* TORAH WEEKLY * Highlights of the Weekly Torah Portion and Haftorah. Plus Ani Ma'amin - The Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith. Parshas Yisro For the week ending 20 Shevat 5755 20 & 21 January 1995 =========================================================================== Summary Hearing of the miracles Hashem has performed for the Bnei Yisrael, Moshe's father-in-law, Yisro, arrives with Moshe's wife and sons, reuniting the family in the wilderness. Yisro is so impressed by Moshe's detailing of the Exodus from Egypt that he converts and joins the Jewish People. Seeing that the only judicial authority for the entire Jewish nation is Moshe himself, Yisro suggests that subsidiary judges be appointed to adjudicate the smaller matters, leaving Moshe free to attend to larger issues. Moshe accepts his advice. The Bnei Yisrael arrive at Mt. Sinai where the Torah is offered to them. After they accept, Hashem charges Moshe to instruct the people not to approach the mountain, and to prepare themselves for three days in order to receive the Torah. On the third day, amidst thunder and lightning, Hashem's voice emanates from the smoke-enshrouded mountain, and He begins speaking to the Jewish People, giving to them the Ten Commandments: 1. Believe in Hashem 2. Don't have other gods 3. Don't use Hashem's name in vain 4. Observe the Shabbos 5. Honor your parents 6. Don't murder 7. Don't commit adultery 8. Don't kidnap 9. Don't testify falsely 10. Don't covet After receiving the first two commandments, The Jewish People, overwhelmed by this experience of the Divine, request that Moshe relay Hashem's word to them. Hashem instructs Moshe to caution the Jewish people regarding their responsibility to be faithful to the One who spoke to them. =========================================================================== Commentaries "And Yisro heard..." (18:1). What did Yisro hear? Our Sages teach us that the two deciding factors that made Yisro decide to convert to Judaism were the splitting of the sea, and the subsequent attack on the Jewish People by the Amaleki. One can understand why the splitting of the sea (in which the lowliest maidservant experienced a greater revelation than the prophet Yechezkel) should have been a powerful incentive to join the Jewish People, but why was the attack by Amalek so persuasive? After the end of the Second World War, there were several well-known London celebrities, hitherto `religious' atheists, who, when hearing of the chilling and overwhelming cruelty of Hitler and his accomplices (y"s), began to believe in Hashem _ they understood that superficially civilized behavior, devoid of active faith, can sink to depths of bestiality and savagery far lower than the cruelest predatory animal. Our Sages teach us that this is what Yisro heard. He heard that Amalek, even after hearing of a miracle on the unheard of scale of the splitting of the Sea, could, without hesitation, come out to fight against Am Yisrael. When he heard that such a thing was possible, Yisro realized that if he did not convert, he himself ran the risk of becoming the thing he most loathed. Hearing that does not lead to action _ intellectual mind-games, not rooted in a practical expression of faith, can lead to unspeakable atrocities.... (Adapted from Lev Eliyahu in Chochmas HaMatzpun) "Remember the day of Shabbos to sanctify it... Because six days Hashem made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day..." (20:8/11). Once upon a time, a prince was captured by his father's enemies. After a long time, the king managed to get a secret message to the prince encouraging him no to give up, and to retain his princely manner, even amidst the wolves of prey among whom the prince was forced to live, for he would soon obtain his release, either through war or peaceful means. The prince was overjoyed and wished to celebrate, but he could not, of course, reveal the secret of his joy. Therefore, he invited his lowly companions to the local inn, and ordered drinks for everyone. They celebrated because of the wine and liquor, while the prince celebrated because of his father's letter. Similarly on Shabbos, our bodies feast with the good food and drink, but our souls celebrate the opportunity to be close to our Creator. (Toldos Ya'akov Yosef) "Remember the day of Shabbos to sanctify it" (20:8). "What a terrible day -- Shabbos! You can't drive! You can't write! You can't even turn on a light! You can't do this! You can't do that! What a terrible day!" This is the familiar litany of those as yet uninitiated to the joys and radiance of Shabbos. What would we say to someone who complained about the game of Basketball _ "What a terrible game -- Basketball! You can't stand in one place for more that thirty seconds. You can't run with the ball. You can't be a moving block. You can't do this! You can't do that! _ What a terrible game!"... It's precisely the rules of Basketball that make Basketball, Basketball. If there were no rules, someone would grab the ball, hold onto it until everyone else got bored and went off for tea. Then he'd grab a ladder, run up it and pop the ball in the net. Great! But that's not Basketball! Just as the rules of Basketball define Basketball, so the rules of Shabbos define Shabbos. (Heard from Rabbi Yehoshua Hartman) =========================================================================== Haftorah: Isaiah 6:1-7:6, 9:5-6 "Surely you hear, but you fail to comprehend; and surely you see but you fail to know" (6:9). First of all -"Hear!" even if you fail to comprehend, and "See!", even if you fail to know, for if someone really hears and sees, there's room to hope that eventually he will come to comprehension and gain knowledge until "his heart understands and he will repent and be healed". (Malbim) =========================================================================== Ani Ma'amin The Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith Principle #13: "I believe with complete faith that there will be a resuscitation of the dead whenever the wish emanates from The Creator, blessed be His Name and exalted is His mention, forever and for all eternity." The Roman Emperor challenged Rabban Gamliel: "You say that the dead shall live. But they have turned to dust. Since when can dust come to life?" The emperor's daughter asked Rabban Gamliel permission to respond in his place and thus addressed her father: "There are two craftsmen in our city. One makes vessels from water and the other from clay. Which of them is superior?" "The one who makes them from water," replied the emperor. "If Hashem can form man from water (the seminal drop of human reproduction -- Rashi)," concluded the daughter, "He can certainly form man from the dust." In the yeshiva of Rabbi Yishmael they had a different version of the daughter's argument: "If glass vessels, formed from air blown by a human, can be melted and recreated after they are broken, how much more so can we expect that a flesh and blood creation of Hashem can be brought back to life." Sanhedrin 91a =========================================================================== Where do YOU find TW* ? o Wolf K. gets it sent to his fax machine in Hertzaliya. o Jonathan A. logs on to America-On-Line then accesses the Jerusalem1 Gopher. o David L. gets it sent to his account at Columbia University. o Jonathan S. reads it at a shul on 77th street. TW finds its way all around the globe. E-Mail, fax, snail-mail, fedex and let us know where you found your copy. We'll share your responses with the other TW readers! *(Torah Weekly) =========================================================================== MATAN TORAH got you mixed up? Rabbi Gavriel Reuven and Ohr Somayach present Rashi's explanation of the Chronology of the Giving of the Torah The chain of events surrounding the giving of the Torah is very difficult to follow, because, according to Rashi's understanding, the verses are not arranged chronologically. This file lists the events in correct chronological order so that you can easily understand how the Torah was given to the Jewish People. This file is available from the following sources: o The Jerusalem1 Gopher under the heading "Religious Institutions" and the sub-heading "Ohr Somayach" o CompuServe Religion Forum, Judaism Library (3), filename TORAH.TXT o Sent via E-Mail for those without access to one of the above. Send your request to newman@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il. 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