Listening With the Heart

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah

Hashem sent Moshe back to Egypt to redeem His nation, but the Torah records that the Bnei Yisrael “did not listen to Moshe because they were short of patience due to their hard work” (Shmos 6:9). Later, Hashem tells Moshe to order Pharaoh to send His people out of Egypt. Moshe counters: “If the Bnei Yisrael didn’t listen to me, how will pharaoh listen to me?” (ibid., 7:11-12).

Rashi explains that this is one of the few appearances in the Chumash of the Talmudic rule known as a “kal vachomer.” This rule is predicated on the first case being relatively easier than the second, i.e., if even the Jews won’t listen to me, why should Pharaoh?

This is puzzling. Just above, the Torah explains that the Jews did not listen to Moshe because they were short of patience due to their hard work. That reason did not apply to Pharaoh. If back-breaking labor made the Bnei Yisrael unable to listen to Moshe, what bearing should that have on Pharaoh’s being able to listen to him?

Harav Moshe Sternbuch and others explain, when Moshe said that the Bnei Yisrael were not “listening” to him, he meant more than simply hearing the words he said. Moshe meant listening and reflecting until his words reached their hearts and brought them to a higher level of belief in Hashem.

We can now understand Moshe Rabbeinu’s kal vachomer: The Jews are maaminim bnei maaminim — they possess within them the roots of emuna, only their suffering is keeping this from reaching their hearts. Pharaoh, on the other hand, turned his heart away from belief in Hashem altogether. He even made himself into a deity, boasting: “The Nile is mine and I created myself” (Yechezkel 29:3). For Pharaoh, listening to Moshe’s message and internalizing it meant undoing his entire worldview.

Just as then the Jews were beset by the crushing load of slavery, unable to pause even for a moment to let thoughts of emuna enter their hearts, so too today, many of us have become so preoccupied with our material affairs that our hearts are sealed from emuna, explains the Mesilas Yesharim (Chapter 2). These distractions prevent us from asking ourselves the most basic question any Jew must ask: “Am I doing what Hashem wants of me?”

The Mesilas Yesharim says that every day, a Jew must find some time to examine his ways and see how he can become better. The Mishna Berura (239:9) recommends that “before going to sleep, it is proper for a person to examine the deeds of that day, and if he finds that he committed a sin, he should confess and accept upon himself not to do this again.” Even the busiest among us should surely be able to find time at the end of the day for this. If we succeed a few days in a row, this examination process will become easier, and hopefully we can make it a regular part of our schedule.

Rav Reuven Fine adds that many of us have become so self-absorbed that our worldview is actually not far from Pharaoh’s! The Ramban (5:3) claims that initially Pharaoh believed in Hashem, but his desire for honor eventually took on insane proportions. He claimed he was god, and to make sure no one denied this, he would go early every morning to the Nile to relieve himself undetected (Rashi 7:15).

As bizarre as such behavior may sound, many of us are guilty of this as well. When a person’s ego is so inflated that he cannot tolerate rebuke, he is going in the ways of Pharaoh. Pharaoh could think of nothing other than his own honor, and this person as well. When a person thinks constantly about money and how he can get more, Hashem has no place in his heart.

What can we do to stop this? The Alter of Kelm would say that one has to do what it takes to break away from his routine, even for just a little while, and put himself into avodas Hashem. He finds this idea in the verse: “And the nation feared Hashem and they believed in Hashem and in Moshe, His servant” (14:30). First, one must expel his desires or obsessions by means of fear of Hashem. This in turn creates a space in his heart for emuna to take hold.

The Ohr Hachaim adds that the Bnei Yisrael were unable to listen to Moshe during their enslavement “because they were not bnei Torah.” Torah study changes a person, expanding the heart and making it possible to experience kedusha. Once a Jew feels pleasure from Torah and ruchniyus, his heart expands and he can now control his desires.

Once, directors of a yeshiva came to the Chazon Ish to discuss a problem: A certain talmid was behaving inappropriately. What should they do?

“Is he learning?” asked the Chazon Ish.

They answered that he was, but added that his behavior was unacceptable.

“Make sure that he keeps at his learning, that he has a good chavrusa, and that he has the means to grow in learning. If he does this, then this problem will pass,” concluded the Chazon Ish, and so it was.

Another time, a recent immigrant to Eretz Yisrael who intended to start a business, came to the Chazon Ish to receive his blessing.

“Before starting, please spend one year here studying Torah,” asked the Chazon Ish. “If you do that, you will be a different person.”

He agreed, and after one year immersed in Torah study, he was so happy with his learning that he wouldn’t even consider going back to his original plan.

“No matter how good a person is or how refined his middos are, the yetzer hara will find a way to get to him. The only way you can protect yourself is to put yourself into learning,” the Chazon Ish would advise.

May we be zoche to change ourselves through Torah!