Parasha Va’eira
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.
SAN DIEGO — How do you manage the pressure of hail in your life? No, not the hail that might fall once every few years in our generally warm San Diego rainy seasons. The hail I’m referring to is that which comes as adversity and misfortune, the type that Pharaoh experienced in this week’s Torah reading. Pharaoh told Moshe after the plague of hail, “I’ve sinned this time and God is righteous and me and my people are wicked.” But as soon as the hail cleared, Pharaoh stepped back from his admission.
Sound familiar? “If only God would have mercy on me, I promise I will be better from now on!!” And then how quickly our promises, our resolutions (especially at this time of the secular year) evaporate.
Rabbi Noson Tzvi Finkel of Slobodka tells us that Pharaoh’s view of suffering was quite incomplete and thus he saw the hail in his life simply as a punishment. Rabbi Zelig Pliskin teaches us to appreciate the hand of Hashem in our suffering as a kind aid for our self-improvement. When viewed as a benefit, when fully embraced, when seen through the lens of self-examination, pain can be used to help us move forward. How? That means “Hashem opens ways.”
Yes, these are taxing, exasperating times full of emotional distress anchored in the way we see reality surrounding us. Let’s not pretend that the adversities we face in our lives are painless burdens. Let’s help each other with empathy and compassion and offer realistic encouragement and emotional support. The Meshech Chochmah points out that words of false hope, of toxic positivity that another cannot relate to at times of emotional duress, will not be believed nor will these words be found to be comforting.
Hashem promised to free the Israelites from bondage but because of kotzer ruach, they did not hear Moshe relating this promise. וְלֹ֤א שָֽׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה מִקֹּ֣צֶר ר֔וּחַ וּמֵעֲבֹדָ֖ה קָשָֽׁה The Sforno tells us that kotzer ruach means what they were hearing was not believable in addition to the shortness of breath that their anxiety brought upon them. Between their shortness of breath and spiritual lack they remained in a state of emotional tzuris, of panic. Is this where so many are today?
The Torah helps us perceive Hashem’s consistent and clear hand in our daily lives, moment by moment. We see this in Rav Yehuda Halevy’s the Kuzari. In the natural it may look to some in our world that Hashem is not involved in our lives. But the parasha teaches us otherwise. We are not left to the winds of nature. Everything happens FOR us through Hashem, not TO us simply as a punishment as Pharaoh views life. When we open our hearts, our minds, our eyes in genuine prayer, tells Rav Nachman of Breslov, we reach for His support and…He listens. Always. Sometimes, the answer is “No,” but He hears and knows when “No” is not a rejection, but a redirection, for our ultimate good. It may look like it won’t turn out well, but Hashem is unlimited.
The great ethicist Rav Avraham Grodzinsky once observed in Toras Abraham p. 28, “Yisurim, suffering, should not be thought of as a punishment for sins of the past (as Pharaoh demonstrates in this week’s parasha), but rather as an awakening call to prevent sins in the future.”
When we live our lives Lemala Min Hateva, going beyond the natural, seeing that every breath, every step, every turn, every seemingly chance meeting, every seeming obstacle, every stumbling stone, are transformational opportunities given to us by Hashem, well, that is a rich life. And a life that can be free of unhealthy negative emotions.
Looking for emotional protection especially during these days of hail? Torah and mitzvot are the best medicine Judaism offers. It increases our vision of a compassionate Hashem in our lives far beyond the natural, one who can turn those who are against us for us, who can turn the diagnosis around, and who can shield us from harm. Our prayers, our sincere belief, can turn the tides, Lemala Min Hateva. Just look at our tzaddikim, many of whom experienced plagues and hail of all kinds. Were they diminished and weakened? No. Understood through the proper lens, neither will our suffering lessen us, but rather strengthen us and polish us. Indeed, we were created to live with abundance of a spiritual nature, and perhaps of a material nature as well. Sure, the facts may appear differently at times. But Hashem is not limited by the “facts” that we see.
Rabbi Soleveitchik urges us to ensure that we regard the world through the eyes of Judaism, to let go of the hold that the secular view of life has had on us, to invite and attract our biblical heroes into our daily lives, to read and study our sources weekly, and to see clearly with gratitude the hand of Hashem in our every breath. It says in the Chovos Halevavos, Shaar Cheshbon Hanefesh, Perek 3, “Tefillah without Kavanah is like a Guf without a Neshomah.” Prayer without intention, sincere feeling, and direction of the heart, is like a body without a soul. When we pray, we wisely do so with sincere intention.
Indeed, the Chofetz Chaim once said that one may not say that things are “bad” because nothing bad ever comes from Hashem. Things may be “bitter,” but not bad, much like bitter tasting medicine heals. After all, whether it be plagues of hail or COVID and its growing list of variants, we believe nothing happens unless God wills it. True emunah often requires that we be put to the test…and pass the test.
R’ Yechezkel Sorno, based on a Midrash Raba (B. 67), teaches us three realistic microsteps to achieve mastery over our behavior by having control over our heart and pass the tests we are given.
First, though the lens of Judaism, we’d be wise to learn from the many books of Mussar to help us avoid disturbing ourselves. Next, when we pray to Hashem, we fully reinforce our recognition of the truth of Hashem and His Torah deeply within our heart, giving us more fuel to conquer our negative ways. Last, R’ Yechezkel tells us that if we practice the pause, sit down for just a few minutes each day and mindfully review our actions and contemplate over whether we have measured up to our Torah’s ways, we can strengthen our minds and our hearts to always do what is right.
Of course, we are only fallible humans. Our Torah provides us with key insights that help us grow stronger and follow our hearts to do good. It is up to us to deal with the plagues, the people, life’s challenges, that come upon us with healthy emotional reactions.
Rav Avigdor Miller brings the concept of middah k’neged middah here (“the punishment a person gets in this world in some way resembles the thing that he/she has done wrong”) in explaining what we see in the Mesillas Ysharim – that sets down the principle that “most people don’t learn the lessons that Hashem wants to teach because they are too busy to think.” Are we too busy with life to learn important lessons to help us live life more optimally?
Rav Miller, on this point, brings a remarkably relevant observation from Midrash Rabbah. You cannot make this up. The Midrash Rabbah, Rav Miller, explains, says that “every Plague came with a type of pestilence. Sound familiar? Is this a comment on our current times? Rav Miller quotes the Talmud in Bava Kama 60b, “Dever ba’ir, kanes reglecha – When there is an epidemic in the city, STAY AT HOME!”
That’s what the Jews of the time did. They stayed at home and spoke of truths in their lives, thinking about what was happening, not why, but what. The wise zekeinim, the elders, taught them how to use their time during the epidemic they faced…to think about what God was trying to teach them, and to talk about that. Isn’t this what we would be wise to do now?
There are many contemporary self-help blogs, tools, strategies, and most, if not all, rest initially on self-awareness (not self-preoccupation in the words of Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, MD). In Sanhedrin 36a, it tells us, “A person is obligated to say, ‘The world was created FOR me.’” And we are also taught to be very humble. Our role through the hail of our lives is to discover our mission in this world created FOR us. And our ultimate Teacher is there with us, every step of the way, polishing us up like diamonds, pointing us in the direction of our mission in life.
Are you mindful and attentive enough to see this, or are you complaining about the, sometimes rough, diamond polishing brush?
I wish everyone a healthy, hopeful, and happy secular New Year and a Shabbat Shalom.
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Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D., prepares a weekly D’var Torah for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family are members. They are also active members of Congregation Adat Yeshurun. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com