This dvar Torah was adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: Tape # 805, Barch Sh’omar, Ashrei and Yishtabach. Good Shabbos!
Parshas Pekudei marks the end of Sefer (the Book of) Shemos. The last pasuk in Sefer Shemos is: “For the cloud of Hashem would be on the Mishkan by day, and fire would be on it at night, before the eyes of all the House of Israel in all their journeys.” (Shemos 40:38)
Let us contrast the use of the wording “Bais Yisrael” (House of Israel) with the last pasuk in Sefer Vayikra: “These are the commandments that Hashem commanded Moshe to the Children of Israel on Mount Sinai.” (Vayikra 27:34) Similarly, the last pasuk in Sefer Bamidbar is: “These are the commandments and the ordinances that Hashem commanded through Moshe to the Children of Israel in the Plains of Moav, at the Jordan, by Jericho.” (Bamidbar 36:13)
Both Sefer Vayikra and Sefer Bamidbar end with the more commonly used expression Bnei Yisrael, while Sefer Shemos ends with the less commonly used expression “Bais Yisrael” (House of Israel). What is the nuance here? What is the Torah hinting at?
Rav Nochum Lansky, one of the Roshei Yeshiva in Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, suggests that there is a tremendous symmetry here. How does Sefer Shemos begin? The opening pasuk is: “And these are the names of the Children of Israel who came to Egypt with Yaakov, each man and his household (u’beiso) came.” (Shemos 1:1) Sefer Shemos is about the genesis of the Jewish people. This is where we became a nation. But a nation is not a conglomeration of millions of people. A nation – at least the Jewish nation – is a nation of families. That is what makes us into an “am” (nation). It is the bayis (household) that makes us into a nation. In the narrative of Sefer Shemos, this emphasis on the bayis occurs over and over again. “They should take a lamb for the households of the fathers; a lamb per household” (Shemos 12:3). The Korban Pesach was brought together with a person’s family. “Thus shall you say to the house (bais) of Yaakov…” (Shemos 19:3). The formation of the Jewish nation is family by family. This is our strength.
We hear so much about the dissolution of American society and how we are losing the structure of our society because the nuclear family is breaking up. Just as a chain is only as strong as its links, so too a nation is only as strong as its families. That is why Sefer Shemos places such an emphasis on the building of ‘bayis’ – faithful households.
Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch notes that the halacha exempts a groom from going off to war during the first year of marriage. The rule of thumb is that whenever there is a clash between a mitzvah d’rabim (incumbent on the public) and a mitzvah d’yachid (private), the public mitzvah takes precedence. In light of this principle, Rav Hirsch asks why the personal mitzvah to rejoice with a person’s wife the first year of marriage trumps the public mitzvah to go out to battle together with the nation. Rav Hirsch answers that building and cementing the relationship that is the foundation of a Jewish household is a mitzvah d’rabbim (affecting the nation). This is a contribution to the entire community. We are only a nation by virtue of the fact that we are a nation of strong families.
For this reason, Sefer Shemos begins with the pasuk that emphasizes that the Jewish people came down to Egypt – “each man with his household” and ends with the pasuk which emphasizes “the entire house of Israel.”
Transcribed by David Twersky; Jerusalem [email protected]
Edited by Dovid Hoffman; Baltimore, MD [email protected]
This week’s write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly Torah portion. A listing of the halachic portions for Parshas Vayakeil/Pikudei is provided below:
- # 047 Pikuach Nefesh: To Save a Life
- # 090 The Melacha of Carrying
- # 138 The Melacha of Tying Knots on Shabbos
- # 185 The Melacha of Writing
- # 231 Making a Siyum
- # 275 Electricity in Halacha
- # 321 Leap Year and the Second Adar
- # 365 The Melacha of Tearing
- # 409 The Melacha of Melabain (Laundering)
- # 453 Wearing A Watch on Shabbos
- # 497 The Tefillah of B’rich Sh’mei
- # 541 Learning Kabbalah
- # 585 The Melacha of Trapping
- # 629 Sitting in Judgement on Shabbos
- # 672 The Mishebeirach in Halacha
- # 673 Putting A Sefer Torah in the Aron
- # 717 One Hundred Brachos A Day
- # 761 Killing Two Birds with One Stone
- # 805 Baruch Sh’omar, Ashrei and Yishtabach
- # 849 Saying L’shem Yichud – A Good Idea?
- # 893 The Unique Parshas Sh’kolim
- # 937 Magnetic Forces
- # 980 Siyum M’sechta: For The Past Or For The Future?
- #1024 Turning That Old Dress Into A Cover for a Sefer Torah?
- #1068 “This (Aron Kodesh/Ner Tamid/Window) Is Donated By”…A Good Idea
- #1111 Paying the Baal Koreh/Chazan/Babysitter for Shabbos
- #1154 Does The Husband’s Early Kabolas Shabbos Affect His Wife?
- #1197 Hachana Issues: Loading Dishwasher on Shabbos; Defrosting For Yom.Tov Sheni
- #1241 The Case of the Mishloach Manos That Was Delivered to the Wrong Person
- #1285 “It’s A Siman Min HaShamayim”: Is There Such A Thing?
- #1328 A Fascinating Muktzeh/Tevilas Keilim Shaila
- #1329 Finishing a sefer of Tanach: Does It Warrant a Seudas Siyum? And Other Siyum Issues
- #1416 Does the Prohibition of Not Taking Medicine on Shabbos Still Apply in Our Day and Age?
- #1461 What Do the Urim ve’Tumim and Scrabble Have to Do With Each Other?
- #1504 Must You Share Your Trade Secrets Recipes Methods? If You Don’t Can I Steal Them?
- #1505 Giving Tzedaka for Kavod and Other Tzedaka Questions
- #1547 Can I Buy/Bake Chometz Before Pesach With the Intention to Sell It With The Chometz
- #1591 The Melacha of Daash – Can You Eat Peanuts With Shells on Shabbos?
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