Bostoner Torah Insights: Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in Heberw & English: Parshas Beshalach – 13 Shvat 5786
Bostoner Torah Insights - Yerushalayim
Bostoner Torah Insights
Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in English
Parshas Beshalach – 13 Shvat 5786
Bostoner Rebbe shlit’a – Yerushalayim
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“And Moshe took the bones of Yosef with him, because Yosef had imposed an oath on Bnei Yisroel saying: Hashem shall surely redeem you, and you will ascend from here with my bones with you” (Shemos 13:19). Rashi, citing the Mechilta, notes the double language of the oath (השבע השביע) that Yosef HaTzadik imposed. Yosef understood that while he possessed the political authority to arrange for his father Yaakov’s immediate burial in Eretz Yisroel, his descendants would not have the same ‘protektsya’ with the Egyptian court. Consequently, he bound his brothers and children to pass this obligation down, ensuring that whichever generation eventually witnessed the Exodus would carry his remains home.
The Gemara in Sotah (13a) relates that as the nation prepared to leave, Moshe alone sought out Yosef’s burial place. Serach bas Asher, who had entered Egypt with Yaakov’s family over two centuries earlier, revealed that Yosef’s metal coffin had been submerged in the depths of the Nile. Standing on the riverbank, Moshe declared: “Yosef, the time has come for Hashem to fulfill His promise of redemption. If you show yourself, excellent; if not, we are absolved of our oath.” Immediately, the coffin floated to the surface. Regarding this moment, the Gemara comments, “Come and see how precious Mitzvos were to Moshe Rabbeinu. All of Yisroel were involved with the looting of Mitzrayim, but Moshe was involved with Mitzvos.”
At first glance, this seems to criticize Bnei Yisroel for prioritizing material wealth over spiritual duties. However, the Gemara in Brachos (9a-b) clarifies that the people were actually fulfilling a Divine command. Hashem had specifically requested that they ‘borrow’ gold and silver so that Avraham Avinu would not complain that the decree of ‘they shall enslave them’ was fulfilled, while the promise that ‘afterward they shall leave with great wealth’ was not. Thus, Bnei Yisroel were not acting out of greed, but out of obedience to Hashem’s word.
The true distinction, then, lies in Moshe’s extraordinary zeal. The wealth taken from Egypt was compensation for servitude and oppression. As a prince in Pharaoh’s house and later a resident of Midyan, Moshe was the only descendant of Avraham who had no personal monetary claim for compensation. While others performed a Mitzvah that also provided for their own future security, Moshe actively sought out a task—attending to Yosef—that offered no material benefit. Furthermore, Moshe could have technically exempted himself from the bones of Yosef using the principle of Osek B’Mitzvah Patur Min HaMitzvah, as he was already fully occupied with the mission of the Exodus. Instead, he applied the principle of Efshar L’Kayem Shneihem: when one can fulfill two Mitzvos simultaneously, one is encouraged to do so. Moshe viewed the "free time" while others gathered wealth not as a break, but as an opportunity for further service.
One may wonder why others did not join Moshe in this task. It appears the general public was under the impression that their departure was merely a three-day journey to worship in the wilderness, as Moshe had originally requested of Pharaoh. Additionally, they were only 210 years into what they believed was a 400-year decree; they did not realize the clock had started from the birth of Yitzchak or that the intensity of their labor had shortened the duration. Only Moshe, through his direct contact with Hashem, knew with certainty that this was the permanent, final departure. Because the masses did not perceive the immediacy of the Redemption, they did not yet realize the oath to take Yosef’s bones had become active.
Today, we find ourselves in the era of Ikvei D’Meshicha, ‘at the heels of the Moshiach’. Like our ancestors in Mitzrayim, we may not always perceive the magnitude of the era we live in or the immediacy of the Geulah. We must prepare ourselves and heed the words of our Chachamim, acting with the zeal of Moshe Rabbeinu. By anticipating the Geulah and sharing this perception with those around us, we shall all merit to experience the Final Redemption, speedily in our days.