But, then, when it came to shchin, there was a change of procedure. By the previous (and following) makos, Moshe or Aharon raised their staff, or called to Hashem, and He brought about the mako. But with this mako, they seemed to be using natural causes to bring it about: Hashem told Moshe to gather hot ash, something that can be a natural source for boils. And He further instructed Moshe to throw it with all of his might, to try in a natural way to cause it to disperse as far as possible.
And, yet, the unfolding events were completely miraculous. For the ash – that upon emerging from the furnace can be a natural source for boils in the skin – to retain its heat after being flung through the sky is completely miraculous. That the ash should fly any distance – let alone throughout the land – and the handful of ash should suffice to cover all of the Egyptians with boils, as well as the continued growth and spreading of the boils, were solely supernatural.
And this the chartumim didn’t know how to deal with, they were utterly lost! They could handle the fact that there is a G-d that sometimes shows His powers in the world, and then they have to stand back and acknowledge that this is coming from a Being that is greater than them. But where teva is involved, where the laws of nature are being used, - here this is their field of expertise, this is where all of their powers are effective, this is no longer associated with that G-d who is above the world.
So when they saw Moshe using natural causes, and the result was still something that completely defied nature, they were completely lost, they had no standing, to the point that ולא יכלו החרטומים לעמוד לפני משה.
Sometimes it may be easier to have emunah and bitochon if we can disassociate ourselves from nature and throw everything onto the Eibishter. Chazal say (quoted in maamorei chassidus) that when Chizkiyahu was faced with enemy armies, he said to the Eibishter “I don’t have koach to go wage a war. Eibishter, I am going to sleep, You go fight my war!” He said that since in any case the Eibishter is doing everything, he can leave it to Him completely.
In maamorei chassidus they bring that we saw such a level of bitochon by some tzaddikim who, when facing difficulties, didn’t do any hishtadlus (they didn’t even say tehillim or go to the mikva), but left things entirely in the hands of Hashem.
But, I think, in a way this can be the easier way. I know that everything is dependent wholly on Hashem and I trust in Him and depend on Him, and don’t try to take anything into my own hands.
But when we’re told that Hashem wants us to utilize nature, to consult with physicians and take medication for example, and then, at the same time as we’re working with nature, to not attach any importance to it and to depend completely of a miracle of Hashem (similar to what the Yerushalmi says מאמין בחי העולמים וזורע), this seems much more challenging. It was this, it seems, that completely shattered the chartumim.
[I think the most outstanding example of this was Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin. When being informed, one day before his release, that his appeal was rejected, he reacted with equanimity, saying that his fate is completely in Hashem’s hands. Now, one can have the realization that everything is dependent on Hashem, and we are not governed by natural laws. But after working in a natural way on the appeal, because Torah wants us to use nature, and spending huge amounts of time and money and effort to try to get the most effective appeal possible, and then to still be unconcerned by the lack of results because one’s fate is determined by Hashem and not by nature, that is, I think, the pinnacle of bitochon].
הימים האלו נזכרים ונעשים
As we read these matters in Torah and relive the story of yetzias Mitzrayim, we have to apply the lessons to our own lives. Every day we need to break free of our own meitzarim and bring about the וידעו מצרים כי אני ה'. We need to see beyond the superficial view, where nature seems to be an important player in everything, and know that everything is Hashem and that Ein od milvado. Even when Torah tells us to interact with nature and utilize nature, we are firm in our knowledge that nature is nothing at all, and everything is Hashem’s miracles.
The way for us to strengthen ourselves in this is by increasing in learning Torah, because we know that “Torah or”, - Torah illuminates the darkness that surrounds us. And specifically through increasing in learning Chassidus, to practice דע את אלוקי אביך, - to know and understand and see that everything is the Eibishter, and even within the apparent domain of nature it’s “Emes Havaya le’olam”!
Just as then, through shattering the falsehood of the Egyptians viewpoint, the Yidden were liberated from Mitzrayim, so, too, today, by doing our part to transform the darkness of the golus to light we will speedily experience the כימי צאתך מארץ מצרים אראנו נפלאות!
L’chaim! Let us take the lessons of the Parsha to subdue and transform the modern Mitzrayim, and may the Eibishter finish the job, and remove the last remnants of meitzarim and boundaries, and replace them with the immediate hisgalus of Moshiach Tzidkeinu NOW!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
