פרשת וארא - Va'eirah

Moshe's kal vachomer in this week's parsha deserves a close look. He says that if the people didn't listen then surely Paroh won't listen. The hole here is that the Torah gives the reason for why the people didn't listen; they were too burdened to hear the message that Moshe brought. It doesn't follow from here that Paroh wouldn't listen, as the work fatigue clearly didn't apply to him. Where is the logic in this kal vachomer?

If the reason why the people didn't listen was the work, then there is no logical reason to say that if the people didn't listen it follows that Paroh wouldn't be attentive either due to the weight of the work. However, Moshe was left on his own to decide why the people didn't listen. His thinking turned inwards. As Moshe saw it, the people didn't listen because of the way he spoke. If he couldn't successfully communicate to his brothers of course he questioned how he would get through to Paroh.

Moshe was starting out on the job and it wasn’t going smoothly. He could have said it wasn't working because of the people. That he didn't blame the people, but looked towards himself first speaks volumes about Moshe’s integrity.

Who should we look at when something goes less well than we'd hoped it would go. Is it a bad external situation or could there be something inside of us at play?

The words of Nechama Leibowitz ring in my ears. The Torah (in Beshalach) says that the Jews came to Marah and couldn't drink the bitter water. Nechama stressed, enunciated, and practically shouted the words, " Ki Marim HEIM", and quoted the midrash which says that it was their own bitterness -rather than the bitterness of the water itself - which made it impossible for the Jewish People to drink the water. Nechama expanded on this approach in her inimitable style: "Zeh HaMorim, vezeh hahorim, vezeh hayeshivah... (meaningful pause) ulai zeh atah?... (another meaningful pause)KI MARIM HEIIIIM!!!"

This thought relates to a question regarding all of the early Shmot parshiot. To what extent did Moshe work on himself? It is to our benefit to learn from Moshe as an example of self reflection. What does it means to be a person? Many people suffer from never looking inside themselves. Others isolate themselves and look in too much, at the expense of living in the world. Balance is the answer.

Leo Buscaglia writes in Living, Loving, and Learning that he's tired of people blaming their parents for their problems. People say that their parents did this or their parents did that, and that's why they are less than perfect. Leo asks incredulously, "Do you know what your parents did?” His answer: “They did the best they could!"

What Moshe did is inspiring because it is so hard to do. He looked in rather than just looking out as he traveled the road to becoming who he was meant to be. May we all be blessed to take responsibility for our life actions rather than retreating to victim paradise.