EXOD35 See [[EXOD25]] Exodus 1:17 feared AHAVCH 25

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD36 See [[EXOD29]] Exodus 2:3 Nile OXFORD 90-1

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD37 If you become aware that blockages obstruct your heart, then one Mussar approach is to try to identify sole-traits that are the sources of the fear and clutching and to work on these specific qualities, rather than directly on [the trait of] generosity itself. Another approach applies more for people whose hearts are being enslaved to ego, where the inner voice says, how can I give when I don't even have enough for me? Here you might cultivate a sense that what you do for others is actually a great gift to yourself. No one loses. Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv, the founder of the Kelm school of Mussar, wrote his book Chochmah u'Mussar [Wisdom and Mussar] just for the purpose of explaining how bearing the burden of the other is a profound spiritual practice. "We have spoken about this bearing the burden of the other many times," he writes. "This is the most inclusive of the attributes." He brings as his example the story of Moses, who began his spiritual journey toward becoming the greatest of prophets by responding to the suffering he saw around him, from which he had been insulated by living in Pharaoh's palace. "He saw their suffering," the Torah tells us, and what he felt had a formative impact on his soul.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD39 See [[EXOD15]] Exodus 1:17 feared AHAVCH 25

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD38 … one should be zealous on God's behalf against sinners and evildoers--to war with them and chastise them--as our Rabbis of blessed memory have said (Sanhedrin 81b: "If one cohabits with an Aramean woman, zealots may strike him down." Moshe was zealous on God's behalf against the Egyptian, as it is written [this verse]: "And he smote the Egyptian." And so we find with Eliyahu, who said (I Melachim 19:10): "I have been zealous on behalf of Hashem, the God of hosts, for the Children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant." And it is so written of Pinchas (Bemidbar 25:11): "Because he was zealous for My sake in their midst." And the Blessed One rewarded him for this, as it is written (ibid.: 12): "Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace" and it is written (Devarim 1:17): "Do not be afraid of any man." One who fears the Blessed One will give his life for the sanctification of His name, as it is written (Shemos 32:26): "Whoever is for Hashem, let him come to me; and all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him." And it is written (Bemidbar 25:7): "And Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aharon the Priest saw, and he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand." All who fear Hashem and who are pure of heart are duty-bound to stir a zealousness on behalf of Hashem when they see "the hands of the princes and rulers in crime." Our Rabbis of blessed memory have said (Bereshis Rabbah 26:5): "Any breach which is not made by the great is not called a breach, as it is written (Ezra 9:2): 'And the hands of the princes and the rulers were in this crime first.'"

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD42 Moses' daring achievements save the Jewish people. He is impulsive enough to kill an abusive Egyptian taskmaster who won't stop beating a Hebrew slave [this verse]. He is undaunted by the power of Pharaoh, as great a king as the world had known, and he is strong-willed enough to lead the rebellious Jewish people out of Egypt to freedom (Exod. 5-12). Even God's fierce anger does not stop of Moses from trying to change God's "mind." How astonishing, then, is the Torah's description of him: "Moses was exceedingly humble, more so than any other man on earth" (Num. 12:3). What specifically prompts the Torah's mention of Moses's humility is his response--more accurately, his lack of response--to Miriam and Aaron's personal attack on his wife (Num. 12:1). The narrative tells us that Moses says and does nothing to retaliate. He remains remarkably passive to his sibling' denunciations. For someone with his history of explosive outbursts, such behavior is completely unanticipated. Bahya b. Asher tells us that Moses's "exceeding" humility was caused by his unwavering focus on his goal, shalom bayit, the family harmony so esteemed by our tradition (Kad Hakemah). Of all the praiseworthy qualities he possesses, it is Moses as the model family man that the Bible chooses to honor for his personal code of anavah.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD40 Finally, what is the nature of the individual, the community, and the purpose of life as described in Judaism’s Exodus-Sinai story? We do not hear much about individuals; they seem to be glossed over in favor of the People Israel as a whole. We read though, that Moses risks his life and position to save a Hebrew slave, (Exodus 2:12) thus indicating the inherent worth of each person regardless of status. Similarly, later Jewish tradition has a dampen our joy at the Israelites’ release, quoting God as saying to the angels, “My children are drowning in the sea, and you are singing songs?” (B. Megillah 10b). Since then, we diminish our cup of joy at the Seder table by extracting one drop of wine for each of the plagues that the Egyptians had to suffer. Non-Jews as well as Jews have inherent, divine worth. ... The emphasis in the biblical story, though, is on God's covenantal relationship with the People Israel. We leave Egypt, we cross the sea, we stand at Sinai, and we marched toward the Promised Land all as a group. Moreover, the Torah revealed at Sinai speaks to us as a community, and its punishments and rewards, therefore, are those that applied to a community-- rain or drought, victory or defeat in battle, and so on. (For example, Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 11:13-25, 28). God's covenant is also with the People Israel as a whole, and the goal is to make them “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6) Thus later Jewish sources would have us see our own individual actions as adding to one side or the other of the scale by which God will judge the People Israel-- and, indeed, the entire world-- as a group. (B. Kiddushin 40b and M.T. Laws of Repentance 3:2,4). In the Jewish story, then, individual identity is tightly intertwined with and defined by membership in the People Israel.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD41 Jewish law does not require someone to intervene when the risk to his life is substantial. Prof. Aaron Kirschenbaum explains: "The whole purpose of the obligation 'You shall not stand by while your neighbor's blood is shed' is the preservation of life. If its fulfillment can be accomplished only by the sacrifice of the life [of the would-be rescuer], then its purpose has been undermined and frustrated. Under such circumstances, the obligation falls away." [But while there is no obligation to intervene, it is still viewed as an act of heroism, and worthy of great praise. Thus, Louis Jacobs cites several instances from the Bible in which people put their lives In great danger to save others:... Moses saw an Egyptian overseer mercilessly beating a Jewish slave and, at the risk of his life, attacked and killed the man [this and previous verse]. In addition, Jewish law that does not require us to intervene (though it encourages us to do so) even when the danger to our life is not great (e.g., at the scene of a fire, where we can pull a person out of a room that is not yet engulfed in flames) but views it as a saintly act midat chasidut to do so (Aaron Kirschenbaum). ... The Jerusalem Talmud requires a person to put himself in some danger if the danger to the other party is great; however, this ruling is not accepted as binding by most legal scholars.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD44 See [[EXOD377]] Exodus 20:7 clear DUTIES 725-7

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD45 There are injunctions, such as injuring or striking another, whereby part of the general populace does not keep the principal injunction [i.e., instead of violating only individual aspects of the injunction]. For example, one who hits another individual has transgressed two prohibitions, as the pasuk (Devarim 25:3), "Forty shall he strike him, he shall not add, lest he exceed..." [The verse is discussing specifically one who gives lashes administered by beis din, that he may not exceed the required amount, but it applies to any striking of another. This contains two prohibitions--"He shall not add" and "lest he exceed."] Many transgress these prohibitions when they hit their wives [i.e., in the belief that beating one's wife is different from hitting his fellow man (Sha'arei Teshuvah Hamevo'ar). Our Sages, z"l, said (Sanhedrin 58b), "Whoever raises a hand against another, even if he does not strike him, is referred to as one who is wicked, as the pasuk says [this verse], 'He said to the wicked one, "Why would you [wish to] hit your companion?" It does not say, 'Why did you hit? 'But rather, 'Why would you [wish to] hit?'" Iyov [Job] said (Iyov 31:21), "If I ever were to raise my hand against an orphan." Our Sages, z"l, also said (Sanhedrin 58b) that Rav Huna cut off the hand of the one who hit [this individual habitually struck his neighbor, so he was penalized according to the rule (Sanhedrin 46a), "Beis din would strike and punish... In order to create a fence and safeguard" (Rashi; Tosafos, however, argues that this punishment was according to the letter of the law)], as the pasuk says (Iyov 38:15), "Their raised arm will be broken."

SHOW FULL EXCERPT