For the Ilui Neshama of Avraham ben Ester ZT’L.
From Rav Ovadya’s Halacha Yomit e-mail.
"ויסעו מרפידים יובאו מדבר סיני ויחנו במדבר ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר"
שמות יט:ב
They joruneyed from Rephidim, and they arrived in the desert of Sinai, and they encamped in the desert, and Israel encamped there opposite the mountain.
The Or HaHaim, Rav Haim Ben Atar ZT’L, asks a simple
question from the event of Har Sinai in the Torah. It says “…they encamped in
the desert, and Israel encamped there opposite the mountain.” Why does the
Pasuk repeat the same information twice? It also says this information before
that Israel reached the desert in another Pasuk (verse)?!
The Or HaHaim continues to explain that this Pasuk teaches
us three main pillars of Torah and having the Torah become part of our lives.
The first one lies in the beginning of the Pasuk, “VaYisu MeRephidim,” They journeyed from Rephidim. Before Matan
Torah, the giving of the Torah, Am Yisrael were lazy and weak from work.
However; the giving of the Torah was only a short amount of time away. What did
they do? They overcame this laziness and difficulty and fixed their character
and middot to get pumped and excited for Shavuot by learning Torah in a strict
and serious matter. Even though they were in such a difficult and weak
situation, they overcame this time by putting out of the ordinary exemplary
effort into their studies and they journeyed
out of Rephidim, out of a state of riphion,
meaning weakness.
The second state one needs to work on is reaching a level of
encamping in the desert. This means
Am Yisrael became one with the desert. The desert symbolizes ultimate modesty.
Everyone walks on the desert, it is a place where no one owns anything and
feels they are in charge, because Torah rests upon people with modesty and runs
away from people with Ga’ava (pride
that blocks Hashem out of the picture). Therefore the Torah was given by Moshe
Rabbeinu, the most modest of all and on the smallest Har (mountain, Sinai).
And the most important and final lesson we learn from this
powerful pasuk, especially before entering Shabbat Kodesh and Yom Tov, is the
power of VaYichen Sham Am Yisrael,
which means Israel encamped… which is said in individual Hebrew (meaning in a
single form). This showed the Achdut
(unity) and the power of Am Yisrael to accept so much Ruchniyut and Shefa
(spiritual power and energy) from shamayim ONLY WHEN WE ARE UNIFIED.
Rav Ovadya shlit’a’s email ends with a blessing of how
praised we are to unite and go together to the Batei Midrash to learn and make
Hashem happy on such a holy night. Just like 3,324 years ago Am Yisrael were
modest, thanked Hashem for whatever reality they were facing, and were united
so too we will be the same to have the Shechina (Divine Presence) rest upon us
and have the privelige to receive the Keter
Shel Torah (Crown of Torah).
Especially when
Shavuot follows Shabbat BaMidbar.
Shabbat Shalom &
Hag Sameah!
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