DIN"s Night Out In Tel Aviv

 

In this week's Parshas Bo there is an interesting Rashi that I never really understood until this past Thursday night when I spent the evening in Tel Aviv! 

Moshe Rabbeinu tells the Jewish people by the 10th and final plague, not to leave their homes:

וּלְקַחְתֶּ֞ם אֲגֻדַּ֣ת אֵז֗וֹב וּטְבַלְתֶּם֮ בַּדָּ֣ם אֲשֶׁר־בַּסַּף֒ וְהִגַּעְתֶּ֤ם אֶל־הַמַּשְׁקוֹף֙ וְאֶל־שְׁתֵּ֣י הַמְּזוּזֹ֔ת מִן־הַדָּ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר בַּסָּ֑ף וְאַתֶּ֗ם לֹ֥א תֵצְא֛וּ אִ֥ישׁ מִפֶּֽתַח־בֵּית֖וֹ עַד־בֹּֽקֶר׃

“You shall take a bundle of hyssop, dip it into the blood that is in the basin, and apply it to the lintel and to the two doorposts from the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the entrance of his house until morning.

Rashi comments that if a Jew was in an Egyptian home that night, he would nevertheless be saved and would not die

הֲרֵי שֶׁהָיָה יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּבֵיתוֹ שֶׁל מִצְרִי, שׁוֹמֵעַ אֲנִי יִלְקֶה כְמוֹתוֹ, תַּ"לֹ "וְלֹא יִהְיֶה בָכֶם נֶגֶף" (מכילתא)

Let’s walk through this Rashi slowly.

Rashi describes a Jew so distant from his roots that he ignores Moshe Rabbeinu’s explicit command to stay inside on this critical night. Not only does he disregard the instruction—he’s out socializing with his Egyptian neighbor. In other words, he doesn’t believe a word Moshe is saying in the name of Hashem. And yet, Rashi says, he will still be saved, even though he is not inside a protected home marked with blood to identify it as Jewish.

I never fully understood that… until last Thursday night in Tel Aviv.

A supporter of the kollel where I learn donated a Sefer Torah to a shul in the heart of Tel Aviv, just around the corner from Dizengoff—an area where the clubs and bars stay open all night. They set up a tent to write the final letters, and then the entire ten‑block radius was closed to traffic. Cars and buses were stopped in place, including buses packed with people, for two hours.

When the music began, something incredible happened. People— who are so far removed from Yiddishkeit that many had never seen a Hachnasas Sefer Torah in their lives—poured out of restaurants, clubs, and bars. They clapped, they joined the dancing, they watched with fascination. Passengers from the stopped buses ran out to see what was happening. Not a single person complained.

Then the singer suddenly called out, “Shema Yisrael!” and “Hashem Hu HaElokim!” People closed their eyes, tears streaming down their faces, and repeated those holy words. In my entire life, I have rarely witnessed something so moving

And in that moment, Rashi made perfect sense. Hashem is not mevater on a single Jewish neshama—not even one who believes in nothing, not even one in a bar in Tel Aviv.

Hashem loves them just as deeply as He loves those learning in kollel. And when the final redemption comes, the Jews in the bars and clubs of Tel Aviv will be saved and uplifted together with the Jews in Bnei Brak and Yerushalayim

Charedim who hate and vilify Zionists will learn that Hashem loves Zionists dearly as they are the ones getting credit for beautifying Hashem's gift to Klall Yisrael , a country built , Leshem Ultiferes

The tragedy by the plague of darkness was

לֹֽא־רָא֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶת־אָחִ֗יו

When one doesn't see their brother, then you have darkness

Let's pray that there should be light in all of Klall Yisrael

וּֽלְכׇל־בְּנֵ֧י יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל הָ֥יָה א֖וֹר בְּמוֹשְׁבֹתָֽם׃