VOLUME 119 NUMBER 2
Teves 27, 5786
January 16, 2026
Parshas Vaeira
Candlelighting Time 4:43
Although Moshe complained to Hashem that the people were suffering terribly under Pharoah’s enslavement, his concern was that the nation was undergoing pain and agony that was too much. He was reprimanded for his protest and Hashem explained to him the process which they were going through. The original covenant, the pact Hashem had made with Avrohom hundreds of years earlier was now to be fulfilled. The people were soon to be released from bondage and merit settling in the Land of Israel. That was of course the plan from the onset but as we know circumstances did not allow that to happen yet. However, Moshe was informed that they were leaving Egypt and would shortly receive the Torah. Was it essential to notify them of the pending receiving of the Torah and their eventual settling in the Land of Israel. Wouldn’t it have been sufficient to let them know that they are truly leaving Egypt, the most decadent civilization in the world at that time and their cause of misery and travail.
Chasam Sofer explains that our Sages teach us that we merit Torah and the Land of Israel through enduring acute difficulties. Hashem was accomplishing His guarantee of giving the Torah and the Land of Israel to us with this progression. We were not subject to the intense torment of the servitude in Egypt without a tremendous plan involved. As grueling as it was, so wonderful and fabulous would the eventual purpose of this taxing and demanding chapter in our development as a nation would be.
Torah demands an all-embracing and inclusive dedication and loyalty. The length and breadth of Torah is extensive and wide-ranging. Devotion to such a vast and enormous responsibility necessitates steadfastness and allegiance of the highest degree. We had been enslaved without a moment to think or breathe and yet we survived and marched out of Egypt free of that captivity and groomed and equipped to assume such an immense mission. This is what our Sages meant that Torah entails arduous hurdles in order to merit that gift from Hashem.
The Land of Israel is not just a place to live and enjoy the beauty of the scenery. It is an opportunity to dwell in the palace of the King, Hashem. His presence is omnipresent there and when we reside there we have that fortune to live ‘side by side’ with Hashem and realize His beneficence in a manner unlike anywhere else in the world. However, to realize that potential requires preparation to understand our relationship to Hashem in a mode of thinking in a different manner than one who is not focused on that bond. It is possible to live in the Land of Israel and not reflect upon its true reality. And that line of demarcation is predicated upon the perspective of the individual. The person who desires to enhance and develop his connection to Hashem will view his settling in Israel in one way while another person may view his being in Israel with a absolutely disparate acumen. When we left Egyptian suppression as servants of Hashem we were clearly set upon a path that would bring us to the Land of Israel in the best possible manner.
A BYTE FOR SHABBOS
The Torah states that the people didn’t listen to Moshe because of the pressure of their working endlessly for Pharaoh. Possibly their mindset could have been not so focused because of their sense of agony that they could not serve Hashem properly. However, that was not the case and despite that their focus was not so intent upon that objective Hashem still extricated them from Egypt because of the covenant that He had made with Avrohom. We are always connected to Hashem. K’SAV SOFER
GOOD SHABBOS
