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Dvar Torah

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Pesach

By Rabbi Dr. Richard Ehrlich

In the Haggadah there is a very well known paragraph that we say every year called “Vehi Sheamda”

“And it is this that has stood by our fathers and us; for not only one has risen up against us to destroy us, but in all ages they rise up against us to destroy us.; and the Holy One, blessed be He, rescues us from their hands.”

This is said every year at our Seder but it is extremely and apropos this year, in light of the events of the last six months. Hamas, and new Iran, have lived up to their rhetoric espousing their hatred of the Jewish State and their attempts to annihilate us.

In the Haggadah after we say this paragraph we “prove” this from a story that many are familiar with: Yaakov “steals” the blessings from his brother Eisav and therefore, needs to flee for his life. He goes to his mother’s brother, Lavan, and ends up marrying his two daughters, Rachel and Leah, and staying there for 21 years as a shepherd for his father-in-law, Lavan.

After 21 years, Yaakov decides to leave and we find Lavan chasing after him.

(Biraishit, Chapter 31 Verse 22-24)

It was told to Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled. So he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days, catching up with him on Mount Gilead. But God had come to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Beware lest you speak with Jacob either good or bad.”

In the Torah, Hashem let us know that Lavan was planning to kill Yakov and his family. It is only because Hashem appeared to Lavan in a dream and warned him not to bother Yakov that they made a peace treaty instead.

Now, if the Torah had not told us the whole story, we would think that Lavan ran after Yakov in order to make a peace treaty with him. We would never have known, that without Hashem’s intervention, Lavan would have killed Yakov (and by extension the entire Jewish people).

This is the whole point of the Vehi Sheamda paragraph – that in every generation, people arise to kill us and in most cases, we never even find out about it, since Hashem saves us just as He saved Yakov without him realizing what actually took place.

Unfortunately, this year we are well aware of their intentions but in many years we are clueless and unaware of what evil is being plotted by our enemies, and in both scenarios Hashem saves us.

Let us hope that He continues to watch over us and ensures our survival and that our brethren who are captured are freed and the Jewish nation survives. AM YISROEL CHAI!

Have a wonderful relaxing and meaningful Pesach.

Special Announcement!

SIHA Is closed for Pesach break until May 2nd.

Regular classes resume on May 2nd.

Siha visits Jewish children museum Crown Heights and bake their own matza