On Monday evening, March 31, the Young Israel of Holliswood hosted the Nisan Rosh Chodesh women’s virtual shiur, featuring Rebbetzin Rifki Freundlich, Rebbetzin at Congregation Beth Sholom of Lawrence.
Rebbetzin Adeena Penner, of the Young Israel of Holliswood, welcomed everyone.
Rebbetzin Freundlich shared that at this time of year we are supposed to be in the mind of g’ulah. It’s an auspicious time for klal Yisrael and it’s an easier time for us to access the mindset of g’ulah. So, how can we bring g’ulah?
She shared p’sukim from Sefer Sh’mos when Moshe saw the suffering of his fellow Jews. The word “sees,” she explained, means to focus and to feel their pain – to be there for them. The midrash teaches that “he saw” means that he cried. He had a real response because he deeply felt the pain of others. He offered a shoulder. He would try to help every single person.
The second day that he went out, he saw two Jews fighting and realized that they knew he had killed the Egyptian. So, Moshe had to flee to Midyan.
Next, the Chumash has the story of Reuel, who was Yisro, and his seven daughters. Moshe’s first interaction with them is at the well, when again he saw others’ pain, and he rescued the daughters from the well. The midrash teaches that the shepherds actually wanted to abuse the daughters of Yisro, and Moshe physically stepped in to save them.
Also, with the burning bush, Moshe noticed the bush wasn’t consumed. He says, “Let me see if I can understand what’s happening in front of me.”
She shared that Yisro had the same midah as Moshe, which was being an observant person. He took note of what happened and told his daughters to bring this Egyptian man home in order to thank him. She noted that people who notice bring Jewish destiny.
She shared that the Torah records that B’nei Yisrael were groaning from their hard work. They cry out and their plea goes up to Hashem. Hashem hears their cries. It says that Hashem remembers the Avos. Rashi explains that this means that He focused like Moshe did. Hashem paid attention. He is all-seeing and all-hearing. Hashem says, “I have certainly seen the suffering of the Jewish people in Egypt.”
She taught that Moshe is a seer and a shepherd. Hashem has this same midah, so we see that this is a G-dly thing.
So, she asked what we should do to get Hashem to notice or see. In order for Hashem to really take note and take action, something consistent happened each time. We see in the p’sukim that we called out to Hashem and Hashem heard our voice. It says the Jews groaned and their voice rose to Hashem.
When we cry out to Hashem, it causes Him to see and to act. In the Sh’moneh Esrei, we say that Hashem should see our suffering and He should fight our fight for us. There has to be a t’filah component for Hashem to act.
The Netziv taught that when it says Hashem saw our pain and suffering in Egypt it means that He saw all of our suffering. He saw hardships that B’nei Yisrael didn’t even talk about or share. So, we learn from this teaching of the Netziv that the way to help each other and to bring g’ulah is to notice another person’s pain or suffering in areas that he himself doesn’t notice or share. We should be busy with davening and crying out to Hashem. “All our crying and all our t’filos should bring Hashem’s attention to us and bring the g’ulah!”
by Susie Garber
