Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Parshas Beshalach - In G-d We Trust


Parshas Beshalach

In G-d We Trust
By: Daniel Listhaus

וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל משֶׁה הִנְנִי מַמְטִיר לָכֶם לֶחֶם מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם וְיָצָא הָעָם וְלָקְטוּ דְּבַר יוֹם בְּיוֹמוֹ לְמַעַן אֲנַסֶּנּוּ הֲיֵלֵךְ בְּתוֹרָתִי אִם לֹא

Hashem said to Moses, 'Behold! I shall rain down for you food from heaven; let the people go out and pick each day's matter on its day, so that I may test him, whether he will follow My Torah or not.”
-Beshalach 16:4

After witnessing the wonders of kriyas Yam Suf (the splitting of the Red Sea) and the whole Egyptian army being wiped out, the Jews certainly realized their newly found freedom to a higher degree. They sung Az Yashir1 and thanked Hashem from the depths of their hearts. However, it seems that it was only a matter of days until the Jews turned to Moshe and started a series of complaints. First they complained about the lack of water, and then they complained about not having food.2 At that point, Hashem said that he would send the manna as a test to see if the Jews were ready to follow the Torah.3

Rashi4 explains that the manna came with two rules. The first rule was that one could not leave over any manna to save for the next day. The second, equally important rule, was that one cannot go out to collect the manna on Shabbos. Rashi continues to explain that the manna, with its rules, was actually a test us to see if the Jews in the midbar (desert) would be able to keep the mitzvos of the Torah.

This Rashi, and really the passuk (verse) itself, is hard to understand. How could this two-rule game properly gauge how B'nei Yisroel would measure up in being able to keep the Torah? Imagine yourself, for a moment, as a part of the Jewish population of that time in the desert. You just came out of Mitzrayim after having watched the Egyptians suffer through the ten makkos (plagues) and experience the finale of kriyas Yam Suf – a time when the whole world recognized Hashem's full control over nature. Now, you find yourself among a group of hungry, recently freed slaves in the middle of a desert. Hashem performs yet another miracle and provides manna from the sky to 600,000 men between twenty and sixty, let alone all the children, elders, and women.5

You see all of this, appreciate it, and internalize it. Yet, one morning decide to break the small rule and store some extra manna away and save it for breakfast the following morning. Does this action show in any way that you are totally incapable of performing mitzvos (Hashem's commandments)? If someone would subsequently challenge you to do any particular mitzva would there be any more of a reason to believe that you would be hesitant to doing it? Surely just because someone would be willing to break the rule of the manna, would not necessarily mean that one would stop from being a perfect, kosher keeping, shomer Shabbos Jew. Why did Hashem use the manna as a test to see if we were ready to keep the Torah? The requirements of the manna seem to have nothing to do with what we as Jews are tasked with on a daily basis through performing the mitzvos. Name a mitzvah and it would probably not cross such a person's mind to transgress on it: Performing Bris millah, putting on tefillin, wearing tzitzis, reading Shema, having a Pesach seder – what does keeping to the rules of the manna prove that demonstrates that he will be careful in all the mitzvos?

Let us take a step back to understand what exactly is the purpose of the Torah and its mitzvos. The Torah is much more more than a history book and is much deeper than a law book. Rather, the Torah is literally the blueprint and instruction manual for the world. Hashem is the creator of the world and he left an instruction manual which describes the guidelines as to the best way to live in this world. This is why, unlike any other religion, our Torah is all-inclusive. There is a set of rules for goyim (non-Jews), converts, slaves, and Jews. The Torah has a hierarchy as well as a system of different roles which recognizes that everyone has a purpose in this world and everyone has the ability to strive for more. This system is perfect but depends on the basic understanding that Hashem knows what is best and that everyone must be willing to accept his or her role in society within this system.

However, adopting a Torah lifestyle is not easy; and leaving aside the fact that it is not easy, so many aspects of it seem highly ridiculous. Does it really matter which shoelace I tie first? What times I daven throughout the day? The amount of time I wait between eating meat and milk? The Torah's rules are very demanding, intricate, and cover every aspect of life no matter how small and mundane the action may seem in our eyes. The only way that one could honestly accept such a lifestyle is if he or she has complete trust in Hashem that what He asks us to do is absolutely the best for us.

Conceptually, it makes sense that the creator of the world would no best how to live in it. Just as one would optimize a game board and pieces by reading the instruction manual provided by its creator, so too a person looking to optimize his life should consult the manual for the world provided by The Creator – His Torah. This is something which makes sense logically, but when there are other factors introduced it becomes hard to really internalize. When one starts to think about the “opportunity cost” of keeping the Torah – all those McDonald cheese burgers which one could have eaten, and all the “fun” that could have been had, it is harder to really appreciate the demanding life of a Torah-Jew. The only way to fight these thoughts and feelings is by realizing that there are no opportunity costs. There is nothing good outside of the Torah, and nothing lost by following the word of Hashem. It is this complete trust and faith in Hashem which is the only way that one will stay on the path of keeping Torah and mitzvos.

The ultimate test of faith and trust lays where a person would like to have the most control, but is willing to have complete trust in Hashem that He will take care of it. Being at the base of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, food is a necessity of life which we like to be in control over. When Hashem gave us the manna with rules that one cannot stash the leftovers for the next day or collect on Shabbos, Hashem was testing us to see if we had complete trust and faith in Him. Hashem wanted to see if we would accept whatever He would tell us to do without a question. This is the mindset needed in order for one to properly accept the Torah.

Every Shabbos by the seudah (meal) we use lechem mishna (two breads) to symbolize the extra portion of manna that fell on Friday for Shabbos – reminding us that we were not allowed to go out to collect manna on Shabbos.6 Additionally, we cover the challah by placing a board underneath and a cover on top in order to remember the fact that the manna came in a pre-packaged, individualized box per person, of a layer of dew underneath and a layer of dew on top.7 What better time is there to remember the manna than at a time we spend to become closer to Hashem? Shabbos is a time of dropping work and showing complete trust in Hashem – like a weekly mini sh'mita year, and at the same time it is used as a constant reminder of the manna – which contains the basics of being a Torah Jew.

The Gemara8 relates that the manna did not come to the same spot for everyone. If one was a tzaddik, he would find the manna right by the entrance to his house. The average person would have to go just outside the camp in the desert to collect their manna, while the r'shaim (wicked people) would have to go outside the camp to collect their manna. The manna represents our relationship with Hashem. The closer the relationship with Hashem, the closer the manna came to the individual.

The manna was the perfect test to see if we were ready to receive the Torah because it tested our trust in Hashem. A complete trust in Hashem that He knows best is a necessary prerequisite to accepting the Torah properly. Only with a trust that Hashem's laws and demands are perfect, does one realize that there is no risk in keeping the Torah, there are no opportunity costs in keeping the Torah, and no losses by choosing to follow the way of Hashem.
1Shemos 15:1-19. Moshe led the men and Miriam led the women (Shemos 15:20-21). We now say Az Yashir daily as part of Shacharis davening.
2The passuk (Shemos 15:22) says that they had traveled for three days and could not find drinking water, so they complained to Moshe. Then they were hungry and complained that they needed food.
3Shemos 16:4
4Ibid.
5Shemos 12:37
6Orach Chaim 274, 1 and Mishna Berura there.
7Orach Chaim 271, 9 and Mishna Berura there.

No comments:

Post a Comment