LIVING WITH MOSHIACH, Parshat Beshalach, 5756 B"H LIVING WITH MOSHIACH Weekly Digest About Moshiach PARSHAT BESHALACH SHEVAT 12, 5756 FEB. 2, 1996 * Published Weekly By Lubavitch Shluchim Conferences On The Moshiach Campaign, Committee For The Blind * * * 5756 *********************************************** * TO RECEIVE THIS PUBLICATION VIA INTERNET: * * E-Mail: yys@dorsai.org * * FOR CHABAD-LUBAVITCH IN CYBERSPACE: * * E-Mail: info@chabad.org * *********************************************** THIS PUBLICATION IS DEDICATED TO THE REBBE, RABBI MENACHEM M. SCHNEERSON OF LUBAVITCH "I BELIEVE WITH COMPLETE FAITH IN THE ARRIVAL OF THE MOSHIACH. AND THOUGH HE MAY TARRY, I SHALL WAIT EACH DAY, ANTICIPATING HIS ARRIVAL." Maimonides, Principles of the Faith, No. 12 *********************** * TABLE OF CONTENTS * *********************** Introduction The Weekly Torah Portion The Rebbe's Prophecy Moshiach Matters Shabbat Shirah Customs Tu B'Shevat Customs Tu B'Shevat Plant A Tree It Happened Once Please Tell Me What the Rebbe Said ****************** * INTRODUCTION * ****************** We are pleased to present, to the visually impaired and the blind, our weekly publication, Living With Moshiach. * This Shabbat is Shabbat Shirah. Also, Monday, Feb. 5, is Tu B'Shevat. Therefore, this week our feature presentation focuses on these two topics. * Our sincere appreciation to L'Chaim weekly publication, published by the Lubavitch Youth Organization, and to the publishers of Sichos In English, for allowing us to use their material. Also, many thanks to our copy editor, Reb Mordechai Staiman, for his tireless efforts. * It is our fervent hope that our learning about Moshiach and the Redemption will hasten the coming of Moshiach, NOW! Rabbi Yosef Y. Shagalov Administrator Committee for the Blind E-Mail: yys@dorsai.org 3 Shevat, 5756 Brooklyn, New York ***************************************** * THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION * * Adapted from the Works of the Rebbe * ***************************************** Parshat Beshalach After the miraculous Splitting of the Red Sea, as related in this week's Torah portion, Beshalach, Moses leads the Jewish men in singing their praises of G-d, and Miriam, the prophetess, leads the women in their song of thanks. The Torah tells us that the joy experienced by the women was far greater than that of the men. "And all the women went out...with tambourines and dances." In fact, the Midrash relates that when the heavenly angels wanted to add their voices to the "Song of the Splitting of the Red Sea," G-d told them that they must wait until the women had finished. The exile in Egypt was much harsher for the Jewish women than for their husbands. Of all Pharaoh's decrees against the Children of Israel, the most pitiless was the one that broke every Jewish mother's heart: "Every son that is born you shall throw into the river." The pain and suffering experienced by the Jewish women was more intense than the hardships the men were forced to endure, and when salvation came, the joy they felt was therefore greater as well. The stories in the Torah teach us lessons that apply in all generations. Pharaoh's decrees against the Jewish people have appeared again and again, throughout history, in various forms. Their aim, however, has never changed. The Egyptian Pharaoh sought to kill Jewish babies by drowning them in the Nile; later despots sought to destroy Jewish souls in ways equally dangerous, although not always as obvious. In our days, when most Jews, thank G-d, live in relative safety and security, the decrees of Pharaoh imperil the spiritual existence of the Jewish people. "Pharaoh" rears his head in the guise of popular culture and the winds of arbitrary and capricious conventional wisdom, which threaten to sever the Jewish people from the eternal and timeless values of the Torah. "Pharaoh" seeks to immerse and drown the minds of impressionable Jewish children in the waters of whatever is, at the moment, trendy and fashionable. The threat is not all that different from the one faced in Egypt, because Jews cannot exist for long without their faith in G-d and the study of Torah. Jewish children need a solid Jewish education to ensure the continuation of our people. Today, just as in Egypt, the main responsibility--to safeguard our greatest national treasure, our children, from negative influences--lies with the Jewish mother. Jewish women have, throughout the generations, been granted the power to set the proper tone in the home and make it a place where their children will flourish and grow up to be good Jews. In this way Jewish women will see true satisfaction from their children and merit to sing G-d's praises at the Final Redemption, speedily in our days. ************************ * THE REBBE'S PROPHECY * ************************ The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson of Lubavitch, issued a call that "THE TIME OF OUR REDEMPTION HAS ARRIVED!" and "MOSHIACH IS ON HIS WAY!" The Rebbe stressed that he is saying this AS A PROPHECY, and asks us all to prepare ourselves for the Redemption, through increasing acts of goodness and kindness. LET US ALL HEED THE REBBE'S CALL. ********************************************* * IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR GRANDPARENTS, * * * * Reb Shmuel Pesach Ben Reb Yaakov Dovid * * Passed away on 3 Tishrei, 5755 * * * * Mrs. Fraidel Chedvah Bas Reb Zev Wolf * * Passed away on 4 Adar II, 5755 * * Pais * ********************************************* ******************** * MOSHIACH MATTERS * ******************** At the present time, when the world trembles, when all the world shudders with the birth-pangs of Moshiach... it is the duty of every Jew, man and woman, old and young, to ask themselves: What have I done and what am I doing to alleviate the birth-pangs of Moshiach, and to merit the total redemption that will come through our Righteous Moshiach? From a letter of the previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn ************************** * SHABBAT SHIRAH CUSTOMS * ************************** This Shabbat, known as "Shabbat Shira," commemorating the shira, or song that the Jewish people sang at the Splitting of the Red Sea. The song is recorded in the weekly Torah portion, and includes details of how Moshe led the men in song and Miriam led the women in song and dance. * On Shabbat Shirah it is customary to eat kasha--buckwheat groats. Some also have the custom of putting kasha or bread crumbs out for the birds before Shabbat so that they, too, can partake. * * * The reason for this custom is quite interesting and originates in the weekly Torah portion. We read this week about the manna, the bread from Heaven, with which the Jews were sustained during their 40-year sojourn in the desert. The Jews were commanded to gather each morning just enough manna to feed their families for the day. Miraculously, each person had precisely the amount he needed for his family, not more and not less. Before Shabbat, the Jews were told to gather a double portion; no manna would fall on Shabbat since it is forbidden to gather on the holy day. Some scoffers among the Jewish people saved some of their manna from that morning and scattered it on Friday evening. Their plan was to gather the manna Shabbat morning and bring it into the camp, thus discrediting Moses and proving their claim that Moses created his own mitzvot. During the night, after the manna had been strewn, birds came and gathered it all up, thus vindicating Moses and sanctifying the Sabbath among the Jewish people. In appreciation and gratitude of the birds' deed, we make sure to give them food on Shabbat Shirah. * * * Might we not take a lesson from this Jewish tradition passed on through the ages? If it is customary to show gratitude to birds for such a small act, might we not also learn to show gratitude to our brothers and sisters for each act of kindness or caring that they do for us? *********************** * TU B'SHEVAT CUSTOMS * *********************** On Tu B'Shevat (this year Mon., Feb. 5), it is customary to partake generously of fruits, and in particular, the species of fruit for which the Land of Israel is blessed--wheat, barley, grapes, pomegranates, figs, olives, and dates... similarly, it is customary to eat carobs on Tu B'Shevat. The Rebbe, 11 Shevat, 5751/1991 Some have the custom of making fruit-salad from fifteen different fruits. A Sephardic custom is to stay awake the entire night, studying all the biblical, talmudic and kabbalistic sources relating to the fruit of Israel and stopping at intervals to eat different fruits. *************** * TU B'SHEVAT * *************** Tu B'Shevat, the New Year of the Trees, is here. But what does that have to do with us, other than eating some extra fruit, etc.? Let's take a moment to consider the fruit for which the Land of Israel is blessed as enumerated by the Torah: Two, wheat and barley, are grains. The other five, grapes, pomegranates, figs, olives, and dates, are fruits. One difference between grain and fruit is that grain is a staple food, necessary for the maintenance of our well-being. Fruits are delicacies, eaten for pleasure. Tu B'Shevat gives us the potential to carry out our service, not only according to the very minimum necessary to maintain our existence, but rather in a manner that leads to pleasure--our own and our Creator's. There is another area in which grains and fruits differ. When grain is harvested, though there is an abundant increase in quantity, the grain is of the same nature as the kernels which were originally planted. In contrast, the seed of a fruit tree is of an entirely different nature than the fruit that is later harvested. Similarly, in regard to our service of G-d, the metaphor of fruit trees alludes to a service that is not limited to the basic necessities, but rather generates pleasure. It reveals the potential for growth, not only a quantitative increase, but also, a leap to a higher level, a new framework of reference altogether. Since Tu B'Shevat is the "New Year of the Trees," it generates new life energy for those dimensions of a Jew's service that are compared to trees. May we all truly avail ourselves of this new life energy to fulfill our potential in making this world a fitting home for G-d and G-dliness. ***************************** * PLANT A TREE: * * A Lesson from Tu B'shevat * ***************************** It's almost Tu B'Shevat, that fruit-eating and tree-planting time of year. Now, someone out there might be wondering what he would do if he was in the middle of planting a tree (or at least parting with his money for a tree certificate!) and Moshiach came. Interestingly enough, one of our Sages answered that question over 1,500 years ago! Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai used to say: "If there is a plant in your hand when they say to you: 'Behold, the Moshiach!'--go and plant the seedling, and afterward go out to greet him." What does this mean to you? Take a moment to think about it and then read on. "Behold, Moshiach is coming." "Moshiach is here." "Moshiach is revealed." The Rebbe made these statements publicly at numerous gatherings in 1991-92. One might conjecture that, once such powerful statements were made, all that was left for us to do was sit around and wait for some kind of high-tech, multi-media, miraculous event to take place which would herald the Messianic Era. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although the Rebbe said that all of the spiritual service that needed to be completed in exile had been done, we were not expected to take a short vacation until the Redemption. On the contrary, the Rebbe told us to prepare ourselves to greet Moshiach by performing acts of goodness and kindness, doing more mitzvot, studying more Torah, and performing mitzvot in a more perfect manner. "Go and plant the seedling," the Rebbe tells us. Continue and increase all of the good and G-dly things you are presently doing. Learn more. Give more. Do more. For the more you plant now, the more bountiful will be your harvest in the messianic era. In addition, the Rebbe mentioned numerous times that we will lose nothing in the messianic era. To those people who were concerned that everything they worked to build up--businesses, relationships, material possessions--would be lost when Moshiach comes, the Rebbe explained that the difference between our lives in exile and in the Messianic Era is symbolized by the Hebrew words "gola"--"exile," and "geula"-- "Redemption." The only difference between these two words is that "gola" lacks the Hebrew letter "alef"--which stands for the "Alufo shel olam"--the "Master of the Universe." When Moshiach comes, the presence and life-giving energy of the Master of the Universe will be totally revealed in every aspect of our lives. "Go and plant the seedling," Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai tells us. And surely, with all the fruits of your labor, from all the seedlings you have planted, you will be able to greet Moshiach in a dignified and upright manner. ********************** * IT HAPPENED ONCE * ********************** During one of the Roman Emperor Hadrian's tours through Israel, he happened upon an old man, digging holes in the soil, about to plant young saplings. Looking at the gray hairs of the old man, the Emperor exclaimed, "Hey, Graybeard. Surely you did not work in your youthful days that you have to work in your old age!" "Nay, sir," replied the old man, "I have worked both in my youth, and am not loath to work in my old age, as long as G-d will grant me strength." "But surely you do not expect to eat of the fruit of your labor! Where will you be by the time these saplings bring forth their fruit?" "If it be G-d's will," answered the old man, "I might yet enjoy the fruits of these young trees." "You are very hopeful, old man. How old are you?" "This is my hundredth birthday today." "You are a hundred years old, and yet hope to eat the fruit of these trees? Why work so hard for so slim a chance?" "Even should G-d not spare me long, I will not have worked in vain. Just as my grandfathers planted for me, so do I plant for my grandchildren." "Upon your life, Sage," exclaimed the Emperor, "if you live long enough to eat this fruit, please let me know." Years went by, and the young fig trees brought forth their fruit. The old man remembered his conversation with Hadrian and decided it was time to keep his appointment with the Emperor. He selected a basketful of choice figs, and off he went. When the guards finally admitted him, the Emperor did not recognize him. "What brings you here, old man?" Hadrian asked impatiently. "I am the man you saw planting saplings near Tiberias, a few years ago. You requested me to let you know should I live long enough to enjoy their fruits. Well, here I am, and here is a basket of figs for the Emperor's pleasure." Hadrian opened his eyes wide in astonishment. He ordered that a golden chair be placed before the old man, and begged him to be seated. The Emperor ordered his servants to empty out the basket full of figs and replace them with gold coins. Hadrian's ministers were shocked at his respectful treatment of the old Jew. But when they voiced their displeasure, he reprimanded them, saying, "If the Creator of the World has so honored this man, granting him so many years, surely he is deserving that I honor him as well!" When the old man returned home, with gold and glory, his neighbors came out to congratulate him. One couple, however, became very envious. The wife suggested to her husband, "It seems that the Emperor loves figs! Why don't you take some figs to him, and fetch home their weight in gold also! And don't be foolish, bringing only a small basketful! Make sure you take a big sack, and you'll bring home a veritable treasure!" The man did as his wife suggested. When he arrived at the Emperor's gates, he said to the guard, "I heard that the Emperor is very fond of figs and exchanges them for gold coins. I brought a sack full of juicy figs. Won't you let me bring it in to the Emperor?" "Wait here," said the captain of the guards. "Have that silly man stood up by the gates of the palace," the Emperor commanded wrathfully. "Place the sack of figs that he brought at the entrance, and let everyone entering and leaving the palace throw a fig at him!" The Emperor's orders were carried out to the letter. Towards evening, when the "ammunition" was exhausted, the man was released and sent home. Upon seeing his bruised face, his wife exclaimed, "What happened to you? Where's the gold?" "I wish you were there to share my wealth," the husband said, and related to her all that had happened. **************************************** * PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE REBBE SAID * * Weekly Torah Insights For Children, * * Adapted from the Works of the Rebbe * **************************************** Parshat Beshalach The [1] Jewish people huddled in groups trying to decide what to do. The Egyptian chariots were coming up quickly from behind, and miles of water stretched out ahead. To either side was a barren desert. Some people were very confused and afraid, thinking there was no choice but to return to Egypt. Some people vowed never to return as slaves. "The only way we will face the Egyptians again is in battle. Let's fight them," they cried. Still others argued that they would not stand a chance in war. "We could never win," they moaned. "Let's pray and call to G-d." The last group of people had a different idea. "Maybe we should throw ourselves into the water. It would be better to give up our lives rather than fall into the hands of the Egyptians." There was one man who was not part of any of these groups. He didn't think this was a time for debating. His name was Nachshon Ben Aminodov. He just went ahead and did what he knew was the right thing. He jumped right into the water. He wasn't thinking of giving up his life. There was something else entirely on his mind. "G-d said we came out of Egypt to receive the Torah on Mount Sinai--then, that is exactly where we are supposed to go," thought Nachshon. "Going back to Egypt or even praying to G-d will not bring us closer to Mount Sinai. Forward towards Mount Sinai is the right direction, and that's where I'm going. There is water in the way? No matter--it's the right direction and will bring me one step closer to Mount Sinai, where G-d wants me to be." Now Nachshon didn't know that a miracle would occur. And it didn't happen right away. The water was knee deep, but he went on. The water reached his thighs, but he kept moving. The water came right up to his neck, but he didn't turn back. Then, all at once, the waters split and he found himself on dry land. How could he have been sure that it was right to plunge into the sea? Nachshon knew about mesirus nefesh, giving up one's life. But not every situation demands that a person give up his or her life. How did Nachshon know that he was right? He didn't! Neither did those who were trying to decide the proper thing to do. That's why they were debating. But Nachshon didn't debate. He was not thinking about mesirus nefesh at all! He was thinking about one thing: what G-d had told the Jewish people. * * * We have been given the promise that "The time of our Redemption has arrived." We know where we're going and we are pushing on in that direction. Even if it seems that some things are blocking our way, we're following Nachshon's example and heading straight towards the Redemption, regardless of the obstacles. --------------- 1. Adapted from the book, Please Tell Me What The Rebbe Said, Vol. 2 (Brooklyn, NY: S.I.E., 1995). ========================================================== End of Text: Living With Moshiach, Parshat Beshalach, 5756 ==========================================================