Talk; For discussion around the Shabbos Table Look who made Partner!
Click to print/View in PDF Parsha Perspectives by Ozer Alport (החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים (12:2 “And this month will be for you the beginning of the months.” Although a literal reading of our verse presents the mitzvos of sanctifying the new moon and of making Nissan the first month of the Jewish year, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, known as the Chiddushei HaRim (1798-1866), suggests that it can also be interpreted to read that Hashem was giving the Jews the ability to create newness and freshness (התחדשות). While it is true that the natural world appears to be governed by the forces of inertia and habit, and that lasting change seems impossible to achieve, this is only true for those who are governed by the arbitrary laws of nature. The verse tells us (Ecclesiastes 1:9), “What has been is what will be, what has been done will continue to be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” However, while there is nothing new under the sun, there is constant renewal beyond the sun, in front of Hashem, Who is re-creating the universe every moment. We therefore find that the Lechem HaPanim (the Showbread) in the Temple miraculously stayed completely fresh for seven days. Because it was placed before Hashem in the Temple, it was exempt from the laws of nature which “require” it to become old and stale. Our verse contains the first mitzvah which was given to the Jewish people as a nation, and it therefore contains this fundamental principle of Judaism. We can take inspiration from the uplifting recognition that we aren’t bound by the past. As long as we recognize that we don’t live under the sun but rather in front of Hashem - and conduct our lives accordingly - we may move our lives in any direction that we desire. The invaluable power of renewal is uniquely ours! This idea is proven to us daily in the countless stories of miracles we hear. A friend of mine got married later in life and had a difficult time having children. After some time passed, he and his wife decided to seek medical advice. A number of tests and consultations with fertility specialists later, their hopes were dashed when they were told that they were medically incapable of conceiving children. After many years of heartfelt prayer, to the astonishment of the “experts”, the couple’s two adorable sons are happy to prove otherwise! This anecdote shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the very existence of the Jewish nation is predicated on similar miracles. Most of our Patriarchs – Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Rachel – struggled to have children. Our Sages teach that a number of them were physically barren and incapable of producing the next generation of the Jewish people without miraculous Divine intervention. Whether we are in need of a medical miracle or merely hoping to finally break a persistent bad habit once and for all, we should take heart from the message of Parshas Bo. With the first mitzvah that Hashem gave to the Jewish people, He taught us that no situation is ever beyond hope. Rather than give in to despair rooted in the verdict of the laws of nature, we can be hopeful by reminding ourselves of the uniquely Jewish power of renewal and change. return to top Ozer Alport can be reached at ozer@partnersintorah.org

talking points - parshas BO Rabbi Elazar Meisels *1. The All-Important Jews* “So Moses and Aaron were returned to Pharaoh and he said to them, ‘Go and serve Hashem, your G-d; who are the ones going?’ Moses said, ‘With our youngsters and elders…our sons and daughters…our flock and cattle…because it is a festival of Hashem for us.’” 10:8,9 It Is A Festival Of Hashem – The festival spoken of by Moses is the holiday of Shavuos when we would receive the Torah at Mt. Sinai. – Rabbeinu Bachya Our Youngsters…Elders…Sons…Daughters – We must take everyone, even those too old or too young to perform the Divine service, because our joy would be incomplete by the thought that some were left behind. – He’emek Davar By including every single individual in his demand, Moses was informing Pharaoh that Judaism is not merely for an elite class of individual. Rather, every single member of the Jewish nation is obligated to serve Hashem and deserves to be redeemed. It’s not a religion built around the priests or the social elite. Each Jew is as important as the next. 2. Our Joy Knows Bounds “On the first day shall be a holy convocation and on the seventh day shall be a holy convocation for you. No work may be performed on [those days]…” 12:16 And On The Seventh Day – Why would they be told about the celebration of the seventh day of Pesach, when that day would not be celebrated until the following year whereas all of the other instructions pertained to that year only? The seventh day of Pesach corresponds to the time that Hashem split the sea and drowned the Egyptians. He desired that we celebrate our salvation, not their downfall. Therefore, He instructed us about the observance of this day in future years, even while we were still in Egypt, to dispel any notion that our joy was predicated upon the destruction of the Egyptians. – Meshech Chochmah Many nations celebrate a day upon which they won an important war and vanquished their enemies. This is not the way of the Jewish people who are cautioned, “Do not rejoice over the downfall of you enemy.” [Mishlei 24:17] Our joy must emanate solely from the salvation that we merited and the opportunity it afforded us to continue to serve Hashem. This is the reason that both Chanukah and Purim are celebrated not on the days that we vanquished our enemies, but on the days that we rested from the battle. 3. Jewish Hear Oh’s “Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day on which you departed from Egypt, from the house of slavery, for with a strong hand Hashem removed you from here…’” 13:4 Remember This Day – “It is a scriptural obligation to speak of the miracles and wonders that were performed for our ancestors in Egypt on the night of the fifteenth of Sivan as it says, ‘Remember this day…’” – Rambam, Hil. Chametz U’Matzah 7:1 Remember This Day – This verse teaches us that there is a mitzvah to remember the exodus from Egypt every single day. – Rashi - This obligation is fulfilled by the recitation of the third chapter of the Shema, which concludes by saying that Hashem took the Jewish people out of Egypt. Most Jews are fastidious about fulfilling one aspect of this verse by conducting an annual Pesach Seder where the miraculous events are recounted in detail. Few, however, are aware that there’s a daily obligation to verbally recall these events, and that this obligation can easily be fulfilled by reciting the Shema in its entirety. It’s a shame that many Jews wait until moments before their demise to recite the Shema for the first time. A far better idea would be to recite it daily, and fulfill this important obligation among a number of other equally important Mitzvos.return to top Rabbi Elazar Meisels can be reached at rabbimeisels@partnersintorah.org This page is dedicated to, and written for the 6,000 Partners in Torah mentors. We welcome you to join their ranks by calling 800-STUDY-4-2. Please send your comments, questions, and suggestions to info@partnersintorah.org Contact info for Partners in Torah Mentor Advisors: Rabbi Elazar Meisels \| 732-917-6370 (Sunday & Tuesday 8:00 – 11:00 pm) rabbimeisels@partnersintorah.org Rabbi Pinchos Jung \| 845-425-6533 (leave message) Kindly reserve use of our advisors for mentor contact.

The Waiting Game By: Rabbi Elazar Meisels Dear Rabbi, Less than six months ago, I began keeping kosher and so far it’s gone smoothly, with one small exception. I haven’t been able to decide whether I should wait three or six hours after eating meat before consuming dairy again. I asked my dad if he knew what his custom was, but he can’t remember, and my granddad is no longer alive to ask. I’m going to have to make a decision but I’d like to understand the subject a bit better before I do so. Why do we wait for any length of time, and who has the custom of three hours instead of six? Can you help? Julie Dear Julie, You’re very wise to research the issue before deciding on a custom and I am more than happy to assist you. The Torah explicitly prohibits cooking milk and meat together by stating, “You shall not cook a kid in its mothers milk” in three separate verses [Shmos 23:19, 34:26, Devarim 14:21]. The Talmud [Tractate Chullin, 115b] explains that the double repetition teaches us that not only cooking, but also eating, and benefiting from, is prohibited. Our sages taught that the prohibition against consuming meat and dairy together extends beyond the actual meal and includes as well, the taste of meat that lingers in one's mouth long after it has been consumed, since a film of fatty residue remains in the throat and palate for a significant period of time afterwards. In addition, actual pieces of meat often get stuck between the teeth after meat has been eaten, and for these two reasons, our Sages established a “Siyag” or a “fence”, to guard against the possibility of inadvertently transgressing this prohibition by insisting that two things must happen before dairy may be eaten after meat: 1) An after-blessing over the meat meal must be recited 2) A substantial amount of time must elapse By and large, the accepted custom is to wait six full hours after eating meat, and absent an explicit custom to the contrary, one should conduct himself in this manner. There are a number of communities that wait a lesser number of hours, but one must be born into that tradition to assume those customs. For example, German Jews wait only three hours and some Dutch Jews wait only an hour. The Halachah (Jewish law) however, frowns upon one who abandons his custom for a more lenient custom, so unless you can ascertain that your custom is to wait the lesser amount, I’d advise you to practice the near-universal custom of waiting six hours between meat and dairy. Of course, the definition of meat in this case includes poultry as well, but does not include pareve foods (foods that are neither meat nor dairy) that were cooked in a pot reserved for cooking meat. Such food may not be eaten together with dairy, but one need not wait for any length of time after eating this pareve food before eating dairy. It is also important to note that the prohibition only applies in a case where meat was eaten first. In a situation where one ate dairy, there is no need to wait six hours before eating meat. Instead, one should make sure that his hands are free of dairy residue, his mouth is rinsed well, and a pareve food should be eaten in between the two, and then one may eat meat immediately. In addition, as with many Halachos (laws), there are situations where an exception may be made and either no wait, or a wait less than the required amount is indicated. Here are a few examples: According to many Poskim, one may feed dairy to a child who is under the age of three immediately following meat, if necessary. It is permitted to consume dairy immediately after swallowing a meat-based vitamin [Ig”M Y”D 2:26] People who are ill, pregnant, or nursing, and cannot wait the required six hours period may not need to do so provided they clean their mouth out properly and recite the after-blessing. Of course, these laws are very detailed and require a good deal more attention than what I can provide in this email. Therefore, I suggest that you speak to a person knowledgeable in these Halachos in order to gain greater clarity into the subtleties. There are many qualified rabbis who will be happy to assist you further, and I’m certain that you’ll master this important area of halachah in no time at all. Rabbi Elazar Meisels, return to top Rabbi Meisels can be reached at rabbimeisels@partnersintorah.org

The trait of zerizus, alacrity, is fundamental in serving Hashem. It is interesting that this key element was taught to us in the Torah only in a roundabout manner, by means of a hint concealed inside the command to guard the matzos. What did the Torah want to teach us in combining this lesson with the laws of matzah? Why did it not state clearly that one should perform mitzvos with zerizus? The Nachalas Eliezer offers a powerful insight regarding this important trait and its derivation from the commandment not to allow the matzos to become leavened. In order to allow dough to become leaven, one need not do much; in fact, just leaving it alone and sitting by idly will allow it to rise and become chametz (leavened). The same is true of performing mitzvos; if a person does not take an active role and deal with a mitzvah that comes his way, he may miss the opportunity to do it at all. To think that the mitzvah is not running away is a mistake. If one grabs the mitzvah, he will merit reward in the World to Come; if not, it will just rush by him and be lost. Another important lesson can be learned here. One might think that the middah (trait) of zerizus is either an inborn character trait possessed by some, or an elevated level of observance to be acquired by those who would like to enhance their mitzvah performance and raise it to an exalted level. One could surmise that a mitzvah done without zerizus and one performed with zerizus are the same, as far as the mitzvos themselves are concerned. But the Torah comes to dispute this way of thinking. We are aware that the halachic difference between chametz and matzah is hardly noticeable in appearance or texture. A split second of waiting can change a dough from being matzah, fit for eating on Pesach, to chametz, which is forbidden to be consumed on Pesach. The two doughs may be similar in appearance and taste alike, but it is the zerizus that separates them. The same thing is true of mitzvos. A mitzvah performed with zerizus and a mitzvah performed without zerizus may seem similar, but they are actually worlds apart. return to top


Hey, I never knew that! By Ozer Alport Amazing Insights About the Weekly Parsha Q: The plague of the first-born equally killed both a father’s first-born and a mother’s first-born. Rabbi Moshe Leib Shachor, in his work Avnei Shoham, questions that if the concept of pidyon ha’ben – redeeming the first-born son from a Kohen – is to commemorate the fact that the Jewish first-borns were saved in Egypt (13:2), why is the mitzvah only done with a first-born from his mother and not also with a first-born to a father? A:Rabbi Shachor explains that the entire concept of bringing bikkurim (first-fruits) to the Kohanim in the Temple is to fight a person’s natural instincts to take credit for the products of his hard labor and forget about the Divine assistance which made it all possible. After a farmer puts so much effort into plowing and planting, it seems only natural that his crop should grow well and give him a good harvest. Therefore, the Torah “reminds” him Who is really responsible for the crops by requiring him to bring the very first fruits to Hashem’s agents in His Holy Temple. Similarly, when a couple gets married, it seems quite natural that within a year or two the woman should conceive and give birth to their first child. In order to remember that it’s not “only natural,” the Torah requires the first-born son to be redeemed from the Kohen, who again symbolizes Hashem’s agent. This reminds the happy new parents that what appeared natural is indeed miraculous, as anybody who ever contemplated the wonder of pregnancy and childbirth certainly realizes. We may now understand that such a “reminder” is necessary only when the birth would have otherwise appeared to have been completely “natural,” such as a first-born to the mother. In the event of a child who is a first-born to his father but not to his mother (if she has previously been married), or a child born following a miscarriage or by Caesarian-section, it is already clear that the typical order of events isn’t being followed in this case, and therefore no specific reminder is necessary. While it’s true that Moses scored 1000, this was only because he received a special neshama (soul) with the capability of scoring 1000. It may be that Aaron only scored 900 or 950, yet he is still considered to be Moses’s equal because his soul didn’t have the same abilities as Moses’s. When Moses was born, he filled up the house with spiritual light (Sotah 12a), something which can’t be said of Aaron and certainly not of any of us. Aaron did, however, utilize every last talent with which he was blessed, such that whatever score he received was the maximum possible for his soul. In this sense, although his raw score was lower, his “grade” was the same 100% as Moses’s, and in that sense they were equal. The boy or girl at the top of the class, our neighbor or relative or co-worker who always seems to do more than us and accomplish it quicker, will be held to a higher standard by Hashem. We should take comfort in the fact that Hashem won’t compare us to anybody else, judging every individual on the basis of his or her talents and trials, and at the same time use that knowledge to utilize our personal strengths to become the best Jew that we are capable of being – one who will merit to sit next to Moses in Gan Eden! Q: The Passover sacrifice was eaten on the first night of Passover – the 15th of Nissan. Why did Hashem command the Jews in Egypt regarding its consumption in a manner which, when read literally, seems to indicate that it was to be eaten on the night of the 14th of Nissan (12:18)? A: Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz, best known for his work Hafla’ah, answers that before the Torah was given at Mount Sinai, even the Jews used the secular concept of a “day” which begins in the morning and concludes at night. Only after receiving the Torah did we switch to a system in which a “day” is defined as beginning in the evening. According to this, the verse makes perfect sense, as the Jews in Egypt were instructed to eat matzos on what they considered to be the “night” of the 14th, which to their ears meant the night which follows the day of the 14th, and which is precisely what we refer to today as the night of the 15th! Ozer Alport can be reached at ozer@partnersintorah.org return to top Table Talk: For discussion around the Shabbos Table א) Hashem commanded Moses (10:1) to approach Pharaoh and warn him about the upcoming plague, explaining that “I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants so that I can place My signs in his midst.” If Hashem wanted the Jews to be freed from their bondage in Egypt, why did He harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would refuse to free the Jewish people instead of causing him to agree to allow the Jews to leave so that they could receive their freedom and the Torah that much sooner? (Rabbi Chaim Friedlander quoted in Peninim Vol. 8 Parshas Vaeira) ב) Why did Hashem declare (12:2) the month of Nissan, in which the Jews were freed from slavery from Egypt, to be the first of the months instead of Sivan, in which the Torah was given at Mount Sinai, or Tishrei in which the world was created? (Darash Moshe by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein) return to top LOOK WHO MADE PARTNER Recent sampling of people who've joined in as Partners Chanie Eckstein, Brooklyn, NY Draizy Wald, Brooklyn, NY Deidra Dunhoff, Pittsburgh, PA Shimon Solnica, Bergenfield, NJ Justin Gordon, Cherry Hill, NJ Making Partner Has Never Been This Easy!
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Click to print/View in PDF

Parsha Perspectives by Ozer Alport

“And this month will be for you the beginning of the months.”

talking points - parshas BO Rabbi Elazar Meisels

1. The All-Important Jews

2. Our Joy Knows Bounds

3. Jewish Hear Oh’s

The Waiting Game By: Rabbi Elazar Meisels

Hey, I never knew that! By Ozer Alport

Amazing Insights About the Weekly Parsha

Q: The Passover sacrifice was eaten on the first night of Passover – the 15th of Nissan. Why did Hashem command the Jews in Egypt regarding its consumption in a manner which, when read literally, seems to indicate that it was to be eaten on the night of the 14th of Nissan (12:18)?

talking points - parshas BO
Rabbi Elazar Meisels