2022/5782
One morning, I walked into shul to find the Biala Rebbe davening with the congregation. After Shacharit, some people and I went over to the Tzaddik and asked him for Divrei Bracha. The Rebbe structured his Brachot around different Pesukim in Tanach and Divrei Chazal that fit the young man’s Hebrew name. When it came to my turn, I uttered my name: Nachum. The Rebbe responded with the first Pasuk in this week’s Parashah: “וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒ וְלֹא־נָחָ֣ם אֱלֹקים דֶּ֚רֶךְ אֶ֣רֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים כִּ֥י קָר֖וֹב ה֑וּא כִּ֣י אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹקים פֶּֽן־יִנָּחֵ֥ם הָעָ֛ם בִּרְאֹתָ֥ם מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְשָׁ֥בוּ מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃,” “now when Paroh let the people go, Hashem did not lead them by way of the land of the Pelishtim, although it was nearer; for Hashem said, ‘The people may have a change of heart when they see war and return to Egypt.'” I was perplexed. What message in this Pasuk applies to a young Bachur or anyone else!?
I believe that the answer lies in a Dvar Torah given over by Rav Gideon Black of NCSY New York. Rav Black asked two questions on the Pasuk above: 1. Why does the Torah say that Hashem circumvented Bnei Yisrael because Bnei Yisrael might encounter war and become scared, but also because it is close? If the reason was that Bnei Yisrael would become fearful and retreat, then whether far or near, Bnei Yisrael would retreat. 2. After defeating the superpower of their generation, why would Bnei Yisrael be scared of the meek Plishtim?
Rav Black explained that the threat of war alone was insufficient to cause the mighty Bnei Yisrael to retreat. Bnei Yisrael would have faced the challenge had the retreat taken too much effort. However, since it was Noach Lashuv (easy to return (Rashi)), Hashem knew Bnei Yisrael wouldn’t stand up against the challenge. The Torah isn’t a history book; rather, it teaches us a lesson for generations to come. Most of us don’t sin to purposely anger God. Rather, we sin out of convenience. The “easy way” is not usually the best way for us, and sometimes we are forced to take the “long route.”
The second question posed above leads us to another facet of human nature. Not only are we inclined to take the easy path, but if we can overcome our desires and push ourselves to new limits, we quickly retract to our old selves. Despite defeating the world’s superpower, experiencing God’s hand, and leaving with multitudes of spoils, Hashem knew that Bnei Yisrael would quickly revert to their slave mentality. Any new threat, any discomfort that would require them to step up would end up in a retreat to their “home,” Mitzrayim. So too with us, albeit we may not accomplish as much as Bnei Yisrael did when leaving Mitzrayim, when we make a small change, when we do something good, we must not underestimate what we did, and we must realize our accomplishments.
When coupling these two messages, the Torah teaches us something extremely powerful: how to succeed in life. The first step is to push ourselves and take the difficult route to protect ourselves from “sinning out of convenience.” We need to establish boundaries, and hopefully, this will lead us to take the right path, not the easy one. However, once we make the right decision, we must acknowledge our accomplishments and not revert to our bad habits. I believe that the Biale Rebbe told me that although my name refers to comfort, too much comfort is not always a good thing. We must become comfortable on the right path, and hopefully we can live a life of fulfillment and true happiness.