Thursday, January 19, 2012

Va'eira 5772


In this week’s parsha, Paroh continues to refuse to free the Jewish slaves. G-d sends plagues to convince Paroh to change his mind and release the Jews. Moshe warns the Egyptians before the plagues. Before the seventh plague, hail, Moshe tells them that if they want to save their livestock, they should bring them inside. “The one among Paroh’s servants that feared the word of G-d whisked his servants and livestock indoors.  But the one that paid no heed to G-d’s word left his slaves and livestock in the field.”

After six plagues, one would think that the Egyptians would heed Moshe’s warning. Why did they ignore it?

Midrash identifies “the one that feared the word of G-d” as Iyov and “the one that paid no heed to G-d’s word” as Bilam, two of Paroh’s advisors. We can read about Bilam in Parashat Balak. King Balak hires Bilam to curse the Jews. Upon encountering an angel in the road, Bilam’s donkey refuses to move and miraculously speaks to Bilam, calling attention to the extraordinary event. Rabbi Yissocher Frand sees this as Bilam’s wake-up call that he refuses to heed.

Writes Rabbi Frand: “The Chofetz Chaim points out that the entire episode of Bilam in Torah appears as one long, uninterrupted narrative…with no breaks whatsoever. Why? Because Bilam never stopped to think about what he was doing. He never stopped to take stock and consider the wisdom of his actions…When Moshe issued his warning about the impending hailstorm, Bilam could not be bothered to ‘pay heed’ to it. He was thinking about his own plans, his own agenda. His mind was made up.”

As parents, we are very busy. Despite the advent of modern appliances and new technologies designed to save time and labor -- cars, washing machines, e-mail – we still manage to fill our time and feel as if we have none to spare.  We are more rushed than ever and can barely breathe. We need to slow down, to “pay heed” and think about what is going on. We need to assess our lives to see if we have gone off track.  While this is best done daily, Shabbat is a wonderful opportunity to rest from our busyness and take time for contemplation.  
     

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