Tefillah Tips - Az Yashir XI

"Shamu Amim Yirgazun, Chil Achaz Yoshvei Pelashet ... -the nations heard and were agitated; trembling took hold of the dwellers of Pleshes..the leaders of Edom, Mighty ones of Moab."

Rashi states that the reason why the Yoshvei Pelashet were so frightened was because thirty years earlier they encountered the tribe of Ephraim attempting an early escape and successfully defeated them. The tribe of Ephraim tried to leave too early and therefore did not merit escaping.

The Ramban points out that later in the Chumash that some of the same nations that Moshe encountered were unfriendly and aggressive (Bamidbar 20:20). The question is how could the same Edom that was so agitated and frightened of G-d and the people of Israel only a few dozen years earlier act with such belligerence and disrespect.

The answer is that human nature is to forget. We all forget the good as well as the bad. In time we forget details, the feelings we had and the resolve we felt from a given experience. That is why we are encouraged to refresh our memories daily of what took place at Sinai, Red Sea, The Manna...

I know a distinguished family in Jerusalem that lived through the bombings of Saddam Hussein in 1991. The wise parents were so moved by the miracles of the day that they decide to introduce a special song to be sung at the Shabbat table each week to commemorate the feelings of elation and inspiration that were originally felt.

So many Mitzvoth are related to remembering the Exodus from Egypt. Besides Matzah and the Seder, Teffilin, Tzitzit and even not charging monetary interest are associated in the Torah with the Exodus from Egypt. The Torah wants us to make an effort to remember - Zachor.

May Hashem bless all of us to experience momentous occasions worth remembering as well as the resolve and the skills to remember them, grow from them and be thankful for them.