From the Rabbi

At the end of last week’s Parsha, the evil prophet Bilaam, realizing he couldn’t curse the Jewish People, instead gives a piece of advice for how to ultimately bring about their downfall: after the men were seduced by the Midianite women, a plague erupted which claimed the lives of 24,000 people.  Curiously, immediately after the cessation of the plague, the Torah records a new census in which the Jewish People are to be once again counted. Why was it necessary for a census to take place at this moment in time? Could we not have simply subtracted 24,000 from the number of people taken from the recent census? Rashi famously answers that if there would be a pack of wolves who entered into a flock of sheep, killing many, the shepherd would want to count to see how many remained.

But Rabbi Shmuel Silber, quoting Rebbe Nachman, takes it a little deeper. In the aftermath of catastrophes and terrible mistakes, we often think that we are incompetent. We make such terrible blunders that we feel there is no hope for us– there is no way to recover from the mistakes we make. We can feel so broken, that the mistakes we made can forever change the trajectory of our lives– and we can never recapture the lost opportunities.

This likely was how the Jewish People felt after the plague: They must have come to the painful realization that a tribal prince brazenly, publicly committed an act of immorality with a Midianite woman, for all to see. These same Jews, who left Egypt, saw the miracles throughout the process, saw G-d speak to them at Mt. Sinai– had the audacity to commit such a public, humiliating act of immorality? 

How can they possibly move forward from this? With all of their mistakes they made in the desert– maybe it would be at this point that Hashem would finally give up on them!

But Rebbe Nachman notices something very curious about the way the census was recorded: The names of the tribes are all given a seemingly unnecessary addition to them:  a hei at the beginning and a yod at the end– the letters for the name of G-d. Nemuel became HaNemueli. Yachin became Hayechini. Each family has a yod and a hei to show that Hashem’s name testified for them. Rebbi Nachman explains right as the Jewish people specifically feel so poorly about themselves, that is when G-d tells Moshe to count the People. And what does he tell them? “Count the people, from age 20 and up, anyone who goes out to the army among Israel.” Despite what you have been through, you are still capable of waging the battles of life. Yes, you lost this specific battle, failing this test with the daughters of Moav– but that is but one battle that you lost– you did not lose the war. You are still needed for the rest of the war. And lest you are riddled with doubts, know that Hashem has attached His very name to yours– He is with you– and has faith in you that you can, and will succeed. 

Sometimes things happen to us–we make mistakes, and we feel like we cannot proceed and move forward.

But we must remember that we are G-dly people, with an eternal, brilliant, Divine soul resting within us. And therefore we believe with full faith that we can overcome any challenge sent our way. And we know that no matter how many battles in life that we lose, The Almighty attaches his Divine name to ours, empowering us to lift ourselves up, carry on, and triumph over the challenges that have previously haunted us. 

From Rabbi Chaitovsky: Following Israel's pre-emptive strike against Iran, I reached out to our new Rabbi for Youth and Family Engagement, Reb Shalom, who flew to Israel with his family on Monday night. They're all safe and sound but like everyone else in Israel, are on pins and needles. He wrote the following which he asked me to share with everyone. Sha'alu sh'lom Yerushalayim. Let us all pray for peace in Jerusalem, in Tel Aviv, in Haifa...in ALL of Israel!

Here are Reb Shalom's words:

Dear family, Shalom here. Standing on the banks of the kinneret, feeling the holiness of this land, and the sadness that there are those that seek to destroy it.

Tonight we celebrated the wedding of my dear cousin by the waters of the Galilee. What joy, what prayer and depth. What a TRIBE!

Then the siren blared across the early morning air, as remnants of the wedding were still singing around the fire and dipping in the water. The people with a calm resolve arose and began their unfortunately too well-known ritual. Check on family, gather supplies, get ready for the message to go to the shelter, perhaps try to get some shuteye before.

Yet in the space between the joy of union and the sad reality of war, there is a deep truth.

The bride and groom believe in a beautiful world. A beautiful future. We all came to celebrate it. We all believe in it. We trust and know that we are in the best hands. Hashem loves us and will protect his Holy Nation. The eternal people believe that the eternal God will bring a time of eternal good.

This is a battle between the forces of light and life and those that are consumed with darkness and death. The smallest candle lights the whole room. Our radiant people will light up the whole world. Darkness flees before the light.

It is significant that today's date is 6/13. Try to strengthen one of the 613 mitzvot. Welcoming guests, honoring shabbat, giving more charity. Let's show Hashem we care about our relationship with him. Let's take our place as the nation who brings the light and might of Hashem to the world.

Pray that our forces cut off the head of the snake. Pray that the true Persians will arise and reclaim their country from the evil dictatorship of today. Pray for the safety of our Am Yisrael. Pray that days of peace shine bright and soon.

Going to bed with hope for a day off revealed blessings and miracles.

Bnei Yisrael

Chai Chazak chazak

Reb Shalom

The Jewish People are, first and foremost, story tellers, and the story of Pesach has a long hold on our imaginations and our psyches. As I have taught many times, it is our Master Story.

With the help of the Haggadah, we retell the master story of Pesach every year at the seder, a long and highly ritualized meal where we delve deeply into the significance of every aspect of the plot and discover the long arm of history (hiSTORY) emerging from every detail. We tell about the role the women played, about the stubbornness of a Pharoah who does not seem to "get it," about plagues and about matzah and marror, we drink wine, we recline, we play "show and tell", we sing...all to help us relate and tell a story and to make the story as unforgettable as possible. 

It is fascinating to realize that the command to tell the story of our Egyptian servitude and ultimate liberation was given BEFORE the slaves were freed and left Egypt. Moses could have told them about the minute details we have all come to associate with Pesach observance. Indeed, it is the most legislated holiday on our calendar. Yet, in our Festival Torah readings, they about to be freed slaves were all asked to think about their experiences and, in the moment, in real time, compose the story that they would tell to the next generation...and to every generation after. 

What Pesach story will we tell this year? How can we NOT reflect on the effects that October 7^th 2023 and the two years since has had on us as Jews and as humans? War and death in Israel and Gaza. Antisemitism at every turn around the world. The Haggadah was right! It says, “bechol dor vador – in every generation there are those who rise up to destroy us.” It also says that we have survived as a People long after all those others have left the world stage. Our survival is a miracle for sure, but one that has been assured us by the One God Above. We are witnesses to that. May our seders reflect that. May they be filled with discussion about our history, our identity, our faith commitments, and our loyalty to community. May they urge us to strengthen and deepen our connection to each of those elements.

Chag Pesach Sameach v’Kasher…Am Yisrael Chai…and as always, see you in shul!  

Rabbi Yaakov Chaitovsky

 Today’s thoughts of our Torah reading, Yitro, were inspired by our very special guest last week, Rabbi Naftali Citron, who talked beautifully about finding God in – and out – of nature.

Seeing is believing,” we say, knowing there is nothing so convincing as the power of sight. “Don’t you see?” we say to those who disagree with us, until they concede, “Alright, I see what you mean!” We shouldn’t be surprised, then, to be told that divine thunder and lightning accompanied God’s appearance on Mt. Sinai, and that “The people saw the sounds and the lightning.”

But how could they see sounds? Sound is what you hear, not what you see. And sounds of what? Thunder, presumably, but the Torah just says “sounds.” What sounds were they, and how can sound be visible? Some Kabbalistic commentators explain things literally. Kabbalist Moses God altered the state of nature to imbue the Israelites’ ears with sight. Maybe…but I prefer an answer rooted in close textual reading.

The Ten Commandments are given in Chapter 20: 1-14, and the information that “the people saw the sounds and the lightning” comes immediately afterward (20:15). But the thunder and lightning occur beforehand — part of God’s appearance on the mountain (19:16). Why did the people “see the sounds” a whole chapter later, only after Torah was revealed?

That the people “saw the sounds” only after revelation is the key, because we really do see sounds when they are written down as text. When we read, for example, we do so with at least some implied cadence to our inner voice. We raise and lower our voice as you read a sentence; we emphasize words in italics. You actually see sounds in the written words. The “sounds” that the Israelites saw were not God’s thunder, but God’s words of Torah that Moses heard and then wrote down. Maybe Moses enjoyed revelation directly from God’s mouth, but everyone else gets it only as writing.

Judaism insists that God’s word is still best accessed through the sounds that we see: our sacred texts. People searching for God often look to the miracles of nature: the Grand Canyon, a starry night, the intricacies of the human body. Our tradition tell us that the way to God is study of our texts. We study, debate, and form conclusions from what we read.

On a clear day, you can see forever, goes the saying. It is possible, though, to see forever in the fogginess of text: an opaque piece of Talmud with its Rashi, Tosafot, Rabbenu Asher, and all the other greats of Jewish tradition. We can see their presence in the text loud and clear as if we are in the same room with them.

Shabbat shalom…and see you in shul! 

Rabbi Yaakov Chaitovsky

Our Torah reading this morning described that historic moment when, after 210 years of slavery, God informs them that He is going to take them out, “mitachat sivlot mitzrayim – from under the yoke and suffering of the Egyptians.” But, as we know, no sooner did they see Pharaoh and the Egyptians pursuing them when they left, they cry out, “Let's go back to Egypt!”  And then comes the crossing of the Red Sea. No sooner do they run out of water then they cry out, “Let's go back to Egypt!” 

This is why the Kotzker Rebbe read the words: “From under the yoke and suffering of the Egyptians” a bit differently. “Sivlot,” which we translate as “suffering” can also have another meaning. It comes from the Hebrew root s.v.l. meaning “patient,” or tolerant.” The Jews had to be taken out from the mindset they had developed in Egypt; a mindset of being patient, a mindset of: well, it's not so bad, could be worse … as bad as it is we can manage through it … who knows if it'll ever get any better … let's just continue with things just the way they are.

Indeed our sages make a remarkable commentary and tell us no Jewish slave ever escaped out of Egypt. On a simple level, this is telling us the Egyptians had such a powerful security system that made escape impossible. But on a deeper level, it means that none of the Jews ever attempted to escape. They developed this attitude of: better the devil I know than the one I may have to meet and adjust to. So God had to take the Jews “mitachat sivlost mitrayim” - had to take them out of a complacent mindset that accepted things just the way they were.

Let’s all think about the areas of our lives where complacency and inertia have conspired to prevent true improvement and growth – professionally, personally, and of course, spiritually. Let’s take ourselves “out of that mindset”, and like the Israelites before us, journey to where will experience our best selves, in every sphere of activity and endeavor.

Shabbat shalom