Va’era – hisbonenus, kotser ruach

So to warn Moshe, on the things of Bnei Yisrael, but they did not listen to Moshe from Kotzer Ruach. So it was a combination of two things, the Bnei Yisrael and the Dvar Hashem which Moshe Rabbeinu brought. One was Kotzer Ruach and one was Avodah Kashah, which was already imposed upon Bnei Yisrael. This was rather easy work, relatively speaking. I mean, collecting straw was a step down from the type of exertion which had been imposed upon them until this point. So what's the pshat? That despite all the back-breaking work, Pharaoh realized that he wouldn't be successful, couldn't be successful in subordinating them and enslaving them as long as they still had time to think and dream and aspire. By doing that, they couldn't be content as avadim and eventually they would revolt and they would leave. So what was Pharaoh trying to accomplish? They had enough Avodah Kashah. They had enough Avodah Kashah. At this point, he didn't want to kill them. He needed the labor. So he really couldn't, he had already pushed them to the maximum in terms of Avodah Kashah. But what he wanted to ensure is that they should be so busy that there shouldn't be a waking moment when they would have a second to stop and reflect upon their situation. There shouldn't be a moment for them to make a Cheshbon HaNefesh, for them to think דע מאין באת ולאן אתה הולך. So that's what he was looking to preoccupy them. He was looking to keep them busy. He didn't need to give them more work. On the contrary, it could be he realized that he couldn't give any more Avodah Kashah. They were already pushed to the limit in terms of Avodah Kashah, but he felt that they needed to be preoccupied. They needed to be preoccupied, and that's what he decreed that they would no longer be given straw. It didn't really increase the quotient of Avodah Kashah, but what it did accomplish was it deprived them of any time to think. And in fact, that's what the Torah says at the beginning of Parshas Va'eira, that he was successful. The reason they didn't listen to Moshe wasn't simply the Avodah Kashah. All the Avodah Kashah they were able to withstand as long as they had a minute to step back and to think and to reflect. So then in Parshas Shemos, before this decree, they were receptive to the Dvar Hashem which Moshe Rabbeinu brought. But once already there was Kotzer Ruach, there was no time to think or anything, so then they were just, they had that, that knocked the spirit out of them. And that's why they were no longer receptive to the Dvar Hashem, to the Dvar Hashem. It's safe to say that for everyone in this room, who's had to withstand the nisayon of Avodah Kashah has ended. That tkufah has ended. Very few people nowadays for their livelihood do Avodah Kashah. But the nisayon of Kotzer Ruach, which in many ways is a greater nisayon, is a very real one today also. I mean, think of beepers. So once upon a time, it used to be you left the office, so you're out of the office and you were out of touch and you were able to think about other things, do other things. And nowadays, everyone has a beeper. And now, not only do you have a beeper, but right away you just pull your pocket and, you know, even when you walk down the street you're on the phone and you're selling stocks and you're buying stocks and you're trading stocks. And the danger of Kotzer Ruach in our society is the real one which we have to be alert to. And it's very important to avoid the pitfall of falling into a routine which a person goes about mindlessly. Because the same actions which a person does, if it's infused with and permeated by a certain kavannah, so then it becomes an Avodas Hashem. And if it's not infused with and it's not permeated by, it's not. And this can affect the majority of a person's life. If he falls into a routine, he gets up in the morning and he goes to shul and then he gets on the subway and he goes to work and he works till whatever time and then he comes home and then he eats dinner. And that's the routine and he has to, he does it like clockwork every day because he has to punch a clock when he arrives at work. kind of mindless routine and it's one of the ways of that happening number one is because of habit. Number two is because he doesn't have time to stop and reflect about his routine because of the kotzer ruach because he's getting beeped and he's got his cellular phone and he's got his stuff at home and everything else. So that also increases the danger of just doing everything as a routine and falling victim to kotzer ruach. And then a person just sort of lives on automatic pilot without stopping to reflect what am I doing and why am I doing? And the difference is twofold. Number one, a person might make different decisions whether a person will just kill himself to climb the corporate ladder or whether a person will say it's not worth it, it's not worth it, all I need is parnassa bekavod, הרחמן הוא יפרנסנו בכבוד, but not to kill myself to climb the corporate ladder. So there too, if the person is just caught up in the routine, so in the business world that's where the tide goes, the tide goes in that direction. And number two, even if a person won't get caught up in that, let's say he'll be doing the same job he would be doing otherwise, if a person doesn't stop and reflect on what he's doing and why he's doing it, so then he's not מקיים בכל מעשיך יהיו לשם שמים. The same going to work, the same action, if a person does it leshem shamayim, sincerely, legitimately, so then the Rambam says in Hilchos De'os, so what he's doing is avoda l'Makom. And the same riding on the subway, if he's not doing it leshem shamayim, if he's not doing it leshem shamayim, so then it's takeh something empty. It's something empty. And it's very very important that we should watch out for this pitfall of kotzer ruach which can again just distract us and cause us to lose constant opportunities for avodas Hashem.