In this week's Parshah, Moses and Aaron requested permission from Pharaoh for the Jews to leave Egypt and serve G-d for three days but the King of Egypt denied their petition and proclaimed:
"…[the Jews] are lazy (נִרְפִּים)! Therefore they cry out, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our G-d.' Let the labor fall heavy upon the men and let them work at it, and let them not talk about false matters" (Exodus 5:8-9).
In order to combat his slaves' laziness, Pharaoh increased their labor. However, the Tyrant's reasoning seems quite foolish and counterproductive; if the Jews are lazy and thus want a break, the harder they are pushed, the more they will want time off!
Rashi, translating נִרְפִּים as lax, solves our problem, and he explains that Pharaoh reasoned that since the Jews had free time, they could think of "idleness" and thus wanted to serve G-d. By driving the Jews harder than ever, Pharaoh hoped to deny the Jews the ability to contemplate anything other than their immediate task at hand. The Torah tells us that Pharaoh's tactic worked; in Exodus chapter six, G-d commanded Moses to relay words of comfort and inspiration to the exhausted Jews but they "did not hearken to Moses because of [their] shortness of breath and because of [their] hard labor" (Exodus 6:9) which Rashi understands to mean that "they did not accept consolation."
Given that Children of Israel's broken state, why would G-d command Moses to comfort them if they were simply too worn out to listen? It must have been that, as difficult as it was, the Jews in fact had the ability to pay heed. In fact, the Seforno views the Jews' failure in accepting Moses' words as a lack of trust; had they trusted in G-d, they would have found the strength for listening.
How exactly did the Jews' inability to concentrate stem from a lack of trust? According to the Gur Aryeh's interpretation of Rashi, the Jews' shortness of breath, one of the factors preventing them from listening, resulted from stress. What exactly is stress? It is worrying about a situation beyond one's physical control. One who trusts in G-d will accept conditions beyond their physical control, regardless of its justice. Despite the cruelty inflicted on them, had the Jews fully trusted in G-d, instead of worrying, they would have accepted their current situation. By doing so, their thoughts would have remained free to contemplate spiritual matters and they would have accepted G-d's comfort.
"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference."
Serenity Prayer
"…[the Jews] are lazy (נִרְפִּים)! Therefore they cry out, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our G-d.' Let the labor fall heavy upon the men and let them work at it, and let them not talk about false matters" (Exodus 5:8-9).
In order to combat his slaves' laziness, Pharaoh increased their labor. However, the Tyrant's reasoning seems quite foolish and counterproductive; if the Jews are lazy and thus want a break, the harder they are pushed, the more they will want time off!
Rashi, translating נִרְפִּים as lax, solves our problem, and he explains that Pharaoh reasoned that since the Jews had free time, they could think of "idleness" and thus wanted to serve G-d. By driving the Jews harder than ever, Pharaoh hoped to deny the Jews the ability to contemplate anything other than their immediate task at hand. The Torah tells us that Pharaoh's tactic worked; in Exodus chapter six, G-d commanded Moses to relay words of comfort and inspiration to the exhausted Jews but they "did not hearken to Moses because of [their] shortness of breath and because of [their] hard labor" (Exodus 6:9) which Rashi understands to mean that "they did not accept consolation."
Given that Children of Israel's broken state, why would G-d command Moses to comfort them if they were simply too worn out to listen? It must have been that, as difficult as it was, the Jews in fact had the ability to pay heed. In fact, the Seforno views the Jews' failure in accepting Moses' words as a lack of trust; had they trusted in G-d, they would have found the strength for listening.
How exactly did the Jews' inability to concentrate stem from a lack of trust? According to the Gur Aryeh's interpretation of Rashi, the Jews' shortness of breath, one of the factors preventing them from listening, resulted from stress. What exactly is stress? It is worrying about a situation beyond one's physical control. One who trusts in G-d will accept conditions beyond their physical control, regardless of its justice. Despite the cruelty inflicted on them, had the Jews fully trusted in G-d, instead of worrying, they would have accepted their current situation. By doing so, their thoughts would have remained free to contemplate spiritual matters and they would have accepted G-d's comfort.
"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference."
Serenity Prayer
posted by Mordechai18 at 12:15 AM
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