Parashat Be'Shalach - Unity

Shalom Alechem Le'Kulchem,

I would love to share another D'var Torah with all of you. I guess I'm obsessed with Divrei Torah that span over multiple weeks. The following is a wonderful piece of Torah, based on a thought that I heard from Rabbi Alpert, and there was a message that I drew from it that I would also like to relate. You are invited to read this D'var Torah this week, next week, during Pesach time, or all of the above.

In this week's Parasha, Parashat Beshalach, the Torah says regarding the Egyptians, "Ve'hine Mitzrayim nose'a achare'hem" - "Behold, the Egyptians were coming after them (i.e. the Jews)" (Shemot 14:10). Even after the Jews have already left Egypt, the Egyptians were very stubborn and wanted the Jews back. Hence, they were coming after us. It is interesting to note that the Torah refers to the multitudes of Egyptians as a singular being when it says "nose'a achare'hem" - "they were coming after them." The Torah should have written, "nose'im achare'hem." "Nose'a" really means that one person was coming (he was coming after them). Why does the Torah do this? After all, we are speaking about the entire nation? Why refer to them as one individual?

Well, Rashi, quoting a Midrash, explains that the Egyptians were said to have been "coming after us" in singular because they were "Be'lev Echad, Ke'Ish Echad" - "With one heart, as one man." This simply means that the Egyptians were so unified, so together, so close to one another, that they can be referred to as one individual -- with one heart, like one man. The unity. It's just awesome, right? Right.

No, wait. Wrong! What are we doing? Did we forget what's going on here? You know, Jews - good guys. Egyptians - bad guys. Evil people who want to continue enslaving us and who couldn't care less about us or Hashem. And when Hashem does miracle after miracle, plague after plague, they still don't give up until the very end. They're chasing after us, for heaven's sake! Why are we praising them? Why are we praising their unity when it comes to pursuing the Jews? It's like, "Oh wow. Look at how that murderer pulls the trigger so nicely. It's beautiful." NO! It's not beautiful! Why does the Torah decide to start praising the wicked, wicked Egyptians as they are chasing after us. This nation has enslaved us for the past 210 years. I think we can do without the praise.

This question can be answered beautifully by next week's parasha, Parashat Yitro. Right before Matan Torah, right before Hashem blesses us with the precious gift of Torah on Mount Sinai, the Torah describes the Jews and writes "Vayichan sham Yisrael neged ha'har" - "The Jews camped there opposite the mountain" (Shemot 19:2). However, similar to as we saw before, the Torah writes the singular form of "camping" (Vayichan), as opposed to the plural form, "Vayachanu." Interesting. The Jewish people are also referred to as an individual. It says that we camped there, we slept there than night, in singular. Well, why does it do that? We are a huge nation. It should say that we slept in plural. Rashi, on the spot, explains very similar to how he explained previously. "Ke'Ish Echad, Be'lev Echad" - "As one man, with one heart." The Jews, like the Egyptians, were unified. And the Torah is praising us for our unity.

Except, as you have probably already noticed, there is one minor difference in Rashi's comments on these two passages. Regarding the Egyptians, he wrote that they were, "Be'lev Echad, Ke'Ish Echad" - "With one heart, as one man." And regarding the Jews, he wrote that we were, "Ke'Ish Echad, Be'lev Echad" - "As one man, with one heart." Why the change in the order? Why are the Egyptians referred to as having one heart, as one man does, whereas the Jews are referred to as being like one man, with one heart.

To answer this question, let us explain what the human heart represents. Man's goals and aspirations are generated in his heart. You listen to your heart because it tells you what you want. You follow your heart because it is where your dreams stem from.

How can we describe the analogy to a man? A man has many different parts. His legs, arms, head, fingers, kidneys, and lungs are all very different from each other, but they come together. They all unite to create a larger being, the man. A man is made up of many different things, but all parts are dependent on the others. They are all very different, but come together nevertheless.

What did we say about Egyptians? We said that they were, "Be'lev Echad, Ke'Ish Echad" - "With one heart, as one man." We asked, why are we going out of our way to praise them? The answer is, THIS ISN'T A PRAISE. The Egyptians had one common goal: Kill the Jews. They all had the same dreams, the same aspirations, the same heart. Once they all had the same heart, consequently, they all came together, as though they were one man. But where did this unity generate from? Not love. But hatred. Not out of love for each other, but out of hatred for the Jews.

On the total opposite end of the spectrum, you have the B'nei Yisrael. We are all at Har Sinai. We know it's only a matter of hours before we receive the Torah. And we are all encamping at there, anxiously awaiting what we love so dearly even until today. And in truth, we don't all agree with each other. We don't all have the same hashkafot, same philosophies in life. We don't have a common enemy that is drawing us closer to one another. There is only one reason we are united: we love each other. We make ourselves as one man is, with many different parts. "Ke'Ish Echad" comes first. There are so many different types of Jews: religious, irreligious, Sefaradi, Asheknazi, Chassidish, Litvish, (I really wish I knew all the different types so I can make this list very very long. But I don't. Sorry. But you get the point), etc. Nevertheless, we unify. We come together because we see passed those differences. And, when we look beyond those differences and unite, as one man, we begin to care about each other so much that we start caring about each other's desires, as well. Our unity causes us to eventually have the same heart. "Ke'Ish Echad, Be'lev Echad" - "As one man, with one heart." We come together, irrespective of whether or not we have the same goals. When you care about other Jews, you care about what he cares about. That will ultimately cause us to have the same goals.

What's the message to learn from here? There are plenty, and each can extrapolate his own. But there is one thing about this D'var Torah that really hit home for me. What unites our enemies? The fact that they hate the Jew. You know, there is this guy in my yeshiva - 22 years old. Last week, he came back from fighting in Gaza as part of one of the ground forces. To make a long story short, he had three bullets shot at him - one of them when between his legs. Baruch Hashem, none actually hit him, but all were within a foot of him. When this guy was shooting at him, he probably had one thing in mind - "Jew."

The Jewish people always have enemies. That's just something that we are very good at (along with making money). When there is a Jew somewhere, you can bet that there is someone there who wants his blood. We have no trouble in gaining enemies.

The question is, when there are so many people who hate us, why would we ever, for a second, hate one another? How can one Jew ever call his fellow Jew an enemy? Does it make any sense? We are one nation, and no matter what our wishes or ideals are, we are still one nation. Differences in our hearts should not keep us apart from each other. We shouldn't have to have a common goal with one another, as the Egyptians needed, to want to unite with our brothers and sisters.

Look, it may be hard to love every Jew. You don't even know every Jew, so it's impossible. But to hate? Can't be. If you have ill-feelings toward someone, get rid of them. Fix the problem. That doesn't mean you have to be best friends with him/her. You don't even have to speak so often. But you should never - NEVER - have any hatred in you heart toward a fellow Jew. It is simply unacceptable.

May we all grow closer to one another. May we try to be more considerate and sensitive to each other's feelings. May we know how to complement each other's voids. And may we make an effort to come together, "Ke'Ish Echad" - "As one man," so much so that we will consequently come to having similar goals as well, "Ke'Ish Echad, Be'lev Echad" - "As one man, with one heart." And in the zechut of our achdut (unity), may Hashem see how his children are living harmoniously together and send His mashiach so that we can leave harmoniously with Him, as well.

Sorry for boring all those whom I've bored, but you didn't have to read up to here, so I'm not sooo sorry.

The days are coming, the days going...we aren't completely united. Get to work. Think of three people with whom you have a poor relationship and fix it up.

My Best Regards,

Avraham Adam Sabzevari