Facing the Truth

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

In Parashas Va’eira there are seven makkos: the Nile River turned into blood, frogs infested the country, a lice epidemic struck, wild beasts assaulted the populace, most of the Egyptian livestock perished, painful boils erupted on the skin of the Egyptians, and flaming hail rained down from the sky.

The supernatural character of these plagues was clear to all—no Egyptian escaped unscathed, and no Jew suffered any harm. Which rational human being wouldn’t be overwhelmed by such a demonstration of Divine Intervention? Yet no matter how clear the truth was, Pharaoh did not budge. Despite impending doom and the inevitability of the Exodus, Pharaoh pretended to be in control of the situation.

Granted, Hashem took away Pharaoh’s free will after the first five plagues (see “Va’eira III: What Prevents Us from Repenting” for further elaboration of this idea). Still, how was Pharaoh able to deny reality until then? Was he so indifferent to the catastrophes that ravaged his country? Moreover, why wasn’t he bothered by the fact that only the Egyptians were harmed?

Rav Leib Chasman answers: ironically, the more blatant and irrefutably true something seems, the more a person may deny it. Deep down, Pharaoh did know that he was wrong, but admitting it was too much for him. Admitting defeat would mean showing the world that he was inferior to the G-d of the Jews. Strangely enough, it was easier for Pharaoh to deny that the cataclysmic events were Divine providence than to admit that he was wrong.

Rav Yechezkel Levenstein teaches a sobering idea: this form of behavior is not limited to despots seeking to maintain their image of supremacy. We are all capable of falling into this trap. Many of us don’t even realize how often we deny the truth to protect our self-image.

A common example can be observed when people argue. Naturally, each person thinks he is right and the other person is wrong. However, it may not occur to either of them that no one is completely right. Perhaps negative elements in the behavior of both parties contributed to the unfortunate encounter. If we honestly look for ways in which we too are at fault, we’ll find them. Yet we choose to go on as if we were perfect. In doing so, we are keeping company with none other than Pharaoh.

Many people fail to advance in their Torah observance because they are afraid to face themselves and take responsibility for how they have chosen to live their lives. This is despite how clear the truth is. Even those of us who are serious about Torah can fall into this trap. If we would face the truth, we could uncover sins that we have been committing throughout our lives, and finally correct them. Our relationships would gain as well, because we would not be scared of criticism or another person’s opinion.

The Gemara (Tamid 28a) states that rebuke is the straight path [to perfection]. If we are capable of accepting the truth in a rebuke and acting on it, we can perfect ourselves in every way possible. Not only will this help us in our everyday affairs, we will ultimately gain closeness to Hashem.

How do we work on this? The Sages instruct us (Avos 1:16), “Make for yourself a rebbe and acquire for yourself a friend.” These people keep us in check, because their view of us is objective. We should appreciate that they have our best interests in mind when they offer constructive criticism. Treasuring it as the invaluable feedback it is will help us grow.

We also need to daven that Hashem help us find the truth. We learn this from David HaMelech, who asked, “Teach me Your way, Hashem, and lead me on the straight path.” (Tehillim, 27:11)

Finally, we must strengthen ourselves and learn mussar intensely. The Alter of Kelm once observed a man calmly reading a mussar sefer. The Alter rebuked him, “Is this how you learn mussar? Don’t you realize that you are dealing with a thief (the evil inclination)?”

Even while working on confronting the truth, we still need to arouse ourselves to correct our shortcomings. It is easy, even after discovering a flaw in ourselves, to go back to sleep and forget our lofty aspirations. However, if we resolve to let the truth affect us, we will gain new insight and discover strengths that we never thought we had.

Rav Gamliel Rabinowitz tells how he once met someone who he thought was a regular businessman. The person told him that while the Satmar Rebbe, Rav Yoel Teitelbaum, was still alive, he would frequently visit him. However, he would only ask for one berachah each time.

Rav Gamliel asked him what he asked for.

The man replied, “I asked that I should have the strength and courage to face up to the truth, so that I can repent completely.”

“Baruch Hashem that there are Jews such as these!” exclaimed Rav Gamliel.

May we be zocheh to accept criticism and grow from it!

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