Parshas Beshalach 5777
Candle Lighting Time: 5:13 pm
February 10, 2017
Volume 13 Issue 13
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Dvar Torah

Jump To It
 By Rabbi Moshe Yosef Spiegel

In this week's parsha, we read that after the Bnei Yisroel went through the Yam Suf which G-d split for them, they were inspired to sing a song of praise and thanks. Among the praises they said, "Zeh Keli v'anvehu, This is my G-d and I will beautify Him". Targum on this passuk interprets, "And I will build a Temple for Him". What led Targum to understand it this way rather than the traditional interpretation of a general commitment to beautify the performance of mitzvos? Moreover, they weren't in a place suitable for building a Temple. In fact the actual construction of the permanent Temple was many hundreds of years away.
Among the answers given, one stands out as teaching us a powerful lesson in serving Hashem.
Klal Yisroel was at a point of intense emotion, feeling immense gratitude and love for their Creator. However, they felt that unless they did something concrete, the inspiration brought about through current events would wither and die over time. Being that they were in the wilderness, they knew they couldn't do anything then. So they decided to take a vow that when the opportunity arose they would build a Temple, a dwelling place for G-d.
A similar idea is found in next week's parsha. The passuk says, "And Yisro heard and came." Rashi asks, "What specifically did he hear that led him to leave his home and join the Jewish people? He heard about the splitting of the sea and the war with Amalek. The question is obvious, didn't everyone hear? In fact the passuk attests "All the nations heard and trembled"? If so, what was unique about the hearing of Yisro that spurred him to take action and travel immediately after hearing? The answer is, yes, everyone "heard", but Yisro internalized the message and immediately acted. By waiting, we risk allowing the inspiration to dissipate. The following are three stories that illustrate the point.
At Shalosh Seudos once in Volozhin, Reb Chayim of Volozhin was giving a passionate mussar talk about the purpose of this world and the way one can achieve its spiritual goals. One student was so inspired by the mussar that he immediately jumped up, ran to the bais hamedrash and spent many hours there. This was the beginning of a journey that led ultimately towards great spiritual development and the young man eventually became one of the leaders of his generation. However, in his haste to act upon his inspiration he forgot to say birchas hamazon.over his meal. Reb Chayim famously said, "surely it was incorrect for him to leave without first reciting birchas hamazon. But I do know that had he waited, the inspiration would have dissipated and the results would have been drastically different."
Another illustration of this point. It is told that once the secretary of the Chofetz Chaim's yeshiva in Radin came to the Chofetz Chayim with his face beaming. When the Chofetz Chaim's asked about this, he responded, "We received a donation in the mail today consisting of five hundred Rubel in cash" (a huge sum in those times). The Chofetz Chaim was uneasy with the situation and suspected a mistake. It was extremely strange for a sum of that size to go through the regular postal system. After some investigation they got in touch with the sender who told them it wasn't a mistake. He explained that he was involved in a very big business deal and promised that if the deal went well he would give a large sum to the Yeshiva. Upon the successful completion of the deal, he wished to carry out his promise however, secure post wasn't open until the morning. He was going to wait, but then he realized that if he waited he was giving himself time to regret his decision to give such a large sum and so he immediately put the money in an envelope and sent it by regular mail.
Finaly, a story is told of a shared grandfather of two cousins who passed away. The cousins wanted to do something special in his memory and their Rabbi suggested that they start a Shabbos Kollel. After working out the logistics they realized it would be many weeks before they could reasonably begin. When they told this to their Rabbi he said, "You must do your utmost to try and start this week no matter what. If you wait it will never happen." Seventeen years later this Kollel is still in existence, and its founders are sure they never would have gotten the kollel started had they waited.
There are many times that we feel a specific inspiration, but if we don't immediately act upon it, we run the risk of allowing it to subside and perhaps even dissipate entirely. Just as the Bnai Yisroel concretized their inspiration with a vow to build the Temple, we should similarly act during our times of inspiration.


 
Dvar Halacha
Laws of Borer part 4
By  Rabbi Yochanan Eskenazi

As we've discussed the last few weeks, the melachah of borer is only relevant if one is selecting an item from [at least] two types of foods or the like, which are mixed together. We explained last week that as a general rule foods and objects are not considered mixed unless they are intermingled or interspersed, embedded or attached, or absorbed or interfused. Therefore, we find many common cases of two items that are together yet are not considered a mixture, consequently being permitted to separate. The Sefer Shivisas Shabbos (11: ftnt. 25) rules that a large item in a liquid (e.g. an egg in water or a pickle in brine), even though they are physically attached to each other, are not viewed as mixed. However, small objects in liquid (e.g. an insect, croutons or cut up vegetables in soup), are considered mixed with the soup [according to many Poskim]. Similarly, if there is a small solid placed on a large solid, for example a piece of carrot atop of gefilte fish, each is viewed as a separate item and it would be permitted to remove the carrot.
However, even with large items, if they are placed in such a way that they are viewed as mixed, and intermingled with each other, it would constitute a mixture (Rama 319:3 & Mishneh Berurah 319:14). Therefore, a pile of seforim stacked in a non-orderly fashion, or many pieces of fish interspersed one on top of the other, would be considered mixed since that is as how they appear to be. However, if there are only two seforim or two large pieces of fish, they do not appear mixed and would be permitted to sort (Sefer Mishnas Hashabbos pg. 58).
Different foods that are all together on one plate but not touching each other, is questionable whether to consider them a mixture, however, cutlery or plates on the table are certainly not considered mixed (Orchos Shabbos 3:17-18). Generally speaking, silverware is not considered mixed with food, since they are completely different things and people do not usually view them as "together." Therefore, at the end of a meal if there is left over food and dirty silverware remaining on the plate, it will not be considered a mixture, and one can remove either one even though it is not being used immediately. If, however, the food completely covers and encompasses the cutlery, one should considered it mixed (Orchos Shabbos 3:20).  The same would apply for instance if silverware falls into a garbage can: if it is still on top, people do not consider it mixed and therefore it is permitted to remove it. If, however, it was completely covered by garbage, etc., one would only allowed to remove it if one takes the silverware for immediate use (Orchos Shabbos 3: ftnt. 12).

 

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