Welcome to Daily Bitachon.
We're on our final pasuk of Bikurim quoted in the Haggadah shel Pesach,
"ויוציאנו ה׳ ממצרים". Finally, God took us
out of Egypt. "ביד חזקה" – with a strong hand, "בזרוע נטויה" – with an outstretched arm, "במורא גדול" – with great fear, "באותות" – with signs, and "ובמופתים" – with wonders.
The Ba'al
Haggadah explains
"ויוציאנו ה׳
ממצרים," with a very long
description before proving it. He tells us there was no other force—not an
angel, not a "fiery" angel, nor a messenger. Rather, it was "הקדוש ברוך הוא
בכבודו ובעצמו" – God Himself took us out of Egypt. This refers specifically to Makat
Bechorot, as the pasuk says, "And I passed in the
land of Mitzrayim on this night, and I hit every
firstborn in Mitzrayim,
from man to animal, and with all of the gods of Egypt, I judged, Ani Hashem."
This pasuk definitely requires explanation and
understanding, as we have to remember Yetziat
Mitzrayim every
single day.
God took us out of Egypt at midnight on that night. Why
does it say midnight? There is a discussion about when the main Yetziat Mitzrayim was. Was it at night or by day? The
reason we say Kriat
Shema both at night
and during the day is because there was an aspect of Yetziat Mitzrayim both at night and by day. There are
two important lessons based on what happened at that moment.
As mentioned previously, the Egyptians worshipped the sheep. The
reason they worshipped the sheep was because the sheep was called Bechor Lamazalot. It was the
firstborn of all the symbols of the horoscope. Sheep, or Aries as it's referred
to in Latin, is why the month of Aviv, springtime when we got out, is called
Aviv. It's a contraction of two words, "אב י"ב," the father of 12. The ram symbolizes the father, the first of the
12 symbols. Therefore, the Egyptians worshipped the ram and the sheep, due to
their belief that this was the mazal that was in charge of the world.
Furthermore, they respected the firstborn children because they were also
connected to the horoscope of the sheep.
The reason for Yetziat
Mitzrayim was to take
the Jewish people out from under mazal and have us deal directly with Hashem.
This originated with Avraham Avinu. When he didn't have any children, God said,
"צא החוצה"
/ "Go outside". Rashi says this
meant, "Go out of the horoscope".
We are above the horoscope. In order to portray this concept that
God is the only force in nature and all other seeming forces do not have
independent power, it was God Himself that wiped out the Egyptian gods and
showed the world that the Egyptian horoscope symbol had no force. The reason it
happened on the 15th of the month is because that is when the moon is fullest,
which is the most powerful time. And Chatzot
Laila, midnight, is the "power of the power". So at the
point when the sheep was most powerful in the month of Nissan, its own month,
we were going to bring her to her knees. And that's what happened.
We have to always remember Yetziat
Mitzrayim. There is a famous Nefesh
HaChaim (Shaar
Gimmel, Perek Yud-Bet), where he cites the Gemara of a certain
witch that was trying to cast a spell on Rav Chanina ben Dosa, and he said,
"You're wasting your time. אין עוד מלבדו" – "There is nothing else but Him". The Gemara says, "What
do you mean? Kishuf / witchcraft, is able to undo things
that seemingly are against God's decree!". To which the Gemara says, Rav
Chanina ben Dosa had great zechut.
The Nefesh HaChaim says that doesn't mean he had a lot of mitzvot. It means he had the
clarity that there's nothing else but HaKadosh
Baruch Hu, and he realized that this kishuf was created from God, and nothing
exists other than God, and everything here comes from God. With that, he was
able to undo any kishuf powers.
That's the same Rav Chanina ben Dosa who said, "No
problem," when his daughter complained that they had no oil to light the
candles, only vinegar. "What's the difference? The One that said oil
should light, [can also say] vinegar should light". That means it wasn't a
miracle for him; he didn't see a difference between oil and vinegar. It was all
Hashem. There are many such stories about Rav Chanina ben Dosa.
The Nefesh
HaChaim applies this
to us and says, "This is inyan
gadol v'segulah nifla'ah" – A wondrous segulah to remove all judgments and negative
wills of others against you, so that they can't affect you, won't impact you,
and won't make an indent at all. If a person says in his heart, "I know
Hashem is in charge, and He's the only true force, there's nothing else but
Him, and everything in the world only comes from Him," and he annuls in
his heart a total annulment and does not pay attention to anything else in the
world but God's will, and subjugates himself and connects the purity of his
thoughts to God, insofar as he does that, God will annul all those negative
forces so they can't impact him at all.
This is easier said than done. But the point is that this
revelation of "אין עוד מלבדו" )Ein Od Milevado) happened at the time of Makat
Bechorot. It was totally revealed later on at Har Sinai, where it says, "אתה הראת לדעת
כי ה׳ הוא האלקים אין עוד מלבדו". There they actually
saw it. God, it says, split open the heavens and showed them that
there's nothing in the world but God. But the beginning, so to say, of God
showing us this was at Makat Bechorotat Chatzot Laila.
Furthermore, the Nefesh
HaChaim in Shaar Gimmel, Perek Gimmel, tells
us that it says, "ה׳ הוא מקומו של עולם" – "God is the place of the world," and "ואין העולם
מקומו" – "and the world doesn't hold
Him". One of God's names is Makom,
which means that nothing else exists without Him. He's the place;
everything is within Him.
It's interesting that the term Makom is used in the Haggadah shel Pesach, possibly more
than any other place, when talking about God. ברוך המקום ברוך הוא. ברוך שנתן תורה
לעמו ישראל ברוך הוא".
"ברוך המקום". "ועכשיו
קרבנו המקום לעבודתו" – "And now the Makom (God) brought us close to His
service". "כמה מעלות טובות למקום עלינו" – "How many great qualities is it to God," referred to as Makom. "על אחת כמה וכמה טובה כפולה ומכופלת למקום עלינו" – four times it says Makom.
Because this is the night that we understood this important lesson.
Rav Shimshon Pinkus, in his book Tiferet
Shimshon on Devarim, in Parashat Re'eh where it says "בנים אתם
לה׳", says that's why, heaven forbid,
when someone passes away, the custom in many communities is to say, "המקום ינחם
אתכם" /God, who is called Makom,
should bring you comfort". But why is the term Makom used here? Because of this concept
that God is Mekomo
shel Olam, God holds everything, there's nothing there but
Him.
And therefore, Lo Alenu,
with a problem or without a problem, with a parent or without a parent, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is the constant in their lives, and
that concept should bring nechama.
May we all hear nechamot from all the tzarot that we go through, and have the
ultimate revelation of Makom in the future.
