Parshas Vaera

Rabino Wein



A Hard Heart

Stubbornness can be a virtue or a terrible character defect. When it is a virtue we call it tenacity. When it is a defect it is just plain foolish and counter productive. Pharaoh’s stubbornness, as exhibited in this week’s parsha, is an example. His advisers inform him that Egypt is headed for disaster because of his stubbornness but he refuses to give in to the reality of the series of plagues that threaten to decimate Egyptian society.
Of course the Torah tells us that his tenacity was reinforced by the fact that God hardened his heart. The commentators, especially Maimonides, judge that to mean that the Lord gave him the courage of his convictions not to be influenced by the events transpiring in his country but to continue on his evil path to enslave the Jewish people.
Hardening his heart did not influence Pharaoh’s choices in the matter. It merely allowed him to transform what previously appeared to be tenacity into ultimate foolishness and disaster. Hitler, Stalin, Mao and other such leaders displayed this same reckless stubbornness over the past century, resulting in the destruction of societies and the deaths of tens of millions of people.
Because of his behavior, Pharaoh becomes the paradigm for the self- destructive trait of foolish stubbornness. The Jewish people are also characterized as being a stubborn people. This trait has served us as well when we were and are tenacious in preserving our values and traditions. It is a foolish trait when we continue the policies and misbegotten certainties that have always led to our tragedies and misfortunes.
Rashi and Midrash teach us the source of Pharaoh’s suicidal stubbornness. It lay in his belief in himself as a god – arrogant and convinced of his own infallibility. People who are never wrong never have to change their policies, beliefs or behavior.
I am reminded of a sign that I once saw on the desk of a prominent public figure that said: “Don’t confuse me with the facts; my mind is already made up!” He was joking about it (I think) but that danger lurks in all of us. Once we are convinced of the absolute rectitude of our position, we not only are tenacious in maintaining it, we become downright blindly stubborn.
Moshe meets Pharaoh at the river’s edge where he went to perform his bodily functions. Pharaoh is exposed there - not as a god but only as a mortal man. Moshe means to teach Pharaoh that the justification for his stubbornness – his sham sense of infallibility – is itself false. A little humility on the part of Pharaoh would have saved himself and Egypt a great deal of grief. That is why the Torah stresses that the desired quality for true leadership is humility.
Moshe becomes the paradigm for humility just as Pharaoh – his arch- nemesis – is the paradigm for arrogant stubbornness. This lesson of wise tenacity versus foolish stubbornness exists in all areas of human life and society – family, community, national policy and personal development. May we be tenacious enough in life to avoid foolish moments of harmful stubbornness.

Shabat shalom.

Rabino Berel Wein

Parsha EKEV

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Rabino Berel Wein

Even though Moshe in his review of the life of the Jewish people in thedesert of Sinai over the past forty years recounts all of the miraclesthat occurred, he does so not for the purpose of narrative but rather toteach an important moral lesson for all ages. That stark lesson is thatafter all of the miracles that God may perform on our behalf, our fate isin great measure in our hands. And the lesson of all of Jewish history issummed up in the verse “For not by bread alone – even miraculous breadsuch as the manna – shall humans live, but rather by the word of God, soto speak, - the values, commandments and strictures of Torah shall Jewslive.”
All attempts to avoid this lesson, to substitute other words, ideas andideologies for the words of Torah have turned into dismal failures. Butreliance upon miracles is just as dangerous a path. My teachers in theyeshiva would say to us, then pious young men, that prayer helps one tobecome a scholar in Torah. But they emphasized that sitting and studyingTorah for a protracted time with concentration and effort may help evenmore in the quest for true Torah scholarship. Moshe uses the constantmiracles of the desert to drive home the point that much of theresponsibilities of life are in our hands and our decision makingprocesses. In essence the clear conclusion from his oration is that Godhelps those who help themselves.

In our post –Tisha B’Av mood and run-up to Elul and the High Holy Days itis important to remember how much of our fate truly lies in our ownactions. The small choices that we make in our everyday lives add up toour life’s achievements and accomplishments. That is what Rashi means whenhe states that “these are the commandments that one grinds under withone’s heel – ekev!” The small things that we think to be unimportant atthe moment often translate into major decisions and sometimes even haveirreversible consequences. The question always before us is do our actionsmeasure up to the standards of God’s word, so to speak. We live not “bybread alone” or by miracles alone, but by our own choices and our very ownbehavior and deeds.
While recently driving on a New York City highway – an exercise inpatience and utter futility – I missed the exit that I was supposed toturn off on. Miles and a quarter of an hour later I was able somehow toretrace my journey and exit at the proper place. I felt that it was amiracle that I was able to do so. It was, in fact, my negligence of notexiting correctly from the highway originally that forced the necessity ofof this “miracle.” Moshe teaches us that this is truly a daily occurrencein our lives. His message to us is as clear and cogent today as it was toour forbearers in the desert of Sinai long ago.

Shabat shalom.