Vo'era: Breaking Out

This week’s Parsha discusses the beginning of the Exodus from Egypt.  One of the commandments of the Torah, one which we fulfill twice a day when we say the “Shema” prayer, is to “remember the Exodus from Egypt”. On Pesach, in the Haggadah (Pesach Story) we quote the Talmud which says that “…in every generation a person is obligated to consider themselves as if they themselves had gone out of Egypt this very day.” 

Mitzrayim, the Hebrew word for Egypt (as mentioned last week) means boundaries and limitations. We need to break out of our limitations, our boundaries and fences. Many times what holds back our spiritual development is the “safety net” of convenience, of status quo, or of simple inaction and passivity. Breaking beyond these boundaries means pushing our limits. Those who work out know that it is only after a certain number of repetitions of any exercise, when a person reaches their upper limit, that the activity actually starts to make a difference to their physique.

When we succeed in breaking through we find ourselves faced with new, more challenging boundaries. Therefore every day a person needs to live this “going out of Egypt”, on a personal level.

One way is through Simcha, through joy. When we lead our daily lives in a joyous manner, happy to be alive and to be given the opportunity to make a difference (however seemingly small) our enthusiasm becomes infectious. The Torah tells us that “joy breaks all boundaries”. In our private lives, an infusion of joy helps to break those boundaries which are holding us back. Eventually we will realize that in reality, when we are fulfilling the purpose of Creation, through G-d’s will, we actually have vast powers and resources at our disposal.

A negative counterpart to joy is coldness and indifference. Pharaoh tells Moses this week "Sacrifice to… your G-d in the wilderness, but don't go too far…” He knows he cannot convince Moses not to serve G-d so instead he tells him “Go and serve G-d… but don’t go overboard”. He tries to cool him down.

When a person wants to do the right thing, his ‘evil inclination’ knows it cannot stop him outright – that would be too obvious. Instead, it seeks to transform his service into just another selfish endeavor, done with icy indifference.

Go ahead, says the "Pharaoh" within, serve your G-d. "But don't go off too far."

This is the very opposite of the fiery, joy-filled approach to life. In order to get ourselves (and others) moving we need to beware of that mischievous voice telling us not to “go too far”, instead going beyond our natural means, beyond limitation, breaking though all the boundaries which hold us back.