וכי ימכור איש את בתו לאמה (משפטים כא:ז)

The Faltishan Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Twerski zt”l related that when he was a child, he was raised in the home of his uncle, Maran Reb Yissocher Dov of Belz zt”l. Many Rabbanim used to visit Belz, including the Chusta Rav, Rabbi Moshe Greenwald zt”l, known as the Arugas Habosem, his magnum opus.

The Arugas Haboshem was once in Belz on Shabbos Parshas Mishpatim.  He received an Aliya during Torah reading, and when the Ba’al Koreh (the person reading the Torah) said the words וכי ימכור איש את בתו לאמה” the Arugas Haboshem let out a deep krechtz (sigh).

“I didn’t know if the Rav gave a krechtz over the fact that a young girl was sold as a servant or because of my father’s bitter fate, where he needed to sell his daughter as a servant,” shared the Foltishaner Rav.

“I approached the Arugas Haboshem after leining and asked about the krechtz. He told me, ‘You are young. Do you need to know everything?’ I was quite embarrassed. After a few minutes, the Rav told me, ‘When you grow up, my child, and you will learn the Zohar on this pasuk, then you’ll understand.’

“With time,” concluded the Foltishaner Rav, “I got to understand the Zohar on the pasuk, which refers to Hashem and the Yidden. “איש” – refers to Hashem, and “בתו” to the Yidden. The pasuk alludes to the bitter exile.  Hashem needed to sell the Yidden to a foreign nation, and over this fact, one needs to krechtz!”