Parshas Beshalach: Navigating Doubt and Decision with the Wisdom of the Chovos Halevavos

Allow me to introduce you to your arch nemesis. His name is the Aitzahara, the evil inclination. He is interwoven in the forces of your very soul, intertwined in the order of your spirit. He associates with you, he gives you guidance in your physical and spiritual lives. He rules over the very secrets of your soul and he is hidden inside of the breast of every man. He is your advisor and he watches your every movement, whether visible or invisible to the human eye. He lies in wait, watching your steps to lead you astray, and when you are asleep, he's still awake. When you look away from him, he doesn't look away from you. He masks himself as your friend and pretends to show you love. He enters into your inner circle of close friends, close advisors, and from his gestures and signs it appears that he is following your orders and running to do your will. But in fact he is shooting deadly arrows right into your heart to uproot you from the land of the living. That's the English translation of the Chaybis al-Avavis Shahr HaMishi, explaining just what we are up against in this world. So, in case you haven't discovered your good friend Mr Yaitzahara, now you have the opportunity to say hello. This is a famous paragraph. I felt it was important to begin this talk by referencing it, and because of the previous paragraph's fame, often the very next paragraph is overlooked. But in the next paragraph, the Chaybis al-Avavis gives away a tremendous secret, and among the strongest of the Yaitzahara's weapons that he will use to wage war against you and to attack your innermost being is he tells us what is one of his most powerful forces that he uses to stop us and wreck our spiritual and physical lives. But before we expose his answer, I want to jump into this specific spot in the parasha Touch on an epic ramban that seems to clearly reference this same idea that the Chovos Halavovos gives away as the strongest of the Itzahara's weapons and portray, illustrate just how the weapons were used to derail even the generation that saw Akkadosh Baruchu in a way that no one has since seen. And let's set the scene. We pick it up. Parashas, pashalach, parakeyadalal pasukyod, parohikriv, ayusubinay, israel, esayinayam, viinay, mitzrayim, noisiyachrayim and paroj runir and the children of Israel raise their eyes and behold, the Egyptians were journeying after them, chasing them down. Get back here. You escaped slaves. Vayurumahod and the Israelites were frightened. Vayitsaku binei Israel, el Hashem and the children of Israel cried out before Hashem, vayomru, the next pasukh, and they said el Moshe to Moshe. Ha mevli enkivarim bi mitzrayim, lakachtonu lamosh bameit bar. Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you let us out to die here in the wilderness? Ma zawsa si'salonu lahoy tziyanim bi mitzrayim. What is this that you have done to take us out here and die in the desert? Why'd you bring us out of Egypt for this? You can hear the hearts of the Kalei Israel beating out of their chests from here. Just imagine how scared they were. And they cried out Vayitsaku binei Israel, el Hashem. But it's not immediately apparent how to understand those words that they cried out to Hashem. Were they crying out with prayer? Were they crying out in pain? Were they lost faith? Were they crying out Complaining? Maybe it's not immediately apparent, for in the next Pusuk you find that the people were complaining to Moshe Rabbeinu. Perhaps these two Psukim seem to be connected. Are they crying out to Hashem and then complaining to Moshe? What exactly is the flow of these Psukim? How do we understand Vajacco? Well, I'm glad that you asked, because it's a, I guess, to my knowledge at least, a three-way mahlukas between the great Rishonim. Uncalus maintains Vajacco is a lotion of complaint. It was the Ikkubinu Israel called the Mashem. They cried out complaining Hashem, you took us out here for this. And then immediately they continued their complaints to Moshe whether they're not enough graves. Rashi famously doesn't take that approach. Vajacco B'nai, israel, al-hashem is tofsu umnis, shela Voisam. They grabbed on to the profession, the working of their grandparents. The Ovos Umnis means a job. What Jewish people do for a living is pray, and that's exactly what the Jewish people did here. Vajacco B'nai, israel, al-hashem. It's a lotion of tfila Hashem. Please help us out. It is then left to our imagination to then why the change of heart? Why did they go complain to Moshe? It seems like they were not believing of their impending salvation, but rather now they're frightened. Why the sudden change of heart? Maybe we can insert here to answer that that there are different groups of Jews the Ramban points this out in the story that there are different factions, some bigger, larger believers than others. Maybe one deeply faithful part of Klal Yusro was trusting Hashem and praying and the other was being maharher ah-her Moshe, not believing anymore. Or maybe we take the Ghur-Area, the maharah's approach In Tuf-um-n-shalav-osam. Rashi doesn't exactly mean to praise them. Rashi is explaining that they did it like a job. He explains Rashi meaning that they just prayed like it was a 9-5. It wasn't positive, but negative is what Rashi is commenting. Either way, the Ramban here is what I really want to focus on. He brings both Rashi and Unkelis' approach to the Possek before telling us that something entirely different was happening. It says there in Ramban the nation were total believers in Haka'al-ish Baruch, in his salvation. Maybe Moshe has led us out here because he wants to rule over us, to become our new dictator. But what about all those miracles that just happened? Well, he has done some pretty cool things. Maybe he is some sort of magic worker, a hypnotist, a miracle worker. He's used his wisdom to trick us. But maybe he is just doing all of that to become our dictator. Or maybe all of that just happened because it was Hashem not doing it for our sake. It was just because of how wicked Maitraim was. We just got lucky to be the ones to escape from it. It doesn't make any sense. Clearly something is not right here, because if we were supposed to be saved, why are the Egyptians running after us? So the Ramban says that the people thought like this that originally metchila tsuk will Hashem. They davend like big tsadikim Hashem. Please save us. It can't end like this. Losses, believe paro. Losov macharehem. Please make paro go away once and for all. Please listen to us. Beka'a she'ar, roh shalohayah haizer. But then they kept looking over their shoulder to see if their tfilos were answered. Roh shalohayah haizer, but he wasn't leaving. He wasn't going away. Abohayah naisea veka'a valayah, but he was actually coming closer. So then, as Amrilo n'eskabu tfilasayinu Hashem hasn't accepted our tfilos, ve nichinis belibom achshavu roh. And then, because of this new melancholic uncertainty, therefore, they began lahareachareh moshakash'er betchila to go say Wait a second moshah. Maybe this is all a scam, all a trick for you to take hold of us. And the tsukim read beautifully here it's vaitzaku Benayisro elashem. Make Pharaoh go away. Why is he still chasing after us? And then the next pasak, after the Jewish people saw that their tfilos were answered and Pharaoh still here, v'yom roh moshah, mavliin kvaryin. But M'traim l'akhachtayinu, l'akhachtonu, l'almas b'amidbar and b'ibiruchim, the great mirror, mashkiach During the roaring twenties, the epic spiritual dean. He educates us by bringing the Chovis halavovis to connect it to this remban. That is the ultimate artillery for the way the yaitzahara destroys our progress. He inserts doubts into our mind, he makes things uncertain. We pray and we aren't answered. So we begin to doubt what we already knew with total certainty and clarity. The Jewish people had seen Esermakos smashing the taskmasters and pyro to smithereens. Not a single locus had entered into Goshen, none of their animals had perished, none of their firstborns had perished. It was clear. But Aminu, they believed and they followed out into the desert trusting in Hashem. But all of a sudden, even the Dardea fell prey to the doubts of the Yetzahara. That made them say Wait a second. Why aren't our Tfilos being answered? Why are the Egyptians coming up so close to us? Wait a second. Is Moshe Rabbenu then going to just become our new dictator? Maybe all this was a scam? Maybe none of that ever happened. It is amongst the strongest of the Yetzahara's weapons. He will try to cast doubts on things that you know, says the Chayvah Salavah. He will make unsure what you know to be true and seek to confuse what is clear to you. He will send false thoughts your way and suggest erroneous arguments to draw you away from all of the things that will benefit you and cause you to doubt what has been totally clear to you and make your faith and your religion uncertain, all to drag you down to the pit of hell. Nobody is free from the let me rethink it attitude. Nobody is exempt from the. I just got to reconsider. Maybe all of that wasn't exactly what we thought it was. You know, I really did see clearly. But what if Rabbir Rukham starts to piece this theme together as the doubts continue to emerge in the hearts of the Dardaya, the all-knowing generation of the wilderness, as Ka'amav, ka'amav palm him so many times? It seems like the nation has doubts. Maybe they don't believe, they're uncertain about things, that it leads the great python, the great Dabbar Amalek, to write Arbaim Shona Akut Bedorva Oymaar Am Toye Levav Hame. For 40 years I fought with this nation. I was bothered by this nation and I said they are mistaken of heart, toye Levav. We must take everything with a grain of salt, because we are talking about the greatest nation to hold these people to have ever lived. At least the most clarity for sure. But the Itzahara doesn't leave any person untouched Doubts, sefecos. How often is good work, progress, left to be just that, without any more progress, any more advancement, because of newfound doubts? What if I'm not doing the right thing? One of the ways of the Itzahara that is often found, I often find in my life is what if there's a better way to do it? Oh yeah, you can do more. But it all comes from the same doubt, the same revisiting, reevaluating, reconsidering, but it's all from the same arch-nemesis that only seeks to create doubt of Aitzakue La Shem, an unanswered Tfila, even though the Mithraium were never going to touch us, but some emotional pain left them questioning Moshe at their level. And now it's really all open. You could lose everything that you've worked for. But next to clarify is that where to draw the line? Because when do we know that we have done enough thinking, enough evaluating, that we can decide that this second guessing is the Yetzahara? Because great Chachomim, wise gentlemen, have long been just great thinkers, those that are always deep in thought, thinking if they're doing the right thing, but at the same time, here we now must take tremendous caution from this practice. So where can we decide and show clearly when we are clear and have decided? And now, any future thinking is harmful. And it would seem from Chazal we could conjure a rule you can have a foolproof way to decide whether or not you are a wise, deep thinker or you are just an overthinker, and that is whether or not any new data or information has been presented. See, chal Yisrael had total clarity, all the data in the world. It was totally borer the Zorach, kashemesh Ba Shomayim I love that works, but it was clear as the sun shining in the heavens. Of course there's a God, of course it's a Godish Baruch and he's working for us Are. We have a close, intimate connection with him. So now, even though some emotional pain is here, that the Egyptians are rushing towards us and our prayers are not being answered, but there isn't any new data on the table to suggest otherwise. There is no proof that there is no Hashem, there's nothing more to think about. It's just some discomfort, and discomfort without any new data does not call for a retrial. We know that that's got to be the Eight Sahara calling us back and saying hey, wait a second, you're a big wise guy, let's rethink it. So now we know the arch nemesis, we know about the doubts and we know how to read the B'sukim here, and we know that once we have clarified, understood and decided, then that's it. You save as, you print, you file, it away and you move on. Not revisiting, not reopening, not re-clering, not re-re-re-clering, not re-understanding, not reconsidering, not reevaluating, none of it. But that's all from that arch nemesis, the Eight Sahara, trying to destroy your progress and waste your energies. So you ignore it, you go back to Da Vinay, you continue about your way, disregarding the Eight Sahara's doubts. Perhaps we can summarize today's talk, the Vizak Uel Hashem, that you dive into Hashem. You have your clarity. You've witnessed things, you know things, you've decided I'm learning, don't feel me, I'm learning. Ion, I'm doing Chesed. I won't speak this way. Could it be A'zahara? Ion, I'm doing Chesed. I won't speak this way. Could it be anything in any area that you have all the information, if you've thought about it, you've taken your time, methodically, gone through the topic and now you have decided end of the Sogya Sof Pasuk, it's over. You decide and then you go, and anything else it's just being Mahayra Akhramosa and it's from your arch nemesis, the Yatesahara. So think, contemplate, decide and then go, not noticing or caring for any of the second thoughts that the Yatesahara throws your way.