DRINKING RAINWATER
A few weeks ago, our son-in-law, Rabbi Dovid Winer, stepped outside his kollel for a breath of fresh air and to relieve his tired eyes. Standing outside the bais medrash was an old man, who started speaking to him in a very kindly manner.
What subject did he speak about? Irritated eyes!
How did he know that Reb Dovid’s eyes were tired? Maybe this was Eliyahu Hanovi!
You never know!
The old man told Reb Dovid that, when it rains, it’s good to let the drops fall into one’s eyes and mouth.
There is a possuk in next week’s parsha which says, “If you hearken diligently to the voice of Hashem, your G-d …. I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I placed on Egypt… for – ‘ani Hashem rofecha’ -- I am Hashem, your Healer.” The words “ani Hashem rofecha” are the roshei taivos of Chodesh Iyar. For this and other reasons (for example, the fact that the mann started falling in Iyar) the month of Iyar has come to be associated with healing.
I heard from my chavrusa, Rabbi Shaul Geller, that Reb Pinchas of Koritz said that rains which fall during Chodesh Iyar have a special power of healing, especially for diseases that have no known cure. People would let the rain enter their mouth and spread its healing power within them.
During a recent rainstorm, I was walking through a park in Yerushalayim. I tilted my head upwards and let the rain enter my eyes and mouth. Although it was not Chodesh Iyar, I remembered the words of the old man.
Chazal say, “A day of rain is greater than the Resurrection of the Dead ….” (Taanis 7a). “Rav Yehuda said: a day of rain is as momentous as the day on which the Torah was given, as it is written ‘My teaching shall drip down like the rain…” (ibid) Rain comes directly from Shomayim; it nourishes all life on earth. That is why I wanted to absorb it through my eyes and my mouth, to allow the bracha to seep into my insides.
In this week’s parsha, we read, “Today we are leaving [Mitzraim] ….” (Shemos 13:4)
My friends, let’s think about what this means.
What exactly are we striving for? Since we stood at Har Sinai, we have become a nation united under Hashem’s exclusive rule. This is unique in the world. We answer to no one but Hashem; we are the head and not the tail, subservient to no power but the Torah.
This elevated lifestyle continued until Churban Bayis Rishon. Since that calamitous day, we have been subject to foreign power even when dwelling in our own land. This is what we call Golus. Today we are still in Golus, despite the fact that we now have our own national entity. We cannot say that we live completely under the power of Hashem when we depend on the power and friendship of other nations to survive.
Amazingly, the Haftaras for both last week and this week reflect this exact theme. In each Haftara, the Novi inveighs against the dependance of the Children of Israel upon the help which was supposed to come from the king of Egypt, but which never came. Because we depended upon another nation, we slid down the slippery slide into a Golus which continues until this very day.
Rabbi Yair Hoffman wrote a brilliant article this week in which he pinpointed the tremendous spiritual danger of being obsessed with the news: “Whether one is a Democrat or a Republican … It is not going to be a boring four years…. Every day someone will come over and say, ‘Did you hear what Trump just said?’ Or, ‘Did you hear what the President just did?’ …. In terms of Bitul Torah, it is going to be a major challenge….”
My friends, we have to be very careful about our priorities. Our agenda as Jews is actually very radical: we are called upon to return to the world of Bayis Rishon, when our relationship with Hashem governed our every action, as individuals and as a nation. When Moshiach ben Dovid comes, we are going to be released from dependance upon the other nations. “Ele v’rechev v’aile vasusim …. Some with chariots and some with horses, but we cry out in the Name of Hashem, our G-d.” (Tehillim 20)
That is radical, a total shift in our perception. Instead of depending on other nations, no matter how sympathetic they may appear to be, we are called upon to understand that our entire personal and national existence depends upon our relationship with the Ribono shel Olam, the Master of the Universe. It is like drinking pure water from the Heavens. We are not going to prevail or survive because of dependance on man.
“But you, do not be afraid, My servant Yaakov … for I shall save you from afar and your offspring from the land of their captivity, and Yaakov shall return and be tranquil … and none shall make him tremble. Be not afraid, My servant Yaakov – the words of Hashem – for I am with you. Though I shall make an end of all the nations where I have scattered you, I shall not make an end of you. I shall punish you with justice, but I shall not destroy you utterly.” (Haftaras Parshas Bo)
Hashem will save us when we put our complete trust in Him!
GLOSSARY
Bais Medrash: place where Torah is studies
Chavrusa: study partner
Chazal: Rabbis of the Mishna and Gemora
Chodesh Iyar: Jewish month, which falls out right after the month of Passover
Churban Bayis Rishon: the destruction of the First Temple
Eliyahu Hanovi: Elijah the Prophet
Golus: exile
Kollel: yeshiva for married men
Mann: manna, the food which the Children of Israel ate in the Biblical Desert
Novi: prophet
Parsha: Torah portion
Possuk: sentence in the Torah
Roshei taivos: first letter in each word
Shomayim: heaven
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