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The Ramban (ad loc.) explains that Bnei Yisrael heard and believed the good news of their impending liberation. The shortcoming was that the news failed to change their spirit. The Ramban compares the "short breath" to a suffering, sick person who is given treatment that will heal him, but he still cannot bear to live in the pain he is experiencing. Thoughts of a rosy future have difficulty breaking through his present state of mind. The "hard work," he explains, does not allow a person "to hear something and think about it." What is the difference between the two elements that prevent a person from being comforted by the forecast of a brighter future?
The first element is emotional. Sometimes someone is understandably not in the mood to be encouraged. He cannot just "snap out" of his anguish at the drop of a hat even with the best of news. However, there is a second element of thought. If one has time to think about the prospects for the future, his mind can gradually impact on his mood. In this case, Bnei Yisrael did not have the opportunity to begin the slower, mind-based process of thinking about that which they were told.
But the question begs: if Bnei Yisrael could not appreciate what they were told, why tell them? Many answers can be given, but let us concentrate on one that applies to us. The promise of a brighter future was designed not only for its "audience" at the time but for Jews throughout history to read, recite, and cherish. When our nation was in some of the darkest, most hopeless of times, we could remind ourselves that geula might be around the corner. When our heart’s first response was to discount the hope because of the depths of despair, the Torah’s response was that there were other times when Bnei Yisrael found it difficult to hope, but the geula did come. Borrowing the Ramban’s comparison, it is like a robust survivor of a terrible disease visiting the ward of sufferers. That can be more comforting than a doctor’s favorable prognosis.
This message can be useful in our times, when we feel the real pain of a not yet complete geula within the context of a geula process that has already begun to unfold. Not only in the national realm, but also in the personal one, many of us experience understandable fear, frustration, and outright pain, whether physical or emotional in origin. We should take the time to allow the positive turn of events of these parashiyot to help raise our spirits.
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
Rabbis in Midrash
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P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
