Ra'anana Community Kollel - Parshat Va'era 5765

The Heart of the Matter

Rabbi Binyomin Lipson

“And the frog emerged and covered the land of Egypt.” (Shemot 8:3)

Why does the Torah initially imply that there was only one frog, when from the continuation of the verse it is evident that there were in fact hundreds of thousands which invaded the land of Egypt? The Midrash explains that indeed, at the beginning of the plague there was only one mammoth tzfardeah which alighted on Egyptian soil. However, as the Egyptians proceeded to attack and strike this monster, it sprayed off streams and streams of smaller frogs which eventually covered the entire land. Surely, the Egyptians realized that by continuing to hit this frog that they were in fact helping to spread the plague further and further. Why then did they continue to do so?

R’ Ya’akov Yisrael Kannievsky explained that such is often the lot of the person who attempts to solve problems with anger. Even when it is clearly evident that one’s reaction is only making the situation worse, a person’s anger blinds his or her intellect and the person continues to worsen his situation.

In a similar vein, we also read in this week’s parshah that Moshe warned the Egyptians that the plague of hail would destroy any animal that was left outside in the fields. Thus, the Torah tells us, “The servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of Hashem brought their slaves and their livestock indoors, while the ones who did not pay attention to the word of Hashem left their slaves and their livestock outside in the fields.” As the Torah first speaks of those who feared the word of G-d, it should have logically referred to their counterparts as “those who did not fear Hashem’s word”. Why are they referred to euphemistically as “those who did not pay attention”? Even more puzzling is the fact that there were Egyptians who left their livestock outside without the slightest concern that the plague of hail would destroy them. After witnessing the first six plagues and the fulfillment of Moshe’s every prediction, how is it possible that they did not even see fit to take precautions for this impending disaster?

R’ Chaim Shmuelevitz commented that we can see from here that the mere knowledge of the presence of danger is not sufficient to motivate a person to be cautious and protect himself. Rather, one must also pay attention to what one knows, or as the Torah puts it, must “place it upon one’s heart”, and make a conscious effort to recognize how the situation is directly relevant to the person and his or her life. As the Mesilat Yesharim writes in his famous introduction, more often than not, our errors in judgment are a result of our failure to integrate the things that we already know rather than a blatant lack of knowledge of right and wrong. Indeed, Rav Dessler often said that it is the great distance between our minds and our hearts that prevents many of the values which we clearly know are correct from having a practical influence on our day-to-day lives.

When Rebbi Yochanan ben Zakai asked his students what they viewed as the most vital trait that a person should attempt to employ in life, Rebbi Shimon answered, the ability to see the consequences of his actions.” (Avot 2:13) The Chofetz Chaim explained that this Mishnah is teaching us that in addition to using our intellect to anticipate the reproductions of our lifestyle, we must also use our power of imagination to actually envision and see before our eyes the direction in which our actions are leading us. Only in this way will we really be able to carry through to our actions the high ideals which we hold to be correct.

Late one night, some of the students in the yeshiva observed the Mashgiach, Reb Chatzkel Levenstien, walking back and forth in the Beit Midrash. Later, when someone questioned him about his unusual behavior, Reb Chatzkel explained that he had been attempting to envision what is was like for the Jewish people when they crossed the Red Sea. Despite the profound level of knowledge that Reb Chatzkel obviously possessed on this subject, he still felt the need to physically reenact the event in order to bring it closer to his conception and strengthen his faith. If for Reb Chatzkel the mere knowledge of the miracle that the Jewish people experienced when they passed through the sea was insufficient to fully integrate its lessons into his life, certainly we can also benefit from similar methods of contemplation to bring home for ourselves the lessons and values which we wish to integrate into our lives and pass on to our children.