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Parshat Shemot: We are All Moshe's Mateh (Staff)
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Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
good morning everybody and uh thank you
for to for uh setting up this session
and all of the kuk sessions that she has
been doing um six days a week I believe
for um or five days a week excuse me
Sunday through Thursday for the last
many weeks that we've been having these
kuk sessions um to KH and to all those
from the uh that are participating in
the OU um trip today to go picking um
Han actually is not going to be at the
Shure because she is representing the OU
itself as part of the group that the OU
advertis is going picking oranges today
so she's off to pick oranges I hope that
she enjoys I hope she gets some good
juicy oranges but most importantly of
course that we all just continue to help
out all those that are in need in any
way that we can okay once again good
morning to all and it's good to see all
of you um in case you were not aware
this is at least at this point this is
the last week
of these um kuk Zoom sessions at 10:30
a.m. and uh 5:00 p.m. the schedule will
take on a little bit of a Different
Twist um in the ensuing weeks and of
course you will find all of that
information um in the Tor tidbits and
elsewhere if you search accordingly it's
good to see all of you this morning and
we should meet under um better
circumstances of course than in uh
wartime and I would like um if I may to
just uh dedicate uh today's
Shure to all those that have um passed
away since October 7th since s be they
hostages be
they be they others I would like to
dedicate our to all of them this morning
with
a that indeed um he will continue to see
to our long-term protection and our
staying power
as
okay this week we are introduced of
course
withot to Moshe
Renu the parasha begins as we
know um with Moshe renu's birth and the
parasha continues with Moshe and Aaron
feeling dejected and to God and saying
what gives you sent us to free is is and
not only is that not happening it's
making things much much more difficult
than before we are in a much more dire
predicament as I'm Israel and my brother
Aon and I on a very personal level now
the Egyptians and even our own people
want to Stone us if that's the case
we're worse off than we were before so
God as it were what gives what's going
on here and God's response is and this
is the last of the
is don't worry you will see or maybe
worry but you'll see and then in we
continue with
how intended to implement the the you
will see piece of it with the of course
culminating in the actual as we find
in what I would like to do this morning
is to take us on a short tour from the
moment that introduces himself to
mosu throughout Moser ru's time period
as a leader of am Isel or at least up
until we have left
MIT to be sure this is a short version
of a shur that I've given in the past at
the U Center Live in the past and then I
titled it moshe's Majestic M and we are
going to take a look and Survey
different sources that discuss MOS M M's
handheld staff and see the direction in
which the Torah through its text is
taking
us let's begin witho when he comes
across the when he comes across the
burning bush at some point in that
convers
says
to what is that that you are holding in
your hand of
course knows the answer he's simply
trying to get Moshe to direct his
attention to his answer which is M said
it is M it is my staff many many
beautiful mid behind the staff what the
sources of that particular M that we're
not going to get into this
morning as we know tells to take his
M and the M turns into aash the M turns
into a snake if you will then tells M to
grab a hold once again of his M and
miraculously it turns back into a an
inanimate M to an inanimate staff from
inanity to having enmity to going back
to being an inanimate object at that
particular juncture Moshe M which to him
was his Shepherd's staff now suddenly
also takes on a new dimension and that
is the dimension
ofad performing miracles in this
particular
case performed a miracle for
mosu perhaps and I'm saying perhaps
because there are different ideas and
reasonings suggested here but perhaps in
order to prove to Moshe that it is
actually I God that is talking to you
that has met you here in Theo and not
some other unseen individual hiding
behind the bush or whatever it may be
not some other entity it really is me
God aside from that we will then see the
transition
from VI Moshe M performing miracles for
Moshe on a personal level of course to
continue going into the future
performing miracles for is mosu now
takes his M he I don't want to or I
hesitate to say he was convinced to go
after arguing back and forth and again
we all know the story but after arguing
back and forth with none other than H
himself I don't know that he's
necessarily convinced but he goes he
doesn't really have a choice basically
after the give and take God loses his
temper and he said excuse me Moshe I
told you to go I'm the boss you're not
you answer to me now get going mhe goes
he takes his M with him the next time
that we find mosenu using his m is
performing these OT performing these
signs before the before Isel
parenthetically and not so
parenthetically we are not discussing
moson M this morning we are only
referring to moshe's M therefore when it
comes time for theod for the 10 plagues
we will not be uh discussing at all the
Mak of dam and those two makot were
performed by Aaron instead we are going
to go right to the next excuse me to the
first ma in which we find mos ru's usage
of his M because until um excuse me with
all the others up until this particular
point that I am about to mention we
don't find Moshe is using his M for
these Mak
but the first of the 10 plagues in which
we find M using his m is the m of the
it's the M of the of thead of the H and
there we are told Moshe Moshe stretched
out his
staff that same M towards the sky and
what
did performed of course
a like the word
rain God rained down
H in the
next the locusts we find the same exact
wording Moshe stretched forth his M his
staff this time not towards the sky for
the barad fell from the sky the AR locus
of course they simply swarm in in the
middle of from the middle of nowhere in
the air itself or over the land
therefore he stretched out his
hand that is the only difference and
then suddenly what do we
find and Eastern
wind carried in or carried the
ARB blue as it were the AR
into so we
findu using his M now with a little bit
of a Twist a little bit of a
transition first the staff was nothing
but
with its very rich history according to
Mid it was his personal staff that he
used as a shepher then we find excuse me
the added dimension of this mate
becoming one that is used to perform
Miracles or to demonstrate
to
that is performing miracles for us for
am Israel this then becomes a symbol of
a for is and that means whenever they
see m going forward and he is about to
perform some sort of sign B Isel see
that visual sign and they understand
that it
isad who is the PO he is the one that is
engaged in the proactivity here yes it
is mosu but Moshe rabenu is a vehicle is
a medium through together with his
M through
which is performing and that's going to
be important to keep in
mind the next time we find a mention of
m
m is when B is are at the the cusp of
yamu they're about to cross the Red
Sea and there's a transition there as
well well which a reader might not pick
up on the first time I think this year
when we come to par in just three and a
half weeks every one of us will suddenly
notice this especially if you're tuning
into to the shur this morning there we
find something very
fascinating instead of the Tor simply
telling us
that tells Moshe to take his staff and
stretch out his staff and instead of
finding that M stretch out his staff we
find something very different and what
we find is as
follows there at the cusp of crossing
the
sea tells M as
follows usually the word translates into
lift lift up your
M and stretch forth your hand hand Al
Over the
Sea and split it andu indeed does that
however if we take a look a closer look
excuse me at the wording something
different seems to be emerging here the
Torah does not simply say that or better
yet does not simply instruct
Moshe stretch out your M if we back up
to the previously quoted verses that I
quoted just a few moments ago to
contrast when Moshe Renu performed the M
excuse me the N the miracle ofad and
again the Tor makes it very clear M MOS
stretched out his M at
M as they are about to cross as the sea
is about to split that's not what we
find at all instead we find that who
says to him
lift your M
but stretch out your hand it's as
if himself in his instruction to Moshe
is
stressing something else here some other
activity than what was engaged in in the
past why did say to
him stretch out your hand after telling
him to lift your
mate and I think it's significant
for us to read these words in such a way
that is asking mosu to engage in two
separate activities the first
is the second
is and stretch forth your hand minus the
mate without your mate and in fact
what's fascinating here is that among
the parim theak says that the word har
here does not even mean lift up here it
has a different meaning and he brings
proof texts from other sources in the
Kash where that same
root to lift does indeed mean lift up
but in these other sources that he
brings for proof text kakar
demonstrates that here har does not mean
simply lift up simply raise it means yes
pick it up of course raise it but cast
it aside we find that also by we say
find the same usage by kak we find the
same usage in a few other uh a few other
um locations in the text as well and a
few other passages where har means to
cast aside so
theak explains
that is telling M to do here in no
uncertain terms
is not in the not in the in the way or
in the means that we normally think of
but rather take take your M yes lift it
up for B is to see lift it for them but
demonstrate for them that you're through
with the m you are no longer using the M
cast it aside they will see you placing
the M down on the side and
then ACC
to stretch out your hand without that M
what's going on
here remember that we said just a few
moments ago that the M was a symbol
of Performing performing miracles for is
they would see this m and they would
understand that God is the one
performing for us we do not have to
engage in any of these activities for it
is that is
performing and that I believe and I'm
not the first one to suggest this at all
is what was necessary during Ben isel's
sojourn in MIT they were a slave
Nation they did not have the wherewithal
to take initiative they were beaten down
they were
downtrodden they understood that in
order for them to
survive through mhe and through the
representation of this mate or together
with the visual of this mate will be the
ones to provide for us and I as an Eed
I'm not going to dare to speak up
because an Eed a slave that speaks up
will be beaten he could be
killed I cannot possibly take initiative
and so since B Israel were in this state
and Frame of Mind of being slaves let's
call it a slave
mentality had no
choice but to have Moshe Renu use his m
on the other hand once told him to take
his M and and to cast it aside if the
kakar is
correct that then is symbolizing to
Moshe excuse me symbolizing through MOS
to to us that we are now entering a new
phase we are leaving MIT as soon as we
enter that sea game over we will then be
on our way to
and from this moment on we Isel must
make that transition from being a slave
Nation from having a slave mentality
when everything is performed for us by
God to taking initiative from here on in
when we are no longer slaves to par and
the MIT we must take initiative in order
for us to be able to survive
yes of course will always be there by
our side just like that M was by MOS
ru's side I believe that's part of the
visual as well he is there literally and
figuratively by our side
but now no longer acts only through
Moshe and his M but he acts through Us
in other
words wants to De wants us to demonstr r
that we are in a position slowly yes to
leave that slave mentality into a new
mentality of a people that are free to
worship
aad and in order to demonstrate that we
must take initiative in thear and we
must take initiative once we enter erit
Kanan in order to ensure our survival
and if that particular text and the the
push of the commentary of kakar is not
enough the fact is that the torat itself
actually makes it quite clear in the
text when we come to the Paras or the
par the peace um regarding
Amal are attacked as we know and what do
we
find fine mosu then tells yosua you're
an army General now in addition to all
of your respons abilities choose men go
fight and what does what does tell
yahua
tomorrow I will be standing on the top
of a hill on a
Hilltop excuse me God's staff MIM will
be in my hand I'll be holding my
M the T tells us did everything that
excuse me that had told him to
do together
with they climbed up to the top of the
hill then the Torah tells us something
fascinating
mosu obviously seeing that he's tired
Aon and first of all Place MOS Ru upon a
rock a beautiful midash about that as
opposed to sitting on a pillow because
he wanted to
demonstrate that I am in this with you
that I am suffering just like you are
even though I seem to be safe on top of
a hill at the same time they held up
Moshe renu's hands and what does the
Torah tell us the Torah tells us very
clearly not when he lifts his
M if we pay attention to the text the
text makes it very clear when he lifts
his hand where's his M
furthermore when he places down his hand
because he was fatigued because he was
exhausted and he could not hold up his
hands then
suddenly then Amal was ahead in this war
furthermore just prior to that
interesting uh demonstration that visual
of the the Tor tells us the day m
M's hands were tired at the conclusion
of that particular piece the torat tells
us excuse me the Tor tells
us hands the word Y is being stressed
over and over and over again his hands
were his hands were straight up not his
M his hands whenever a word is used
repeatedly it becomes a it becomes a
guide word a light motif of that entire
piece in this case of the entire paria
that relates to us the episode of Amal
so to me the torat is making it very
clear that aad excuse me that mosu is
telling yahushua I'm going to have my m
in my hand and I will be standing there
in front of or ins sight of all of Isel
they will look up to me and will see me
with my m
and then I'm not using my M any longer
I'm casting aside my M I'm putting it
aside just as kakar least explains
happened by yamu others will disagree
but to me by Amal it's very clear and
Moshe Ru is raising his hands together
with the assistance
of Aron and and he is no longer holding
his m in order for us mosu is conveying
to am Israel
to be able to succeed in
this we must fight for ourselves in
direct sharp contrast to what we find
earlier in the Torah when Moshe Renu
just before the splitting of the
yamu davens as it work
to he cries out to and says we've got a
problem here we've got the sea in front
of us and we have the MIT behind us and
we are trapped and my people people want
to know what's going on and what does
say Li why are you ding to me but then
he
[Music]
adds God will fight for you that was
true then and that was necessary then
but it was also time for the
transition why are you crying out to
me you speak to when you tell them they
must enter the sea that was the point of
the
transition you must do so at the same
time but
this is not necessarily any longer the
case or it is no longer the only
ingredient in seeing towards our success
in the mil in seeing towards our success
in the mil that m is Now cast aside by
Moshe renu and it is B is that must be
the ones to engage in the fight in order
to ensure their in order to ensure our
survival the only other time in the
entire K that we find mosu using his M
once again is 40 years later when a
kados instructs Moshe in the second
episode of The Hitting of The Rock he he
instructs mosu to talk to the
RO and mhe makes a fatal error what that
error is is subject of course to debate
that's a in of itself that I by the way
have given in the past in that that is
available in the OU archives but in any
event Moshe makes some sort of fatal
error it very well may be that he hit
the rock instead of speaking to the Rock
we'll leave that aside for a different
time but through the rest of saer shote
through saer V until we come to towards
the end of the last third of sa
will no longer us his M his m is no
longer a part of the
picture you know how he place his M we
did you know what
replaced demonstrating through M holding
his M
that we did we became a people that
understood that we need to take
initiative in order for us to be able to
survive in order for us in the first
first place to even be able to be
deserving of this trip and this journey
towards Isel and
then survival in um excuse me in is as
Israel I cannot think of a more
important
connection between parat shot between
this journey that we went on this
morning warning of
M's mosu and his
m
to the times that we are going through
now as am Israel
today than this particular discussion of
this
morning we are an AM that has been
through so much in so many ways more
than any other peoples on the entire
planet I don't want to say that we are
once again at a transition but rather we
are now finding ourselves once again as
we always do but it is stressed for us
even more so today during this time of
War during this time of mil in which we
must engage that we are now along this
Continuum of at the same time of course
has of course in the quoting the for the
welfare of the we recite
the that is used in the torat in
describing a war in describing a which
we are engaged
that is the one fighting for us he is
there by our side just like Moshe M but
he cannot do the work for us we have to
be the ones that are proactively engaged
in the work and especially always but
especially now
in this time of War whether it be the
that are fighting whether it be all
those that are engaged in supporting
theim whether it be zaka whether it be
Mada whatever organization is and
individuals those that are going picking
for example on the OU trip today those
that are simply cooking for wives or in
some case husbands that are at home when
suddenly a
family is simply overwhelmed and can
cannot simply cook seven days a week for
themselves they need extra help and
people are cooking for them whether it's
supporting through to different
organizations or individuals that need
during this time of War whatever it may
be all of us that are engaged in all of
these activities are demonstrating that
we understand the message of this
transition from MOS Renu using his M to
mosenu Casting aside his M and for us to
replace this m m
through seeing our efforts
of becoming that M seeing our efforts
seeing our proactivity and doing
everything each of us in our own way
everything in our power to ensure the
future of Isel that we indeed and this
is our to and with this we will close
our the last of our at least for me this
morning that will indeed see us
through
the that Israel will be ours and that we
will indeed deserve it forever more I
wish all of you a good day I wish all of
us the best of health and I wish for all
of am Israel and for the entire world a
time when we will in hasem see Shalom
and we will see peace thank you so much
to all of you for attending and have a
wonderful day feel free to unmute
yourselves if you wish to share anything
at this point and before you do I just
want to thank um one of you Rosanne
thank you thank you for thanking me for
the wonderful class and yes will be
there for us always and I all of you
soon again in the OU Center or via
[Music]
another thank you very much very
welcome
very okay these I'm gonna miss
these but I wish there hadn't been a war
and we hadn't had the
Shing what can you
do I I agree obviously that's that's not
for me to decide I'm not involved in
those decisions but I can tell you that
Rabbi Sam Shore together with KH and the
rest of his team are working day in and
day out to ensure that we can get back
to the shik get back to the normal
routine as soon as possible some of
which of course is already taking place
at OU Israel and in other locations as
well um I myself by the way had the
opportunity I think I
mentioned to give Aur for U in um in
modim as the U is indeed expanding its
Horizons in person as well
um though of course we all look forward
to a Time able to return to the shat to
the normal routine but I I assure
you that that Rabbi sha and his team are
working very very hard towards that end
okay Rabbi will your sh there be
recorded say it again will your sh modin
be recorded So the sh that I gave in
modin it it was the the k b of modin run
by a rabbi Steven tinger um in
conjunction with the OU that chigur was
not recorded um the one that I gave was
not recorded and the Kel Boer program
normally is not recorded um if I am
there myself or when I am there myself
at the most it will be every other week
on a Tuesday every second week at the
most because the OU is has several
individuals that are going there um will
they be recorded or not this I do not
know I can ask um the next time that I
that I deliver is she or there I can't
promises because that's on my control we
should
ask Shai what is
[Music]
it
other the only way I can
do
yeah sh that's a good question all of
all of my OU classes whether they are
these Zoom sessions or whether they are
the sessions in person like I used to
give and maybe we again soon God willing
um all of the OU classes they are all
archive they are all Avail available to
watch at a later dat all of them okay
the for this week all of them are also
Zoom but after that they're all
available to watch at a later date you
can look it up on YouTube you can look
it up the address in oh tidbits but it's
there and you can watch all this shim
okay