Berina Yiktzoru · Yitro

A word from the editor

In the second part of the Parashah, we learn about the giving of the Torah and the divine revelation at Har Sinai (the Sinai Mountain). The importance of the divine revelation at Har Sinai is priceless. On this day, there was a great joy for Hashem as his beloved children received the Torah and the creation of the world was complete. In the Parashah it is written, "In the third month of leaving from Egypt, on this day they came to the Sinai desert."

In the Midrash (Pesikta), there is a question. Why was the Torah not given to the Jewish nation until the third month after leaving Egypt which is the month of Sivan? Rebbi Levi explains this through a parable. There was a king's son who was very sick and after some time he recovered. The household wanted to send him back to school right away. The king told them he does not want to send him back yet as his son's facial glow has not returned. He asked them to let his son stay home for two or three months so he could eat and drink well until he fully recovers. Then the king would send him back to his learning.

So too it was with the Jewish nation. They left Egypt and they were worthy of receiving the Torah, but Hashem saw that their glow had not returned after their slavery in Egypt so how could they receive the Torah. Hashem said let them have three to months to eat the Maan and quail and recuperate and then they can receive the Torah. Hashem did us a great kindness by giving us the Torah of truth and implanting eternal life among us.

It is written in the Gemara (Sotah 14): The beginning of the torah is acts of loving kindness as it says, "And Hashem made Adam and his wife a coat of skin and dressed them with it" and the end of the Torah is acts of loving kindness as it says, "And He buried him in Gai" (Hashem buried Mosheh). The intention of the sages is that when we see that the beginning and the end of Torah is acts of loving kindness, it is a lesson for us that the purpose of Torah is doing acts of loving kindness. Therefore, the foundation of the whole Torah is acts of loving kindness and all the Mitzvot are dependent on the kindness of Hashem. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot (1, 2) states: "Shimon HaTzadik was the remnant of the Great Assembly, and he would say, "On three things the world stands, on Torah, on the service of Hashem and on acts of loving kindness". Rav Ovadiah of Bartenura explains this: "On the Torah" – if the Jewish nation would not have received the Torah, the heaven and earth would have not been created as it is says (Yirmiyahu 33), "If not My covenant with the day and the night, the statutes of heaven and earth I did not place" (Shabbat 88). "And on the service of Hashem" – the bringing of sacrifices. "And on acts of loving kindness" – as it says (Tehillim 89) "The world will be built on acts of loving kindness" which is to make grooms happy, to comfort the mourners, to visit the sick, to bury the dead, etc.

It is known that these three things symbolize our three forefathers. The pillar of Torah is Yaakov Avinu, the pillar of serving Hashem is Yitzhak Avinu and acts of loving kindness is Avraham Avinu. So shouldn't the Mishnah have started off with Avraham Avinu and ended with Yaakov Avinu? The answer is that the Torah stands at the top, then comes the sacrifices and last is acts of loving kindness. This is to show us that Torah and serving Hashem cannot exist wtihout acts of loving kindness. From this Mishnah we learn that one has to toil in Torah and at the same time do acts of loving kindness as David HaMelech says, "The world will be built on kindness". At the end of toiling in Torah you get, "Long days in her right hand and in her left hand wealth and honor" and also "Long days, years of life and peace they will add to you" (Avot 6, 7).

Yitro – a summary of the points in the Parashah

1. Yitro hears about Bnai Yisrael leaving Egypt and therefore he came to Mosheh, his son-in-law, with Tziporah and Mosheh's two sons, he converts, blesses Hashem and brings the Shlamim sacrifice.

2. "And you will oversee", the advice of Yitro to Mosheh to appoint judges. Afterwards Yitro returns to Midyan to convert his household (18).

3. Bnai Yisrael arrive at the Sinai Desert with one heart. The next day Hashem gives Mosheh an introduction to receiving the Torah: You saw My love for you, the Eypgitians punishment and if you listen to Me you will be a treasured nation. Bnai Yisrael said, "Whatever Hashem says, we will do".

4. The next day, Mosheh goes up on the mountain and Hashem gives him instructions on the preparations for receiving the Torah at Har Sinai (19, 1-25). A. The three days of preparation, purity and holiness, the prohibition of going up the mountain. B. On the third day (the day of receiving the Torah), thunder and lightning, and a strong Shofar sound. The nation stands at the edge of the mountain and Hashem warns again that they should not step out of the boundary. C. The Ten Commandments. D. When Bnai Yisrael heard Hashem speaking, they asked Mosheh from fear that he should tell them the words of Hashem (20, 1-14).

5. Reiteration about the prohibition of idolatry and warnings about the holdiness of the tabernacle and its shape (20, 15-23).

"And now if you obey Me and keep My covenant, you shall be to Me a treasure out of all peoples, for Mine is the entire earth" (19, 5)

What is the intention of the promise "You shall be to Me a treasure out of all peoples"?

The Ben Ish Hai explains this in his book "Ben Yehoyada". The Gemara (Pesachim 118) says, "Hashem said to Gavriel… Shout at the wicked nation that all their deeds are written with one quill.

We need to understand the meaning of "They are written with one quill. The explanation for this is as follows: The other nations are obligated in the seven Noachide laws only and one can write the number seven with one swipe of a quill. One the other hand, the Jewish nation is obligated to keep the 613 Mitzvot and 613 is written with three swipes of a quill. And this is what it means when the verse says "And you will be a treasured nation for Me". Treasure in Hebrew is Segulah and there is also a vowel in the hebrew alphabet which is Segol and it is written as three dots. These three dots symbolize the 613 Mitzvot as the number 613 also requires three swipes of a quill to be written. If Bnai Yisrael listen to Hashem and keep His covenant, they will be a treasured nation as the other nations only have one swipe of laws to keep.

The Beit Avraham from Slonim writes in his book "Michtavei Kodesh" (letter 12) that on each of the Ten Commandments that the Jewish nation heard they answered Amen. We see a hint to this in the morning Shabbat prayer during the Amidah, 'Tikanta Shabbat'. It is written, "אז מסיני נצטוו" – "From Sinai, they were commanded." The first letter of each word spells out Amen.

Hints in the giving of the Torah

The main topic in this Parashah is the giving of the Torah which was given in the year 2448, on the sixth day of the third month, which is the month of Sivan, 50 days after the Jews left Egypt. The Torah does not state the year the Torah was given, or the date, but there is nothing that is not hinted to in the Torah.

What is the hint to the year 2448 that the Torah was given in? We know that we raise the Torah in Shul to show it to everyone and every person in Shul points their finger to the Torah and says "This is the Torah that Mosheh placed before Bnai Yisrael". What is the explanation of the word "Vezot"- and this is? Why is there an extra letter Vav (which means and) added to the word Zot?

In the word Vezot there is a hint to the year the Torah was given. The letter Vav has the numerical value of 6 and the word Zot has the numerical value of 408 and if we multiple 408 by 6, we get 2448 which is the year the Torah was given. Therefore, it is important that when the Torah is raised up in Shul for all to see that we say "Vezot" as this is a hint to the year 2448.

There is another hint in the Parashah of Bereishit, "And it was evening and it was morning, (Yom HaShishi) the sixth day". The letter Hey in the word HaShishi is a hint to the five books of the Torah and Shishi which means six is alluding to the sixth day of Sivan that the Torah was given.

Another hint is in the Pasuk, "VeChamushim Yatzu", And they left armed, or you could read it as VeChamishim Yatzu - that fifty day after leaving Egypt you will receive the Torah. In the Ten Commandments there are 172 words that are equal in numerical value to Ekev in the verse "Vehayah Ekev Tishme'un" – "and it will be because you heed…".

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments have 620 letters. The numerical value of the word Keter - crown is 620. If we merit to keep the commandments, then we merit the crown of Torah and if we do not merit to keep the commandments, then Heaven forbid, we are cut off from the Jewish people.

The Ten Commandments have 172 words which is the numerical value of the Hebrew word Ekev (because).

"Ekev" is the root word of Yaakov. The letter Yud in the word Yaakov has the numerical value 10 which hints to the Ten Commandments and Ekev (the end of the word Yaakov) hints to the 172 words of the Ten Commandments.

"And Mosheh went out to greet his father-in-law…" (10, 7)

Rashi explains: When Mosheh went out, Aharon and his sons Nadav and Avihu went out. When people saw them go out, they followed and went out as well. In turn, Yitro was given great honor at that moment. How does Rashi know that Aharon and Nadav and Avihu and all of Bnai Yisrael went out? The "Tevuat Shor" answers that in the verse it says, "And Yaakov left Be'er Sheva" and Rashi explains there that when a righteous person leaves the city, its majesty leaves, its radiance leaves, its glory leaves. When a righteous person leaves, it leaves an impact. Rashi learns this from the fact that it says in the verse Yaakov left and not Yaakov went. Here we cannot say that there was an impact from a righteous person going out unless Aharon, Nadav and Avihu also went out. Therefore, Rashi explains that they did, in fact, go out and if they went out, then certainly Bnai Yisrael followed them and went out as well…

"And it came about the next day that Mosheh sat down to judge the people and the people stood before Mosheh from the morning until the evening" (18, 13)

When Yitro, Mosheh's father-in-law, saw Mosheh judging people from morning until evening, he gave him advice on how to judge people. On this verse Rashi cites the words of the Gemara (Shabbat 10): Would you ever thing that Mosheh is sitting and judging all day along? Then when does he learn Torah? This comes to teach you that a judge who judges truthfully, even for one hour, it is considered as if he has learned Torah all day long and he becomes a partner with Hashem in the work of creation. It is enough for the Gemara to say "Din Emet" – true judgment. Why does the Gemara say "Din Emet LeAmito" – real true judgment. Is there true judgment that is not truthful?

The Baal Drishah explains on the Tur (Hoshen Mishpat 1, letter 2) that every Torah judgment is true, but sometimes according to the place and time, one needs to judge beyond the letter of the law. Not only does the judge have to give a truthful judgment, but he also has to go out of his way to bring both sides to accept the judgment with love.

Maran Rav Ovadiah Yosef Ztk'l brings in his book "Anaf Etz Avot" a story about Rebbi Eliyahu Haim Meizel Zt'l (the rabbi of Lodz) who was the chief rabbinical judge in his city. He would judge the Jews with much understanding and wisdom. One day, two ladies came to him for Torah law and this is what happened. The two ladies had washed their daughter's shirts and had hung them outside on the line to dry. Thieves came along and stole all the shirts that were drying on one of the lines and the shirts on the second line were left to be. One lady said that the shirts that were left on the second line were hers while the second lady claimed the same thing. The rabbi heard their claims and knew that one of the ladies was not telling the truth. The rabbi immediately told the ladies to bring the clothes to him. After they brought him the clothes, he asked both ladies to leave the room. Then he called the Rabanit into the room and asked her to bring some of his white shirts so he can mix it into the pile of shirts that the ladies had brought him. Afterwards, he called in one of the ladies and asked her, "Do you recognize that these shirts are yours"? The lady answered yes. The Rav asked her again, "Look well. Maybe you are mistaken". "I'm not mistaken"! the lady answered. "I recognize my clothes very well and these are mine, these are mine, these are not mine, and these are not mine".

In this way, she chose out her clothes and put aside the Rav's clothes that did not belong to her. The Rav then asked her to wait outside. He called in the second lady and asked her the same question, "Are these your clothes"? The lady answered, "Yes, These are my clothes, This is mine and this is mine" and she claimed that all the clothes were hers including the Rav's clothes. The Rav yelled at her and said, "You are not telling the truth"!

He took out his clothes and said,"These are mine, not yours". In this way, he judged a real true judgment.

"And you shall set boundaries for the people around, saying, beware of ascending the mountain or touching its edge. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death…When the ram's horn sounds a long drawn out blast, they may ascend the mountain" (19, 12-13)

At the time of the giving of the Torah, Har Sinai was the holy of holies, to the point that whoever would touch it would die, but right after it says, "When the ram's horn sounds a long drawn out blast, they may ascend the mountain." When the shofar blast was heard, the Shechinah (Divine Presence) departed and even the animals were able to ascend the mountain as the mountain was not holy of its own accord. We have to understand something here. How is it possible that in such a holy place where the holy Torah was given, no holiness remained? How is it different than the Beit HaMikdash whose holiness remains forever even if it is destroyed?

Rav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler Zt'l, the supervisor of Yeshivat Ponoevezh explains this: Just like when a person takes a parchment and writes on it the name of Hashem and the parchment becomes holy (the holiness enters the physical), so too with the Beit HaMikdash, the holiness enters into the physical place. Therefore, we are forbidden to enter the area of the Mikdash, but with Har Sinai, there was a revelation of Hashem's presence, but this did not enter into the physical place and therefore it remained void of holiness.

Explanation: At Har Sinai, Bnai Yisrael received a gift, the holiest gift, but this was received without any toil or work on their part. Only after they received the Torah did the work begin. On the other hand Har Hamoriah was a symbol of putting in work as Avraham Avinu brought Yitzhak up as a sacrifice here and all the rest of the sacrifices after were brought here and therefore this place became holy.

Here is an example of toiling in the holy Torah:

When Rebbi Mosheh Mordechai, son of Rebbi Shimon Shkop Zt'l, became of age to go to Yeshivah, his father escorted him to the Yeshivah of Volozhin. It had been many years since his father had learned in this Yeshivah and right when they arrived in Volozhin, before they even went to meet with the head of the Yeshivah who was the Netziv, the father went with his son into the Beit Midrash and he pointed out the bench that he sat on when he was in Yeshivah. He then turned to his son and said, "Here, on this bench, I sat and learned for six straight years. Here is where I had the best enjoyment day and night. These were the most beautiful years of my life" and he then became emotional and broke out into tears.

Another example is Rebbi Yosef Buxbaum Z'l, the founder of "Mechon Yerushalayim". He merited to live in the same building as the Great One from Tchebin Tz'l. A short while after the Rebbi from Tchebin passed away, Rebbi Yosef Buxbaum left his house and he saw Rav Aryeh Levine Zt'l standing with a Tehillim in his hand and crying.

He approached him and asked him why he was crying.

Rav Aryeh answered and said that someone he knows is sick and he was searching for a place to pour out his heart to Hashem in prayer. In those years, it was not possible to go to the Kotel and pray as the Jordanians ruled over that part of Yerushalayim. Therefore, Rav Aryeh felt that this buliding where Rebbi Barish Vinefield Ztk'l lived and toiled in Torah and where so many brokenhearted people would flock to for salvation or comfort would be the perfect place to pray.

When Rebbi Yosef told this story over to Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach Zt'l, Rav Shlomo answered that this is correct and such a sensitivity is appropriate for Rav Aryeh Levine and not for us. Then Rav Shlomo continued and testified about himself, "Even I, when I pass that buliding, remember the elevated feelings I had when I was in his presence".

The story of a phantom pilot (F4) – Rav Raanan

A prior kibbutznik from Kibbutz Sadot Yam in the year 1968 finished a pilot course and he began to work as a phantom pilot for the Hatzor base. He tells over this story: In the Yom Kippur War I entered Egypt and the plane was going at a very fast speed. The navigator who was next to me focused in on the place that he was going to shoot and suddenly we had missiles coming at us. I tried to avoid the missiles, but I got hit in the head. I felt like my hand was boiling. I looked to see what had happened and I felt like I was going to throw up from the scene I was seeing. I tried to take control of the plane as I did not want to land in Egypt. They continued to shoot at us and I was trying to find a way to land in the Sinai desert. On the way, I saw a lot of our planes being hit and destroyed including my friend's plane. I managed to get to Sinai and land in the Rapidim base. This was my personal exodus out of Egypt. From there, they took us to the hospital in Tel HaShomer where a lot of the wounded were taken.

One day a religious Jew by the name of Epstein came to visit. He told us how he went to extract a pilot I know. On his way to the pilot, he stepped on a trap which blew up and he injured his leg. I told him my story of how I was saved in the airplane I was flying and he told me that I had great help from Above. I asked him what that meant. He explained that every missile has a target to reach and the plane has its mechanisms to save the pilot from "Vertigo".However, the missile will not reach its target if Hashem does not want it to and the plane wlil not save the pilot unless this too is ordained by Hashem. The Torah has been saving the Jews from "Vertigo" in this world for 3300 years since the giving of the Torah.

Later on I had training exercises that I had to complete in the north. Once I completed the exercises, I told the commander that I am going. He asked me where I am going. I told him that I am leaving to go learn in Yeshivah. He got up and he told me that in Eretz Yisrael there are groups of people that make everyone crazy with their protests about what they believe in by closing off streets, but only for them is everything worth it because if they were not here, there would be nothing here. He for sure is not suffering from "Vertigo" and knows the truth….

With blessings of Torah

With blessings of Torah, Ron Barina

Rav Ron Barina is a 30 year veteran of the air-force. Since he retired, he has served as a consultant who travels from Israel to USA to also meet with USA air force representatives in the area of engineering/technology. He now dedicates most of his time to learning, teaching and spreading the sweet Torah. He learns with the Gaonim Rav Meir Mazuz Shlita, Rav Yaakov Edelstein, and Rav Avraham Yosef Shlita. He resides with his lovely wife and children in Ramat Hasharon.

"The preparation of the heart are man's, but the answer of the tongue is from Hashem" (Mishlei 16, 1)