Pesach: Thank you!

·39 min·3 clips

Rabbi Farhi shares the Alikut Shimoni's startling take: Moshe was punished for not showing gratitude to a stone.

Rabbi Shlomo Farhi begins the episode by dedicating it to a contemporary political deadline, then transitions to the holiday of Pesach and the splitting of the Red Sea (Kiryat Yam Suf). He opens with a textual puzzle from Psalms: why does the description of the sea splitting suddenly mention mountains dancing and water coming from a rock, which seems unrelated. To solve this, he shares an interpretation from Rav Chaim Kanievski. He then delves into a Midrash from the Alikut Shimoni, which offers a surprising reason for Moshe's punishment after hitting the rock at Meribah. Contrary to the common understanding that Moshe erred by hitting instead of speaking, this Midrash suggests the fault was a lack of gratitude (Hakarat HaTov) toward the stone itself, which had provided honey to nourish hidden Jewish babies in Egypt. Rabbi Farhi explains that Moshe, as the leader whose soul encompassed all Jewish souls, bore a collective responsibility for this gratitude. He then returns to the splitting of the sea, proposing that when the Israelites crossed, God turned the walls of water into stone to reassure them, and later turned that stone back into drinkable water. This, he argues, was a foreshadowed lesson about the interchangeability of stone and water and the importance of gratitude—a lesson Moshe later failed to internalize. The host shares an anecdote about the Vilna Gaon identifying a hydrophobic stone called San Pirun, which was also the material of Moshe's staff, to illustrate divine hints in nature. He broadens the discussion to the practical application of Hakarat HaTov in daily life. Rabbi Farhi criticizes the tendency to focus on flaws (Hakarat HaRa) and urges listeners to actively discern and appreciate the good. He uses examples like Pesach programs, schools, and marriages, where imperfections exist, but the Jewish calling—evident in the name Yehudim (from 'thank')—is to be thankful. He concludes with a concrete exercise: making a pro-con list about one's spouse or children's education, then discarding the con side to focus on the blessings, praying for a life where we naturally seek out the good.

As heard by us

A lively holiday shiur turns Yam Suf, Yosef, and a stone into a daily practice of gratitude.

The episode lets the holiday's gratitude theme carry the teaching rather than sit on top of it. Yam Suf is read through Yosef's earlier flight from temptation, and Yosef's restraint with Potiphar becomes an act of hakarat hatov.

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Why you'd press play

You want a holiday class where gratitude becomes something you can practice, with Yam Suf, Yosef, and a stone quietly doing the heavy lifting.

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