Miller's Musings Parshas Beshalach: When Impossible is Nothing and Belief is Everything

בס''ד

The power of a song and the profound depth found within singing, is a theme discussed recurrently in Torah sources.  After witnessing the most miraculous of events, the splitting of the sea, the Jewish people erupted into a song of praise to G-d.  That they chose that moment to do so, is testament in itself to the divine nature of this action, when done correctly.  So given that this was a fitting response to their salvation, the questions arises as to why they left it until now to react in this manner?  Would their redemption from Egypt not have been reason enough?

Ultimately the answer must come down to a fundamental difference between the events of the Exodus leading up to this event and the miraculous splitting of the Red Sea, which is in fact what the Sfas Emes suggests.  Whereas the ten plagues were remarkable in the way they exhibited Hashem’s absolute mastery over the world and nature, they only showed that; Hashem’s mastery.  All who experienced them had to acknowledge that He was the Creator of the universe, His was the true power and He was the sole determinant of what took place in the world.  The splitting of the sea however took us one step further and one level higher, in demonstrating that through our actions and our good deeds, we too can bend the forces of nature to our will and override the natural laws.  The Jewish people’s fulfilment of G-d’s commands up to that point and their forging forward into the sea, was what ultimately decided that a miracle of this proportion should take place.  It was this knowledge of the power that they wielded that led them to react with songs of praise to the One who had endowed them with this potential.

If we imagine ourselves for one moment with the raging sea ahead of us and the brutal enemy behind, what choice would we make? The reality is that faced with such a situation most would turn to despondency and despair.  Yet the message from our Parsha is that all hope is never lost and no matter how desperate and impossible matters seem, there is always a chance for deliverance and there is always a choice open to us. To resign ourselves to our fate or to move forward in the knowledge that doing what we know to be right may just be that which turns everything around, no matter how unlikely and inconceivable it might seem.  That faith, that knowledge and that course of action is what we need to carry us forward through the most impossible of moments so that we decide our own fate and bring about the miraculous.

*May the harmony of Shabbos lead us to songs of appreciation*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת גרשון

Miller's Musings Parshas Bo: New Moon, New Beginnings

בס''ד

There had to be some Mitzvo chosen to be the first given to the Jews as a nation, but why this one?  Why would it be that Hashem would select this particular commandment, to sanctify the new moon, as the one among all the others to be the inaugural instruction for the Jewish people’s lives as a Torah abiding nation?  

A fundamental principle of Jewish thought is that whatever occurs in this physical world has an exact parallel in the higher spiritual worlds.  That which we see in nature is in truth analogous to what is happening at that time in loftier realms.  Pesach, for example, falls in spring, a time of renewal and rebirth, which means that in the upper worlds it is also a moment of regeneration.  In actuality it is that higher spiritual energy above which leads to the corresponding manifestation of this energy in the world we inhabit.  The corollary of this is that within every moment in time there is a potential for us to tap into that unique power and utilise it for our spiritual betterment.  The moon’s reappearance every month is a sign that this is a time imbued with the capacity for new beginnings, therefore it was most fitting that it should be given at this moment, the genesis of the Jewish nation.  In doing so, says the Ohr Gedalyohu not only was Hashem providing the required energies for the foundation of something new, He was also showing us an essential element of who we are.  Although within nature almost everything eventually stagnates and decays, the Jews as a people are not bound by the natural laws, and have an infinite potential for rebirth, just like the moon.

Change is scary and often difficult, sometimes because it’s scary.  It can be so daunting to have to begin again and such a challenge to our sense of identity and who we have thought ourselves to be.  This is why many live the lives they have always lived and do the things they have always done, unwilling to change even when they know the profound benefits of doing so.  In those very first moments as a people Hashem revealed that inbuilt into the very fabric of creation, is the potential to begin anew.  He taught us that the ability to start afresh is something that is an essential part of who we are and who we need to be to achieve our purpose. Yes change is frightening and fraught with risk, but sometimes it is the only way that we can move forward and the only means to becoming the person Hashem knows we can be.  Embracing change may be the single most important choice we ever make.

*May this Shabbos inspire us towards meaningful change*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת גרשון

Miller's Musings Parsahs Voeiro: A Leap of Love

  בס''ד    

It is a well-known doctrine of Judaism that there is nothing that we cannot learn something from. Frogs are no exception! Chazal tell us that Chananya, Mishoel and Azaryah used the example of the frogs, who in this week’s Parsha leapt into the Egyptian ovens in order to fulfil the will of G-d, to conclude that they too must enter the fiery furnace to sanctify Hashem’s name. The logic went, that if these frogs who were not even commanded to do so, gave up their lives for Hashem, all the more so we, who are instructed to sacrifice all for the name of Hashem, must surrender ourselves to this fate. The flaw in this reasoning however, said the Shaagas Aryeh, is in the fact that the frogs were in fact also charged by Hashem with this suicidal mission, as evidenced by the verses before the plague began that stated that they would have to do so.

At the young age of seven, the prodigious mind of the Vilna Gaon answered this question, earning a kiss on the head from the Shaagas Aryeh.  He pointed to the fact that in addition to being commanded to enter the ovens, the frogs were also instructed to enter beds, kneading bowls and various other areas of the Egyptian homes.  Each individual frog could have excused itself of the responsibility of going into the ovens and pushed the duty onto another of its kind.  That they did not do so, but chose voluntarily to jump to their death, meant that those three righteous men could deduce that they too should submit themselves to martyrdom for the sake of bringing honour to Hashem’s name.

The performance of mitzvos is something that can be done in any number of varying degrees of perfection. They can be done simply due to force of habit or because we are fearful of the consequences of failing to do them. But the lesson of the frogs is that the mitzvos should be done because this is what we want to do. Irrespective of whether we could find someone else to do it or a reason to excuse ourselves, we will take every opportunity we find to perform the Torah’s teachings. If those we seek to educate only see our Judaism as perfunctory or mandatory what hope do we have to stimulate their continuation of its beliefs? If we want our families and those around us to follow our example, and we seek to inspire others to live the Torah and its values, we must show that the divine acts we perform are not done only as obligations, but as deeds that we willingly and lovingly carry out.  Maybe then we too will motivate others to bring more of G-d’s light into the world for all to enjoy. 

*May this Shabbos be experienced with love and joy*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת גרשון

Miller's Musings Parshas Shemos: Man Ways To See

  בס''ד

In an extraordinary exchange with G-d by the burning bush, Moshe seemingly does the unthinkable and questions Hashem’s judgement.  Putting to one side how such an act is possible, we will focus on Hashem’s response to Moshe’s assertion that he did not have the requisite communication skills for the task of leading the Jewish people.  Hashem replies “Who makes one mute or deaf, or sighted or blind? Is it not I!” thereby refuting Moshe’s claim of an inability to provide the oratory skills needed.  Looking carefully at this statement, we cannot fail to notice one detail that seems out of place.  For within the impairments listed that Hashem creates is the fact that he also fashions those who are “sighted”.  What is this doing within this catalogue of imperfections?

Moshe Rabbeinu was perhaps the greatest human being that ever lived.  In fact Reb Shimon Schwab zt’l compares him to Odom, the first man, in at least one regard, relevant to the subject at hand.  For just as Odom, before the original sin, was able to see with a purity of vision that provided absolute clarity in all he saw, so too Moshe reached the level where he was able to see the world around him through a lens of absolute holiness and lucidity.  To people such as these, normal vision, as described by the word “sighted”, is something of a flaw when compared to their ability to see.  In fact the same Hebrew word is used in the Torah after Odom has fallen to a lower level due to his eating from the tree of knowledge and “the eyes of both of them were opened”.  Relatively speaking being sighted was in fact a level of imperfection.

The answer we have arrived it as based upon perspective.  For one sightedness would be a tremendous blessing, for Moshe it was a defect.  Taking this concept a step further we must appreciate that every person comes from a different perspective.  We have a tendency to look at our own viewpoints and worldviews as the perfect balance.  Anyone who sees our values as wrong must be taking things too far and are unaccepting and intolerant.  Yet do we ourselves not consider certain lifestyles or ideas contrary to what we want for ourselves or our families?  Why is it reasonable for us to see those as undesirable in our lives but expect everyone else to always consider our values acceptable?  There is nothing wrong with choosing what we allow into our sphere of existence, as long as we do so with integrity and respect, just be open to allowing others that very same entitlement.

*May we be surrounded this Shabbos with all that is good*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת גרשון