There's Not Enough Room For The Both Of Us

Shalom!!

I don't have much time to write this week; however, I would like to keep (establish) some continuity. So I will write something short.

In this week's parasha, Parashat Va'era, Hashem strikes Egypt with the the first seven of ten plagues. The second plague is tzefardeya, traditionally known as the infestation of frogs through the land of Egypt, including in their houses, bedrooms, and ovens. Frogs galore. Everywhere they look, they see frogs. Good luck sleeping at night with all of the ribit-ing. They were always making noise, and the Egyptians couldn't run away from them. They were in their bathrooms (that's correct - they were rude), they were in their beds. And they were loud. Like a pounding headache that doesn't stop, for a week straight! And it wasn't just a few people - it was the entire nation. After a while, the Egyptians went crazy and had enough of the frogs. Pharaoh asks Moshe to pray to Hashem and to ask to have all of these frogs removed. 

Moshe said to Pharaoh, "Glorify yourself over me. For when should I pray for you...to remove the frogs from you?"...And [Pharaoh] said, "For tomorrow." [Moshe] said, "As you wish - so that you will know that there is none like Hashem..." (Shemot 8:5-6)

When Pharaoh asks Moshe to pray for the Egyptians to have the frogs removed, Moshe asks, "When would you like the frogs to leave? For when should I pray to have these frogs leave? Glorify yourself over me." What is Moshe saying? Moshe is saying, I'll give you a chance to glorify yourself over me, to make me look bad - You tell me exactly when you want the frogs to leave, and I will have them removed at that very instant. Ask for whenever you want, and if I am wrong, then you will have glorified yourself over me by embarrassing me and by showing that my G-d isn't so powerful after all.

When Pharaoh hears this, he immediately thinks of poker. Pharaoh knew how to play poker and was, in fact, very good at it. And he knew knew a bluff when he saw one. He was sure that Moshe was bluffing. Pharaoh thought to himself, Why would Moshe put so much on the line? He could have simply went and prayed for the frogs to leave. Why does he want me to pick a time? Aha! It must be that he knows that the frogs are leaving now! It must be that he has inside information that the frogs are leaving now, and he expects for me to say that I want the frogs gone NOW. Oh, you tricky Moshe, I can smell your bluff. I don't want the frogs to leave today; I want the frogs to leave TOMORROW!!! 

Pharaoh assumed that the frogs would leave today regardless, and Moshe would be embarrassed because Pharaoh only requested that the frogs leave tomorrow.

Lo and behold, the frogs stayed over one more night, and they only left on the next day, as Moshe prayed for, as Pharaoh requested of Moshe.

The nations is going crazy, and Moshe tells Pharaoh that he can fix things, and he can do it right now if Pharaoh wants. But Pharaohs pride is too big. He doesn't care about his nation. He doesn't care about his family. He doesn't even care about himself. He care about his pride! He wants to prove Moshe wrong so badly, that he is willing to make his entire nation suffer for another day. And at the end, he was still wrong. How do you think his pride felt went he realized that it wasn't a bluff? How do you think he felt when he realized that he has only glorified Moshe even more?

There are many times that our pride gets in the way of our rationale. We can't think straight if our pride gets in the way. In fact, many relationships don't work out because of this. Many people simply cannot get along because there's not enough room in this town for the both of us (what they really means is that there isn't enough room in this town for the both of our prides). 

We should always be conscious of pride, and how it can destroy us. As the Mishna in Pirket Avot (4:21) says, "Jealousy, lust, and pride remove a person from this world." If you ever feel that this is happening to you, maybe take a step back, realize what's happening, and hopefully you do things correctly.

Shabbat Shalom!

Sincerely yours,

Avraham Adam Sabzevari

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For questions, comments, criticisms, or suggestions, please email adamsabzevari@gmail.com. We are awaiting your feedback. :)
www.adamstorah.blogspot.com

All The Time In The World

Hello,

So this is week 2 of my hot streak. It's hard to call it a hot streak if it is only the second email in a while, but I can call it whatever I want. 

In this week's parasha, many events transpire, and the societal status of the Jewish people shifts drastically. The Egyptians enslave the Jews and kill all newborn baby boys. They were very cruel and it is very difficult to think about how much suffering our nation went through. Then, we are told of Moshe's birth, and ironically enough, the savior of the Jewish people lives in Pharaoh's palace, right underneath his nose. [Who said Hashem doesn't have a sense of humor?] Then, Moshe is chased away from Egypt, and he begins his family in Midian. Moshe is then approached by Hashem by means of a burning bush, convincing and persuading him to go save the Jewish people. When he finally accepts this noble task, you can almost hear the background music is crescendo, becoming more exciting. He heads toward Pharaoh, ready and equipped with Hashem having his back. He first tells the Jews that he is here to save the day, and the crowd goes wild. Then he finally goes to Pharaoh and makes his demands - "Let my people go." It would have been great if Pharaoh acquiesced and would just let us leave; but Pharaoh had other plans. He did not the the Jewish people go. Furthermore, he increased the slave-labor workload. 

Pharaoh said to the taskmasters..."You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, [as you have been previously doing so]. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. And do not diminish the quota that they have previously been keeping up to. For they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, 'Let us go...'" (Shemot 5:6-8).

Previously, they had to make bricks, but they were at least given straw to make the bricks with. Now, they have to gather the straw themselves and continue to make the same amount of bricks that they have previously been making. 

The Mesillat Yesharim explains something that I personally see occurring in my life on a daily basis, and I am sure that it applies to the majority of us. When the Jewish people, with Moshe as their representative, came to request freedom (or even to have a vacation to bring some korbanot), Pharaoh became a little worried. He though to himself, "If the Jews have time to think about leaving, they might devise a plot to start a rebellion." Pharaoh knew that he had to snip this at its bud. Thinking is a function of time. You can only think if you have the time to think. If you don't have time, you won't be able to think. These Jews are idle! They have too much free time. That is why they ask to leave. They think too much. How can Pharaoh make sure that they don't think? Well, if he dumps a whole load of extra work to do, they won't have any free time to think. They'll be too busy working, and if they are to slack off, they'll be whipped. It's a fail-proof system. More work means less thinking, which means less danger of rebellion.

So you're probably thinking, what does this have to do with Adam's life on a daily basis? Why is he making bricks? I'm trying to figure that one out myself.

Pharaoh's plan is used by your evil inclination. Even if you don't believe that you have an evil inclination within you, a little guy telling you what to do, you can still relate to this point. When you are very busy, you sometimes forget to do the most important things. In this case, the Jews were unable to think about getting out of Egypt. For others, they aren't able to spend quality time with the families or friends, or they aren't spending enough time thinking about what they want to do with their lives. Where do you picture yourself 20 years from now, and are you taking the necessary steps to get there? Is there a certain attribute that you want to have, but you simply never got around to working on it? Do you want to write weekly Divre Torah to keep in touch with your friends, family, and people that mean so much to you, but you get caught up with other things that are unarguably not as important? Do you ever feel like you should make a phone call to keep in touch with someone but never get the chance? Did you ever have a desire to learn something specific regarding halacha but the opportunity never knocked on your door? Do you often see yourself going with the flow, instead of swimming to where you want to be? Have you ever seen so many consecutive questions?

The point is clear. Pharaoh knew that as long as people are busy, they will not be able to progress. So, as we all know, we have busy lives. What are we supposed to do? The answer is simple: Make time. When you have to get something done, just do it. Don't waste time, and NEVER procrastinate. Just do it. And if you are very busy and doing everything you want to do will mean that you will have to cut out the wasteful times out of your day, that is a decision that you have to make - but it should be fairly simple - do you prefer progressing or wasting?

May we all have the energy within to get things done, and hopefully, may we never feel that we are simply going with the flow.

Good Shabbat (it's a hybrid, if you know what I mean)!

Avraham Adam Sabzevari

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For questions, comments, criticisms, or suggestions, please email adamsabzevari@gmail.com. We are awaiting your feedback. :)
www.adamstorah.blogspot.com

The Best Revenge

Shalom to all,

How are you? Things going well? In case you have forgotten (I certainly have), I used to write weekly/bimonthly Divre Torah. If you don't believe me, look at www.adamstorah.blogspot.com . With a combination of tons of work to do and some laziness, I haven't been writing Divre Torah lately. There have been some people asking me why I stopped, and there was a specific individual that really put me into shape. So I will try to keep up with this again; we'll see how things play out.

I would like to share a personal anecdote. One afternoon last year, I had a lot of work to do. I entered a YU elevator and was greeted by a kind gentleman. I hit the 5th floor button and saw that the 4th floor button was already illuminated.  I smiled and asked the gentleman, "How are you?" He said, "Fine. Thank you. How are you?" For some reason, I responded very enthusiastically, "EXCELLENT! I'm really doing well." He laughed and said, "That's the best revenge." I was a little confused, so I asked what he meant. As the elevator doors opened and as he stepped out, he said, "Living well is the best revenge. If you got enemies, son, just keep living well - that'll kill them." As the doors closed, the first thought that came to my mind was, "Who was that guy?" I still wonder that. Either way, I thought that what he said was important but I didn't have the time to think about it. So I wrote it down. Now, I have a theory that this man was Eliyahu HaNavi. (If you are actually reading this, kind gentleman, please keep it to yourself. I like telling myself that it was Eliyahu HaNavi, so don't burst my bubble.)

As I was looking through Parashat Vayechi, I remembered this man and his advice to me - "Living well is the best revenge." As we all know, Yaakov Avinu has twelve sons. Ten of them plot against Yosef and sell him to the Egyptians. Years later, Yosef ends up as the viceroy of Egypt and brings his entire family, including these ten brothers, to live with him in Egypt. After living in Egypt for 17 years, Yaakov Avinu passes away. Now that their father is gone, the brothers fear that Yosef will try to take his revenge. Perhaps, Yosef was so nice and kind to his brothers for the past 17 years because he honored his father and didn't want his father to see his sons fighting with each other. But now that Yaakov is in a better place, maybe Yosef will use his powerful position to unleash his anger that he has bottled up for so many years.

Yosef's brothers saw that their father was dead, and they said, "Perhaps (lu) Yosef still bears a grudge against us. He will then certainly repay us for all the evil that we did him." They sent a command to Yosef saying, "Your father issued a command before his death, saying, 'This is what you should say to Yosef, "Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin..."'" Yosef wept as his brothers spoke to him. His brothers also went and threw themselves down before him, and they said, "Behold we are your slaves." Yosef said to them, "Fear not... For am I in God's position? You meant to do evil to me, but Hashem meant it for good..." (Bereshit 50:15-20)

Unfortunately, Yosef never actually forgives his brothers. He tells them that although they plotted against him, it all worked out for the best. Everything Hashem does, He does for a reason. But he never actually forgives them. The brothers feel as though Yosef is giving them a cold shoulder. There is a lot of discussion as to why Yosef never forgave the brothers. There are several opinions, some of which say he actually DID forgive them, but we won't go into that now. As we know, later in our history, there were ten very righteous men that had to pay the price in their stead. (If you are not familiar with this story brought down in the midrash, you can reply and I'll send it to you.)

When the brothers express their fear, they say, "Perhaps (lu) Yosef still bears a grudge against us." This word, "lu," that I have translated as "perhaps," is an interesting word. As my Rebbi, Rav Eli Reich, explained, it can have two connotations, because there are two types of maybes. There is a maybe, when you don't want the thing to happen. "Maybe I'll miss the bus." "Maybe I'll forget something." "Maybe Yosef still hates us." Another connotation is a maybe, when you want the thing to happen. "Maybe I will win the lottery." "Maybe I'll meet someone new today." The simple understanding is that the brothers use the first form of the word here - "maybe," when you don't want the thing to happen. "Maybe Yosef still hates us, but we don't want that to be the case." Another second explanation is, "Maybe Yosef will actually hate us now. Maybe he will begin to show us some emotion and not keep everything bottled up. If only he would speak with us. If only we can get this all out on the table so that he will realize that we are sorry. If only he would hate us and show it." The brothers were very disturbed by the fact that Yosef was completely indifferent towards them. 

When Eliyahu HaNavi told me that "Living well is the best revenge," he meant that if someone wronged you, don't let it affect your life. Don't let him see that you are living any differently because of him. This is exactly what Yosef did. He didn't even want to speak about it. When they brought it up, he brushed it off and said, "Oh, please! Do you really think you did it? It was all from Hashem. He planned it out so that I can be in charge of Egypt. Don't think that you actually had anything to do with it." It really hurt the brothers, because they felt distant from Yosef for the rest of their lives. 

HOWEVER, we also believe that as Jews, we don't want to take revenge on people. If there is someone who wronged you and isn't sorry about it, that you shouldn't let the person see that it affects you. You should completely forget about it, move on, and get on with your life. However, we, as Jews, believe in forgiving each other. (As I said, there is a whole discussion as to why Yosef was not allowed to forgive them. Perhaps I'll write about it another time.) We especially believe in forgiving when the guilty party apologizes so sincerely. So we should always forgive. Now, you may ask, what about the advice - "Living well is the best revenge." So, my response is, for sure, you must live well. You cannot let what other people say or do affect your attitude or your outlook on life. However, at the end of day, that doesn't mean you shouldn't forgive him. Live well because you want to live well; not because you want revenge.

In summary, don't let what others do to hurt you affect your lives; however, don't bear a grudge either.

I apologize for being rusty, but things corrode over time. 

Sincerely yours,

Avraham Adam Sabzevari

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For questions, comments, criticisms, or suggestions, please email adamsabzevari@gmail.com. We are awaiting your feedback. :)
www.adamstorah.blogspot.com