Objectifying Life: Overcoming Stress

וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה כֵּן, אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, מִקֹּצֶר רוּחַ, וּמֵעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה

And Moses spoke so unto the children of Israel; but they hearkened not unto Moses for impatience of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

Rashi explains:
"Whoever is under stress, his wind and his breath are short, and he cannot take a deep breath."

But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, "Behold, the children of Israel did not hearken to me. How then will Pharaoh hearken to me, seeing that I am of closed lips?"

Rashi explains: How then will Pharaoh hearken to me This is one of the ten kal vachomer inferences mentioned in the Torah. — [I.e., inferences from major to minor, such as in this case. I.e., if, because of my speech impediment, the children of Israel, who have everything to gain by listening to me, did not listen to me, Pharaoh, who has everything to lose by listening to me, will surely not listen to me.]

Think about this kal vachomer. It makes no sense: Paroh was not under the same physical stress that the Jews were under, therefore why did Moshe say he would not listen to him?

Chazal say that the reason the Jews would not listen to Moshe was because they were spiritually stressed. They were Oved Avodah Zara. Therefore they were not open to hearing Moshe's word. So for sure, Paroh who considered himself a god, an idol, is spiritually closed off from listening to Moshe's spiritual messages.

Consider:

Some people are physically stressed.
Some people are mentally stressed.
Some people are emotionally stressed.
Some people are spiritually stressed.

We may find ourselves in a narrow, constrictive, constrained place. Places like that limit our ability to hear and listen to spiritual messages.

Recognizing that it is not we who are incapable of hearing the message, but rather the circumstance will help us transcend our circumstances.

The Goal is to objectify our place in life. Our place in relationships.


Relating to Ourselves...

Relating to Others...

&

Relating to Hashem...