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07 February 2025
Reb Ginsbourg: BeShalach – When Pharaoh Sent Them Out
Who freed the slaves - Hashem or Pharaoh?
We read in Parashat Bo (12:29-33) that after ‘Hashem smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt..’ Pharoah ‘called to Moshe and Aaron at night and said: ’Rise up, go out from among my people..go and serve Hashem as you have spoken!.
‘Egypt imposed itself strongly upon the people to hasten to send them out of the land, for they said: We are all dying’.
Our Parasha - Parashat Beshalach - then relates (13:17-20) that ‘it happened when Pharoah sent out the people..Hashem turned the people towards the way of the Wilderness to the Sea of Reeds..they journeyed from Succoth, and encamped in Ethan, at the edge of the Wilderness.'
We further read: (14:1-9), that Hashem commanded that the ‘people turn back and encamp in front of Baal Zephon..by the sea. And Pharoah will say ..they are trapped..the desert has closed on them.And I will harden Pharoah’s heart and he will pursue them..And they did so.
‘It was reported to Pharoah that the people had fled, and Pharoah and his servants had a change of heart. and they said:What is this that we have done, that we have released Israel from serving us?’
The Torah then relates that the Egyptians pursued them, and met their decreed deaths in the sea.
The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh comments: ’We need to know why the Torah opens with ויהי: an expression of regret, instead of one of joy and rejoicing’, when it is relatimg the exodus, ‘and also why it credits the departure to Pharoah, and not to the Master of all Deeds, who was the One who took us out of the land of Egypt.
‘The psukim relate the reason that caused all the sorrow that Bnei Israel underwent - the pursuit by Pharoah - and expounded the reason, which was because Hashem did not take Bnei Israel out of Egypt against the will of Pharoah, but rather forced him to send them out, until he said: Go, and depart.
‘This led him to later have thoughts of pursuing them, and this is what was to cause sorrow to Bnei Israel - and also to bring destruction to himself and to his people.
Go and learn that precious in Hashem’s eyes is the death of His creations, as our Sages say, that Hashem chastised the angels who wished to say Shira, on seeing the Egyptians drowning, in the sea.
‘As against all this, the Torah uses the word ויהי, an expression of sorrow, and what caused it? That Pharoah sent the people out, as if Hashem had taken them out against Pharoah’s will, there would have not been place for him to pursue them.
‘However, his eye deceived him, which led him to think that it depended on him, and he therefore thought that he could retake them - this leasing to the ensuing travail to Bnei israel, from the pursuit.’
Rav Yosef Salant expounds: ’From our psukim, we read that it was Pharoah who ‘sent’ Bnei israel, and ‘let the people go’, and it does not say: ’And it was when Israel departed from Egypt, or: And it was when Hashem took Israel out if Egypt, the intention being to say that their departure was by Pharoah - that he personally sent them, and that because of this, Hashem did not lead them by way of the land of the Phillistines for it was near.
‘This requires understanding.
‘We read in the Gemara (Sotah 11.), that, when the Egyptians, decided to enslave Israel, they said: Let us outsmart them, meaning: Let us outsmart Him, their Redeemer, in a way, that He will not punish us measure-for-measure.
‘They decided: By water, as Hashem had sworn, after the Flood, that he would not again destroy the world by flood.
‘They, however, had misunderstood, for Hashem had forsworn destroying the whole world by water, but had not forsworn bringing it on a single nation, and - as we read later - He indeed punished them in the very thing by which they had afflicted Bnei Israel: by drowning in the sea.
‘There were here two ways to punish the Egyptians measure-for-measure: by flood, or by drowning in the sea.
‘The change of nature, in the splitting of the sea, and drowning them in it, was ‘more difficult’ than bringing a flood on them, more so as the Angel of the Sea ‘objected’ that Bnei Israel were - no less than the Egyptians - idol worshippers, and therefore did not merit that the sea be split, for them.
A flood would have been ‘an easier measure-for- measure punishment.
‘However, since Pharoah had said: And also, Israel I will not send out, Hashem wanted to show that, in fact, he - Pharoah, himself - would personally send them, and that he would do so willingly, and without being coerced by a flood, or the like.
‘Further, this led Pharoah and his servants to pursue Bnei Israel, and to drown by the miraculous parting of the sea, so that the salvation of Israel should be by a measure-for-measure fate of the Egyptians.
‘Had the exodus been against the will of the Egyptians - as by a flood - and not by Pharoah willingly sending them out - there would not have been the concern that they might wish to return to Egypt, more so - despite their suffering there - due to the goodwill of Pharoah, and the people, as Pharaoh showed them great honor - as our Sages relate - personally accompanying them from the land.
‘This might have led them to think that - softened by the blows and makot they suffered - the hearts of the Egyptians had turned, to ‘loving’ them, and that it might be good to return to the land they knew.
‘Because of this concern, Hashem caused Bnei Israel to go into the desert of Yam Suf, so that Pharoah and all his hordes should pursue them - Hashem having hardened their hearts - as one man with one heart, and Bnei Israel would learn the true feelings of the Egyptians, towards them - unchanged from their cruelty to them, in their subjugation, in Egypt.
‘Further, Hashem wanted to show Pharoah, that his proud boast: And also, Bnei Israel I will not send, were as nought, as he himself did send them - and yet chastised himself: Why did we send them from our service, this self-reflection being the very cause of his demise.’
Rav Zalman Sorotzkin expounds:’You would have thought that the increased harshness of their burden, after Moshe first approached Pharoah, to release them, would have - as Hashem intended - caused all of Bnei Israel to want to leave Egypt, even if that meant going into the desert, without food or sustenance, their only concern being to escape their cruel oppressors, and burden.
‘It would not cross our minds, that they might wish to return to Egypt!
‘However, since in the last days before their departure, the Egyptians showed them friendship - even lending them their valuable utensils - and Pharoah himself accompanied them, it was easy to forget what they had suffered.
‘This was the concern here, that ‘when Pharoah sent them… and accompanied them himself, should they see battle, they might decide to return to Egypt.
‘Hashem therefore ‘caused them to turn- despite they being impressed by the honor given them by Pharoah - to the way of the desert.’
Rav Gedalia Schorr adds: ’The midrash, on our opening passuk:’When Pharoah sent Bnei Israel’, asks: Did Pharoah in fact send them out - does not Balaam say: (Balak 23:22): G-d has brought them out of Egypt, whereas, in our Parasha, we read that Pharoah sent them out?
‘This comes to teach that Pharoah accompanied them, as they left, pleading with them to seek mercy for him, as we read in the preceding Parasha.
‘The ‘sending’ in our passuk, means ‘accompanying’, as we find (Vayera 18:16) ‘Avraham going with them, לשלחם: to send them’.
‘The Maharal expounds that the linguistic root of the word לויה: ‘accompaniment’, is ‘connection’ - by the accompaniment, there remains a connection between the two people.
‘Here, too, when our Sages state that Pharoah accompanied Bnei Israel ,it means that he remained ‘connected’ with them, as they had not, as yet, totally disconnected from the Egyptians - this being alluded to in the opening word of our Parashs: ויהי, which, our Sages teach, always alludes to צרה: regret, that the connection still remained.
‘For this reason, ‘G-d did not lead them by way of the land of the Phillistines for it was near’, as the Phillistines ways were very close to the impure ways of Egypt.
‘As Bnei Israel had not yet completely ‘disconnected’ from the Egyptians, they had not yet completely ‘left Egypt’, so they could not be permitted to travel through the land of the Phillistines, ‘because it was near’ - and this was not the way to break the connection with the Egyptians - added to which, there was a danger that they would adhere to the impurity of the Phillistines, should they travel through their land.’
The Chatam Sofer, on the passuk in Parashat Yitro:’All that Hashem had done for Israel, that He saved them from the hand of Egypt’, elucidates:’We say: ‘we were slaves to Pharoah in Egypt, and had Hashem not taken our ancestors out from Egypt, then we and and our sons and our sons’ sons would have remained enslaved’.
‘Expounds the Maasei Hashem, had Hashem Himself not taken us out of Egypt, through His miracles of the ten makot, but instead, had put in the heart of Pharoah to send us - out of the goodness of his heart -though we would have been free men, we would nevertheless be ‘enslaved’ to Pharoah, out of a debt of gratitude, that he sent us out to freedom.
‘This is the purport of Yitro’s words: ‘What Hashem had done for Israel’: that he afflicted Pharoah with the awesome ten plagues, so that he should be compelled to send Bnei Israel out, not from- but against - his will.
‘This was for the good of Israel, that ‘He saved them’, from any enslavement - including a debt of gratitude - to the Egyptians.’
A parting gem from the Shem miShmuel:’We need to understand Pharoah’s words:’What have we done, that we have sent them from serving us?’, as this suggests that the departure was by Pharoah’s consent, whereas the Torah relates that they were sent out - not from the goodwill of the Egyptians - but out of fear that ‘we will all die’.
‘How, then could the Egyptians say:’What have we done?’, as they were compelled to send Bnei Israel!
‘The Midrash adds, that when Pharoah told Moshe to depart, Moshe responded: Are we thieves, to leave in the night? We shall leave in the morning. Pharoah exclaimed: do you want all of Egypt to die, you are no longer my slaves, but the slaves of Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu, free men.
‘Thus, we see that the departure was not from Pharoah’s goodwill, but from the fear of the final plague —so how, then, could Pharoah now complain about freeing his slaves?
‘Further, could there be a greater insanity, than to pursue Bnei Israel, who, as the Egyptians saw, were guided by pillars of Fire and Cloud from Above, a wondrous sight the like of which was not seen.
‘The answer has to be that given by our Sages, that Pharoah’s heart was precluded from reacting to what his eyes saw.
‘Sforno adds: the ability of exercising choice, with which man is endowed, is a function of man being created in the divine image - therefore, if ,this image is lost due to one’s misdeeds, the ability to choose, is lost.
‘This is what happened to Pharoah, as a result of his impurity, and it was this that explains his senseless pursuit of Bnei Israel.
‘Consequently, it was not Pharoah who consciously said:’What have we done, to send them from serving s?’, but a force which had taken him over, so that he should meet his fate in the sea.
‘It was this same force that had earlier led him to send Bnei Israel out, and to deceive him into believing that he was doing so from his own volition.
‘Further, as it was not his goodwill that caused him to release them, he is owed no gratitude for their departure.’
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/403510
Eliezer Meir Saidel: Beshalach – A Sine of the TImes
A Sine of the Times – Beshalach
וַיַּסַּע מֹשֶׁה אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִיַּם סוּף וַיֵּצְאוּ אֶל מִדְבַּר שׁוּר וַיֵּלְכוּ שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים בַּמִּדְבָּר וְלֹא מָצְאוּ מָיִם (שמות טו, כב).
Parshat Beshalach describes what is probably the greatest supernatural miracle ever to occur in history, the splitting of the Red Sea, and following it, the song of praise sung by Am Yisrael – Shirat HaYam. For this reason, this Shabbat is also called Shabbat Shira.
This parsha also highlights one of the most startling paradoxes in the Torah, which uncannily reflects current events and the state of Am Yisrael today. By delving deeper into the secrets of Beshalach, we will hopefully obtain a greater understanding of the exciting times we are living through.
In previous shiurim we discussed how יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם and the Ten Plagues were a reenactment of the six days of Creation. No generation before or after (so far) has ever experienced a larger, or more varied, series of supernatural miracles on a scale of the generation of the Exodus.
To be exact, every facet of our natural world is a miracle, the rising and setting of the sun, photosynthesis, sight, rain, rainbows, etc. They are all miracles, but they are miracles dulled by familiarity, to such a degree that they have become the "norm". A supernatural miracle is not necessarily of a greater scale than any of the natural miracles that we experience every second of every day, but because it is a deviation from the natural order, something we have not yet, or seldom encountered, we tend to regard it as a "miracle".
The generation of the Exodus were witness to HKB"H's altering the laws of nature on a daily basis, beginning a year prior to the Exodus (משנה עדויות ב, י). It was an irrevocable revelation of HKB"H's Shechina, culminating at קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף and Har Sinai, where Am Yisrael had an unfiltered view of the Shechina, בְּאַסְפַּקְלַרְיָא הַמְּאִירָה. The Yalkut Shimoni (שמות, רמד) says that even a maidservant at קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף achieved a level of prophecy greater than that of the prophets Yechezkel or Yeshayahu.
It all began when HKB"H sent Moshe back to Egypt and gave Moshe certain "signs" to show the זְקֵנִים – his staff turning into a snake, his hand becoming leprous and instantly recovering. These are not run-of-the-mill, daily sights one sees - they are supernatural. Upon seeing these miracles and Moshe revealing the "codeword" for the Geulah – פָּקֹד יִפְקֹד, the passuk says וַיַּאֲמֵן הָעָם... (שמות ד, לא) - the זְקֵנִים conveyed this to the rest of Am Yisrael and they believed in Moshe's authenticity, that he had been sent by HKB"H to redeem them. A moment of revelation and faith.
However, the very next passuk says וְאַחַר בָּאוּ מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֶל פַּרְעֹה... (שמות ה, ט), that Moshe and Aharon went to confront Pharaoh. Only Moshe and Aharon? What happened to the זְקֵנִים? Rashi (ibid.) says that as they approached Pharaoh's palace, the זְקֵנִים dropped out, one by one, out of fear. Pharaoh's palace had 400 entrances and each was guarded by lions, bears and other wild animals (ילקוט שמעוני, שמות, קפא), to prevent unauthorized entrance.
One passuk beforehand we have an "epiphany" and a short passuk later, a "nadir" - מֵאִיגָּרָא רָמָא לְבֵירָא עַמִּיקְתָא. The passuk said וַיַּאֲמֵן הָעָם didn't it? What happened to that? Do you believe or not? "We believe, sure we believe, but - without the lions and bears. First let's see Moshe and Aharon get into the palace and see what happens. If they succeed, we will follow!"
In the beginning of our parsha Am Yisrael is finally set free from Egypt, Pharaoh sends us on our merry way, north east, towards the Suez Canal and Eretz Yisrael. Then HKB"H says to Moshe "I am going to play a trick on Pharaoh. I want you to do a U-turn and head back towards Egypt. Pharaoh will think you are lost and confused. This will cause him to regret his decision to set you free and he will chase after you!"
Moshe tells Am Yisrael to stop in their tracks and do a U-turn. Am Yisrael could easily ask questions. "Hang on, did we leave something behind? Why are we going back?" But no! The Mechilta says that they asked no questions and believed Moshe implicitly אֵין לָנוּ אֶלָּא דִּבְרֵי בֶן עַמְרָם (רש"י, שמות יד, ד).
The ruse worked, Pharaoh mustered his entire army and set out in hot pursuit.
Am Yisrael see 600 Panzer tanks approaching from the south west and what do they do? They start to complain! הַמִבְּלִי אֵין קְבָרִים בְּמִצְרַיִם לְקַחְתָּנוּ לָמוּת בַּמִּדְבָּר מַה זֹּאת עָשִׂיתָ לָּנוּ וכו' (שמות יד, יא). Hang on a second, a short moment before we said that they believed Moshe implicitly and followed him blindly. What happened to that? "Sure, we believe Moshe implicitly, but that was before the tanks!"
Another epiphany followed by a nadir.
HKB"H then performs the greatest supernatural miracle in the history of mankind (so far - in the impending Geulah the miracles will be even greater than that). During קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף Am Yisrael achieve the highest degree of prophecy possible, an astounding revelation of HKB"H's Shechina in vivid 3-D (perhaps 4-D).
Walking through the sea in 12 lanes, one for each tribe, separated by transparent walls of water, resembling sapphire. Treading on dry, level paved stone, not squishy sea sand. Not one person getting wet from even a single drop of water. Thirsty? Just stretch out your arm and place your cup into the walls of sea water to your left or right and it is filled with fresh drinking water. Feel like a snack? Reach into the walls of water on either side and draw out any fruit you can imagine, from a multitude of trees in the walls of water. Fill your lungs with a breath of fresh air, not the sulfurous sea smell, HKB"H infused the air instead with the beautiful scent of Gan Eden.
Am Yisrael burst into song.
Have you ever been in a choir? I was in the Yeoville shul choir when I was 8-years-old, back in Johannesburg, South Africa. In order to get the tunes right we had to meet once during the week for an hour, so that everyone could practice the correct harmonies and diction. At Yam Suf you have 3 million people spontaneously bursting into song, each one singing in perfect harmony and each uttering exactly the same words, with no prior practice! How is that possible? The answer is it was a prophecy and HKB"H put the words into their mouths, just like with every other prophet.
What a life changing moment! What an epiphany!
Just a few psukkim later, however, Am Yisrael again complain at Marah. There is no water to drink. What happened to the epiphany? Even just the memory of the fresh water they drank while crossing Yam Suf should have been enough to sustain them and quench their thirst, but no! "Yes, we had total faith, there was drinking water in the walls of sea water on either side of us. But that was yesterday. This morning there is no water, just this foul-smelling, brackish pond in Marah!" Another nadir.
Am Yisrael continue on to Har Sinai, where HKB"H appears to them again בְּאַסְפַּקְלַרְיָא הַמְּאִירָה. They hear the first 2 commandments from HKB"H directly, some say all 10 (שיר השירים רבה פרשה א אות ב). It is a historic, supernatural event, unprecedented since the 6 days of Creation. The greatest epiphany ever to occur to Am Yisrael.
A short 40 days later, when Moshe is "late" descending from Har Sinai, Am Yisrael sink to their lowest point as a nation when they sin with the egel! The lowest nadir of all the nadirs. But you were just at Har Sinai – you heard HKB"H Himself speak to you! What has changed since then? Where is your faith? "Yes, we heard HKB"H Himself with our own ears, it was very uplifting - a life changing experience! But that was a few weeks ago, when Moshe was here with us, now he isn't!"
And on it goes, throughout sefer Bamidbar. The story of the birth of our nation is a series of epiphanies and nadirs, crests and troughs … very much like a sine wave.
The question is "How is it possible? How can someone who has just experienced the highest spiritually uplifting experience a human being can possibly imagine, descend to the opposite pole of the magnet a short time after?"
The Mefarshim give many answers – It was not Am Yisrael, it was the erev rav. Am Yisrael still had their slave mentality that took 40 years in the desert to shed. It was only a small group of "elites" who, like Korach, thought that they were better than everyone else and above the law. The spies were afraid of what leaving the spiritual "cocoon" of the Midbar and entering the physical reality of Eretz Yisrael would do to Am Yisrael … etc. etc. They are all right.
However, the fundamental answer to explain the paradoxical "sine wave" pattern of Am Yisrael's behavior, not just the generation of the Midbar, but throughout all the generations since, is not the above.
The answer is much simpler. To achieve perfect faith requires work, a lot of work. So much work in fact, that very few have actually achieved it in their lifetimes.
Epiphanies are great, miraculous, stunning, mind blowing, conception altering, life changing … but they are short lived. They are like being struck by lightning. Nobody who has been struck by lightning and survived to tell the tale, will ever forget that in their life. The question is – "What does that jolt of electricity do to you, not to simply serve as a memory, but - to change the rest of your life?"
For an epiphany to change the rest of our lives, requires a lot of work on our part, fundamental work on our very essence – who we are, what we believe. Often it requires a "rebirth", rebuilding ourselves again, from the ground up. It often requires negating our former self and hardest of all, for any human being … admitting to ourselves that we were wrong. This is the concept of a ba'al teshuva.
The fourth perek of Pirkei Avot begins with a list of things that pertain to the number ten. It begins with the concept of ten מַאֲמָרוֹת/סְפִירוֹת, followed by a series of sets of ten - epiphanies and nadirs, crests and troughs – a sine wave.
The reason that the list begins with the ten סְפִירוֹת (spheres), is because a sine wave is in fact - a sphere, a circle. A sine wave is the linear manifestation of a circle. If you take any fixed point on a circle, attach a pen to it, rotate the circle one full cycle, while feeding a sheet of paper under the pen in a straight line - the resulting plotted curve will be a sine wave. See this video. [see below]
The conventional way of viewing our lives is linear, from birth to death. This is the pattern of a sine wave (crests and troughs), ups and downs. Although we recognize that the downs are inevitable and inescapable, most of us would prefer to have more of the ups and less of the downs. I know of very few people who would welcome and look forward to the downs.
In the time of Mashiach and the Geulah, the only individual korban to persist will be the Toda. The question is why will we need to bring a Toda in the time of the Geulah? A Toda is brought either by someone who returns from a sea voyage, someone who returns from a journey in the desert, someone who recovers from a serious illness or someone who is freed from prison. In the time of Mashiach none of us will need to undertake a sea voyage or a journey in the desert, not to make parnasa nor to visit a relative. We will all have more parnasa than we can handle and all our relatives will be here in Eretz Yisrael. We will no longer suffer illness or imprisonment. R' Shlomo Kluger (חכמת התורה, פרשת צו) says that we will bring a Toda in the era of Mashiach to thank HKB"H for all the good and bad we had during our lives, which in retrospect we will come to understand was not bad at all, but good.
To have perfect faith, one has to view life as a circle, not a sine wave. A person who understands that the sine wave pattern of life is in reality a circle, realizes that there are no downs and no ups, they are all part of the same, integral circle! A person with such a realization will thank HKB"H for both the ups and for the downs, since they are both part of the same circle of good that HKB"H gives us, כָּל דְּעָבִיד רַחֲמָנָא לְטָב עֲבִיד. The purpose of a trough is that we will lift ourselves up to the next crest, which will be higher than the one before it.
There were only three people in history that achieved this level of faith – Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, the Avot.
This is the essence of שִׁירָה. In Aramaic שִׁירָה means - a circle. For example, when Eliezer meets Rivka at the well and places the circular bracelets on her arms וּשְׁנֵי צְמִידִים עַל יָדֶיהָ (בראשית כג, כב), Onkelos translates it as וּתְרֵין שֵׁירִין עַל יְדַהָא.
שִׁירָה is closure of a circle. Shirat Hayam was closure of a circle for Moshe. Shirat Hayam begins אָז יָשִׁיר מֹשֶׁה (שמות טו, א). Why begin with the word אָז? R' Bachyei says it is closure of a circle for another אָז. In parshat Va'eira it says וּמֵאָז בָּאתִי אֶל פַּרְעֹה לְדַבֵּר בִּשְׁמֶךָ הֵרַע לָעָם הַזֶּה (שמות ה, כג). Moshe told Pharaoh to free Am Yisrael and the result was that conditions became worse for them – they now had to make their own bricks. Moshe said "Look what's happened! Things are worse since I have arrived". This was a trough, a nadir for Moshe, a lack of faith.
HKB"H said to Moshe (שמות רבה ו, ד) "How I miss the Avot. They had perfect faith and never questioned me! Moshe, you are not seeing the full circle, just the trough!" After קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף Moshe finally saw the whole picture, the full circle, and therefore began Shirat Hayam with אָז, thus closing the circle.
Someone brings a korban Toda to give thanks to HKB"H, to sing praise to Him for the miracle. While your boat is sinking, it is hard to see that anything good could come of it and sing praise to HKB"H. However, when HKB"H sends a young woman to dive down and save you from drowning, the same woman who will later become your wife … only then, in retrospect, can you see that things had to happen in that way – it was all for your benefit כָּל דְּעָבִיד רַחֲמָנָא לְטָב עֲבִיד. This is the essence of שִׁירָה.
After that brief introduction, we can now begin the shiur.
In the last thirteen months, Am Yisrael has experienced a series of epiphanies and nadirs, approaching the scale of יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם.
On Simchat Torah תשפ"ד, October 7, 2023, we were struck by a lightning bolt when Hamas invaded Israel in the south and wreaked a mini-Holocaust. How does one view this event? As a crest or a trough? I do not know anyone who regards October 7 as a crest.
During קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף, there was an enormous קִטְרוּג against Am Yisrael. The ס"מ said to HKB"H "Why are You going to drown the Egyptians and not Am Yisrael? הַלָּלוּ עוֹבְדֵי עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וְהַלָּלוּ עוֹבְדֵי עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה (ילקוט שמעוני, שמות, רלד).
Moshe davened to HKB"H. What was HKB"H's response? מַה תִּצְעַק אֵלָי דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִסָּעוּ (שמות יד, טו). It will not help to daven, with such a legitimate קִטְרוּג, there is nothing I, HKB"H, can do. The only way to escape the דִּין is - וְיִסָּעוּ, mesirut nefesh. Advance into the sea until the water is up to your noses, in that way I can cancel the קִטְרוּג.
On October 7 there was an enormous קִטְרוּג against Am Yisrael and this is why Hamas attacked. The קִטְרוּג was so great that the intention was that not only Hamas would attack from the south, but that Hezbollah would simultaneously attack from the north. Iran together with its proxies had been preparing this two-pronged invasion for years. We only discovered the extent and imminence of this threat when we later conquered southern Lebanon. If that had been the case, there would not have been 1697 deaths and 251 hostages taken on October 7, but perhaps five times that number or more, if Hezbollah had wreaked the same carnage in the north.
The only thing that saved us from that disaster was the mesirut nefesh of all those brave souls who, without being called and with no regard for their own lives, rushed south to try save as many lives of Am Yisrael as possible. It was their mesirut nefesh that diminished the severity of the דִּין and saved thousands of lives on that day. Nothing else can explain why Hezbollah did not attack at the same time as Hamas.
October 7 was definitely a "trough", but as a result of it, we ended up preventing a far greater disaster that could easily have befallen us in the north. Mixed in with the bad - was also the good.
Since October 7 we have had many "crests", many triumphs over our enemies, down south, up north and in Iran, with exploding beepers, assassinations of leaders, destroying of Iran's air defenses, etc. that rank on a similar scale to the Ten Plagues.
All these lightning bolts, crests and troughs, you would think that it would do something to Am Yisrael, that it would change peoples' conceptions. To be sure, there are many in Am Yisrael, including myself, who have changed themselves as a result of these overt revelations of HKB"H. However, there remain many who were initially shocked, who were later astounded, but remained exactly as they were before October 7, with the same conceptions, with the same agendas. To change requires too much work and not everyone is capable of remaking themselves from the ground up, or admitting they were wrong.
This might mistakenly lead us to believe that Am Yisrael is in an irreparable mess right now, with a divide that cannot be bridged. We look at many of the left-wing secular Jews and wonder "How can we wake them up and change their conceptions?" The truth is that these secular Jews are insecure and afraid. They know deep in their hearts that they are not abiding by HKB"H's Torah and therefore they think that He is not watching over them and protecting them. They think that the only way to accomplish anything is if they do it themselves, without relying on HKB"H. This is obviously not true. It was this generation of secular, left-wing Jews who established this country with incredible mesirut nefesh and this has lessened the קִטְרוּג. HKB"H is watching over all of us, the secular left wing, the religious right wing – ALL OF US!
The good news is that "we ain't seen nothing yet!" The Geulah "train" has left the station and is steaming ahead. The miracles that we are about to see, will eclipse anything we have ever seen or heard of. They will even eclipse even those experienced in Egypt during the Exodus. They are coming even though we are not worthy הַלָּלוּ עוֹבְדֵי עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וְהַלָּלוּ עוֹבְדֵי עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה. They are coming, not because HKB"H owes us anything, but because He made a promise to the Avot, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, to glorify His name and because He loves us - וְזוֹכֵר חַסְדֵי אָבוֹת, וּמֵבִיא גוֹאֵל לִבְנֵי בְנֵיהֶם לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ, בְּאַהֲבָה.
Anyone watching the news this week can no longer doubt that Mashiach is imminent. We have been so bogged down in our own "mess" for so many decades, with no light at the end of the tunnel, no way to break out of the self-defeating patterns we have repeatedly found ourselves in. This week HKB"H sent a מֶלֶךְ כּוֹרֶשׁ with a solution that nobody could have ever dreamed of and with the clout to actually make it happen. Suddenly, in an instant, the whole scenario is turned around 180°. This is the Geulah, כְּהֶרֶף עַיִן - the impossible suddenly becomes possible.
This is not the time for the blame game, it is not time for "I told you so". It is time for reconciliation within Am Yisrael, an outpouring of love for our fellow Jew and unity. This is what HKB"H is waiting for, to finally bring us full circle, so that we can all sing שִׁירָה to Him.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim