פניני באר בשדה פרשת בא התשעד – שובבי”ם ת”ת – להחשיב את הדברים הקטנים! – באנגלית!

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שובבי”ם ת”ת – לקראת
שבת פרשת בא ה’תשע”ד

פנינים מתוך ‘באר בשדה’

פרשת בא

We are currently in the third week of shovavim. These weeks are a very auspicious time for
tshuva. During these weeks we should also try
to be better people, each and every person in their own area; everyone knows
what they must do to be better. It’s enough to just start doing small things
while working on becoming better. Each small thing will add up, and will make a
big change in a person’s life. While trying to be better a person, a person
doesn’t have to jump to do big hard things.

We
see this idea from this week’s parsha in which
we can attain great encouragement. Chazal
teach us that when the time for redemption came an accusation was raised in heaven
against the redemption saying, that Bnei Yisrael wasn’t worthy of being redeemed from Mitzraim. They were attracted and addicted to the
Egyptian way of life. They were drawn to the Egyptian Avoda
Zarah.

This
is hinted to us by what is written in Yechezkel <![if !supportFootnotes]>[2]<![endif]> “ואעבוד
עלייך ואראך מתבוססת בדמייך
          ואומר לך בדמייך חיי ואומר לך בדמייך חיי
… ואת ערום ועריה”
. “Then I passed you and saw you wallowing in
your blood, and I said to you, ‘In your blood you shall live’; I said to you,
‘In your blood you shall live’… But you were naked and bare.”

Bnei
Yisrael was
naked and bare from the mitzvos. They did not
have enough mitzvos or merits that would fight
against their accusation. However, Hashem had mercy
and gave Bnei Yisrael
two mitzvos of blood. The mitzvah of bris milah, and the mitzvah of Korban
Pesach. The mitzvah of Bris Milah everyone did, because Hashem
said to Moshe that any person that is not circumcised may not eat from the Korban Pesach. Similarly, they accepted upon
themselves the mitzvah of the blood from the Korban
Pesach, because they were commanded to put the blood of the Korban Pesach on their door posts. In the
merit of these two mitzvos they merited the
redemption.  ואומר לך בדמייך חיי ואומר לך בדמייך חיי – I said to
you, ‘In your blood you shall live’; I said to you, ‘In your blood you shall
live’.

We
see from here the power of each and every mitzvah. We see from here that
even though Bnei Yisrael
were at the lowest level of holiness, and they weren’t worthy of being
redeemed, they still merited the redemption from Egypt, in the merit of these
two mitzvos. We must learn from here, everyone
on their own personal level, that if a person wants to experience his own
personal redemption he must take upon himself (specifically in these weeks of shovavim) to sacrifice personal worldly pleasures
for Yidishkeit<![if !supportFootnotes]>[3]<![endif]>.
By making sacrifices in life, the person will be able to overcome their Yetzer Harah, because
we see from here that, from the merit of the blood from the Bris
Milah and Korban
Pesach, even the naked and bare merited the redemption from Mitzraim.

If
we analyze more deeply into this mitzvah of Korban
Pesach we see that Moshe told Bnei Yisrael<![if !supportFootnotes]>[4]<![endif]>, ““ולקחתם
אגדת אזוב וטבלתם בדם אשר בסף והגעתם אל המשקוף ואל שתי המזוזות
“you shall
take a bundle of hyssop and dip it into the blood that is in the basin, and
touch the intel and the two
doorposts”.  The Medresh
says<![if !supportFootnotes]>[5]<![endif]> that the taking of the hyssop
is alluding to the verse<![if !supportFootnotes]>[6]<![endif]>“כל
פועל ד’ למענהו’
“Everything Hashem made [he made] for his sake.” Hashem
wants us to do mitzvos even with items like
trees. Therefore in Egypt Hashem commanded Bnei Yisrael to
take a bundle of hyssop and dip it in blood and touch the doorposts with it. Hashem wants us to do mitzvos also with objects that appear and seem
useless, and not ideal for mitzvos. The hyssop
appears to be useless for any sort of mitzvah. However, the power of the
hyssop is great to Hashem in order to teach us that
small things and big things are equal to Hashem. And
that even with small things, Hashem does miracles.
Through doing a mitzvah with the hyssop which is the lowest of all trees,
Bnei Yisrael was
redeemed.

The
Yifas Toar explains
that the Medresh here is coming to clarify why
Hashem commanded us to specifically take a bundle of
hyssop. The hyssop is the lowest of all trees. This teaches us that even at the
time when Hashem was doing great and huge miracles,
nonetheless Hashem commanded us to take this small
hyssop. Even through the hyssop which is the lowest of all, we can show respect
to Hashem.

The
Medresh says<![if !supportFootnotes]>[7]<![endif]> that Moshe told Bnei Yisrael “you
want to be redeemed? With a simple thing you can be redeemed, by taking a
bundle of hyssop etc.” This is coming to teach us that not necessarily from what
they would think are big mitzvos were they
going be redeemed. Even from what they would think are small mitzvos like taking a bundle of hyssop, they can
merit being redeemed. All this is to teach us that even from mitzvos that appear to be small we can get closer to
Hashem through them.

When
a person knows this clearly, then it will protect him from the mistake Bnei Yisrael made
in last week’s parsha. It says “ולא
שמעו אל משה מקצר רוח ומעבדה קשה”
“they did not heed Moshe, because of shortness of breath and hard work.
It was in the hearts of the Bnei Yisrael that in order to be redeemed they need to work
hard. Therefore they did not listen to Moshe they got shortness of breath
because they thought they specifically needed hard work. However some people
believed Moshe that they were going to be redeemed and that they don’t
specifically need hard work.

Reb Nosson writes in Chayei
Moharan<![if !supportFootnotes]>[8]<![endif]> the following incident:

One
day in the year 5566 (1803) between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Rebbe Nachman upon leaving the mikva said that it was revealed to him from heaven
how his followers should act in regards to fasting. How many fasts each of them
should fast that coming year, and which specific days
to fast. After the Yomim Tovim, everyone individually went into the Rebbe and received a note saying when during that year they
should fast.

The
Rebbe commanded us, that on Rosh Hashanah
while he is preparing his lesson that is the time when we should accept upon
ourselves those specific fasts for that year. Anyone that wasn’t there Rosh
Hashanah was told not to fast any extra fasts. We understood from the Rebbe that these fast are very precious,
and important holy acts. These ideas are certainly great. We never heard until
this day of anyone that merited being told when to specifically fast.

Everyone
went to the Rebbe to receive their note saying when
they should fast. The Rebbe was sitting at a table,
and in his hand he held the note he was about to give. He wouldn’t let me see
what was written on these notes. Before he would give the note, while sitting
and holding the note, he was deeply concentrating on the note. Only after this
would he reveal to the person his note when too fast.

This
was a great merit for us to receive these personal notes from the Rebbe. This happened only for two years. When the Rebbe returned from Lemberg he
said, anyone who merits being with me for Rosh Hashanah doesn’t need to
fast any extra fasts. We understood from this the greatness of being with the Rebbe for Rosh Hashanah.

Once
when the Rebbe was giving everyone their note, one
individual saw that the Rebbe was only commanding
people to fast very few times during the year. He was astonished and asked the Rebbe “we thought that the Rebbe
would command us too fast many times during the year, and we see that the Rebbe only commanded us to fast very few times?”

The
Rebbe answered that Elisha said to Naamon<![if !supportFootnotes]>[9]<![endif]> “Bathe and be cleansed”.  Naamon didn’t want
to believe that by doing something small like this, he would be cleansed. He
ended up listening, and being cleansed. Rebbe Nachman told his followers you might think that in order to
do tshuva, or to get close to Hashem, one must do hard things and fast many fasts, but no<![if !supportFootnotes]>[10]<![endif]>! Even by doing small things
one can do tshuva and get close to Hashem<![if !supportFootnotes]>[11]<![endif]>.

Reb Nosson writes that it is very important for a person to
understand this. There are times when a person prevents himself from doing a mitzvah
or a good deed, because it takes hard work. There are times when the opposite occurs,
when a person has the ability to do what he thinks is a small mitzvah or
a small simple good deed, and they will ignore the opportunity, because they
think it is not worth doing something small. A person must know that this is
wrong. A person has to be cautious with ‘small mitzvos’
just like ‘big mitzvos’<![if !supportFootnotes]>[12]<![endif]>.

This
is what the torah is teaching us in this week’s parsha. Hashem commanded
us to specifically take a bundle of hyssop.
The taking of the bundle of hyssop teaches us that a person has to be careful
with each and every mitzvah, because the power of the every mitzvah
is great. We can each merit our own personal Yetzias
Mitzraim through doing all types of mitzvos, big and small, and by sacrificing
personal pleasures for Hashem. We have to be careful
not to jump to do what we think are “big mitzvos”,
we must continue serving god in every way possible<![if !supportFootnotes]>[13]<![endif]>.

 

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<![if !supportFootnotes]>[1]<![endif]> Translation ofפנינים מתוך ‘באר בשדה’ פרשת בא תשע”ג .

<![if !supportFootnotes]>[3]<![endif]>
Gemarah Berachos 20a,
“Rav Pappa said to Abaye, what was different about earlier generations, for
whom miracles occurred, and what is different about us, for whom miracles do
not occur? Abaye answered Rav
Pappa, the earlier generations sacrificed themselves
to sanctify God’s Name and they were therefore deserving of having miracles
performed for them, but we do not sacrifice ourselves to sanctify God’s Name.

<![if !supportFootnotes]>[5]<![endif]>
Medresh Shemos Rabah
chapter 17, 1 2.

<![if !supportFootnotes]>[7]<![endif]>
Medresh Shir Hashirim
Rabah chapter 2 on the verse ‘כתפוח בעצי היער’.

<![if !supportFootnotes]>[8]<![endif]>
Chayei Moharan
part Avoidas Hashem
48-49.

<![if !supportFootnotes]>[10]<![endif]>
Likutey Moharan part
one #10 para. 4: Likutey
Moharan part two #86: Tanya part Igeres Hatshuva chapter
one “Its not like many that think that tshuva means fasting… therefore the Rambam and Smag
make no mention of fasting when they write about the mitzvah of tshuva…”.

<![if !supportFootnotes]>[11]<![endif]>
Until here is the incident.

<![if !supportFootnotes]>[13]<![endif]>
Gemarah Berachos 63a,
Bar Kappara expounded, what is a small verse upon
which all the fundamentals of the Torah depend? (Proverbs 3;6)  “בכל דרכיך דעהו”
“In all your ways you must know him.”

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