YNA Newsletter Parshat Bo 1 of 8

In This Issue Parshat Bo January,15 2016 Article Headline

Life Events

HaRav Nebenzahl on Please continue to daven for Aryeh Parshat Bo ben Rina, Ido ben Tali and Harav

Staff Dvar Torah by Rav Chaim Avishalom ben Blanka (the Itai Ashur Chalban).

The Story Of The Jewish People by Rav Shai Gerson - Sefer Shoftim

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Reb Zev's Shabbat Davening Times at the Parsha Riddle THIS WEEK IS THE VISITING ALUMNI SHABBATON AT THE YESHIVA! Who am I? We stood quietly by, 4:21 Candle-lighting at Yitziat Mitzrayim; PM and received our reward, 4:35 Mincha in Parshat Mishpatim. PM ~~~ Kabbalat Shabbat Last week's answer on Porch Ma'ariv Chananya Azaria and SHABBAT DAY Mishael, used a midah of R' YNA Newsletter Parshat Bo 2 of 8

Yishmael, 6:04 Vatikin in Rav to learn from us Kiddush AM Bina's home Hashem, 8:30 Second Shacharit even though we were not AM commanded. Tzfardei'a (frogs) 4:00 Mincha in Porat PM Yosef Contact Reb Zev

Pics of the Week

Alumni Events Across the Globe

Celebrating Rosh Chodesh Shvat with Rav Visiting Alumni in on a trip to Gedolim Bina at Yagdil Torah in Woodmere and Kevarim spending time with Rishon L'tzion HaRav Slomo Amar Shlit"a

Visitors - Life Events

Mi Kiamcha Yisrael!

Below are the many alumni who came to charge their batteries over the Winter break.

Visitors Robert Koppel (5748) Yehuda Avner (5774-75) Matt Marks (5771, 5775) Yonatan Gabay (5774-75) Mark Lerner (5771-72) Ronen Shahkoohi (5773) Sivan Heskia (5775) Joey Avidan (5771-72) Joel Crowne (5775) Daniel Katz (5772-73) Jonathan Silverman (5775) Noah Isaacs (5772-73) JD Lefkovits (5771) Michael Zeidman (5775) Sam Dratch (5773-74) Michael Lefkovits (5766) Daniel Aaron (5768-69) Jonathan Lefkovits (5775) Jonathan Zar (5771-72) Yonatan Kerstein (5775) Joshua Jaspan (5774-75) Jordan Gellman (5775) Jonathan Hadad (5770) Avi Kwestel (5771-72) Moshe Kohanim (5774) Ilai Schechter (5773-74) Jared Djourbachi (5775) Isaac Nissenbaum (5774) David Levian (5774) Benzion Gelernter (5774-75) Dan Bamshad (5773) Daniel Stroh (5774-75) Zachary Berger (5774-75) Orel Salman (5774-75) Moshe Weiser (5774-75) Josh Rabanipour (5775) YNA Newsletter Parshat Bo 3 of 8

Jonathan Goldberg (5774-75) Joe Nitzani (5774) David Shapiro (5766-67) Max Nathanson (5774-75) Mark Spivak (5775) Jacob Sternberg (5774) Benjamin Ozeri (5774-75) Michael Parnes (5774) Shimon Niren (5775) Yoav Arjang (5775) Ilan Swartz-Brownstein (5773-74) Rabbi Robert Charnoff (5765-66) Luis Herszaft (5774-75) Avishai Sherman (5772-73) Nate Hershkowitz (5774-75)

Mazal Tov

Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh would like to wish a mazal tov to:

Moishe Elias (5773-74) on his engagement to Yael Cohen. Ethan (Avi) Spitz (5773-74) on his marriage to Yael Kahn. Elisha (5764-65) and Peshie Rubin on the birth of a baby boy. Adam Lasky (5757) on his engagement to Yehudit Singer. Yoni (5756-57) and Danielle Berg on the birth of a baby girl. Elan (5760-61, 5765) and Shani White on the birth of a baby girl. Eli (5767) and Talia Litwin on the birth of a baby boy.

Baruch Dayan Emet

The Yeshiva wishes condolences to:

Rafi Selevan (Shana Alef) on the loss of his paternal grandfather.

Send Us Your Announcements Please, if you have any smachot or chas v'shalom, less happy occasions, let our office know so we can keep everybody updated.

HaRav Nebenzahl on Bo HaRav Nebenzahl asks that his Divrei Torah are not read during Tefillah or the Rabbi's sermon

PARSHAT BO 5776 THOUGHTS ON THE MITZVAH OF SIPPUR YETZIAS MITZRAYIM

The Torah commands us on our Seder night: "and you shall tell your son on that day, saying, 'it is because of this that Hashem acted on my behalf when I left Egypt" (Shemos 13:8). Each person to relate to his children the story of the exodus from Egypt - this is known as the mitzvah of sippur yetzias Mitzrayim. In the Haggadah we read "vechol hamarbeh harei zeh meshubach", the more one adds the more praiseworthy is he." This can be understood as adding qualitatively as well as quantitatively. The deeper one understands the story, of the idea of enslavement and redemption, the deeper he is able to delve into the story and the more praiseworthy is he.

The exodus from Egypt is one of the greatest things that Hashem did for us. This makes us understand our obligation to thank Him and to serve Him by keeping the Torah and mitzvoth. We must therefore take upon ourselves to fulfill all the mitzvoth as we took upon ourselves in Egypt. The YNA Newsletter Parshat Bo 4 of 8

word "lehodot" has two implications - one is to thank and the other is to acknowledge. At our Seder we relate the story of the exodus thereby acknowledging that Hashem took us out from Egypt, but we also thank Him in the Hallel portion. Thus the mitzvah on this night is twofold.

The wise son's question is "what are these mitzvoth, statutes which Hashem our G-d has commanded you." What is he asking? He wishes to know why there are so many mitzvoth associated with the exodus. Firstly, the Pesach offering has more detailed mitzvoth than any other offering. Once that is done we spend much time cleaning our houses and getting ourselves ready for Pesach. We reid our house of every morsel of chametz, we sell the chametz, burn the chametz. For seven days we may not eat even a crumb of chametz. Not only is it forbidden to eat but we may not derive any benefit from it as well.

We then spend an entire night relating the story and perform all its myriad associate mitzvoth. if that is not enough, offerings are brought for seven days. Once Pesach has finished, we are not finished with the exodus for we make mention of it every morning and night. Shabbos and Yom Tov are classified as "zecher liyetzias Mitzrayim" as are other mitzvosh such as tzitzis and tefillin. The wise son is asking: "why are there so many mitzvos associated with this happening? The Haggadah records the answer we must give to the wise son: "you must inform him of the laws of Pesach, one may not partake of any desert after the Pesach offering." What does this mean? How does this answer the wise son's question? Some explain that what the Haggadah means is that you must teach him: "until ... one may not partake of any desert after the Pesach offering." This appears at the very end of Massechet Pesachim, thus the Haggadah is teaching us that the wise son must be informed of all the laws of Pesach contained in Massechet Pesachim, until the very last law which is that one may not partake of desert following the Korban Pesach.

The question is, if I have properly fulfilled all the mitzvoth of the night, what would be so terrible if I eat a bowl of ice cream? I understand that tonight is very cold, but on Pesach it presumably will not be this cold? Perhaps we would otherwise venture to say that it would be appropriate to eat more food so that we do not leave Hashem's table feeling hungry after having eat from the offerings. The Yerushalmi provides an interesting reason. The Korban Pesach is the only offering where there is a prohibition against breaking bones. A person who is hungry is liable to break the bones in order to suck out what is inside. Thus one must be very careful to eat the Korban Pesach while satiated, and one way to insure that is to prohibit eating any food afterwards.

This reasoning, however, does not apply today when we do not have the Korban Pesach and we substitute it with a piece of matzah at the conclusion of the seder. Harav Yechiel Schlesinger, founder of Yeshivat suggested the following. The Torah states: "You shall not eat chametz with it, for seven days you shall eat matzos because of it, bread of affliction, for you departed from the land of Egypt in haste - so that you will remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt all the days of your life" (Devarim 16:3).

The way to remember the exodus is for the "taste" of the Seder to remain in our mouth. When one eats another food then he negates the taste of the previous one. In reality we should not eat anything for the entire year until the next Pesach. Given that this is impossible we at least do not eat for the remainder of that night. Why can we not negate the taste of the Korban Pesach, or its substitute piece of matzah? Because after having spent the entire night praising Hashem for the plagues in Egypt - blood, frogs, lice, and having split the sea and taken us out of Egypt and expressing our belief that he is the only power in the world, Yom Tov ends and we suddenly read of what Obama and Netanyahu did. We are liable to think that there are other forces in the world. If we do not keep the taste in our mouth then the news is liable to negate the taste of all that we have just learned and declared. Thus in reality the taste should remain in our mouths forever.

Relating the story of the exodus is our commitment to serve Hashem forever, to observe His mitzvos, and to realize that He is the only force in this world. We must keep in mind that every word of Torah we learn, every tefillah, every act of chesed, and other mitzvos brings us to eternal life in the Next World. If we could only internalize this message we would be more meticulous in our observance of mitzvos, we would daven better and learn better. The Ramban writes that the plagues in Egypt teach YNA Newsletter Parshat Bo 5 of 8

us that whatever happens in this world is not by chance but because Hashem decreed it. In reality there is no distinction between nature and miracle, we call something nature only because we are accustomed to it. But really Hashem is All-Powerful and when He wishes, He can run the world in a manner contrary to the laws of nature, as we saw in Egypt. This is what we must keep in mind at our Pesach seder.

Staff Dvar Torah by Rav Itai Ashur (Shoel U'meishiv)

THE EGYPTIANS WERE GIVEN TO MOCKERY AND SCORN

This week's parsha opens with Hashem informing Moshe that He has hardened the heart of Pharaoh and his servants for two reasons: 1) to be able to strike the Egyptians with plagues, 2) in order to relate to future generations how Hashem made a mockery of Egypt. All this is in order "you may know that I am Hashem" (Shemos 10:2).

Many questions have been raised regarding these passages, let us attempt to focus on one point - what is the underlying meaning behind being able to relate to future generations about the mockery Hashem made of the Egyptians? Regarding the word for mockery - "hitalelut", Rashi interprets it as meaning "sichakti" while Ramban refers to it as "ki ani metzachek bo". This can be understood based on Tehillim "yosehv bashamayim yischak, Hashem yilag lamo" "He Who sits in heaven will laugh, the L-rd will mock them (Tehillim 2:4). We see that the idea of "tzchok" does not refer to joy but rather to mockery, dismissal. This is the intent of Rashi as well, as we find Rashi's commentary on Yeshayahu (3:4) - where he explains the word taalulim as meaning that people mock them and degrade them.

Based on Rashi and Ramban we now understand that the mitzvah of relating the mitzvah of the story of the exodus on Pesach includes showing how Hashem made a mockery of Egypt. In Beer Yosef written by Rav Salant, we find a few examples of this mockery:

1) Prior to the plague of locusts described in the opening verses of this parsha, Hashem informed Moshe that he was going to harden Pharaoh's heart. As a result we find Pharaoh relating to Moshe in a way he had never done before: "he drove them out from Pharaoh's presence" (Shemos 10:12). Similarly in the plague of darkness, we read: "Pharaoh said to him (Moshe), go from me!" (Shemos 10:28). Following the slaying of the firstborn we are taught that Moshe went out in the middle of the night to look for Moshe and Aharon and begs them. Is there a greater mockery than this?

2) The Mechilta (Beshalach 14:5) cites a parable comparing this to one who says to his servant, go and bring me fish from the marketplace. The servant brought him spoiled fish. The master decrees - you have a choice, either you eat the fish yourself, receive one hundred lashes, or give me one hundred maneh (a currency of money). The servant says - I will eat. He begins to eat and before he finished he was unable to continue and said: "I will receive lashes". After only sixty lashes, unable to withstand anymore he says: "I will give one hundred maneh". The end result was that he received all three punishments - he ate the fish, received the lashes, and paid one hundred maneh. The servant that was made into a mockery - this is in fact what happened to the king of Egypt - he was smitten, the people were sent away, and their wealth taken from them.

3) Pharaoh made himself into a G-d and when he went to the Nile it rose towards him. He was considered by the Egyptians as the provider for all of Egypt. Following the plagues of hail and locust there was famine - he was unable to care for his people. This is a further example of mockery.

4) In the plague of hail, the hail struck every tree in the field and all the wheat that had ripened - the flax and barley. However, the wheat and spelt which ripen later were not struck. Chazal relate that the fact that the wheat and spelt were not struck brought comfort to the Egyptians that at least some of their produce remained. However, immediately after that, they were struck with the plague of locusts where the locusts came and ate whatever had remained from the hail. They were once again YNA Newsletter Parshat Bo 6 of 8

made into a mockery.

5) When the plague of frogs had ceased, they were left with the stench of the dead frogs. On the other hand when it came to the wild animals, once the plague had ceased there were no animals left to insure that they do not make use of the skin for leather. Furthermore, in the plague of locusts, when the Egyptians killed some of them and salted them and preserved them to be eaten, when the plague ceased the locusts that had died were also gone.

There are many more examples, and Baruch Hashem each family discusses the ten plagues at their Seder and describes to the children the story of each and every plague, showing how much mockery the Egyptians suffered.

The question remains, as we mentioned above, why did Hashem command us that when we relate the story of the exodus from Egypt it should include the mockery made of the Egyptians? HaRav Nebenzahl Shlit"a explains - the purpose here was to demonstrate that there was no battle or contention at all between Hashem, G-d of Israel, and the Egyptians. Rather Hashem, Master of all forces in the world is the only One Who guides the world and he has no competitor. Every element of creation, no matter how powerful, receives its strength from Hashem. In order to dispel any notion that, G-d forbid, this was a battle between two forces - we relate the mockery and scorn which they were exposed to, so that we understand that there are not two opposing forces but Hashem alone.

We may wonder why was it specifically here that the Torah chose to emphasize this point. HaRav Katz Shlit"a explains - based on a very fundamental Ramban at the end of Parshas Bo which the Rav is accustomed to telling the students in the Yeshiva each year: the exodus from Egypt is the basis for all our belief in the Creator of the Universe, that He guides and watches over the world, and is all-knowing and all-powerful.

Hashem in fact informs Moshe of this during the execution of the plagues, as we read in last week's parsha.

Prior to the first set of plagues (known in the Haggadah ad DeZaCH - dam, tzfardea, kinnim) - "though this shall ytu know that I am Hashem" (Shemos 7:17). Prior to the second set of plagues (ADaSH - arov, dever, shchin) he was told: "so that you will know that I am Hashem in the midst of the land" (Shemos 8:18), and prior to the final set (BeACHaV - barad, arbeh, chosech, bechorot) he was told: "so that you shall know that there is none like Me in all the world" (Shemos 9:14).

Given that Hashem does not provide a sign or miracle before every evil person or apostate in every generation, He commands us that we must make our own remembrance. That which we saw with our very eyes we must relate to our children and grandchildren. This mitzvah applies in every generation.

The mitzvoth of tefillin and mezuzah, attest to this, but the mitzvah of relating the story of the exodus at our Seder and the fact that in each festival we declare that it is "a remembrance to the exodus from Egypt" serve as our guide. All this is with the intent to ingrain in us faith in the Creator of the Universe. Each of us has the basis to pass down the message in the clearest manner possible so that there be no mistake. This means not even the slightest feeling of anything otherwise.

For this reason it is vital that at our Seder table we must pass on the message of the mockery and scorn inflicted upon the Egyptians.

The Story Of The Jewish People by Rav Shai Gerson

The story of the Jewish people as told by Tanach through the eyes of Chazal.

SHOFTIM - CHAPTER 3 Part 2 YNA Newsletter Parshat Bo 7 of 8

The next of the shoftim discussed is Ehud ben Gera.

The enemies fought against are not residents of Eretz Yisrael. There was a certain peace between Moav, Amon, and Amalek and all are living on the other side of the Jordan to the East. They strike Bnei Yisrael and take over the "City of Date Palms". This is generally a description of the Yericho (it is unclear whether that is the case here because Yericho appears to have been desolate already from the days of Yehoshua until the time of Chiel Bein E-l during the period of Achav and Yehoshafat.

Daat Mikra explains, that the reference here is to the Valley of Yericho the City of Date Palms (see Devarim 34:3). The question we may raise here is what happened to the tribes which resided on the other side of the Jordan, how did these nations enter with such ease? We see that although the tribes of the others side of the Jordan were among those enslaved, control over Yericho "the key to Eretz Yisrael" alludes to a desire to enter the Land in a more permanent manner. We can even say that they were copying the path that the Jewish people took when they entered Eretz Yisrael where Yericho was their point of entry.

The one who saved them at this point was Ehud ben Gera. It is not clear whether Gera was a person's name or it was some sort of family name in the tribe of Binyamin (such as Shimon ben Gera). Gera in fact was one of the sons of Binyamin and a grandson of Yaakov. We are told that Ehud was left-handed, something he used to his advantage. He placed a small weapon on the other side of where it is normally worn and he managed to pull it out with his left hand and stab Eglon, despite Eglon closely watching him. It is not clear where this confrontation actually took place was it in the land of Moav or on the Western side opposite the Jordan. Either way, he managed to sneak in the weapon and pull it out from the opposite side into where the king was. He took it out from his right thigh. They would not check there. Eglon entered the king's chambers with some sort of gift - this could either have been literally a gift as a symbol of submission or perhaps the annual taxes given to the ruling king.

Tehillim List

The following members of our extended YNA family need our tefilot: Yechiel Zalman ben Chana Nomi Esther bat Tzipporah Etel bat Yehudis Daniel ben Tziporah Alta Miriam Bracha bat Sara Devorah bat Sarah Leah Moshe Ben Miryam Sarah Nechama Mindle bat Liba Chana Bat Rachel Leah Tzirel bas Golda Fayge Chaim Naftali ben Miriam Yisrael ben Chaya Gittel Shalom ben Shoshana Chanah Chaim Naftali ben Miriam Uri ben Rina Haziine bat Sarah Ilana Raizel Bat Simone Gilah bat Tsiporah Yosef Chaim Ben Linna Shai ben Meital Yaakov Kopel Ben Rivka Ilana Raizel Bat Simone Tinok ben Ariella Tehilla David Edwar Ben Miriam Rivkah Leah bat Sarah Zvi Yerachmeil ben Shaindel Yenudah Pinchas Ben Osna David Chaim Ben Toran Boaz David ben Zippora Frei Mordechai Noach Nissin ben Bracha Rochel Esther Bas Yehudit Aharon Ben Rochel Yehudis Avraham Halevi ben Eidel Yechiel Michel Natan ben Feiga Esther Yitzchok ben Rochel Rachel Yonina bas Leah Raizel Zev Yisrael ben Esther Yakov Eliezer ben Yocheved YNA Newsletter Parshat Bo 8 of 8

Tsiporah bat Gilah Michal Ariella bat Sarah Avraham Zev ben Yehudis Alter Mordechai Tzvi Ben Eka Bryna Brana Brindl bat Laja Refael ben Ateret Shoshana Chava Moshe ben Miryam Sarah Devorah Chaya bat Tila Ateret Shoshana Chava bat Sarah Natan Shmuel ben Cheina Bela Nechama Gittel Bat Shoshana Yisrael David ben Yona Leah Chana bat Bina

Submit Names to the tehillim list.

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Shabbat Shalom, Rav Bina, Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh

Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh, Western Wall Plaza, One Hakotel Street, POB 32017, Jerusalem, 91319 il