Kevin Bemel ·
Why You Should Embrace the Struggle
Lately, my daughter has been very unhappy about going to school. One of the little boys in her class constantly teases her. You might think that because I loved school it would be easy for me to help her. But I am struggling. Comes the parsha for this Sabbath, Bo:
“And you will tell to your child on that day saying, on account of this that G-d did for me when I left Egypt.” [Emphasis added] (Shemos/Exodus 13:8).
What is the “this” that G-d did? Made the Israelites eat matzah? Told them to get rid of their leaven? If my high school English teacher graded this sentence she'd marked it down for lack of clarity.
This week’s Parsha Nugget is set amidst the final three plagues that eventually led to Pharaoh telling the Israelites to leave Egypt. Nissan is made the first month of the year and the mitzvah of the Passover Offering, the Pesach, is given.
Then, G-d brings the Exodus.
The parsha ends with the mitzvahs of consecrating first-born animals, redeeming a first-born son, and tefilin.
Reb Yerucham Levovitz, in his work Daas Torah, discusses the ambiguous “this”. Rashi explains that G-d took the Children of Israel out of Egypt so that they would fulfill the Passover mitzvahs, pesach, matzah, and marror. Consequently, Reb Yerucham writes, we do not perform those mitzvahs because of the Exodus. Rather G-d created the whole scenario of Egypt so the Jews would receive these mitzvahs and perform them ever after!
Take the mitzvah to eat matzah. On a simple level you eat it to remember that, being in a rush, the Israelites didn;t have time to let their dough rise. But G-d could have told them to start baking it earlier! Clearly, the Children of Israel left in a rush so that future generations would eat matzah. But why would a benevolent G-d want His beloved children to eat baked cardboard?
After 210 years of brutal slavery, the Israelites are free. Naturally, they breathe a sigh of relief and anticipate an easier future. At this crucial moment, G-d has them eat matzah, thereby telling them, “I did not bring you to Egypt and take you out so you would have a relaxing life. You are leaving oppressive bondage under a selfish king for an incredibly rewarding struggle under The Heavenly King."
Struggle = Growth
Sometimes the Almighty's plan would make the environment comfortable and the service easy. Other times it would be difficult. Be from the outset, He wanted it understood His relationship with the Israelites would be forged through hardship. So the food of those first lightheaded moments of freedom had to be matzah: challenging but satisfying.
What does this have to do with my daughter hating school? I have come to realize that by requiring me to struggle to help her G-d has given me the opportunity for a much deeper relationship. I have a mitzvah to educate my daughter. If she had my love of school this mitzvah would be reduced to paying tuition bills. By creating this struggle, I have the chance to truly receive this mitzvah in a challenging but, hopefully, ultimately satisfying way.
When faced with a situation you are not equipped to handle, how do you reframe it to move forward?
You can leave a comment on this question or ask another question below ↓
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.
Do you have a question about the Old Testament? Ask it here and I will answer it in a future Parsha Nugget!
