A Yid has to be relaxed in the hands of Hashem: נַפְשִ י כְגָמֻל עֲלֵי אִמוֹ (Tehillim 131:2) like a baby in his mother’s arms. Yetzias Mitzrayim is mentioned everywhere. It is the Yesod of Emuna. אָּנֹכִי ה' אֱלֹק יךָ אֲש ר אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶׁרֶׁץ מִצְרַיִם I took you out of Mitzrayim – Who can do anything!
Avoda Zara means worshiping: עֵץ וָאֶׁבֶׁן wood and stone, which is a kind of Tzim'tzum and “limits”, unlike Hashem who has unlimited goodness. Being critical and speaking Lashon Hara is a sign of being narrow and not understanding others. Antisemitism (like Mitzrayim) is being closed and blind without accepting another type of person and Fargining him the goodness that he has. All Machlokes in Klal Yisroel also stems from Mitzrayim personality.
Every person has his "Mitzrayim” (i.e., his unfortunate issues in life). Learn to laugh at your personal Mitzrayim’s (life issues), and the same with not being impressed by strong and powerful people, or when faced with “impossible” situations.
You are closed up, as if only your Shita counts. Yetzias Mitzrayim means Bitachon and Simcha; and being satisfied & relaxed without envy. The messages of Yetzias Mitzrayim are throughout our Torah and Chagim and Nusach HaTefila, because all day long we have Nisyonos in “Tzim'tzum”. Accepting Yissurim also means relaxing. It once happened that a certain person didn’t daven so shtark during Elul, and was told that since he didn’t daven well, he has a: לֵ ב נִ שְ בַ ר broken heart, which is often more Chashuv than the biggest Mitzvos.
You need to be broadminded to accept all those imperfect Plan Bs in your life. Don’t be narrow by insisting “I messed up!” I’m “no good”. Relax about your mistakes; they are all L'tovah. All your “issues” are Mitzrayim’s, that you have to learn how to accept, or have Bitachon that they will disappear.
Many people feel that all the Mussar they learn during Elul isn’t real, since they don’t feel a change. R’ Chatzkel Levenstein Zatzal said that the very involvement in Mussar is already a Zechus and a Tikun. Perhaps the fact that your pain and frustration is not really pulling you out of your issue is itself the biggest Zechus.
Every Minute of Your Life Is an Opportunity to Start a New M'halech
All your life you considered yourself a sensitive person, and this caused loads of Bain Adam La'chaveiro problems, with Ka'as (anger) and Hakpada, depression, anxiety, etc. Be broad! Leave the Mitzrayim, i.e., your “locked in” past, and decide that you’re not really a sensitive person. Perhaps this can be a reason why leaving Mitzrayim in: חֹּדֶׁש הָאָבִיב the spring is so important, that Bais Din must add an extra month to the calendar in order to make sure that Pesach always comes out in the spring. Spring is the time for rejuvenation!
Spring is when new flowers and leaves are in bloom, and the perfect time for Pesach, since the whole Yesod of Yetzias Mitzrayim is leaving your past and starting new! The powerful Bais Din creates a new month in honor of Pesach. They are indeed the epitome of Yetzias Mitzrayim by making a second Adar. The whole idea of Teshuva is a form of Yetzias Mitzrayim. Stop ruining your future by continuously remembering your dismal past! Every minute of your life is an opportunity to break out from a dismal past and start a new M'halech.
The next time you say Zecher L’yetzias Mitzrayim, remember how new worlds are always available to an Oved Hashem; in the form of new Yeshuos, and yourself becoming a new person.
STORY
On the way to the Bais Medrash, a Yungerman stopped me and told me that he was about to have a serious, complicated court case, loaded with unending aggravations and all kinds of Yissurim. I told him: לֹּ א הָ יוּ דְ בָ רִ ים מֵעוֹלָם “The whole story never happened!” loudly and emphatically, and with Shtoltz, like there isn’t even a “Hava-Amina” (possibility). (This is my ongoing style to all court cases, and similar skirmishes with authorities).
Two days later, he gets a message that one of the lawyer’s wives became ill, and they have to cancel the entire court case at least for a year. I told him: “A year! Just forget about it. It’s never going to happen, with Hashem’s help!” This just happened about a month ago.
Another Yungerman was crying to me about a situation that he was summoned to court, and in all probability, he will sit in jail for the rest of his life. It’s all on paper and documented how he contradicted himself and said the wrong thing, again and again. He will also cause 50 other Yidden to be in big trouble, because of what he did. He and his wife were in major anxiety mode, Rachmana Litzlan, and were Mamash falling apart. They were totally dysfunctional, so I asked to have his wife listen on speaker, as I yelled my usual Nusach (same as above: לֹּ א הָ יוּ דְ בָ רִ ים מֵעוֹלָם “The whole story never happened!”). When I was finished with them, they were both in a different world; all cheered up and totally positive, with a mode of: הַכֹּל יָכוֹל “Hashem can do anything!”
Two weeks later, he called me up about something totally unrelated. He had totally forgotten about the court case. The whole thing became: בָ טֵ ל וּמְ בוּטָ ל null and void. A week later, another nervous wreck called me with a horrific court case that would ruin his life, Rachmana Litzlan. I laughed and laughed, and calmed him down considerably. Two days later it was all but forgotten. He was totally “off the hook”.
My secret: I myself once had a serious court case regarding a family member, and while everyone was scared stiff trying to salvage what they can in a losing situation, I was busy putting hours into Mussar and Bitachon. We came out with flying colors as I had consistently predicted, in less than a half hour. Aderaba, Aderaba.
Since then, I view all these scary situations (like court cases) with: בִ יטוּל belittling, and I feel how Hashem is totally in charge, and all those fearsome judges and lawyers and large court rooms are like big jokes compared to Hashem. I also recommend trying to take Yom HaDin on Rosh Hashanah seriously, by putting out scary leaflets about Yom HaDin, and talking about the seriousness of Yamim Nora'im, and Hashem will save you from dangerous court cases, since you are serious about the true court case of Hashem.
Hashem intentionally makes a situation or a person scary like an “ogre” or a “bear”, to see if a person can dominate his mind with fear of Hashem, who is much stronger than anything. If in his mind he belittles the power of the “bears” and “ogres” of his life, and remembers how Hashem is really in charge, and is full of goodness and Yeshuos, then indeed Hashem will continue doing Nissim and Yeshuos for him.
