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BEGIN WITH A GRIN

A very poor man was investigated for tax evasion.

The inspector asked him, “How did you build such a magnificent mansion when your income is so low?”

The poor man told him, “In my dream, Eliyahu HaNavi appeared to me and told me that there is a treasure in my yard, right next to my house. I dug where the prophet pointed, and I found the treasure. I used the gold I found to finance the construction of the mansion.”

The inspector responded, “That’s a beautiful story, but can you prove it?”

The poor man replied, “Of course, the mansion is right here…”

UP FROM SLAVERY

This week’s parsha, Shemos, tells us about the beginning of Moshe’s mission to redeem the Jewish people from Egypt. G-d promises Moshe great things, and as part of these promises, He gives a very strange promise regarding a “great fortune” that the Jews will receive from the Egyptians when they leave Egypt.

The pasuk says: “And I will give this people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, and it shall be, when you go, you shall not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her that sojourns in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment” (Shemos 3:21-22). The Medrash (Shemos Raba 3:11) explains that this promise was made so that Avrohom would not have a reason to say that the promise of “And they shall enslave them and oppress them” was fulfilled, but “afterward they shall go out with great wealth” was not.

A similar explanation is found in the Gemara Sanhedrin (9a), where there is a conversation between G-d and Moshe, where Hashem asks (or pleads) with Moshe to help Him fulfill His promise to Avrohom so that Avrohom would not have complaints against Him (so to speak). “G-d said to Moshe: Please, go and tell the Jews: ‘Please ask of the Egyptians for silver and gold vessels, so that that righteous man (Avrohom) should not say, ‘And they shall enslave them and oppress them’ was fulfilled, but ‘afterward they shall go out with great wealth’ was not fulfilled.’”

At this point, a question arises: Is G-d fulfilling His promises just so that “Avrohom won’t have a complaint?” Does Hashem only fulfill promises because He made them? It sounds as if G-d fulfills His word only to avoid being caught breaking a contract, which sounds absurd, doesn’t it?

In a long talk, the Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that the “great fortune” promised by G-d to the Jews can be viewed in two ways. On the one hand, it is a punishment for the Egyptians. The Egyptians had enslaved and oppressed the Jews for many years, and therefore G-d decreed that their wealth would be taken from them. Since the Jews were the ones who suffered, Hashem arranged for the wealth that was taken (literally) from the Egyptians to be given to the Jews. According to this view, the main purpose is to empty out Egypt, while the giving of the wealth to the Jews is a secondary and incidental detail.

On the other hand, it is a reward for the Jews. The wealth of Egypt truly belongs to the Jews as compensation for their hard labor. In order for that wealth to reach its rightful owners, it had to be taken from the Egyptians, and this also serves as punishment for their evil deeds.

At first glance, these two perspectives do not seem to contradict each other. They are simply two ways of looking at the matter. However, upon deeper reflection and when examining the sources and texts, a significant practical difference becomes clear between the two perspectives. According to the first view, there is no difference in how the wealth reaches the Jews, as long as it is taken from Egypt. Therefore, if the Jews had looted and plundered the Egyptians during the plague of darkness, for example, there would be no problem.

However, according to the second view, there must be a process by which the wealth is transferred in accordance with proper procedures of payment and reward. Taking the wealth without consent or by force is not acceptable and would not achieve the goal. The Egyptians must pay the Jews, just as any employer or business manager would.

Here lies the answer to the question we began with, and here we also find the connection and the important message related to the true and complete Geula. It is clear and self-evident that G-d will fulfill His promises, including the promise of the “great fortune.” The only question is how exactly He will fulfill it.

ENJOY THE FRUITS OF YOUR LABOR

Avrohom, our forefather, cares for the Jews like a father cares for his children. He is not satisfied with the promise being fulfilled in its minimal form; he desires to see it fulfilled with the maximum benefit for the Jews. G-d could have fulfilled His words in the first way mentioned, telling the Jews that in order to receive their reward, they must loot and plunder the Egyptians when they are helpless (during the plague of darkness or similar), to punish them.

While the Jews would have become very wealthy from this, they would have been like a group of criminals, lawbreakers, or a terrorist underground gang forcing the innocent to comply (something like ‘Hamas,’ l’havdil). Imagine the shame and historical embarrassment we would have felt, imagine the United Nations’ condemnation of such a criminal act (and they don’t remember that the Egyptians tormented us for 210 years!). Had this been the way the promise was fulfilled, we probably would have rejected it!

Avrohom, however, demands that the “great fortune” be given to us as a reward, as payment, as compensation for all those years. This is a proper and respectful way to receive what is rightfully ours, for the hard and laborious work. This is the intent of the Medrash: In order “that there should be no complaint from Avrohom,” the Egyptians must give their wealth to the Jews willingly and with favor – “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians” – just as an employer gives a hard-working laborer their wage at the end of a tough workday, with full appreciation and goodwill. Not through theft, sneakiness, or trickery.

These two views also apply to the spiritual reward for the Egyptian servitude. The “great spiritual fortune” that we received from Egypt were the holy sparks (202 in number) that we refined through our work, sparks by which the Jews elevated themselves spiritually. According to the first view, the main purpose of the Egyptian servitude was to take these sparks from them, and the fact that these spiritual sparks were given to the Jews and helped them elevate spiritually is a secondary detail. In contrast, according to the second view, the purpose of the servitude was to upgrade the Jews and elevate their souls by giving them higher sparks of holiness, and the fact that those sparks were taken from Egypt is a relatively minor point.

This is also true today, in relation to the true and complete Geula. One way to view the exile is that its purpose is to refine the world, and the reward that the soul receives for this is only because it is the one that carried out the work. The second possibility is that the entire idea of exile exists solely to elevate the soul to higher levels, but in order for this to happen, it must work and exert effort, and for this purpose, the soul was sent to refine the physical world.

This is not just an abstract theoretical difference but a practical one, with real consequences in daily life. According to the first view, a Jew may view his life and work as one big slavery, thinking of himself as a “servant” who must perform a task in exchange for a reward. He is a secondary figure, and the reward he receives is even more marginal. In short, with this outlook, we would feel like a well-squeezed mop, and that’s it.

However, according to the second view, the entire purpose of the world’s existence, the entire purpose of the work of refinement, is solely to bring about elevation and uplifting us, in our souls. This way of looking at life (that the purpose of work in the world is the elevation of the soul) infuses joy, vitality, and extraordinary motivation into every action a person takes. Simply put, even today, before the arrival of Moshiach, we must internalize and feel that the entire purpose of our work is to bring about the sublime revelations of the Messianic era, whose true purpose is the elevation of our soul, and this perspective will bring us inner joy and infinite vitality to keep going, until the awaited moment when “we will merit to live and see the years of the Days of Moshiach and the World to Come.”

TO CONCLUDE WITH A STORY

We’ll end with a slightly different story as encouragement for those who have not yet received the “great fortune.” Once, someone came to the Alter Rebbe and began crying to the Rebbe that he was poor and destitute. The Rebbe smiled.

“Rebbe, why are you laughing?” he asked.

The Alter Rebbe explained: “In your previous incarnation, you were a wealthy man. People would come to you, and you gave tzedka generously, feeling very good about yourself. After one hundred and twenty years, you ascended to heaven, to the Heavenly Court. There, you saw a line of people you recognized from this world. These were the people to whom you gave much tzedaka. You were sure they had come to testify on your behalf in the trial.

“And then the trial began, and they called these people to testify. One told how he came to you and said that his wife was very ill and needed twenty thousand rubles for treatment, and you gave him a generous donation of one thousand rubles, and with that, you felt you had fulfilled your obligation. The second one said he came to ask for ten thousand rubles to fund a wedding because he had no money at all, and you gave him one hundred rubles. And so it went, one after another with similar stories.

“You were sure that the verdict would be in your favor, but instead, the judges began reprimanding you: ‘You had eight million rubles. Well, what would have happened if you had given ten thousand for the treatment of the sick woman? What would have happened if you had given another ten thousand for the wedding? Would you even have noticed?’

“You bowed your head, unable to answer. Your sentence was sealed for purgatory, and you wept and pleaded for them to lessen your punishment. The only solution they gave was for your soul to return to this world in the form of a wealthy man, but this time you would give tzedaka according to your true abilities. When you heard this, you begged and cried bitterly – ‘Please, not a wealthy man, not a wealthy man.’ You knew you wouldn’t be able to withstand such a test. In the Heavenly Court, they accepted your plea and decreed that you would be born as a very poor man, and you would give tzedaka as much as you could, and that would be the correction for your soul. And now you come to me and beg to become rich?!”

Good Shabbos!

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