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*

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