Parasha Va’eira
SAN DIEGO — This week’s parasha, Va’eira, asks us a key question. How do you deal with “kotzer ruach”? It says in the parasha, “Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel, but they did not hearken to Moses because of [their] shortness of breath and because of [their] hard labor” מִקֹּ֣צֶר ר֔וּחַ (Exodus 6:9).
Rashi explains: “whoever is under stress, his wind and his breath are short, and he cannot take a deep breath.” Were our ancestors simply too winded from their hard work to listen to Moses? Or was it something else that undermined their faith and trust in Hashem’s reassurance? Was it a “shortness of spirit”?
The Ramban believes it wasn’t a lack of faith in Hashem, but rather they were filled with intense fear over their predictions of terrible things going wrong with their plans for freedom. I define F.A.I.T.H. as “Fear Ain’t In This Head.” Perhaps they did suffer from anxiety creating fearful thoughts, the kind we all do from time to time when we face the unknown with dire predictions of terrible outcomes…despite all of the assurances of those we normally trust.
The Sforno says, “It did not appear believable to their present state of mind … their heart could not assimilate such a promise.” Because they were living the lives of slaves for so long, they could not open their mindset to consider anything outside of what seemed to be natural to them. They left no room for what Hashem could do for them.
How do we overcome our own doubts, our own limits of spirit, our own lack of faith and trust and build emunah and bitachon?
The Rambam defines emunah as the knowledge that Hashem created and continues to run all of Creation. Emunah is the understanding that Hashem is involved in the big picture issues. He is the only one in charge, and with this belief, as the old saying goes, “What, me worry?”
Bitachon means trust, optimism, and confidence, based on emunah. The Chovos Halevovos defines bitachon as trusting in, relying on, Hashem. Emunah is faith and understanding, bitachon is trust. We have emunah, but we need more bitachon. We may know and believe that Hashem is involved in everything in our lives, but do we trust His actions in our lives? Do we believe that everything happens FOR us, not TO us?
Imagine that depth of faith, that lack of fear in our heads, that trust in the continuous goodness and kindness of Hashem in our daily lives, in our every breath. With that level of bitachon, we’d truly have no fear, no kotzer ruach. With more time to think, more meditative silence, we’d have time to extend our ruach, with more bitachon.
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Dr. Mantell writes a d’var Torah each week for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family worship.