Parshas Beshalach
14 maamarim of the tzaddikim on this week's reading, each in Hebrew and English with a takeaway.
Lehavas David
Rav Dovid Matisyohu Rabinowitz ›Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzFaith through the Tzaddik: Shabbos Shirah and Tu BiShvatRaising our hands to Hashem means remembering that even what we accomplish with our own hands comes from Him, and that faith is what defeats the doubts of Amalek. Such faith…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzTaking Yosef Along: Remembering the Tzaddik's HolinessMoshe's wisdom was to keep Yosef “with him,” so that the departed tzaddik would go on teaching beside the living leader. We keep our tzaddikim with us in the same way, by doing…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzWith an Uplifted Hand: Faith in Our Own DeedsThe hardest place to keep our faith is in the work of our own hands, where it is easy to think that “my strength and the might of my hand” brought success. At the Exodus Israel…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzPraying for Heaven's Honor: Silence That Brings SalvationWhen we are in trouble our prayers naturally turn to our own needs, and such prayers can meet accusers in Heaven. Moshe's lesson at the sea is to pray for “Hashem's salvation,”…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzSelf-Sacrifice Below Draws Miracles AboveThere are moments when prayer alone is not enough, and Hashem asks us to step forward with mesirus nefesh, as Nachshon stepped into the sea and Yosef stood firm against…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzSaved “On That Day”: Kindness Splits the SeaAt the sea Hashem saved us not by strict justice but because we had bound ourselves together to be kind to one another, and Yosef's kindness to the brothers who had sold him…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzSong from the Heart: Teshuvah Out of LoveSong that rises by itself comes from a heart that has truly seen Hashem's miracle, and such seeing turns teshuvah out of fear into teshuvah out of love, which makes even sins into…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzKindness Below Opens the Sea AboveHashem treats us as we treat one another, like a shadow that follows every move. At the sea Israel stood under judgment, yet the sea split because Bnei Yisrael had bound…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu Rabinowitz“My Father's God”: Faith Seen and Faith ReceivedMost of us do not see Hashem's hand as Israel saw it at the sea; our faith comes by hearing, handed down from parents and teachers all the way back to Sinai. Yet even those who…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzThe Faith of Our Fathers Holds FirmEven when Bnei Yisrael saw Hashem so clearly at the sea that they could point and say “This is my God,” they chose to lean on “the God of my father” as well, because understanding…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzNot the Beginning of Holiness: Humility and Our Fathers' MeritWhen we grow in Torah, prayer or faith, the urge to say “I did this” is the very “I” that blocks holiness, and Rashi teaches us to begin from “not I.” Whatever we attain was…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzHearing Deeply: Hashem the Healer Who Prevents IllnessThe verse asks us to hear the Torah as Yisro heard, taking the words deep into the heart, and to keep the mitzvos with attention to their inner intent, going beyond the letter of…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzHands That Do: Defeating Amalek through Torah LivedAmalek does not mind if we learn; he wants our learning to stay in our heads and never reach our hands, and he tells us that our deeds mean nothing before Hashem. The answer is to…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzMaking Handles for Torah to Defeat AmalekAmalek's war is against our actual keeping of the mitzvos, and each of us carries something of Amalek inside. We fight him not only with Torah and mitzvos themselves but with the…