In this week's parasha, b'nai Yisrael are saved from the approaching Egyptians, and led through the Yam Suf which Gd miraculously split to allow us to walk on dry land. After the Egyptians are crushed by the waters that collapse over them, Moshe Rabbeinu sings a song of praise to Gd which is printed in its entirety in our parasha. After Moshe Rabbeinu sings, we learn that "Miriam HaNeviah, Aaron's sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women came out after her with timbrels and with dances." (Exodus 14:20).
Rashi comments on the words "with timbrels and with dances." He teaches, "The righteous women of that generation were [so] certain that the Holy One, blessed be He, would perform miracles for them, they took timbrels out of Egypt. — [from Mechilta]." As the famous question posed by Avigdor Bombeck goes, "What's bothering Rashi?" In other words, Rashi generally comments on the Torah in order to elucidate a passage or resolve a difficulty. In this particular comment, Rashi is commenting on how it is that the women had the timbrels in the first place!
Clearly, there were no timbrels in the desert. As Rabbi Benzion Shafier points out in his commentary on this pasuk, not only were b'nai Yisrael in a tremendous hurry to pack to leave, in last weeks parasha, Gd had commanded Moshe Rabbeinu, "Please, speak into the ears of the people, and let them borrow, each man from his friend and each woman from her friend, silver vessels and golden vessels." (Exodus 11:2) B'nai Yisrael had followed this order, Gd had caused the Egyptians to see b'nai Yisrael favorably, and so we had a tremendous amount of gold and silver vessels with us. On top of that, after the 10th macah, (plague), there was death in every Egyptian household, and we barely had time to bake the matzah let alone consider what we might need in the desert. Like the common scenario we sometimes paint, "If your house was burning down, and you could run in and grab one thing, what would it be?" I doubt that many people would say "A timbrel, so that I can rejoice when the goodness of Gd's plan is revealed to me after the fire." This Rashi emphasizes the level of faith and trust that the women had. It was not only that they believed that Gd would save them, they were already planning on how they might express their gratitude.
In our lives, sometimes we struggle to find faith that everything is part of Gd's plan and is happening for the good. While going through a truly tumultuous time, like b'nai Yisrael went through right before leaving Egypt, we might be only focused on fear of the unknown in the future. The imagery of yitziat Mitzrayim (the exodus) has often been compared to the birthing of a nation, with the events leading up to kriat Yam Suf (splitting of the Sea of Reeds) being the birth canal through which the slaves passed to enter into their new lives as free people. Sometimes we too feel like things have gotten so tough that they cannot get any worse- they can only get better from here. During those times of transition to the "better" though, we are often as afraid as b'nai Yisrael was, longing to return to slavery, because at least it was familiar. During these times, my prayer is that we can be inspired by the faith of the righteous women of the generation that left Egypt; that we can focus not only on what awaits us on the other side of the transition, but also be so sure of its arrival that we plan for our celebration of gratitude.
Rashi comments on the words "with timbrels and with dances." He teaches, "The righteous women of that generation were [so] certain that the Holy One, blessed be He, would perform miracles for them, they took timbrels out of Egypt. — [from Mechilta]." As the famous question posed by Avigdor Bombeck goes, "What's bothering Rashi?" In other words, Rashi generally comments on the Torah in order to elucidate a passage or resolve a difficulty. In this particular comment, Rashi is commenting on how it is that the women had the timbrels in the first place!
Clearly, there were no timbrels in the desert. As Rabbi Benzion Shafier points out in his commentary on this pasuk, not only were b'nai Yisrael in a tremendous hurry to pack to leave, in last weeks parasha, Gd had commanded Moshe Rabbeinu, "Please, speak into the ears of the people, and let them borrow, each man from his friend and each woman from her friend, silver vessels and golden vessels." (Exodus 11:2) B'nai Yisrael had followed this order, Gd had caused the Egyptians to see b'nai Yisrael favorably, and so we had a tremendous amount of gold and silver vessels with us. On top of that, after the 10th macah, (plague), there was death in every Egyptian household, and we barely had time to bake the matzah let alone consider what we might need in the desert. Like the common scenario we sometimes paint, "If your house was burning down, and you could run in and grab one thing, what would it be?" I doubt that many people would say "A timbrel, so that I can rejoice when the goodness of Gd's plan is revealed to me after the fire." This Rashi emphasizes the level of faith and trust that the women had. It was not only that they believed that Gd would save them, they were already planning on how they might express their gratitude.
In our lives, sometimes we struggle to find faith that everything is part of Gd's plan and is happening for the good. While going through a truly tumultuous time, like b'nai Yisrael went through right before leaving Egypt, we might be only focused on fear of the unknown in the future. The imagery of yitziat Mitzrayim (the exodus) has often been compared to the birthing of a nation, with the events leading up to kriat Yam Suf (splitting of the Sea of Reeds) being the birth canal through which the slaves passed to enter into their new lives as free people. Sometimes we too feel like things have gotten so tough that they cannot get any worse- they can only get better from here. During those times of transition to the "better" though, we are often as afraid as b'nai Yisrael was, longing to return to slavery, because at least it was familiar. During these times, my prayer is that we can be inspired by the faith of the righteous women of the generation that left Egypt; that we can focus not only on what awaits us on the other side of the transition, but also be so sure of its arrival that we plan for our celebration of gratitude.
Comments
Post a Comment