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PAR'SHAT MISHPATIM: The Stranger in Your Midst.

1/31/2019

וגר לא־תונה ולא תלחצנו כי־גרים הייתם בארץ מצרים׃

(22:20) "You must neither wrong nor oppress a foreigner living among you, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
(Exo 22:21)

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT OF HOSPITALITY.
The parasha this week addresses something that has become today more of a matter of personal choice, but that in the days of ancient Israel would have been considered as paramount to a Torah observant life. I am talking about hospitality.

In the Torah we are exhorted to the following,
You must neither wrong nor oppress a foreigner living among you, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt. (Exo 22:21)

As HaShem delivers His people from slavery, He wants them to never forget their former state. Why? The end of the story, the end of the game, is that every knee shall bow to Him and that every tongue shall confess and praise Him. Not Israel only, but the whole of humanity. As the smallest of all nations, as the weakest of all peoples, HaShem chose Israel in order to show the rest of the world that if He could use such a small nation, such a small people, and I would add, such a stubborn and stiff necked people, he could use them too

Adonai didn't set his heart on you or choose you because you numbered more than any other people - on the contrary, you were the fewest of all peoples. Rather, it was because Adonai loved you, and because he wanted to keep the oath which he had sworn to your ancestors, that Adonai brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from a life of slavery under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deu 7:7-8)

HASHEM’S LOVE AFFAIR WITH ISRAEL.
The intense love affair between HaShem and Israel is beautifully depicted in Ezekiel 16 where in a poetic way, under HaShem's inspiration, the prophet describes the Exodus from Egypt; the time when HaShem looked at Israel, soiled a dirty and took her in his bosom. Here is a sample

" 'Again I passed by you, looked at you and saw that your time had come, the time for love. So I spread my cloak over you to cover your private parts and entered into a covenant with you,' says Adonai Elohim, 'and you became mine. Then I bathed you in water, washed the blood off you, and anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with an embroidered gown, gave you fine leather sandals to wear, put a fine linen headband on your head and covered you with silk. I gave you jewelry to wear, bracelets for your hands, a necklace for your neck, a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears and a beautiful crown for your head. Thus you were decked out in gold and silver; your clothing was of fine linen, silk and richly embroidered cloth; you ate the finest flour, honey and olive oil. You grew increasingly beautiful -- you were fit to be queen. Your fame spread among the nations because of your beauty, because it was perfect, due to my having bestowed my own splendor on you' says Adonai Elohim.
(Eze 16:8-14)

He adopted us not because we were deserving, but solely because He loved us.

REMEMBERING WHERE WE COME FROM.
HaShem wants us to never forget these early humble beginning. He wants us to reflect often on these times. It is only by remembering these early beginnings that we can have the mercy that it takes in order for us to have compassion on the stranger within our midst and remember to “neither wrong nor oppress a foreigner living among you” (Exo 22:20.) We are only able to show hope to others as we remember our early beginning. We can show them mercy only as we remember our sinful ways. We can only show care and compassion as we contemplate our former oppression. When we forget where we come from, when we forget our former state, when we forget our sinful condition, we only show disdain, arrogance, and indifference.

THE MANDATE.
As He has been with us, we are mandated to be with others from the nations. Israel is mandated to show the nations, and to the stranger in its midst, the same care, love, and hospitality that HaShem showed to her. We received his blessings for free, freely we should share them with the world.
Israel left Egypt with a great multitude from the nations (Exo 12:38)). So as Israel became a nation, it right away had to deal with the issue of non-Israelites in its midst, an issue which haShem addressed right away because he knows the sectarian separatist heart of man. HaShem made sure that, in his status of “chosen people”, Israel did not develop a spirit of elitism.
This commandment seems to peer into the future, to a time when the nations will flock to the house of Jacob in order to hear the word of the Lord. Not counting that for 2000 years now, ⅔ of the world has learned about the God of Abraham, in some form or another live but a seven day week, and have a judicial and moral code based on the 10 commandments, but now many are flocking around His Jewish children in some form or other in order to learn from the Torah.

As Jews, we are mandated in the command of Exo 22:21 to receive these people from the nations with the same grace that HaShem received us. We should never look down on them or have a distant aloof attitude towards them. We must freely extend to them the same hand of fellowship that HaShem freely extended to us.

THE STRANGER IN THE ENDTIME.
Through the inspiration of HaShem, Isaiah said,

A foreigner joining Adonai should not say, "Adonai will separate me from his people"; likewise the eunuch should not say, "I am only a dried-up tree." For here is what Adonai says: "As for the eunuchs who keep my Shabbats, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant: in my house, within my walls, I will give them power and a name greater than sons and daughters; I will give him an everlasting name that will not be cut off. "And the foreigners who join themselves to Adonai to serve him, to love the name of Adonai, and to be his workers, all who keep Shabbat and do not profane it, and hold fast to my covenant, I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples." Adonai Elohim says, he who gathers Isra'el's exiles: "There are yet others I will gather, besides those gathered already."
(Isa 56:3-8)

Thé Talmud tells stories of how Abraham used to invite people to his tent to eat and hear about his God. Later we hear about Rachab and Ruth as examples of those foreigners accepted in the fellowship of Israel. They are even mentioned in the genealogy of Messiah (Mat 1-5) (those whom HaShem accepts, who are to reject?)
Later, King David built a Tabernacle that Amos prophesied would be the rally point for Israel and the nations. When faced with the decisions concerning gentiles turning to HaShem, James was reminded of the Amos prophecy concerning the broken tabernacle of David,

Ya`akov broke the silence to reply.
"Brothers," he said, "hear what I have to say. Shim`on has told in detail what God did when he first began to show his concern for taking from among the Goyim a people to bear his name. And the words of the Prophets are in complete harmony with this for it is written,
' "After this, I will return; and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David. I will rebuild its ruins, I will restore it, so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, that is, all the Goyim who have been called by my name," says Adonai, who is doing these things.' All this has been known for ages.
(1 Chron 15-16)/(Amos 9:11)/(Act 15:13-18)
,
From Abraham to John the Revelator, all the prophets have seen and foreseen the day when the nations will join themselves to Israel. Regardless practical and theological issues, it is the grand plan, a plan which Yeshua came to initiate.
Just before he ascended to the Father, Yeshua told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem. Ten days later on Shavuot a miracle happened which Peter interpreted as initiating the time when the Spirit of God will no longer be allowed only upon the Jewish people, but also on those from the nations who turn to Him (Joel 8:28; Acts 2)

May we accept others even as He accepted us!

R' Gavriel Lumbroso

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PAR'SHAT YITRO: Love in Action.

1/24/2019

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ויבא משׁה ויקרא לזקני העם

Moshe came, summoned the leaders of the people
Exodus 19:7

Moshe had the people come to him and thus himself had to walk to the burning bush to come closer to HaShem. The prophet Samuel, on the other hand, went to the people and thus merited having HaShem come to him.
R' Chaim Shmuelevitz says that this teaches us that our relationship with HaShem has much to do with our relationship with people.
What he figured to himself was that we cannot claim to love God while remaining indifférent to the plight of those made in His image. In the mind of the Rabbi, the two situations mentioned above concerning Moshe and Shmu'el challenge us with, "As Moshe and Shmu'el treated the people, so did HaShem treat Moshe and Shmu'el." What would it look like if that were to happen to any one of us?

We sometime think that our love for HaShem and our love for people around us are two separate things. But what does it mean when we are told, "You are to love Adonai with all our heart, being, and resources"? (Deut 6:4). Does HaShem need physical affection? Is He insecure so that he always needs to be reminded that we love Him, as if He couldn't see what was in our hearts?
Yeshua Himself gave us a clue on how to answer these questions by juxtaposing this elementary commandment from Deuteronomy (Deut 6:5) with the other one from Leviticus, "Love your neighbour as yourself. (Lev 19:18)
In essence, the practical application of loving God is to love our neighbor like ourselves. It is really as simple as that. HaShem does appreciate the worship, the emotional prayers, the affirmations, the testimonies of faith, but really, the most effective way to tell Him "I love you", is to do actions of love towards those made in His Image; to imitate Him and show as much love as He's shown unworthy "us" to others who may also seem to us unworthy.

HaShem is a great "psychologist." He knows about our ego. We all love ourselves. We give ourselves great leverage and forgiveness. We can find a never ending supply of excuses to use as absolutions for our misdeeds. That's why the Torah then tells us to treat others in the way we treat ourselves.

Yeshua had much to say about that. As He taught on the mountain, He said,

Forgive us what we have done wrong,
as we too have forgiven those who have wronged us.
(Mat 6:12)

And furthermore He said,

For the way you judge others is how you will be judged --
the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you.
(Mat 7:2)

James, the brother of the master, concurred with R' Chaim Shmuelevitz when he said,

The religious observance that God the Father considers pure and faultless is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being contaminated by the world.
(Jas 1:27)

John also added,

We ourselves love now because he loved us first. If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar. For if a person does not love his brother, whom he has seen, then he cannot love God, whom he has not seen. Yes, this is the command we have from him: whoever loves God must love his brother too.
(1Jn 4:19-21)

We probably don't mind loving as long as it is within our circle. We all love within our own circles but we might find it difficult to love outside of our cultural or intimate entourage. Yeshua challenged us with that, reminding us that even non believers do that. Actually, even animals love their own. But Yeshua's sample of love and care transcended culture, race, religion, and politics. He spoke to the Roman officer (Rom 8:5-7); healed the daughter of the Canaanite woman (Mat 15:21-28); and even went all the way to filthy, pagan Decapolis to heal a man afflicted with a demon (Mk 5:1-20).
He called us to follow His example. When praying to the Father He said,

Just as you sent me into the world,
I have sent them into the world.
(Joh 17:18)

To act and live this way is the one and only proof that we have been regenerated in Yeshua, that old things are passed away and all things are become new (2 Cor 5:17). Paul admonished the mixed congregation (a congregation made up of Jews and Gentiles) in the following words,

The new self allows no room for discriminating between Gentile and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, foreigner, savage, slave, free man; on the contrary, in all, the Messiah is everything. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with feelings of compassion and with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; if anyone has a complaint against someone else, forgive him. Indeed, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive. Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together perfectly;
(Col 3:11)

Here is something else from Rabbi, Chayim "The Midrash says that Shmu'el got his great love for other people from a garment his mother lovingly made for him and which he always kept with him."
Here is how Paul puts it to the Colossians,

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with feelings of compassion and with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; if anyone has a complaint against someone else, forgive him. Indeed, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive. Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together perfectly;
(Col 3:11-14)

May we ourselves put on this garment of
compassion,
kindness,
humility,
gentleness,
patience,
and love.
And like Shmu'el with his mother's garment, always keep it with us.

As we ensample this in our lives towards others and also towards our children, we provoke tikkun Olam (repairing the world) not only for our generation but for that of our children and that of our children's children's, as Rabbi Chayim says,

"The love we show our children implants in them a deep feeling of being loved which, in turn, allows them to love others."

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PAR'SHAT B'SHALACH: Bitter Lessons.

1/15/2019

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כב וַיַּסַּע מֹשֶׁה אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל מִיַּם-סוּף, וַיֵּצְאוּ אֶל-מִדְבַּר-שׁוּר; וַיֵּלְכוּ שְׁלֹשֶׁת-יָמִים בַּמִּדְבָּר, וְלֹא-מָצְאוּ מָיִם.
כג וַיָּבֹאוּ מָרָתָה--וְלֹא יָכְלוּ לִשְׁתֹּת מַיִם מִמָּרָה, כִּי מָרִים הֵם; עַל-כֵּן קָרָא-שְׁמָהּ, מָרָה.
כד וַיִּלֹּנוּ הָעָם עַל-מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר, מַה-נִּשְׁתֶּה.
כה וַיִּצְעַק אֶל-יְהוָה, וַיּוֹרֵהוּ יְהוָה עֵץ, וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ אֶל-הַמַּיִם, וַיִּמְתְּקוּ הַמָּיִם; שָׁם שָׂם לוֹ חֹק וּמִשְׁפָּט, וְשָׁם נִסָּהוּ.
כו וַיֹּאמֶר אִם-שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמַע לְקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, וְהַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו תַּעֲשֶׂה, וְהַאֲזַנְתָּ לְמִצְוֺתָיו, וְשָׁמַרְתָּ כָּל-חֻקָּיו--כָּל-הַמַּחֲלָה אֲשֶׁר-שַׂמְתִּי בְמִצְרַיִם, לֹא-אָשִׂים עָלֶיךָ, כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה, רֹפְאֶךָ. {ס}
כז וַיָּבֹאוּ אֵילִמָה--וְשָׁם שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה עֵינֹת מַיִם, וְשִׁבְעִים תְּמָרִים; וַיַּחֲנוּ-שָׁם, עַל-הַמָּיִם.

Moshe led Isra'el onward from the Sea of Suf . They went out into the Shur Desert; but after traveling three days in the desert, they had found no water. They arrived at Marah but couldn't drink the water there, because it was bitter. This is why they called it Marah [bitterness]. The people grumbled against Moshe and asked, "What are we to drink?" Moshe cried to Adonai; and Adonai showed him a certain piece of wood, which, when he threw it into the water, made the water taste good. There Adonai made laws and rules of life for them, and there he tested them. He said, "If you will listen intently to the voice of Adonai your God, do what he considers right, pay attention to his mitzvot and observe his laws, I will not afflict you with any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians; because I am Adonai your healer." They came to Eilim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and camped there by the water. (Exo 15:22-27)

LEADERSHIP JOB DESCRIPTION.
I heard someone say on time, “I know it pays to worry; most of the things you worry about never happen!” That may sound a little sarcastic, but if when we take stock of things, there is a truth to it. Most of the time, the things we worry about do not happen. Why do we worry then? In his book, “Growth Through Torah” Rabbi Zelig Pliskin says that “Patience decreases worry.” Worry is basically a lack of patience and trust that HaShem is ultimately in control of our lives.

The parasha this week takes us on the journey the Children of Israel started through the desert. They had to leave quickly. They did not even have time to let their bread rise so they could have something to eat on their way, much less bring water with them for nearly 3,000.000 people. The text tells us that, “Moshe led Isra'el onward from the Sea of Suf . They went out into the Shur Desert; but after traveling three days in the desert, they had found no water. They arrived at Marah but couldn't drink the water there, because it was bitter. This is why they called it Marah [bitterness]. The people grumbled against Moshe and asked, "What are we to drink?" (Exo 15:22-27)
   Moshe Is now getting a bitter taste of one of the burdens of leadership, the one that says, “You can please some of the people all the time; you can please all the people some time; but you can never please all the people all the time!”
It is part of the job description for a leader to become the punching-ball of the disgruntled; the brunt of their ungrateful accusations. Any would-be leader has to realise that he does not get to win at this game; he has to “suck it up” as part of the job HaShem has called him to do. Yeshua did it, as well as all the leaders he left behind such as the disciples, and Paul.

WHAT DID MOSHE DO?
How did Moshe react to that situation as the leader? Did he get angry? Did he fly off the handle? Did he give up? The text tells us that, “Moshe cried to Adonai; and Adonai showed him a certain piece of wood, which, when he threw it into the water, made the water taste good.”
   Moshe was the humblest of all men on the earth Numbers 12-3 says. As such, Moshe knew that he was not leading the Children of Israel, HaShem was. He knew that he was not responsible for providing food and water for 3,000.000 people in the desert, HaShem was. After all, to bring the Children of Israel into the captivity of the Egyptians was HaShem’s idea and way to allow His people to grow numerous enough so that they could become a nation. To deliver them through these very unconventional ways was also His idea. Moshe knew it, so all he had to do was to get back to HaShem for the next phase of a program that was beyond the capacity of any man.

A BITTER LESSON .
When they arrived at the bitter pool of water of Mara, the people had a very human reaction. Think of it as trying to give a spiritual answer concerning trusting HaShem about the situation to a frustrated mother with a crying thirsty and hungry 2-year-old in her arms.
In those situations, it is easy for one to imagine that HaShem has abandoned them. That everything is just random and without a plan. That Moshe is making it up as he goes (and he might be but shhhhh; don’t tell anyone!). But there wis a plan; there is a lesson to be learned. The text tells us, “There Adonai made laws and rules of life for them, and there he tested them. He said, "If you will listen intently to the voice of Adonai your God, do what he considers right, pay attention to his mitzvot and observe his laws, I will not afflict you with any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians; because I am Adonai your healer."
From Goshen, walking North-east through the Gaza Strip you can get to Israel in less than a month walking slowly. But we read that, “After Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not guide them to the highway that goes through the land of the P'lishtim, because it was close by -- God thought that the people, upon seeing war, might change their minds and return to Egypt. Rather, God led the people by a roundabout route, through the desert by the Sea of Suf.” (Exo 13:17-18) This shows us that life might not have been so hard in Egypt.They had everything, everything except the freedom to leave. But as they say, “Gold shackles are still shackles!”
The israelites had grown a slave mentality where everything was everything was provided for them. In the episode of the bitter waters of Marah, HaShem was getting their attention. He was telling them that now their fate and even their health had a lot to do with their integrity towards Him. That was different.

THE BLESSING COMES AFTER THE LESSON IS LEARNED.
After that we read, “They came to Eilim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and camped there by the water.” (Exo 15:22-27)
   HaShem had a plan, but the plan required them to go through a lesson; a lesson that would be the foundation of their being the nation HaShem had destined them to be. A universal lesson that applies to us today: DEPENDENCE ON HIM.
After the lesson is learned HaShem brings the people to a place with plenty of water. The commentator, Chofetz Chayim says that, “Mortal have limited vision. Because of man’s limitations, people are always full of complaints. They whine and fret about things not being as they would wish. There is always something that they are missing. If the Israelites would have been aware that they would soon have water in Eilim, they would not have come with their complaints to Moshe that they were missing water. They just had to be a bit more patient. The source of people's complaints is that they are not able to see what will be in a short time. Many things that people complain and worry about turn out much better than they imagine.” Chofetz Chayim al HaTorah.

Here is a little poem to illustrate the point,
Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce.
Or a trouble is what you make it.
And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts.
But only how did you take it? -
  -Edmund Vance Cooke

And now a musician’s analogy.
A maker of violins searched all his life for wood that would serve for making violins with a certain beautiful and haunting resonance. At last he succeeded when he came into possession of wood gathered from the timberline, the last stand of the trees of the Rockies, 12,000 feet above sea level. Up there where the winds blow so fiercely and steadily that the bark to windward has no chance to grow, where the branches all point one way, and where a tree to live must stay on its knees all through its life, that is where the world's most resonant wood for violins is born and lives and dies.

Here is another article about the resilient wood that the famed luthier Antonius Stradivarius used to make the best violins in the world. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/making-violins/

Troubles makes some people whine, and it makes others sing. In their jails, Paul and Silas sang praises knowing that one way or another HaShem had a plan for therm. “Around midnight, Sha'ul and Sila were praying and singing hymns to God, while the other prisoners listened attentively. Suddenly there was a violent earthquake which shook the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open and everyone's chains came loose. (Act 16:25-26)

May we as we sing our way through trouble, that the world may hear our beautiful music and be blessed by it!

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"PAR'SHAT BO: "He Ordains Exile and Orders Deliverance."

1/8/2019

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וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, בֹּא אֶל-פַּרְעֹה; וְדִבַּרְתָּ אֵלָיו, כֹּה-אָמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי הָעִבְרִים, שַׁלַּח אֶת-עַמִּי, וְיַעַבְדֻנִי.

Adonai said to Moshe, "Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Here is what Adonai says: "Let my people go, so that they can worship me. (Exo 8:1 CJB)

FLIGHT OR ASSIGNMENT?
During the second World war, Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch had to close his yeshiva in Europe. Upon arrival in America, he commented on his fate using a passage from 1 Samuel 20. He said, “When Jonathan arranged to signal David that he was in danger because King Saul wished to kill him he said, ‘If I tell the boy the arrows are beyond you, go, for HaShem has sent you!’ Why didn’t he say, ‘Flee’, rather than ‘go’, which would have been more accurate?”
   This may sound like a trivial question, but when we speak of the Word that we are told is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; (2 Tim 3:16), it is important to pay attention to details.
   David had to actually flee for his life, but Jonathan interpreted that situation as HaShem sending his friend on a particular mission. In this choice of words, we see that Jonathan had perfect peace concerning the course of events. This is very important.
   When we realize that HaShem has His divine hands in all the aspects of our lives, that He is the guiding Presence supervising every step of our lives, we realise that what we may otherwise call a ‘flight,’ even from seeming impending danger, is actually the signal that we are dispatched to a different mission or assignment.
   This realization procures peace that all is indeed in His very able hands.

THE DEVIL DID IT TO ME!
I very often hear the statement, “The devil is doing this and that to me.” Isn’t it a bit silly and rather inconsistent in principle that we attribute the bad things (or the things we don’t like and don’t agree with) to the Evil one, and the good things (or the things we like and agree with) to HaShem? Wouldn’t it mean that sometimes HaShem is not able to prevent HaSatan from doing us evil, or that the two are in a constant battle with either one winning at any time? Wouldn’t it mean that life is random? This sounds fearfully depressing! What we rather see in the first chapter of the Book of Job, HaShem allows HaSatan to do things to us in order to “send” us on a particular assignment (Job 1:12).

THERE IS MORE TO THIS STORY.
In the parashah this week we read of HaShem's great miracles. We read how He did wonderful things in order to free the Children of Israel from their Egyptian captives. This is the story of our God who always fulfills His promises. This makes for a great story. But there is more to this story than the miracle of the deliverance; it is also the story of the captivity of a whole people.
   Just as there cannot be resurrection without death, there cannot be great deliverance without captivity. The first has to be for the other to happen. The Children of Israel did not flee to Egypt because of the famine in Cana’an. Just as Joseph said, they were sent there by HaShem to accomplish their great mission. “God sent me ahead of you to ensure that you will have descendants on earth and to save your lives in a great deliverance.” (Gen 45:7 CJB)
   And what was the mission of the Children of Israel? What was the reason HaShem sent them to Egypt? “I will make Pharaoh so hardhearted that he will pursue them; thus I will win glory for myself at the expense of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will realize at last that I am Adonai.". (Exo 14:4 CJB)
   Since the time of the Exodus, this story has been read by billions. We still study it today. HaShem brought the Israelites to Egypt. HaShem hardened Pharaoh’s heart to keep the Israelites prisoner. HaShem freed them. These were all HaShem's mighty works from the beginning.

“WHAT HAS BEEN IS WHAT WILL BE.” (Ecc 1:9)
Even now we are nearing the end of what has been called the Roman Exile. Even now we are seeing the preparations of a greater exodus. The prophets could only dream of these days and longed to see them (Mat 13:17). And this time, it is not soleley for the Egyptian to at last realize that He is Adonai for HaShem said through the prophet, “I will make my holy name known among my people Isra'el; I will not allow my holy name to be profaned any longer. Then the Goyim will know that I am Adonai, the Holy One in Isra'el. Yes, this is coming, and it will be done,' says Adonai Elohim; 'this is the day about which I have spoken.” (Eze 39:7-8 CJB) All the nations will know then that He is Adoanai, the God of Israel, the God of heaven and earth! The present-day Jewish Diaspora is to bring about the nations to glorifying the God of Israel.

AND WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THIS?
May we as we live our lives, as we go through its ups and downs, never think during times of difficutly that HaShem has abandoned us. He never abandons us but rather sends us on missions. (Deut 31:6)
Whatever catastrophes, accidents, deaths, sicknesses, financial problems, they are but signals that He sends us on a mission that He may be glorified either in our hearts or in the hearts of others around us. Haven’t we been sent to glorify him?
He ordains exile and orders the deliverance.
He ordains sickness and orders healing.
He ordains penury and orders providence.
He ordains death and orders resurrecting.

"COME" OR "GO" :בא ?
The parashah is called “BO”, from its first sentence, בֹּא אֶל-פַּרְעֹה. This sentence is usually translated as, “Go to Pharaoh…” but really it’s meaning is, “Come to Pharaoh.” When someone tells us to come somewhere, that means that he is already waiting for us there. This teaches us that HaShem was also in Egypt as he said, "I have seen how my people are being oppressed in Egypt and heard their cry for release from their slavemasters, because I know their pain.” (Exo 3:7 CJB)
This teaches us that whateve ‘exile” we are in, HaShem sees us, and is even with us. He is the One who takes us in, and He is the One who brings us out!

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PAR'SHAT VA'ERA: Suffering, a Tool Toward a Purpose.

1/2/2019

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לֵךְ אֶל-פַּרְעֹה בַּבֹּקֶר, הִנֵּה יֹצֵא הַמַּיְמָה, וְנִצַּבְתָּ לִקְרָאתוֹ, עַל-שְׂפַת הַיְאֹר; וְהַמַּטֶּה אֲשֶׁר-נֶהְפַּךְ לְנָחָשׁ, תִּקַּח בְּיָדֶךָ
Go to Pharaoh in the morning when he goes out to the water. Stand on the riverbank to confront him, take in your hand the staff which was turned into a snake,
(Exo 7:15 CJB)

A WORD FROM A MARRIAGE COUNSELOR
One day I was listening to a radio program where a lady broadcaster gave marriage advice to callers. A woman called complaining about the controlling behavior of her husband. To the surprise of the caller, the counselor said, "Your husband must be a miserable man; you need to feel sorry for him!" The caller who probably was trying to get some sympathy asked what the counselor meant and here was the reply she received. "Controlling people are controlling are very fearful. They fear for their standing; they fear for their appearances; they fear the opinions of man; they fear failure. This makes them want to have everything under their control, which puts them under constant pressure and makes their lives miserable."
        Pharaoh was such a fearful man. Claiming to be God, he was fearful of anything that would challenge his claim, especially people like Moshe.

PHARAOH'S PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION
The text of the parasha this week tells us of Pharaoh going out to the river (Gen 7:15). Why was he going to the river? Couldn't he take a bath at home? Because he claimed to be God, Pharaoh pretended not to be like everybody else having to comply with some of these encumbering and humiliating bodily functions. Therefore, medieval times Torah commentator Rashi says that Pharaoh used to go to the River each morning in order to relieve himself.
         One can imagine the suffering of this poor man. This is the cost of recognition-seeking, the cost of indulging ourselves in the adulation of man. We have to "play the game" so to speak. In order to indulge in his extreme need for control, the control of a monarch with absolute power whose slightest word could bring death to an insubordinate subject, Pharaoh he had to suffer living a life of pretense. He couldn't even relieve himself during the day. And what did he get for it? What did it give him? Just a little more honor than others, and that at a very costly price.

THE DECEIT OF PRETENSE.
It reminds of the movie, "The Final Cut." The movie is placed in the future when people would have the option of receiving an eye implant that records every moment of their lives. When they die, someone takes the "film" and edit it for their memorial service. At that time, their story is in the hand of the "editor." The movie goes on to tell of one girl who lived her life like any other person until she learned that when she was 18, unbeknownst to her, she received an implant. It is at that time that she became religious. That time of her life was very short. She couldn't take the pressure of being "good" all the time so she killed herself.
Seeking recognition, honor, or authority through pretense causes suffering, and people afflicted with such a desire should be pitied.

***********

THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARD SUFFERING
Pharaoh was a pitiful man whose life hinged on his ability to control everything. This caused him intense suffering but Pharaoh responded to suffering. Here is what happened when he was under pressure,

Pharaoh summoned Moshe and Aharon and said to them, "This time I have sinned: Adonai is in the right; I and my people are in the wrong." (Exo 9:27 CJB)

But as soon as it was over, he went back to his old ways, (just like most of us).
When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail and thunder had ended, he sinned still more by making himself hardhearted, he and his servants. (Exo 9:34 CJB)

Why did he do that? Why do we do that?

It is because of a wrong attitude towards suffering. Pharaoh saw suffering as a punishment. Sometimes just like Pharaoh, we also look at suffering as a punishment instead of what it really is: a tool for growth and self-improvement.
   Suffering is actually a personal message from HaShem that He is working on some improvement in our lives. When we see suffering as a tool of growth, we find meaning in our suffering.

Here are Paul's admonitions on the subject. Paul knew about suffering. To suffer for the Name of Yeshua was in life's mission as prophesied to him by Ananias (Acts 9:15-16).

Let us also boast in our troubles; because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope; and this hope does not let us down, because God's love for us has already been poured out in our hearts through the Ruach HaKodesh who has been given to us.
(Rom 5:3-5 CJB)

James, the brother of the Master who martyred in the Temple precinct also knew about suffering.
Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations; for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance. But let perseverance do its complete work; so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing.
(Jas 1:2-4 CJB)

As an example of suffering mistreatment and being patient, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of Adonai. Look, we regard those who persevered as blessed. You have heard of the perseverance of Iyov, and you know what the purpose of Adonai was, that Adonai is very compassionate and merciful.
(Jas 5:10-11 CJB)

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PAR'SHAT MISHPATIM: The Stranger in Your Midst.

PAR'SHAT YITRO: Love in Action.

PAR'SHAT B'SHALACH: Bitter Lessons.

"PAR'SHAT BO: "He Ordains Exile and Orders Deliverance."

PAR'SHAT VA'ERA: Suffering, a Tool Toward a Purpose.

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