In Parshat Shmot (Shmot 4:10) when
God first chooses Moshe for the job of taking B’nai Yisrael out of Egypt, Moshe
explains: “I am not a man of words- not since yesterday, not since the day
before- not from the time You first spoke to Your servant, for I am ‘kvad peh’ heavy
(slow) of speech and ‘kvad lashon’ heavy (slow) of tongue.”

In Parshat VaEra (Shmot 6:12) when
God asks Moshe to speak to Pharaoh, Moshe answers “B’nai Yisrael have not
listened to me. How will Pharaoh listen? And I am ‘arel sfatayim’ a man of
uncircumcised lips.”

In both instances Moshe is
explaining that he is not able to speak properly.

According to Ibn Ezra, the
definition of ‘arel sfatayim’, uncircumcised lips is the same a ‘kaved’, heavy.
Moshe’s tongue is covered or tied up and therefore it is difficult for him to
speak.

In Yishayahu 6:9-10 we have an
example of ears being heavy and unable to hear:

God said “Go-tell this people: Hear,
you shall hear but not understand, you will see but you will not know. Fatten
the heart of this people; make their ears heavy ‘v’oznav hacbed’; coat their
eyes with plaster, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and
their hearts understand and they return and are healed.”

In Yirmiyahu 6:10 we see ears being
uncircumcised and unable to hear:

God said “To whom shall I speak and
warn, that they will listen? Behold their ear is uncircumcised (blocked) ‘arela
oznam’ and they are unable to listen! Behold the word of God has become an
object of ridicule to them; they have no desire for it.”

The concept of heavy eyes, meaning
losing eyesight is found in Breisheet 48:10:

Yisrael’s eyes were heavy ‘kavdu’
with age and he could not see…

Moshe’s speech was impaired and
therefore he felt that he wasn’t up for the job.

God answers Moshe (Shmot 4:11): “Who
gave man a mouth, or who makes a person dumb or deaf? Who makes a person see or
makes him blind? It is not I- God?

God obviously knows that Moshe has
speech issues and can work around them.

Rabbeinu Chananel brings the
interpretation of Rabeinu Bechaya: The fact that Moshe mentioned two
deficiencies shows that he was kvad peh- he had difficulty in forming certain
words which are articulated with the teeth as well as kvad lashon- he had
difficult pronouncing certain letters.

Ibn Ezra explains that Moshe was
born with kvad peh, slowness of speech, he had a problem with labials, as well
as kvad lashon, slowness of tongue which is a problem with linguals. In other
words, it was difficult for him to enunciate some of the letters. God’s
solution was to make sure that the words that Moshe needed to say would not
have the letters that were difficult for him to pronounce.

In response, we see in the next
verse (Shmot 6:13) “God then spoke to Moshe and Aharon, commanding them
regarding B’nai Yisrael and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring out B’nai Yisrael
from the land of Egypt.”

Chizkuni points out that here God is
telling Moshe that he doesn’t have to worry, his brother Aharon would be there
to help him.

This is clear in Shmot 7:1-2:

God said to Moshe, “See, I have made
you a master over Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your spokesman. You
shall speak everything that I command you, and Aharon, your brother shall speak
to Pharaoh, that he should send B’nai Yisrael from his land.”

Although there was no speech therapy
in those days, Moshe was still able to do the job, despite his limitations.

In the end, begrudgingly, Pharaoh
let B’nai Yisrael go.

No matter what communication issues
or limitations we may have, we must continue to cry out and insist that the
hostages in Gaza are set free.

In Parshat VaEra, we read about the
first seven plagues. The third plague (Shmot 8:12-15) especially resonates with
anyone who had an outbreak of lice in their home, school, camp or community:

God said to Moshe, “Say to Aharon,
Extend your rod and strike the dust of the earth; and it will turn into lice
throughout the whole land of Egypt.” They did so. Aharon extended his hand with
his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man and beast.
All the dust of the earth turned into lice throughout the whole land of Egypt.
The sorcerers did likewise with their magic art. They tried to bring forth lice
but they could not, and there were lice on man and beast. The sorcerers said to
Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God;” but Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened and
he did not listen to them, as God had spoken.

How far back do lice go?

The Exodus took place sometime
between 1550-1069 BCE so they were already around at that time.

In 2016, a lice comb made of ivory
was found at Tel Lachish in Israel. Just two months ago, in November 2022 an
inscription was found on the comb which may date it all of the way back to 1700
BCE. The sentence which was written in Cananite script is translated as: “May this
tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.”

Many other combs were found in
Israel as well. We learn from here that the lice were not only part of the
plague in Egypt but they have also been in the Land of Israel for thousands of
years. Unfortunately they are still here and parents are still combing them out
of their kids’ hair which is still the most effective method of removing them.

It is interesting that the Cananites
wrote a prayer on the comb about eradicating lice and based on the fact that
they also had them in their beards it seems like they affected the whole
population not just the children who primarily get lice today.

Considering that the comb was ivory
and had words on it, we can assume that it belonged to someone wealthy. The poorer
people used wooden combs which have not stood the test of time. This shows that
the lice touched everyone in all classes.

Not only were lice in the land of
C’naan, they were also in Egypt when the plague was not in place, just on a
much smaller scale. In order to try to avoid lice as much as possible, many
Egyptians shaved their heads or had short hair. Wealthy Egyptians chose to wear
wigs as lice prefer to stay in hair that is attached to the head.

May we figure out a way to eradicate
lice once and for all!

In Parshat VaEra (Shmot 6:23), we
are introduced to Elisheva:

“Aharon
took Elisheva, daughter of Aminadav, sister of Nachshon, for a wife and she
gave birth to Nadav, Avihu, Elazar and Itamar.”

We learn in the Talmud, Zvachim 102a
and in the Midrash, Vayikra Rabba 20:2:

Elisheva experienced five joys more
than the other daughters of Israel as she saw six of her relatives crowned on Rosh
Chodesh Nisan, the day that the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was dedicated:

1. Moshe, her brother in law was
crowned as king

2. Nachson, her brother was
inaugurated as the Nasi, the prince of the tribe of Yehuda who brought the
first korban (sacrifice) out of all of the Nesiim (princes). As we read in
Bamidbar 7:12:

“And he that offered his offering
the first day was Nachshon ben Aminadav, from the tribe of Yehuda.”

3. Aharon, her husband was trained
and sanctified to be the Kohen Gadol (High Priest).

4. Nadav and Avihu, her sons became
S’ganei Kehuna, deputy priests.

5. Pinchas, her grandson (Elazar’s
son) was chosen to be the Kohen Mashuach Milchama, the priest who was anointed to
lead the army in war. We read about this role in Dvarim 20:2-4:

And it shall be when you come near
to the battle, that the kohen shall approach and speak to the people, and shall
say to them, Shma Yisrael, Hear O Israel, you draw near today to do battle
against your enemies; let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble,
nor be terrified because of them; for the Lord your God is He that goes with
you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

Unfortunately, Elisheva’s happiness
was short lived (Vayikra 10:1-2):

And
Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon, took each of them his censer and put fire
in it and put incense on it and offered strange fire before God which he
commanded them not. And a fire went out from God and devoured them and they
died before God.

Sadly, Nadav and Avihu were killed and
Elisheva’s joy turned to mourning.

There is no complete happiness in
this world as it says (Vayikra 16:1-2):

God spoke to Moshe after the death
of Aharon’s two sons, when they came near before God, and died; and God said to
Moshe: Speak to Aharon, your brother- he shall not come at all times into the
Sanctuary, within the Curtain, in front of the Cover that is upon the Ark, so
that he should not die; for in a cloud I will appear upon the Ark-cover.

Even though Nadav and Avihu were
righteous and tried to get close to God, they transgressed and in an instant,
all of the joy turned to mourning.

May we enjoy the good times as we
never know how long they will last.

 Sponsored by David Frankel commemorating
the 5^th yahrzeit of his mother, Basha bat David z”l

According to the Midrash, Shmot Raba
10:7, the dust in Egypt was transformed into lice to punish the Egyptians who
forced B’nai Yisrael to sweep up the dust in the streets and marketplaces.
During the plague of lice, when the Egyptians needed dust, they went to
dig but all that they were able to come up with was lice.

In Shmot 8:12-14, we read about the
plague of lice:

God said to Moshe, “Say to Aharon,
Extend your rod and strike the dust of the earth; and it will turn into lice
throughout the whole land of Egypt.” They did so. Aharon extended his hand with
his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man and beast.
All the dust of the earth turned into lice throughout the whole land of Egypt.
The sorcerers did likewise with their magic art. They tried to bring forth lice
but they could not, and there were lice on man and beast.

The Midrash continues: “The sorcerers
were not able to bring about lice with their magic art”. Rabbi Elazar said: “We
learn from here that the sorcerers were not able to use their demons to create
something that is smaller than a barleycorn.” The rabbis taught: “They wouldn’t
even be able to create a giant animal like a camel since a demon can’t create
anything, they can only gather animals from far places. Big animals can be
brought over but small creatures such as lice could not be brought over.”

In the first two plagues, blood and
frogs, the sorcerers thought that Aharon was using demons. However, when the
sorcerers couldn’t bring about lice from the dust the way that Aharon did, they
acknowledged that Moshe and Aharon’s work was the “finger” of God and
we no longer see them trying to copy any of the other plagues.

In Shmot 8:2-3 we read about the plague
of frogs:

Aharon extended his hand over the waters
of Egypt, and the frog emerged and covered the land of Egypt. The sorcerers did
likewise with their magic art, and made the frogs emerge upon the land of
Egypt.

In Shmot Raba 10:4 we see an argument over how the frogs were brought
about:

It was taught: Rabbi Akiva said: “There
was one frog and it produced a swarm of frogs and it filled the land of Egypt
with frogs.” Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah said to Rabbi Akiva: “Akiva, what do you
have to do with Aggadah (legend)? Cease your discourses and focus on Halacha,
the laws of Negaim and Oholot! Rather, what happened was that there was
originally one frog and it croaked and the others came.”

It wasn’t a big deal for the sorcerers
to bring frogs because one frog croaked which brought the others over. However,
the lice were too small to bring their friends and actually had to be created
directly from the dust, a miraculous task that only God could perform. 

In Memory of
David Margolin z”l on his 36^th Yahrzeit

I made aliya 14 1/2 years ago with
my husband and two young children. We all read Yediot Aharonot every day. We
are Israelis with citizenship and ID cards just like our third son who was born
in Israel. We speak English at home and Hebrew fluently outside. We left a
house and good jobs in NY to come to Israel for one primary reason.

We came to Israel to fulfill a
promise. That promise was given to Avraham (Breisheet 17: 7-8): “I will sustain
My covenant between Me and you, and between your descendants after you
throughout their generations as an eternal covenant, to be a God to you, and to
your descendents after you. I will give to you, and to your descendents after
you, the land of your temporary residence, all the land of C’naan as an eternal
possession, and I will be God to them.”

This promise was later affirmed to
Yitzchak (Breisheet 26:3): “Live in this land and I will be with you and bless
you, for to you and your descendants I will give all these lands. I will thus
keep the oath that I swore to Avraham, your father. I will make your
descendents as numerous as the stars of the heavens, and I will give your
descendents all these lands. Through your descendants shall be blessed all the
nations of the world.”

Yaakov received the blessing as well
(Breisheet 35:12): “The land that I gave to Avraham and Yitzchak, I will give
to you; and to your offspring after you I will give the land.”

When God appeared to Moshe, He
reminded him of His former promises which had not yet been fulfilled (Shmot
6:4): “I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of C’naan,
the land of their sojourning where they lived as strangers.”

Finally, God promised to fulfill his
promise (Shmot 6:8): “I will bring you to the land regarding which I raised my
hand in oath that I will give it to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, and I will
give it to you as an inheritance. I am God.”

We see from these promises that the
Land of Israel is a gift to the entire Jewish people and this is where God
wants us to be. There are no specifications about having to be born in Israel,
having to master the language or having to be in a specific political camp. God
wants you in Israel whether you are a lawyer or whether you serve French fries
at a restaurant.

Raanan Shaked can’t understand this.
Why would a Jew leave New York and take a lower paying or less prestigious job
in Israel? Why would they give up a house and move to an apartment? There must
be something wrong with them. He will never understand us no matter how many
Nefesh B’Nefesh flights he observes and no matter how many olim (immigrants) he
interviews. We are here because this is our homeland.

Those who question olim may not
realize that there are many opportunities in Israel that we would not have had
in the USA. Israel is far ahead in the areas of Torah study and Jewish
education and opportunities for Modern Orthodox Jews to break into fields like
joining the Knesset or teaching Zionism through sports, culture and technology
are a dream come true.

Instead of judging us, native
Israelis should appreciate the contributions that olim are making and realize
that we are not a threat but rather people who want to consciously fulfill a
promise and make the State of Israel a better place.

Raanan Shaked was wrong to judge us.
He owes all olim an apology.

*Raanan Shaked is a journalist for
Yediot Achronot who wrote that olim from the United States are a sub-stream of
lunatic Isra-mericans, who would doubtfully get jobs as waiters. 

In the beginning of Parsha VaEra (Shmot 6:1-3), Elokim, God appears to
Moshe and says: “I am HaShem, the Lord. I revealed Myself to
Avraham, to Yitzchak and to Yaakov as E-l (Almighty) Shaddai, but by My Name
the Lord (HaShem) I did not make myself known to them.”

According to Rashi, God made promises to the forefathers, but they were
not yet fulfilled as the time for their fulfilment had not yet arrived.

Ramban quotes Ibn Ezra who brings the opinion of Shmuel HaNagid that the
word Shadai is from the root Shodded (robber or pirate) meaning that God is the
victor and prevailer over the hosts in heaven.

Ramban explains that Shadai was used in reference to the hidden miracles
that delivered our forefathers from death, kept them alive in the famine and
redeemed them in the wars. The blessings and the curses are all miracles as it
is not in nature that the rains should come in their due season when we worship
God, nor are the skies to be like iron if we plant our fields in the seventh
(Shmita) year and similarly all promises in the Torah. They are miracles where
natural law is overpowered, except that no change in the natural world is
noticeable (as opposed to the miracles done through Moshe which openly changed
nature and were used with God’s name HaShem, the Tetragrammaton).

We see the covenant with our forefathers in verse 4:

“I established My covenant with them, to give them the land of C’naan,
the land of their sojourning where they lived as strangers.”

The first promise was made to Avraham in Breisheet Chapter 17:1-2:

When Avram was ninety-nine years old, HaShem, the Lord appeared to Avram
and said to him “I am E-l Shaddai walk with Me and be tamim (perfect). And I
will make My brit (covenant) between Me and you, all will multiply you
exceedingly.”

In sentences Breisheet 17:4-7, Elokim, God, promises Avram that the
covenant will be that he will become the father of many nations. His name will
be changed to Avraham. The covenant will be with Avraham and his descendants
forever.

The covenant is described in Breisheet 17:8:

I will give to you, and to your descendents after you, the land of your
temporary residence, all the land of C’naan as an eternal possession, and I
will be their Elokim, God.

God then commands Avraham (and his future descendents) to perform the
mitzvah of Brit Milah (circumcision).

The Lord, HaShem then reaffirms his promise to Avraham when he speaks to
Yitzchak in Breisheet 26:2-3:

“The Lord, HaShem appeared to him (Yitzchak) and said: ‘Do not go down
to Egypt. Settle in the land that I will make known to you. Stay temporarily in
this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and your descendants
I will give all these lands. I will thus keep the oath that I swore to Avraham,
your father…’”

Before Yitzchak sends Yaakov away to Padan Aram to look for a wife, he
blesses Yaakov using the name E-l Shaddai (Breishhet 28:3-4) “And E-l Shaddai
will bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you that you may be a
multitude of people; and give you the blessing of Avraham, to you, to your seed
with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a sojourner, and which
God gave to Avraham.”

God’s official promise to Yaakov (Breisheet 35:11-12) comes after he returns
to the land of C’naan with his family and after God changes his name to Yisrael:

God, Elokim said to him: “I am E-l Shaddai. Be fruitful and increase, a
nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from
your loins. The land that I gave to Avraham and Yitzchak, I will give to you;
and to your offspring after you I will give the land.”

Through hidden miracles, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov lived in the land,
yet it was not yet theirs. The promise was that their future descendents would
inherit the land after the Egyptian slavery and that is why Avraham bought
Mearat HaMachpela in Hevron, Yitzchak had trouble from his neighbors when he
tried to dig wells and Yaakov bought a plot of land in Shchem.

God recounts all of this history to show Moshe that he is the next link
in the chain and the goal is to get B’nei Yisrael back to the land of C’naan (Israel),
the land that was promised to them. This time, B’nei Yisrael will officially
inherit the land, fulfilling the promises that God made to our forefathers.

The State of Israel today is nothing short of a miracle. On a daily
basis, we are threatened from all sides yet we prevail. We see God’s power as
E-l Shaddai, His Hashgacha, Divine protection constantly watching over us.

The Shin on the mezuzah on our doorposts reminds us that the Almighty,
Shaddai watches over our homes as Shaddai represents the acronym of Shomer D’latot
Yisrael, Guardian of Israel’s doors. May He continue to watch over and protect
our private homes as well as the State of Israel.

A few weeks ago, in Parshat Vayeshev
(Breisheet 40:11) we read Pharaoh’s butler’s description of his dream which
mentioned Pharaoh’s cup three times: “Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand. I took the
grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup. I then placed the cup in Pharaoh’s
hand.”

What is the significance of the cup?

One interpretation, as found in Yishayahu
51:17, is that a cup can be used as a metaphor for punishment:

“Awaken yourself! Awaken yourself!
Arise O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of God the cup of his fury.
You have drunk from and drained the sediments of the cup of bewilderment.”

In the Talmud, Sotah 9a, Rava asks:
Why are three cups stated regarding Egypt? One that is drank during the days of
Moshe (when the Egyptians were punished at the time of the Exodus), one that is
drank in the days of Pharaoh Necho (who was defeated by Nevuchadnezer the king
of Babylon, mentioned in Yirmiyahu 46) and one that it will drink in the future
with its fellows, in the days of the Mashiach (when the Egyptians along with
the other nations will once again be defeated).

In the Torah reading for Parshat
Vaera we read the story of the Exodus where Moshe and Aaron ask Pharaoh to let
B’nei Yisrael out and are refused over and over again eventually leading to the
redemption of B’nei Yisrael and the downfall of Pharaoh and the Egyptians (the
first part of the butler’s prophecy).

This week’s Haftara from Yechezkel,
speaks about Egypt’s downfall centuries later and next week’s Haftara from
Yirmiyahu continues with the same theme of the Babylonian defeat of Egypt (the
second part of the butler’s prophecy).

The prophecies in Yechezkel and
Yirmiyahu emphasize that unlike Egypt, Israel will endure forever. Those who
relied on Egypt rather than on God saw that they were mistaken.

Rashi comments on the Talmud, Sotah
108a that three of the four cups which we drink at the Passover seder
correspond to the three cups from the butler’s dream, but with a positive spin
(the fourth cup is not unique to the seder night as a cup of wine is usually
part of Birkat HaMazon, Grace After Meals).

According to Rav Yaakov Homnick, the
cups of wine at the seder show that we are now kings in our own right. We are
no longer slaves. When we sit at the seder, we are like Pharaoh with the cup of
majesty being placed in our hands.

Rav Homnick adds that the wine cup which
was placed in the butler’s hands represented the fact that he was once again a
free person as he was released from jail and was restored to his position in
the palace.

At the seder, we too rejoice as free
people, celebrating the past redemptions and the hope that the future
redemption is upon us.

Sponsored by Barbara BEISS Muskin

in memory of, zecher nismat 

SARAH BEISS, SARAH BAT YITZHAK
EISIK

If Pharaoh was the one who had the idea to enslave B’nai
Yisrael, then why did the plagues affect all of the Egyptians? Did the
Egyptians deserve a collective punishment?

Shadal (Rabbi Shmuel David Luzatto) explains that the entire
Egyptian nation was responsible for the enslavement of B’nai Yisrael.

When reading Shmot 1:9 we read: “He (Pharaoh) said to his
people: ‘Behold, the people of B’nai Yisrael are becoming too numerous and
strong for us.’” If the Egyptians weren’t evil, they would have tried to calm
Pharaoh down and convince him not to hurt B’nai Yisrael. Instead, they kept
quiet and in sentence 11 they went along with Pharaoh’s plan: “They (the
Egyptians) appointed taskmasters over them (B’nai Yisrael) to afflict them with
their burdens.”

It doesn’t say that Pharaoh himself appointed taskmasters
rather it says that “they”, meaning the Egyptians appointed taskmasters.

In contrast, when the midwives (who according to Josephus
and Abravanel were Egyptian women) were asked to kill the baby boys, they did
not comply. The midwives let the baby boys live yet Pharaoh didn’t punish them.
If the whole nation wouldn’t have gone along with Pharaoh’s plan to afflict
B’nai Yisrael, what could he have done to them?

Shadal concludes that since the Egyptians did not protest
the harsh decrees placed on B’nai Yisrael, they were punished along with
Pharaoh and that is why the plagues affected the entire Egyptian population. 

When we see that something wrong is happening, we must
follow in the footsteps of the midwives and stand up for justice. According to
Rabbi Saadya Gaon, the reward that God gave the midwives was that He protected
them. May we too merit God’s protection.

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In Parshat Vaera, God requests that
Moshe ask Aharon to perform the first three plagues:

Shmot 7:19, God said to Moshe, “Say
to Aharon, ‘Take your rod and extend your hand over the waters of Egypt- over
the rivers, over their canals, over their lakes, and over every place where
their water is gathered, and it (the water) will become blood.’”

Shmot 8:1, God said to Moshe, “Say
to Aharon, ‘Extend your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the steams and
over the lakes and bring up the frogs upon the land of Egypt.’”

Shmot 8:12, God said to Moshe, “Say
to Aharon, ‘Extend your rod and strike the dust of the earth; and it will turn
into lice throughout the whole land of Egypt.’”

Why was Aharon asked to perform the
plagues of blood, frogs and lice and not Moshe?

In Shmot Raba, Vaera 10:4, Rabbi
Tanchum explains that God told Moshe: “The water that saved you when you were
put in a basket in the Nile will not be whipped by you.”

In Shmor Raba, Vaera 10:7, Rabbi
Tanchum continues: “The dust that protected you when you killed the Egyptian
(when you buried the dead body in the sand so that nobody would know) should
not be whipped by you.

We learn from here the concept of “Hakarat
HaTov”, appreciation for the good that others have done for us, even in the
case of water and sand. How much more so should we appreciate the good deeds that
other human beings do for us every day which should not be taken for granted. 

As a teenager from New York,
I spent three summers in France
immersed in the Jewish community through a program called The French Jewish
Connection.

My high school math teacher, Mr. Harvey Blech z”l couldn’t understand
why I went to France on
vacation instead of to Israel.
He said that after the Holocaust he could not understand why Jews would want to
go to France.
I tried to explain to him that the best way to learn a language and culture was
through immersion but he was not convinced.

In the summer of 1988, I spent a month in Nice, on the Riviera studying French and living with a Jewish family originally
from Tunisia,
owners of a kosher bakery. I sampled all sorts of Tunisian foods, went to the
beach, the Chagall museum and a perfume factory. On Shabbat I prayed in a
Sephardic synagogue. After class I enjoyed shopping for the latest French
fashions. By the time I returned to New
York I was speaking French fluently.

The summer of 1990 was spent in Paris at a Jewish Community Center called
Centre Rachi. I studied French in the morning, toured Paris
in the afternoons, visited the Chateaux in the Loire Valley, Giverny- The home of Claude
Monet and Versailles and spent Shabbatot with
the Moroccan community of Paris.
I lived in a dormitory on a street that had an open market in the mornings,
boutiques in the afternoons and nightlife in the evenings. A sobering moment
was a visit to the Veldrome d’Hiver indoor sports stadium in Paris where as part of the Vel d’Hiv roundup
in 1942, 7000 Jews were packed in as they waited shipment to the death camps.

In the summer of 1993 Josh (now my husband) and I led a
group of thirteen teenagers from North America to Paris. In addition to visiting the Louvre and
Disneyland Paris we visited the Consistoire- the Grand Synagogue where the
Rabbinate of Paris is housed.

Everything went smoothly until one Saturday night when we
were attacked on the Metro (Subway) returning from the homes of our Shabbat
hosts.

A group of teenagers noticed that the boys were wearing
kippot under their baseball hats and tzitzit under their shirts. They grabbed
one of the boy’s hats and started throwing it around. As we were about to get
off of the train they tried to push one of the boys between the doors of the
train as they were about to close. Josh helped free the boy who was stuck just
in time but not before the teenagers smashed Josh’s head into the wall.

Luckily we all made it out of the train but at that moment
we were all shaken up.

After that incident I thought about Mr. Blech and understood
why he was not interested in going to France.

When the summer came to an end, Josh and I made a decision
not to return to France.

Twenty-two years later things have not gotten better in France, they
have gotten worse.

Were all of those years of studying French wasted now that I
would no longer be going back to France?

I now live in Jerusalem and I
still use my French when speaking to senior citizens who attend my classes in Jerusalem’s nursing
homes. Even though they understand Hebrew, those who made aliya from French
speaking countries when they were already older can often express themselves
better in French and much of their wisdom would get lost in translation.

The younger immigrants from France are anxious to integrate
into Israeli society and are very quick to pick up Hebrew. Over the last few years
we have seen many Jews from France
buy apartments in Israel,
some making aliya. There are many more French students in our children’s
schools in Jerusalem
now than there were ten years ago.

Although I don’t plan to return to France, I now have French neighbors who are just
as warm as the members of the Jewish community that I spent time with while
visiting France.

In addition to coming with a sense of style and culture, the
French Jews who are making aliya are bringing values that Israel
desperately needs: a commitment to Judaism, to Zionism and to religious
tradition.

French immigrants are also contributing to Israeli society.
One example is Golan of Golan Telecom who started a cell phone company which
offers low rates and has helped lower the rates of his competitors.

In Parshat Vaera (Shmot 6:6-8) God promises to bring the
Jews out of Egypt, save them, redeem them, take them as a people and bring them
to the Land of Israel.

May God continue to help the Jews of France and Jews from
throughout the world fulfill the prophecy of making aliya to the State of
Israel.