Shemos: Never Give Up Hope

By Eric Lenefsky

After hundreds of years of slavery and servitude to the Egyptians, Bnei Yisrael finally have things going their way. Moshe comes to the elders of Bnei Yisrael and promises them that Hashem will keep His promise and take them out Egypt in the near future. And even though Moshe doubted them initially, Bnei Yisrael believe in Moshe and have hope for the first time in a very long time.

But Pharaoh gets wind of this and hears of Bnei Yisrael's new hope and simcha and decides it cannot go on any longer. He takes away the raw materials he had been providing for them until now, and says that they still have to produce the same amount while collecting the raw material themselves.

Now, the situation goes from promising to even worse than it was originally. From a moment of hope comes a moment of despair. Despondent Bnei Yisrael turn to Moshe and challenge him:

ויאמרו אלהם ירא יהוה עליכם וישפט אשר הבאשתם את־ריחנו בעיני פרעה ובעיני עבדיו לתת־חרב בידם להרגנו

And they said to them, The Lord look upon you, and judge; because you have made us abhorrent in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us (Shemos 5:21)

Bnei Yisrael can't understand what good Moshe is doing for them if the situation has only gotten worse. And Moshe takes this to heart and in turn challenges Hashem:

וישב משה אל־יהוה ויאמר אדני למה הרעתה לעם הזה למה זה שלחתני

And Moshe returned to the Lord, and said, Lord, why hast thou dealt ill with this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? (Shemos 5:22)

Moshe, relays the same message of despair back to Hashem. So Bnei Yisrael gives up hope, Moshe gives up hope, but Hashem obviously does not give up hope, as Hashem responds:

ויאמר יהוה אל־משה עתה תראה אשר אעשה לפרעה כי ביד חזקה ישלחם וביד חזקה יגרשם מארצו

Then the Lord said to Moshe, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land (Shemos 6:1)

I believe there is a very important lesson we can take from this story in Parshas Shemos. There are times when things can be looking bad, and then they start to look better and we gain a sense of hope. But then even after that hope comes sometimes things get even worse, shattering the sense of hope, and it seems there is no end to the servitude, the slavery, or the negativity. But nonetheless when Hashem promises a Geula, it is a promise from Hashem that he will not break. Just as Bnei Yisrael in Egypt could not realize the light that was just around the corner because of the darkness they were in, so too it may be difficult for Bnei Yisrael now, in the midst of a war and still awaiting the return of the hostages. But we must keep alive the notion that even though things look a lot worse than they have in a very long time we must keep hope and remember that Hashem is the one that keeps his promises and that we can never give up our hope.

May we take this message to heart, may we daven for the hostages and tzahal, and may we see that Geula that will come im yirtzah Hashem bkarov.