Do you ever feel like you are hitting a brick wall? Sometimes you feel like that at work, other times, at home. The worst feeling is when it is within ourselves. But often when we feel this way, it is about things that are actually out of our control. The question is, how do we break through?
Some of these walls are only imaginary and can be blown down, while for others, we might need an allegorical sledgehammer. And then there are those stubborn walls that just won’t budge. Nothing we do can destroy them; they are nagging obstacles in our lives that just won’t go away. Yet, in the back of our minds, we know that there must be something we can do.
Let’s search in this week’s Torah portion, Va’eira, to glean some insight.
This week, the Torah talks about the mission of Moses and his brother, Aaron, as they approach Pharaoh to convince him to set the Jews free. Here is the way the Torah tells us the story: “G-d said to Moses, ‘See I have made you a master over Pharaoh. Aaron, your brother, will be your interpreter. You should say my commandments and Aaron, your brother, shall then explain them.’”
This verse is a response to Moses’s objection about speaking to Pharaoh directly because of his speech impediment. But if that were the case, then G-d should have appointed Aaron to be his interpreter and that’s it. Why the need for Moses to say G-d’s commandments first? Aaron should have been the only one to speak!
From this we see that sometimes the expected path is not the productive path. There are times when we must rely on every tool we have, even if it is saying G-d’s commandments in Hebrew to someone who does not understand Hebrew. Just saying those words draws down “superpowers” that can break through the toughest obstacles.
Moses’s job was not to convince Pharaoh to let the Jews go. That was up to Aaron, and he had no chance at succeeding. Moses’s job was to overwhelm Pharaoh with G-dly superpowers until he broke down, since he had no defenses left.
This is applicable to our own lives as well. At times, we might wonder, “Why pray, especially in Hebrew? What am I accomplishing if I don’t fully understand the words I am saying?” There are times when we can just blow down a brick wall, so any words will do. Then there are times when we need a little more power, so we pray with more intention, using more of our tools. And then there are the times when we must pull out all the stops, so that we can get the blessings to flow freely. Those are the times when we tap into the “Moses” within us, and just call out to G-d in Hebrew. Then the “Aaron” within us kicks in, and we refine our prayers, and explain in our own words, why we need these blessings.
Once we tap into our G-dly abilities, any wall can come down.
Edited by geminiwordsmiths.com