BESHALACH:
DVAR TORAH-
Upon the miraculous splitting of the Yam Suf, Moshe's gratitude could not be expressed in mere words, and so he began to sing a beautiful composition, "Az Yashir", which we say each morning. One of the verses in this song is "H-shem Ish Milchama", "H-shem is a Man of war."
Q: The obvious question is why the word "Man" is used as the metaphor for a mighty warrior, would not "lion" or some other beast that must fight and kill to remain alive have not been a better choice?
A: The answer is that there is no greater warrior than man. We are the only beings with inclinations toward good and evil, our yetzer Hara and Yetzer Tov. We constantly must struggle to remove ourselves from bad and do good, and that alone is reason enough to make us warriors. But the real battle arises when, in his sly and sneaky tactics, the Yetzer Hara poses as the Yetzer Tov, and tries to convince us that the aveira that we are about to do is not an aveirah at all, rather that on the contrary, it’s a great mitzva!!
An old man and his son were once traveling through a village with a horse. The old man rode while his son walked beside the horse. On the way they passed by a Social Worker who rebuked the father for allowing himself to sit comfortably while his son walked, so they switched places. Further down the road they were met by a member of the Charity for Age Concern, who chastised the son for riding while his old father walked, so they both rode. Around the corner they encountered a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) agent, who had choice words for the both of them on the pain they were causing the poor horse, so they both got off and walked. A few minutes later a drunkard stumbled over to them and mumbled "Three horses and they are all walking!", so the old man and his son picked the horse up on their shoulders and continued on their way....
We cannot possibly take every piece of advice that we are given. It is extremely difficult, a literal war, to pick through our thoughts and identify whose voice is whose. In this constant Search and Destroy mission, we must fight the Yetzer Hara even behind his disguise, reveal him, and attempt to shut him out. This struggle is why humans ARE the quintessential warriors, and the best possible choice for this metaphor.
STORY-
Students of the Maram Shif were once going through his notebooks on various Masechtos, when in one notebook they came across a pasuk from this weeks Parsha, "Vayikach Shesh Meyos Rechev Bachur", "And he took six hundred chosen chariots" scribbled in the margin. Confused as to what this seemingly unrelated verse was doing in a Gemara notebook, the students approached their Rebbi to find out why it was written there. The Maram Shif answered them "I was learning this Gemara during the week of Parshas Beshalach, and a thought popped into my head regarding this pasuk so i wrote it down so as not to forget it." The thought was: This verse can also be read "Vayikach", take, subtract (kach), "Shesh" the number 6, "Meyos" - "Mei'Os" from the word "Rechev", and you get the exact numerical value of the next word, "Bachur".
[222-6=216]
[INTERESTING THOUGHT- The Oheiv Yisrael taught that the Pasuk (14:2) - “...V'yashvu V'yachanu Lifnei Pi-Hachiros" (...And let them encamp before Pi-Hachiros") hints at an important lesson regarding how careful one must be as not to say Lashon Harah: "V'yashvu V'yachanu, One must stop (Sheves) and pause (Chanu), before (Lifnei) he lets his mouth (Piv) run free. (Cheirus.) ]
QUOTES-
"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant."
"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
DVAR TORAH-
Upon the miraculous splitting of the Yam Suf, Moshe's gratitude could not be expressed in mere words, and so he began to sing a beautiful composition, "Az Yashir", which we say each morning. One of the verses in this song is "H-shem Ish Milchama", "H-shem is a Man of war."
Q: The obvious question is why the word "Man" is used as the metaphor for a mighty warrior, would not "lion" or some other beast that must fight and kill to remain alive have not been a better choice?
A: The answer is that there is no greater warrior than man. We are the only beings with inclinations toward good and evil, our yetzer Hara and Yetzer Tov. We constantly must struggle to remove ourselves from bad and do good, and that alone is reason enough to make us warriors. But the real battle arises when, in his sly and sneaky tactics, the Yetzer Hara poses as the Yetzer Tov, and tries to convince us that the aveira that we are about to do is not an aveirah at all, rather that on the contrary, it’s a great mitzva!!
An old man and his son were once traveling through a village with a horse. The old man rode while his son walked beside the horse. On the way they passed by a Social Worker who rebuked the father for allowing himself to sit comfortably while his son walked, so they switched places. Further down the road they were met by a member of the Charity for Age Concern, who chastised the son for riding while his old father walked, so they both rode. Around the corner they encountered a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) agent, who had choice words for the both of them on the pain they were causing the poor horse, so they both got off and walked. A few minutes later a drunkard stumbled over to them and mumbled "Three horses and they are all walking!", so the old man and his son picked the horse up on their shoulders and continued on their way....
We cannot possibly take every piece of advice that we are given. It is extremely difficult, a literal war, to pick through our thoughts and identify whose voice is whose. In this constant Search and Destroy mission, we must fight the Yetzer Hara even behind his disguise, reveal him, and attempt to shut him out. This struggle is why humans ARE the quintessential warriors, and the best possible choice for this metaphor.
STORY-
Students of the Maram Shif were once going through his notebooks on various Masechtos, when in one notebook they came across a pasuk from this weeks Parsha, "Vayikach Shesh Meyos Rechev Bachur", "And he took six hundred chosen chariots" scribbled in the margin. Confused as to what this seemingly unrelated verse was doing in a Gemara notebook, the students approached their Rebbi to find out why it was written there. The Maram Shif answered them "I was learning this Gemara during the week of Parshas Beshalach, and a thought popped into my head regarding this pasuk so i wrote it down so as not to forget it." The thought was: This verse can also be read "Vayikach", take, subtract (kach), "Shesh" the number 6, "Meyos" - "Mei'Os" from the word "Rechev", and you get the exact numerical value of the next word, "Bachur".
[222-6=216]
[INTERESTING THOUGHT- The Oheiv Yisrael taught that the Pasuk (14:2) - “...V'yashvu V'yachanu Lifnei Pi-Hachiros" (...And let them encamp before Pi-Hachiros") hints at an important lesson regarding how careful one must be as not to say Lashon Harah: "V'yashvu V'yachanu, One must stop (Sheves) and pause (Chanu), before (Lifnei) he lets his mouth (Piv) run free. (Cheirus.) ]
QUOTES-
"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant."
"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."