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Vedibarta Bam Shemot VefriWfo Bam AM& YOU Shall Speak of Them A compilation of selected Toral) insists, thought-provoking ideas, homilies and explanations of Torah passages Volume II — slyemot הועתק והוכנס לאינטרנט www.heKrewbooks.org ע״י היים תשם״ז Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky New Expanded Edition $y66.2006 VEDIBARTA BAM—AND YOU SHALL SPEAK OF THEM VOLUME II — SHEMOT Published and Copyrighted © by Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky 1382 President Street Brooklyn, New York 11213 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including photo-copying, without permission in writing from the copyright holder or the publisher. First Impression — Tevet 5756-January 1996 Second Impression — Tevet 5758-January 1998 Third Impression — 5761-2001 Fourth Impression — Sivan 5763-June 2003 Fifth Impression — Adar II 5765-March 2005 Sixth Impression — Elul 5766-September 2006 ISBN 1-8808-8015-6 ISBN 1-8808-8022-9 (set) Table of Contents Foreword Note on Transliteration and Format... Shemot Va'eira Bo Beshalach Shabbat Shirah Tu BeShevat Yitro Mishpatim Terumah Tetzaveh Ki Tissa Vayakheil Pekudei Purim Megillat Esther Purim Torah Appendix — Index to Drush material לזכך כשמת, — Dedicated In loving memory of רח^^ר׳טשהעי׳ה — Rose Luxenberg On the occasion of her yahrtzeit — 23 Tevet — which coincides with the commencement of the reading of the Book of Shemot Chumash Shemot starts with the founding of the Jewish nation which was preceded by the Egyptian bondage, afterwards the giving of the Torah and concludes with the construction of the Mishkan — Tabernacle. In all these, the Jewish women played a very significant role. The sages declare that in merit of the righteous women our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt and praise the women for rearing a generation worthy to be the recipients of Torah under the most difficult conditions. Prior to the giving of the Torah, Hashem instructed Moshe to speak to the women first and in the construction of the Mishkan the Torah records that the women contributed generously with their resources and dexterity. As the Book of Shemot — names, details the foundation of the Jewish nation, so too, does Grandma Rose represent our matriarch — the cornerstone and foundation of our family. Rose Luxenberg was an American-born true Aishet Chayil — woman of valor. Together with her husband she lived a simple but satisfying life. The real extent of their wealth was that they were samei'ach bechelkam — happy with whatever Hashem gave them. While working with her husband in their store on the Lower East Side, simultaneously she succeeded in rearing a family which brought them much-deserved nachat. Grandma Rose together with Grandpa Abe, was a woman, whose soul was wrapped up in love for her children and grandchildren, and no limitations of time or resources could hinder her dedication. Words are really meager to portray her, but those who merited to have such a mother or grandmother and witness their nobility, to enjoy their warmth, and to benefit from their love and concern, consider themselves blessed. Rose Luxenberg belonged to this class of women. Like her namesake, Rachel our matriarch, Grandma Rose was a tzadeikit, a very righteous woman. She lived here life like that of an angel, foregoing materialism and self servitude, to serve for her Creator, her husband and her family. Through her sweet and gentle ways, she was able to instill in those around her a sense of tranquillity and faith in G-d — an attitude which seemingly helped clear away one's most troubling problems. As a modest and humble woman, Grandma Rose used the simplest of worldly means to convey the lessons in life she knew were important — lessons which have had a great impact on, among others, her grandchildren. A walk with Grandma Rose on the boardwalk, replete with the sounds and sights of G-d's earth and ocean was just the right touch to make one feel satisfied and appreciative of all of life's gifts. Sharing a chocolate bar, an ice cream cone or a trip to the candy cabinet with Grandma Rose somehow provided all the sweetness one would need until one saw her the next time. And the dollar bills she insisted on giving each grandchild at the end of every visit represented her blessing for spiritual wealth and contentness. She is a credit to her Creator, her nation and her family, and her memory to this day, inspires those who knew her to emulate her righteous ways. Undoubtedly, like her namesake, the matriarch Rachel, she will intercede with Hashem from her heavenly abode in Gan Edenon behalf of her family, who lovingly recall and cherish her comforting love and kindness. Special thanks to our brother Michael who assisted in the preparation of the loving dedication. Randi & Arthur Luxenberg Elizabeth Jewel and Jacqueline Paige Motzoei Shabbos, 5th of Tevet, 5758 — The Rebbe declared the month of Tevet as an auspicious time to publish and disseminate Seforim, celebrating the successful conclusion of litigation and the return of the Sefcnm to the Chabad library v ב״ה Foreword With much thanks to Hashem, I present to you dear readers, the second volume of Vedibarta Bam. This volume discusses Chumash Shemot, and follows the same format as the one on Chumash Bereishit. I must admit that I never realized the difficulties of publishing a sefer. To gather stimulating material and present it in an accessible language is quite a challenge. Fortunately, the encouraging comments and compliments the first volume received facilitated the bringing of this second volume to fruition. Purim takes place during the weeks when Chumash Shemot is read, therefore, I included a separate section on Purim and Megillat Esther. As already mentioned, the purpose of the Sefer is Vedibarta Bam — and you shall speak of them — that it be a source of Torah discussion at the Shabbat table. Hopefully, the section on Purim will add to the freilichkeit of Purim day and the seudah. Moreover, in keeping with the traditional spirit of Purim, also included is a section containing some light-hearted Purim Torah. It is gratifying that, thank G-d, the sefer became a guest at the Shabbat table in many homes. However, my greatest surprise was that it reached all the corners of the globe through Judaism on the Internet. For this I thank most profusely Yosef Yitzchok Kazen, director of Chabad-Lubavitch in Cyberspace. May his efforts to propagate Torah universally be crowned with immense success. My nephew, Shneur Zalman Sudak, should be commended for his meticulous proof-reading of this volume and for his valuable comments. Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky 16 Tevet, 5756 Liss ע״ה Yartzeit, Harav Eliyahu Moshe ben Aharon Eliezer vi Note on Transliteration and Format Transliteration generally employs the Sephardi accent, with the following usages: 1. Words with a final hei are spelled with a final "h." 2. "Ei" (the vowel-sound in "freight") is used for a tzere. 3. "Ai" is used for the vowel-sound in the word "tide." 4. An apostrophe is used between distinct consecutive vowels, as in "Ba'al." 5. An "e" is used for a vocalized sheva, i.e. "bemeizid," not "b'meizid." 6. "F" is preferred to "ph." 7. "O" is used for cholem. 8. Doubling of consonants is generally avoided. Use of Italics: Transliterated Hebrew words are generally given in italics without capitalization, except for proper nouns, which are capitalized and, in the case of names, not italicized. Some exceptions are made for very familiar Hebrew words, such as "Torah." English and Hebrew: Names of Biblical persons and names of the books of the Pentateuch are given in Hebrew, but other books of Tanach are given in English; thus "Moshe" is preferred to "Moses," "Bereishit" to "Genesis," and "Proverbs" to "Mishlei." Generally English words are preferred to Hebrew ones, but often the content requires the use of the Hebrew. Exceptions: Exceptions to these rules most often involve forms already familiar to the English reader, forms that would otherwise be awkward, and ones likely to be mispronounced. SHEMOT 1 שמות • SHEMOT ״ואלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה״ "And these are the names of the children of Israel who were coming to Egypt." (1:1) in — (אשר באו) "QUESTION: It should have said "asher ba'u in the present — (הבאים) "the past tense instead of "haba'im tense, which suggests that they were arriving now? ANSWER: When an immigrant comes to a new country, in the early period following his arrival he usually maintains his old customs. Upon becoming acclimated, he assumes resident status and adapts to the ways of the land. Throughout their stay in Egypt, the Jews regarded themselves as newly arrived immigrants, they had "just come." Not assuming resident status facilitated their determination to maintain their unique identity. In the merit of not changing their names, their language, and style of clothing, our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt. (See Midrash Rabbah Vayikra 32:5 and Pesikta Zuta 6:6.) (עיטורי תורה) * * * Alternatively: the last letters of the words "can be arranged to spell the word "Tehillim ישראל הבאים the Book of Psalms, compiled by King David. In — (תהלים) Egypt, the Jewish people was enslaved and experienced one of the most difficult times of their history. Throughout the time the Jews were in Egypt, they prayed to Hashem with the words of Tehillim. "Mitzraim" also comes from the word "meitzar," which means a difficult and tight situation. Whenever one is 2 VEDIBARTA BAM—AND YOU SHALL SPEAK OF THEM confronted with a difficulty, the best thing to do is to use the book of Tehillim as a medium of prayer to Hashem. According to the Midrash Shochar Tov (124), during Yaakov's 20 years in the unpleasant environment of Lavan's estate, he did not sleep, occupying himself instead with saying Tehillim.
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