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Makkas Bechoros: Firstborn Vengeance R’ Chaim Soskil

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Makkas Bechoros: Firstborn Vengeance R’ Chaim Soskil למען תספר A Journal of Divrei Torah in honor of Pesach 5781 Compiled by the Members of the Bais Medrash of Ranchleigh 6618 Deancroft Rd Baltimore, MD 21209 No rights reserved Make as many copies as you like For your convenience, this Kuntress along with other Torah works and Shiurim associated with the Zichron Yaakov Eliyahu Fund are available online for free download at www.zichronyaakoveliyahu.org It was on Erev Shabbos, Zos Chanukah when the Mara D’Asra offered me the privilege of sponsoring this year’s Pesach Kuntress. At that point, Pesach was the furthest thing from my mind. There were still several sufganiyot to eat, latkes to digest, and challah to buy – not exactly very Pesach-like. But, perhaps, upon closer reflection, there indeed, may be a connection between the two. U’Lemaan Tesapeir b’aznei bincha u’ben bincha. Why does the pasuk require us to give the message davka, “b’aznei bincha,” in the ears of the children? The Tolner Rebbe, shlita, explains that when you give a message into a listener’s ear, it means that the message and intent is specifically crafted and delivered for that person. On Seder night, when the transmission of our mesorah is in the line, it does not suffice to provide a generic, blanket declaration. Rather, father and grandfather, Rebbi and Morah, are required to craft a message that is fit, appreciated, and understood by the individual listener. Each generation, each era, and each child needs a uniquely developed message that will resonate b’aznei bincha. Since last Pesach, the messages and words we imparted to our children were Corona, quarantine, bidood, vaccination, and social distancing. Last year’s Seder, unfortunately was a far cry from the Sedorim we are used to and hope for. Families were apart, grandparents alone. Davening at home. No minyanim. Worry. But along comes Zos Chanukah, the epitome of the neis Chanukah, when our Menorah and our pirsumei nissa are the brightest of all the nights! Our Hallel reaches its peak in song and fervor, even within the darkest, coldest days of Teves. On the eighth day of Chanukah, the neis has reached its crescendo, the lights casting its glow all the way to the Zman Cheiruseinu in Nissan. We cannot help but recall the connection between the obligation of pirsumei nissa on Chanukah to that of the arba kosos of geulah at the seder. Perhaps, this is no coincidence. So, as I write these words on a cold day in Teves, without the aid of a crystal ball nor any proclamation from a Navi, I nevertheless feel overjoyed and confident that this Pesach will be different than last year’s. This year, the message we craft for our children and grandchildren, will echo a different message designed for us, specifically: Geulah-Bitachon-Achdus-Yerushalayim-Beis HaMikdash- Mashiach. I would like to thank Rabbi Naiman for giving me the zechus of sponsoring this Kuntress, and to dedicate the Torah contained within, to him, and his mishpachah, for continued hatzlachah, harbatzas haTorah, and much growth in the community. Wishing all readers and contributors a Chag Kosher V’Samei’ach! Moshe and Sara Lea Dear Preface You hold in your hands our tenth Pesach kuntress, the work of the members of our chashuveh kehillah, bs”d. Think for a moment what one action of ours can accomplish. It was a little over ten years ago that Dr. Michael Samet visited our shul and inspired us with the kuntreisim that were put out by two shuls in New Jersey. This “simple” act has resulted in thousands of pages of Divrei Torah and Zichronos being read by many hundreds of people over the last decade! This would normally be a cause for unmitigated celebration, but it is not to be: Since our last edition, our community and Klal Yisrael as a whole have suffered many tragedies from the Corona mageifah, which is still striking us as of this writing. One personal loss to me was the petirah of the Mashgiach of the Mir, HaRav Aharon Chodosh, z”l, the last living member of the hanhalah from my time learning there. I am happy that R’ Shmuel Strauss, a close talmid of his, was able to contribute his zichronos about the Mashgiach. In addition, our kehillah marked the tragic loss of our good friend, Mr. Josh Lewis, a”h, who was instrumental in establishing our Bais Medrash. Besides enthusiastically attending our shiurim, he gave us our first tables, and a little later lent us our first Sefer Torah to begin minyanim on Shabbos. Although we upgraded our tables with our recent expansion, Josh’s tables are still being used at our outdoor seating during the mageifah. Yehi zichro baruch. This year also marked the petiros of Mr. Jacob Schuchman, a”h, well-known by our family and the community at large; and the venerable Mr. Manfred Strauss, a”h, who often graced our shul. We are honored by a three-part maamar that Rabbi Moshe Schuchman contributed in his father’s memory, and by fascinating zichronos of Mr. Strauss by Rabbi Yitzchak Strauss. And finally, on the first day of Pesach last year, Mrs. Maxine Friedman, a”h, mother of our Gabbai, Eli Friedman, who is much more than a Gabbai to our shul, passed away; shortly after that Eli’s father-in-law, Dr. Harold Glazer, a”h, passed away. All should be comforted bsoch shaar aveilei Yisrael. This kuntress is larger than usual, primarily because of a section that we hope never to have to repeat, an addendum about the mageifah. Even in the worst of times, we have to find the ratzon Hashem in our avodah, and fortunately, our Torah leaders have addressed various aspects of this matzav. We have received permission to reprint what I think are two very important maamarim, one by HaGaon HaRav Yaakov Hillel, shlit”a, and the second by HaGaon HaRav Aharon Lopiansky, shlit”a. This section is rounded out by words from our own members, along with a halachah sugya I wrote about whether there was a requirement to make up for all the Parshiyos that were missed when our shuls were closed. We are honored this year to have my good friend and long-time colleague at the ArtScroll “Kollel,” Rabbi Nesanel Kasnett, once again contribute a profound maamar. Rabbi Yoav Elan, another ArtScroll colleague of mine, agreed to add new article adapted from his sefer, The Original Second Temple. Also contributing this year are two old friends from yeshivah days, Rabbi Boruch Leff and Rabbi Avraham Bukspan. And as in the past, we have contributions of members of our Kollel Zichron Yaakov Eliyahu, this year by R’ Chaim Soskil and R’ Eliezer Shames. We once again have a section of Divrei Torah given by bachurim at their Bar Mitzvah (printed in alphabetical order). Even in times of mageifah, we are blessed with simchos. And we always proud to include articles from our Shul “alumni,” this year including Rabbi Yehoshua Silverberg and Yitzchok Raczkowski; and Rabbi Shmuel Chaim Naiman has added another chapter based on his work, Capital Punishment in Judaism. This year’s Hebrew section again highlights a shiur from Mori VeRebbi HaGaon HaRav Nochum Lansky, shlit”a, recorded by one of my colleagues in Kollel Avodas Levi, Rabbi Eli Lipsky. Rabbi Lipsky was also gracious enough to allow us to print his maamar on .פתחי אמרים ,Pesach found in his new sefer I will close heartfelt thanks to the members of the maareches who were indispensable in producing this work: R’ Chaim Sugar, R’ Moshe Rock, and R’ Arkady Pogostkin. A very special thank you to someone I respected as a bachur in our yeshivah days, Rabbi Moshe Dear, who together with his wife sponsored the kuntress again this year; may it be a zechus for their entire family. And added thanks to R’ Moshe for offering last year to sponsor additional copies that we could ship during the mageifah, when people could not leave their homes. Thank you to R’ Avi Dear for elevating our product over the years with his beautiful covers. And thank you to those who dedicated honorarium pages. A final thank you is due to my eishess chayil, the Rebbetzin, who once again allowed me to spend time away from my family duties to work on this kuntress and also offered her talents to enhance it. Each year I express the wish that we be zocheh to produce another kuntress next year, in Eretz Yisrael, with the coming of the Mashiach. We have produced another kuntress, but sadly we are still in galus as of this writing. May we be speedily redeemed with the geulah sheleimah, bimheirah biyameinu, amein. Abba Zvi Naiman Shevat 5781 Table of Contents SECTION I: PREPARING FOR PESACH So Close, Yet So Far Away Rabbi Yoav Elan ................................................................................... 1 SECTION II: THE AVOS AND GALUS MITZRAYIM Yishmael’s Bris Roman Kimelfeld ................................................................................. 6 How Many Times Must I Say It? Dr. Eliyahu Eliezer Singman ............................................................ 10 Please, Mr. Postman Jeffrey Silverberg ............................................................................. 14 SECTION III: GEULAS MITZRAYIM “All My Plagues” Rabbi Nesanel Kasnett .................................................................... 18 Makkas Bechoros: Firstborn Vengeance R’ Chaim Soskil ................................................................................. 27 Matzah: A Timely Lesson Ari Weiss ........................................................................................... 32 Who Were the Eirev Rav? Yehoshua Dixler ................................................................................ 33 Bringing the Flame of Hashem into our Lives Moshe and Eitan Rock ....................................................................
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