“
וַיָּקָם
מֶלֶךְ-חָדָשׁ
עַל-מִצְרָיִם
אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָדַע
אֶת-יוֹסֵף/A
new king arose in Egypt who did not know Yosef.” (
Shmos 1:8)
Explaining this pasuk the Midrash
says that after Yosef died the nation of Israel stopped circumcising
their children. They said, “Let us be like the Egyptians.” As a
result God caused the love the Egyptians had for us to turn into
hatred. As a result, “a new king arose who did not know Yosef.”
Generally, Chazal give novel interpretations to pesukim when the
simple meaning is difficult. What compelled the Midrash to explain
this pasuk? What bothered Chazal in this pasuk? The key word in the
pasuk is “new.” The Chidushei HaRim explains that novelty is an
attribute of spirituality. When we contemplate the material world
around us it is easy to conclude that nothing new happens. Nature
follows predictable laws. Today is the same as yesterday which was
the same as the day before. The Chidushei HaRim explains that while
this may be the case for the material world it is not true of the
spiritual. Shlomo HaMelech teaches this in the pasuk, “
...
וְאֵין
כָּל-חָדָשׁ
תַּחַת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ/… and
there is nothing new under the sun.” (
Koheles 1:9) The
implication is that above the sun – beyond nature – there is
novelty and renewal. Originality, creativity and novelty are
spiritual endeavors. The physical is merely a manifestation of that
which already exists in the spiritual.
Because novelty is a spiritual attribute, it is particularly
associated with the nation of Israel. But the pasuk associates
novelty with Egypt. This begs an explanation and is the issue that
the Midrash addresses.
The key to change and creativity is the realization that
everything physical contains within it spirituality. When we
disregard external physical appearances and relate to the underlying
spirituality in our actions, the power of creativity is ours. In
Egypt we disregarded the spiritual and allowed ourselves to be
affected by the physical environment of decadent Egypt. As the
Midrash notes, we wanted to be like the Egyptians. So, novelty was
taken from us and given to the Egyptians instead.
What, though, is the significance of breaching the covenant of
circumcision? After all, in Egypt we fell to very low levels. Why
does the Midrash single out circumcision as the reason for losing our
connection with God, with novelty?
The Sfas Emes explains. The Torah calls Yosef the keeper of the
covenant referring to the covenant of the circumcision. The plain
meaning is that he resisted the temptations of Potiphar’s wife.
However, on a deeper level, circumcision represents unveiling the
spiritual that is concealed by the physical. Yosef is called a keeper
of the covenant of circumcision because he believed that although the
material world around him was decadent, spirituality was concealed
within it. Yosef’s belief was total. He did not notice the physical
decadence. He saw only the spiritual.
In our daily lives, we many times see barriers and obstacles that
prevent us from reaching our goals. We can overcome them by
cultivating the belief that the physical is a mask that hides the
spiritual. On a spiritual level, there are no barriers. They are
illusory. Everything starts with belief that the spiritual light
exists but we don’t see it because it is behind a screen. We find a
hint to this in the brachah following Sh’ma at night. The bracha
starts, “
אֱמֶת
וֶאֱמוּנָה/Truth and faith.” At night, a
time of darkness when we do not see light, Chazal advise us to
believe that it is there anyway.
We see this again when Moshe Rabbeinu says in response to God’s
request to return to Egypt to begin the process of the redemption,
“
...
וְהֵן
לֹא-יַאֲמִינוּ
לִי .../…
and they will not believe me …” (
Shmos 4:1) Faith is a
prerequisite for redemption. In order to merit redemption – seeing
God – we must have faith during the preceding darkness of
concealment.
Responding to Moshe Rabbeinu’s concern, God gives him a sign
which gives expression to this concept. God tells Moshe to throw his
staff to the ground. When he does this it turns into a snake. When he
grabs it, it turns back to a staff. In reality it was a staff. The
snake was an illusion. The way to see the reality behind the illusion
is by believing it is there, grabbing on to it, connecting with it
and, importantly, disregarding external appearances. The staff
appeared as a snake. God told him to disregard this and to grab its
tail. Upon doing so the snake reverted to a staff. God powers
external appearances as well.
God gives existence to the screen that we call reality even when
the screen appears to contradict spirituality and holiness. The
truth, though, becomes clear to us according to the level of our
faith. We can actually experience the spiritual that underlies the
physical world by first believing it is there. Once we believe, no
physical obstacle can stand between us and our goals. We are
connected directly with the source of novelty, creativity and
originality.
The Sfas Emes applies this concept to exile and redemption. Exile
means that God is concealed. Redemption means that God is revealed in
the world. As we’ve said, a strong belief that the physical world
is powered by the spiritual is a necessary prerequisite for
redemption to occur. During exile this idea is concealed. If it were
revealed there would be no possibility of exile.
We find this concept explained in the Zohar.
The Zohar uses the analogy of sound vs. speech to explain God’s
presence vs. His influence in the world.
Undifferentiated sound represents God’s oneness. He is
everywhere always. In terms of God’s presence, there is no
difference between one place and another. Speech is “processed”
sound. It is the method by which we relate to and influence others.
Speech, therefore, represents God’s influence and revelation in the
Creation. With regard to God’s revelation, there are differences
between one place and another. Exile means that God’s influence in
the world is not apparent. It is concealed. For this reason the
Zohar
tells us that in Egypt, speech was in exile. God’s influence was
not apparent.
Realizing this and believing it means to understand that although
we see things differentiated in the physical world, underlying every
separate thing is Oneness. The “undifferentiated sound” is
ubiquitous. To the person who internalizes this belief totally, there
is no fundamental difference between revelation and concealment. This
is the deeper meaning of Chazal
telling us that faith is the one basic principle as the prophet
Habakuk (
2:4) said, “The righteous person lives by his
faith.” May we merit it!
