revealed to him. The moment that
Behind the Miracles
Internalizing the Message of the Makkos
By Rav Moshe Shternbuch
The follow-
ing was writ-
ten by Rabbi
Daniel Yaakov
Travis based on
a drasha given
on leil Shabbos
by Rav Moshe
Shternbuch, Rosh Av Beis Din of the
Eidah Hachareidis of Yerushalayim.
•••••
INJECTIONS
OF FEAR
The Torah describes the mira-
cles that the Almighty performed
for the Jewish people in Mitzray-
im. First, Moshe Rabbeinu comes
before Paroh and his staff trans-
forms into a snake. After Paroh
downplays this sign, the Almighty
turns all of the water in Egypt
into blood. After that, He brings
a swarm of frogs into Mitzrayim.
Eight more plagues followed, each
one completely unique.
When we take a closer look at
these miracles, we might wonder
what the reason for them was. The
Egyptians were masters of sorcery,
and their magicians could do tricks
that appeared similar to some of
the miracles that the Almighty per-
formed. What was so special about
the makkos?
Miracles do not automatically
change the way people think.
While malachim are compelled to
serve their Master, man has free
choice. Every miraculous occur-
rence comes along with an alterna-
(Continued from Page 56)
pursuits and the love of luxury,
money, cars, vacations, televi-
sion, sports, entertainment, scan-
dal, lashon hara and emptiness,
the entire degrading lifestyle of
self advancement, in which the
highest ideal is to “get ahead,”
meaning ahead of the other per-
son, in order to destroy him so
that you in your pathetic attempt
at self-glorification can tell your-
self that you are “Number One”!
I know it sounds extreme, but
we have to consider what the To-
rah means when it informs us that
only twenty percent of the Bnei
Yisroel left Mitzrayim. Apparent-
ly, eighty percent did not want to
abandon the culture of Mitzrayim
even though that was their only
ticket to survival! There was no
other way, and so it seems to be
with us today.
The culture of Edom is not
our culture. Ours, lehavdil, is the
culture of constant service to the
King of Kings, constant study of
His Torah in order to live His To-
rah, constant dissemination of To-
rah to the entire world! There is
no room for the culture of Edom,
despite its apparent predomi-
nance.
And so we clean out the
chometz before Pesach. We clean
out every vestige of belief in
the alien culture which enslaves
us! We come to understand that
we are sustained only by what
7 Shevat 5770 • January 22 2010
that is experienced as a result of the
tive explanation, in order to give us
the choice to err in our assessment
of the situation.
Mitzrayim was a place where
many people knew enough mag-
ic to apparently manipulate the
course of nature. The Almighty’s
miracles alone did not shock the
Jewish people, and therefore did
not provide an immediate boost
for our faith. However, there was
an element of the makkos that
changed Klal Yisroel as a nation.
The Haggadah Shel Pesach tells
us that every miracle was accom-
panied by yad chazakah, a strong
hand, zeroyah netuyah, an out-
stretched arm, and morah gadol,
great fear. All of these phrases
describe the same thing: manifes-
tations of the Almighty’s awesome
might. Every miracle in Egypt was
accompanied by an “injection” of
fear of G-d, which caused these
wonders to have a huge impact
even on people who were accus-
tomed to seeing spectacular magic
tricks.
YIRAS SHOMAYIM
The Torah writes that those
Egyptians who feared the word
of the Almighty brought their ani-
mals in during the plagues. At first
glance, this posuk surprises us.
How is it possible that the Mitz-
riyim were G-d-fearing?
There is a distinct difference
between a person who is G-d-
fearing and someone who has yiras
Shomayim. An individual who is
G-d-fearing only retains that atti-
tude when the Divine Presence is
emanates from our Father in the
Shomayim! We cannot be freed
from slavery unless we realize
that our existence depends entire-
ly on Him!
This is not theory, my friends.
This is survival!
Our adherence to this mighty
Truth in the eyes of the entire
world is what is called Kiddush
Hashem! We exist to tell the
world that we are sustained only
by Avinu Malkeinu, our Father
and King!
My wife and I had the privilege
on the Shabbos of Parshas Sh-
emos to attend the Annual Presi-
dents’ Conference of Torah Ume-
sorah in Miami, Florida. It was a
large convention, held at a major
hotel, part of a worldwide chain.
Thousands of travelers and con-
ventions pass through these halls
(where I am writing at this very
moment). I want you to know
what the Convention Director of
this major hotel told the Torah
Umesorah staff. Please listen to
these words.
“We have never dealt with
more honest, pleasant and
straightforward people than you.
You have completely reversed our
expectation of what it would be
like to deal with an orthodox Jew-
ish organization.”
Do you hear these words!
Am Yisroel! A holy nation
upon the earth! “Who is like
Your people Israel, one nation on
the days of Moshiach.
the Almighty goes back to hiding
Himself, the G-d-fearing person
will forget all about Him.
Yiras Shomayim is a more subtle
concept. Someone who has yiras
Shomayim fears the Almighty at all
times, even when he is not expe-
riencing a revelation of His glory.
This exalted level can only be at-
tained by Klal Yisraoel and not by
the other nations of the world.
As we get closer and closer to
the coming of Moshiach, the Al-
mighty is revealing Himself with
greater frequency through open
miracles, catastrophic natural di-
sasters, and other demonstrations
of His infinite might. Those who
fear G-d are temporarily moved by
these displays of might, but quick-
ly revert to their old habits with the
passing of these incidents from the
headlines. Those who have yiras
Shomayim and are able to maintain
their feelings of awe in the long
Each person will find out how everything
that happened in his life was precisely designed
to serve his individual needs.
term will escape the tribulations of
chevlei Moshiach.
In the Birkas Hachodesh that
is recited in shul before Rosh Ch-
odesh, we mention yiras Shomayim
twice. One time we add yiras cheit,
fear of transgression, and once we
say yiras Shomayim, without any
additions. What is the difference
between these two descriptions?
These two descriptions refer to
the two different types of Divine
fear. Yiras Shomayim, by itself, re-
fers to an appropriate level of fear
earth!” (Shabbos Mincha Shem-
oneh Esreh, Shmuel II 7:23).
My friends, it is all about Kid-
dush Hashem. It is our job to
demonstrate to the world what it
means to cleave with all our hearts
and souls to the Ribono Shel
Olam, the Ruler of the Universe.
If we cling to His Torah with fi-
ery devotion, then we can hope to
participate with the greatest sim-
cha in the coming of Moshiach
ben Dovid, who will liberate us
from all tzouris and usher in the
era of everlasting happiness and
kedushah for the entire world.
May we soon eat the Korban
Pesach and consume our matzoh
in purity as we gather in sanctity
around the Bais Hamikdosh in the
coming days, when “Torah will
go forth from Zion and the Word
of G-d from Yerushalayim” (Ye-
shaya 2:3).
•••••
Roy Neuberger’s third book,
“2020 Vision” (Feldheim Pub-
lishers), is available at all Jew-
ish book stores. Roy is also the
author of “From Central Park
To Sinai: How I Found My Jew-
ish Soul,” and “Worldstorm:
Finding Meaning & Direction
Amidst Today’s World Crisis.”
From Central Park To Sinai has
just been released in Hebrew by
Feldheim Publishers in Israel as
“M’Manhattan El Har Sinai.”
Roy can be reached at roy@tosi-
nai.com or at www.tosinai.com.
YATED NE’EMAN
Divine Presence being revealed.
However, yiras cheit is a constant
sense of awe that can only come
from Torah study and working to
internalize the level that we reach
when seeing and contemplating the
Almighty’s miracles.
IMMUNE TO FEAR
There was one person who did
not receive an injection of fear
when observing the miracles. The
Almighty hardened Paroh’s heart,
allowing him to see things at face
value. Consequently, these spec-
tacular demonstrations of Divine
power did not move him. For him,
these miracles were no different
than any of the other magic tricks
that his sorcerers performed daily.
This is a typical reaction of a ra-
sha when shown the truth. Instead
of admitting the error of his ways,
he stands firm in his foolishness.
This can lead him to act illogically
and against his own best interest.
During World War II, the great
rasha, Hitler yemach shemo vezi-
crono showed us just such behav-
ior. The Allies were advancing on
the Germans, and the army asked
him for more trains to carry sup-
plies to the front, rather than trans-
porting Jews to their death in the
camps. Seemingly, this was a very
logical request, for supplies were
essential in their bid to regain the
upper hand in the war.
Hitler responded with great
fury: “Don’t you realize how im-
portant it is to rid the world of the
Jews?” Even as he was witnessing
his own destruction unfolding, his
passion for evil blinded him to his
own folly.
THE END OF DAYS
In Mitzrayim, the Almighty
performed miracles that clearly
showed that only He controls the
world. Seeing these displays of Di-
vine might instilled yiras Shamay-
im into the Jewish people. Yet this
pales in comparison to the clarity
and fear that we will experience in
“I took you [Klal Yisroel] to be
My nation, and I manifested My-
self as Elokim to you, I am Hashem
Elokim.” Sometimes the Almighty
shows Himself to the world as
Elokim, i.e. strict justice. In other
instances, we see Him as Hashem,
as He sends us overflowing mercy
and kindness.
On the surface, this world pres-
ents itself to us as a mixture of
Divine justice and mercy. Why
are some people poor and others
wealthy? Why are some gifted
and others lacking in intelligence?
Why do some have an easy life and
others suffer? These are some of
the many questions that we often
ask when trying to comprehend G-
d’s ways in this world.
Yet, as the posuk tells us, “Hash-
em Elokeichem is true.” In reality,
there is absolutely no contradic-
tion between the Divine attribute
of mercy and that of strict justice.
The two abide together in complete
harmony, even though we are not
expected to understand this. There
is no “good” or “bad,” only truth.
Rav Chaim Brisker said that
in the End of Days, the Almighty
will answer these questions. Each
person will find out how every-
thing that happened in his life was
precisely designed to serve his in-
dividual needs. At that moment,
every individual will experience
great trepidation when he sees how
he squandered many of the op-
portunities that the Almighty gra-
ciously offered him.
As we read these parshiyos in
the Torah, we can learn from the
Almighty’s actions what is in store
for us at the End of Days. Now we
can prepare ourselves, to ease the
shock that will surely come. May
those days come soon, and may we
be prepared adequately to experi-
ence the joy that will accompany
them.
•••••
Rabbi Travis is a rosh kollel
of Kollel Toras Chaim in Yerush-
alayim, and is the author of
Shaylos U’Teshuvos Toras Chaim
and “Praying With Joy - A Daily
Tefilla Companion,” a practi-
cal daily guide to improving
one’s prayers, available from
Feldheim Publishers. For more
information about his work,
contact dytravis@actcom.com.
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