פרשת וארא
In this week’s parsha, the plagues begin. The Nile River turns into blood, frogs infest the country, a lice epidemic is instigated, wild beasts terrify the populace, all the Egyptian livestock dies, painful boils erupt upon the skin of every Egyptian citizen, and then flaming hail rains down from the sky! All these events are in this week’s parsha alone! Moreover, the extraordinary nature of these miracles was clear to all. While no Egyptian escaped the disaster unscathed, every Jew remained astonishingly unaffected by the incredible tumult surrounding him. If we saw such a tremendous display of Divine Providence today, surely we wouldn’t be able to continue living in the same manner. This being so, it is fascinating to observe how Pharaoh conducts himself throughout the entire parsha. No matter how clear the truth is, Pharaoh doesn’t budge. Despite impending doom and the inevitability of the Exodus, Pharaoh still pretends to be in control of the situation. It is true that after the first five plagues, Hashem took away Pharaoh’s free will. However, what gave Pharaoh the strength to deny reality when he still had his free will? How could he be so indifferent to the catastrophes that ravaged the entire country? Furthermore, wasn’t he bothered by the fact that only Egyptians were being harmed and the Jews remained untouched? What made Pharaoh think that he could prevail?
Rav Lev Chasman shares a counter-intuitive insight into human nature to answer this question. Sometimes, claims Rav Chasman, the blatant and irrefutable reality of the truth itself can force a person to deny it. Pharaoh knew deep down that he was wrong. However, admitting his fault and retracting his position was too much for him to bear. Pharaoh didn’t want to admit defeat and show the entire world that he was inferior to the G-d of the Jews. Such a declaration would completely destroy his self-image. It was easier to pretend that such events were happenstance as opposed to Divine Providence, even though the devastation experienced in Egypt seemed to indicate otherwise. Rav Yechezkel Levinshtein adds that Pharaoh’s incomprehensible behavior isn’t only conduct typical for an evil tyrant desperately trying to maintain his dignity. Incredibly, each and every one of us is vulnerable to the trap our ego sets for us. Many of us don’t even realize how often we deny the truth in order to protect ourselves and we consistently exhibit many improper behaviors without any awareness that what we are doing is wrong. A common example of such irrationalism is when a person is engaged in an argument. Naturally, each person thinks that they are in the right and it is the other person who is doing the wrong thing. However, in most cases, nobody is completely right and there are many negative elements in one’s own behavior that may have led to the unfortunate encounter. We should realize that when we choose to ignore all the signs that point to our being at fault and needing to change, we are choosing to be just like Pharaoh. Similarly, there are so many Jews, religious and secular, who struggle against coming close to G-d because they are afraid of taking responsibility for who they are and how they have chosen to live their lives. Incredibly, they continue their mundane lives without change, despite how apparent the truth is. Even those of us who are serious about Torah and aspire towards growth- experience many unpleasant things on account of our disregard for the truth. Imagine how different our lives would be if we could consistently accept the truth and grow from it. All of our relationships between our parents, our spouses, our children, our friends, our chevrusas, etc. could be completely transformed. We would humble ourselves and be understanding of others, eventually endearing them to ourselves. Our search for the truth could make us aware of aveiros that we may have been doing all our lives without even giving them a second thought. The gemara in Tamid 28a says that rebuke can bring one to “every good path.” If one can accept the truth in a rebuke and act upon it, he can perfect himself in every way possible. This doesn’t only help him in his everyday affairs. Such an individual ultimately is led to be very close to G-d.
So how does one work on this trait? First, one needs to follow the mishna in the first chapter of Pirkei Avos which instructs us to “Make for yourself a rabbi and a buy yourself a friend.” Such people keep us in check by having a truly objective view of us and we should appreciate them for having our best interests in mind. When they offer constructive criticism, we should realize how valuable it is. We’re getting feedback. This is what makes us develop. A person also needs to daven that Hashem should help him find the truth. We learn from Dovid HaMelech that one needs to daven in order to be directed towards the truth. As it says in Tehillim 27, “Teach me Your way, Hashem, and lead me on the straight path.” Finally, one must be harsh on one’s self. One must push oneself and learn mussar intensely. A story is told of the Alter of Kelm, who once observed a man in the beis midrash calmly reading a mussar sefer. The Alter, being of the opinion that the man was not applying himself to the text properly, came over to the gentleman and started rebuking him. “Is this how you learn mussar?” shouted the Alter. “Don’t you realize that you’re dealing with a gazlan?!!!” Even when one becomes aware that he is avoiding confrontation with the truth, he still needs to arouse himself persistently to continue moving upwards. It’s very easy to go back to sleep and forget all about our lofty aspirations. However, if we fully apply ourselves to allowing the truth to affect us, we will constantly find ourselves gaining new strengths and realizations that we have never had before.
Rav Gamliel Rabinovitz tells how he once met someone who he thought to be just a regular “baal habayis.” The baal habayis told Rav Rabinovitz that while the Satmar Rebbe, Reb Yoel Teitelbaum, was still alive, he would frequently visit him. The Satmar Rebbe was a big tzaddik, after all. “However,” said the baal habayis, “whenever I would ask for a bracha, I would only ask for one thing.” Rav Gamliel, curious to know, asked the baal habayis what is was. “The only thing I asked for,” smiled the baal habayis, “is that I should have the strength and courage to be modeh al haemes so that I can do teshuva shleima.” “Baruch Hashem that we have such Jews as these!” exclaimed Rav Gamliel.
May we all be zoche to accept the truth with love!!!
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