Parshas Yisro -- 16 Shevat, 5771 / January 21, 2011 -- Vol. 2, Issue 7
Until this week, I could only imagine the immense astonishment and elation that a surprise party creates. The secret planning, hurried and hushed activities, and of course the moment of truth when all the details come together and the guest of honour arrives to an unexpected yet most enjoyable ‘surprise’! This past Wednesday, my wife amazingly facilitated a surprise party par excellence to celebrate my receiving Semicha. I was completely taken aback, having no idea when she did the cooking, baking, planning, phone calls, and emailing. Upon my opening the door the dialogue went something like this, “SURPRISE!!!” -- “Wow, thank you so much. I never expected this. This is truly wonderful… thank you for joining in our simcha… I’m really shocked”.
I suppose that this is a typical reaction to a surprise party. After all, everyone loves surprise parties. A surprise party is indicative of several ideas. One, it celebrates a simcha or accomplishment. Two, that there is a person or people who have gone out of their way to prepare a party for you, all without you knowing. It would be a truly rare occasion for a person to walk into a surprise party and admonish the guests for coming, to tell them that he doesn’t want a surprise party, and instruct them to go home.
We see in this week’s Parsha, Yisro, that the Jewish people accepted the Torah ‘naaseh v’nishmah,’ (we will do and we will listen) meaning they told Hashem they would keep the Torah before they knew what was included in it. Why didn’t the Jewish people demand to know what they were committing themselves to? How were they able to so readily agree to something so unknown? The Jewish people knew a good deal when they saw one! Receiving the Torah from Hashem was like attending a surprise party that had been orchestrated by the Almighty Himself. They knew that there was no way that the Torah was going to obligate the Jewish people to anything negative. Rather, they understood that this was an unparalleled opportunity to relish in the fact that G-d had gone out of His way to prepare for them a most unique and special experience.
In our day to day lives we often encounter surprises. Some are considerably large, while others are insignificant. On occasion, they are outright good in a revealed way while other times they are dressed in negativity and leave us feeling upset and even angry. However, if we approach the surprises in life with the knowledge that each and every surprise is being carefully planned, organized, and facilitated for us by G-d, we can rest assured that we are up to the challenge and bask in the glory of knowing that we must have accomplished something significant in G-d’s eyes to warrant such an opportunity for growth and development!
I suppose that this is a typical reaction to a surprise party. After all, everyone loves surprise parties. A surprise party is indicative of several ideas. One, it celebrates a simcha or accomplishment. Two, that there is a person or people who have gone out of their way to prepare a party for you, all without you knowing. It would be a truly rare occasion for a person to walk into a surprise party and admonish the guests for coming, to tell them that he doesn’t want a surprise party, and instruct them to go home.
We see in this week’s Parsha, Yisro, that the Jewish people accepted the Torah ‘naaseh v’nishmah,’ (we will do and we will listen) meaning they told Hashem they would keep the Torah before they knew what was included in it. Why didn’t the Jewish people demand to know what they were committing themselves to? How were they able to so readily agree to something so unknown? The Jewish people knew a good deal when they saw one! Receiving the Torah from Hashem was like attending a surprise party that had been orchestrated by the Almighty Himself. They knew that there was no way that the Torah was going to obligate the Jewish people to anything negative. Rather, they understood that this was an unparalleled opportunity to relish in the fact that G-d had gone out of His way to prepare for them a most unique and special experience.
In our day to day lives we often encounter surprises. Some are considerably large, while others are insignificant. On occasion, they are outright good in a revealed way while other times they are dressed in negativity and leave us feeling upset and even angry. However, if we approach the surprises in life with the knowledge that each and every surprise is being carefully planned, organized, and facilitated for us by G-d, we can rest assured that we are up to the challenge and bask in the glory of knowing that we must have accomplished something significant in G-d’s eyes to warrant such an opportunity for growth and development!
Reunions
This week, my family and I are on vacation in New York. Why New York, you may be wondering, when surely there are other more exotic places where we could spend my hard earned vacation time? Hawaii, an Alaskan cruise perhaps, or maybe a safari in South Africa. Well, the truth is that while I would very much like to visit all those places, this trip is no ordinary vacation.
About a month ago, I received an email invitation to the Mayanot 15 year reunion Shabbaton. Though I thought it would be nice to go, I shrugged it off thinking the cost of going would be too much and attending just wouldn’t be practical. Then 10 days ago, I received an invitation to the Mayanot reunion in the mail. When my wife Ettie saw this, she immediately exclaimed, “We’re going to go, right?” I was completely flabbergasted. Were we going to go? Was it feasible? Should I start getting excited making arrangements and break out a bottle of champagne?
Ettie’s answer in short, yes! “I mean, how you could miss the reunion?” she asked. I don’t know, I thought, how could I miss it? And so I asked my supervisor for the time off, made ticket reservations, called my mother to let her know we were coming, and packed as lightly as the Shurack’s know how. So 50,000 air miles, two suitcases, a stroller, car seat, carryon bag, and a lap top case later and we were ready to go. Once we decided we were going, I began thinking about our upcoming trip. What was so special about a reunion that we absolutely had to attend? Was it because there was going to be great food and lots of good wine? Was it because I would see friends I hadn’t seen in many years? Was it because I could go down memory lane from years ago? There has to be a uniquely important aspect to reunions that make them so incredibly special. There must be a source for this in the Torah.
This week’s parsha begins with Yisro (Moshe’s father-in-law) bringing Tzipporah (Moshe’s wife) and their two children to the Israelite camp where Moshe and the Jewish people were staying. A reunion between a husband and his wife and children is surely an emotional experience. There are several other reunions we witness in the Torah. For example, Yosef and his father Yaakov, Yosef and his brothers, and Yaakov and Eisav, just to name a few. In general, a prolonged gap from seeing each other evokes a plethora of emotions often bringing someone to tears of joy.
Indulge me for a moment if you will, as we take a journey into the semiotics of language. The word reunion is really the word “union” with the prefix “re”. As we know, a prefix is placed at the beginning of a word to modify or alter its meaning. The word union can be defined as the action of being joined together, or a state of harmony or agreement. The prefix “re” means “again”. Thus, a reunion is the unifying of a connection that has already been made but was temporarily separated.
This past Wednesday, we celebrated the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, commemorating the New Year for trees, with a particular focus placed on fruit trees. Fruit trees are a most remarkable creation. A tree begins as a seed which is planted in the ground. As it is watered and nourished, it slowly but surely grows into a full blown tree with many branches and delicious fruit which ripen and fall off the tree. The fruit are then taken to market, eaten, and their pits replanted. As the seed becomes reunited with the earth, the cycle begins anew.
A reunion is not solely about reliving the past, but also about rejuvenating your present self so that you can elevate yourself in the future. When we reminisce and laugh about old times, we also take note and make plans for the future. This Shabbos I celebrate my 33rd birthday. A reunion is not only applicable to a group of people, but also very much applies to oneself as well. On one’s birthday, one takes time to reconnect to the person they have been, the person they are, and the person Hashem knows they can be. It is said that on one’s birthday they have extra power to bless people. In this vain, I bless all of you with much health, happiness, success and all that you need both physically and spiritually.
About a month ago, I received an email invitation to the Mayanot 15 year reunion Shabbaton. Though I thought it would be nice to go, I shrugged it off thinking the cost of going would be too much and attending just wouldn’t be practical. Then 10 days ago, I received an invitation to the Mayanot reunion in the mail. When my wife Ettie saw this, she immediately exclaimed, “We’re going to go, right?” I was completely flabbergasted. Were we going to go? Was it feasible? Should I start getting excited making arrangements and break out a bottle of champagne?
Ettie’s answer in short, yes! “I mean, how you could miss the reunion?” she asked. I don’t know, I thought, how could I miss it? And so I asked my supervisor for the time off, made ticket reservations, called my mother to let her know we were coming, and packed as lightly as the Shurack’s know how. So 50,000 air miles, two suitcases, a stroller, car seat, carryon bag, and a lap top case later and we were ready to go. Once we decided we were going, I began thinking about our upcoming trip. What was so special about a reunion that we absolutely had to attend? Was it because there was going to be great food and lots of good wine? Was it because I would see friends I hadn’t seen in many years? Was it because I could go down memory lane from years ago? There has to be a uniquely important aspect to reunions that make them so incredibly special. There must be a source for this in the Torah.
This week’s parsha begins with Yisro (Moshe’s father-in-law) bringing Tzipporah (Moshe’s wife) and their two children to the Israelite camp where Moshe and the Jewish people were staying. A reunion between a husband and his wife and children is surely an emotional experience. There are several other reunions we witness in the Torah. For example, Yosef and his father Yaakov, Yosef and his brothers, and Yaakov and Eisav, just to name a few. In general, a prolonged gap from seeing each other evokes a plethora of emotions often bringing someone to tears of joy.
Indulge me for a moment if you will, as we take a journey into the semiotics of language. The word reunion is really the word “union” with the prefix “re”. As we know, a prefix is placed at the beginning of a word to modify or alter its meaning. The word union can be defined as the action of being joined together, or a state of harmony or agreement. The prefix “re” means “again”. Thus, a reunion is the unifying of a connection that has already been made but was temporarily separated.
This past Wednesday, we celebrated the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, commemorating the New Year for trees, with a particular focus placed on fruit trees. Fruit trees are a most remarkable creation. A tree begins as a seed which is planted in the ground. As it is watered and nourished, it slowly but surely grows into a full blown tree with many branches and delicious fruit which ripen and fall off the tree. The fruit are then taken to market, eaten, and their pits replanted. As the seed becomes reunited with the earth, the cycle begins anew.
A reunion is not solely about reliving the past, but also about rejuvenating your present self so that you can elevate yourself in the future. When we reminisce and laugh about old times, we also take note and make plans for the future. This Shabbos I celebrate my 33rd birthday. A reunion is not only applicable to a group of people, but also very much applies to oneself as well. On one’s birthday, one takes time to reconnect to the person they have been, the person they are, and the person Hashem knows they can be. It is said that on one’s birthday they have extra power to bless people. In this vain, I bless all of you with much health, happiness, success and all that you need both physically and spiritually.
Parshas Yisro: Final Destination
“Moshe ascended to G-d, and Hashem called to him from the mountain, saying, “So shall you say to the House of Yaakov, and relate to the Children of Israel” (Yisro 19:3).
Upon reading the above mentioned verse in this week’s parsha, the question that immediately comes to mind is why the Torah repeats itself. After all, aren’t the House of Yaakov and the Children of Israel synonymous? Is the Torah simply trying to reiterate the fact that Hashem wanted Moshe to speak to the Jewish people and not to any other nation? We know that in the Torah every single word is carefully selected with true precision and there are no redundant letters, let alone statements. Therefore, there must be a lesson that we can learn from what seems to be a set of superfluous words.
Rashi explains that the „House of Yaakov‟ refers to the Jewish women, while the „Children of Israel‟ refers to the Jewish men. Why is it that Hashem would want the Moshe to speak to the women before the men?
Women are the support system and very foundation of a family, and are thus referred to as a house. Dare I say that men, on the other hand, can be compared to children who without guidance and instruction are not capable of fully understanding their real potential. They need to be inspired and encouraged to actualize their abilities. To gain a greater understanding of this we can take a look at how the world was created. First, Hashem made Adam which consisted of a two-in-one creation fused together, male and female. Hashem told Adam regarding the Tree of Knowledge that “on the day you eat of it, you shall surely die,” (Beraishis 2:17).
Chassidus explains that the manner in which Hashem said this to Adam revealed Hashem’s true plan, which was for Adam and Chava to eat from the tree, go out into the world transform darkness into light and ultimately bring about the redemption through the coming of Moshiach. Hashem did not say, “if you will eat,” but rather, “on the day you eat,” alluding to the idea that Adam and Chava should indeed eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Adam, however, was content to stay in the garden. Thus, once Hashem saw that Adam wasn’t taking the hint, G-d decided it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone and separated/created Chava. Chava immediately knew what had to be done and embraced their mission by having her and Adam eat from the Tree of Knowledge.
Here we can learn another important idea. Why did Hashem asked Adam if he had eaten from the tree. Because Hashem wanted to see if Adam was going to take the credit for himself, or if he would acknowledge his wife’s integral role! Only with Chava’s help was Adam able of embracing the undertaking that they were truly capable of achieving. How true is the saying “behind every good man is an even greater woman.”
The following story immediately comes to mind. One summer night, Shmuel and his wife Rochel decided to take a leisurely drive to Manhattan from Long Island to celebrate 45 years of marriage. As they approached the city, the Empire State Building rose ahead of them looking majestic as its vibrant lights sparkled. After having a nice dinner, they decided to head back home. Once on the road, Rochel asked Shmuel where he was going, to which Shmuel replied that he was driving home. A few moments later Rochel against Shmuel where they were going. Shmuel started to worry that perhaps his wife was becoming forgetful and reiterated that he was driving back to Long Island. To which Rochel asked, “If so, when did they move the Empire State Building?”
A man may know the desired destination but it’s the woman who provides the directions!
Upon reading the above mentioned verse in this week’s parsha, the question that immediately comes to mind is why the Torah repeats itself. After all, aren’t the House of Yaakov and the Children of Israel synonymous? Is the Torah simply trying to reiterate the fact that Hashem wanted Moshe to speak to the Jewish people and not to any other nation? We know that in the Torah every single word is carefully selected with true precision and there are no redundant letters, let alone statements. Therefore, there must be a lesson that we can learn from what seems to be a set of superfluous words.
Rashi explains that the „House of Yaakov‟ refers to the Jewish women, while the „Children of Israel‟ refers to the Jewish men. Why is it that Hashem would want the Moshe to speak to the women before the men?
Women are the support system and very foundation of a family, and are thus referred to as a house. Dare I say that men, on the other hand, can be compared to children who without guidance and instruction are not capable of fully understanding their real potential. They need to be inspired and encouraged to actualize their abilities. To gain a greater understanding of this we can take a look at how the world was created. First, Hashem made Adam which consisted of a two-in-one creation fused together, male and female. Hashem told Adam regarding the Tree of Knowledge that “on the day you eat of it, you shall surely die,” (Beraishis 2:17).
Chassidus explains that the manner in which Hashem said this to Adam revealed Hashem’s true plan, which was for Adam and Chava to eat from the tree, go out into the world transform darkness into light and ultimately bring about the redemption through the coming of Moshiach. Hashem did not say, “if you will eat,” but rather, “on the day you eat,” alluding to the idea that Adam and Chava should indeed eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Adam, however, was content to stay in the garden. Thus, once Hashem saw that Adam wasn’t taking the hint, G-d decided it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone and separated/created Chava. Chava immediately knew what had to be done and embraced their mission by having her and Adam eat from the Tree of Knowledge.
Here we can learn another important idea. Why did Hashem asked Adam if he had eaten from the tree. Because Hashem wanted to see if Adam was going to take the credit for himself, or if he would acknowledge his wife’s integral role! Only with Chava’s help was Adam able of embracing the undertaking that they were truly capable of achieving. How true is the saying “behind every good man is an even greater woman.”
The following story immediately comes to mind. One summer night, Shmuel and his wife Rochel decided to take a leisurely drive to Manhattan from Long Island to celebrate 45 years of marriage. As they approached the city, the Empire State Building rose ahead of them looking majestic as its vibrant lights sparkled. After having a nice dinner, they decided to head back home. Once on the road, Rochel asked Shmuel where he was going, to which Shmuel replied that he was driving home. A few moments later Rochel against Shmuel where they were going. Shmuel started to worry that perhaps his wife was becoming forgetful and reiterated that he was driving back to Long Island. To which Rochel asked, “If so, when did they move the Empire State Building?”
A man may know the desired destination but it’s the woman who provides the directions!
