MHA-FYOS Dean's Blog

The set of parshiyot that we are currently in the middle of present the development of  b’nei yisrael  as a nation. Beginning with their experience as bystanders to the plagues and through the salvation at the Red Sea and the revelation at Har Sinai,  b’nei yisrael  were exposed to a clear perception of the existence of Hashem and of His relationship with the Jewish People. However, we will soon be exposed to a crisis in the relationship between  bnei yisrael  and Hashem in the experience at the Golden Calf. One of my teachers, Rav Yitzchak Mirsky, he should live and be well, asks: How could  bnei yisrael  see all of the miracles of Hashem with their own eyes and not believe in Hashem? In truth, we do see another case in Tanach of people seeing Hashem’s miracles and not believing in Hashem. In the time of Eliyahu haNavi, the Jewish people were split into two political entities, two kingdoms – the kingdom of Judah which was comprised of th...

This week’s  parasha , Parashat Yitro, presents the reuniting of Moshe Rabbenu and his father-in-law, Yitro – the namesake of our  parasha . The Torah records that at the beginning of their encounter, Yitro says to Moshe, “I am your father-in-law, Yitro, who is coming to you and your wife and your two sons with her.” Rabbenu Ovadia Seforno, and a number of our commentators, are troubled by the inclusion of this statement. What does it add? To answer this question, Seforno makes recourse to a teaching of our Chachamim in Masechet Pesachim 112a – do not enter your home suddenly, all the more so, the house of your friend. Using this dictum, Seforno explains that Yitro was attempting to give Moshe advance warning so that Moshe could have adequate time to make appropriate preparations for Yitro’s lodging. Yitro was concerned about Moshe’s interests and concerns – his announcement is a testament to his high ethical standing. A more expanded version of this Rabbinic dictu...

This week’s  parasha , Parashat Beshalach, presents the splitting of the Red Sea. The Torah describes the miracle of the salvation of b’nei yisrael  who witnessed their oppressors, the Egyptians, drowning while they remained safe on the far shore. In response to this miracle, Moshe led the Jewish People in shirat hayam – the Song of the Sea – a song of praise of Hashem for His miraculously saving  b’nei yisrael . In Masechet Megilah 10b, the  gemara  cites a well-known  midrash  – “As the Egyptians started to drown in the Red Sea, the heavenly hosts began to sing praises, but G-d silenced the angels, saying, ‘The works of my hands are drowning in the sea, and you wish to sing praises!’” Upon examination, this gemara is difficult to understand. If it was improper for the angels to sing praises in the face of the death G-d’s creation (the Egyptians), why were Moshe and  b’nei yisrael  not subject to criticism for singing praises in the ...

Our  parasha , Parashat Bo, is the third in a set of four  parshiyot  dealing with the experience of  b’nei yisrael  in  Mitzrayim . Moshe and Aharon approach Paroh and declare that if he refuses to let the Jewish people go, the plague of locusts will be unleashed upon Egypt. Moshe elaborates and explains that all of Egypt will be consumed. Moshe and Aharon leave Paroh. Paroh’s servants complain to Paroh. “How long will you allow Moshe to be a trap for us? Let the men go so that they should serve their G-d. Do you not know that Egypt has been destroyed?” The Torah continues the narrative. “And Moshe and Aharon were returned to Paroh. Paroh says to them, ‘Go serve the Lord your God. Who and who goes?' Moshe responds, ‘We will go with our young and with our old, we will go with our sons and with our daughters with our flocks and with our herds; because it is a festival unto G-d for us.’” Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz, known by the name...