Our Redemption Depends on US

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In Parashas Shemos we learn about the enslavement of the Jewish people and how their redemption began. Moshe was charged with the considerable task of returning to Egypt to free the Jewish people from slavery and lead them to Eretz Yisrael. Moshe reunited with his brother, Aharon, and the two headed to Egypt to bring about the redemption.

Of note, though, is that Moshe did not go directly to Pharaoh to initiate the makkos (plagues). Rather, he first met with the elders of the Jewish nation and performed wonders that affirmed his authenticity as Hashem’s true messenger. The Torah testifies that the people heard Moshe’s message and believed that they would be delivered from the chains of bondage. Then they “bowed their heads and prostrated themselves.”(4:31)

Moshe’s actions must be explained. Did he need to garner popular support in order to redeem the Jews from slavery? He could have simply met with Pharaoh, let the ten makkos run their course, and then inform the people that they were free. Why did Moshe convene the nation?

The Alter of Kelm teaches that the process of galus (exile) and geulah (redemption) that the Jewish people underwent in Egypt shows the pattern for all future struggles and redemptions, both national and individual. It follows that Moshe’s efforts to strengthen the people’s faith that redemption beckoned are a lesson for us. Hashem’s deliverance does not come without some initiative on our part. We have to actively demonstrate our reliance on Him alone in order to be worthy. Once the Jewish people bowed and expressed their joy and confidence in Hashem’s deliverance, Moshe was able to start the process. Had they remained indifferent, any attempt to free them would have been futile.

We see further corroboration of this concept in the mitzvos that the Jews received in Mitzrayim. To demonstrate that the Jews were ready to depart, Hashem commanded them to dress for an arduous journey and eat the Pesach offering hurriedly while holding their walking sticks. These mitzvos forced the Jews to demonstrate their belief in Hashem.

Many of us have an abundance of difficulties in our lives. The Torah’s account of the Exodus teaches us how to deal with them. An active expression of our belief is as critical for our personal redemption as it was for the national one.

One of the most basic ways of showing trust in Hashem is by thinking about what we say when we daven. The Mabit writes that tefillah is a testimony that we are completely reliant on Hashem.

I had a friend who would drop a coin in the tzedakkah box after Shacharis every day. I once asked him about his unique practice, noting that he had already given tzedakkah during Pesukei D’Zimra.

“I’m just thanking Hashem for listening to me,” he replied.

We need to exhibit this sort of emunah in our tefillah if we want our prayers to be answered!

Tefillah is not the only way to express our dependence on Hashem. It may sound counter-intuitive, but hishtadlus can also be a means of expressing our faith in Him. The Midrash (Shir HaShirim 5:3) states: “Make an opening for Me [that is] the size of the eye of a needle, and I will open it for you like the size of a banquet hall.” When a person appreciates that hishtadlus is nothing more than a window through which Hashem channels His berachah to us, the hishtadlus becomes an expression of his dependence on Hashem. When we have goals and try to achieve them with the understanding that only Hashem can make us successful, we bring Hashem’s salvation closer.

My wife used to visit a friend who was childless though she had been married for many years. Once, this lady showed her a neatly-folded pile of infant clothing that she kept in her closet. She explained that she once went to a tzaddik to get a berachah for children. The tzaddik asked her, “What are you doing to prepare for being a mother?”

She was taken aback. Why should she prepare? She wasn’t even expecting a child yet!

The tzaddik said that she must do something anyway. He instructed her to buy some clothes for her future children, and she did.

Perhaps Hashem was waiting for her to display faith that she would be blessed with a child. Baruch Hashem, after twenty years of marriage, she finally had a child to hold.

May we be zocheh to express our faith in Hashem through our actions!

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