We left & we're not going back
משנה פסחים י׳:ה׳
בכל דור ודור חיב אדם לראות את עצמו כאלו הוא יצא ממצרים In every generation, one has to see oneself as having come out of Egypt.
Notice that it doesn't say each generation has to see itself as being rooted in a history of slavery but in the history of leaving it behind. That says a great deal about how one defines oneself.
I'd say that is a key component in the error of the meraglim recounted in our current parsha, Parshas Shlach. When ten achieve consensus on signalling a thumbs down on proceeding into the Promised Land because they feel the risk outweighs the reward, the alternative that appeals to the masses is a return to Egypt. They feel better the devil you know than the one you don't, and at least they knew what they were dealing with there.
But that's not the answer that G-d expects of His people who should have realized that we are not reduced to odds and probabilities when planning our next move. That is what they were supposed to have learned from the miraculous experience of the Exodus.
As they failed to internalize that lesson, the consequence that followed made sense. As established among the themes of the Nefesh Hachaim, what appears to be punitive is actually a natural consequence of particular actions. They still considered Egypt their home, a safety net of sorts, so there was no choice but to completely cut out that feeling. That could only be achieved by waiting on the entire generation that developed that connection to Egypt to die out.
This wasn't an issue for the women who maintained their vision even while enslaved [see https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2018/03/at-seder-four-and-faith.html] or for the two spies who would not be swayed by the masses despite the intense pressure to conform to mob rule. [See https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2009/06/failure-is-option.html] But for those who relinquished their real identity as the people who LEFT slavery behind them to embrace a future free of any human master ever after, there was no remedy to their retention of the slave mentality other than letting the die out.
We do remember that we were slaves each Pesach, but the takeaway is not, "Oy, we had it so hard!" but "We are not defined by what others have done to us but by what we resolve to do ourselves, and with Hashem on our side, anything is possible." The mergalim's error, as well as that of all who cried on that fatal day, was seeing themselves as victims who have to return to what they know because they lack the courage to go forward to embrace the destiny of a free people.
Related https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2016/07/really-nice-but-meraglims-report.html
Like and follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KallahMagazine/
בכל דור ודור חיב אדם לראות את עצמו כאלו הוא יצא ממצרים In every generation, one has to see oneself as having come out of Egypt.
Notice that it doesn't say each generation has to see itself as being rooted in a history of slavery but in the history of leaving it behind. That says a great deal about how one defines oneself.
I'd say that is a key component in the error of the meraglim recounted in our current parsha, Parshas Shlach. When ten achieve consensus on signalling a thumbs down on proceeding into the Promised Land because they feel the risk outweighs the reward, the alternative that appeals to the masses is a return to Egypt. They feel better the devil you know than the one you don't, and at least they knew what they were dealing with there.
But that's not the answer that G-d expects of His people who should have realized that we are not reduced to odds and probabilities when planning our next move. That is what they were supposed to have learned from the miraculous experience of the Exodus.
As they failed to internalize that lesson, the consequence that followed made sense. As established among the themes of the Nefesh Hachaim, what appears to be punitive is actually a natural consequence of particular actions. They still considered Egypt their home, a safety net of sorts, so there was no choice but to completely cut out that feeling. That could only be achieved by waiting on the entire generation that developed that connection to Egypt to die out.
This wasn't an issue for the women who maintained their vision even while enslaved [see https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2018/03/at-seder-four-and-faith.html] or for the two spies who would not be swayed by the masses despite the intense pressure to conform to mob rule. [See https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2009/06/failure-is-option.html] But for those who relinquished their real identity as the people who LEFT slavery behind them to embrace a future free of any human master ever after, there was no remedy to their retention of the slave mentality other than letting the die out.
We do remember that we were slaves each Pesach, but the takeaway is not, "Oy, we had it so hard!" but "We are not defined by what others have done to us but by what we resolve to do ourselves, and with Hashem on our side, anything is possible." The mergalim's error, as well as that of all who cried on that fatal day, was seeing themselves as victims who have to return to what they know because they lack the courage to go forward to embrace the destiny of a free people.
Related https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2016/07/really-nice-but-meraglims-report.html
Like and follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KallahMagazine/
Comments