tis, Hashem’s personal involvement
They understood that the
Surviving the Darkness
Practical Advice to Bring Light to theoGalus
By Rav Moshe Shternbuch
The following was written by Rab-
bi Daniel Yaakov
Travis based on a
drasha given on
leil Shabbos by Rav
Moshe Shternbuch,
Rosh Av Beis Din of
the Eidah Hacha-
reidis of Yerusha-
layim.
•••••
DARKNESS
BEFORE DAWN
The Rambam writes that the origi-
nal idol worshipers believed in Hash-
em. They felt that it was beyond G-d’s
dignity to converse with Him directly;
rather, one should worship the forces
of nature, which are His servants.
Hashem was still considered the ruling
power of the universe.
Amaleik introduced a completely
new philosophy to the world. They
claimed that although there is a Divine
power, He is completely above this
world. G-d has absolutely nothing to
do with human life, and His existence
in no way affects us.
The great gaon, Rav Yehoshua Leib
Diskin, said that, in truth, Amaleik’s
philosophy is completely irrational.
Everything has a creator, so certainly
the world, which is the most complex
aspect of existence, must have a maker
as well. Hashem made room for such
unfounded philosophies to be pos-
sible by creating a special entity in this
world called apikorsis, which, largely
by way of faulty logic and rationaliza-
tion, allows one to deny His role.
The Zohar reveals that as we get
deeper and deeper into the golus, Ama-
leik’s ideology gets stronger and stron-
ger. Their philosophy of removing G-d
from our lives is becoming more and
more accepted, and they seem to be
plunging the world into ever-thicker
darkness. Why does Hashem let Ama-
leik’s power grow stronger daily?
On the day that the Almighty choos-
es to end the golus, the truth will be
revealed. In order for the light of this
revelation to make the strongest im-
pact, He must temporarily plunge the
world into a state of darkness. The
thicker the darkness, the greater the
light will be when the golus finally
concludes.
The closer we get to that day, the
more acute the danger of being mis-
led by the darkness becomes. During
these times, we must take special mea-
sures to ensure that we survive this in-
terim period. What can we do to make
sure that we will merit seeing the great
light that is in store for us?
TAKING REFUGE
IN THE DESERT
For forty years, the Jewish people
lived in a desert. During this time, they
survived miraculously, eating monn
and drinking water from the be’er of
Miriam. Why was it so crucial that
Klal Yisroel experience this?
In order to remove the influences of
Amaleik and all of the other nations
we’d encountered, Hashem isolated us
21 Shevat 5770 • February 5 2010
main aspect.
from the rest of the world. For forty
years, we existed as a separate nation
with almost no contact from outside
influences. In this way, Hashem puri-
fied the Jewish people.
Klal Yisroel had just witnessed the
ten makkos, seen the sea split, and
were being provided for miraculously.
Yet, with all of this direct Divine inter-
Only through complete isolation could Klal Yisroel maintain
their state of elevation.
action, Hashem feared that seeing the
outside world would push the Jewish
people away from the truth of Torah.
Only through complete isolation could
Klal Yisroel maintain their state of el-
evation.
The Rambam writes (Dei’os, Ch.
6), “A person is naturally drawn af-
ter his environment… Therefore, he
should befriend the righteous, and
live amongst chachomim in order to
learn from their actions, and distance
himself from evil people… If he can-
not live amongst righteous people, he
should flee to the desert.”
In today’s world, where the influ-
ence of Amaleik is so great, would the
Rambam obligate everyone to uproot
from their place of residence to move
to the desert? Rav Chaim Brisker
said that, practically speaking, a per-
son does not have to move. However,
when surrounded by heresy, he must
rid himself of as many outside influ-
ences as possible in order to create a
lifestyle as if he were living in a desert.
Sending our children to yeshivos
and seminaries is a crucial first step to
ensure that they get the right chinuch.
However, this is not enough. We should
try to do everything in our power to
prevent our children from coming into
contact with certain friends and other
influences who will pull them away
from Torah.
SEEING HASHEM
“I will surely sing to Hashem... He
threw the horse and its rider into the
sea” (Shemos 15:1).
The Shiras Hayam starts off by
praising Hashem’s actions regarding
the treatment of the Egyptian soldiers
and their horses. Seemingly, the main
miracle that took place was the split-
ting of the sea. Why are the horses and
their riders such a crucial aspect of the
shirah?
Seeing the Almighty’s hand through
open miracles is a powerful revelation
of His awesome glory. However, this
experience does not leave a lasting
impression on one’s life. Only by in-
ternalizing that Hashem directs every
aspect of our lives can we live with
His Presence and develop a constant,
lasting relationship with Him.
Watching the sea open up in front of
the entire Jewish people was certainly
one of the greatest miracles in the his-
tory of the world. Yet, the awareness
that the Almighty dealt individually
with each and every soldier and horse
in the Egyptian army - the powerful
army of Mitrzayim, delivering pre-
cise measurements of retribution to
each one, teaches us Hashgacha Pro-
YATED NE’EMAN
with His people and their affairs. This
makes a stronger impression, for such
awareness allows us to recognize the
Almighty in our daily living, when we
do not usually see open miracles.
In general, one needs the merit of
the tzibbur to consider one’s actions
significant. When it comes to recog-
nizing Hashem’s Hashgacha Protis,
Klal Yisroel sang the shirah in the sin-
gular to show that every person’s indi-
vidual recognition is powerful.
For this reason, the women only
sang this initial line of the shirah (see
15:21). While the men were able to
notice and appreciate all of the mir-
acles that were taking place around
them and thus sing a longer shirah,
the women were able to focus on the
At the Shabbos Table
with Rabbi Juravel
By Rabbi Dovid Juravel
Someone once commented, “All
the sciences are nothing. Only To-
rah counts.” Rav Shimon Schwab
replied, “That means to say that
Torah is simply better than noth-
ing? Say, rather, that all the sci-
ences are great, but Torah is even
greater!”
In describing the greatness of
Torah, the Chazon Ish told of
several incidents involving the
Chofetz Chaim.
The Ponovezher Rov was once
standing on line, waiting his turn
to see the Chofetz Chaim. Sud-
denly, he saw someone walk to
the front of the line and go into
the Chofetz Chaim’s room ahead
The Chazon Ish demonstrated how great one can become
through toiling in Torah.
of his turn. The man spoke to
the Chofetz Chaim for nearly an
hour. The Ponovezer Rov figured
that the man must be important if
the Chofetz Chaim allowed him
to go first. When the stranger left,
the Ponovezer Rov greeted him
with a “Shalom aleichem” and
the stranger returned the greeting.
Later, the Rov asked the Chofetz
Chaim who that man was. The
Chofetz Chaim replied, “You
saw him? Did you give him Sha-
lom aleichem? Did he return your
greeting? Then you were zoche…
The man was Eliyahu Hanovi!”
Both the Chofetz Chaim and the
Ponovezer Rov merited seeing Eli-
yahu Hanovi.
A second incident occurred with
Rav Nochumke of Horodno. Rav
Nochum would seclude himself
in shul. The Chofetz Chaim, who
was fifteen years old at the time,
wanted to know what the tzaddik
did after midnight, so he hid in the
shul to observe him. At midnight,
primary message of this miracle was
the Hashgacha Protis, Hashem’s in-
volvement in the minutest details of
our lives.
As Amaleik’s influence waxes,
Hashem’s presence in the world ap-
pears to be diminishing. In truth, this
is not so, and what we see is merely
an illusion so that the final revelation
should be greater. By separating our-
selves as much as possible from the in-
fluences of the outside world around us
and concentrating on Hashem’s Hash-
gacha Protis in our lives, we will merit
to see the light of Moshiach soon.
•••••
Rabbi Travis is a rosh kollel of Kollel
Toras Chaim in Yerushalayim, and
is the author of Shaylos U’Teshuvos
Toras Chaim and “Praying With Joy - A
Daily Tefilla Companion,” a practical
daily guide to improving one’s prayers,
available from Feldheim Publishers.
For more information about his work,
contact dytravis@actcom.com.
the tzaddik began learning Kab-
bolah and a pillar of fire appeared.
When Rav Boruch Ber Leibowitz
heard about the incident, he com-
mented, “It’s no great wonder that
a pillar of fire appeared when the
tzaddik Rav Nochum learned
Kabbolah. The wonder is that the
Chofetz Chaim could see it at age
fifteen.”
The third incident: A man was
always occupied with chessed.
People constantly came to his
house for help, and his family ob-
jected to their private life being
disturbed. They decided to ask
the Chofetz Chaim’s advice. The
Chofetz Chaim was at seudah sh-
lishis when the man came. The
moment he entered, the Chofetz
Chaim quoted the posuk, “May
only good and kindness pursue
me…” He then said, “Everyone
has problems pursuing him. Bet-
ter the problems be good and kind-
ness, rather than other problems.”
There are many such incidents
in which the Chofetz Chaim’s
ruach hakodesh was demonstrated
in addressing a problem before it
was even asked. Yet, when a dyb-
buk entered a woman and people
asked it why the Chofetz Chaim
was considered great in Shomay-
im, the dybbuk replied, “Because
of his Torah!” Torah outshone his
seeing Eliyahu Hanovi, the pillar
of fire, and his ruach hakodesh.
The Chazon Ish demonstrated
how great one can become through
toiling in Torah. May we be zoche
to reach these elevated madreigos
•••••
To have Rabbi Juravel speak at
your function, call 646.320.3125.
Page 65