punished on the sea. The Hashgacha
Con-
Battling Amaleik
Preparing Ourselves
For The Final Tests Before Moshiach
By Rav Moshe Shternbuch
The following was
written by Rabbi Dan-
iel Yaakov Travis based
on a drasha given on
leil Shabbos by Rav
Moshe Shternbuch,
Rosh Av Beis Din of the
Eidah Hachareidis of
Yerushalayim.
•••••
IN THE FACE
OF MIRACLES
“And Yisro heard…” (Shemos 18:1).
What did Yisro hear? He heard about the
miracles of the splitting of the sea and the
war with Amaleik (Rashi, Shemos 18:1).
Yisro was inspired to convert and join
the Jewish people after these two events.
We can understand why hearing of the
Almighty’s miraculous Krias Yam Suf
At the Shabbos Table
with Rabbi Juravel
By Rabbi Dovid Juravel
A thief pays fourfold for stealing a
sheep and fivefold for an ox. Rav Yo-
chonon Ben Zakai explained that the
Torah was more lenient in paying for a
sheep, because the thief humiliated him-
self by carrying the sheep on his shoul-
der. The Chofetz Chaim points out that if
humiliation can help a thief by removing
part of his punishment, how much more
so can it add to the reward of a righteous
person who finds a lost sheep and humil-
iates himself by carrying it on his shoul-
der to return it to its owner.
Rav Elchonon Wasserman zt”l Hy”d
often suffered embarrassment during his
fundraising trips when people slammed
their doors in his face. The Chofetz
Chaim said to him, “Fortunate are you
that you suffered embarrassment in order
to uphold the Torah.”
A Yid who was a Kohein visited a mu-
seum in Eretz Yisroel. Being a Kohein,
he made sure not to enter the build-
The embarrassment surely increases
the caliber and reward of the mitzvah.
ing that contained a mummy. At clos-
ing time, he was standing in a court-
yard without a roof. The people in the
courtyard were told to leave through
the building that contained the mummy,
because all the other buildings were al-
ready locked. The Yid explained to the
museum personnel that, as a Kohein, he
could not enter that building. He asked
if they would please unlock one of the
other buildings through which he could
leave. The personnel, who were not reli-
gious, refused and told him that if he did
not leave, he would be thrown out. Now,
to leave on his own through that build-
ing would have violated the sanctity of a
Kohein, while to be thrown out by others
would not. The Yid refused to move. To
his great embarrassment, a commotion
Page 68
to welcome his father-in-law, Yisro.
was an impetus for Yisro to join up with
Klal Yisroel, but how did the war with
Amaleik inspire Yisro to make this life-
changing decision?
Chazal tell us that the entire world felt
the miracle of the splitting of the sea.
All bodies of water in existence parted
simultaneously, so that everyone would
recognize the great miracle that Hashem
was performing for the Jewish people.
One could argue that there has been no
greater display of Divine power ever be-
Now is the time to prepare for this auspicious moment,
as it is approaching rapidly.
fore in history.
Yisro was particularly impressed by
one aspect of this miracle: Mitzrayim
tried to destroy the Jewish people by
drowning their male children in the wa-
ter, and, measure for measure, they were
broke out in front of many onlookers.
Ultimately, they did allow him to leave
through a different building.
The Gemara says that if one was
tempted to do an aveirah and he re-
frained from doing it, he is rewarded as
having done a mitzvah. This Yid did a
mitzvah while enduring great embarrass-
ment, which increased the s’char of the
mitzvah manifold.
A Yid was in a shul where people were
talking during Krias HaTorah and they
made fun of him when he didn’t join
their conversation. To strengthen him-
self, he constantly reviewed in his mind
the words of the Chofetz Chaim that if
one is caught up with a group of people
who are talking lashon harah, it is for-
bidden to join them even if one will be
looked at as a fool and even if he is at
risk of losing his job because of it. Bet-
ter be considered a fool one’s whole life
in the eyes of people and not be a rasha
even for one moment in front of Hashem.
In cases such as these, the embar-
rassment surely increases the caliber
and reward of the mitzvah. The Cho-
vos Halevavos explains the good that is
contained in the phenomenon of embar-
rassment that Hashem created. He says
that without embarrassment, one would
never invite guests, keep promises, ful-
fill requests, refrain from sin, and honor
people. We might add one more positive
aspect of embarrassment: It enables us
to increase the value of our mitzvos and
their reward, and gives us an opportunity
to reach a higher level in our unwavering
devotion to Hashem.
•••••
To have Rabbi Juravel speak at your
function, call 646.320.3125.
YATED NE’EMAN
Protis, personal Divine interaction, made
Yisro recognize that Hashem was the one
and only power in the world.
After this great miracle, the entire
world was in awe of the Almighty. No-
body dared to touch His chosen people.
Only one nation, Amaleik, had the audac-
ity to attack Klal Yisroel and thereby cool
off this feeling of fear.
Yisro witnessed the great miracles that
took place, as well as Amaleik’s reac-
tion to what had transpired. He under-
stood that if it was possible to defy the
Almighty in the face of this open display
of Divine power, then one could not
simply maintain the status quo and ex-
pect to remain unaffected by the forces
that constantly threaten to pull one away
from holiness. He concluded that only by
actually joining the Jewish people could
he possibly hope to remain strong against
the impurity of Amaleik.
FIRST NAMES
The name of his first son was Gershom,
“For I was a ger [stranger] in a foreign
land.” The name of his second son was
Eliezer because “Elokei avi [my father’s
G-d] was ezri [my helper], rescuing me
from Paroh’s sword” (Shemos 18:3–4).
The difficulty in understanding these
two verses is self-apparent. The fact that
Moshe Rabbeinu was a stranger in Midy-
an seems to pale in the face of the miracle
that saved him from death at the hands of
Paroh. Why was his ger status important
enough to merit being the source of the
name of his first son?
Miracles are a temporary display of
Divine glory, but after they have passed,
things can easily go back to business as
usual. Even greater than witnessing a
miracle is channeling the inspiration that
one gains thereby into elevating one’s
daily relationship with the Almighty.
Holding oneself strong and not letting the
opposing forces around him ‘drag him in’
is a constant miracle in itself.
While Moshe Rabbeinu owed his
physical existence to the miracle that the
Almighty had performed for him in Mitz-
rayim, his spiritual well-being was a re-
sult of the Almighty’s continual spiritual
protection. For this reason, Moshe Rab-
beinu named his first son Gershom. In
doing so, he recognized Hashem’s Hand
in helping him retain his identity while
living among the idolatrous population
of Midyan.
World history has given us many ex-
amples of this phenomenon. While Ger-
many hosted a thriving Torah community
before the emancipation, after the walls
of the ghetto were torn down, the influ-
ence of the non-Jewish world penetrated,
and Jews left the fold en masse. Simi-
larly, when exposed to the freedom of
America, many Jews were influenced to
drop their commitment to Torah.
Amaleik’s power grows stronger daily.
If we do not take special precautions to
guard ourselves from their weapons, we,
too, may be pulled in by their sway. Even
a temporary lapse of guard could cause
one’s downfall.
PREPARING FOR
MOSHIACH
“Moshe went out to greet his father-in-
law…” (Shemos 18:7)
Moshe Rabbeinu went out personally
sidering his status as the leader of Klal
Yisroel, his actions were a display of
great honor for his father-in-law. What
prompted Moshe do this?
As explained earlier, Yisro was in-
spired to join the Jewish people as a result
of the miracles that Hashem performed
for Klal Yisroel. However, this was not
an expression of momentary religious ex-
citement. Yisro made a well-thought-out
decision based on the realization that this
was the proper course for him to take in
his life.
Moshe Rabbeinu recognized the sin-
cerity of Yisro’s motivations. He wanted
to show all of the Jewish people that his
father-in-law’s decision was an intellec-
tual choice, and not a temporary emo-
tional frenzy. In order to do this, he per-
sonally went out to greet him, showing
that his father-in-law had chosen to truly
become a dedicated, sincere member of
Klal Yisroel.
The miracles that will take place pre-
ceding and during the times of Moshiach
will be much greater than those that we
experienced in Mitzrayim. Like Yisro, all
of the Jews and non-Jews of the world
will recognize the Almighty’s truth and
that Klal Yisroel is His chosen nation.
These miracles will be such a powerful
display of Divine glory that we will lose
our free choice and intentional transgres-
sion will become an impossibility.
Unlike the times of Yisro, it will then
no longer be possible to join the Jewish
people. The recognition will be so clear
that there will be no choice but to accept
it, and under such circumstances, there
will be no merit in siding with the truth.
Converts and baalei teshuvah will no
longer be accepted.
The Satmar Rav, Rav Yoel Teitlebaum
zt”l, once told Rav Shternbuch that con-
sidering the state of impurity that the
world is in today, the reward for every
mitzvah we perform is exponentially
greater than in other generations. This be-
ing so, a true servant of Hashem should
not want Moshiach to come. With his ar-
rival, all nisyonos will fall away, and it
would seem to follow that the reward for
the mitzvos we perform, if any, will be
negligible.
However, added the Satmar Rov, those
who recognize the truth before the arrival
of Moshiach will not lose out. Each per-
son will continue his growth based on the
level he achieved beforehand. Our avo-
dah during these days prior to his com-
ing is to ready ourselves for this immense
revelation.
In our days, we have seen some of the
rays of light that precede Moshiach. Dur-
ing the war in Gaza, thousands of missiles
fell on Israel - but they caused almost no
injury. In recent times, an earthquake
struck the world, killing 300,000 people.
These are small glimpses of the great
power of Hashem, which He will reveal
openly on the day of the final redemption.
Now is the time to prepare for this
auspicious moment, as it is approaching
rapidly.
•••••
Rabbi Travis is a rosh kollel of Kol-
lel Toras Chaim in Yerushalayim, and is
the author of Shaylos U’Teshuvos Toras
Chaim and “Praying With Joy - A Daily
Tefilla Companion,” a practical daily
guide to improving one’s prayers, avail-
able from Feldheim Publishers. He will
soon be publishing Rav Shternbuch’s
weekly shiurim on the parsha as a sefer
entitled “A Voice in the Darkness.” For
more information about his work, contact
dytravis@actcom.com.
28 Shevat 5770 • February 12 2010