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28
THE JEWISH NEWS (810) 354-6060
n this week's sedrah, Va'era,
we read of the first seven
plagues with which the Egyp-
tians were punished, hasten-
ing the events of the impending
exodus of the Jewish people from
Egypt.
The very first plague with
which God broke the proud spir-
it of Pharaoh and his people was
the plague of dam (blood) in
which the waters of the Nile Riv-
er were turned to blood. Every
child understands the implica-
tions of this plague in the simple
sense. It was an ecological hor-
ror. Water for every possible kind
of use, from irrigation to hygiene,
was transformed into a foul, mal-
odorous fluid.
But the Chasidic masters re-
vealed an astonishingly different
significance to this plague. They
taught that the transformation
of water to blood was to strike a
blow for warmth against cold-
ness.
The Almighty, they explained,
is the ultimate source of all life;
so everything associated with
godliness and holiness has vital-
ity and life — characterized by
warmth. Coldness, on the other
hand, is "the mark of the grave;"
it is the very antithesis of life and,
therefore, the very opposite of ho-
liness.
The idolatry of Egypt, the un-
derlying evil permeating their
culture, was coldness, an icy in-
difference to spirituality, to God.
This was symbolized by the cold
waters of the Nile River, which
the Egyptians worshipped as a
god. So the very first step towards
breaking the spirit of Egypt and
the bondage in which they held
the Jews was to strike at the "wa-
ters of the river" — the deathly
coldness — and convert it to
blood, symbolizing warmth, life
and vitality.
What does that say to the Jew-
ish man and woman of the 90s?
In every age, in every situa-
tion, the Torah, both in its legal
and narrative portions, teaches
us vital lessons to be applied in
our daily lives. [How many of us
are aware that the word Torah
itself, although commonly trans-
lated as "the law" is actually de-
rived from the Hebrew hora'ah,
meaning "teaching"]. Even sto-
ries describing situations and
events that (seemingly) could not
possibly occur in modern times
contain instructive messages, di-
rectives and lessons in the here
I
Rabbi Yitschak M. Kagan is
associate director of the
Lubavitch Foundation of
Michigan.
and now; for Torah is eternally
relevant to every age and every
culture.
If this is the case with regard
to all Torah narratives, it is much
more so in the case of stories re-
lating to yetzias mitzrayim, the
exodus from Egypt. For there can
and should be a spiritual "exodus
from Egypt" in the daily life of
every man and woman of our
community. This "exodus" is the
liberation of our spiritual core,
the neshama or godly soul, from
its enchainment to our negative
inclination, called the yetzer hares.
Every detail of the Torah's ac-
count of the physical exodus con-
tains directives for our own
spiritual yetzias mitzrayim. This
brings us back to the lesson from
the plague of blood, the first
plague: The very first undesir-
able trait against which each of
us must struggle, is coldness, in-
difference, and apathy to our
faith. It is a false notion that one
can remain indifferent to the
soul's Jewish leanings on the one
hand, yet, on the other hand,
keep far from unethical, anti-so-
cial, or anti-spiritual behavior.
The founder of Chasidism,
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov
Shabbat Va'era:
Exodus 6:2 - 9:35
Ezekiel 28:25 -
29:21.
.
(1698-1760), repeatedly empha-
sized the theme of hashgacha
pratis, "particular Divine Provi-
dence". He taught that from
everything one sees and hears,
he should derive a lesson in life.
Some rabbis, pupils of the Baal
Shem-Tov, were once walking
near the banks of a river in
Poland in the depth of winter.
They passed a group of peasants
who were carving a giant pagan
icon out of the ice.
Puzzled and disturbed, they
asked their great teacher why
Providence had seen to it that
they should happen to witness
that particular scene; what could
they possibly learn from it?
The master asked them to pon-
der on the ubiquitous use of
water, in Judaism, for purifica-
tion and sanctity. (The immer-
sion of the Kohain prior to the
Temple service, washing the
hands before eating, the mikvah,
etc.) However, this is only true
when the water is warm. "Freeze
it to ice," concluded the Baal
Shem Tov, "and you can even
make an idol out of it!"