Chumash Shemos introduces a new entity. Up until now, we learned about The Avos and their families. We are now introduced to בני ישראל- The nation of Klal Yisrael. The Rambam writes that Paroah is also a reference to the יצר הרע, Mitzrayim is a reference to the body of a person, and Moshe is a reference to the Neshamah. As such, we can certainly look to gain lessons from The Parsha on how to confront the Paraoh in our own lives.

The Pasuk says : ויאמר אל עמו הנה עם בני ישראל רב ועצום ממנו, הבה נתחכמה לו

Paroah decides to trick Klal Yisrael into becoming slaves. As the Pasuk later says ” ויעבידו מצרים את מי ישראל בפרך” To which Chazal say בפה רך. They used trickery to cause to start working by stating that it was a patriotic duty to help build fortified cities, and it was only after Klal Yisrael joined did the Egyptians stop working and told the Jews : Now you have to continue working as slaves. This was the way Paroah tricked Klal Yisrael into becoming slaves. And The Yetzer Hara works is such ways as well. He tricks a person into falling by painting a false picture. And it’s our job to avoid that entrapment. Today on social media platforms such as Instagram you can follow a persons day and life, and see all their daily activities. You can see pictures of where they go out to eat, what they shop for, where they vacation etc. This leads to confusion and envy, and causes people to want to copy that lifestyle. This causes people to spend money they don’t have to copy their neighbors and leads to many problems, such as going into debt, Shalom Bayis problems and the like. This is the trickery of Paroah and his spiritual descendant the Yetzer Hara. The Yidishe way is Hatzanay Leches. What you do is your business, nobody else business, and should not make a difference on how I live my life. We need to stay away from Paroah trickery and not fall into the trap of הבה נתחכמה לו.

This leads to another strategy of Paroah. When Moshe and Aharon come to Paroah for the 1st time and demand he let Klal Yisrael go and serve Hashem Paraoh decides that the way to stop any thoughts of leaving is to make the work even harder for the Jews. And so Paroah states: תכבד העבודה על האנשים, let the work become even harder, so they will have no time to think about leaving. The מסילת ישרים writes that the Yetzer Hara works in the same way like Paroah; he gets a person caught up in daily life such as work and making money that he no longer has time to think about the important things in life. No time to make a חשבון הנפש, where am I heading in life? Is this the life I envisioned for myself when I was growing up? Am I heading in the right direction in important manners of life, or am I caught up in the minutia of life and forgetting about my spiritual aspirations? These are questions each Yid needs to think about from time to time, and the Yetzer doesn’t want him to ask them. So he gets a person distracted by a million different things so he won’t have time to think, similar to what Paroah did. And it’s our job to try and avoid that trickery of the Yetzer Hara and allow ourselves the time and space to reflect on who we are and where we’re heading in life.

Finally, there’s one more trickery of Paroah we need to avoid. A slave does not have an identity, rather he’s just a number, who’s fully subjugated to his master. And that was certainly part of what Paroah had in mind; to take away the individuality of each Yid by enslaving them. Yet we know that each person has his unique roll in life, which no one can take away. And the Torah eludes to this at the begining of the Parsha ואלה שמות בני ישראל, as Rashi points out “להודיע חבתן שנמשלו לכוכבים” Klal Yisrael are like shining stars, each with its unique roll. The Yetzer Hara too, tries to bring a person down by telling him he’s just a number among the thousands who are just are like him. But the Torah reminds us; No! You’re not a number, but a precious star whom Hashem cherishes and loves.

We’ll conclude with a story. A young Bachur in Lakewood was feeling that he wasn’t remarkable in any way, and lost his desire to learn. Instead of learning night Seder in Yeshiva, he went to a local assisted living facility and sat in the lounge with the local residents, watching television. After many nights sitting in the lounge, an elderly resident approached him and asked why he’s there watching television and not in Yeshiva? The boy replied that he feels he’s just a number, not an individual and has no drive to learn. The man rolled up his sleeve to reveal the tattooed number on his arm. ” The Germans wanted us to feel like numbers. But, no, you’re not a number. You’re a unique individual who can accomplish in life.” The young man took the words to heart and went back to Yeshiva. And that is a lesson we can all learn; not to be caught up in the trickery of Paroah and the Yetzer Hara, remember who we are and remember that we each have our own unique roll in life.

In this week’s Parsha we read how Klal Yisrael is finally sent out of Mitzrayim, following Makkas Bechoros, as the Possuk says:

ויקרא למשה ולאהרן לילה ויאמר קומו צאו מתוך עמי

Paroah begged Klall Yisrael to leave Mitzrayim! And this was the result of the 10 Makkos when Mitzrayim and Paroah saw the Yad Hashem and realized that they were powerless in its face.  We have to understand; why was it necessary to bring 10 Makkos to see Yad Hashem, Hashem could have started with Makkos Bechoros and that would have been enough for Mitzrayim to send them out?

We can find a clue to answer this question from the beginning of this Parsha. The Possuk says:

ולמען תספר באזני בנך ובן בנך את אשר התעללתי במצרים

For all generations Klal Yisreal will be  telling the story of the 10 Makkos. By talking about these miracles we come to the realization that there’s an Aibishter who controls everything. So whether it’s controlling the water as we see by Dom, controlling the earth by Kinnim, controlling the animals as seen in Aruv and Dever, the air as seen Choshech or human life as seen by Makos Bechoros, the 10 Makkos show us that Hashem is in charge. And so that is the point of having 10 Makkos, to glorify Hashem’s name and strengthen our Emunah for all generations by witnessing and talking about these Miracles.

Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky asks; we find that for the 1^st few Makkos, The Chartumim could copy them and thus Paroah was not impressed by it. Why is that today we don’t hear about real magic being performed, and while there is a huge industry of magicians nowadays, we all know that it’s all illusions and not real. So why was it once real, and not today? We also find that in Chazal’s time there were creatures known as Shaidim, which were real forces, demons which they saw. Why are these creatures not seen today?

Explains Rav Yaakov, based on the possuk in Koheles :

זה לעומת זה עשה אלוקים

Everything in creation is balanced, so whatever exists in Kedusha exacts also in Tumah., This is necessary so there will be free will in the world, so everything is balanced, and a person has a choice to make. When the Koach of Kedusha was great and there were נביאים, there had to exist a counter balance, something on the opposing side of Tumah so there will be free will in the world, so that, is why real magic, existed in that period. As the generations went down and Nevua disappeared, so too did real magic. In Chazal’s time, there was no Nevuah but there was something known as a Bas Kol a heavenly voice which we read about often. To counter this there were Sheidim, forces of Tumah, and gradually as Kedusha went down those too disappeared. In 1909 the Chafetz Chaim was involved in removing a Dibbuk, a spirit who possessed a young girl. His Talmid, Rav Elchonon Wasserman said that this would be the last Dibbuk to appear, as a giant like the Chofetz Chaim would never be again, so with less Kedusha there will be less Tumah as well.

But being that nowadays we don’t see open Nissim how then do we strengthen our Emunah? The Ramban writes at the end of the Parsha, that we do that by recounting the Miracles of through the many Mitzvos we fulfill. This is done daily through Tefillin and Mezuza as well as saying Shema, as well as the Yomim Tovim of Pesach, and Sukkos. By remembering those great Nisim and retelling them to our children we are strengthening our Emunah in Hashem and always reminding ourselves that, whether we see it openly or not, Hashem is always there and watching us.

Rav Yisrael Salanter would frequent an inn during his travels. The proprietor was a G-d fearing Yid. Yet, on one of his stays by the inn, R’ Yisrael noted that the inn keeper was being lax in his Mitzva observance. Upon inquiry, he told R’ Yisrael that some weeks prior, a Maskil, a secular Jew had stayed at the inn and challenged the inn keepers Emunah, by eating non-kosher food. “If there’s a G-d,” said the guest, “Let him punish me for eating this food.” Indeed he ate it, and nothing happened. This incident caused the inn keeper to doubt his Emunah. R’ Yisrael did not say anything in response. Sometime later he approached the inn keepers daughter. “I heard that you are a talented musician, can you please play a number for me?” The daughter refused on the grounds that she was busy at the time. Responded R’ Yisrael “How then do I know that you can actually play music? Maybe you made it up?” The girl pointed to her diploma hanging on the wall.” That paper is proof that I am a talented musician. I proved myself in school, and that is enough.” R’ Yisrael turned to her father, the inn keeper, and said: “ Just like your daughter does not need to prove again that she can play music, so too Hashem already proved himself in Mitzrayim to the whole world. He does not need to prove it again. “

By remembering and internalizing the story of יציאת מצרים, may we all merit strengthening our Emunah each and every day.