english VAERA 2013
LESSON FROM A FROG
Anyone who gets angry is considered as one who practices idolatry. (Shabbat 105b) Why is it like that? The last time I got angry, I did not feel that I do not believe in G-d. Such a thought did not even cross my mind. As a matter of fact, when people get angry, they do not forget that they do not like getting angry. They do not “decide” to get angry. There is just a thought that comes to mind that is an angry thought. And then they get angry. What is the core belief of all angry thoughts? And why is it like idolatry?
The Steipler would explain something interesting about anger. He pointed to “the frog” (ותעל הצפרדע) mentioned by Rashi in the parasha. There was one frog: they were hitting it, and it would spit out many streams of frogs. That was it. Just one frog. G-d brought just one frog to the Egyptians in this plague. That one frog got hit by the first Egyptian, who was not happy to see such a thing, and then it spit out more frogs. The Egyptians continued to hit it, and endless streams of frogs jumped out. Had they stopped hitting it and just left it alone, then there would not have been a plague of such enormous proportions; there would not have been so many frogs. If so, why didn’t they stop hitting it? – Because they saw that the frog did not listen. It did not behave the way they wanted it to, so they hit it repeatedly to teach it a lesson. Even if the whole of Egypt would be filled with frogs. They believed that this frog is going to learn who is boss. (Angry people never think rationally nor do they notice the outcome of their actions when they are angry). But on an even deeper level, they believed that if there was no such frog yesterday in town, it should not be here now, either.
This is what anger is all about. I am going to teach reality a lesson. Not only does it not work, but reality teaches us a lesson. And the reason is because reality is G-d. Allow me to go beneath the surface of all thoughts.
80 percent of thoughts are past and future thoughts, thoughts that are not actionable. Thoughts that bring us stress. Man is stressed when he wants a choice that he cannot have. G-d gives us free choice only in the present. We have no choice either in the past or in the future. We cannot change anything that is not in front of us. What is in front of us is reality. What was just a minute ago was history, a memory. The future is just our imagination or dream, until whatever happens -happens. But man has a tendency to think thoughts that are not actionable.
Only G-d is in the past, present and future at the same time, not man. When G-d presented himself to Moshe, He told him to say to the Jewish People א-היה אשר א-היה שלחני אליכם “I will be what I will be” sent me to redeem you. In the midrash (Shemot Rabba 3;6) we find that G-d actually said אני שהייתי , ואני הוא עכשיו ואני הוא לעתיד לבא. I am the One who was, I am now , and I am in the future. This is the way that G-d introduced Himself. This does not mean only that G-d is immortal, for immortality is only a display of G-d’s Eternalness, not His Name. The Name of G-d, י ק ו ק contains within it the concept of היה הווה ויהיה . Was, Is, and Will always Be. That is His Name. Why is this His Name? Because G-d is reality, whenever it is. Everything that we hear, see, smell, taste, and feel is G-d. This is why the best question to ask people who come for advice is many times “What are your options ? ” because that question wakes us up out of the past and future and brings us face to face with reality. Once we are in reality, we have choice. Because that is where G-d gives us choice.
Now, someone who does not accept reality is not accepting G-d. Such a person believes that he should have choice. He is attached to the thought of “should”. This means that he believes that he can have choice over G-d’s choice. And that is a lethal thought.
Imagine a fellow decides, and I have witnessed this, that there should not be a stop sign or red light at this street corner. And he goes against reality. The results? BOOM! Imagine that a parent decides that his child or spouse should be something or someone else? DOUBLE BOOM! When you go against reality, reality will teach you a lesson.
As long as we think that the way things should be…, we are in denial. In denial of the Now. We are either under the impression that the past should be the present, or that our previous thoughts of the future will create the Now. But the past, present and future, are all G-d.
We feel G-d and notice Him the most in the place where we do not have free choice. And when we do not accept that this is the choice of G-d, we think that our choice can override G-d’s choice. And that is something like serving idols.
THE HARDEST WORKERS OF THE WORLD
The Rambam wrote in a letter to his son, R’ Avraham, that Pharaoh is none other than the Evil Inclination. R’ M. Shwab writes that if we can learn the story and behaviorisms of Pharaoh, then we can learn the story and behaviorisms of our Evil Inclination. By opening our eyes and doing some soul searching, we can find many of these “inner traits of Pharaoh” on our own. The Messilat Yesharim (ch. 2) writes that the way that Pharaoh ensured that the Jews would not plot against him to rebel or leave was by increasing their slavery. Just by being busy, one does not get a chance to see what the reality is or what his options are. This plot of Pharaoh is the way of the Evil Inclination as well. As we will soon see, we may be able to learn from Pharaoh’s own behaviorisms more about our Evil Inclination.
After Moshe’s first unsuccessful attempt to free the Jews from slavery, G-d commanded Moshe to return to Pharaoh a second time. Moshe was reluctant. The Jews did not listen to me (when I told them that their redemption has come). How, then, will Pharoah listen to me, especially as I speak haltingly?(Shemot 6;12))
The Midrash explains that this is one of the ten “Kal Vachomer“, logical deduction methods that are used to understand Torah texts, that are explicit in the Torah. (Breishit Rabba 92:7) If the Jews who are short spirited and harshly enslaved, and despite all this do not believe me that You sent me, then how can I expect Pharaoh, who benefits by enslaving the Jews, to believe me that You desire to free Your People?
It is commonly asked if this is, at all, a fair deduction. The Jews, in their difficult slavery, overworked and tortured, did not have the strength to raise their eyes to glimpse the dim ray of light at the end of the tunnel. This is the reason why they did not believe that they would be redeemed. Pharaoh, on the other hand, who was neither enslaved, nor forced to do hard work, might believe that the Redemption has arrived. How, then, can this be considered a fair, logical deduction at all?
The answer R’ Yitzchak Ezrachi, shlita, gives is a lesson for life. Pharaoh was also working very hard. He was also “enslaved”. Being the ruler of the greatest empire in the world, Pharoah developed a belief that he was a god. After Yaakov blessed Pharaoh, each time Pharaoh would go to the Nile, the water would rise toward his feet. Pharaoh used this to support his claim. “The Nile is mine, and I created it and myself,”(Yechezkel 29;3) became Pharaoh’s new slogan. In order to prove that he was not human, Pharoah would claim that he does not need to relieve himself in the bathroom. Instead, Pharoah would go to the Nile every morning and secretly relieve himself there, refraining himself during the rest of the day. If we stop and imagine all the things that one has to do in order to support a belief that he is not human, we discover that such a project becomes a full-time job! Pharaoh was enslaved by this belief, and so, he was always at work. To prove to himself that he was a god was so tiring. Pharoah, then, was also too tired to listen to Moshe saying that G-d wanted to free His children. This was Moshe’s claim.
This sheds light on those who are, in fact, the hardest workers of the world: they are none other than those who must prove that they do not make mistakes. People who deny that they sometimes need help, like all humans do. People who rose to the top, who feel that they have to deny that they were ever at the bottom. These people are enslaved.
We may work hard trying to live up to a picture we painted of ourselves with a tint of haughtiness. The efforts needed for this can be totally exhausting. In actual fact, the hardest workers in the world are those who work against reality. People can overwork themselves trying to live on a standard that is, in reality, above their ability to reach. They can hide their true identity as they gasp for air under the mask of who they wish they were. There is no greater enslavement than this: enslaved to the self-important me.
We might ask ourselves why G-d troubled Himself to bring about ten plagues. He could have just brought the Plague of the First Born, the harshest of them all, and the Jews would have been freed. The answer to this is that G-d does not reveal Himself outright to the arrogant at the outset. He gives man an opportunity to choose to recognize His power and greatness. After each plague, Pharaoh found some excuse for his not having to listen to G-d. This is the way of the Evil Inclination and of the arrogant, as well. When we have something we are arrogant about, we can fight all the way and work so hard as we try to keep up the fabrication. G-d gives the opportunity to choose this behavior, for this is part of the expression of free will.
MY UNCLE’S FREE WILL
And Aharon took Elisheva, daughter of Aminadav, sister of Nachshon for a wife etc. (Shemot 6 ; 23). The Talmud (Bava Batra 110a) asks: what is the importance of mentioning that Nachshon was her brother? Don’t we know this already? It was previously mentioned that her father was Aminadav, and we can deduce on our own that Nachshon was her brother.
The Talmud answers that from here we learn that when one marries a woman, he needs first to see what her brothers are like. Most sons are similar to the brothers of their mother.
A serious yeshiva student of marriageable age once consulted R’ Shach, zt”l, with concerns about a similar matter. He was suggested a great girl from a very respectable family; her father was also a well respected rabbi. Her brother, on the other hand, had stopped being observant. The boy very much wanted to meet the girl and see if it would, indeed, be a suitable match, as it sounded like such a great opportunity. At the same time, he was worried about the advice of the Talmud, and how it might have ramifications for his own sons.
R’ Shach answered firmly, “ No need to worry! The Chazon Ish has already ruled that the children will be like the brother of their mother only in regard to his middot (character traits), which are genetic. Regarding the brother’s way of life, however – this is dependent on free will, and there is no need to worry as to the effect of the way of life the brother chose for himself!”
When the boy came home to tell his mother, she had a difficult time accepting this. “I understand the point. But the amount of suffering that this boy has caused his parents and the disgrace he caused them through his behavior cannot be overlooked. This boy not only chose to leave his parents, but he must have horrible middot as well!”
The boy went back to R’ Shach. “My mother claims that there is no greater proof of bad middot than causing so much anguish to the parents who brought him up…”
R’ Shach did not accept this, either. “Tell your mother that the enticement of the street is so great, and the pull of the tide (into the depths) is so strong that it is too hard to conclude anything about a boy’s middot, just because he could not cope with the trials and tests that the street has to offer! The boy’s “falling out from religion” does not stem from bad or evil traits. Rather, it stems from the difficulty of coping with the temptations of the street. Do not hesitate. Go out happily with the girl, and may you merit building a home of Torah and Mitzvoth! “ And that is exactly what had happened. (Story adapted from אורחות הבית compiled by R’ Shach’s grandson, Asher Bergman).
We can get a lot out of this story. Singles who are searching for a spouse would do better looking into what type of middot are in the family than in finding out how the family utilizes their free will. We can also learn that middot are genetic, and bechira (free will) is not. And that the world (of prior generations, and so much more so of today) is so full of temptations that despite one’s great middot, he can still fall to temptation. And that the negative traits we see in our parents and siblings are most likely in us as well.
There is even more to learn. Although people like to believe that fear of G-d is dependent on intellect or character, we see that it has to do with free will. We see in this weeks parsha that fearing G-d is a decision one has to make. The decision is not really effected by circumstance, as we see by the plague of Dever .Even when there is clear knowledge of certain damage for disobeying His word, the choice to disobey is still open! The Egyptians were told that if they wanted to save their animals during this plague, they had to put them indoors. And those who feared the word of G-d obeyed, and their animals were saved. One can know that there is going to be a plague, but still not fear G-d. One can have the greatest traits of kindness and good heartedness and still choose to be a bad person. One can have the greatest wisdom, and still choose not to believe in G-d.
As we are told, “ha kol b’y’dei shomayim, chutz mi yir’at shomayim” – everything is in the Hands of Heaven, except Fear (respect, awe) of Heaven”. May we merit the wisdom to utilize our free will in order to perfect our middot and to become G-d fearing Jews. Amen.
