This is one of my favorites! You may have heard it before.
The Bet HaLevi has a rule based on the pasuk in Iyov,
לכד חכמים בערמם
Hashem traps the wise men in their cunning
Anytime a person tries to outsmart G-d, so to speak, not only does it not work, but the very thing he does will backfire and actually cause what he didn’t want to happen, to happen.
One example of this is in this week’s parasha:
Pharaoh says חבה נתחכמה
“Let’s try and outsmart G-d.”
“We will handle the problem of the Jewish people by throwing the children into the Nile river.”
Ultimately, not only didn’t it work, but the very act of throwing the children into the river was what brought the Jewish people to redemption.
How so?
The Ibn Ezra says that the redeemer had to be someone with kingly attributes. He couldn’t be a lowly soul; he had to have courage and confidence. He couldn’t be raised as a slave. So, he’d be raised in Pharaoh’s palace. But how would he get there?
Hashem said, “No problem. Pharaoh, you think you’re going to stop the plan? Not only will you make the plan happen, but your very own daughter will go down to the river on the very the day that you decide to throw Moshe Rabbenu in!”
So, G-d planned everything out. It seemed like we were at the lowest of the low. Pharaoh’s star gazers saw in their crystal balls that the Jewish leader would fall through water (which was true-Moshe Rabbenu got into trouble because of the water, but it was not the Nile. It was the מי מריבה- the bitter waters) so they thought they took care of the problem. However, on that very day Batya went down to the water, brought the leader right into the palace, and Pharaoh himself raised him! That’s how Hashem works. Wonder of wonders!
An added and interesting twist to this was that it says that Moshe Rabbenu possessed the trait of Noseh B’Ohl (he carried the yoke), which was his greatest middah.
One of the first things we hear about Moshe Rabbenu is that he went out on day one, saw an Egyptian hitting a Jew, and got involved. Then he witnessed one Jew hitting another, and he got involved. He was then exiled from the land because he killed the Egyptian, and right away he sees that someone is picking on the shepherd girls, and he gets involved. Moshe Rabbenu doesn’t stand by on the sidelines.
That’s the middah of Noseh B’Ohl. He can’t sit by and watch someone in pain.
He cares about his people.
The question is asked: Why did Pharaoh keep Moshe in his palace?
He was found in the river, which meant he was most likely Jewish, he reached for the crown, causing the test with the jewels and coals... but why go through the headache? Why not just get the kid out?! And the rabbis answer that Pharoah believed that being raised in the palace, even if Moshe could’ve been the leader, being in the palace, he’d be removed from the plight of the people, and he wouldn’t care enough about them. He’d be so accustomed to the palace.
And in truth, Moshe Rabbenu should have been the furthest from the type to be Noseh B’Ohl, tucked away in the palace with no worries. But he overcame, went out, cared about his brothers and mastered this middah.
This is a tremendous lesson for us- what seems hardest for us is actually where we can become great.
Rav Tzaddok Hacohen says that the Yetzer Hara attacks the area that’s hardest for you. What you have to work on, is what’s hard for you.
If you have a weak backhand, your tennis instructor will keep hitting you balls that need a backhand, so you can work in it.
G-d sets you up for what you have you work on.
In this masterful plan, expanding on the depth of Pharoah’s backfire,
Pharoah himself made it happen.
He put Moshe in the palace thinking that making him comfortable would eliminate the chance that he’d become their leader. But Pharoah actually caused him to work on his Noseh B’Ohl. Moshe Rabbenu worked on it and reached greatness in the area. So much so that when G-d approached Moshe Rabbenu it was in a burning bush. Why? Because if the Jewish people weren’t comfortable, G-d couldn’t be comfortable. Moshe reached the level that he was able to perceive that this was G-d’s main middah.
We have to appreciate these two important lessons:
1- working against G-d backfires
2- Moshe’s middah of carry the yoke -Noseh B’Ohl. Especially when you’re in a good situation, go out of your comfort zone and feel someone else’s pain.
Shabbat shalom.