The miracle of a new perspective

The Talmud says that a person is only allowed to permanently dwell in Israel through hardships.[1]  And that makes sense for nothing great comes easily.  That teaching echoed over and over again on our quest to receive keys for a new apartment.  Without going into details, we- my sister, brother-in-law, mother and I- ended up in Tel Aviv in an attempt to negotiate with the opposing lawyer on why charging us interest payments for our apartment had no merit.  We sat in a small office brimming with large black files that overlooked the less than spectacular Tel Aviv skyline.  The callous lawyer was dressed casually in a black polo and jeans, and had a smooth scalp pockmarked by tiny hair implants- not a good sign.  He glibly defended his company’s actions to extort interest payments from us thereby forfeiting any trace of human decency.  But no matter, this is how these things go.  But I wondered, ‘what would it take for a person like that to change’?  Nothing short of a miracle and that is exactly what Passover is all about.[2]

             Leaving Egypt is the foundation for all of Judaism. We mention it day and night, each and every day.  It serves as the source for many of our mitzvoth and major holidays.  Even the Holy Sabbath is kept because we left Egypt.  While we may think that the major miracles were what accords importance to the exodus, but that is not our focus on a daily basis and these miracles are not what obligates us to keep Shabbat or Succot.  It is the exodus itself that forms the crux of nearly all of Judasim.  Which begs the question, what was so incredible about the exodus itself, taking one nation out from a different nation? 

            Realize that the Jewish nation was not bonded only physically, but spiritually as well.  This we see from the verse when G-d spoke to Abraham at the covenant, ‘Know surely that your children shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and afflict them for four hundred years.”[3]  This extra language of affliction goes beyond physical enslavement, but to spiritual torture.  The Hebrews were about to lose their heritage and their unique perspective on life as they assimilated to the Egyptian culture.  Just prior to their complete spiritual damnation, the exodus happened.  In a matter of days, the Hebrews changed their perspective, and recaptured their spiritual heritage.  To reorient ones values and to change perspectives from those that surround us is a greater miracle that splitting seas and a multitude of frogs.  Therefore, whenever we have a moment of clarity in our lives and see a new perspective, we are experiencing a miracle of the highest order and it can be the greatest source of joy and gratitude.

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[1] See Berachos 5a

[2] The following is an idea from Gevuros Hashem Chapter three from the Maharal

[3] Genesis 15:13