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Enlighten Our Eyes

the.guard Monday, 16 October 2017
Part 49/50 (to see other parts of the article, click on the pages at the bottom)

Pre-empting Confrontation: Try creating the inability to sin ״להקטין הנסיון ולהגדיל היראה״ , to minimize the nisyonos and maximize Yiras Shamayim ( לשון הגאון רבי ישראל מסלאנט זצ״ל ). We were taught this immediately after leaving Mitzrayim, ולא נחם אלקים , Hashem didn’t relent. He led them on a way which could not easily be reversed ( חיי עולם פרק ב' וברכת פרץ פרשת בשלח ), and כי ברח העם , the nation fled, was in order to increase the distance between ourselves and the attractions of Mitzrayim.

Evading the inappropriate may seem like an external accomplishment; however, it is an immense achievement, and will in time bring one to true fear of Hashem.

A powerful precedent: When feelings run low, let us remind ourselves that as a nation we started out very low. Some were even indifferent to the mitzvah of Bris Mila. When Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim, it was not merely a horizontal journey but primarily a vertical one, a journey of spiritual elevation.

Leaving Mitzrayim lifted us out of the mud, setting a precedent which created a mechanism that enables us, here and now, to ride above those same old challenges. This is alluded to in the words עזרת אבותינו ... מגן ומושיע לבניהם אחריהם בכל דור ודור , Helper of our ancestors ... Shield and Savior for their children after them.

At the end of Shema we say twice Ani Hashem, the second time alludes to our future salvation. The salvation granted to our forefathers paves the way for our personal and collective redemption.

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