Va'eira

The time had come for the Jewish people to be taken out of Egypt, so Hashem tells Moshe to go to the Jewish people & tell them that he has come to take them out. Moshe tells this to the people, ולא שמעו אל משה מקצר רוח ומעבדה קשה who refuse to listen to him because of the overbearing work load that was upon them. 

Then Hashem tells Moshe to go to Pharaoh to tell him to send the Jewish people out of his land. Moshe incredulously asks Hashem, “if the Jewish people, for whom this is beneficial, wouldn't listen to me then how would Pharaoh, to whom it's detrimental, listen to me?

All the commentators ask “the Torah had just given us a reason why the Jewish people didn't listen - because of קצר רוח ועבדה קשה‏, shortness of breath & hard work; now that doesn't apply to Pharaoh so what was Moshe's argument that just as the Jews wouldn't listen, Pharaoh wouldn't either. Maybe he would? He didn't have the Jews’ reason not to. 

The sefer Har Sinai ‎answers that we know there are two types of trials that a person could face to see if they fear Hashem. One is the test of poverty, for if a person is tested with poverty, ל"ע  then it's much harder for him to learn Torah & do mitzvos properly.  His mind is totally consumed with what he is missing & how he will put food on the table. 

On the other extreme, there is the test of wealth. If a person is blessed with much wealth, then he has the opportunity to take part in the world's pleasures; the more one indulges in worldly pleasures, the more he can become totally entrenched until he goes off the proper path ל"ע  ‎to try to satisfy every pleasure. 

Now, if we ask anyone which of these tests is more difficult, he will tell you the test of poverty. No one wants to be tested like that. However, according to Moshe's argument to Hashem, we see the opposite is true, for the Jewish people had the test of poverty - it doesn't get much worse than doing forced slave labor-  yet they still didn't listen to Moshe.

Surely, Pharaoh, who had the test of wealth, wouldn't listen so you see that the test of wealth is much harder when it comes to the fear of Hashem. Now Moshe’s argument makes sense. 

In our day, we have both of these tests. Some have the test of poverty while others have the test of wealth. How do we each make sure to pass the test‎?

Sometimes when it comes to getting closer to Hashem we have to use arguments that don't seem to make sense at first, but once we understand, it helps us to get closer to Hashem. 

There was a town in Poland that was full of uncouth & unlearned people that wanted to appoint a Rav over the town. They went from Rabbi to Rabbi but to no avail. Every time, when they got to the next rabbi, they implored him by trying to make the town sound better than it was. They would tell him that in their town many great rabbis were buried, like the Taz, the Magen Avraham & Reb Akiva Eiger. It should be an honor to be appointed Rav over this town. 

After a little investigating, the Rav found out that none of these great rabbis were buried in this town, so he called back the delegation & ask‎ed, “what's going on; you come to me & tell me unabashed lies? 

They answered as follows, “our words are very true; for in Levov they learn the Taz so, in reality, he's not buried there; in Kalish, the Maken Avraham’s teachings are taught in the Beis Medrash while, in Pozne, they still learn Rebbi Akiva Eiger’s teachings. As Chazal say, “when you repeat over someone's teaching, it's like they are still here living”, so over there they are not buried but in our town where there is no one who can learn & no one opens their seforim, here these great rabbis are truly buried.” 

Now their argument makes sense; sometimes, in order to‎ get closer to Hashem, we have to use irrational arguments to get the desired result. Therefore, whether your test is through poverty or through wealth, if you see that your faith is starting to waiver, come up with some kind of argument, whether it makes sense or not, to help keep you on the right path.  Then, no matter what the challenge, we will come out ahead!

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