It states (12:2) לכם הזה החודש, which the Beis Avraham zt'l explains that Hashem gave us the ability to renew ourselves and become new people. Just because we behaved or acted in a certain way until now doesn't obligate us to remain that way forever. We can change and improve our ways.
These words were told to the Jewish nation when they were in Mitzrayim, at the gate of impurity. Even from that lowly place, Hashem told them, לכם הזה החודש, that they could start anew and become like new again.
The Gemara (Brachos 29) says, "Don’t believe in yourself until your final day. Think about what happened to Yochanan Kohen Gadol. He was Kohen Gadol for eighty years, and at the end of his life, he became a tzeduki (heretic)." The Rebbe of Kotzk zy"a said that just as a tzaddik can change and become a rasha (as this happened to Yochanan Kohen Gadol), a rasha can also change his ways and become a tzaddik. The opportunity for change is always in our hands.
It states in this week's parashah that the korban pesach in Mitzrayim should be eaten (12:11) ברגליכם נעליכם, "Your shoes in your feet." This is an unusual expression. Are shoes in the feet, or are feet in the shoes? It seems that it should have been written as רגליכם בנעליכם, "Your feet in your shoes"!
Therefore, the Sar Shalom of Belz zt'l explains these words in the way of remez. He says that we should translate רגליכם as רגילות what you are accustomed to do, your habits, your routine. נעליכם can be understood as a lock. ברגליכם נעליכם means you should place a lock and refrain from returning to your bad customs and negative habits.
Change is always difficult. People asked a tightrope walker, "Which part of your stunt is the hardest to do?" He replied that reaching the end of the rope was the hardest because he had to turn around. Turning around is always difficult.
The Kotzker zt'l said that the greatest siguf, affliction, is to keep the Torah. This is because to keep the Torah, you must change your ways. Change is so hard. The Torah says, ברגליכם נעליכם, put a lock on your bad habits, and train yourself with better habits.
Additional Insights
Reb Aharon Gradya zy"a asked his rebbe, the Magid of Mezritz zy"a, "Under your influence, I have Baruch Hashem done teshuvah sheleimah. But the yetzer hara comes back to me and tells me to perform aveiros like I would do in the past. What can I do to silence the yetzer hara?"
The Magid replied with a mashal: A man owned a tavern. The town’s drunks frequented his establishment, and he earned a nice profit. The problem was that due to his clients' crass behaviors, fights and brawls were a nightly occurrence in the tavern, causing much damage to the tavern. So, one day, he closed the tavern and started a fabric business in the same place. People making suits or dresses would come to him, and he sold them the fabric. But the drunks were used to coming to his store. They came howling and banging on his door in the middle of the night, requesting drinks. He would holler from his upstairs window, “You came to the wrong address. The tavern isn’t here anymore. This is now a fabric store.” The Magid concluded, “Tell the yetzer hara that you are no longer the Aharon of your youth. Tell the yetzer hara that he came to the wrong address and should go elsewhere.”
A bachur from Sweden, raised in an irreligious home, became religious and studied in Yeshivas Be'er Yaakov in Eretz Yisrael. When he first arrived, he was the weakest bachur in the yeshiva, but within a short time, the bachurim in the yeshiva were surprised at the quick strides he was making. They asked the rosh yeshiva, "How does he do it? How does he grow so rapidly, while we slowly crawl along our spiritual path?" The rosh yeshiva advised them to ask the bachur directly. They asked, and the bachur answered, "We are all in captivity. My prison was my non-religious home. Your captivity is melumadah (doing mitzvos by rote, without much thought). It seems that it is easier for me to leave my imprisonment than for you to leave yours."
The Sar Shalom further explains that מקלכם means "your leniencies." The Torah tells us, בידכם מקלכם take these leniencies into your hands. Take a grip on yourselves and on the situation, and stop being lenient in the areas that you should be stringent.
לכם הזה החדש teaches us that the dates of the calendar are dependent on the decision of beis din. When beis din declares it rosh chodesh, it is rosh chodesh. When they announce a leap year, it becomes a leap year. The Midrash comments on that, "Everything is in our hands! Everything is in our possession." The Chidushei HaRim zy"a says, "If a person would know what this means, and what is in his hands, he wouldn’t waste a minute." He can accomplish so much with his tefillos and mitzvos. If he knew what he accomplishes, he would be very active in avodas Hashem at all times.
We discussed last week that according to one opinion quoted in Rashi, the second plague, tzefardeia, was one giant frog. People hit it, and many frogs came out of it. They saw that hitting the frog didn’t kill it, and it only increased the problem, so why did they continue hitting it? Why didn't they stop? We answered, quoting the Steipler Gaon zt'l, that this is human nature. People have bad habits; they know that they only cause them trouble, and yet they keep returning to them. In response to this tendency, the Torah urges נעליכם to change your ways.
For the chassidim of the Yismach Yisrael of Alexander zy"a, the time they came together, to be with the chasidim and the rebbe, was on the first night of Pesach. One year, before starting his Seder, the rebbe announced, "If one doesn’t believe that he has the potential tonight to change from being a rasha to being a tzaddik, he is the rasha of the Hagadah."
An egg can change and become a chicken, or it can remain the same, and be cooked and eaten as an egg. Rebbe Leibele Eigar zy"a said that we place an egg on the seder plate to indicate that it is possible to remain the same after the night passes, but if we want to, we can change. It's up to us.
It states (Koheles 4:13) זקן ממלך וחכם מסכן ילד טוב וכסיל, "Better a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king..." Rashi explains that the young child is the yetzer tov, and the old king is the yetzer hara. The Kotzker zt'l says that the yetzer tov is called a child because children are ready to change their ways. The yetzer hara is called, "melech zakein uksil," a foolish, old king, representing someone who isn't prepared to change his ways.
People often think they can't change because they tried to change their ways years before, but they weren't successful, so they give up and don't try again. But now they are older, wiser, and more determined. It could be that this time they will succeed. However, since they remember their past failure, they don’t try again.
An example of this attitude in the animal world is elephants. Elephant owners tie their elephants to a beam with a simple rope at night, so they shouldn’t run away. The elephant can easily break free if it tries to. But when the elephant was young and small, it attempted to break free and couldn’t. So it gave up, and since then, it hasn’t tried again. People are similar. Their past failures have convinced them that it isn't worth trying again. But if they would try, they can break free from their negative tendencies.
