We learn some sharp yet vital lessons in Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah on Parshat Bo: Night of the Locked Doors.
Rav Miller notes the irony of telling the Jews to stay inside while the Mashchit (Destroyer) was out carrying out the Plague Against the Firstborn.
The Mashchit is a very powerful spiritual entity. It's not like locks or mud walls can stop it from entering.
So why did the Jews need to lock themselves inside when the Mashchit was out?
Rav Miller notes the irony of telling the Jews to stay inside while the Mashchit (Destroyer) was out carrying out the Plague Against the Firstborn.
The Mashchit is a very powerful spiritual entity. It's not like locks or mud walls can stop it from entering.
So why did the Jews need to lock themselves inside when the Mashchit was out?
What Happens When Jews Yearn for the Very Culture that Enslaves Them
On pages 5-7, Rav Miller starts off with an enlightening discussion of free choice and why an unleashed Mashchit is not allowed to differentiate between tzaddik and rasha.
Then he explains the real Mashchit: the outside anti-Torah influences.
(Yearning after these influences is what actualizes the active Mashchit in the end, chas v'shalom.)
Of course, says Rav Miller, we must show our appreciation for America. We must be law-abiding, grateful citizens. We should hang out a flag on July 4th and vote for policies & politicians that benefit America.
But aside from that, we must lock our doors.
We must live ethically and appreciatively in American society without being influenced by American society – which, as Rav Miller says, is filled with apikorsus, ta’avos, shtus, avodah zarah.
Like Nazi Germany and Nazi-conquered Hungary, Egypt had advanced science and technology. It had culture.
It was the most technologically advanced society in its time.
Egyptians excelled in all the available sciences.
They had fashion, cosmetics, culture, literature, music, powerful New Age spirituality...and they were the best in all these things.
And some Jews, even while enslaved, yearned for those aspects even as they were enslaved by these very aspects.
(In other words, the Egyptians used occult techniques to imprison the Jews and it was the Jews who built Egyptian industry, just like the Jewish slave labor built BMW and others.)
Then he explains the real Mashchit: the outside anti-Torah influences.
(Yearning after these influences is what actualizes the active Mashchit in the end, chas v'shalom.)
Of course, says Rav Miller, we must show our appreciation for America. We must be law-abiding, grateful citizens. We should hang out a flag on July 4th and vote for policies & politicians that benefit America.
But aside from that, we must lock our doors.
We must live ethically and appreciatively in American society without being influenced by American society – which, as Rav Miller says, is filled with apikorsus, ta’avos, shtus, avodah zarah.
Like Nazi Germany and Nazi-conquered Hungary, Egypt had advanced science and technology. It had culture.
It was the most technologically advanced society in its time.
Egyptians excelled in all the available sciences.
They had fashion, cosmetics, culture, literature, music, powerful New Age spirituality...and they were the best in all these things.
And some Jews, even while enslaved, yearned for those aspects even as they were enslaved by these very aspects.
(In other words, the Egyptians used occult techniques to imprison the Jews and it was the Jews who built Egyptian industry, just like the Jewish slave labor built BMW and others.)
No Such Thing as Neutral
On page 12, Rav Miller uses his characteristic wit to explain:
There were interesting things to do, to see in Egypt.
They had things there – they could go bowling in Egypt. They could go rollerskating in Egypt. Maybe there were art museums in Egypt; Egyptian buildings they could visit.
“Nothing wrong,” you say. “I’m a pious Jew, it’s just interesting. It’s fun!”
No, it’s very wrong!
Because it’s not enough that you’re forsaking Mitzrayim. You have to understand that Mitzrayim should not deserve your attention or your admiration at all.
And that’s always a difficult test.
You might live in a wealthy and modern city with gardens and trees and nice homes. Maybe you like the way the people dress. Maybe some of them have good manners in the streets. It’s hard not to be impressed by them!
Rav Miller exhorts us that Hashem is not happy when we let unholy ideas and messages into our holy homes.
So Hashem uses extreme measures to stop us from being anything less than fabulously Jewish.
So Hashem uses extreme measures to stop us from being anything less than fabulously Jewish.
The Views of a Frum Anti-Zionist on Gentile Anti-Zionism
Despite Rav Miller's strong stance against Tziyonut, he also comments on the well-known phenomenon of hating Medinat Yisrael in order to disguise the Jew-hatred underneath.
Here is what Rav Miller said in 1990 about carving up Medinat Yisrael (page 13-14):
Here is what Rav Miller said in 1990 about carving up Medinat Yisrael (page 13-14):
We'll take an example – I might be wrong, but I'm almost sure that I'm right.
What's taking place today (1990), with everybody ganging up on Medinas Yisroel, is nothing but a hatred of the Am Yisroel.
Now, I'm not a big patriot of Medinas Yisroel; far from it – and yet it's as clear as day what their intention is.
Only it's not polite to say it openly – maybe some Arabs will say it but the diplomats in Washington or the UN can’t say it outright.
So they are saying 'Rights to the Palestinians”, “Self-determination”, other phrases they use.
But it’s only because of appearances sake that they don't come out openly.
What they want is to destroy Medinas Yisroel, there is no question about it at all — nobody should have a moment of hesitation in his mind.
And this next bit is VERY apropos to EXACTLY what is happening RIGHT NOW (emphasis mine):
Now, I'm not going to be an analyst of politics, but if they would yield and give the PLO that wedge of land that they're demanding in the heart of Eretz Yisroel, that's not going to be the end – there'll be demands after that.
Yerushalayim, certainly.
Certainly they want to get the whole Yerushalayim, not only the Old city.
And little by little they want everything until nothing remains.
That's all they want, there shouldn't be any Medinas Yisroel.
But it's not Medinas Yisroel they're against; [b'chol dor v'dor omdim aleinu l'chaloteinu] it’s another form of hatred of the Jewish nation.
Rav Miller advises diplomacy and using seichel to deal with the political issues, but he also warns against assuming that infringing on the boundaries of the Medinah and Yerushalayim is anything but plain old-fashioned Jew-hatred.
Increase the Light
Many people like to run in circles around the issue of Jew-hatred, but Chazal simplifies it for us: Be Jewish.
ENJOY Judaism.
I think that Rav Miller says one of his most controversial ideas when explains that there's no such thing as a bad non-Jew or a good non-Jew – it all depends on us.
Yet this very idea is presented throughout millennia of Torah scholarship.
It's both inspiring and frightening at the same time.
It's true, as Rav Miller says, that nothing compares to what we have.
I've seen for myself (and I'll never be a Talmudist) that I lost interest in many subjects in the non-Jewish world after continuously indulging in Torah material. It had happened naturally. For example, after reading the Pele Yoetz or Rashi on Mishlei, what can the latest best-selling self-help book tell me?
Can any mainstream book or inspirational speaker explain how to both prevent and rise out of depression better than the Pele Yoetz or Rebbe Nachman of Breslov?
You'll see that the more you start filling your life and mind with Torah material, the less appealing the non-Torah stuff becomes. You'll be reading it and then get fed up with how often the words, This is so stupid, I can't believe they're saying this or Oh gosh, they got this all so backwards! or What stupid kefirah is that? or just plain YUCK. Is this what the world is really coming to?
You can throw everything out in one go, which is a fine thing to do as long as you're sure it won't rebound on you.
But increasing light naturally decreases darkness.
So whether you're ready to take the big plunge or you prefer to do it in increments, increasing your intake of material from Torah-true sources is the way to go.
ENJOY Judaism.
I think that Rav Miller says one of his most controversial ideas when explains that there's no such thing as a bad non-Jew or a good non-Jew – it all depends on us.
Yet this very idea is presented throughout millennia of Torah scholarship.
It's both inspiring and frightening at the same time.
It's true, as Rav Miller says, that nothing compares to what we have.
I've seen for myself (and I'll never be a Talmudist) that I lost interest in many subjects in the non-Jewish world after continuously indulging in Torah material. It had happened naturally. For example, after reading the Pele Yoetz or Rashi on Mishlei, what can the latest best-selling self-help book tell me?
Can any mainstream book or inspirational speaker explain how to both prevent and rise out of depression better than the Pele Yoetz or Rebbe Nachman of Breslov?
You'll see that the more you start filling your life and mind with Torah material, the less appealing the non-Torah stuff becomes. You'll be reading it and then get fed up with how often the words, This is so stupid, I can't believe they're saying this or Oh gosh, they got this all so backwards! or What stupid kefirah is that? or just plain YUCK. Is this what the world is really coming to?
You can throw everything out in one go, which is a fine thing to do as long as you're sure it won't rebound on you.
But increasing light naturally decreases darkness.
So whether you're ready to take the big plunge or you prefer to do it in increments, increasing your intake of material from Torah-true sources is the way to go.
All material & quotes within this post exist in the zechus of Toras Avigdor.
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