This week’s Torah reading includes the “shirat hayam,” the song sung by Moses and the people of Israel after they miraculously crossed the Sea of Reeds. The Torah scroll presents the song in an unusual formation. Instead of the words following one another in order, the words of the song are interspersed with blank spaces. This format suggests a deeper lesson about life itself.
When God first appointed Moses to return to Egypt to lead the Israelites, He used the word "lekh"--go. Yet, once the plagues began to afflict the Egyptians, God ordered Moses with a different word, "bo"--come. What is the significance of the words "lekh" (go) and "bo" (come)?
Yetsiat Mitsrayim teaches us to assert our freedom and our dignity. We will drive out the mitsrayim—the constrictions on our lives—and live freely and openly as proud Jews committed to our Torah, our traditions and our Peoplehood.
Many people fail in life because they dwell on their deficiencies rather than on their strengths. They underestimate their ability to perform masterfully, to rise to greatness. They don’t realize that overcoming one’s shortcomings is one of the wonderful challenges of life.
The Talmud (Yoma 9b) suggests that the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed due to the sin of sinat hinam, baseless hatred. Yet, “baseless” hatred seems to be rare, if not impossible. Whenever people hate, they don’t think their hatred is baseless.
For the Jewish people, history has always been experienced as a dimension of the present. As we go through life, we bring along our ancestors. We carry their names, we feel their presence.
When the brothers overcame jealousy in relation to Benjamin, they also overcame it in relation to Joseph. It no longer mattered to them if Joseph was more powerful or more beloved. What mattered was doing their best to live up to their own potentials.
When people overcome jealousy, they can be rid of a life-sapping burden. They can be free.
It is easier to have cataracts removed from our eyes than to eliminate “mental cataracts” from our minds. But proper vision—physical and intellectual—demands both operations.
We remind ourselves: we are Yisrael. We face struggles…but we prevail. We muster the physical strength to ward off enemy attacks; we draw on our spiritual strength to overcome ideological opponents.
These anonymous souls deserve respect and appreciation. They represent the good people of every generation—including our own—who stand faithfully and loyally with the descendants of Abram and Sarai. They are with us in good times and bad; they sacrifice for us and for our shared ideals.