A donkey once fell into a pit. Try as he might, the owner could not get him out. The man resigned himself to losing his donkey, and he started to fill up the pit with dirt to bury it. At first, the donkey whined and cried, but it soon fell silent. And after shoveling for an hour, the farmer was amazed to see his donkey pop right out of the pit.
You see, initially the donkey felt hopeless. Shovelful after shovelful of dirt landed on its back, but it soon realized that if it simply shakes off the dirt, there will be a pile growing beside it. And as soon as the pile grew big enough, it jumped onto the mound and climbed right out of the pit. I’m reminded of this when reading the opening words of the parhsah in which Hashem tells Moshe, “Bo el Paroh,” (“come to Paroh, for I have hardened his heart.”)
“Ani hikhbad’ti es lev bo.” Why is Hashem telling Moshe that he hardened Paroh’s heart? You see, Moshe was terrified to approach Paroh, and he felt like the mission was futile. Paroh was stubborn, obstinate, and unyielding, and it seemed to Moshe like he was powerless.
The Zohar presents a powerful insight. Hashem tells Moshe, “come to Paroh,” meaning come with me. “I will be there by your side.”
Hashem explained to Moshe, “you’re not alone. I am with you. And the very stubbornness that is making you feel powerless is all by design. It is coming from me. I am hardening Paroh’s heart. It is I who is causing this hardship and it is I who will help you persevere through it.” Many times we face hardships that seem insurmountable. We become paralyzed in the face of fear. We feel alone in the face of adversity and don’t see a way out. And Hashem’s timeless calling to Moshe and to all of us is you are never alone.
I am with you by your side. And these challenges are not here to take you down, but to make you greater. They are not obstructions, they are opportunities. And when it seems like there’s dirt falling on you, remember that it is by design. And there’s a way to transform this into a catalyst for growth.
“Every flower must grow through dirt,” goes the saying. The greatest beauty only comes when the seed loses itself in the dirt and reinvents itself into a flower. Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos.
