What Can We Learn From The Frogs?

0:14says in the book of Daniel, chapter 2, verse 38, Daniel translates dreams for Nebuchadnezzar. told us, told him what it is, that he'll be the most powerful king until the Mashiach. Now, Nebuchadnezzar did not like it. Why didn't he like it? He says, why only until the Mashiach? Why only until the Mashiach? Why can't I be the strongest king ever? It's not enough to control the whole world while I'm alive. I want to control the whole world even after I'm dead, forever. It wasn't enough for him.

1:29So what did he do? Nebuchadnezzar said, see, in a dream, I dreamt that the top of the idol was gold and then silver and so on and so forth, with different materials representing different kingdoms that would follow me. So this is what I'm gonna do: to fix this prophecy, I'm gonna make an idol that's all gold. And when I make all of the nations bow to it. And in chapter 3 of the book of Daniel, the test of all tests is given where this enormous monstrosity of an idol, this golden idol, this enormous idol is raised, and as a celebration, Nebuchadnezzar commands all of the leaders from all the nations to come and bow to it or die. Now, everyone knew, everyone knew that Nebuchadnezzar doesn't joke around, including Am Yisrael, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who are also called... Nebuchadnezzar had built this statue and, as a celebration, he commanded all the leaders from all the nations to come and bow to it or face death. Now, everyone knew that Nebuchadnezzar was not to be taken lightly, including Am Yisrael. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were also called by their Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego...

2:58Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were given Babylonian names by King Nebuchadnezzar to assimilate them into the culture of Babylon. They were faced with a significant test. Why? Because they were instructed to bow to an idol. They approached the Prophet and said to him, Is Hashem going to make a miracle for us or not? Meaning if we don't bow, is He going to throw us in the fire? Is Hashem going to save us for standing up for Him or not? Hashem says to the prophet, "Tell them no. If they want to die [al kiddush Hashem], they are welcome to do it. I will not save them." Prophet tells them, and they all walk away from the Prophet with complete intention that they're going to jump into the fire. They're not going to bow to this idol. They're going to die al Kiddush Hashem. In chapter 3, verse 19,

4:23Nebuchadnezzar saw that these three tzaddikim refused to bow to the idol, and it says Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the form of his face became contorted toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The Midrash explains that his face physically changed as a result of his anger—that's how angry he got. It was a public desecration of his name. Public desecration of who he was. These three Jews, they’re not going to bow to my idol when all of these powerful kings are. He got so angry, his face changed. And he commanded them to throw these three tzaddikim into the fire. HaKadosh Baruch Hu, of course, saved them. As He intended originally. And when the prophet, right after the three tzaddikim left, the prophet asked Hashem, "How come you're not going to save them?" Hashem says, "I am going to save them. I just didn't want them to know that I'm going to save them because I want them to get the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem. But if they know that I'm going to save them anyway, there's no mitzvah. There's no free choice."

5:49So it's not that Hashem changed His mind. He just wanted them to get the mitzvah, and already from the beginning, He told the prophet, "I'm gonna save them." It's written in the Torah. So now the question, the Gemara says in Masechet Pesachim, where did these three tzaddikim get the strength to do this? Now, you can tell me you love God until you're blue in the face. Come on now, you're jumping into a fire? Jumping into a fire is not an easy decision, even if you're a righteous person. Many righteous people have failed in the past to jump into a fire. It's a big thing, you know. I know it's a big thing. It's written in the Tanakh; it's not written in some storybook. If it's written, it's a big deal. So now the question is, where did they get this strength? Where did they learn this from? The Gemara says they learned it from the frogs in Egypt. Frogs in Egypt. Why? During the plague of the frogs, after Pharaoh said enough, I'm going to let you go, Moshe Rabbeinu prayed to Hashem and said that Hashem commanded for these frogs to leave Egypt.

7:14to leave this place, that place; this place, that place; and go into the water, go into the fire, go into the ovens, go, just go away. So now the Gemara says, wait a minute, hold on a second. You're saying that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah learned and got the courage, the chidush, the insight to jump into the fire because they learned it from the frogs. Why? Because the frogs, after HaKadosh Baruch Hu commanded them, what happened? Some of them jumped into the fire. They jumped into the fire. Why? Because the frog said, okay, I can go and jump in the water. I can go and run away, but that will take more time. And Hashem’s will is not going to be fulfilled for those extra few minutes. It's better that I jump into the fire and serve Hashem now than let Hashem wait another two minutes. The frog thought this.

8:21So the Chachamim say, but wait a minute. That means that Hashem did command him to jump into the fire because he said, jump into the fire. Then comes Rabbi Yitzchak, Rabbi Yaakov Naiman, and he says, yes. You see, Rabotai, it's not just that they learned from the frogs. It could have easily said, learn from Avraham Avinu. Why did they learn from the frogs? Because if you look at the Pesukim in Sefer Shemot, it says, Hashem said, "Go." Fire, water, this place, that place, meaning you have a bunch of choices. You can go into the fire, or you can go into the water, or you can run away, or you can go to all types of places. Just like Chananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They also had multiple choices. The fire wasn't the only choice. They could have simply run away. They could have hidden. They could have done a lot of things. They could have committed suicide. But they chose the fire. Why? Because that's Mesirut Nefesh. Mesirut Nefesh, Rabotai Yekarim.

9:41is when you have multiple options, but you choose the hardest option because that's the will of Hashem. Yeah, I can serve Hashem and pray at 11 o'clock in the morning because praying at six in the morning is hard. That's not Mesirat Nefesh. Mesirat Nefesh is to pray at six. Yeah, I could go to a shiur, but I'm only going to stay for the first half hour. Why? Because two hours is long and I got to wake up early. Okay, so it's good to learn for a half hour, but it's not Mesirat Nefesh. You know what Mesirat Nefesh is? Staying until the end and sleeping less as a result. Why? Because I want this Torah. I can give $100, $200 easily because I have it in my pocket. $1,000, $2,000 I also have, but that's going to hurt my pocket a little bit. No problem. $100 is a mitzvah. $200 is a mitzvah. It's not a problem. I'm not saying it's a sin, but it's not Eved Hashem. Eved Hashem is doing more. Why? It's the hardest option.

10:57It's the will of Hashem, that's what I do. It's a hard life. Shlomo HaMelech met a frog one time, the Midrash says. And the frog tells him, "I'm more important than you." Shlomo HaMelech says, "Why are you more important than me?" He says. You just think that I'm just like making noises all day. What you don't realize is that every word that comes out of my mouth, I'm sanctifying Hashem's name. All day I'm saying, Baruch Hashem, Baruch Hashem, Baruch Hashem, Baruch Hashem, Baruch Hashem, Baruch Hashem, Baruch Hashem, all day. All day I'm saying, Baruch Hashem. No one does it like me. Every day we get a test to be like the tzefard'im. We get the easy choice, the mediocre choice, and the hard choice. Easy learning: go learn a five-minute clip. Higher learning: read the first part of the weekly parasha with some commentary. Hardest learning: learn some serious Gemara. Break your head and break your teeth. Learn for five hours straight without eating, drinking, or wasting your time.

12:14Then finish the five hours, and you don't even know what you learned, and continue again the next day. Alright, that's what you could do. You have the choice. You could learn, or you could watch Rabbi Yaron Reuven's five-minute clip. "Oh wow, Rabbi, you're the best; you changed my life!" It's good, it's good. Thank you, thank you. I have more than Shamayim. Thank you. I'm not saying don't. You want to be an Eved Hashem, you have to add some Gemara to it, you have to add some Shulchan Aruch to it, you have to add Poskim, you have to toil, you have to sleep less, you have to do this, you have to change your life. Why? Eved Hashem. It's not easy. We're very excited to offer you the new Be'ezrat Hashem app 3.0. It's a newer, faster app, full of Torah, with lots of Kedusha from the shiurim that we do. Myself, Rabbi Freim, Rabbi Chaim. where you'll also have newer features allowing you to use the app while using other applications on your phone. You'll be able to share the shiurim directly from the app. You'll be able to donate online and support our kehilla and the Torah work that we're doing.

13:25And the most exciting feature is that you'll be able to actually ask questions directly on the app and get answers from the rabbis directly from the app. This is something unprecedented, and Baruch Hashem, we will be able to offer it. Thank you again for all of your support. Check it out. Make sure you have the kosher Torah that will re-energize your neshama each and every single day. Call for b'hatzlacha.