פרשת שמות
In this week’s Parsha, we are told how the Children of Israel descended into Egypt and went from being the most lofty nation on earth, to a nation enslaved by the Egyptian race. This unfortunate turn of events caused them to fall into a deep despair, one which seemed to have no end. As their despondency reached its nadir, they called out from the depths of their hearts, and Hashem heard their prayer and had pity on them and decided to redeem them from their Egyptian captors. In order to do this, Hashem chose Moshe Rabenu as the interface between Himself and the Jewish people. When Hashem first appears to Moshe, and presents him with the proposal of leading the Jewish people, Rashi explains that Moshe attempts to reject this suggestion based on two rationales. Firstly, Moshe tells Hashem, “Who am I to speak with Pharaoh who is the ruler of the most powerful nation on earth?” Secondly, Moshe was befuddled that even if he himself were to be an appropriate emissary to appear in front of Pharaoh, what merit did the Jewish people possess to be released from their bondage? I believe that these words of Moshe as explained by Rashi require some elucidation. Hashem Himself, in all of His glory, just commanded Moshe to do something. Shouldn’t that have been the end of the story? Did Moshe think he had a claim that Hashem hadn’t thought of?
The Slonimer Rebbe deals with this difficulty by explaining that Moshe was not in fact asking a question, but was rather pleading in front of Hashem that He choose a different leader. Moshe thought that the potency of the redemption would be dependant upon the piety of the nation’s leader. If they had a truly meritorious leader, then the redemption would be an absolute one, but if, on the other hand, someone as “boorish” as Moshe were to be chosen, Moshe thought that the redemption would only be temporary, and the Jewish people would have to eventually return to Egypt. So Moshe was pleading with Hashem to choose a redeemer who actually had some merit. Parenthetically, the Slonimer uses this explanation to resolve another difficulty in a different passage. When the Jews‘ work gets increased by Pharaoh as a result of Moshe’s intervention, Moshe says to Hashem, “Why did you do evil onto this Nation?” How could Moshe speak with such gall in front of Hashem? The Slonimer explains that Moshe was telling Hashem that had He chosen a leader more appropriate, the Jewish people wouldn’t have sinned, but because Hashem chose somebody as “lowly” as Moshe, it wasn’t fair to punish the Jewish people for that choice.
Indeed, we find that Moshe’s claims were not so far off. This week’s Parsha tells us how Moshe delayed slightly in the circumcision of his son, and he deserved to die for that “horrible” mistake. However, this sarcastic view is incorrect. We know that as each person grows in his spirituality, he is held to a different standard and judged by a different measure than someone who is just starting out on the path of spirituality. Moshe was holding on a very high level, and was therefore punished more severely then somebody else who may have committed the same offense. The scary part of that equation is, had Moshe in fact failed, his failure would have meant the delay, or perhaps the complete cancellation of the Jews’ redemption from Egypt. Moshe was being held personally accountable for the Jewish people, ergo his concerns were now easily understandable when he tried to “push Hashem off” when he was offered to be the leader of the Jewish nation. It comes out that Moshe was not concerned for his own honor, but rather he was concerned that if he were to fail, the entire Jewish nation would suffer, and that he could not accept. How then did Hashem “convince” Moshe that his equation was incorrect?
Hashem explained to Moshe Rabenu, “You will succeed because I will be with you”. In other words, Hashem was telling Moshe that when a person tries to do my will, I Myself will take over, and give them special aid such that they will succeed. Furthermore, the verse says when recording Hashem’s response, “Go, and I will send you”. This funny verse means to say, all you have to do, Moshe, is decide to go, after that, I will do the rest. The Shela”h Hakadosh explains that this works based on the principle, “The messenger of a man is like himself”. When we choose to be the messenger of Hashem, embarking on a quest to observe the Holy Torah, we actually take on the limitless powers of the One who sent us! Needless to say, one who has chosen to do a Mitzvah enjoys a very special Heavenly aid, and it will be very difficult to stop such a person. Perhaps we can use this principle to explain the incredible miracles we seem to see that the Torah Giants in every generation are able to perform, seemingly unintentionally. They have taken upon themselves the task of doing God’s will, so they are essentially God’s messengers. As such, they receive, as it were, the powers of Hashem in being able to fulfill their missions in life.
This message should be an extremely poignant one to us on a personal level. Very often, we find ourselves in a situation in which the Torah expects a lot from us, and we don’t feel that we have the wherewithal to meet the Torah’s demands. Based on what we have said, we can rest assured that we will succeed in these situations. Whether it comes to our responsibilities toward our fellow Jews, wherever they may be, or our responsibilities to the Torah, we often feel inadequate in terms of our talents to be effective. We don’t feel smart enough, or strong enough, or able enough to succeed in whatever is being asked of us. However Hashem taught Moshe Rabenu that all we have to do is accept the mission upon ourselves, and Hashem will do the rest, regardless of our personal shortcomings. On a personal note, I often have a situation in which something is being asked of me which I don’t really feel capable of committing to. For example, I am asked to give a lesson on material which I don’t feel at all comfortable with. In these situations, I’ll often say a little prayer, and ask Hashem to help me beyond my means. Every time, almost without exception, I’ll find myself saying truths and coming up with solutions that I don’t think I ever could have come up with on my own. Similarly, I will see students joining the Yeshiva, who don’t seem to me like they could succeed on their own. Then one day, I’ll hear them saying such dazzling Chidushim and I will wonder if this is the same boy who walked into the Yeshiva such a short time ago!
I would just like to end by relating an interaction I had with a big Torah scholar not too long ago. He had just married off his twelfth child, not to shabby a feat for somebody living in Israel in the religious community all his life. At the wedding, they asked him, “How did you do it? How in the world did you find the time and the funds to marry off twelve children, find them suitable mates, and not go into debt at all? Did Hashem help you?” He got up and responded in the negative. “No”, he said. “Hashem didn’t help me… He actually did it all by Himself!”
May we all merit to see great Heavenly aid in fulfilling all our spiritual responsibilities!