Rabbi Binyamin Yuhanan - Parashat Beshalach

[Music] good evening today we are learning parashat beshallah pashl he comes right after pasha bo where we learned about the last three of the ten plagues the ten makot and uh in last week's parachute pashabo we learned that the jewish people were finally allowed to leave egypt and that's what they did they left early in the morning and they took with them the dough that didn't rise and just like the night before they left they ate matzah they continued eating matzah for next many days for another whole month and that became the the law for forever the jewish people eat matzah to remember that we ate months on the night of of pesach in egypt and to remember that when we left egypt we came out very fast we didn't have uh opportunity to um to rise our bread and the dough that we made was unleavened non-habits and this week's pasha now reviews the the events and tells us the the details behind the scenes we are on page 367 in the art school homage it happened when paro sent out the people so first of all it tells us that paro sent them out we will see why it's important for paro to think that he is the one that sent them out as opposed to god took them out this is a strange language paru sent them out what do you mean god forced him to send them out but in any case when paros sent the jewish people out of egypt god did not lead them by way of the land of police team of the palestinians hashem decided that he will not take the jewish people out from egypt and take them straight up through the land of palestinians through the what we call now sector gaza and into the land of israel hashem said no i'm not going to do that why because god said perhaps because it was near it was a very direct close path for god said perhaps the people will reconsider when they see war and they will return to egypt hashem said as they enter the land of israel they will be faced with war not a big war because hashem is on our side but nevertheless it will be a battle and jewish people are not ready for battle mentally they for sure are ready they will win every war they fight but in their mind they are not ready and so they will reconsider they will have second thoughts maybe it was a mistake for us to leave egypt maybe we should have just stayed and suffered because suffering is better than death and they will return to egypt verse 18 so god turned the people toward the way of the wilderness to the sea of reeds instead of going straight up hashem bled them south east away from the land of israel why for so as we'll see later it's necessary to take them through the uh the sea of reeds towards the sea of greece so that hashem can perform the miracle for them and the second reason is as explained at the beginning of the parsha to make the path more complicated roundabout way uh so that it's harder to go back if they can see egypt still a few miles away they will be tempted to go back but if they don't see egypt they don't even know where they are it's not going to be so easy to come back and also to delay the war if they go into the land of israel right away the war the battle is awaiting them but if they go round about they will uh have been out of egypt for much longer and they will not desire to go back so fast now originally the the plan of hashem was that after they go through the sea of reeds and receive the torah at har sinai after some time in camping near har sinai and learning the torah that they will go straight to the land of israel as you remember later what happened was that after they left har sinai according to plan and they approached the land of israel they decided to send spies and this the mission of spies failed if it didn't fail they would go into israel right away but because it failed they were delayed by another 38 and and a half years so hashem's original plan was only to delay them for a year and a half until they received the torah and they stayed long enough by mount sinai to learn necessary the necessary details to go into the land okay now the middle of verse 18 continues the children of israel were armed when they went up from egypt now this word armed in hebrew is hamushim hamushim can mean armed and if you ask the question later when the jewish people battled at the end of this torah portion they battled against the nation of amalek how did they battle they were slaves they came out running away where did they have weapons from so the beginning of pasha tells you information that you'll need for the end of the parsha they came out armed they brought with them weapons and later when the jewish people are going to conquer other nations and fight other wars you will also have an answer uh how did the jewish people know not know about how did they where did they have weapons from the answer is right here they brought the weapons with them from egypt however there is a midrash that interprets this word hamushim differently not armed but rather from the word hamesh hamushi means a fifth of them and the midrash says that in egypt there were five times more jews than came out and only one-fifth of the jewish population of egypt chose to leave either chose or were worthy to leave egypt four four-fifths of the jewish people stayed in egypt again either by choice or they were not allowed to leave because they were not worthy and uh when we say they were not worthy we don't mean that they were low lives all we mean is that they were not as great as those that were allowed to leave and there are different opinions of what happened to them some say because they didn't want to leave they stayed in egypt and eventually were lost eventually were absorbed into the egyptian society some say that they died before the exodus in the in the plague of darkness now verse 19. so just uh one more point according to this midrash that there were five times more jews that were in egypt than those that came out it means that if three million jews left egypt based on the six hundred thousand adult men that means that how many jews lived in egypt 15 million and how many jews were left or died in egypt 12 million 12 million jews died in egypt and only three came out now we're in verse 19 moshe took the bones of joseph with him because joseph asked the jewish people to swear that they will uh take him out when the when god redeems them and the midrash says that together with the bones of yosef the jewish people took out the remains of all 12 brothers verse 20. they journeyed from sukkot and in kane encamped in a town at the a edge of the wilderness now the question that came in is asking wasn't it after the darkness during makkah when people showed their faith in god by joining jewish people by putting blood on doorposts how could they have been killed before having that choice so who put the blood on the doorpost it was the jewish people who joined the jewish people when they left egypt it was the converts many uh people when they saw the miracles when they saw the power of god they were so inspired and they believed in hashem that they decided to join the jewish people yes that's true and um that was indeed after the uh plague of darkness what happened in the plague of darkness according to midrash was that the jewish people that were not allowed to leave egypt or that chose not to leave egypt they died and they were buried during those six days why were they not given the last choice to uh do the the the pesach sacrifice and uh put the blood because it was too late for them uh hashem used egypt as as purification it's called it's called a melting pot egypt is called melting pot when you put all kinds of different metals and draws and dirt into the melting pot and you heat it up and it melts and then you slowly cool it down it separates there's some impurity on top there's some impurity on the bottom and in the middle there's the the pure metal you drain it and you get the pure metal so to hashem use egypt uh as a melting pot to purify the jewish people from the those that are loyal those that are strong from those that are weaker and not as loyal uh just give me a moment and so by the time the plague of darkness came the choice has already been made by the jews because throughout this time they consistently made choices that were less than perfect and their trust in hashem was not on the level that that was enough and we see that after the jewish people left egypt they were tested many times and even after they left egypt not all of them passed these tests and many jewish people in fact died in the desert so so hashem already tested the jews in egypt and those that were found to be the strongest they were allowed to leave okay now we are on page 367 verse 21. the jewish people are out of egypt they made their first journey to sukkot and then from sukkot to itam and they're at the edge of the wilderness now by the way the word uh desert that we usually translate midbar is really wilderness because we when we imagine desert we might imagine sahara desert where you have sand dunes sun no um greenery no plants no animals nothing but but the the desert of the sinai desert and the the negev desert they're not exactly the same first of all it's a more rocky earth and uh there are some plants and there are some animals so instead of calling it the desert we call it wilderness that's the transpo the proper translation of the word by uh midbar so they were on the edge of wilderness now verse 21 hashem went before them by day in the pillar of cloud to lead them on the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them a light so there were two pillars one a pillar of cloud and another pillar of fire the pillar pillar of cloud served during the day to lead the jewish people to show them direction and the pillar of fire served at night not only to show them direction but also to light the way for them so that they could travel day and night if they needed they could travel by day and by night if they didn't need it would just illuminate the way for them hashem did not remove the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night from the fall before the people which means that when the pillar of fire came to replace pillar of cloud first the pillar of fire appeared and only then the pillar of cloud depart now we go to page 369. again the jewish people had constant reminder that hashem is with them they saw a miraculous pillar a huge tower in front of them by day and by night by day it was the the tower of clouds and by night it was the tower of fire chapter 14. hashem said to moshe speak to the children of israel and let them turn back and in camp before place called pihachi road by the sea so they were walking on their way for a few days and then hashem said turn and walk backward toward the sea why verse 3 explains para will say of the children of israel they are imprisoned in the land the land the the wilderness has locked them in paru will think that the jewish people are lost or that the god of the wilderness stopped them potter will mistakenly think that the god of the wilderness is stronger than hashem verse 4 i shall strengthen the heart of paro and he will pursue them i will be glorified through paro and his entire army and egypt will know that i am hashem and so they did which means that hashem is inciting paro hashem is playing with par hashem is creating a situation that will convince paro that he can attack the jewish people and that he will be successful number one and now we're coming back to the first verse of the parsha it says that it happened when paro sent out will think that he made this decision of his own choice he had a choice to send them out and not and he thinks that he sent them out and therefore since he wasn't forced he sent them out of free will paro thinks that he can get them back number two paro thinks that the jewish people are lost so he is mistakenly convinced that the the god of wilderness is stronger than hashem and that he was able to stop the jewish people and if paulo serves the god of the wilderness he will help otto to gain the jewish people and paro is also upset the jewish people that they said they will only go for three days and already six days passed and they didn't come back so power feels cheated and he wants to punish the jews and bring them back and plus hashem arranged it that the jewish people should borrow the gold and silver vessels and and the precious clothing of the egyptians and they said they're gonna borrow it not take it so they're supposed to bring it back what are they bringing back so paro again thinks that he has the right to pursue the jews and he is convinced that he will be successful so verse 5 it was told to the king of egypt that the people had fled they're not coming back three days passed and they're not turning around and the heart of paro and his servants became transformed regarding the people he changed his mind and they said what is this that we have done that we have sent away israel from serving us they are forgetting about all the plagues and they are thinking that they still have control over the jews we let them go we can get them back we made the wrong decision so verse six he harnessed his chariot and attracted his people with him he had to bribe his people and he told them that unlike a regular king if we win if we win this battle i will give you the main portion of the spoils or whatever we capture back from the jews even though usually the king gets the the largest portion he just pays the soldiers their their uh their fee and he took 600 elite chariots and all the chariots of egypt with offices on them all hashem strengthened the heart of paro and he pursued the children of israel while the children of israel were going out with an upraised arm upraised arm is an expression of victory they felt strong confident they were walking with a pillar of cloud and fire after seeing the ten plagues that were that that visited the egyptians the jewish people had an uplifted spirit verse nine egypt pursued them and overtook them encamped by the sea all the horses and chariots of potter and the horsemen his horsemen and army verse 10 on page 371 paro approached the jewish people imagine the jewish people are standing by the ocean by the sea deep waters salt waters they have their children and their animals possessions they have nowhere to go the egyptian army is fast approaching the children of israel raised their eyes and behold egypt was journeying after them and they were very frightened and the children of israel cried out to hashem and they said to moshe were there no graves in egypt that you took us out to die in the wilderness why did you take us out from egypt didn't we tell you let us be and we will serve egypt because it's better that we should serve egypt then we should die in the wilderness it's better to be slaves than to be dead moshe said to the people do not fear strong and see the salvation of hashem that he will perform for you today moshe is sure moshe re reassures the people don't be afraid if hashem brought us to this point he will take care of us i don't know how and moshe didn't know yet but here trust hashem can do it for as you have seen egypt today you shall not see them ever again hashem shall make war for you and you shall remain silent just be quiet be patient and hashem will resolve all your problems for you and hashem said to moshe why do you cry out to me speak to the children of israel and let them journey forth let them go into the sea and while they're walking in lift up your staff and stretch out your arm over the sea and split it and the children of israel shall shall come into the midst of the sea on dry land and not only i will save the jewish people i will strengthen the heart of egypt and they will come after them after the jewish people and i will be glorified through paro and through his army through his chariots and through his horsemen and now on page 373 egypt will know that i am hashem when i'm glorified through potter and his chariots and his horsemen which means hashem says to moshe not only i will save the jewish people but i will also allow the jewish people to witness the destruction of their enemies the jewish people will be rewarded to see revenge how sweet is revenge imagine hashem is so great he not only saved the jews through this the splitting of the sea but with through the jewish salvation through the same act he killed egyptians the jewish people were saved by going through the red sea and the egyptians were killed by going through the red sea this is similar to what the prophet says about the future it says in the future hashem will use the sun to heal the righteous and kill the wicked hashem will allow the sun to shine very brightly and this bright light of the sun will warm and heal the tzadikim and this bright light will burn up the reshaim the same thing depending who is in front of it will can either heal or kill the same thing happened with egyptians when the jewish people passed the waters parted when the egyptians came in the waters went back on on them this is what uh hitro is going to say in the next week's torah portion that that's what attracted him to judaism that hashem is so great that with one action he can punish and save as what is said okay we'll speak about the next week now we are in in verse 19 the angel of god which is represented by the pillar of cloud moved from in front of the camp to behind of the jewish people to protect them it came between the camp of egypt and the camp of israel and they were cloud and darkness while it illuminated the night which means the pillar of cloud instead of leaving when the night came it went behind the jewish people to separate them from the egyptians and the pillar of fire was now in front of them to illuminate the night and one did not draw near the other all the night so egyptians could not approach the jews during the night because there was a pillar of cloud blocking them the cloud was so thick they couldn't penetrate and the egyptians were shooting arrows at this cloud and they couldn't penetrate they either got stuck or they bounced off and shot back at egyptians now moshe stretched out his hand over the sea and hashem moved the sea with a strong east wind all the night and hashem turned the sea to damp land and the water split now the question is why did hashem need to use wind to split the sea couldn't it have been just the miracle just like the nile river uh turned into blood or she stretched out his head the nile river turned into blood moshe stretched out his hand and the sea split no it took time and it took strong wind for the sea to split why it was also in order to trick paddle and egyptians so that they should think oh it's just a natural occurrence this such a strong wind was blowing that it parted the sea it pushed away the water but it's it's uh illogical unreasonable to say such a thing why isn't the water flowing back what if the wind is going to stop or maybe the wind already stopped where's the water they didn't ask questions they were brain washed by the wind and and that's why uh hashem does not perform open miracles regularly hashem makes a miracle in a hidden way why to give a choice to a human being opportunity to make a decision do i believe that this is divine this is hashem or i'll find a way how to interpret it that it's a natural occurrence and if a person will see hashem behind nature he'll see the truth and if a person will choose to deny he will he will have uh enough evidence to support his denial so this is the reason why hashem uses the wind strong east wind the entire night to split the sea verse 22 the children of israel came within the sea on dry land and the water was a wall for them on the right on their right and on their left which means the waters were not blown away by the wind far away they were right next to them on their right on their left which made the test greater you had these huge walls of water standing next to you and you don't know maybe it's gonna crash down on you so the reward for the jewish people was great that they relied on hashem to to a greater extent okay now verse 23 egypt pursued and came after them every horse of power his chariots and his horsemen into the midst of the sea it happened in the morning watch early in the morning that hashem looked down at the camp of egypt with a pillar of fire and cloud the pillar of fire and cloud that were accompanying the jews now attacked the egyptians why he confounded the camp he confused the camp of egypt he removed the wheels of their chariots the midrash explains that what happened was that the pillar of fire came and burned the wooden wheels of the chariots or another midrash says that the the fire uh burned the mud at on this on a siege on a seabed and the mud turned into pottery and it uh said it became so strong that it locked the wheels of the chariot in its place suddenly they were rolling rolling they went into the mud halfway and then the pillar of fire came and solidified it and the wheels were broken so the pillar of cloud moistened the month so that the wheels sink in and then the pillar fire uh made it dry he removed the wheels of their chariots in one of the ways that we described and caused them to drive with difficulty they were dragging on their on their on the ground without wheels page 36 375 egypt said which means the egyptians said i shall flee before israel for hashem is waging war for them against egypt now egyptians realize something is wrong we are being overpowered we will never reach the jews we better run for our life we realize that it was all a set up it was a trap and egyptians are now turning around and now running back verse 26 hashem said to motion stretch out your hand over the sea again and the water will go back upon egypt verse 27 moshe stretched out his hand over the sea and toward morning the water went back to its power became normal water flowed back as the egyptians were fleeing toward it and hashem turned egypt in the midst of the sea turned them upside down and up and down and up and down the water came back and covered the chariots and the horsemen of the entire army of paro they remained not a one of them not even one egyptian survived now midrash says one of them did remain and that was paro himself he survived and he went back to egypt and he reported to his people [Music] that that they made a mistake that hashem actually is in total control there are no other idols and that the the jews are the beloved of hashem and the midrash continues that paro later repented he did the shiva and he even left egypt and he became later in his life the king of nineveh and later when hashem sent the prophet prophet jonah to rebuke the the people of nineveh their king who according to midrash was para he remembered hashem and he quickly made the decree that all people of ninja must repent must do to shiva must change their ways by the king's decree all the people of ninh there had to become ballet shiva all of them had to abandon their evil ways and serve only hashem how did the king of nineveh know it because he experienced it on his own skin now verse 29 the children of israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea the water was a wall for them on the right and on their left on that day hashem saved israel from the hand of egypt and israel saw the egyptians dead on the seashore because the jewish people saw the egyptians they were now considered free because they saw their oppressors dead until they saw them die they were constantly worried what if they chase us what if they force us to go back to slavery now that they see them dead only now they can feel free on the inside verse 31 israel saw the great hand that hashem inflicted upon egypt and the people feared hashem and they had faith in hashem and emotion his servant this is the first time that the jewish people have full trust in moshe and hashem until now they trusted moshe but not fully they trusted him enough to leave egypt but their heart was still divided they still had doubts maybe moshe is just a great magician maybe hashem didn't send him but now that they witnessed such a great miracle and the egyptians died now they finally said okay everything that happened until now was really from hashem it was no joke no magic now starts the song by the sea shiraz the famous song the the jewish people sang after they came out of the the sea and we still sing it every morning in our prayers then moshe and the children of israel chose to sing this song to hashem page 377. and they said the following i shall sink to hashem for he is exalted above the arrogant having hurled horse and its rider into the sea now if you look on the hebrew side of the page you will see that the sentences are arranged differently than throughout the torah and the talmud calls it brick formation which means you have uh two um sort of bricks on the side and one in the middle on top of them and then again two and then one on top and two on one on top uh as if it's inter interlaced uh bricks why the sages say this tells us that it's it's going to last for a long time when you put bricks one on top of another pile them up then they might easily fall but when you put one brick in between the other it becomes a strong formation till now that's the the the formation of bricks that brick layers use and that is because the inspiration of this song should continue for all the ages as we can witness that we say the song every day as opposed to the song of hajino is uh written like the twin towers a row of bricks on one side and a row of bricks on the other side in words and that is a sign that anything that is not interconnected will fall down and therefore it's the song of hajin or since it's a rebuke for the jewish people it should not last the jewish people should do to shiva quickly and then we're not going to need the song of hajin but this song of the sea because it's a praise and thanks to hashem it should last now verse 2 the might and vengeance of god was salvation for me as we explained that through killing the egyptians hashem saved the jewish people with the same act the sea splitting and then going back this is my god and i will build him a sanctuary or according to another interpretation i will beautify his service we try whatever we do for hashem we try to make it the most beautiful possible the god of my father and i will exalt him hashem is master of war his name is hashem he is the best general the best warrior the best tactician parous chariots and army he threw in the sea and the the best of his officers were mired in the sea of reeds deep waters covered them they descended in the depths like stone your right hand hashem is glorified with strength your right hand hashem smashes the enemy your abundant grandeur your in your abandoned grandeur you shatter your opponents you send forth your wrath it consumes them like straw at the blast from your nostrils the waters were heaped up straight as a wall stood the running water the deep waters congealed in a heart of the sea the enemy declared i will pursue i will overtake i will divide plunder i will satisfy my lust with them i will achieve my sword my hand will impoverish them these are all evil thoughts in the egyptians minds they are happy at the thought that soon they will kill the jews however you blew with your wind the sea and shrouded them the mighty sank like lead in water so we see that egyptians in the sea are compared to a stone they compare to lead and they compare to straw so the midrash says there were three levels of egyptians depending on their wickedness those that were the most righteous they sank like lead which is the heaviest of the three which means they died quickly with very little pain those that were medium they drowned like a stone which is not as heavy as lead but it does sink fast but the waves may move the stone here and there so it will be slower and the most wicked of them were like straw which was blown and uh smashed back and forth back and forth they went up and down above water and under the water and they were suffering for a long time verse 11 who is like you among the heavenly powers hashem who is like you mighty in holiness too awesome for praise doer of wonders you stretched out your right hand earth swallowed them with your kindness you guided this people and you redeemed you led with your might to your holy abode which means to the land of israel peoples heard other nations heard what happened next few verses describe the reaction of the nations of the of the world to the splitting of the sea they were agitated terror gripped the dwellers of the land of polish team then the chieftains of edom were confounded trembling gripped the powers of moab all the dwellers of canaan dissolved they became so weak as if they just dissolved may fear and terror befall them at the greatness of your arm may they be still a stone until your people passes through hashem until this people you have acquired passes through now we're on page 381 you will bring them and implant them on the mount of your heritage again referring to the land of israel the foundation of your dwelling place that you hashem have made the sanctuary my lord that your hand established hashem shall reign for all eternity again the famous words that we say in prayer now in verse 19 when paro's cavalry came with all his chariots and horsemen into the sea and hashem turned back the waters of the sea upon them the children of israel walked on the dry land in the middle of the sea now the women sing in verse 20. miriam the prophetess the sister of aaron took her her drum in her hand and all the women went forth after her with drums and with dances and miriam spoke to them the words of this song and the the jewish women repeated after her sing to hashem for he is exalted above the arrogant having hurled horse and its rider into the sea now some point out from this incident that jewish men and jewish women sing and dance separately moshe was singing dancing with the man and miriam took the ladies on the other side and they were sinking and dancing there now verse 22 moshe caused israel to journey from the sea of reeds why why did he have to cause them to journey because the sages say the jewish people were attracted to all the the jewelry all the uh precious ornaments that egyptians wore and they put on their horses and when the the sea washed ashore the chair chariots and the horses and the people the egyptians and all their um treasures the jewish people went to collect them and they would have stayed by the sea if not for moshe who forced them and she said we have to go we have a mission we have to visit the mount of sinai and then we have to go to israel the riches the physical reaches of the world are not important for us because we have something greater but midrash says that the jewish people collected more wealth from the land of from the sea then from the land of egypt so much egyptians brought with them they decorated themselves and their horses for the battle because they were sure of their victory but at the end the jewish people got all of it they went out to the wilderness of shur they went for a three-day period in the wilderness but they did not find water and whatever water they had they drank and now they're thirsty they came to mara but they could not drink the waters of mara because they were bitter in fact the word mara means bitter therefore they named it the people complained against moshe saying what shall we drink moshe cried out to hashem when now on page 38 and hashem showed him a tree a stick she threw it into the water and the water became sweet imagine you have a whole spring a whole lake of bitter water you throw one stick in the whole water turns sweet this was a lesson and we're going to see what the lesson was there hashem established for the nation a decree and an ordinance and there he tested it which means if you listen to the word of god things will be sweet for you hashem said too much to take the stick throat into the body of water moshe did it and the water became sweet not because of the stick but because moshe listen to hashem hashem said if you hearken if you listen diligently to the voice of hashem your god and do what is just in hashem's eyes listen to his commandments and observe all his decrees then any of the diseases that i placed in egypt i will not bring upon you for i am hashem your healer this is the recipe for any disease if you listen diligently to the voice of hashem and do what is just in hashem's eyes listen to his commandments and observe all his decrees then any diseases that i have placed on egypt and in the future i will not bring upon you because i am hashem your healer i will protect you from diseases and the disease that you already have i will heal how when a jew does teshuvar when a jew comes back to hashem when the jew realizes that any trouble any disease is only hashem's reaction to our actions if we change our actions we will no longer need the disease and hashem will remove the disease now on verse 27 they arrived at elim and there were 12 springs of water corresponding to the 12 tribes and seventy date palms they encamped there by the water chapter 16 the journey from elim and the entire assembly of children of israel arrived at the wilderness of sin it is similar to the name sinai but this is short for sinai it's called midbad sin which is between a element c9 so there is a sinai there is sin there is elim on the 15th day of the second month from their departure from the land of egypt which means 30 days passed already from exodus they left on the 15th of nisan the first month and now it is the 15th of the second month er which means until now they're eating matzah that they took out from egypt imagine the little bread the little dough that the jewish people took out from egypt lasted them for an entire month the entire assembly of the children of israel complained against motion iron in the wilderness and they said to them if only were died by the hand of hashem in the land of egypt ah why why do you want to die because we sat there by the pot of meat when we ate bread to satisfaction for you have taken us out to this wilderness to kill us this entire congregation by famine the matza that they took out is coming to an end and they're worried what we're gonna eat we're now on page 385. verse four hashem said to moshe behold i'll give them food don't worry i shall rain down for you food from heaven let the people go out and pick each day's portion on its day so that i can test them whether they will follow my teachings or not we are talking about man now hashem said i will send them food in a way that it will serve as a test they will only be able to pick that day's portion that's test number one they shouldn't take more test number two and it shall be on the sixth day when they prepare what they bring it will be double what they pick every day which means that on friday there was a double portion of month and that served as an additional test for the jewish people will they go out on shabbat or they will be satisfied with what they collected on friday so hashem says don't worry i will not leave my beloved children hungry i will give them food from heaven motion aaron said to the children of israel in the evening you shall know that hashem took you out of the land of egypt which means it wasn't by chance and it wasn't that i moshe took you out don't tell us why did you take us out hashem told us to take you out and in the morning you will see the glory of hashem that he has heard your complaints against hashem and now moshe explains verse 8 when in evening hashem gives you meat to eat and bread to satisfaction in the morning now as hashem hears your complaints that you complain against him for what are we not against us are your complaints but against hashem so in order to show that hashem is upset of them that they request was not proper hashem still fulfilled their request and gave them food but the request was not proper why because they complained you are allowed to ask but don't complain also hashem is telling them why are you complaining you have so many animals you have food you have great flocks that you brought with you from egypt why don't you eat them why complain so what was the sign that hashem disapproved their request that he's giving them meat at night our sages say it's not good to eat meat at night and you go to sleep with a stomach full of meat it's not so healthy so hashem is giving them meat at night to show that what they requested was not proper but bread is in the morning because bread is a staple food bread you need and you're allowed to ask for bread but meat you don't need why are you reminding hashem about meat oh we remember that we said by the pot of meat in egypt you have animals don't ask for me therefore i'm gonna give you meat at an inappropriate time and i'll give you bread at an appropriate time now on page 38 85 it continues verse 11. actually verse 10. when aaron spoke spoke to the entire assembly of the children of israel they turned to the wilderness and behold the glory of hashem appeared in a cloud hashem spoke to the to moshe saying i have heard the complaints of the children of israel speak to them saying in the afternoon you shall eat meat and in the morning you shall be sated with bread and you shall know that i am hashem your god now there are a couple of questions let me address them quickly physically heal or spiritually even physically hashem will heal anyone who listens to him anyone who follows hashem's laws even physically of course spiritually if you're connected to hashem of course your soul will be rejuvenated but even your body even your body will be healed and there are numerous stories of how people who did to shiva and you can try it on yourself when you do this to hashem you understand that everything that comes for is comes from hashem you will be healed in your body as well and the second question why didn't they kill and eat their animals yes that's a good question that's the question that hashem asked them as well why did the jewish people eat their own animals and uh i guess uh possible answer is that uh when you're in a in the wilderness in the desert you don't want to use your stuff because if you use it up then you're not going to have anything while we still have our animals moshe what's going to be after we finish them we need the source of food we can't just start eating our savings because we're going to be left without the savings now one more question why didn't the man the man said the man satisfy the meat desire yeah that's a good question we'll know that in the future that man could taste like any other food right now they don't know that yet and they say we need meat give us meat so it wouldn't be enough for hashem to send a man they're gonna say what is this we ask for meat so hashem first has to send the meat and by the way i am extending your mind but you'll be surprised when you eat it it will taste like meat also so then you'll see that you didn't have to ask for meat you you you didn't have to ask for meat because in mon i will give you meat yes for sure that was another point for them to rely on hashem that whether they will trust that as i'm eating this white stuff it will taste like anything that i desire um actually that's also a good point that if i eat all my savings all my animals i have to trust hashem dashaan will give but right now the jewish people are not yet on such a level and passion will see that and because of that he will lead them in the desert for 40 years in order to instill in them this trust in hashem that hashem is with you day in and day out 40 years the same message the man comes down every day for 40 years the food is available every day fresh food but again this was a great test imagine yourself in the wilderness with your children animals possessions nothing nothing no stores no money no stimulus check you have nothing to rely on you only rely on hashem and they were scared for their wives their children for themselves so we cannot really judge them it was a great test such a great test that even for the the holy holy high level generation of the jewish people that left egypt the best of the best even for them it was hard now we are in on p in on page 387 verse 13 it was toward evening that the quail ascended and covered the camp by the way quail came to the jewish people twice once now and once later later he was in a bad way hashem was upset at them and hashem said you will eat and you will die and that's what happened the jewish people ate and they actually died from quail but now they ate and they were satisfied um and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp the layer of dew ascended and behold upon the surface of the wilderness was something thin exposed thinnest frost on their earth the children of israel saw it and it wasn't sure what it is so they said must be food it's kind of food hashem promise he's going to give us food must be this is the food for they did not know what it was they just called it general name food which is man moshe said to them yes this is the food that hashem has given you for eating this is the method that hashem commanded gather from it every man according to what he eats and omer which is a measure per person about a gallon according to the number of your people the children of israel did so and they gathered whoever took more and more to class some people didn't listen to only take about one gallon per person and they took more some people they were maybe weak or not as quick they took less however in verse 18 they measured in an omer and whoever took more had nothing extra miraculously decreased and whoever took less was not lacking miraculously it increased until everyone who brought man home no matter how much he brought it was all the same amount everyone according to what he eats had they gathered now moshe added in verse 19 no man may leave over from it until morning but they did not obey motion and they left over from it until morning and it became infested not only it did not help them but it was infested with worms and it stayed it actually hurt them again the idea is that if you disobey hashem's word it cannot be better for you you cannot say i know better i will figure out a better way there's no better way than the way that hashem is telling us and moshe became angry with them okay now verse 22 preparation for shabbat it happened on the sixth day that they gathered a double portion of food and they came to motion and told him they were surprised we gathered normal amount and we come home and we have double and moshe said to them this is what hashem had spoken tomorrow is the rest day the holy shabbat bake what you wish to bake today already for tomorrow and cook what you wish to cook and whatever is left put away for yourselves as a safe keeping until the morning prepare today eat as much as you need the rest save for tomorrow and don't be afraid even though usually i tell you don't say for tomorrow because whatever you say for tomorrow will be infested with worms but tonight you can save for tomorrow they put it away until morning as moshe has commanded and it did not stink and there was no infestation in it moshe says eat it today for today is shabbat today you shall not find it in the field no man is going to come on shabbat six days shall you gather it but the seventh day is shabbat on it there will be none so moshe is telling them don't go into the field on shabbat there will be no paranasana no food provided on shabbat don't think you can work on shabbat and earn money no hashem did not give blessing of parnassa to be gathered on shabbat however it happened on the seventh day and some of the people went out together and they did not find and hashem said to moshe how long will you refuse to observe my commandments and my teachings i told you don't go out on shabbat and some people went see that i that hashem has given you the shabbat that is why hashem gives you on the sixth day a two-day portion of bread let every man remain in his place let no man leave his place on the seventh day and the people rested on the seventh day now someone's asking a question why was it wrong of them to try to save mon or have larger portion or was it meant to be part of the learning curve to trust hashem yes it was wrong to save because hashem told them don't save i'll give you tomorrow again don't think i need to uh save nacho needs in don't think oh what's gonna be just in case there's not gonna be a case because just like i'm giving you today i'm gonna give you tomorrow even though we have a we have a rule that a person has to put in effort he cannot just rely on miracles he has to do his work however when he has a direct command from hashem don't do then he cannot say oh i uh i have to do put an effort if hashem says don't work on shabbat you can't say or i'll work on shabbat because it's part of my effort that's not considered an effort an effort has to be legal and effort has to be kosher if you have if you feel you have to do something illegal or you have to do something non-kosher something forbidden that's a sign that hashem does not expect this from you and you shouldn't be doing it now we continue the description of man verse 31 it was like coriander seed that it was round and small it was white in color and it tasted like a cake fried in honey delicious now moshe um informs the jewish people that this is the thing that hashem commanded a full owner of it shall be a safe keeping for your generation take a gallon approximately a gallon amount of month and save it for future what does it mean so that they will see the food with which i fed you in the wilderness when i took you out of egypt so moshe said to aaron take a jar a container and put a full armor of money into it place it before hashem for safekeeping for your generations and that's what they did they preserved it for the next thousand years and whenever jewish people had trouble believing the kohanim would take out this jar and say look hashem fed the jewish people provided for the jewish people for 40 years and the jewish people would be inspired and they would believe in hashem now verse 35 the children of israel ate the mother for 40 years this is prediction for what's going to happen until their arrival in the inhabited land they ate mana until their arrival at the border of the land of canaan and the omer by the way is the tenth of an a5 again about approximately one gallon now again um a question how did the month stay for 200 years yeah not only 200 years much longer about a thousand years um it was of course a miracle didn't spoil whatever month that you were not supposed to save and you saved even for one night it became infested with worms but the man that hashem told you to save does not spoil now chapter 17 the entire assembly of the children of israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin to their journeys according to the word of hashem they encamped in refugee and there was no water for people to drink again no water another test from hashem the people contended with moshe and they said give us water that we may dream moshe said why do you fight with me why do you test hashem the people thirsted there for water and the people complained against moshe you see the jewish people complain again and again why is this that you have brought us up from egypt to kill me and my children and my life stuck through thirst moshe cried out to hashem saying what shall i do for these people a bit more and they will stone me hashem said to moshe this is the famous case of bringing water out of a rock pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of israel and in your hand take the staff with which you struck the river and go behold i shall stand before you by the rock in horeb i shall strike the rock and water will come forth from it and the people will drink the reason why hashem said strike the rock with a with the staff with which you hit the nile river was to show the jewish people that the same stick that brought death and punishment upon egyptians can bring you living water it's not the stick that has the power to kill its hashem hashem tells the stick what should happen the same power of hashem that can kill our enemies the same power of hashem can provide us with everything we need now moshe did so in the sight of the eldest israel he called the place means fight because of the contention of the children of israel and because of their test of hashem saying is hashem among us and now because the jewish people said is hashem came and battled israel in refugee amalek are those that deny god and they feel whenever there is weakness in the jewish people that the jewish people are asking is does hashem exist right comes and it can take a form of different nations sometimes it's amalekites sometimes it's germans sometimes it's palestinians sometimes it's iranians it can be different nation whichever nation goes against god denies god and goes against the jewish people that we call amalek whether it's communist russia communist china or anyone that goes against the jewish people to kill them moshe said to you sure choose people for us and go to battle with amalek page 393 tomorrow i will stand on top of the hill with the staff of god in my hand yeshua did as moshe said to him to do battle with amalek and moshe aron and ascended to the top of the hill it happened that when moshe raised his hand israel was stronger and when he lowered his hand amalek was stronger now amalek came and attacked the jewish people without any provocation the jewish people were just going towards their promised land amalek didn't live anywhere near the land of israel they lived far away so they had no reason to be afraid of the jewish people they traveled according to midrash they traveled for days and days from very far away in order to attack the jews this was a calculated attack on god moshe's hands grew heavy so they took a stone and they put it under him so they he sat on the stone and aron and who supported his hands one on this side and one on this side and he remained with his hand hands in faithful prayer until sunset the entire day moshe stood there praying for the jewish people and ah supported his hands you sure weakened amalek and its people with the swords blame your show killed many of them but some of them escaped hashem said to moshe write this as a remembrance in the book and recite it in the ears of yeshua that i shall surely erase the memory of amalek from under the heavens since amalek was the first nation that attacked the jewish people after they became a nation became free for no reason they became eternal enemies of the jews moshe built an altar and called its name hashem is my miracle and he said for the hand is on the throne of god hashem maintains a war against amalek from generation to generation and later in the torah hashem will give a specific command to the jewish people to wipe the memory of amalek from under the heaven and we will read this paragraph about amalek on the day of purim and we will read the other mention of amalekan to to erase their their memory on the week before purim with this we conclude parashat beshallah thank you for joining and everyone should have a wonderful shabbat shabbat shalom have a good night [Music] you