Dear Reader,
Welcome to the concise, relevant Lelamed Weekly Dvar. Your
comments, suggestions and questions are always welcome. Enjoy...
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Parshat Beshalach includes the famous splitting of the Sea
(14:21), where Moshe led them into the water, and the sea split
for them. Psalms 114 offers that "the sea saw, and ran", and
commentators explain that what the sea saw was Yosef's remains,
and withdrew in their merit. As Rabbi Shmulevitz asks, what was so
special about Yosef's remains that the sea split because of them,
rather than because of Moshe or the Jews?
Rabbi Shmulevitz answers by introducing a fundamental concept in
Judaism: avoiding temptations. Yosef was in a position where he
might have been tempted to sin (with Potifar), and rather than be
placed in a position to overcome his urges, he avoided those urges
altogether, even placing himself in danger by leaving an article
of clothing behind! This great act is not only an example for us
today, but it's also the reason why the Jews were faced with
crossing the sea in the first place. Had human logic prevailed,
the Jews would have headed straight to Israel, which would have
taken them 4 days. However, that might have tempted the Jews to
consider returning to Egypt, so G-d had them go the long way,
which included crossing the sea. The splitting of the sea and
Yosef's life join efforts in conveying a critical lesson: Avoid
conflict as much as you can! Whether it's our internal
temptations, friends, parents, spouses or those we share borders
with, the Parsha offers us 3000 year old advice that we still
holds true today: Avoid conflict by minimizing confrontations!