Community Magazine January 2017

P esach is still several long, cold months away, but this does not mean we cannot take some time to study the story of the Egyptian bondage and learn the lessons it conveys. In fact, it seems that this is precisely what we should be doing this month. Our Sages instituted our annual Torah reading cycle, which has us reading the first section of the Book of Shemot, which tells the story of our ancestors’ enslavement and the Exodus, during this time of year. So although we are still months away from Pesach cleaning, it is appropriate already now to examine these chapters of the Torah and extract some of the practical lessons they have to teach us. Moshe, Rabbi Akiva, and the 50th Level There is a well-known Kabbalistic tradition that describes Beneh Yisrael ’s spiritual deterioration during their period of enslavement in Egypt. Submerged in ancient Egypt’s culture of paganism and decadence, our ancestors plummeted to the “49 th level of impurity.” Had they fallen any further, they would have sunken to the 50 th level, fromwhich they would have been unable to recover. The Arizal, the renowned Kabbalist from Safed (1534-1572), explained that this is the reason why Beneh Yisrael were rushed out of Egypt and needed to leave so quickly. As we read in the Biblical account of the Exodus (Shemot 12:39), the Egyptians forced the slaves out of the country and did not even allow them time to prepare proper provisions. (This is why Beneh Yisrael ended up baking their dough before it had time to rise, thus resulting in matzot .) The Arizal commented that if Beneh Yisrael had remained in Egypt even a moment longer, they would have fallen from the 49 th level of impurity to the 50 th , and they would then have been unable to recover. For this reason, it was necessary for Moshe, and only Moshe, to lead Beneh Yisrael from Egypt. The Arizal taught that the lower one sinks in the depths of impurity, the higher the level of sanctity needed to lift him from his quagmire. Just like a strong magnet is needed to draw a heavy piece of metal, similarly, the highest level of kedushah (holiness) is needed to pull somebody from the lowest depths of spiritual contamination. Moshe Rabbenu reached the 49 th level of sanctity – just one rung before the 50 th and final level. Actually, the Arizal teaches, the moment when Moshe Rabbenu died, he reached the 50 th level which he was unable to attain during his lifetime. This is why he was buried on a mountain called Nevo, which could be read as a combination of the letter nun and the word “ bo ” (“in him”). When Moshe died, he had achieved nun – which represents the number 50. Only somebody on this level, who achieved the greatest heights of sanctity, could extricate Beneh Yisrael from the lowest depths of impurity. Dedicated in memory of the pure neshamot of the Sassoon children Words of Rabbi Eli J. Mansour GRABBING ONTO THE TREE OF LIFE Gd sent Moshe to rescue our ancestors from the abyss of exile. Whom has He sent to rescue us from the dangers of the 21st-century? 16 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE