The Torah exhorts us to remain uninfluenced by our surroundings. We are told not to emulate the ways of the Egyptians in whose land we lived, and not the depraved ways of Canaan where Hashem would bring us to live.
Rashi says that the Egyptians were more depraved than any other nation and the people in Goshen, where the Jews lived, were even worse. Worse than the people of Goshen, he says, were the people who conquered the land promised to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.
We would be in the midst of these people during the years of conquest, and we were adjured not to learn from their ways.
Why would Hashem place us in these situations where we could be negatively influenced instead of having us live among righteous, modest, and good gentiles?
The answer is that we don’t become as holy through the positive influence of those around us as we do by resisting negative influences.
Hashem gives us temptations and tests so that through resisting them, we build our spiritual muscles, just as a physical trainer might add weights to a weightlifter’s barbell.
These challenges are actually opportunities to grow and come closer to Hashem every day.
Thought of the week:
Nearness to G-d brings likeness to G-d. The more you see Him, the more He will be seen in you.
