Ra'anana Community Kollel - Parshat Va'era 5765

                                 Let My People Grow!

                                                            Carin Lipson

Throughout the Torah’s description of the Jewish people’s exodus from Egypt, we see time and time again how Pharaoh viewed himself as a deity; unable to admit the existence of a singular, all-powerful G-d who both created and continues to direct the realities of the universe. Parashat Va’era tells us that Moshe warned Pharaoh that Egypt was soon to be ravaged by a plague of hail which would decimate any person or animal that remained outdoors. Subsequently, the Torah tells us, “The servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of G-d brought their servants and livestock indoors. And those who did not pay attention to the word of G-d left their servants and flocks out in the field.” Of course, when the hail eventually arrived, everything which remained outside, well . . . no longer remained. Rabbi Yisroel Miller, in his book ”What’s Wrong With Being Happy?,” comments that it is tremendously puzzling how, after six devastating plagues which came and went exactly as Moshe had prophesied, there could still be people who were not even concerned enough to take a simple precaution.

Rabbi Miller explains that it would seem that these people were simply following in the footsteps of Pharaoh himself who had such a difficult time listening to G-d for the simple reason that he thought he was G-d. For Pharaoh and those like-minded Egyptians to relent by bringing their servants and cattle indoors would have been equivalent to admitting, “We do actually need to listen to Hashem after all. Hashem created the world, runs the world, and can demand of the creations that they follow a certain path in life. However, once I have submitted to G-d in this situation, who knows what kind of demands G-d will make next? What other aspects of my life will Hashem want me to change in the not-so-distant future?”

One amazing psychological phenomenon that has been proven time and time again is the fact that if someone desires desperately enough not to admit to the existence of a given reality, their mind will literally refuse to grasp it no matter what it is destined to cost them in the future. Like those Egyptians who chose to leave their possessions outdoors rather than admit the possibility that their world view was incorrect, we too may sometimes spend great amounts of time, effort, and money in order to prolong the life of fantasies that we hold so dear. We may do as Pharaoh did (and after all, Pharaoh was King of Denial.)

The Rambam tells us that Pharaoh’s life is the textbook example of the workings of the evil inclination in a human being. Pharaoh’s life is not an isolated case which is meant to be studied in theory, but rather, like the lives of all of the other characters which the Torah presents to us, it was put there to teach us about the Pharaoh within ourselves and to help us to avoid making the same mistakes that he did. The Pharaoh within tells us that we are perfect just as we are and that there is no need for us to submit to anything but our own will. Just as Pharaoh did, the Pharaoh within convinces us that there is no need for us to ever grow or change.

A teacher of mine observed that wherever we find ourselves on the religious spectrum, deep down, each one of us really believes that our personal level of observance is the norm, labeling anyone more pious than us as a fanatic and anyone less observant as a heretic. In fact, this is exactly the type of attitude which halts us in our tracks and stops us from continuing our journey onwards and upwards. If we begin with the premise that there is no work to be done, then there is certainly no need for us to exert ourselves to achieve anything further.

The very first thing that the Torah teaches us is that G-d created the heavens, the Earth, and, in case we may have forgotten, us as well. However, Hashem deliberately refrained from finishing the job which could have been so easily completed. Hashem deliberately created us as imperfect beings so that we would have the merit and the privilege of completing the process of our creation by striving to perfect our own character and grow in all aspects of our lives.

When we truly allow ourselves to get in touch with the Torah’s message, we are able to let go of our denial of our humanness and Pharaoh-like facade of perfection. Only then are we capable of seeing ourselves for what we really are and realizing that “I’m not o.k., you’re not   o.k., and that’s o.k.” as long as we’re committed to the process of growth.