CHAMISHOH MI YODEI'A - FIVE QUESTIONS ON THE WEEKLY SEDRAH - PARSHAS SHMOS 5770 - BS"D
1) Ch. 1, v. 12: "Va'yokutzu mipnei bnei Yisroel" - The M.R. on 1:8, "Va'yokom melech chodosh," states that once the bnei Yisroel discarded circumcision, the love and respect the Egyptians originally had for the bnei Yisroel turned to hatred, as is stated in T'hilim 105:25, "Hofach libom lisno amo," - Hashem turned their hearts to hate His nation. The gist of this chapter of T'hilim is to relate all the positive acts that Hashem did for the bnei Yisroel while they were in Egypt. However, these words seem to be out of character, as hatred brings about very negative consequences.
2) Ch. 1, v. 15: "Lamyaldos hoIvrios asher sheim ho'achas Shifroh v'sheim hasheinis Pu'oh" - How could only two midwives suffice for a nation of so many people?
3) Ch. 2, v. 5: "Va'tei'red bas Paroh lirchotz al ha'y'ore" - And the daughter of Paroh descended to wash by the river - The gemara Sotoh 12b says that "to wash" means that she cleansed herself of all idol worship. Why doesn't the gemara take these words at face value? After all, it was common to bathe in a river.
4) Ch. 2, v. 23: "Va'yomos melech Mitzrayim" - Rashi (M.R. 1:34) says that this is not to be taken literally, but rather, to mean that he was afflicted with leprosy. If so, why did the bnei Yisroel groan, as stated in this verse?
5) Ch. 4, v. 14: "Aharon ochicho haLevi" - Why was Aharon relegated to the status of Levi. Since he was the firstborn, should he not have been a Kohein?
ANSWERS:
#1
As long as the bnei Yisroel kept strong out of their own volition and lived in their own enclave of Goshen, there was no problem with the Egyptians respecting them. However, once the barriers began falling, there was a fear of mingling. Since Hashem wanted to make sure that there would be no erosion of the sanctity of His chosen children He put a feeling of hatred and disgust towards the bnei Yisroel into the Egyptians' hearts. This was indeed a great act of kindness from Hashem, thus fitting in with the rest of this chapter of T'hilim.
This phenomenon repeats itself throughout our history of living in exile after exile. Egypt was the prototype for this. Logically, if there is hatred for a foreign group of people within one's midst, with the passage of time it lessens, as the host nation acclimates itself to new and different cultures. As well, the immigrants quickly meld into the host-nation's societal norms. This breaks down pre-existing prejudices. However, with the bnei Yisroel nothing can be further from reality. As time goes by we see that hatred wells and builds up, even after hundreds of years of co-existence. This reaction is totally irrational, and can only be explained as the working of Hashem to safeguard the integrity of the Jewish nation, as is so succinctly expressed by the Lubliner Rosh haYeshivoh, Rabbi Meir Shapiro, "If a Yid does not know how to make Kiddush, i.e. keep his sanctity, then the gentile will make Havdoloh, i.e. will act in a way that creates a great social divide.
Just as Hashem appeared in His great glory, displaying His limitless power in Egypt, so too the final redemption will be heralded in with great miracles. As we await this great world climax we must remember that the more we behave as Yidden should, the less antagonism we will experience from the nations of the world. (Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh, Sfas Emes)
#2
Moshav Z'keinim answers that these two women, besides being midwives themselves, were also the head of a fleet of midwives who answered to them.
#3
In the next verse we see that when she happened upon a Jewish child, she had mercy upon him. This is not to be understood as per the dictum "halacha b'yodua sheEisov sonei l'Yaakov" (Sifri on parshas B'haalos'cho 9:10 brought in Rashi Breishis 33:4). From the fact that she had mercy upon Moshe we see that she was no longer an idol worshipper. (Rabbi Meyer haLevi Soloveitchik)
#4
It is because as a result of his affliction Paroh sought advice from his chartumim/dematologists who told him to bathe twice daily, each time in the blood of 150 Jewish children. Rabbi Eliyohu Mizrochi says, "If so, the verse should not have ended with the words 'min ho'avodoh,' - from the work, which indicates that they suffered from such difficult labour, but rather should have left these words out, as the moaning and groaning were a result of suffering from the slaughter of innocent young children." He offers no answer for his question.
The Proshas Drochim answers in the name of his uncle that when the bnei Yisroel felt the crush of the servitude they were close to being emotionally defeated. However, upon seeing the supernatural population explosion they took heart, realizing that the enslavement would be shorter-lived, as the total quota of servitude Hashem had in mind would be completed faster by a larger work force, and this in turn would hasten their redemption. However, once Paroh began slaughtering hundreds of children daily the number of people who would eventually work was diminished. To take up this slack the rest of the bnei Yisroel would have to be servants for longer, hence they groaned "min ho'avodoh," because of the extension of hard work.
#5
The Imrei Noam asks this and answers that his mother Yocheved had miscarried earlier. This is most puzzling. Why not simply say that Miriam was the firstborn? Although Daas Z'keinim explains that when the Torah says "bnei Aharon habchor Nodov" (Bmidbar 3:2), the intention is to say that Aharon is the firstborn, as evidenced by the "psik" mark after the word "habchor," nevertheless it only means the son born earlier than Moshe, but he is not a true firstborn. If so, the question raised by the Imrei Noam seems to not be problematic at all. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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