Dear Reader,Welcome to the concise,
relevant Lelamed Weekly Dvar. Any questions? Enjoy...
* * *
Reading the story of how the Jews became enslaved to Egypt in
Parshat Vaeira, and having the benefit of knowing how the story
ends, we can wonder why the Egyptians were punished for
enslaving the Jews, when we know that the Jews needed to be
enslaved, either as part of the decree, or as the process of
becoming a cohesive nation?
The Ramchal explains that the answer lies in the Egyptian's
intent, which became clear when it was time to let the Jews go.
Had the Egyptians done it with the intentions of merely doing G-d's
will, they would have immediately let them go when the situation
warranted it. The same is true of our lives: We can sometimes
justify not giving as much, not volunteering enough, or not
learning enough Torah by claiming not to have time. The truth
comes out, though, when we DO have time, on weekends, vacations,
or between jobs/school. If we do what we can WHEN we can, we
will prove our appreciation for the Torah, and grow our
appreciation OF the Torah in the process.