A soldier on the battlefield must always hold his arrow and sword. A Yid can't be without his tefillos either even for a moment. Sometimes, tefillos are represented by the sword (Shemonah Esrei), and sometimes, tefillos are represented by the bow and arrow (personal requests), but his tefillos must always be with him.
Even a fool not concentrating on his weapons, waving his sword and pulling back his bow and arrow produces results. Perhaps tefillah is compared to an arrow and a sword to teach us that regardless of how one davens, it accomplishes so much. It states (Tehillim 18:4) אויבי ומן 'ה אקרא מהולל אושע, "With praise I call to Hashem, and from my enemies I will be saved." זכרון אבני, quoting from the Chozeh of Lublin zt'l, teaches that מהולל can mean confusion. This pasuk discusses when one davens with a confused, unsettled mind. Even then, אושע אויבי ומן, he will be saved.
Thinking About the Present
The parashah begins ָםָעה ֶתא ַּרְעֹהפ ַלַּחׁבְּש ִיוַיְה, "And it came to pass when Pharaoh sent the nation..." The Gemara (Megillah 10:) says, "Whenever it states ִיוַיְה, it is an expression of tzaar, distress," and when it states ָיָהוְה, it is an expression of joy.
The Or HaChaim asks why an expression of ִיוַיְה, distress, is used here. Wasn’t it a very happy moment when Pharaoh sent out the Jewish nation from Mitzrayim?
The Or HaChaim explains that the distress is that Pharaoh would soon chase after the Jewish nation, which caused much tzaar and fear for the Jewish nation. Furthermore, the anguish is about the deaths of the Mitzrim, when they drowned in the sea. This was upsetting for Hashem, as Chazal (Megillah 10:) tell us, Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, "The work of My hand are drowning in the sea, and you are singing shirah?" Therefore, the parashah begins with ויהי, with an expression of tzaar.
Had Pharoah known that Hashem sent Bnei Yisroel out of Mitzrayim and not he, he would have realized that he had no power to bring them back. He would have understood that if Hashem overruled his desires and sent them out against his will, how could he bring them back? But Pharoah mistakenly thought that he sent out the nation. This resulted in him chasing them to get them back, which resulted in his own army dying in the sea, and l'havdil, it resulted in the tzaar the Jewish nation had when they saw the Mitzrim chasing after them. The Torah says ָםָעה ֶתא ַּרְעֹהפ ַלַּחׁבְּש ִיוַיְה, that Pharoah thought that he sent out the nation, and this resulted in ִיוַיְה, in much distress.
Chazal say that ויהי is an expression of tzaar and והיה is an expression of joy. We can explain that this is because ויהי is in the past tense. It means "it was." Focusing on the faults of the past can lead to sadness. והיה "it will be" is to think about the possibilities of the future, and such thoughts cause joy.
It states (Bereishis 48:20) לאמר ההוא ביום ויברכם, "He blessed them on that day." We can explain ויברכם that Yaakov blessed them ביום ההוא to focus solely on that day (see Beis Aharon p.143. quoting Rebbe Asher of Stolin).
The following story is said in the name of the Baal HaSulam zt'l:
A mighty king wanted to show hakaras hatov to one of his subjects who did a great favor for him. He gave him the key to his treasury and said, "You have two hours, starting from this moment. Go to the treasury and take out whatever you want – gold, silver, precious stones, diamonds..."
The first thing the man did was prepare himself with two large, sturdy bags, to have where to place the treasures. When the bags were packed, he carried them out of the treasury and across the grounds. When he reached the outer gates, the soldiers shouted, "Why did you steal from the treasury? Leave everything here!"
He tried explaining that the king gave him permission, but they didn't want to hear about it. They forcefully took the bags and spilled the contents onto the ground.
The man went to the treasury again. He filled his bags with treasures a second time. Once again, when he tried to leave, the guards stopped him at the gate and poured out everything he had collected. This happened a third and a fourth time, too. He wouldn't give up because he knew he had a right to receive the treasures.
When he filled his bags the sixth time, the two-hour limit had arrived. He left the treasury to go home, hoping the guards would believe him and allow him to pass this time. He was shocked when the guards allowed him to keep everything in his bags. Moreover, the guards had prepared everything he had taken until then. The treasures were packed neatly into boxes, and he was allowed to bring them all home.
He returned home with all the precious items he had collected over the two hours full of joy.
He then rushed to the king's palace to thank him for his generosity. He couldn't contain his curiosity, and asked, "My master and king, why did you tell the guards to stop me at the gate and to take everything away? And why did you finally change your mind and give it all back to me?"
The king explained, "My dear friend, I have hakaras hatov to you for what you did for me, and I wanted you to receive many treasures. But I knew that once your bags were full, you would feel wealthy and wouldn’t feel it necessary to take more, even if the two hours hadn't yet passed. So I told the guards to pour out everything you gathered. When you saw that you had nothing, I knew you would quickly return to the treasury to fill your bags again with the treasures. The guards took the wealth away from you five times, and each time you felt that you had nothing, and this spurred you to keep trying. This went on for two hours, and now you have two hours’ worth of precious, collected treasures from my treasury."
From this mashal we learn one of the reasons people fall from their levels. They were collecting good deeds, grabbing a lot of mitzvos, which will be their reward and portion in Olam HaBa, and then, suddenly, they fall from their level and feel that they lost everything. This happens so that we should feel that we have nothing, and be motivated to begin and try again. Otherwise, we might feel satisfied with our accomplishments and stop seeking more mitzvos and rewards. Hashem wants us to periodically feel that we have nothing, which will encourage us to grasp more opportunities to serve Hashem. We will think, "Maybe this time I will finally succeed in making a nachas ruach for Hashem. Maybe this time I will succeed to do a good deed."
However, the danger is that we may feel hopeless and give up. Like in the mashal, if the man had given up when the guards took the wealth he gathered, he would go home, mope, and be angry, and he wouldn’t have anything. But since he didn't give up, he gained so much.
The lesson is to not focus on the past, on what you lost, but on what you can receive in the present and in the future. Focusing on the past might cause you to lose hope, but focusing on the present will help you earn many good deeds, and a great reward in Olam HaBa.
It is said in the name of Reb Leibele Eiger zt'l:
It states (14:2-4) ִּיפ ְנֵילִפ ֲנוּוְיַח ֻבוּׁוְיָש ֵלָאְרׂיִש בְּנֵי ֶלא דַּבֵּר ֵןכ ׂוֲּשוַיַּע ...ִירֹתַחה, "Speak to Bnei Yisrael, and let them turn back and encamp in front of Pi HaChiros... And they did so."
Rashi writes that the Torah says ֵןכ ׂוֲּשוַיַּע to express the praise of the Jewish nation. When Moshe told them to return toward Mitzrayim, toward their enemies who were pursuing them, they did so. They didn't say, "How can we go to our pursuers? We must escape. Rather, they said, "We have to listen to the words of [Moshe] ben Amram."
The problem is that even though the Torah wants to praise the Jewish nation, this action resulted in something quite unpraiseworthy! Since they turned back towards Mitzrayim, it spurred Pharaoh and the Egyptians to go out to fight with them, to bring them back to Mitzrayim. The Torah tells that Bnei Yisrael said the following harsh words (14:11-12) ָרִיםְבק ֵיןא ִבְּלִיֲמה ֶהׁמֹש ֶלא ְ רוּוַיֹּאמ ָנוּלְהוֹצִיא לָּנוּ ִָיתָׂשע זֹּאת ַהמ ִּדְבָּרבַּמ ָמוּתל ָּ נוְּתַחלְק ַיִםִצְרבְּמ ָיִםִּצְרִממ, "They said to Moshe, Is it because there are no graves in Mitzrayim that you have taken us to die in the desert? What is this that you have done to us to take us out of Mitzrayim?"
Wouldn’t it have been better just to avoid mentioning the entire subject? Why should we praise the Jewish nation (that they listened to Moshe and went back towards Mitzrayim) if soon afterward, the Torah will mention the harsh, improper words that the nation spoke? What do we gain with the words of admiration if they will follow with words that are an embarrassment for the Jewish people?
A similar question can be asked on the pasuk (Shemos 12:39) ֶםָהל ׂוָּשע לֹא ָהֵדצ וְגַם, which means they left Mitzrayim without taking along food for the trip. Here, too, Rashi writes that the pasuk wants to tell the praise of the Jewish nation. "They didn't say, “How can we go to the desert without food? “Rather, they believed and went. This is as it states (Yirmiyahu 2:2) ַתֲבַהא ַ יִ ךְנְעוּר ֶדֶסח ָ ךְל ִּיַרְתזָכ ָהזְרוּע לֹא ֶץֶרבְּא ִּדְבָּרבַּמ ַיֲרַחא ֵּ ךְֶכְתל ָ יִ ךְכְּלוּלֹת, “I remember to you the loving kindness of your youth, the love of your marriage, your following Me in the desert, in a land not sown.”
This is certainly a great praise for the Jewish nation, and we say this pasuk in the tefillos of Rosh Hashanah. But we wonder why it is mentioned if together with this comes along something negative for the Jewish nation. The nation complained (16:3) ַיִםִצְרמ ֶץֶרבְּא 'ה בְיַד ֵ נוּמוּת ֵּןיִת ִימ ֵלָאְרׂיִש בְּנֵי ֶםֵהֲלא ְ רוּוַיֹּאמ ֶלא ָ נוּאֹת ֶםֵאתהוֹצ כִּי ַעׂבָשל ֶםֶחל ֵנוָּכְלבְּא ָרַׂבָּשה ִירס ַלע ֵּ נוִּׁבְתבְּש ָבָעבָּר ַזֶּהה ָלָּהַקה כָּל ֶתא ִיתָמלְה ַזֶּההִּדְבָּרַמה, "Bnei Yisrael said to [Moshe and Aharon], If only we had died by the hand of Hashem in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat, when we ate bread to our fill! For you have brought us out into this desert, to starve this entire congregation to death." What do we gain by saying their praise if this will result in us telling the negative things that were said in its aftermath?
The answer to these questions is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu values one good deed that a Yid does, even if it doesn't last and even if something negative occurs afterward.
This is an important lesson. One shouldn’t say, "What purpose is my teshuvah if it won't last, or if the teshuvah itself might result in some aveirah?" The answer is that every moment of being close to Hashem is precious, every good deed is precious, and Hashem praises us for it. Afterwards, there might be problems or setbacks, but that doesn't mean the good moment was lost. This is a reminder to do teshuvah repeatedly because each teshuvah is precious to Hashem.
