Kevin Bemel ·
Create the Future You Deeply Desire
"Those who feared the word of the Almighty from the servants of Pharaoh brought his servants and his cattle into the houses. And those who did not pay attention to the word of the Almighty left their servants and cattle in the field." (Shemos/Exodus 9:20-21). Wouldn’t you think that everybody would have sheltered their servants and animals just to be on the safe side? After all, this was flaming-hot hail!
The parsha for this Sabbath is Va’eira. It begins with G-d reassuring Moses that the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be fulfilled. Nonetheless, twice Moses tries to get G-d to release him from leading the Jewish people. The rest of the parsha describes the first seven plagues that G-d wrought on Egypt in pursuit of the redemption of the Children of Israel.
Moses warns Pharaoh and the Egyptians that a devastating hail will destroy living creatures remaining out in the open. Notice anything strange about the two categories of people?
The first group of people, who believed the warning, was struck with fear and awe. For the second group the issue was not belief in Moses's warning, rather they ignored it. Here you see the two archetype responses to G-d.
Regarding these verses, Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz asked: Why didn’t the servants flee to safety? They should have feared for their own lives and run to find shelter. His answer: they did not pay attention. So when you ignore something it is as if it doesn't exist.
Knowledge is meaningless unless you take it to heart. So plenty of people who could do things that would greatly improve or imperil their spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. But they deny the multiple facets of existence or do not take the dangers seriously, leading to all kinds of impulsive behavior that have painful and damaging repercussions.
The Talmud (Tamid 32a) teaches that the wise person sees the future consequences of his behavior. The Chofetz Chaim writes that the Sages used the term "seeing" so that you will have a means of making future events real. The path is:
Knowledge → Awareness → Visualization
Use the power of your imagination to see the future as if it is actually occurring in the present. Try one of these:
- Write down a word picture of your future
- Clip magazine or Internet pictures that illustrate your future – Paste them on your mirror
- Create a mantra that projects the future you want
- Find a song that expresses your yearning for the future
The strength and endurance of creating a vivid image before your eyes impacts you more indelibly than just thinking or hearing about it. Your link to the future rests in you mind.
How do you make the future more real…
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Every year beginning on Simchas Torah, the cycle of reading the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, ends and begins again. Each Sabbath a portion known as a sedra or parsha is read. It is named after the first significant word or two with which this weekly reading begins.
