B"H "Path Markers" Pesach: By: Yaacov Silverstein e@mail: formail1@yeshashops.com HomePage: http://www.torahzone.com Year: 5764 This Years Parsha Series is prepared in the memory and merit of my grandfathers: Rav Yitzchak Zev Ben Yisroel Mordechai Hakohen Solomon Z"L Rav Chaim Meir Ben Yakov Silverstein Z"L *****^^^^^^^***** Did you tell your friend or relative how to subscribe to this Parsha List?? It's simple, just tell him to send a blank E-mail to: parsha-subscribe@torahzone.com And it is and always will be (B"H) FREE!! Buy Seforim OnLine through TorahZone - http://www.artscroll.com/torahzone "Even if all the people around the table are Torah Scholars, they should also ask one another...and whoever discusses more about the leaving of Egypt, is praised." The Halacha states that when one has no wife or child to ask questions but he does have friends with him at the Seder table, they should ask each other the 4 Questions (Mah Nishtana...), even if all of them are Torah scholars. At first glance, the 4 questions seem to be very simple, and are usually asked by the small children in the house. What does one gain from one Torah scholar asking another? Rabbi Moshe Avidan explains that it seems that our Sages are teaching us that adults must always "update" the knowledge that they were taught when they were younger. Now, after spending many years learning, one sees and understands things much differently than when they were young. Most people enjoy learning new things more than reviewing old topics. Our Sages therefor warn us that unless a person relearns even what he assumes he knows, he will fall short of really understanding, leaving one far from the Torah truth. Those who review the weekly Parsha with Rashi every week, will after a while see different meaning behind what they are learning, and that even certain Pesukim that seemed to be clear and obvious, may now seem hard to understand. The Sefer LaDaas Chochmah Umussar asks why the Haggadah states "whoever spends more time in saying over the story about the Exodus from Egypt is praiseworthy". The Rambam explains that this is dealing specifically with retelling that "We were slaves to Pharoah in Egypt..." and "Arami Oved Avi..."(the story of Lavan the Aramite). The story about the way the Egyptians openly tried to exterminate the Jewish people and how throughout the generations nations (Similar to Arami) plotted to wipe us out, and Hashem foiled their plans. Many plans were never even known to us and we may never know about them. The Sefer LaDaas Chochmah Umussar gives an answer based on the teaching in the Talmud (Erachin 16a), that we are not to say too much praise about another person because this may bring about Lashon Hora for others may start talking negatively about such a person. We are to be careful when we praise others, not to over do it. However, here we find that it is praiseworthy to say over as much as possible at the Seder table because when we are talking about praising Hashem there are no limits. No matter how much one says praise, he still has not met even the slightest amount of possible praise. Therefor, the more one praises, the more one is praiseworthy. I would like to finish off with a parable that was given by the great Rabbi Shaul Natenzon of Levov. There was once a person who was falsely accused of an act of murder and he was thrown into a dungeon. He went through tortures, hunger, and more. After a few years the truth came out and he was proven to be completely innocent. His life was given back to him. He was now a completely free man. He returned to his house and to his family. From then on he would celebrate the date of his release from prison with a festive meal to thank G-d for his freedom from that terrible imprisonment. Sitting with his friends and family around the table, what do you think he would tell them? Would he spend this joyous time telling about all the hardships he had in jail, the smelly place, horrible food, slave labor? No he spent his time telling them the feelings he had when he was told that he was now a free man. How the guard called his name and told him that the Sergeant wanted to speak to him after he washed his hands and face. How he felt when he heard those words "you are now a free man". How he put on a clean shirt for the first time in two years and walked out of the prison gates for good. The Jewish nation was tortured in Egypt for over 200 years. Yet the remembrance of our Egyptian slavery is only remembered on Pesach night through how we prepared and left Egypt. What about those 200 years of hardship before our Exodus? The Rebbi from Lvov gives another Parable. Yosef was locked up in a pit and then suddenly he was summoned to Pharoah he interpreted Pharoah's dream and was appointed second to the King. If Yosef was to make a commemorative meal for his freedom, what would he speak about? He would talk about the unbelievable turn of events that brought him to leadership, and not about his hardships in the prison. Speaking about how we were once slaves and that now we are free, is almost nothing compared to the great merit that we became the Jewish nation. That we became the chosen nation and immediately afterwards received the greatest award, the Torah. Therefor the main story that we talk about tonight is the story of leaving Egypt and becoming a holy nation of kings. If we were to speak about our torture at the hands Egyptian for over 200 years, our empathy would be very in proportion to how much one personally enjoys physical pleasure. The more spoiled one is with physicality, the more one feels the pain of imprisonment. Such a person, feels the enjoyment of being a free person, more than a righteous individual who doesn't feel any great need for physical pleasures in his life. Righteous people are satisfied with very little. However, what we tell over on the night of Pesach is not about our physical freedom, rather it is about the fact that we were chosen as Hashem's nation. This is most appreciated by those who are happy with the little that they have. This is why even the righteous are to tell over about the Exodus from Egypt, because they felt the most joy from the Exodus. If the story of the Seder night was supposed to be only about our imprisonment and not about our attaining closeness to G-d, then the tribe of Levi would not have to say over the story, because they were not enslaved in Egypt. However, we see from the story of "Rebbi Tarfon & Rebbi Elazar ben Azaryah" who were Kohanim, and Rebbi Yehoshua, who was a Levi, and Rebbi Akiva, who was a child of converts, that they said over the story of the exodus, all night long. Let us remember that the main story this night is not of being freed from Egypt, but the fact that G-d chose us and gave us the Torah, which is with us till this very day! What is most important to the Jewish nation is the spiritual freedom rather than the physical freedom. Chag Samayach, Happy Passover!! (Adapted from - Gifts for the Soul, LaDaas Chochma Umussar, Shemen Ha Tov, Shaarei Armon) --------***********-------- A special Thank You to my mother for checking & correcting the first DT draft. A special Thank You to Project Genesis - http://www.torah.org for hosting this list. If you ever want to remove yourself from this mailing list send a blank email to the following address: --------***********--------