Rabbi Frand on Parshas Va'era
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: Tape # 357, Birchas
Hamotzi. Good Shabbos!
Moshe and Aaron Remained Moshe and Aaron From Beginning To End
There is a strange set of verses near the beginning of our parsha. After
G-d charged Moshe and Aaron with taking the Children of Israel out of
Egypt, the pasuk launches into their genealogy. The pasuk says, "This was
Aaron and Moshe to whom Hashem said, 'Take the Children of Israel out of
Egypt, according to their legions'. They were the ones who spoke to
Pharoah, King of Egypt, to take the Children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt, this was the Moshe and Aaron." [Shmos 6:26-27] This last pasuk is
seemingly a total repetition of the preceding pasuk.
Rashi notes this apparent redundancy, and says that it teaches that Moshe
and Aaron retained their righteousness and their perfection throughout
their mission.
Rav Gifter, zt"l, explains this Rashi. When the pasuk first introduces
Aaron and Moshe "who received the command to take the Jews out of Egypt"
the reason why they were doing what they did was simply because G-d told
them to do it. This is how we all start out when we embark on a task. Why
do we do it? We do it because we were told to do it. When someone first
assumes a position of responsibility -- whether as a result of being
elected to a post, or appointed to a job or whatever -- he takes his
charge seriously and does what he was elected or appointed to do.
But then what happens? After beginning to work and getting involved, we
are no longer doing it because we were told to or because we were asked.
We are doing it because our egos have become involved. Now it has become a
question of whether WE will succeed or fail. Our reputation is on the
line.
The pasuk is informing us that the greatness of Moshe and Aaron was that
from the time they got the initial command to take the Jews out of Egypt --
which they did solely for altruistic purposes (because G-d said so) --
until they completed the entire process, they remained totally committed --
at a completely altruistic level (because G-d said so). At the end of the
day, when it was all said and done, the Torah reiterates "This is the same
Moshe and Aaron" as at the very outset. They were not acting because of egos
or because their reputations were on the line. They were acting -- until the
very end -- simply because they were carrying out G-d's will. It was not
'them', it was G-d's command that was operative. They remained in their
righteousness from beginning to end.
So many times, our trouble is that despite the fact that we embark on
extremely noble endeavors, we become too involved with our egos.
Eventually, "our success and glory" drives us, rather than the nobility of
the cause or endeavor. When we are working for G-d, success should not be
the factor. Effort is all that counts. Did we do the job honestly? Did we
give it our best shot? That is what counts.
When the ego becomes involved and drives us to 'succeed' at any cost, that
is when we lose perspective. That is when our character traits (midos) are
put on the line. That is when things sometimes go awry.
The Scrolls They Read On Shabbos Gave Them Hope
There is an interesting Medrash Tanchuma that comments on Pharoah's
reaction to the plagues. The pasuk [Shmos 5:9] says that Pharoah's reaction
to the plagues was to turn the screws tighter against the slaves: "Increase
the workload upon these people and make sure they do it and do not allow
them to occupy themselves with false words." The Medrash elaborates on the
"false words" that concerned Pharoah: "They had scrolls (megillos) in their
possession that they used to enjoy reading each and every Shabbos. In the
scrolls was recorded a promise that G-d would redeem them and take them
out. Pharoah wanted to increase their workload so they would no longer have
time to read these scrolls of 'propaganda and fantasy'.
We need to understand: Why did the spare time activities of the slaves
bother Pharoah? Why did he care that they were reading these scrolls, as
long as they completed their work? What was his obsession with these
megillos?
Perhaps these scrolls represented more than merely something to help pass
the time on Shabbos. Pharoah was not merely interested in having people
work for him. He was interested in breaking the spirit of the people. The
way to break the spirit of a nation is by taking away from them that which
every human being and every nation needs -- hope. The scrolls that they
would read every Shabbos promised that G-d would redeem them. These scrolls
kept them going. No matter how bad it became and how terrible it was, they
knew that it would come to an end. Ultimately, G-d would take them out.
The Jews did not understand the reason for their dire circumstances. They
were righteous. The Egyptians were wicked. They asked the question: Why do
the righteous suffer? But somehow, despite the questions, they had the
strength to continue. Why? Because they read in the megillos that G-d would
redeem them and they had hope.
Taking hope away from a people breaks a people. No matter how desperate a
person becomes, as long as there is hope, he is not broken. This is what
Pharoah wanted to destroy.
This write-up was adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tape series on the weekly Torah portion.
The complete list of halachic topics covered in this series for Parshas
Va'eyra are provided below:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection
of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
and is available through your local Hebrew book store or from
Project Genesis, 1-410-654-1799.
