Terumah 5782 – Building a Mishkan in our Homes
I
A TECHNICAL MITZVAH WITH TREMENDOUS REWARD
In Honor of Our Parents
ראובן בן רוזית
רחל בת בילא
On their 50th Anniversary
The Kassin Family
I
A TECHNICAL MITZVAH WITH TREMENDOUS REWARD
In Honor of Our Parents
ראובן בן רוזית
רחל בת בילא
On their 50th Anniversary
The Kassin Family
I hope all of you had a wonderful summer and you’re ready now to take on the climb of Chodesh Elul; to gain from it, and not to allow it to pass by in a blur. You have to realize that the shpitz, the end of the journey that begins in Chodesh Elul ends with the conclusion of Yom Hakippurim and hopefully we’ll be zocheh to selichah and mechilah along this journey.
The big sugya in this parshah is the marriage of Yaakov Avinu to Rachel and Leah. There are many things that we need to learn and study and analyze from Yaakov’s marriage because they could be very relevant to us.
We’d like to stay on the topic of ‘Getting out of Your Mitzrayim’ and today’s shmooze is on a Chazal we find in Parshas Vayechi on the passuk of ‘לישועתך קויתי ה – for Your salvation I long, Hashem (Bereishis 49:18). We mentioned before that Yaakov Avinu said this passuk in regards to Shimshon Hagibor, when he was at a moment of darkness. It was after Shimshon’s hair was cut, his gevurah was gone and he reached out to Hashem one more time. He asked the child holding his hand if he could take him over to the pillars. He wanted to lean on the pillars.
The big mitzvah on Pesach is the Mitzvah of the Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim. We must know and understand what is the purpose of this night. Why do we make such a big fuss about repeating the same story of Yetzias Mitzrayim every single year? So if you are still not sure, listen carefully, because you’ve been doing it for so many years already and it’s a good idea to know why you are doing it.
We began to study the steps [based on pesukim in Mishlei 2:1-3] that are required during yemei sefiras haomer to bring out and connect us to our spiritual dimension. Not only is the dimension of ruchniyus of a person separate from the physical dimension, but it is also much more real and powerful. It endures lanetzach netzachim. The gashmiyusdike side does not endure at all. However the “muscles” that a person builds up in his spiritual dimension is what determines his true and real strength.
In the beginning of the Parshah, Hashem is talking to Moshe and tells him to come to Pharaoh “…For I have hardened his heart…” My Rebbi pointed out that this pasuk says that Hashem hardened Pharaoh’s heart in order to bring upon him all these miraculous blows. Based on this, if Hashem would not have hardened Pharaoh’s heart, He would not have been able to bring these miraculous blows on Pharaoh. My Rebbi said, “What’s the p’shat in that?”