As Long as You Fight, You Win (Even If It Looks Like You've Lost)
Here is another powerful excerpt from Bitachon Weekly, page 3.
(I've no connection to it, but you can sign up for Bitachon Weekly here: thenewbitachonweekly@gmail.com.)
(I've no connection to it, but you can sign up for Bitachon Weekly here: thenewbitachonweekly@gmail.com.)
The “one out of five” Yidden who left Mitzrayim were the Avdei Hashem, who struggled and fought against their Yetzer Hara.
Those who were not fighters, died during the three days of darkness, which is symbolic of a dark world.
Someone who doesn't fight his Yetzer Hara is in a darkness, with no real purpose.
A person who fights his Yetzer Hara is alive and full of chiyut/life even if he may fall often in his struggles against his Yetzer Hara.
Indeed, the Yidden sinned very soon....Yet, he is still considered an Eved Hashem and worthy of receiving the Torah, since he is constantly fighting his Yetzer Hara.
So we see the one-fifth who merited to leave Mitzrayim were NOT pure tzaddikim on the inside.
They felt pulled toward the forbidden.
But they STRUGGLED against that pull.
They had the same yetzer hara as anyone else...but they fought against it.
And that made all the difference.
They felt pulled toward the forbidden.
But they STRUGGLED against that pull.
They had the same yetzer hara as anyone else...but they fought against it.
And that made all the difference.
Why Faith in the Ultimate Geula Makes All the Difference
I recently heard a shiur on how the minority that merited to leave Mitzrayim earned that merit:
Parashat Bo: The Holocaust Survivor's Confession
https://www.torahanytime.com/#/lectures?v=174435
(Starting around minute 2:50.)
After all, some very bad people left with them too.
Datan, Aviram, etc.
What made the difference?
After all, Chazal calls the people left in Mitzrayim "reshaim."
But some of the people who merited to leave Mitzrayim were also reshaim!
What enabled these sinful people to leave while other sinful people died in the Plague of Darkness?
According to the Rosh:
Parashat Bo: The Holocaust Survivor's Confession
https://www.torahanytime.com/#/lectures?v=174435
(Starting around minute 2:50.)
After all, some very bad people left with them too.
Datan, Aviram, etc.
What made the difference?
After all, Chazal calls the people left in Mitzrayim "reshaim."
But some of the people who merited to leave Mitzrayim were also reshaim!
What enabled these sinful people to leave while other sinful people died in the Plague of Darkness?
According to the Rosh:
Even though they were reshaim, they didn't despair of the Geula.
That's it.
That made all the difference.
They never lost hope for the Geula.
Is there a contradiction between this idea and the one above?
A little bit.
But please remember the big yetzer hara is despair. Hopelessness. Giving up. "It's never going to happen."
Most of the Jews who left Mitzrayim fought against all their yetzer haras: despair, taava, ka'as, etc.
But even the ones who ONLY fought against their yetzer hara of despair merited redemption from Mitzrayim.
Emunah is a powerful thing.
You don't have to be perfect.
You can just KNOW the Redemption really IS coming.
That made all the difference.
They never lost hope for the Geula.
Is there a contradiction between this idea and the one above?
A little bit.
But please remember the big yetzer hara is despair. Hopelessness. Giving up. "It's never going to happen."
Most of the Jews who left Mitzrayim fought against all their yetzer haras: despair, taava, ka'as, etc.
But even the ones who ONLY fought against their yetzer hara of despair merited redemption from Mitzrayim.
Emunah is a powerful thing.
You don't have to be perfect.
You can just KNOW the Redemption really IS coming.
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