Parshas Va’era: We’re All Part of a Bigger Plan

This week our car broke down. It doesn’t look like a quick or easy fix and it was pretty inconvenient and uncomfortable being stuck on the side of the road out in the bush with two babies. It is the kind of incident that leaves you wondering why such a thing would happen.

As Rabbi and Rebbetzin we often get asked this question of why G-d allows bad things to happen. Of course the answer is that everything is part of a bigger plan we do not understand. G-d loves each and every one of us and our suffering is ultimately for the good.

But these ideas are abstract and hard to integrate.

This week’s Parsha exemplifies this concept. As you recall, after Moses first asks Pharoah to let him go, he makes the Jews work even harder. And now when Pharoah is finally ready to let the Jews go, G-d hardens his heart so Pharaoh can continue to cause the Jews suffering.

Imagine living in that moment. It would seem as if G-d was being unkind, or even cruel. But it is not so.

Looking back at the exodus from Egypt, we see many reasons it was necessary. The Jews had to undergo a stressful time in order to grow and change. G-d had to make miracles to show that He exists and cares for us. And Pharoah had to make the decision to free the Jews completely on his own, so his heart needed to be hardened in order to exercise free will.

But do you think at the point when Pharaoh’s heart was hardened the Jews saw it as a good thing? Or were they, like us, also lamenting, “Why, G-d, why?!”

Time and distance and wisdom can sometimes enable us to see and understand His plans, but not always. It is up to us to exercise the faith and trust to know that He IS looking out for us and taking care of us.

Shabbat shalom!

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