בס”ד וארא ע”נ יהודה בן חזקיהו נלב”ע “ג שבט תשס”ה The first pasuk of וארא makes a switch from וידבר to ויאמר, and from אלה-ים to הויה. Rashi says that Hashem is speaking harshly- לשון קשה to Moshe, due to his complaining when he said למה הרעתה לעם הזה, after which Hashem’s compassion took over and a softer tone- לשון רכה, was used- ויאמר. The word ויאמר was used by Hashem to introduce each מכה. For the yidden each plague was a רפואה, whereas to the Egyptians it was a plague, מדת הדין. Some say that the first pasuk demonstrates that the term וידבר and אלה-ים is the מדת הדין brought on the מצריים, and the terms ויאמר and הויה is the רפואה and רחמים shown to עם ישראל. At the end of פרשת שמות, the גלות intensified, with the yidden having to produce the same quota of bricks, but without straw, so the שם אלה-ים is used here, denoting judgment or nature הטבע=86=אלהים. In Parshasוארא , the miracles of the ten plagues begin, which are all above nature, and so the name הויה is used, intimating that the גאולה begins here. The pasuk is hinting to us, that a yid, even in nature, could reveal למעלה מן הטבע. The עם ישראל as a nation begins here together with a new existence of למעלה מן הטבע. Going from מדת הדין to מדת הרחמים is a great feat, where on ר”ה we need the power of the שופר to accomplish this.

In the Parsha are the four לשונות of גאולה. In פסוק ו are three of these expressions, והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי, whereas in פסוק ז is the fourth expression ולקחתי. Why are they separated, three in one pasuk, and one in the next? The simple explanation is that the first three expressions are the yidden being taken out of Egypt, while the fourth expression, in a separate pasuk, is Hashem taking us as his nation- לקחתי being a language of קידושין. There is yet another expression of Geula in the next pasuk ח, and that is והבאתי. This fifth expression is more or less concealed, representing the fifth Galus- גלות ישמעאל, discussed in the writings of the תלמידי הארי הקדוש and the מקובלים. The first four are well known and written in the מדרש, representing the four empires. To summarize, these five expressions of גאולה, are divided in three, then one, then another one (3-1-1). We find this same division and interpretation in a couple of other places. In פרשת שמות, when Hashem appeared to Moshe in the סנה, it also says there the word סנה five times, three in one pasuk, and then a separate fourth and fifth time. Rashi mentions that Hashem spoke to Moshe in a thorn bush, and not an apple tree, to convey to Moshe that Hashem would be with the yidden in Galus, with their suffering, and feeling their pain with them, and thus the thorn bush- עמו אנכי בצרה.

Another example, is in פרשת וישב, where the same split of five takes place with the word כוס, in the story of the שר המשקים, at the end of the Parsha. The Rashbam brings the ירושלמי, where the four times where כוס is written is where we learn the ארבע כוסות at the Pesach seder, and the fifth time, representing the כוס של אליהו. The goyim, says the מדרש, will be given four cups of poison. Another place that has such a division of three and one, is in פרשת ראה יד :ז, where the pasuk is discussing non- kosher animals. The גמל and the ארנבת and the שפן are in pasuk ז, and the חזיר, representing Edom is written in the next pasuk. Every future גלות is rooted in גלות מצרים, which was before the Torah was given. All the expressions of גאולה hints to us the future Exiles. The גלות ofבבל and פרס ומדי and יון, took place one after the other, almost overnight, with no break in between, and so they are all grouped together. Bavel was the lightest גלות, where all that was needed was a יציאה, and so the first expression was והוצאתי. Parshas וארא is where the גואל is revealed, and also Pinchas was born פינחס=208=וארא. Pinchas is אליהו who will usher in משיח.

In the beginning of בראשית, it says והארץ היתה תהו ובהו וחשך על פני תהום, where the ספרים say these represent the 4 גליות, in order- תהו is Bavel, where הוצאתי make up the words יצא תהו, when the תהו ends. The סמך מלך בבל על י”ם happened in the month of Teves תהו=411=טבת. Then comes והצלתי, where a stronger לשון of גאולה was needed. This was during the Persian Empire where a physical הצלה was desperately needed from the threat of המן הרשע, as is written in מגילת אסתר the phrase רוח והצלה יעמוד ליהודים. After this, was the complete גאולה from the Greek Empire in the times of חנוכה, where we say complete הלל, unlike the exile from Persia, where “אכתי עבדי דאחשורוש אנן”. The גאולה from יון, was when the yidden took back the מלכות, resulting in a complete physical and spiritual redemption מלכא משיחא=450=וגאלתי, a taste of ימות המשיח. After these three consecutive exiles, came a break of 103 years- or 206 years, since after the חשמונאים came גלות הורדוס who was an עבד to the חשמונאים, and then rebelled. The גלותof Edom was an entity of itself, greater than the other three, and lasting for almost 2000 years and therefore written in a separate pasuk.

This גלות is referred to as תהום, a never ending abyss עמלק=240=על

פני the worst ofאדום and ישמעאל=451=תהום. In this abyss, אדום and ישמעאל are intertwined. This fourth גלות of אדום, has the religion of נצרות at its core, where they believe that Hashem chose them to be his people, after admitting that Hashem had first chosen us. They believe in the חומש, however Hashem “left us” and chose them. Therefore the גאולה from this fourth גלות is referred to with the expression – ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם. Hashem took us as his nation, as his bride, הרי את מקודשת לי. The מדרש says לי, which implies forever. The fourth time the word סנה is written, in a separate pasuk than the first three times, Moshe says למה לא תבער הסנה- why is this bush constantly burning, referring to the long and difficult גלות, that we’re still experiencing today. The fifth expression of והבאתי, represents גלות ישמעאל, whose main objective is to prevent the yidden from coming back to א”י and building the בהמ”ק in י”ם. They are the only ones that had the chutzpah to put a mosque on the מקום המקדש. They built a cemetery on the east side of the old city, thinking that משיח couldn’t enter through there, which we know is total nonsense, since the משיח is not a כהן, and the graves of goyim are not מטמא.

This fifth גלות is concealed, since the coming of משיח is with היסח הדעת, in a hidden manner משיח בן דוד=424=והבאתי. In the revealed part of Torah, גלות ישמעאל is hardly mentioned. Yishmael is trying to prevent the hidden part of Torah from being revealed, as this is what will be revealed by משיח in the future. The fifth ספר in Chumash is referred to as משנה תורה representing the Torah of the future which Moshe began teaching onשבט ר”ח. The letters משנה is שמנה, referring to לעתיד לבוא. Also according to theהקדוש ארי, the month of שבט corresponds to אשר who was born eighth, and of who it says אשר שמנה לחמה also referring to the future. The משיח will reveal the fifth level of the נשמה, the יחידה which we get a taste of on יה”כ, when we daven five times. The ישמעאלים, hold that they deserve the יחידה, from when Hashem said to Avraham- קח את בנך את יחידך, believing that this was referring to them, and not יצחק. Muhammad witnessed the five תפילות that we daven on יה”כ, and then kidnapped the number five into their prayers.

The מכות were a tremendous מדת הדין for the Egyptians, whereas for the yidden they were a healing – מדת הרחמים, not only physically but also spiritually. Before the yidden left מצרים, the טומאה of מצרים was  leaving them. Before each מכה, Moshe said to Pharoh – שלח את עמי ויעבדני. The word יעבדני is a combination of י-עב and י-דן that is for the yidden theי מכות wereעב=72=חסד and for the Egyptians, the י מכות were דין. Parshas וארא in most years is שבת מברכים שבט. According to Bet Hillel,טו בשבט is the new year for the trees, and the מדת הדין which began ר”ח טבת, changes to מדת הרחמים with the sap of the trees beginning to flow, giving new life. The ארי הקודש says the combination of Hashem’s name for שבט is derived from a pasuk at the end of בחקתי, referring to the mitzvah of תמורות, where the acronym of המר ימירנו והיה הוא is היוה. Notice that the first two letters representing the first half of the month, are backward- הי, denoting דין, and then the וה, representing the second half of the month are straight, denoting רחמים. The first half is המר ימירנו, which is a language of bitterness, whereas the second half begins והיה, which is a term of שמחה- joy.

There are five letters which close the word known as מנצפך, and each letter represents a different גאולה. The ך is the redemption of Avraham from אור כשדים in פרשת לך לך. The ם is the redemption of יצחק from the פלישתים and the ן is the redemption of Yaacov fromלבן . The ף represents the גאולה of כלל ישראל from מצרים, when Moshe was 80 -פ years old. We celebrate the י”ט of פסח, when we were redeemed from פרעה, with פקד פקדתי and merited the מצוה of פדיון הבן. The משיח will redeem us with the letter צ and utter the words צמח צדיק, a pasuk in ישעיה. The pasuk says מכנף הארץ זמירות שמענו .…צבי לצדיק. We already heard the four, that is מ כ נ ף, and we’re hoping for the צדיק-צ. The משיח צדקנו will reveal the גאולה of צ.

The month of שבט is associated with משיח, and the ספר יצירה says it was created with the letter צ, and as we already mentioned that Moshe began teaching the fifth ספר, connecting to the תורת משיח. The משיח is compared to a צמח, putting a seed in the ground where suddenly it sprout. The קדושת לוי says that מכת ברד, the last plague in פרשת וארא, was in טבת, where in this plague פרעה says ה” הצדיק, that is the טומאה recognizes the צדיק. Because of what פרעה said, the Egyptian army merited to be buried, a זכות normally not given to the descendants of חם. The main goal of the ברד was to bring כלל ישראל to a higher level of יראה, as it says כי טרם תיראון, where even פרעה began to fear Hashem. The ברד is introduced as a plague אשר לא היה כמוהו – – ירח טבת=629=אשר לא היה כמוהו. In the last pasuk of the הפטרה it says ולך אתן פתחון פה. Moshe was a ערל

שפתים that is he couldn’t talk properly. In טבת, we can’t talk, but we regain our power of speech in the month of Shevatחודש שבט=629=פתחון פה , when we read the שירת הים, the אז ישיר. There are ten expressions of תפילה. With each מכה, another expression of תפילה was being redeemed. The כלי יקר says מכת ברד was brought on מצרים becauseפרעה was פוגם in לשון, as he said מי ה” אשר אשמע בקלוHe didn’t want to listen to the קול ה”, and so instead he had to listen to the thunder and the קולות of ברד. Pharoh said he didn’t know Hashem, that is he didn’t understand למעלה מן הטבע, but attributed everything to טבע or שם אלה-ים.

The שפת אמת says the ten מכות correspond to the ten מאמרות that the world was created, and the ten דברות and the ten ספירות and the ten כוחות הנפש. The מכות are divided in two Parshios, seven in וארא and three in בא. If we look carefully, we could see the same division repeated. For example, the ספירות are divided into seven מדות or “חגת נהים” and three מוחים or “חבד”, the דברות are divided into three between man and Hashem, and seven between man and his חבר, the ten מאמרות – three referring to שמים and seven referring to ארץ. Also there were ten nations promised to Avraham, where he conquered seven, and three we will inherit in future, קני קניזי וקדמוני or עמון מואב ואדום. Also there are three weeks of אבילות culminating with ט באב, and seven weeks of נחמה. The פרי צדיק says that in this world we work on the seven מדות, and in the next world, the three powers of the intellect. The ארי הקדוש said the ten מכות correspond to the ten ספירות from bottom to top, that is מכת דם is מלכות, and צפרדע is יסוד and מכת בכורות is כתר. Rashi and Ibn Ezra say that צפרדעים were frogs, but most ראשונים including the Ramban, the ר” חננאל and the Abarbanel say they were crocodiles, which the Nile River is famous for. The מלבים says that מכת צפרדעים were both frogs and crocodiles. The frogs attacked the ‘better’ Egyptians while the crocodiles attacked the most wicked Egyptians. The מדרש says that Hashem smote Egypt similar to the way that kings attack a country. First they destroy the water supply- דם, then they wage psychological warfare in order to frighten the enemy, like with trumpets or the shofar- יתקע בשופר גדול ובא האבדים=1282=הנה אנכי נגף את כל גבולך בצפרדעים. The frog’s loud croak is like the shofar.

We read פרשת וארא always at the end of Teves-ירח טבת=629=שופר

גדול. By מכות דם וכנים, Pharoh was willing to wait the full week of the plague before beseeching Moshe to put an end to it, however by מכת צפרדע, Pharoh pleads with Moshe to end this plague early. As we already stated מכת צפרדע is כנגד יסוד. Maybe if this plague would have lasted a full week, the מדה of יסוד would have been rectified, the very thing פרעה -פה רע didn’t want. Yishmael and מצרים – ערות הארץare related, as ישמעאל comes from חגר, who was a daughter of פרעה, and also he married an Egyptian woman. It says of ישמעאל when he was born והוא יהיה פרא אדם ידו בכל ויד כל בו intimating to us that ישמעאל is against כל, the מדה of צ=90=מכל -יסודOnly a yid that’s a שומר ברית is called a צדיק. Yishmael has power over עם ישראל only when the צ-צדיק is missing 541=ישראל minus the צ -90 equals 451=ישמעאל. When ישראל is not connected to the צ, representing שמירת הברית, which has to be מתוקן, then ישמעאל has שליטה. When the ידו בכל of Yishmael is מתגבר, then we have to יד כל בו, that is fix up our מדת היסוד. This is the main reason that the days of שובבים are so important in our time, when we suffer so much from ישמעאל.

The תיקון of שובבים is to reach the level of בני בכורי ישראל, which is accomplished through the rectification of the חטאים we mentioned in Shemos, that is פגם הברית and פגם הדבור, in the months of Teves and Shevat- טבת שבט=722=קדש לי כל בכור. There are three times in the year that we are involved with תיקונים, and all are preparations for receiving the Torah. 1) The ten days of תשובה, culminating with יה”כ, the receiving of the second set of לוחות 2) The ימי הספירה, which are a תקון המדות, preparing for מתן תורה 3) The ימי השובבים, ending with יתרו and משפטים, where we read of מתן תורה. The Spinka Rebbi says the reading of the Torah that has a certain חג in it, is even greater than the חג itself, since the חג falls during specific times, but the Torah is above time. For example, he says that it’s more פסח, in פרשת בא than on פסח itself, and more מתן תורה in פרשת יתרו then on שבועות. One of his proofs is that the הפטרה on שבועות is from יחזקאל who is compared to the בן כפר, and speaks of an angel with four wings, whereas in יתרו, the הפטרה is from ישעיה who is compared to the בן כרך, a higher נביא, speaks of an angel with six wings. Therefore the biggest תיקונים take place during theימי השובבים . The נביא brings that there are ten expressions of תשובה, parallel to the ten מכות. It says that השובבים ימי is like one long Yom HaKipurim- בעשור לחודש=926=תיקון שובבים. Teshuva leads to רפואה. It says in ישעיהthe words נגף ורפו, meaning the מכות were plagues- נדף for the מצרים but  a רפואה for the yidden. With each plague, there was a higher physical and spiritual healing, for the yidden. The צבי לצדיק says that every מכה began with the words רפואה=292=כה אמר יה-וה . The נתיבות שלום says that each מכה brought the yidden to greater בטל or ענוה, where by פרעה, with each plague, he got more brazen, more arrogant until מכת ברד. By מכת דם it says that Pharoh went down to the Nile, to relieve himself (it doesn’t say when, and could have been three hours into the day, when kings usually get up), as he wanted his people to think that he was a G-d. On the contrary the yidden make the ברכה of אשר יצר, and become more humbled in front of Hashem. By מכות ערוב, Pharoh arose very early, since Pharoh thought if he went to the Nile early enough, he would be alone and not confront Moshe and so it says that Moshe was משכים בבוקר, to be there ‘on time’. As we already said, there was a big change taking place by מכת ברד. Firstly it doesn’t say he was יוצא המימה, as he was a little more humbled here, admitting to at least some, that he was human, as he said ה” הצדיק ואני ועמי הרשעים.

Hashem said by מכת ברד, that אני שלח את כל מגפתי, where Rashi says שמכת בכורות שקולה כנגד כל המכות. The מפורשים ‘go to town’ on this Rashi. Who’s talking about מכת בכורות? Some say there was an error, that he said the ר”ת of מ”ב which he meantמכת ברד and not מכת בכורות. Others say the בכורות were the פשתה and the שעורה that ripened first, as opposed to theחטא and the כסמת that were not yet ripened, and so left for מכת ארבה. In this plague was the first time the yidden were referred to as בני ישראל, as opposed to עם or ישראל which we see mentioned before. The tenמכות were divided into three groups, the last being באחמ, and so maybe what Rashi meant was that מכת ברד was the first of the last set, the התחלת לגאולה within the גאולה. In other words מכת ברד was the beginning of מכת בכורות, the בכור of the fruit, leading to the בכור of humans. The מכה of ברד brought the yidden back to their roots, back to Yovel- תשבו איש אל אחזתו= 1472= אני שלח את כל מגופתי אל לבך  

The קדושת לוי saysברד was in טבת and ארבה was in שבט, the two months of שובבים, where by these plagues, there were big changes leading to the redemption. The ברד was a mixture of fire and water, where אש is יראה, and מים is אהבה. Hashem told Moshe to lift his stick על השמים, above the heavens, where אהבה and יראה are one. אהבה w/o יראה is destructive and a yid has to harness his אהבה withיראה. Egypt, similar to America is full of unbridled love, with no fear. ירושלים is the combination of both יראה=216=ירו – and שלים where מצרים=380=שלים that is, מצרים is missing the יראה. Like we said מצרים is צר מים where the יסוד of מים, is associated with Taiva, unbridled physical desires. Moshe prayed that Hashem end this מכה before it’s time, and so the ברד remains in the air until מלחמת גוג ומגוג. The ברד began in מצרים and will end in ירושלים. The ברד was a preparation for the ארבה representing the months of טבת ושבט. Parshas בא is ר”ת ברד ארבה. Theהקדוש ארי says the month of שבט is אשר, as we already said מאשר שמנה לחמהwho was born eighth. The Bracha of רפואה is the eighth- רפואה בשמינית. Pharoh was doing תשובה by this plague. How much more should we do תשובה, being referred to here as בני ישראל, the name of yidden when they are Tzadikim- ועמך כולם צדיקים=486= יוד מכות The plague of ברד which included all ten מכות brought the revelation of the צדיק, as Pharoh said ה” צדיק.

The second plague of צפרדע is כנגד יסוד, the שמירת הברית which we work on during the weeks of שובבים. The Gemorra says in חגיגה יג: that there is a contradiction between a pasuk in יחזקאל and a pasuk in ישעיה (which we mentioned briefly). In the הפטרה of יתרו which we read during the weeks of שובבים, we have the נבואה of ישעיה where he sees מלאכים with six wings. The pasuk describes where the wings were- two on top יכסה ראשו, two in the middle יכסה רגליו, and two at the end that it flies with- יעופף. In the נבואה of יחזקאל it says that the מלאכים had four wings, which is an apparent contradiction. The Gemorra answers כאן בזמן שבהמ”ק קיים – six wings and -כאן שאין הבהמ”ק קיים four wings. The Gemorra asks which two are missing when there are four, and answers that either it is the two that it flies with- רב חננאל אמר רב, the wings with which the angel sings שירה, or the two wings that the מלאך covers its legs withרבנן – which the מהרש”א says for צניאת purposes. The מקובלים say that these six wings are כנגד the six words in ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד. In the בהמ”ק the ברוך שם was said out loud. Which of these six words are missing when we’re in גלות?

The Gra says the last two words לעולם ועד are missing, and the אוהב ישראל, the Opter Rav says the middle two כבוד מלכותו are missing, since the כבוד ה” is lacking when we are in Galus. This seems to fit into the מחלוקת in the Gemorra, where the יכסה רגליו is written in the middle, fitting with the Opter -כבוד מלכותו and the two wings that יעופף is at the end of the pasuk, fitting with the Gra- לעולם ועד. If one looks closely, what’s missing when there are only four wings, are the two פגמים that we try to rectify during the ימי השובבים. If it’s what the מלאכים sing with- שירה, then in Galus there is lack of שמירת הלשון. When the yidden are not singing the way they should down here, the מלאכים can’t sing properly. If what’s missing is יכסה רגליו, or צניאת then in Galus there is a lack of שמירת הברית. In these six weeks of שובבים, every week we are מתקן another word of ברוך שם כבוד … The sefarim compare the ימי שובבים to one long יה”כ when we say ברוך שם כבוד out loud. The ימי שובבים occur in the months of טבת ושבט- חודש טבת חודש שבט=1358=ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד. In these two months, the yidden are leaving מצרים and spiritually the טומאה of מצרים is leaving them- בא דבר אל פרעה מלך מצרים ושילח את בני ישראל מארצו חודש טבת חודש שבט=1358=וישלח את בני ישראל

In פרק השירה the צפרדע is the only one not saying a pasuk but he says ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד. The צפרדע brought the תיקון of יסוד to מצרים. Now we could understand why Pharoh wants the צפרדע removed. In pasuk ח:ד Pharoh says ויסר הצפרדים ממני ומעמי, not just because the צפרדים were uncomfortable but because he doesn’t want the tikun of יסוד for כלל ישראל. If the yidden would rectify this מדה, they would be זוכה to גאולה. Moshe said in next פסוק that he will remove the frogs fromפרעה , however רק ביאר תשארנה. The Egyptians were into the total opposite of this מדה, as מצרים was ערות הארץ.

Yishmael is also steeped in this ערוה, but they disguise themselves as if they are שומר in these two בריתות. They daven five times a day, as if they have שמירת הפה and they have מילה and external צניאת – שמירת הברית, however it’s all fake. As we already said Yishmael and מצרים are very connected. Mitzraim is the son of חם, whose sin was exactly in these two areas, with his eyes and with his mouth. The pasuk in פרשת נח says וירא חם את ערות אביו ויגד לשני אחיו בחוץ.  

The entire גלות מצרים began with bad speech אכן נודע הדבר – הדיבור, and the Geula will come when we are שומר הלשון. The word פרעה is פה on the outside and רע on the inside. The word מצרים has a מ at the beginning and at the end. The מ is the letter that needs the lips to open and then close, with the word יצר in the middle which keeps the mouth

In פרק השירה the צפרדע is the only one not saying a pasuk but he says  ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד. The צפרדע brought the תיקון of יסוד to מצרים. Now we could understand why Pharoh wants the צפרדע removed. In pasuk ח:ד Pharoh says ויסר הצפרדים ממני ומעמי, not just because the צפרדים were uncomfortable but because he doesn’t want the tikun of יסוד for כלל ישראל. If the yidden would rectify this מדה, they would be זוכה to גאולה. Moshe said in next פסוק that he will remove the frogs fromפרעה , however רק ביאר תשארנה. The Egyptians were into the total opposite of this מדה, as מצרים was ערות הארץ.

Yishmael is also steeped in this ערוה, but they disguise themselves as if they are שומר in these two בריתות. They daven five times a day, as if they have שמירת הפה and they have מילה and external צניאת – שמירת הברית, however it’s all fake. As we already said Yishmael and מצרים are very connected. Mitzraim is the son of חם, whose sin was exactly in these two areas, with his eyes and with his mouth. The pasuk in פרשת נח says וירא חם את ערות אביו ויגד לשני אחיו בחוץ.  

The entire גלות מצרים began with bad speech אכן נודע הדבר – הדיבור, and the Geula will come when we are שומר הלשון. The word פרעה is פה on the outside and רע on the inside. The word מצרים has a מ at the beginning and at the end. The מ is the letter that needs the lips to open and then close, with the word יצר in the middle which keeps the mouth