WRITTEN BY SHMUEL T. ADLER

I was looking through the parts of Sefer Shemos which describe the beginnings of when G-d sent Moshe Rabbeinu to redeem the Jews from Mitzrayim. While doing so, the following idea struck me.

If one reads through the pesukim which describe Moshe Rabbeinu’s morphing into the leader of the Jews one may notice that Moshe did not morph at all. Moshe Rabbeinu did not simply just become a leader.

Many of us are taught about Moshe Rabbeinu, relating to him as if he was born a leader. We think of Moshe Rabbeinu as someone to whom leadership qualities came to naturally. We assume that it was easy for Moshe to just waltz into Mitzrayim, tell Pharoh that he’s here, and simply lead the Jews out. Our focus is on Moshe after he became Moshe Rabbeinu. We do not contemplate the battle he needed to go through to make himself into Moshe Rabbeinu, and the difficulties he encountered in taking the Jews out.

Let us take a look at the first pesukim which discuss G-d sending Moshe. We will see that the impression from the pesukim is that Moshe was not at all born into leadership, and it was not at all easy for him to take the Jews out of Mitzrayim.

Here are quotes from the pesukim.

G-d introduces Himself to Moshe and then tells him to go to Pharaoh and take the Jews out of Mitzrayim.

“And He said, “I am the G-d of your father, the G-d of Abraham, the G-d of Isaac, and the G-d of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look toward G-d.

So now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and take My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

Moshe responds.

“But Moses said to G-d, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should take the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

We see firstly that Moshe was afraid just to look at G-d. And Moshe was scared to go talk to Pharaoh!

Then several pesukim later G-d tells Moshe to go just to the Jews; these are Moshe’s kin and fellow religionists, and not only that but the leaders of the Jews, and tell them that G-d sent him to take them out.

 “Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘The Lord G-d of your forefathers has appeared to me, the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,”

Yet still, Moshe hesitated, and he responded to G-d that the Jews won’t believe him and they will not listen to him.

 “Moses answered and said, “Behold they will not believe me, and they will not heed my voice, but they will say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you. “  

And G-d gave Moshe miraculous signs to prove that G-d sent him. And again Moshe tells G-d that he is not the right man for the job; he doesn’t have the necessary abilities, and he does not want to go.

“Moses said to the Lord, “I beseech You, O Lord. I am not a man of words, neither from yesterday nor from the day before yesterday, nor from the time You have spoken to Your servant, for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue.”

Then G-d promises Moshe that He will be with him and give him the powers he will need to lead the Jews out. Yet once again Moshe tells G-d that he is not the right person for the job.

“But he said, “I beseech You, O Lord, send now [Your message] with whom You would send.”

This is astounding! G-d tells Moshe to go to the Jews and talk to the Egyptians, not once or twice, but a few times; and each time Moshe refuses, saying he is too scared to go. Moshe did not feel the Jews would believe him, and he felt Pharaoh would not listen to him. The Jews had forgotten or never knew who G-d was and Moshe was concerned that they would not believe a word he said. He felt he did not have the speaking talent necessary to do the job.

G-d gave Moshe the “Signs” and reassured Moshe that He will be with him and give him the support and strength which he needed. Finally, with these promises, at the end Moshe agreed to go.

Apparently Moshe was not born ready to talk to G-d or even too look at G-d. Nor did he feel naturally prepared to meet with Pharaoh, talk to the Jews, and lead them out of Mitzrayim. G-d so to speak threw him in to the situation. G-d told him to go, and after hearing all of G-d’s reassurance, only then did Moshe go. Finally he went, secure with the knowledge that whatever he would need to say or do, G-d would be with him, helping him, watching over him, and supporting him every step of the way.

G-d sometimes throws us into extremely difficult situations. We feel it is impossible for us to go on; we simply cannot manage. We never asked to be in the situation at all.

We search for support, for a light in the darkness; for the strength to carry on. It seems as if we cannot hold ourselves up any longer; as if a huge wall is blocking us from going anywhere. We feel as if our power is slipping away.

One must realize that as difficult as it is, the power and strength are there. We may need to have a little patience or we may need to search a little but if G-d put us there than He gave us the tools and strength to deal with it as well. Once we have been thrown into a situation we can find that we have inside of us capabilities which we never imagined we had.

The following story brings this idea out so beautifully:

There was a very pious Jew who was sent to Siberia during the time of World War Two. He had always been extra stringent in his performance of the mitzvos, and he was trying to figure out how he would survive both spiritually and physically in the freezing hell of Siberia. His predicament was only worsened by the company he was surrounded with. His Siberian social group was comprised of some of the most notorious criminals and enemies of the State.

He decided on two ideas which would help his survival. Firstly, he would try to keep the stringencies of the mitzvos as much as possible, regardless of his circumstances. The second idea he had was that he would try to learn a lesson from every one he came across in Siberia, no matter who.

His ideas were working quite well and they were succeeding in giving him the fortitude which he needed to survive the terrible conditions which he was in. However there was one guy who was the most dangerous looking, vicious, criminal of the group. This Yid couldn’t imagine anything he could possibly learn from the guy. But a commitment is a commitment, and he told himself that he must somehow figure something out. One day he found the opportunity to grab a word with the guy. He began talking to him and asking him a bit about his life. His conversation confirmed his suspicions, that there was not much, if any, good in this guy’s life that anything could be learned from. But then, to his surprise, the guy told him a story which turned out to be a tremendous source of inspiration.

The guy was working on a ship when one day there was a huge storm. The ship was rocking and turning in the waves. There was a group of people who for whatever the reason had stayed on deck. Suddenly a terrifying scream arose from the group. A young child had fallen off the slippery deck into the churning waves of the sea. Everyone panicked. No one was willing to risk their life to jump in to the angry waters to try to save the boy. All of the sudden a man could be seen jumping from the crowd in to the water. He grabbed the boy and the relieved people on the deck quickly threw a strong rope into the water. They pulled both the man and boy to safety.

The man saved the boy’s life! Who was this great savior? It was this guy who was the worst criminal who was together with this Yid in Siberia. All of the passengers and people on the ship were jubilant. They all came over to congratulate him. He was a hero. To their utter surprise, they found the guy furiously running around the ship with a look of rage planted on his face. People asked him why was he running around so upset?; He was the hero of the day!

He answered them, “I’m looking for the person who shoved me in to the water!”

When the Yid heard this story he understood a profound lesson from this. This criminal was not prepared to jump in to the waters to save the boy; he may not even have had the physical and emotional stamina and abilities to jump in. But once he was pushed in, he had no choice. He saved the boy. Somewhere, somehow, he found the hidden strength which he needed to survive the situation, and he saved the boy.

The Yid told himself that he is now in Siberia in a situation quite similar to the criminal who was thrown into the violent waters. G-d had “shoved” him into the violent, hellish Siberia. He never would have imagined that he would be able to withstand the challenge. But now that he was thrown into it he knew somehow, somewhere inside of himself he possessed the strength he desperately needed to survive. This gave him the courage and encouragement which he needed to make it, and that is what he did. He survived and lived many years after.

When we find ourselves in a situation where we see no way out; we feel ready to despair. We must realize that if we are in the situation, G-d put us there. And He has a way out for us. He did not forsake us. He is constantly watching over us, hugging us, lovingly carrying us and holding tightly to our hand. The strength. power, and inspiration which G-d provides for us may at times be subtle. He may not heal our sick child over night.  Unfortunately G-d sometimes says “No” to our prayers, and a family member may not make it. G-ds support may not always stare us in the face. We can understand only a minute drop of the iceberg about G-ds ways. But we do know that He is supporting and guiding us. It may come in the form of a much needed meal sent by a neighbor. A compassionate phone call just at the right time; or a friend who visits providing a distraction and allowing one to have a light moment.

One must try hard not to despair when confronted with difficulty.

Hope is right in front of you, and help is right around the corner.

L’zchus Refua Sheleima Yehoshua Ben Nechama Aliza; L’iluy Nishmas Chaim Pinchos ben Yaakov Yitzchok