Parshas Mishpatim - No Dogs Go To Heaven

~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~

Parshas Mishpatim

No Dogs Go to Heaven

By: Daniel Listhaus

וְאַנְשֵׁי קֹדֶשׁ תִּהְיוּן לִי וּבָשָׂר בַּשָּׂדֶה טְרֵפָה לֹא תֹאכֵלוּ לַכֶּלֶב תַּשְׁלִכוּן אֹתוֹ

“People of holiness shall you be unto me; and flesh in the field that has been torn you shall not eat; you shall throw it to the dog.”

-Mishpatim 22:30

            Rashi^[1] comments that the passuk (verse) is not really precise because certainly, just as one could feed the treif^[2] meat to the dogs, one could also sell or give it to a goy (non-Jew). Rashi then offers two reasons as to why the Torah did not just write that it could be given to a goy. The first reason is because the Torah is coming to teach that it is better to be a dog than someone who worships idols.^[3] Furthermore, Rashi writes, the passuk is trying to demonstrate that Hashem does not deprive any creature of its reward.

            When the B'nei Yisroel were leaving Mitzrayim, the Torah^[4] testifies that not one dog “sharpened its tongue” [i.e. -barked]. This was abnormal for a number of reasons. First, any dog owner knows that when a stranger comes into a house, the dogs will start barking. Certainly this should have happened in the case of B'nei Yisroel, who were going into every house collecting all the valuables, jewelry, gold, and silver. Furthermore, the Gemara^[5] states that at a time when the Malach Hamaves (Angel of Death) comes to a city, the dogs bark. The time that the B'nei Yisroel left Mitzrayim was by makas bechoros (plague of death to the firstborns). At that point, Mitzriyim (Egyptians) were dying left and right and under normal circumstances the dogs should have barked. However, for the B'nei Yisroel, they kept their mouths shut. For this, Hashem rewarded all dogs to come by mentioning in the Torah that treif meat be thrown to the dogs.

            The question is, however, why is it that Hashem considered this a fair reward? The dogs did something out of the ordinary for B'nei Yisroel. Wouldn't it be more fitting for Hashem to create a “Dog Heaven” filled of dog toys where they could chase their tails for as long as they want? After all, a person who refrains from speaking lashon harah (evil speech) or uses his mouth for Torah or other good things is rewarded in the eternal world to come. Yet the dogs, who on their level basically did the same thing by refraining from barking at B'nei Yisroel, seem to be getting a cheap reward of mere scraps of treif meat. Why is this so?

            Using the above question as a spring-board, let us ask an even more potent question along the same lines. The Gemara^[6] relates that Moshe rabbeinu asked Hashem three things. The first was that Hashem's shechina rest on B'nei Yisroel – and Hashem granted Moshe this request. The second was that the shechina not rest on the goyim – and Hashem granted Moshe this one as well. The third request was that Hashem explain to Moshe His ways. There is actually a machlokes (dispute) in the Gemara whether Hashem answered this one or not. However, everyone seems to agree what the specific question was. Moshe wanted to understand why it is that there are tzadikkim (righteous people) to whom good things happen, yet there are also tzadikkim who experience disasters and are greatly challenged throughout their lives. Along the same lines, Moshe wanted to comprehend why it is that  although, granted, there are certainly resha'im (wicked people) to whom bad things happen, there are plenty of resha'im who indeed live great lives with everything seeming to go their way. This is a fundamental question which has bothered many since the beginning of time and is often expressed at some point in everyone's life: Why do bad thing happen to good people, and why do good things happen to bad people?

            According to the one who holds that Hashem did in fact answer this third request of Moshe, Hashem answered the following. The tzadikkim who only experience good in both this world and the next are those in the category of tzaddik gamur (complete tzaddik), while the tzaddik who goes through hardships in this world is someone who is actually not a complete tzaddik. Similarly, those who experiences only bad in this world and the next are those in the category of rasha gamur (complete rasha), while the rasha who experiences goodness in this world is in fact someone who is not a complete rasha.

            This Gemara seems to contradict itself. Imagine a spectrum where on the extreme left is the world-class rasha and all the way on the right is the biggest tzaddik. Hashem causes only the best things to happen to the biggest tzaddik and only the worst to the biggest rasha. Yet, when dealing with those in the middle of the spectrum, the Gemara sounds quite confused. Why should the person who is not the biggest tzaddik be any worse than the one who is a few aveiros (sins) away from being the worst rasha? They are both in the same uncategorized gray area in the middle area. Even if we were to draw invisible lines within the spectrum and put the semi-tzaddik closer to the right and the quasi-rasha closer to the left, still, how could we understand their respective destinies of the tzaddik suffering for his aveiros while the rasha is successful and merry from his mitzvos?

            The Maharsha^[7] comes to address this issue and explains Hashem's answer to Moshe in the following way. Those who are really tzadikkim but who have done a few aveiros indeed need to be punished. However, Hashem does the tzaddik a favor by instead punishing him in Olam Ha'zeh (this world) in order that he be able to get his complete reward in Olam Habbah (the next world) with no deficiencies. The quasi-rasha, on the other hand, despite the fact that he is really a rasha, still, since he managed to do a few mitzvos, he must be rewarded. However, Hashem would rather reward him with the small stuff in this world in order that the rasha's punishment truly be maximized in Olam Habbah.

            The question on this which begs to be asked is that this system does not seem fair at all. The mishna^[8] declares that one moment of time in Olam Habbah is better than all the time a person could possibly live in Olam Ha'zeh. So, imagine that the rasha did some mitzva everyday of his life – he put on tallis and tefillin each morning. The tzaddik certainly did so as well. So why is it fair that the tzaddik will be rewarded for this in Olam Habbah whereas the rasha will be forced to get an incomparably smaller reward in this world?

            Furthermore, leaving this unfair comparison aside, the Gemara^[9] says that it is not possible to reward a mitzva in this world, rather because of the greatness of doing a mitzva its reward is only possible to give in Olam Habbah. If so, even if somehow it would be considered fair that the semi-rasha be rewarded differently for doing the same mitzva as the semi-tzaddik, shouldn't it still be impossible for the rasha to be rewarded for his mitzvos in this world?

            In order to understand these contradictions, we must return to the fact there is no such thing as Dog Heaven. Unlike a person who is partially made of ruchniyos (spirituality [i.e.- a Holy spirit from Hashem]), a dog is completely comprised of gashmiyus made from earth without a neshama (soul). A dog does nothing on the ruchniyus scale nor could it ever appreciate it, therefore it is never rewarded in any way other than through gashmiyus.

            This is an idea that is not foreign to us. Take the following example. Imagine you lost your wallet and in desperation put up a sign saying that you will offer a one-hundred dollar reward to anyone who could find your wallet. Later that day, your four-year-old son loses a toy under the couch and while searching for it pulls out the missing wallet along with some other junk which found their way under the couch. You see this and are so happy with your son for finding your wallet, even though it was completely accidental, and so you go and buy him a special candy. The child, not even sure what he did good, is ecstatic and enjoys the special candy immensely. In this example, what happened to the one-hundred dollar reward you offered? You were willing to give that amount of money to anyone who could find the wallet, so why are you cheating your son out of all the cash just because you could get away with it? The answer is simple. In the child's eyes, the money is worthless, whereas the special candy is worth all the money in the world.

            Similarly, the Ma'bit^[10] writes that as the Gemara says, it is truly impossible to reward a mitzva in this world. Doing a mitzva means carrying out the word of G-d and the reward for doing so is infinite. As he explains, the s'char v'onesh (reward and punishment) system is in place for those who do or transgress mitzvos of the Torah. The Torah comes from the Olam Ha'Elyon (upper world) and therefore, by extension, its rewards and punishments must also be from there in the same currency.

           

            Following this idea, when it comes to those who are being rewarded or punished in this world, it must be that their rewards and punishments are not actually from keeping or transgressing the Torah but rather for doing other things. What are these other things? What is there to be rewarded or punished for if not the based on the Torah? The answer is that rewards in this world are for people who do mitzvos shelo lishma. In other words, people do mitzvos all the time – we come to shul because others may notice if we miss, we make berachos subconsciously because that's the way we grew up, we throw our tefillin on each morning because that is the habit we got used to, and the list goes on. However, when we do the mitzvos in this fashion, we are not truly fulfilling the mitzvos in the way they are supposed to be done commanded from the Olam Ha'Elyon, and therefore the reward for doing mitzvos in this way does not come from there either. Rather, the reward comes from Olam Hazeh.

            The opposite holds true as well. People who are overall trying very hard but just cannot make it to being a complete tzaddik because they get caught up in some aveiros along the way. These aveiros are not ones which such a person is trying to do, on the contrary, he is trying very hard to work on himself and strives to be the complete tzaddik. Therefore, although there must be consequences for these actions, the punishment will not be the harsh punishments of Olam Ha'Elyon, but rather will be carried out through inconveniences and troubles in this world.

            With this in mind we could now understand Hashem's answer to Moshe. The tzaddik gamur (complete tzaddik) experiences only good in both this world and the next, while the rasha gamur experiences only bad in both worlds. When it comes to the gray area in the middle, it depends on who you really are which will define the rest of your actions. The semi-rasha who happened to have done a few mitzvos clearly does not care about the mitzvos as being direct commandments from Hashem, otherwise he would have tried to work himself towards being a tzaddik. Therefore, although his good deeds require reward, they will be rewarded for in this world. However, the semi-tzaddik who spends his life working towards the right side of the spectrum, although he may have a number of aveiros on his list, those will be punished in this world rather than in the next world because they are really lower-leveled aveiros since they were not done purposely or specifically to go against the word of Hashem.

            May Hashem help us do the mitzvos for the right reasons and help us turn all of our mitzvos she'lo lishma's into lishma. This way we will be on the path of at least the tzaddik she'eino gamur instead of the rasha she'eino gamur, and ultimately achieve the level of the tzaddik who only experiences good in both this world and the next.

             

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[1]    Shemos 22:30

[2]    Treif here in he passuk does not mean like the way we incorrectly use the term now-a-days to simply mean “non-kosher meat”, rather it specifically means torn meat which cannot be slaughtered properly.

[3]    See Gur Aryeh (Shemos 22:30). This does not mean that it is better to be a dog than a goy, after all, all people were created b'tzelem Elokim (in the Image of Hashem) (Avos 3:18 [editions may vary]). Rather, Rashi is saying that better be a dog than someone who chooses to worship idols (something which is forbidden even for non-Jews) because such a person has misused his potential whereas at least a dog is neutral because it does not have free will.

[4]    Shemos 11:7

[5]    Bava Kamma 60b

[6]    Berachos 7a

[7]    Ibid.

[8]    Avos 4:22 [editions may vary]

[9]    Kiddushin 39b

[10]  Ma'bit: Beis Elokim, Sha'ar Ha'yesodos 42

Parshas Yisro - Loud Music and Boiling Frogs

~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~

Parshas Yisro

Loud Music and Boiling Frogs

By: Daniel Listhaus

וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ כֹהֵן מִדְיָן חֹתֵן משֶׁה אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֱלֹקים לְמשֶׁה וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַמּוֹ כִּי הוֹצִיא ה' אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם

“And the father-in-law of Moshe, Yisro, the priest of Midyan, heard all that G-d had done for Moshe and for [B'nei] Yisroel, His people, that Hashem had taken [B'nei] Yisroel out of Mitzrayim.”

-Yisro 18:1

וַיְהִי קוֹל הַשֹּׁפָר הוֹלֵךְ וְחָזֵק מְאֹד משֶׁה יְדַבֵּר וְהָאֱלֹקים יַעֲנֶנּוּ בְקוֹל

“And the sound of the shofar grew increasingly stronger; Moshe would speak and G-d would answer him with a voice.”

-Yisro 19:19

            Rashi^[1] on this passuk (verse) brings a Gemara^[2] which is bothered what was it that Yisro heard that inspired him to convert and join B'nei Yisroel in the midbar (desert)? Rashi answers by bringing two of the three suggestions offered in the Gemara: that Yisro heard about the war B'nei Yisroel fought with Amalek and he also heard about the miraculous event of kriyas Yam Suf (splitting of the Red Sea).

            This Rashi, and really the Gemara itself, is very difficult to understand. The answer to why Yisro chose to join with B'nei Yisroel in the midbar could not simply be that he had heard about the war with Amalek and kriyas Yam Suf. The entire world had known about these events and so whatever Yisro heard was heard by all. Yet, he was the only one who actually allowed himself to be inspired enough to come. So what was it really that Yisro heard which caused him to come and how are Rashi and the Gemara addressing this issue?

            At this point in our history, the B'nei Yisroel found themselves at Har Sinai experiencing something truly out of this world.  The magical combination of thunder, lightning, shofar blasts, clouds, fire, smoke, and water was extraordinary in the full sense of the word, and certainly served as a perfect summary of Hashem's complete control over the world, which was displayed during the makkos (plagues) and kriyas Yam Suf (splitting of the Red Sea). The Torah^[3] describes that the sound of a shofar could be heard growing increasingly louder. The Ibn Ezra^[4] comments that usually when someone blows a shofar, it starts out loud with power and then, as one is trying to keep his breath flowing, the sound grows softer until it gradually dies out. However, this particular shofar blast started soft and grew increasingly louder. The reason for this, the Ibn Ezra writes, was in order not to scare the B'nei Yisroel with starting with such a loud sound.

            There is no doubt that this grand shofar blowing was indeed incredibly loud and quite scary – especially considering the setting on Har Sinai – if so, what did it help to have the shofar grow louder and louder? If at some decibel the sound was unbearable or too intense, all that slowly raising the volume should accomplish is a delay until it reaches that point. However, once that degree is attained, shouldn't it be just as frightening?

            Conceptually, this argument makes a lot of sense. After all, why should gradually reaching a certain volume be any different than starting at that point? If it is too loud, then it should be deemed as such regardless, and if not then it should not be necessary to reach the volume gradually. However, the reality is that by reaching a certain volume, or anything for that matter, gradually, one could achieve any feat, which without doing so would be deemed impossible.

           

            This idea is often expressed as the Sorites Paradox. The Sorites Paradox states that there is no such thing as a heap of grain. After all, imagine a single grain on a table, certainly no one would argue that that would be called a heap. Now imagine that someone puts one more grain next to it – still no heap. As one continues to add grain upon grain, there is really no point that one could clearly point at and say that there is now a heap, because why should adding one more grain make the collection any more a heap than it was a moment ago with one less grain?

            In 1872, Heinzmann, a German scientist, demonstrated in an experiment that a normal frog placed in a pot of water being gradually heated, would not jump out. In his project, Heinzman raised the temperature from lukewarm to hot at a rate of less than 0.2 degrees Celsius per minute. After about two and a half hours, the frog was found dead in the very hot water. Yet, frogs placed directly into such hot water, would immediately jump out.

            The Sorites Paradox is something that confronts us every day. We are often surprised when we look back at pictures of people who we see every day and notice how different they look and yet we never realized. It seems funny how such things go unnoticed. The scary part, though, is trying to think about all the other times that this idea may effect us and we have yet to realize; because the truth is that just as our ears easily adjust to slight increases in volume, and frogs get used to the gradual change in temperature, we as individuals too become comfortable with the slightly different person we become at the end of each day. Although many of us rarely view it this way, the reality is that at the end of every single day, the decisions we made, the attitudes we allowed to prevail, the thoughts that went through our heads, and our reactions to scenarios we found ourselves in all change us ever so slightly that it is hard to notice these small daily tweaks. The danger comes when we find ourselves over time with a personality, attitude or perspective that we would have never jumped into originally, but somehow became acceptable over the passing of time and gradually attaining such a level.

            The only way to circumvent this risk is to introspect and program oneself to lead a life with certain guidelines to help define the way one acts each day. This will ensure that the small changes of our daily lives are in sync with what we really want of ourselves, and we will not be surprised later when we look back and wonder how we got to where we are.

            Another aspect to this is the idea that big achievements are attained by taking small steps – one at a time. Adding even one grain at a time at some point does in fact become a heap. Similarly, directing our focus to make positive small tweaks each day to gradually grow spiritually will glean tremendous effects.

            Perhaps with this we could better understand the first Rashi in the parsha. One could imagine that although everyone had heard about the events of milchemes Amalek (war with Amalek) and Kriyas Yam Suf, because they had followed after so many miraculous events of all the plagues in Mitzrayim, seeing miracles become the norm in the world's eyes. Yisro, however, listened and watched these evens attentively and appreciated them for what they inherently were and trying to demonstrate, instead of allowing the recent progression of miracles water-down the experience. This is exactly what the Gemara and Rashi are trying to convey. What did Yisro hear that caused him to convert and come? He heard milchemes Amalek and kriyas Yam Suf. These were indeed things which only Yisro heard because everyone else got used to the boiling water and the gradual increase in volume to the point that miracles ceased to faze them.

            May Hashem help us realize who we are and who we want to be in order that we not fall subject to the Sorites Paradox and end up being someone we would have never thought of becoming. Rather, we should keep in mind this power of gradual change and use it to our advantage to achieve great heights.

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[1]    Shemos 18:1

[2]    Zevachim 116a. The third opinion brought in the Gemara is that Yisro heard about the giving of the Torah on Har Sinai.

[3]    Shemos 19:19

[4]    Ibid. 

Parshas Beshalach - Thinking Like a Leader

~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~

Parshas Beshalach

Thinking Like a Leader

By: Daniel Listhaus

וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל משֶׁה מַה תִּצְעַק אֵלָי דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִסָּעוּ

"Hashem said to Moshe, ‘Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the B’nei Yisroel and let them journey!”

-Shemos 14:15

            After B’nei Yisroel left Mitzrazyim, the Torah[1] relates that Pharaoh took 600 chariots of the Egyptian army and pursued them. When B’nei Yisroel saw that the Egyptian army was camped not far from them, they became very frightened and cried out to Hashem for help. They then turned to Moshe and said, “Are there no graves in Egypt that you had to take us out to the midbar(desert) to die? Did we not tell you it would be better for us to stay in Egypt?”[2] Moshe immediately responded that there was no reason to worry because Hashem will do battle for them, and then turned to daven to Hashem. However, the next passuk (verse) is very intriguing. Hashem tells Moshe, “Why do you cry out to me? Speak to the Bnei Yisroel and let them journey!”[3] Rashi[4] writes that we see from this passuk that Moshe stopped to daven to Hashem and was met with an unusual response: “Why are you crying out to Me? Now is not the time to prolong prayer, for B’nei Yisroel is in distress and immediate action must be taken.” Rashi offers an additional explanation that Hashem was telling Moshe that there was nothing to worry about because Hashem had guaranteed that He was taking care of everything.

            The S’forno[5] also explains that Moshe was davening to Hashem because he heard what the B’nei Yisroel were saying – their complaining that because they left Mitzrayim they were all going to die – and concluded that they gave up and would not be interested in entering the Yam Suf with him. To this, the S’forno explains, Hashem responded, “Why are you davening to Me? Why are you being chosheid b’keshairim (falsely accusing by assumption)?”

            This S’forno is very difficult to understand. What did Hashem mean by giving mussar to Moshe that he was falsely assuming that B’nei Yisroel would not listen to him? Moshe heard loud and clear the sarcasm in B’nei Yisroel’s cry, “Were there not enough graves in Mitzrayim for us that we had to come to the wilderness to die?”And he plainly heard the B’nei Yisroel’s distress in their statement, “We told you so!” Why did Hashem tell Moshe that he was being chosheid b’kesheirm? Were the B’nei Yisroel really “k’sheirim” in the sense that they were ready and waiting to obey whatever Moshe would tell them to do?

            Perhaps we could better understand this S’forno with the help of an anecdote that supposedly occurred with a minister of parliament in England. The story goes that Geoffrey Dickens, M.P. would often attend events arranged by his constituents. After visiting a number of these events he began to notice that he was constantly being closely followed by the same certain devoted smiling woman of indescribable ugliness.[6] As much as tried, he just could not manage to away from her. A few weeks later he received a letter from this constituent saying how much she admired him, that she was so happy to have been privileged to meet him at many of his political gatherings, and went on asking for a signed photograph. After her name, written in brackets were the words “Horse Face”. Mr. Dickens was quite impressed. He thought to himself how brave and committed his admirer was not just to be willing to admit her own physical repulsiveness, but even to use it to her advantage.[7] He decided he would do something special for this lady and so he went out and bought a nice frame to put his photograph in and on the photograph he signed his name and personally wrote in large script, “To Horse Face, with love from Geoffrey Dickens, M.P.” After it had been sent off, his secretary said to him, “Did you get that letter from the woman who attends so many of your events? I wrote “Horse Face” after her name so you'd remember who she was.”

           

            Often times we get locked in our own “Horse face” mode as we hold onto an assumption without stopping to re-thing and break down other possibilities. Sometimes these are assumptions about ourselves, which prevent us from moving forward; other times they are about others and we definitively lock in our own minds what must be the perspective of the counterparty.

            This is exactly the incredible lesson that the S’forno is teaching here. B’nei Yisroel never explicitly said to Moshe, “We are not going to listen to you”. Granted, they were being annoyingly sarcastic and pessimistic, but they never said that they were not going to follow Moshe’s lead. Moshe mistakenly concluded, based on what he heard them saying, that B’nei Yisroel were not ready to follow him to the Yam Suf. Moshe therefore turned to Hashem to daven that they should listen to him. However, Moshe needed to be told that he skipped a step. As leader of K’lal Yisroel he now had the responsibility of not just listening carefully with emotional intelligence to what B’nei Yisroel was saying, but that he needed to be on high alert at all times to be able to always look at K’lal Yisroel through a lens of unconditional love and care and look for ways to interpret their actions in good ways instead of taking them at face value and making assumptions. A true leader, which Moshe rabbeinu absolutely was, who cares for his nation will look for ways to stand up for it, not for ways to disparage them – even if their own words make it sound like they are heading down the wrong path. Indeed, Moshe was perfect for the job and his love and care for K’lal Yisroel knew no bounds as is evident from the parshiyos. However, it is precisely because of Moshe’s high level and the standard expected of him that Hashem felt it necessary to teach him that there is a difference between seeming to rebel and actually rebelling. As annoying the sarcastic remarks may be, and as improper as it may be to reminisce the “good old days” in Mitzrayim, a leader’s job is to never give up on its people.

            Leaders come in many forms. There are world leaders, leaders of nations, leaders of countries, states, cities, communities, schools, families, and friendship circles. One could view his or her following as disposable and take remarks at face value and make false assumptions, or one can hold out and stick up for one’s following even through the hard times, using the bit of light in the darkness as a way to pull one’s following through.

           

            Many people do not recognize their own followings, and sometimes it is not obvious which people look up to us that we put down with our assumptions of them. However, unarguably, each individual has a following of at least one: oneself. Each person is responsible, on their own level, to think deep and pay attention to the things we convince ourselves of and the situations we find ourselves in and unset them from being defaults and assumptions and instead treat them as variables. Imagine if instead of saying, “I can’t because….” We would replace it with “I don’t because…but really I could” or “I choose not to because…..but I could also choose to…despite how difficult it may be”. If we stop to think about the things we tell ourselves and modify them to unfetter us from circular entrapment we could unlock our full potential and give ourselves the ability to move in the right direction. It is empowering and encouraging to come to the realization that we could be in control of our own decisions if we just want to.

            We have the responsibility along with not being choshed b’k’sheirim of others, to also not be chosheid b’keshairim of ourselves. Sometimes it is difficult to find the gray line of where the pasul ends and the kosher starts but it exists. Once we could pin point that through being honest with ourselves we have the ability to take control and separate fact from fiction.

            May Hashem help each and every one of us to be proper leaders of those who follow us, and especially proper leaders of our own selves.

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[1] Shemos 14:5-9

[2] Shemos 14:11

[3] Shemos 14:15

[4] Rashi ibid.

[5] S’forno ibid.

[6] His words, not mine

[7] Again, his recorded thoughts

Parshas Bo - Anti Ambidextrous Ambitions

~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~

Parshas Bo

Anti Ambidextrous Ambitions

By: Daniel Listhaus

וְהָיָה לְאוֹת עַל יָדְכָה וּלְטוֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ כִּי בְּחֹזֶק יָד הוֹצִיאָנוּ ה' מִמִּצְרָיִם

“And it shall be a sign upon your arm, and for totafos between your eyes, for with a strong hand Hashem removed us from Mitzrayim.”

-Bo 13:16

The Ramban[1] points out that so many of the mitzvos we do serve in some way as a (zeicher) remembrance of Hashem taking us out of Mitzrayim. Indeed, the makkos (plagues) in Mitzrayim continuing with yetzias Mitzrayim (exodus from Egypt) and kriyas Yam Suf (splitting of the Red Sea), and ultimately culminating with mattan Torah (receiving the Torah), serve as a timeless certificate for us that Hashem is the borei (creator) and manhig (controller) of the world and that we are His chosen people to lead a life of keeping Torah and mitzvos. One of the many mitzvos we do daily which remind of us yetzias Mitzrayim is the donning of the tefillin, a mitzva actually mentioned at the end of this week’s parsha. The Torah tells us that the tefillin should be a sign upon our arm and between our eyes to recall that Hahsm removed us from Mitzrayim with a strong hand.

The Shulchan Aruch[2] rules that the tefillin shel yad (tefillin of the arm) is put on the left arm. The Mishna Berurah[3] explains that the reason we put it on the left arm is because when the Torah says to put the tefillin on the arm it does not write the word “yad’chah” as with just the letters yud-daled-chof but rather with a hey added to the end as if it were saying “yad keihah” – “the weak hand”. From this d’rasha, Chazal learn that we don the tefillin on the weaker arm. What is the significance of putting the tefillin on the weaker hand?

Another tefillin anomaly which demands attention is the fact that we only put the tefillin on one arm. It is asymmetrical; and although we are used to the look and feel, it is weird. Imagine walking around with one shoe, or one sleeve rolled up with the other down. Our mind is programmed to appreciate symmetry and balance. It is bizarre that we only put tefillin on one arm. Why is the mitzva set up in this way?

 A story is told of a non-Jewish thief who stole a pair of tefillin and was subsequently trying to sell it back to Jews for a high price. One person heard of the offer but did not want to give in to the high price out of fear that it would just cause the thief to repeat his crime. He therefore came up with the following clever plan. He made an appointment to meet with the thief and try the tefillin on for size. He came to the meeting spot and the thief showed him the beautiful pair of tefillin. The Jew put on the shel yad with kavanah (concentration), wrapping it around his arm slowly and intently. He then reached in and took out the shel rosh, securing it on his head nice and tight and ensuring it was directly in the center above his eyes in its proper place. He then reached into the bag a third time and felt around with a confused look on his face. He stared into the thief’s eyes and said, “You schlepped me out here to buy a beautiful set of tefillin at such a high price and you don’t even have the third part of the set to go on the other arm? How dare you waste my time like this! These are worthless without the tefillin for the other arm!” The thief told him to just keep it and then ran away.[4]

      As cute and clever as the story is the assumption that the Jew knew that he thief had was that of course there would be a third pair. If tefillin goes on one arm, it should go on both. Why is it that we only put it one? And once we are putting it on one arm why is it that we put it on the left – the weaker one – and not the right one which the Torah always gives preference to?

An almost universal feeling that people share is that they do not look good in pictures. Why? The reason is a funny one: You do not know what you really look like. You look in the mirror and comb your hair to the right, but everyone else sees it combed to the left. You are used to seeing different constellations of freckles on your left and right cheeks, while everyone else sees them on opposite sides. You are used to looking in the mirror and seeing the birthmark on your mirror-self’s left ear, while everyone else sees it on your right. You think you know what you look like but you do not. Sometimes the things closest to us are hardest to see. People become comfortable and used to themselves at least how they think they look and are perceived, and indeed if shown a picture of themselves in mirror version and picture version, people will almost always choose their mirror-versions of themselves over what they really look like to the rest of the world. We are happy with how we see ourselves, but when we look at ourselves from someone else’s stand point we are discomforted and feel that something does not look right.

The Kli Yakar[5] writes that the reason we put the tefillin on the left, weaker arm is because we must always remember that the strength of man alone is nothing unless the hand of Hashem is there guiding us. By us donning the tefillin on the left we are showing that man is weak, but when he stands shevisi hashem l’negdi samid – always as if standing in front of G-d, then his left hand is actually opposite Hashem’s proverbial right. It is for this reason too that the heart is on the left side of the body and the liver on the right. Not because preference is given to the liver which represents desire, while the heart, one of the centers for seichel, remains secondary. Rather, exactly the opposite. We are tasked with living a life imagining ourselves as always being in front of Hashem. The right and left we should be comfortable with and use as spiritual direction is not the one that we see from our perspective, which admittingly is easier to adjust to because that is what we fall to by default, but instead base our right and left based on Hashem’s perspective. Hashem delivered makkos to Mitzrayim, took us out of Mitzrayim, split the Yam Suf, and gave us the Torah. Hashem created and runs the world. Our comfort should come from the fact that Hashem is our strength and that we as people have no power other than to rely on Him. This is the reason we put tefillin on our weaker arm – to symbolize that not only is human strength a mere illusion, but even more – that it is Hashem’s strength alone, His proverbial yad Ha’chazaka which took us out of Mitzrayim, which is real and dependable. We are challenged to change our perspective from the comfortable mirror-self we are so used to seeing and giving in to, and instead feel comfortable with the reality that all that is important is that we visualize ourselves as constantly standing before Hashem and relying on Him.

May Hashem help us understand that our strength does not come from what we think we feel, and that real success does not stem from the ambitions we decide to act on for ourselves, and help us become comfortable with the realization that as long as we have trust in Hashem’s strength that we are strong despite our left hand, and that aligning our ambitions with His ratzon is what ultimately should give us comfort, and not the mirror version of ourselves reflected back that we tend to think of as genuine.  

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[1] Shemos 13:16

[2] Orach Chaim 27:1

[3] Ibid. 27:1:1

[4] I remember hearing this story but do not remember from who or from where. If anyone knows the source of the story I would appreciate the information.

[5] Kli Yakar Shemos 13:14