Praising Hashem and Smelling His Flowers

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January 27 2013
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I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for patriotism. I’ve admitted it before and I can’t get enough of the pageantry and history of a presidential inauguration, whether I voted for the president or not. I can remember back to elementary school when I was learning civics. I had a little pamphlet about the constitution and memorized the presidential oath. I knew immediately four years ago that Chief Justice Roberts erred in administering the oath. 

I’m the guy that’s watching C-Span hours before and after the swearing-in ceremonies, although this year was a problem since I had to work. But there are always midnight re-runs. Shout out for all of us who stay up until the wee hours to watch an inauguration parade!!! Yeah – I figured it’s just me.


One moment of the inauguration on Monday caught my attention, and I noticed that some of the media picked up on it as well. The newly-inaugurated president was leaving the stage erected for him on the west portico of the US Capitol and as he entered the building with his back to the throngs who waited in the cold to witness this historical occasion, he turned around and said, “Let me take one more look. I will never see this again.” And you can see exactly this on the video. He turns around and for about 10 or so seconds, just looks and takes it in.


What a moment for a man who was just sworn in again as the most powerful human on the planet. They say that a second term brings with it much introspection on the part of the incumbent. This may be a record for when that begins. But it was a profound moment.


Rav Soloveitchik asked an interesting question regarding the Song at the Sea, the shiras haYam (as transcribed from a public shiur in 1964 in “The Rav Thinking Aloud – Sefer Shmos” pp. 101). Praise is so associated with the splitting of the Sea – as recorded in this week’s parsha. Why do we not find the Children of Israel reciting shira when they left their centuries of bondage in Egypt?


Rav Soloveitchik pointed out that in Egypt, Hashem’s power was described as yad hachazakah His strong hand, while at the Red Sea, we do not find this description. Instead, we find Hashem’s providence noted as yad hagedolah, His large or great hand (see Shmos 14:31). What are we to learn from this distinction?


The Rav explained that yad hag’dolah connotes that it elevated those who experienced it. While the Jews in Egypt witnessed great miracles, they were not changed or transformed by them. They appreciated the liberation, but it was not transformational. But what the Jews witnessed and experienced on the banks of the Red Sea changed everything. Our sages relate that at the Red Sea, the maidservant saw greater prophecies than did Yechezkel and the greatest of our prophets. The Jews experienced God’s glory – the giluy shechinahat the Red Sea. When they saw the ‘great hand’ immediately afterwards, we see that they all ‘sang.’


Why the difference?


The Rav noted that the Jews were bystanders in Egypt. They witnessed the miracles but did not participate. But at the Sea, they participated, and even initiated the miracle. They were up to their noses in water prior to the splitting of the sea. Their mesirus nefesh – their willingness to risk it all for their faith – caused them to merit the great giluy shchinah that they experienced.


But don’t you think Moshe should have said something in Egypt? The Talmud relates (Sanhedrin 94a) that indeed Yisro was the first to offer praise to Hashem about the exodus; the sages believe this to be shameful. Even though this week’s shira precedes Yisro’s comments of next week, there is no mention of the exodus in the shiras haYam.


The shira doesn’t even talk much about the splitting; it talks about the glory of Hashem. It addresses the impact of the miracle. Moshe was moved to praise Hashem because, for the first time, he saw the nation of Israel inspired and transformed.


We are obligated to recite shira when we are moved.


What moves us?


It depends who you are.


The question we all need to ask ourselves is: are we seeking out inspiration? Are we looking to be moved? Are we chasing prophecy, seeking encounters with God which will blow us away? Are we only seeing the yad chazakah or do we pursue the yad hag’dolah?


When we become vested in what we do, we will begin to find these esoteric answers. For some, we can be moved by drama, literature, theatre, or ballet, the sheer accomplishments of others, or the thrill of victory. Stories of people overcoming obstacles are moving. For some it could be the miracles of nature – seeing the wonders of the world, or the daily miracles we often overlook.


The Jews merited greatness because they acted greatly. When we view a miracle with our eyes, we can be impressed. When we view a miracle with our hearts, we are inspired.


Tu Bishvat often falls out around parshas B’shalach; this year they actually coincide. While halachically the day serves merely as a place-marker to be able to quantify the age of a tree for tithing purposes, the kabbalists found great significance in the occasion. Tradition teaches that the sap begins to run again into the roots of the trees, our first signs of the upcoming spring. Here on the East Coast of the US it’s a bit hard to think of spring, but let’s note that today is exactly two months away from Pesach. So take that Punxsutawney Phil!


It’s a day when we pick up and plant – we act – and then we find inspiration in the wonders of God’s world of vegetation, which are able to renew themselves yearly. That sounds a lot like the yad Hagedolah, the great Hand of Hashem! Tu Bishvat is a day when we not only plant the flowers, but smell the flowers as well, so to speak.


I noticed three other events that occurred on the 15th of Shvat.


According to the tradition of the Bene Israel in India, today is the day that Eliyahu Hanavi ascended to heaven in a chariot. The Bene Israel celebrate today as the holiday of Eliyu Hanabicha Urus – the Fair of Elijah the Prophet. Second, the first Siyum HaShas of the Daf Yomi, fell out on February 2, 1931, the 15th of Shvat, 5691. Finally, I also noticed that the Knesset’s first session in its capital city Jerusalem opened on February 14th, 1949, corresponding to the 15th of Shvat 5709.  


History is not a coincidence. There is something special on all of these days. Every one of them fits into our definition. It’s an event that inspires us. Elisha’s moving response to his teacher and mentor being carried into the heavens is recorded for posterity in Tanach. It was the end of one era and the beginning of another. It was a winter that led to a spring.  The first conclusion of Shas with the Daf Yomi would be the first one without interruption from the hatred of the Third Reich and its ripple effect across Europe. This too must have moved the participants, especially Rabbi Meir Shapiro, Daf Yomi’s founder. It would be the only siyum he would attend as he lived only two more years after the siyum. And finally a Jewish parliament of an independent Jewish state meeting in the holy of city of Jerusalem must have been some moment – one that was worked for and one that was incredibly moving, inspiring and monumental for all those involved.


And an African American son of the Land of Lincoln on MLK Day, recognizing that his presidential career is closer to its end than its beginning, sought out inspiration, found inspiration and as a result inspired others.


May we continue to always seek out the yad hagedolah of Hashem, which will inspire us to always continue striving and knowing that the blossoms of spring are born in the depths of the winter.

Parsha:

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Why do we find Shira after the splitting of the sea, but not upon the exodus from Egypt?

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    Learning on the Marcos and Adina Katz YUTorah site is sponsored today by Judy & Mark Frankel & family l'ilui nishmos מרדכי בן הרב משה יהודה ע"ה and משה יהודה ז"ל בן מאיר אליהו ויהודית