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TorahZionist:
BS"D

YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kroizer SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva

PARSHAT BESHALACH/TU B'SHVAT/SHABBAT SHIRA
15 Shvat 5767/2-3 February 2007


THE MUD AND THE BLOOD AND THE BEER

Almost 70 percent of adults in the U.S. are expected to watch this
Sunday the “Superbowl”; that’s more than 2 out of every 3 adults, and
world-wide, over 200 million viewers will tune in for the big game. Over
14,000 tons of potato chips are expected to be eaten and endless bottles of
beer will be drunk. True, many will be watching for the commercials, but
most will want to see who will take home the trophy. Still, this impressive
figure pales in comparison to the splitting of the Reed Sea.

For at the moment of the splitting of the Reed Sea, all the waters of
the world also split. From rivers to lakes to wells of all countries
throughout the world, even water in people’s jars and mugs split, thus
publicizing the miracle. Every single person in the world at the time knew
about the miracle that was taking place. The waters in the world returned
to their natural state only after the water of the Reed Sea resumed its
normal course. In this way G-d’s great Name was sanctified throughout the
entire world.

But it was at that grand moment, when the Jewish people were crossing
the sea, that some of the Jews began to complain to one another saying: Look
at this, in Egypt we were stuck in the mud all day making bricks, and here,
too, we are stuck in the mud that is in the seabed. We had mud then, and we
have mud now! Hashem considered these words a rebellion against Him, as it’s
stated: “They rebelled against Me at Yam Suf. I shall nevertheless save them
in order that My Name be sanctified” (Psalms 104). Hashem, then, in His
mercy dried the mud and made the ground become firm.

How unfortunate it was that in the midst of this great miracle, there
were Jews who could not see past their own noses, could not see the whole
picture and were bogged down in merely contemplating their sorry state of
muddy feet.

Ours is the generation of the Redemption. After wandering from place to
place as unwanted guests of the nations of the world, Hashem in His mercy
brought us home. Still, many of us still want to see the mud on our feet,
instead of seeing that we are walking through the sea. The “Chafetz Chaim”,
commenting on the Redemption process, wondered how it was possible that two
people could be at the same place and look at the same scene, but come to
two totally different conclusions. One will see a tree, a house, a road but
nothing that connects them, while the other fellow, looking at the same
picture, will see how the towns and villages are being rebuilt and resettled
and how all are returning home.

Today we still have too many people looking at the mud on their feet and
complaining "Oy, how muddy are my feet", and who don't see the historic
times that we are living in, and how Hashem is taking us through the sea at
this very moment. In this process of Redemption, there is mud and blood but
we must not focus on our dirty feet – instead, we must rise above and see
the whole picture before our eyes.

The Talmud teaches us that the generation that left Egypt were people of
little faith: "The Jews cried out, that just as we came out of the Sea the
Egyptians will surely come out at a different spot and will chase us." For
this reason, Hashem, in His great mercy, had the sea spit out the Egyptians'
corpses so that the Jews could see them and know that they were all killed.
Were it not for Hashem’s own Namesake, which He has tied to the Jewish
people, all of us would have been lost.

In our day there is mud in this process that we are in, and at times a
lot of it, but only a fool would be looking down at the mud and worrying
about it being on his very expensive shoes. Instead, at the same time we
should be looking up at the light, which is growing brighter every day at
the end of the tunnel.

With love of Israel,
Levi Chazen

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