The advantage of refining the material
Pharaoh summoned Moshe and said, “Go, serve Hashem, only your flock and your cattle will stay put, even your children may go with you.” Moshe said, “Even you will give in our hands feast-offerings and elevation-offerings, and we will offer them to Hashem, our G-d. And our livestock, as well, will go with us, not a hoof will be left, for from it we will take to serve Hashem, our G-d, and we will not know how we shall serve Hashem until we arrive there.” (10:24-26)
As an introduction to our discussion, we will quote from the holy sefer Or HaMeir (Parashas Shemos ‘Amnam’), and these are his sacred words:
“Indeed, if your soul asks, how is this possible? A physical man, with a dense and material body, eating and drinking like an animal, attending to his physical needs—how greatly should he tremble and fear, and how should awe rise upon his head, to the extent that all his limbs should quake within him, when he contemplates drawing upon himself the great and holy Name, Hashem Elokim, the full Name over the full world, and declaring that He is his God?
And even greater than this, we find concerning our holy forefathers, who were in the land—Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, the patriarchs of the world. The holy sefer Reishis Chochmah (Sha’ar HaKedushah, Chapter 16) raises the question: How could HaKadosh Baruch Hu associate His great Name with mere flesh and blood, as in ‘the G-d of Avraham, the G-d of Yitzchak, and the G-d of Yaakov’? They ate and drank and engaged in physical needs—how is this fitting for the honor of the King of kings, HaKadosh Baruch Hu? The essential conclusion from his sacred words is that they sanctified, purified, and refined their bodies, both internally and externally. Even in eating and drinking, they served the Creator Yisbarach with holiness and purity, refining their bodies to such an extent that they became as the holy ones above, and thus it is appropriate to associate divinity with them.
And how fitting it is for a person to seek counsel for his soul, to understand how to refine his body! All is achieved through our holy Torah, for the light within it illuminates for him the path where light dwells. Corresponding to this, the Torah alludes: ‘האלקים את תעבדון’ - “You shall serve God” (Shemos 3:12)—to make from Elokim your Elokecha (your God). And how is this possible? ‘הזה ההר על’ - ‘On this mountain’ (ibid.)—that is, through the giving of the Torah on this mountain, Mount Sinai, it becomes fitting for you to serve from there Elokim as Elokecha, as discussed. And scrutinize this well, and you will understand.”
From his words, you learn that even if a person constantly engages in Torah and mitzvos, he does not thereby render himself fit for the Creator Yisbarach to dwell upon him unless he also purifies his physical body. For materiality acts as a barrier that separates a person from the levels of holiness. Therefore, as long as a person indulges himself freely in eating and drinking according to his desires, he will not merit to draw upon himself the supreme holiness and will still be considered a body separate from the Supreme Master.
In order to transform the physical into the spiritual, a person must enter into a great struggle with his yetzer. For the latter exerts its greatest force to prevent this transformation, as the physical aspect of a person renders him a slave to his desires. One who seeks to sanctify himself beyond what is merely permitted is essentially striving for freedom from materiality and is considered a fugitive from his master. Undoubtedly, his master—the yetzer—will employ every possible strategy to bring him back under its control. There is no wisdom or counsel that can overcome this physical inclination other than for the warrior against his yetzer to wage an all-out battle, behaving like a rebellious servant who raises his hand against his master without fear or hesitation. This battle must be waged with self-sacrifice—meaning, with a firm resolve to nullify his entire being before his Creator and to abstain from any bodily or material desire that does not honor his Creator.
Then, Hashem will grant him success in conquering his coarse inclination, all barriers separating him from the supreme holiness will be removed, and he will merit to ascend and delight in the radiance of the Divine.
These concepts are hinted at in the posuk before us. It is well known from the holy seforim that Pharaoh represents the yetzer hara. When Pharaoh saw that the Bnei Yisrael yearned deeply to serve their Creator and wished to leave the abominations of Egypt through this service, he devised a scheme against them and said, “Go, serve Hashem—only your sheep and cattle shall remain” (10:24). That is, he declared: From now on, I will not prevent you from serving your Creator through Torah, prayer, and any action done for the sake of Heaven. However, your ‘sheep and cattle’—which symbolize physical eating and material indulgence—must remain as before, in their original state, and you shall not seek to abstain from eating for the sake of mere pleasure. This wicked man imagined that as long as the physical body continued to derive pleasure as before, Bnei Yisrael would not merit the hidden light. And when they would fail to attain the sacred light, they would eventually retreat and once again become attached to the abominations of Egypt.
However, Moshe did not agree to this, for ’החכם עיניו בראשו‘ - ‘the wise man’s eyes are in his head’ (Koheles 2:14), and he discerns the scheme of the yetzer, which pretends to be good and upright—appearing to release its subjects from bondage while in truth intending to keep hold of them without their awareness. Since the wise person recognizes this, he opposes the notion devised by the yetzer and clarifies: “You, too, shall give into our hands sacrifices and burnt offerings, and we shall offer them to Hashem, our G-d” (10:25). In other words, we do not accept this condition. Rather, we seek to subdue all matters related to material pleasures until, in the end, we merit removing all barriers that separate us from spirituality. Then, we will be privileged to delight in the radiance of the Shechinah, and eating will no longer be a burden upon us. On the contrary, at that point, the posuk (Mishlei 16:7) will be fulfilled in us: ’ברצות ה ‘ דרכי איש גם אויביו ישלים איתו‘ - ‘When Hashem favors a man’s ways, even his enemies will make peace with him.’ Even you—the yetzer—will aid us in eating solely for the sake of Heaven, transforming eating into an act akin to burnt offerings and sacrifices. For concerning this, Chazal stated (Menachos 97a): ‘A man’s table atones for him.’ Our eating will be like an offering brought upon the Mizbeach.
However, this matter depends on one condition, which is: “And also our livestock shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind” (10:26). That is, we must not leave even the slightest aspect of personal enjoyment in our hearts regarding our livestock—meaning, our material possessions and pleasures. Rather, our entire intention in the act of eating must be solely for the sake of Heaven. Not even a single hoof of personal pleasure should remain when we approach the service of Hashem through eating. Instead, our eating must be performed with complete and pure intent for Heaven, like a burnt offering that is entirely consumed upon the Mizbeach.
And Moshe, the chacham, explains his reasoning for rejecting the compromise proposed by the yetzer, saying: “And we shall not know with what we are to serve Hashem until we arrive there” (10:26). That is to say, as long as we remain accustomed to material pleasures, we have not yet merited removing the barriers that separate us from our Creator. Due to the absence of divine light, we are unable to truly comprehend how to serve Him in an inner and authentic manner. For as long as a person maintains an attachment to materialism, his soul is entangled in impurity, and he does not attain clarity of mind. Consequently, there is a flaw in his Torah study and prayer, as they are influenced by ulterior motives and personal interests. Only ‘when he arrives there’—after he fulfills his obligation and accustoms himself to minimizing indulgence—will he merit the lights of holiness. Then, his understanding will be enhanced, enabling him to refine his path in serving his Creator.
ונאמר אמן And let us say Amein
