Toras Avigdor Junior
Parshas Beshalach
Miracles of Snow
Eli, Shmuli, and Rivky woke up excitedly and ran to the window to see fresh snow falling from the sky. They were finally going to build the snowman they had been talking about since the beginning of the winter! It was going to be the biggest snowman ever. As they washed negel vasser and got dressed all they could talk about was the snow.
After breakfast they put on their coats and gloves and also found an old hat and scarf for the snowman to wear. Eli said that they shouldn’t use a carrot for the nose because it would get spoiled and it would be bizuy ochlin – making edible food inedible. Eli loved learning halacha and always had interesting things to tell his siblings. So instead of a carrot, they took an old party hat from the Purim costume box to be the snowman’s giant nose. They then headed outside to the backyard and got to work.
“Here, Eli!” said Rivky. “This giant snowball that I rolled can be one of the snowman’s toes!”
“Gevaldig!” said Eli. “And Shmuli, you put the nose on the snowman so well – it looks amazing!”
The children suddenly stopped talking as they saw their neighbor, Reb Zundel, coming down the street. Eli was about to ask Reb Zundel if he needed help shoveling his front lawn but then they noticed that he seemed to be clapping and dancing.
All the children stood quietly and watched Reb Zundel as he danced around humming a niggun. They were confused. Of course kinderlach love snow, but Reb Zundel? Why was he excited?
“Hello kinderlach,” called Reb Zundel when he noticed them. “Hashem should bentsch you with a warm and wonderful day!”
“Omein! Thank you!” said Eli. “We hope you also have a good day. But can I ask you a question?”
“Of course, Eli! You know that I love questions!”
“Uh… I was wondering – um – why were you dancing in the snow?
Reb Zundel smiled. “Do you mean to tell me you didn’t dance when you saw the snow falling?”
Eli blushed. “Of course we did,” he said, a little bit embarrassed. “But we’re kids – we’re supposed to be excited. But I can’t imagine that you like making a snowman.”
Reb Zundel laughed and patted Eli on the head. “Kinderlach,” he said. “When you woke up this morning and saw the snow falling you looked at it and I’m sure in your heads you already saw the snowman that you were going to build, right?”
The children nodded their heads. “Yes,” they all said.
“Well, when I see the snow falling, I see the Mann!”
“Mann?” asked Eli. “Because it’s white?”
“Yes, it is white like the Mann,” said Reb Zundel. “But that’s not all. The snow is actually very similar to the Mann!”
“But I tried eating the snow,” said Shmuli as he blushed. “And it just tastes like water. Didn’t the mann taste like any yummy food?”
“Indeed it did,” smiled Reb Zundel. “And the snow is responsible for many of the delicious foods that we eat!
“Dovid Hamelech says in Tehillim, הַנוֹתֵן שֶׁלֶּג כַּצָּמֶר – Hashem gives snow like wool. And just like the wool in your sweaters keeps you warm, the snow – even though it is freezing cold – keeps the ground warm in the winter. This prevents seeds and underground roots of plants from freezing – so that we can enjoy juicy strawberries in the summer!
“And the snow also keeps the ground wet – more than rain does, because it melts slowly – this helps crops grow so we can have bread and many other types of food! As the next Posuk in Tehillim says, מַשְׁלִיךְ קַרְחוֹ כפִתִּים – Hashem sends down snow and ice like pieces of bread – just as the Mann is called lechem min Hashomayim, when it snows Hashem is also sending our food down from Shomayim, just like he did for the Am Yisroel in the Midbar.
“And that’s why I’m dancing. The purpose of the Mann was to teach us that we don’t just live off of bread – we live off of Hashem’s amazing nissim – just because the Mann no longer falls doesn’t mean that Hashem is doing any less nissim for us. So when I saw the snow falling I got so excited because it reminds me of all of the amazing things that Hashem does for us to keep us alive, healthy, and comfortable every day!”
“That’s amazing!” said Eli. “It kind of makes me want to dance too!”
“So what’s stopping you?” asked Reb Zundel , as he took the boys’ hands and as Rivky watched with a huge smile, the three of them spent the next few minutes dancing in the snow, celebrating all of the amazing things that Hashem does for us every day.
Have a Wonderful Shabbos