Parshas Vaeira 5773

I always felt that Tefilla, communication with Hashem, takes a certain Holy Chutzpah based on certain things we see in the Torah. For example, when Moshe tells G-d, “if you will destroy the Jewish nation then erase me from Your book.” You are telling G-d what to do? A lightning bolt should come down and kill you on the spot? Instead Hashem says, “You are correct in the way you have spoken.” But where was Moshe’s proof that this works. That proof comes from this week’s Parsha. The Posuk tells us, “And I also heard the groans of the Jewish nation, because the Egyptians are afflicting them, and I remember My deal that I made with Avraham. Therefore, tell the Jewish people I will take them out of the Sivlos of the Egyptians.” “Sivlos”, literaly, means burdens. However the Chidushei Harim points out to us, the root of the word is “Sovel” to handle. In last week’s Parsha, we see that “Moshe went out and saw how they were handling the gallus and he says, ‘now I understand’.” Last week, we wrote a few peshatim of what that means. Now we have a new pshat, as written above. This week’s Parsha tells us about the groans of the Jewish people from the fact that they could not be sovel, they could not handle the Galus of Mitzrayim. So G-d says, “Tell them I will take them out.”

Friends, when we Daven to Hashem to take us out of this rotten Galus, it has to come from a place of where we cannot stand it anymore. If we are content with being in Galus, then Hashem says they are happy, why should I take them out?

Good Shabbos to all,

Zevi