Beshalach - Din And Rachamim

Hi, this is David Wolpe with the Parsha in 5 where we take 5 minutes to give you a little insight in the Parsha. This week is Beshalach and we're it's action packed. The Jews come out of Egypt. We have Krias Yam Suf. We have the mun. We have the the water the bitter waters. We have the May Mariva. We have at the very end of the Parsha Amalek attacks. And Moshe tells Yehoshua go out and fight Amalek and I will do my part and he goes up onto the mountain nearby and lifts his hands up into the air. And Aaron holds one hand and Hur holds the other hand. And as long as Bnei Yisrael looked at the hands of Moshe, it reminded them to look up to heaven and Hashem would save them. And if they looked away, then they started to lose the battle. This is not the first time that we find this concept. The Mishna in Rosh Hashanah says there's another one. And that's in Parshas Chukas when we got attacked by the fiery snakes. So, Moshe made a copper snake and put it on a pole and hung it and stood up to it. And it said when the Jews looked at the at the snake, so it reminded them to look up to Shamayim. And when they weren't looking at the snake to remind them to look up to Hashem, to look up to heaven, then they they died from the snakes. So, the question is obvious. Why didn't he just use his hands again? Worked the first time. He says because in Parshas Chukas, Hur was killed. You know, Hur was killed by the Egel when they wanted him to build the Egel. They they murdered Hur and forced Aaron to do it. And Aaron dies in the beginning of Parshas Chukas. He does not have Aaron and Hur anymore to hold his hands straight. Because Hur's job was din. Yirah. Or and Aaron was Ahava, love, Rachamim, mercy. He made peace between people. And so, you need that combination for your hands to be straight. You need the din on the one hand and you need the Rachamim on the other side. If you have too much mercy, then you end up becoming an enabler. And if you have too much din, then you end up judging people and it becomes too harsh and you can't have an existence. And that's why Yehoshua came back with the spies and said what you people are doing is evil. And Caleb said, "Well, I'm with you guys." He pretended to be part of them in order to be able to, you know, win them over to his side and then he was able to undo their evil plans. But this is what happens. You always need someone who's there to give the mercy and someone who's there to give the din. I heard an interesting story once. I think it was Yisrael Chaim. He once was talking about this particular kanoi, this guy who likes to fight. So, he says, "Let me tell you what this guy is like. When there's a mouse in the house, both the cat and the housewife want to get rid of the mouse. But the cat's glad it's there so he can catch it and play with it. And the housewife wishes it was never there." And I said this to a guy who was being a kanoi once and he said to me, "That's true, but you also need cats." >> [laughter] >> Well, I don't know if you want to be the cat or if you want to be the housewife. I don't know if you're going to be Hur or you're going to be Aaron. I don't know if you're going to be Yehoshua or you're going to be Caleb. But understand there has to be somebody who's going to work with the people and someone who says this is wrong, Rabbi Yishai. Have a good Shabbos.