Beshalach 5642 תרמ”ב
במדרש שוט לסוס כו’. דדרש לשון ויהי. דאיתא בעשרה מאמרות נברא העולם כו’ כדי להפרע מרשעים וליתן שכר טוב לצדיקים. והיינו עשרה מכות שנפרע פרעה הרשע. ושכר לצדיקים היא התורה עשרת הדברות שהיא שכר טוב לצדיקים. כמ”ש לקח טוב נתתי. ומב’ אלו יש כבוד שמים כמ”ש חז”ל כשם שקילוסו של הקב”ה עולה מפי הצדיקים בג”ע. כן קילוסו עולה מפי הרשעים שבגיהנם. וכן בפרעה נתקיים ואכבדה בפרעה. עכ”ז אין רצונו ית’ בזה הדרך. רק בדרך הצדיקים כמ”ש במדרש בראשית במי חפץ כו’ ע”ש. לכן כ’ ויהי. כי מקודם הי’ נקמה במצרים להוציא את בנ”י. אח”כ הי’ קצת תיקון שנגמר מה שהי’ המכוון להיות נגלה כבוד שמים ע”י איבוד הרשעים כמ”ש ואכבדה כו’. ולכן אח”כ בשירה נזכרו. אמר אויב ארדוף כו’. היינו שהי’ להם תיקון מה. ע”י שנתרבה כבוד שמים. שהוא הקילוס מן הרשעים. וע”ז הי’ ענין קי”ס גמר המכוון של עשרה מכות כנ”ל. ודבר זה נוהג בפרט כל איש ישראל ג”כ. הגם שנכשל כמה פעמים. אח”כ כשמתקן דרכיו. נותן שבח גם על מה שעבר. ונתרבה כבוד שמים גם מימי הרעה. עכ”ז אין המבוקש כך. וע”ז דרשו שוט לסוס כו’ ושבט לגו כסילים. כי המשכיל מיישר דרכיו מתחלתו ובזה בחר ה’:
The Midrash (see Shemos Rabbah 20:1) quotes the pasuk (Mishlei 26:3), “A whip for a horse…” The Midrash explains why the word ויהי is used (which usually connotes a time of distress). The Mishnah (Avos 5:1) explains that the reason why the world was created with Ten Utterances is to punish the wicked who destroy the world created with Ten Utterances and to give extra reward to the righteous who give the world created with Ten Utterances existence. This punishment given to the wicked was manifested in Pharaoh with the ten plagues. Conversely, the good reward – טוב that was given to the righteous is the Torah – the Ten Commandments (which parallel the ten plagues) which we subsequently received. It is the Torah which is also referred to as טוב.
It is through both the righteous and the wicked that Hashem is praised, as our sages explain (Shemos Rabbah 7:4): just as the righteous in Gan Eden praise Hashem, so too Hashem is praised through the wicked in Gehinom. Simalarly, it was through Pharaoh that Hashem became more glorified, as it states (Shemos 14:4), “And I will become honored because of Pharaoh.” Nevertheless, Hashem does not want to become glorified through the wicked in this manner; rather, He wants it to be only through the righteous, as the Midrash Bereishis (Rabbah 2:5) states: Hashem wants the actions of the righteous, and not those of the wicked. It is therefore because Hashem was being glorified due to the wicked, which is not ideal, that the word ויהי – which connotes distress – is used.
Now originally in Mitzrayim, Hashem punished the Egyptians with the Ten Plagues; this was a form of vengeance and a way to get Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim. Yet afterwards, there was some form of reparation for the insult that Mitzrayim did to Hashem, when the original intention of Hashem came about at the splitting of the sea, and the Glory of Hashem was revealed through the destruction of the wicked, as the pasuk (Shemos 15:9) states, “And I will become honored through Pharaoh.” It is for this reason that the wicked are mentioned in the song of the Sea, as it states, “The enemy said: I will chase, etc.” This shows that there was a level of reparation through the destruction of the wicked. Through all this, we can see how the splitting of the sea was really the end of the exodus from Mitzrayim.
This is something that we also encounter on an individual level. Even though a person may stumble several times in sin, when he does repair his ways, he gives praise on the past too, and the glory of Hashem is even greater because of the bad days (for they led a person to do teshuva and spurred him to greater heights). Nevertheless, this is not the ideal situation; Hashem’s glory should ideally come about only from good, not from bad. This is the idea that our Sages taught on the pasuk (Mishlei 26:3), “A whip for a horse and bridle for a donkey, and a rod for the back of dullards.” For a person who is wise will straighten his way from the start (and not need all the punishments) and by doing so demonstrate his devotion to Hashem.
בפסוק ולקטו דבר יום ביומו כו’ אנסנו הילך בתורתי. כי התורה היא התחדשות לגמרי. דאין כל חדש תחת השמש. והתורה למעלה מהשמש. אמנם כ’ מחדש בכל יום מ”ב. ונוכל למצוא קצת התחדשות בעולם הזה ג”כ. לכן כ’ אין כל חדש. דמשמע קצת התחדשות יש. וכפי מה שמעלין הטבע בהשורש. ומעוררין קצת התחדשות. זוכין אח”כ לתורה. לכן הקדימו חז”ל ברכת יוצר ומעריב ערבים לברכת אהבה. שהוא ענין ב’ התחדשות הנ”ל כמ”ש במ”א. וזה דבר יום ביומו הוא התחדשות שהקב”ה מחדש בכל יום כנ”ל. והוא הכנה לתורה:
The Pasuk states that Bnei Yisrael were commanded to collect the manna each and every day (and not leave any over) as a test to see if they will follow the Torah. The idea here is that the Torah is entirely the idea of renewal, as it states that ‘There isn’t anything new under the sun’, yet the Torah is above the sun, and therefore at the source where there is a complete sense of renewal. Nevertheless, even in this world, we are able to find a bit of the sense of renewal, as it states, ‘He renews the world constantly in His Kindness.’ Therefore, the pasuk states there is’nt anything – כל new under the sun, yet the word כל also implies that there is something new in this world. Therefore, in as much as we uplift nature from its source, and we are able to awaken this concept of renewal somewhat, we subsequently merit to receive the Torah.
Therefore, in the order of the evening prayer, the bracha of Ma’ariv Aravim precedes the bracha of love of Hashem, for it is first through uplifting this world and connecting to the source that we are able to awaken this sense of renewal, as we have explained elsewhere. This, therefore, is the idea of collecting the manna every day (uplifting this world and connecting it to the source), which is the preparation to receive the Torah.
בפסוק ויבאו אלימה ושם י”ב עינות מים וע’ תמרים. כאשר ידוע סדרן של בנ”י. אבות. וי”ב שבטים. וע’ נפש. וס’ רבוא. וכאשר נגאלו ממצרים החזירו ממדרגה למדרגה לבחי’ ע’ וי”ב שבטים כנ”ל. והיו דבוקים בשורש. לכן כ’ ראו כי ה’ נתן לכם השבת. והוא מעלה גדולה שראו את השבת בעיניהם. וע”ז רמזו כי אם היו משמרים בנ”י שבת ראשונה. ראשונה דייקא. שהי’ במדרגה יתירה משבת שלנו. לא שלטה בהם אומה ולשון. ותוס’ מקשין דאין זה שבת ראשונה ע”ש. ויתכן לפרש על בחי’ ראשונה של השבת כנ”ל. ובשבת עתה צריכין שמירה כמ”ש הפורס סוכת שלום עלינו. אבל מקודם שבא עמלק הי’ בהתגלות. ויתכן לומר שרמזו חז”ל במדרש במשל ממלך והמלכה הבא ביניהם חייב מיתה. לומר ע”י שערבב עמלק הרשע את בחי’ שבת הקודם. לכן מחה אמחה כו’:
The pasuk states that Bnei Yisrael camped at Elim, where there were twelve wellsprings and seventy palm trees. It is well known that the order of Bnei Yisrael is first the forefathers, then the twelve tribes, then the seventy souls (that came down to Mitzrayim), and the 600,000 individuals of Bnei Yisrael. When Bnei Yisrael were redeemed from Mitzrayim, they returned through each state to the seventy and the twelve, bringing everything back to its source. Therefore, we can understand the significance of the commandment of Shabbos given at Elim, ‘See that Hashem has given you the Shabbos,’ signifying that they had attained a very high level where they could actually see the Shabbos. This idea is hinted at in the words of our sages (Shabbos 118b): if Bnei Yisrael would have guarded the first Shabbos, no foreign nation would have been able to control them. The significance here is on it being the first Shabbos, for that level of Shabbos was higher than the Shabbos we have; at that stage, there was no interference from any other foreign nation.
With this, we can answer the question that Tosafos (Shabbos 87b) asks: This was not the first Shabbos they had; there were others before? However, based on the above, we can explain that it is the idea of the ראשונה of Shabbos that they needed to guard. At that stage, the Shabbos was different and much more revealed, whereas our Shabbos’s need protection, as it states ‘He spreads a Sukkah of Shalom on us.’
This was all before Amalek came and interfered. The significance of Amalek’s interference at that stage is hinted at in the Midrash which states that it is compared to someone who stands between the king and queen, warranting the death penalty. Therefore, since Amalek confused and ruined the first Shabbos, they are charged with the promise of ultimate destruction – ‘I will surely wipe out the remembrance of Amalek.’
