beshallach community parasha sheet · pdf filehow is your schedule looking next week?...

How is your schedule looking next week?Shouldn’t really talk about it on Shabbat, butI am asking as this question has a specificlesson to teach.We are grateful to be living in one of the mostadvanced nations in the world, at one of themost advanced times in history. So manyluxuries out there ready for the take and yetwe seem so busy.Not so long ago we would rely on ourmemory, whether it was in school mathexams, or with car directions. Nowadays werely on digital calculators, mobile phonesand electronic calendars with reminders tokeep us afloat.How many reminders have you set yourselfthis year in calendar?Have you ever forgotten a sibling’s birthday?Need a reminder for an important meeting orDr’s appointment? It’s all done now at the tipof your finger tips. You can even set yourselfweekly or annual reminders.We rely heavily on these reminders to keepus going.There is a special day once a week for whichour Sages advise that we should set areminder.The Gemara Shabbat (35b) describes acustom that was observed each week beforeShabbat during Talmudic times. A personwould climb onto the rooftop of a tall buildingin the town and blow six Shofar blasts. Specif-

ically, he would twice blow the series ofTeki’a-Teru’a-Teki’a. The Gemara explainsthe significance of each Shofar blast. The first,served as a warning to the farmers workingin the fields outside the city that they mustput down their tools and start making theirway back home to prepare for Shabbat. Thesecond Shofar blast alerted the shopkeepersin the city that the time has come to closetheir stores, and the third indicated the timeto light the Shabbat candles. The final Shofarblasts indicated the onset of Shabbat.The person blowing the Shofar would thenput down the Shofar and come down fromthe rooftop, as Shabbat begun.Thus Shabbat was sanctified publicly byblowing the Shofar and privately by kindlinglights ( 2).

Interestingly, the Shulhan Aruch (Orah Haim256) records this practice, noting that it wasobserved during the times when the Jewishpeople lived securely under self-rule. Even

though this custom does not appear to haveany practical ramifications for the ShulhanAruch’s time, he nevertheless found itnecessary to mention this custom.The Kaf Ha’haim (Rav Yaakov Haim Sofer,Baghdad-Israel, 1870-1939) writes that thisHalacha should be followed inplaces where Jews enjoycontrol over their

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BESHALLACH13th Shevat 5776Shabbat begins: 16:17Shabbat ends: 17:25

Set Yourself A Reminder!

1. Who jumped first into thewaters of the Yum Suf?

2. What is the special name givento Parshas Beshalach and what

special minhag is associated with it?

3. What is a major lesson fromthe falling of the Mon?

4. When do we say each dayparts from Parshas Beshalach?

5. How was the shira sung by theJews?

6. What was the youngest age ofpeople who sang the shira?

7. In many shuls the reader singssome of pesukim of the shira in a

tune. What guides which verses aresung?

This week’s edition is sponsoredLeiluy Nishmat Yedidya BenChorshit Z'L. Tihyeh Nishmato

Betsurat Hachaim

RABBI JONATHAN TAWILDIRECTOR, TAL

communities and do not fear the local gentilepopulation. Under such circumstances, apublic proclamation of the onset of Shabbatshould be made, if not with a Shofar, thenwith some other medium, such as a siren ora bell. Indeed, the Kaf Ha’haim recordsvarious customs that were practiced inseveral Jewish communities to announce theonset of Shabbat. He writes that in Jerusalem,the Rabbis would dispatch messengers justbefore Shabbat to instruct the storekeepersto close their shops, warning that they wouldnot receive blessing from any profits earnedfrom sales made after that point.Today in many cities in Israel, loud Jewishmusic is played just before the onset ofShabbat to remind the people and get theminto the mood of this auspicious day.In fact there is a custom in Kabalat Shabbatto recite six psalms of nature whichcorrespond to the six days of Creation.These also signify the six Shofar blasts thatwere sounded on Erev Shabbat.

R Moshe Chorev Shlita observes that there isan interesting note that appears in thisweek’s Parasha in one Pasuk six times.

The torah relates that the spiritual foodenjoyed by the Bnei Yisrael (Manna) fell daily,

except on Shabbat. To make up for this twoportions fell on Friday signifying thepreparation of Shabbat to be done the daybefore.

‘’See that has given youthe therefore He gives you on thesixth day food for two days. You shouldremain – each man – in his place; let not anyman go out from his place on the SeventhDay.’’ ( 16:29)

In Sephardic communities this note is calledShofar holech – literally - a horn going forward. R Moshe explains that this is to hint to the sixShofar blasts that were sounded as areminder and preparing the people everyErev Shabbat.Even from the start of the week we alreadyhave an established relationship withShabbat.In Shemot (20:8) the Torah states:

"Remember the Shabbat to keep it holy."Based on this, the Mekhilta comments thatwe are obligated to count the days of theweek leading up to Shabbat. Accordingly,the Ramban comments that the verseteaches that we should remember Shabbatevery day of the week. This is to ensure thatwe do not forget Shabbat and confuse it withanother day. Additionally, this is also in orderto remember the creation of the world and it’sCreator daily.

Therefore, the Ramban writes, our method ofcounting the days of the week differsfundamentally from that of the non- Jews.The non-Jews use unique names for eachday of the week, such as Sunday, Monday,etc. By contrast, we count the days of theweek with an eye towards Shabbat, as seenin the "Shir Shel Yom:" "Today is the first dayin (the count towards) Shabbat."Shabbat is a day we remember and anticipate.In an ever increasingly busy society, theTorah has already laid down the way forward.Believe it or not, it could be forgotten!So every single day we remember theShabbat. Even more so on Friday, as weapproach the Shabbat we are reminded bythe six blasts hinted at in our six psalms ofKabalat Shabbat (and music in certain citiesin Israel).Winter is upon us, Shabbat begins so earlyand Friday’s are hectic. Yet we know that theenjoyment of a real exclusive Shabbatexperience is dependent on prior preparation.Don’t get lost in all that work, theShabbat!Next week add this to your diary; set yourselfa reminder for this valuable day. Perhaps youcan even add an electronic voice of a Shofarto make it extra special!

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This Shabbat is known as ,the Shabbat of Song. This Shabbat gets itsname from the fact that this week, we readthe Song of the Sea in the Parasha and thenDevorah's song in the Haftara. It's a Shabbatfilled with singing songs of praises to God.

I would like to focus on one verse in theSong of Devorah. It is a verse that seemsout of place. Devorah was singing a song ofpraise to God just after a miraculous victoryagainst the army commanded by Sisera,who had been oppressing the nation ofIsrael. In the middle of her song Devorahcried out, "

Wait a second - wasn't she already singing?According to Jewish tradition, Devorah hadbriefly lost her ability to prophesize and singbecause a few verses earlier, she said, ". . .

This statementwasn't at all humble and so God spirit leftDevorah. She corrected herself and God'sspirit returned.

However, taken from a different angle, thisverse has a message for us all. It's nowonder that it is borrowed and taken intoour Erev Shabbat prayer service in aparagraph that reads, "Wake up! Wake up!For your light has come, rise up and shine;

Awaken, awaken, utter a song, the glory ofGod is revealed upon you." This paragraphis a combination of our verse fromDevorah's song with Isaiah 60:1, whichreads, "

Together, the message for us is to wake upand see the glory of God that is all aroundus.

Most people go through their lives like this:Wake up, dress, eat, go to work, work, comehome, run errands, eat, watch television,and sleep. Repeat. And repeat and repeatand repeat. It's so easy for life to becomemechanical. It's so easy to fall into a deepspiritual sleep. But on every Shabbat, andespecially on this Shabbat, we arereminded to wake up and sing. Wake upand see the glory of God all around us! Welive in an amazing world, filled with miracles,both hidden and revealed. We have somany blessings and things for which to bethankful.

This Shabbat, I encourage us all to wake upand recognize the glory of God in our lives.Wake up to the blessings. Wake up to themiracles. Break out in song and sing praisesto the Al-Mighty.

Shabbat Shalom

It's so easy to fall intoa deep spiritual sleep.But on every Shabbat,and especially on thisShabbat, we are re-minded to wake upand sing.

Wake Up & Sing

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SYNAGOGUE

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1. The Gemora in Sota 37a brings an argument. According to R' Meir it was the whole tribe ofBinyomin while according to R' Yehuda it was Nachson Ben Aminodov from the tribe of Yehuda.

2. Shabbos Shira after the shira sung in our parsha. The minhag is to give food to the birds. Thisis because Moshe said no mon would fall on Shabbos. Dosson and Avirom planted early Shabbosmorning mon to disprove Moshe. However, by the time the people came out to see nothing wasleft since the birds had already eaten it! To remember and thank the birds the minhag is to put out

food for them.

3. The Jews in the desert lived a miraculous life. The falling of the Mon was meant to only be enough for each day andwas not allowed to be stored. It shows us our constant dependency on Hashem, especially our food and livelihood.

4. The Shira is said in Shachris and some people say after davening Parshas HaMon.

5. The Gemora (Sota 30b) brings three opinions what the Jews said in response to Moshe's words: R' Akiva says thatthey answered the Roshei Perokim. R' Yossi Hagleli says that they repeated each phrase as Moshe had said it. R'Nechemia says that they all joined in together after Moshe had started them off.

6. The Gemora in Sota 30b brings that even the nursing babies and R' Meir says that even babies in the womb sang!

7. I think the pattern is that only the pesukim that have Hashem's Name in are the ones sung.

The son of the Rizhner Rebbe, R' AvrahamYaacov of Sadigora once told this story.

One the Baal Shem Tovappeared in a town unexpectedly.Declining invitations from all the locals, heelected to remain alone in the after

evening davening. The wonderof the residents turned to alarm whenthey saw his fervent andcontinue the whole night long. Something

was surely the matter. But in the morningthe Baal Shem Tov was relaxed and joyful,and he accepted the invitation of one ofthe locals for the morning meal.

Naturally, all of the townspeople crowdedinto the house of the host to see the HolyBaal Shem Tov. As they were sitting at thetable, a local peasant came aroundlooking for a drink of vodka. They wereabout to drive him away when the BaalShem Tov called out that he should bebrought in, and provided with a generousglass of vodka. He asked him to tell whathe had seen in the mansion of the Poritz(wealthy Polish estate owner) theprevious night. The peasant's tongue,loosened by the vodka, related that thePoritz, believing that he had beencheated in a business deal by a Jewishmerchant, assembled his peasants andarmed them with knives and hatchetstelling them to be on the ready to avengethemselves on the Jews at his command.They would then all be able to liberatetheir stolen riches from the Jews.

"The whole night we waited for thecommand, he continued, "But the Poritzhad closeted himself in his office with anunexpected visitor, an old friend that hehadn't seen for 40 years! Finally, heemerged and told us all to go home, thatthe Jews were upright and honest peopleand nobody should dare lay a hand onthem. We all went home and that's thewhole story!"

"This old friend", explained the SadigorerRebbe, "Had been dead for decades. TheBaal Shem Tov had dragged him from thegrave to influence his friend the Poritz."

"But I always wondered," queried theRebbe, "Why did the Baal Shem Tov haveto travel all the way to that town for

to avert the decree? Couldn't hejust as well have remained in hishometown of Medzibuz?"

"But I understand now. The Baal ShemTov said to himself, if I can succeed insaving the town, fine… but if not, then Iwill perish together with them!"

STORIES OF OURCHACHAMIM

BAAL SHEM TOV

Mesirut Nefesh



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