Achdus

Meshech Chochmoh- Parshas Beshalach, perek14 pasuk 22

“Achdus”

There are many hints in the torah that show us how ones derech of life should be run and what a Jew must do to live everyday. Already last week we began to list the bulk of the mitzvos included in the torah. There are two categories of mitzvos, mitzvoth that are titled shamuyos, like avodah zarah and shvichus damim, and the other category is the one regarding nimsiyos (middos), or character traits that pertain to a functional society. These include the issurim of lashon harah and the insistence to not have a machlokes with ones neighbor. When one sins b’yachid in matters of shamuyos he is liable to the proper punishment (cv’s). But loshon harah is not chayiv any punishment, either b/c it’s a lav shelo nitein l’tashlumin or b/c it’s a lav sh’ein bo ma’aseh. But when these sins are performed b’tzibur, the opposite is true. The gemarah learns from the passuk “v’nichrisah hanefesh” that only a single person can be chayiv for an aveairah but a tzibbur is pattur, but by lashon harah we find the opposite to be true. In the time of Dovid Hamelech when most of the nation was made up of tzaddikim, we are told that Jewish soldiers were killed in the wars, b/c there were informers amongst the Jews in those days. But in the days of Ach’av, when the nation was full of reshaim, nevertheless we are told that no soldier was killed in war b/c there were no informers amongst the Jews.


There are many examples that show how midos that keep the society together are the cause of Hashems desire to relent in administering punishments to the nation though we may be deserving of punishments (cv’s). In tehillim, Dovid Hamelech asks Hashem to “dwell” among us in our tum’ah though we may be sinning in general in regard to lo-sa’asehs. But when the nation is not careful about lashon hara, Hashem is said to be “dwelling up high,” removed from His people. We see a similar idea by the Batei hamikdash, about which the gemara tells us that the first bayis was destroyed b/c of the big 3 aveiros that the Jews were chayiv for, and in the second beis hamikdash, though they learned much torah, they had sin’as chinam, beckoning Hashem’s anger to flair up and destroy both batei mikdash. We can gather from the fact that after 70 years the Jews went back after the first beis hamikdash and that we are still in our galus untill today that the sin of sinas chinam is that much worse than the, so called, bigger sins. Similarly, in the time of the mabbul, the torah tells us that the reason that Hashem finally decided to destroy mankind was because of chamas, which Rashi tells us means gezel, theft. It was only after this complete breakdown of society that Hashem decided to destroy mankind. And we can see from the cheit haegel that Hashem forgave the nation after it worshiped the egel, but when the miraglim came back from Eretz Yisroel and spread loshon hara amongst the Jews and caused them to deny the good that Hashem had in store for them, only then did Hashem swear that B’nei Yisroel would stay in the midbar for forty years. We see from these proofs that when the tzibbur sticks together and gets along with one another, Hashem will overlook the sins that the people on an individual level would be chayiv for.


Using this premise we can explain a midrash in this weeks parsha. The midrash says that when B’nei Yisroel was crossing the yam suf, the malach Sama-el complained to Hashem that You should not save this people, they served avodah zarah and stopped performing bris milah when they were in Mitzraim. “Why are they any better than the Egyptians who You are about to wipe out?” Hashem answers the malach that they did not fight with one another in Egypt, as we can see from the fact that Dasan and Aviram were always the ones singled out for sinning, meaning that they were the exception amongst the Jews. But what prompted the malach to complain now when he could have complained about the makkos? The midrash says that at the time leading up to kriyas yam suf, the shevatim split up into four groups, each wanting to go somewhere else, thereby taking away their tzibbur status. It is because of this that the torah says “v’hamayim lahem chomah,” literally the water was a wall for them. But in the Torah it is written missing a vuv, reading cheimah=anger. Hashem got angry and the sea was about to drown the Jews. The Jews had lost their protective tzibbur status and were at the judgment of Hashems mercy.

If we look at the words of the torah, the passuk of “v’hamayim lahem chomah” is written twice, only the second time is it chaseir vuv. This coincided with the drowning of the Egyptians. It was at this moment that the malach posed the complaint about why Hashem was saving the Jews and killing the Egyptians if the Egyptians repented by admitting that it was Hashem who was behind the makkos and kriyas yam suf. Hashem answered the malach “fool!” the only reason the Egyptians are repenting is because they are about to die. The Jews did teshuva long ago, about six months ago when the makkos started. The reason they worshipped avodah zara was because they were under hard work, and one cannot think clearly when one is under so much stress. But once they were set free they performed bris millah again. Hashem so to speak says that the Jews were anusim, and were not responsible for their sins. Although they fought at the yam suf and lost their tzibbur status, nevertheless they were pattur from their sins altogether.

This message applies even today. We all have our individual challenges and we fight our yetzer hara everyday, and sometimes we may lose the battle. And as a society we may be lax in many mitzvos that, on an individual level, we would all be responsible (cv’s) for. But we live in a time that is full of pressure. Whether its school or work (or work from school), we are always on the run and we may not think clearly. This is what the midrash is telling us. Hashem, so to speak, views us as anusim in these sins but only if we are careful in our middos. If we can be careful in our midos, we can ensure that we stay together as a tzibbur. I’yh, we should have the yolk of this gallus removed from us and we will be able to realize that all of our sins are because a lack of clarity of mind and thereby be able to stop sinning altogether and have our past aveiros turned into zichusim. And that we should be able to stay together as a tzibbur and be able to overcome anything that comes our way.