Rabbi Levin's Blog

This week we read the Torah’s account of the Exodus from Egypt.  After Pharaoh’s refusal to “let My people go,” he finally succumbs and begs Moshe and Aharon to get them out as soon as possible.  The Jews were now free.  What does “free” mean? Free from slavery, yes.  Free from Egyptian captivity, yes. Free to do whatever they wanted?  Not exactly.  Everyone knows the phrase “let My people go,” but how many of us know the conclusion of that verse, “and they shall serve Me?” As a matter of fact, one way to put it could be that Hashem switched one kind of servitude for another.  From the very beginning of the Exodus process, when Hashem appeared to Moshe in the Burning Bush on what would later be the site of the Giving of the Torah, Hashem said:  When you take the nation out of Egypt you will serve Me on this mountain (Sinai).   There are a few words in Hebrew for “Free.”  “Chofshi” is generally translated as free from anything, witho...

  Hashem struck the Egyptians with ten plagues.  I think we are all familiar with them, especially since this is a primary feature of the Seder. Why did Hashem, who is omnipotent,  have to bring plagues on the Egyptians?  Why not just get the Jews out and not let the Egyptians stop them?  Chassidus explains that the ten plagues were intended to break ten levels of impurity.   Let me explain,  The world is made up of ten parts, described in Kabbalah as “Sefirot.”  The human soul and body mirror these Sefirot, with ten faculties that express our spiritual and physical makeup.  (To explain what they all are is beyond the scope of this essay.)  Each of the ten plagues broke down one of the evil attributes of Egypt. Hashem did not want to just subdue the Egyptians and force them to let the Jews go.  He wanted to remove the “hard shell” of the evil that Pharaoh and his people represented.  Because when the evil transforms itself...

At the end of Parshat Shemot, we learn about Moshe’s complaint to Hashem. After all the excitement of the Burning Bush and the miracles that Moshe had performed for the Jewish people and Pharaoh, instead of the promised liberation, Pharaoh ratcheted up the hard labor. In addition to making bricks for the buildings, the Jews now had to find their own straw, and produce the same quota of bricks. They were beaten and whipped and it was a dire situation.  “Moses returned to God and said, “God, why have You mistreated this people? Why have You sent me? For ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has made things worse for this people, and still You have not delivered Your people!” (Shemot 5:22,23)  Hashem answered him (23:1): “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: that because of a strong hand he will send them forth, and indeed, with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” Rashi comments on the double term “with a strong hand”: The first “with a stro...

Our forefather Yaakov had a very difficult life.  Beginning as a young man he had to contend with his brother Esav.  He had to step away from his path of absolute truth to follow his mother’s prophetic guidance and mislead his father into believing he was his brother.  When he succeeded in receiving the blessings and securing the future of the Jewish people and the world, he was threatened with death by Esav.  He had to leave the land he grew up in and his family and wander out to Charan, a place of corruption and danger, and contend with his crooked uncle.  Once again he had to deal with deception and intrigue as his uncle Lavan cheated him again and again. On his way back to Canaan, his uncle chased him and wanted to wipe out the whole family, and Hashem saved him.  Then he hears that Esav is coming to war with 400 men.  After Hashem helps him past that danger and he finally settles back with his father in Canaan, his beloved Yosef is taken away, and...

Yosef was an extraordinary person.  The description of how he ran Egypt, his prophetic vision, interpreting of dreams, his brilliance, and the way he rose to the top wherever he went, shows how unique he was.  Then add to that the way he treated his brothers, the people who had upended his life, almost killed him, sold him into slavery where he suffered so much for 20 years.  Not only did feed them in Egypt, but he comforted them and assured them he had no ill will toward them.  The ultimate example of repaying bad with good. There is more.  There is a verse in Psalms where King David prays to Hashem:  “O Shepherd of Israel, He who leads Yosef like flocks.” (Tehillim 80:2.)  “Yosef” in this context refers to the Jewish people.  The reason the entire nation is referred to as Yosef, is because he was like a shepherd to his family and saved them all from famine.  So there is a lasting impact that Yosef had on all generations of our people. In ad...

We are not defined by our suffering.  We are a people with a mission and a purpose that defines us, despite our suffering.  We are still in the Shiva period for the beautiful Jewish souls who were wiped out, along with all their future generations, by people who don’t deserve to be described as such.  The world witnessed it.  We all witnessed it and we grieve.  We grieve for the holy martyrs who sanctified Hashem’s name, we grieve with their families who are suddenly left without their loved ones in such a cruel and horrific way. May Hashem avenge their blood.  And we pray for the wounded and the traumatized, and all good people around the world. But we are not defined by our suffering.  Our mission is to bring light, and that is what we continue to do, proudly and without fear.  That is the spirit that has kept us going through the ages facing monsters of all types.  It is gratifying and quite remarkable, though not surprising, that public M...