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The Kli Yakar - Parshat Masei

22/7/2015

7 Comments

 

Why the Erev Rav CAN'T Change Themselves

(All text in block quotes are the actual words of the Kli Yakar.)

“And Moshe recorded their origins for their journeys according the word of Hashem.” 
(Masei 33:2)

The Kli Yakar notes in the following verse (33:3) that the Torah says about Bnei Yisrael: “They journeyed from Ramses...on the day following the Pesach, sacrifice, Bnei Yisrael went out.”

But later it says, “Hashem took you out from Egypt at night” (Re'eh 16:1).

We know that “Bnei Yisrael” refers to the Jews, while “Am” hints at the Erev Rav. In Shemot 14:5, it says, “And it was told to the King of Egypt that the Am had fled” — “fled” and not, “is fleeing.”
 
The Erev Rav were already gone.

The Kli Yakar points out that the best way to flee is at night and that fugitives don’t just “go out,” but that they escape immediately—they flee.

(Remember, the plagues had been quite terrifying.)

So if we have a group called “Am” who is fleeing at night, then it must be...the Erev Rav.
 
The Kli Yakar goes on to contrast their exodus with that of Bnei Yisrael who went out in the day “with an upraised hand,” adding another telling verse: “And Bnei Yisrael went after them.”

The Kli Yakar emphasizes how the way of fugitives is to go out at a run, which is why they preceded Bnei Yisrael.
​
(Picture people crazed with panic who abandon everyone else in their desperation to save themselves first.)

But Bnei Yisrael left Egypt with fearlessness and dignity.

The Kli Yakar concludes that now Moshe is referring to Bnei Yisrael’s journeys:
Their basic foundation is from the Holy Land, so they always turned their face from the place which they came because the goal of facing toward their journeys was to come to the Land that is promised to their Avot.

But the Erev Rav, whose source derives from Egypt, didn’t go out according to the word of Hashem, but according the opinion of Moshe.

​And it’s said about the Erev Rav: “And these are their journeys to their origins”—because they always had a desire and a will to return to Egypt, to their source.

And we see this today.

While we often consider the Erev Rav to be sneaky, cunning, and manipulative (and they’re that, too), we can understand from the Kli Yakar’s words that despite their craftiness, they aren't really thinking.

It’s their innate instinct to go back to Egypt—a place of darkness, atheism, debauchery, and materialism.
 
It’s like a powerful reflex that they are powerless to resist—which makes them even more dangerous.

Doesn't that explain why it seems impossible to reason with them or to convince them of the beauty and light of Torah?
 
They don't want light.

Light feels all wrong to them.

​They want darkness.

They automatically look back to Egypt because that feels most natural.

​And like any creature going purely by blind instinct, they seem unaware or unconcerned about the consequences.

Simply put, the Mitzrayim mentality just feels “right” to them.

And we real Jews must hold on tight to our emuna so as not to get caught in the Erev Rav slipstream.

​Update: Since this was first posted, there is a fascinating booklet about the Erev Rav by Rav Itamar Schwartz, which delves deeply into this phenomenon, including dealing with Erev Rav sparks in an otherwise non-Erev Rav soul:
Erev Rav Talks

Also, Rivka Levy has published a book that can help you if you've discovered Erev Rav qualities in yourself or you find yourself with Erev Rav types that you can't avoid completely (like family members, neighbors, your group's leader, your husband's rav, etc.):
Unlocking the Secret of the Erev Rav
 
Picture
Think this is a welcome sight in a dark cave? Well, the Erev Rav sure don't think so.....
Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim of Luntschitz (1550-1619) lived in Bohemia (which is today Poland and Czechoslovakia). He served as rabbi and dayan and wrote several books, the most well-known being his commentary on the Chumash known as the Kli Yakar.
This is my own translation and any errors are also mine. 
7 Comments
Devash
23/7/2015 16:16:47

Really beautiful! Thank you!

Reply
Neshama link
26/7/2015 11:53:24

You have highlighted an immediate perspective when reading or dealing with the Erev rav/leftists.

Reply
GoldieZP link
27/7/2015 15:41:01

Interesting what you typed in (paren)

The Kli Yakar emphasizes that it is the way of fugitives to go out at a run, which is why they preceded Bnei Yisrael. (Picture people crazed with panic who abandon everyone else in their desperation to save themselves first.) Not that I am panicking this way - maybe I am, maybe I am not...... I have Rabbi's from Israel and New York/New Jersey telling my husband a I to stay put and not make aliyah and then I have have other rabbi's on the web telling us TO MAKE aliyah (which perhaps plants panic for some to run - and make a split aliya! - leaving the spouse (not by divorce) but instead that spouse would come at another time.

"But the Erev Rav, whose source derives from Egypt, didn’t go out according to the word of Hashem, but according the opinion of Moshe"

what is this supposed to mean? that opinion of Moshe?????.

Reply
Dassie
28/7/2015 05:34:23

Hi, Goldie.
First of all, I think it's very much to your credit if you're considering aliyah, whether in a panic or not! ;) I have a lot of assimilated family members in the US who think Obama is one of the best presidents ever and think that everything is just peachy, including the new toeva law. In other words, fast asleep. So it's great that you are zocheh to be awake.

Now to address your points:
First of all, while the Kli Yakar is very pro-aliyah and Eretz Yisrael, he himself was apparently never able to make aliyah and I don't know if he was even able to visit. But he writes very much as if he was already living in Eretz Yisrael, so I think that in his heart and mind, he was in Eretz Yisrael.

Secondly, the Kli Yakar emphasizes that the Erev Rav were running FROM something, but Bnei Yisrael were running TO something -- even though one could say that they were both escaping. Objectively, it looks the same. But their motivations and ultimate goals were vastly different. So if you flee America, you are still definitely Bnei Yisrael because you are running to Eretz Yisrael. (It's a subtle but strong difference, and this differentiation is purely from the Kli Yakar, not me, even though I provided the example in parantheses.)
I think the Erev Rav's fleeing could be compared to people who flee a place temporarily, but are always looking to go back after things improve. If you left the US, you wouldn't just be waiting things out, you'd be in Eretz Yisrael for good. And while it would be natural to miss certain aspects of American living (everyone does, at least for a while), you'd also appreciate the spiritual benefits of living in Eretz Yisrael (which the Erev Rav don't).

Finally, sorry that the comment about Moshe Rabbeinu wasn't clear.
The exact lashon of the Kli Yakar follows (sorry I can't do the actual Hebrew letters): "...aval haErev Rav sheh hayu makoram miMitzrayim v'lo yatzu al pi Hashem ki Moshe midaato hotzi'em..."
Hashem didn't want to bring the Erev Rav, but Moshe Rabbeinu pleaded on their behalf, thinking that he could rectify them because they contained sparks from him (Eitz Chaim, Shaar 32, Perek 2).

I hope I understood your points correctly.

Reply
GoldieZP link
28/7/2015 15:25:21

Yes - thank you. By the way - I have googled Kli Yakar online and have not found this online to read in English. I do see Kli Yakar in Hebrew at http://www.sefaria.org/. Would you have a link to find this online to read? I did not attend Bais Yaakov school so I am learning this - would like to learn this now. thanks much

Dassie
28/7/2015 05:45:18

Sorry, Goldie, one more interesting point that you brought up....

The Siftei Chachamim in Megillat Rut point out that Naomi was punished because she left Eretz Yisrael, explaining that while maybe her husband needed to leave for parnassa, Naomi could have stayed and been sustained by her husband from afar. Although it was obviously min haShamayim that she went to Moav because she brought back Rut from there, and had that historical dialogue with her on the way to Eretz Yisrael, and other deep hidden stuff.

Your situation is a twist on hers (because Naomi was already in Eretz Yisrael), but I take from this that everyone is just supposed to do what they can as far as aliyah goes, even if it means husbands and wives living apart temporarily.

I'm not trying to pasken, just drawing a correlation. I guess it's just food for thought, as they say.

May you have tons of hatzlacha and bracha.

Reply
Dassie
28/7/2015 15:59:59

Hi, Goldie.
They're in the process of translating the Kli Yakar into English. Right now, only Bresheit I and Shemot I and Shemot II are available.
I've looked online and haven't found even any off-the-cuff English translation of the Kli Yakar.

I wish there was more available. I was hardly able to find out anything about his life, even. Just a couple of paragraphs, which is too bad because reading his peirush, he had such a beautiful soul and interpreted the Chumash so poetically.

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