Mi'Mizrach Shemesh-Beshalach

8/13/2019 Mi'Mizrach Shemesh-Beshalach

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Page 1 of 6A Fuchs Mizrachi Stark High School Publication

Candle Lighting: 4:57 Havdala: 6:03

Note: The Halachic times listed here are from www.myzmanim.com .

Sea -ing MiraclesBy Mordechai Blau, 9 th Grade

In this weeks Parasha, Bnei Yisrael leaveEgypt in a miraculous fashion. Hashem performsan amazing miracle of splitting the sea and savesthem from their Egyptian pursuers. Aftercrossing the sea, the men and women of BneiYisrael sing the song now known as Az Yashirin thanks and appreciation. Today we say thisprayer everyday as a reminder of theunbelievable miracle. Chazal (our sages) statethat even the Jews non -Jewish servants sawvisions that went beyond the vision of the DivineChariot of the prophet Yechezkel.

Right after Bnei Yisrael chant their song,the Torah talks about the beginning of the journey to Eretz Yisrael. At the start of the journey, Bnei Yisrael complain to Moshe that

they have nothing to drink. After Hashem givesthem water, they complain about the food. Thisseems rather strange! Did Bnei Yisrael not justsee Hashem perform amazing miracles? Why dothey not trust Hashem with providing them withtheir everyday needs?

My grandfather, Rav Yosef Blau suggeststhe following answer: After the miracle of thesplitting of the sea they indeed felt a very strongconnection to Hashem. However, because therewas no Mitzvah linked to this amazing miraclethey went back to their everyday lives, and that

connection did not last. In life it is important forus to be spiritually inspired, but to make theinspiration meaningful we must change ouractions as well.

BeshalachFriday, January 10, 2014 / ' "
http://www.myzmanim.com/http://www.myzmanim.com/http://www.myzmanim.com/http://www.myzmanim.com/


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Touchdown Bnei Yisrael!By Zach Zlatin, 11 th Grade

State championship. Bnei Yisrael vs.Egypt. Egypt has won the last 3 state

championships and haven't lost a game in over30 years. It's the fourth quarter, down by six.Bnei Yisrael are on the opponents 18 yard line.With 10 seconds left on the clock, only a miraclecan save them. The game has been a tight one.The Egyptians have played ferocious defense,holding back Bnei Yisrael from scoring atouchdown until this point. It all comes down tothis.. The quarterback snaps the ball. He hands it

off to Moshe. Moshe runs towards the huge wallof defensive linemen. His fullback, NachshonBen Aminadav, rams through the wall creating asmall hole through which Moshe can run. Butthat's just the line. Moshe jukes out one player,spins around another. Only one man stand between him and the end zone, the safety,captain of the defense, the teams best player.The god of defense as they say. Moshe runs

straight at him. He's at the 15. The 10. Mosheslants to his left. The safety is running full forcetrying to stop Moshe. Moshe's at the 8. The 5. The3. Moshe is so close to the end zone. He divesforward with his hands stretched out to get the ball past the goal line. The safety dives forward,his hands also reaching out. The play seems likeit is happening in slow motion. Moshe just barelygets through the safety's fingers. Touchdown!

Moshe is going crazy. He gets on his knees andpoints his fingers to the sky. Bnei Yisrael sets upfor the extra point. The kick is up, and good. BneiYisrael win! The whole crowd goes wild. Theteam goes crazy. All of the spectators storm thefield. They raise Moshe up on their shouldersand sing " " Everyone sings and

thanks Hashem, for helping and saving BneiYisrael.

Essentially, this is what happens inParashat Beshalach. Pharaoh's hardened heartfinally crumbles under the plague of the first- born. He begs Moshe to take his people and getout of Mitzrayim as fast as they can. Bnei Yisraelmarch out of Mitzrayim, but do not take theobvious and easiest route to Eretz Yisrael.Pharaoh then decides that he made a mistakeand wants the Jews back as slaves. He gathers hismen and chariots and chases after Bnei Yisrael.The mighty army of Egypt gallops away trying torecapture the escaping slaves. Bnei Yisrael hearthe Egyptians coming and begin to doubt. Theystart believing that they won't survive on their journey.

Hashem has a plan though, and needs a brave soul from Bnei Yisrael to step forward and

show their faith in Him. According to theMidrash, this man is none other than NachshonBen Aminadav, leader of the tribe Yehuda, who begins to walk into the Yam Suf. Soon, the wateris knee deep...waist deep...shoulder level. Justwhen all hope should be lost, Hashem kicks inwith a great miracle. Moshe stretches out hisarms and boom, the water splits. The greatestmiracle of them all. The 12 tribes are amazed and

since they dont really have anywhere else to go,they travel into the separated sea. They cross thedry land surrounded by walls of water on theirsides. But, the Egyptians are still on their tail.Bnei Yisrael quickly run to the other side tosafety, and Hashem closes the water on theEgyptians, instantly drowning them. It's a


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moment of pure amazement! Bnei Yisrael hadliterally been slaves just a few days ago and nowthey are free men. A slow clap starts. The womenstart singing and praising Hashem. They reflecton the wonders that they just experienced andextol Hashem. They laud Him for His salvation,strength, and purely amazing capabilities.

I think that we can learn two things fromthis whole event. Firstly, that underdogs can win.Secondly, we should be blessed to always thinkof Hashem when something great happens. Thewomen, and then later the whole nation,

recognize that Kriyat Yam Suf was all an act ofHashem, so they bless Him. You might say that itwas easy for that generation to praise Hashem, because they saw so many overt miracles. Well, itwas easier in that sense, but as Jews in the 21stcentury we should still strive to see the littlemiracles that we experience every single day. It isour job to praise and thank Hashem foreverything. It is my hope for you, your family,and the entire Jewish people that we realize theDivine gifts that we constantly receive fromHashem.

Dual FeelingsBy Rabbi Chaim Zimmerman

In this week s Parsha, we read the well-known passage about the Jewish people crossingthrough the sea and the subsequent drowning ofthe Egyptians. After this awe-inspiring accountof Hashems complete control over the world, wecome across one of the most interesting episodes

of the Exodus story. We all know what happensnext: The Jewish people come through the seasafely, see the Egyptians lying dead on theground, and what do they do then? The entirenation breaks out into spontaneous song anddance about the death of the Egyptians!

Hollywood musical-esque theatricsnotwithstanding, a main question that should

arise is: Since when are we allowed to sing aboutsomeone elses death!?

This question reaches further levels ofexclamation points when we look at a differentpasuk in our parsha. In 14:20, the Torah says,and one did not approach the other the entirenight. The Gemara in Megillah 10b asks what

this line is referring to and explains that it is aproof that Hashem does not rejoice over thedownfall of the wicked: In that hour, theministering angels wanted to sing their songs [ofpraise for Hashem], but Hashem rebuked them,saying, The work of My hands is being drowned

in the sea, and youre singing songs!?

We now find that not only is it strangethat the Jewish people are allowed to sing songsover the death of their enemies in the first place, but the Heavenly angels are yelled at for wantingto sing, while the Jews seem to get a get out of jail free card! And to add even more fuel to thefire, we sing this very song every single day

during Pesukei Dzimrah! Why are we allowedto sing this song every day?

Rabbi Shimon Schwab gives an amazinganswer to this question. He writes that one of thedifferences between angels and people is thatangels can only do one thing at a time; they cannever experience two things simultaneously.


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However, a human being has the ability to dotwo contrasting things at the same time. He canfeel sorry for the drowning Egyptians, while herejoices over his own redemption. Therefore, theangels, whose one -track minds would onlyallow them to experience the destruction of theEgyptians, were not allowed to sing during thattime. But as humans, we are allowed to sing,thanking Hashem for the wonders He caused forus, and at the same time lamenting over the lossof human life.

The Midrash in Pesikta DRav Kahanaalso alludes to this duality in a comment aboutreciting Hallel on Pesach. It asks why we only

say half -Hallel for most of Pesach, whereas wesay the full Hallel every day of Sukkot? Theanswer given is because the Egyptians weredrowned on the seventh day of Pesach, and asShlomo Hamelech writes in Mishlei: Do notrejoice in the downfal l of your enemy. Thus wesee that although we rejoice by singing Hallel onPesach, we still tone down our joy at the verysame time to mourn the deaths that occurred

during our salvation.

Perhaps the most striking example ofthese concepts that Ive ever personally heard is astory involving my niece:

One Pesach Seder night, when my niece,Devorah, was 7 years old, she went with herfather my brother to the open the door forKos Shel Eliyahu. As they walked back to theirseats, my brother noticed that Devorah lookedsad.

Whats wrong sweety? he asked.

Well, Devorah answered. I didnt see EliyahuHaNavi this time.

My brother marveled at this statement byhis 7-year- old daughter, and then asked, Do youusually see Eliyahu HaNavi?

Yes. But this year he didnt come.

My brother chose his words carefully beforeasking, Why do you think he didnt come thisyear?

Devorah sat and thought for a minute,and then she replied, I think he didnt come thisyear, because this year, I felt that the Mitzrimdeserved to be killed.

It is clear from Mishlei and from theGemara that Hashem does not rejoice over thedeaths of His creations. Yet the halacha sefarimtell us that were supposed to feel authentic joywhile we are singing the Az Yashir everymorning, as if we were singing it right there with

Moshe Rabbeinu at the sea. I believe that weshould realize that there is always a balance inlife. We, and only we, can experience the dualfeelings of happiness for the wonders thatHashem does for us, and the sadness for thecasualties that may occur along the way. WithHashems help, we will all be able to embracethese feelings, and be worthy of experiencing the joy of the complete geulah with Eliyahu Hanavi

Bimhera Byameinu.


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Ripening of a NationBy Moria Raz-Bat Sherut

This week, we celebrate Tu Bshvat, aspecial holiday dedicated to appreciating natureand If you think about it, the timing is .

a little weird. If were supposed to see andappreciate nature, why are we celebrating it at agloomy time of year when we cant even see a blade of gr ass? Shouldnt we be celebrating TuBshvat in Nissan, a time when the birds startchirping and the flowers begin to bloom?

Putting that aside for a second, there aremany questions brought up the first time Yetziat

Mitzrayim is mentioned in the Torah. Hashemtells Avraham that Bnei Yisrael will be numerouslike the stars, and that they will inherit the land.Along with all of these positive things he is toldthat his descendants will be slaves in a foreignland for 400 years. Is this the right time to betelling the first of the Avot about Bnei Yisraelsservitude?

The Malbim explains that while one maygo through pain and agony in their youth, theywill grow stronger from it and will become a better person as a result. The same goes for anation that is put through a lot. They will come

out stronger. This perush shows us that YetziatMitzraim wasn't a punishment. It was just part ofthe process Bnei Yisrael needed to go through in

order to become Am Yisrael.

On Tu BShvat, we dont see ripe and beautiful fruit. We see trees that will blossomand in a matter of months. After bearing thetough, cold weather, the branches will growsweet juicy fruits. Similarly, In this weeks ParshaBnei Yisrael leave Mitzraim, and rather thanwalking directly to Israel, they start heading in

the direction of Mitzraim. Whats going on here?Why are they taking two steps forward and thenone step back? At this point, only those who believe in Hashem understand that this was theplan of Hashem all along and that this stepcompletes their redemption from Mitzraim.

The reason we celebrate Tu BShvatduring this season is, because although wecannot see the fruits (the result) yet, we knowthat they are starting to grow now. We joyouslycommemorate the beginning of this new thingthat's about to happen.


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Shabbat Table Discussion Questions:By Avi Hartstone, 10 th Grade

1. Why did Bnei Yisrael not travel to Eretz Yisrael via the shortest route of Derech Plishtim? (13:17)

2. How can Paro be surprised that the Jews left if he let them go? (14:5)

3. When Bnei Yisrael complain about the lack of meat why does Hashem respond with providing Mann?(16:3-4)

4. Why does Moshe need to physically keep his hands raised to win the war, even though it was hard forhim? (17:11)

5. Why do we need to remember the battle with Amalek forever? (17:14)

Email us at [email protected] with your answers, and we will choose our favorite one to publish every week!"

Brought to you by:

Staff:Editor in Chief - Ari Bar-Shain

Associate Editors - Eli Meyers, Etan Soclof, and YosefColeman

Layout Manager - Zev Karasik

Faculty Consultant -Rav Rick Schindelheim

Distribution Manager -Rivka Coleman

Faculty Manager -Yael Blau

Head Writers -Avi Hartstone and Zak Fleischman

Student Writers:o Alan Soclofo Ami Shamiro Ben Jaffeo Bentzion Goldmano Ilan Senderso Jenna Foxo Jennifer Breniso Joey Senderso Michael Breniso Mordechai Blauo Sarah Pincuso Seth Weisso Sonny Kugelmano Talya Engelharto Yonah Bar-Shaino Zach Zlatino Ziva Bibbins

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