It’s Good Enough, Until It’s Not
By Rabbi Yaakov Marks
SAN DIEGO –The Egyptians were given ample opportunities to free the Jewish people. They seemed to understand that keeping the Jews as slaves was ethically wrong but their tremendous power and lust for wealth and luxury kept them from doing what was appropriate. Relinquishing the slaves would mean some downsizing to their economy but with their stored wealth and with pooling of their brainpower they would have probably recouped it in a short period. They definitely would not have lost everything.
Moshe repeatedly warned Pharaoh and his people, in the name of G-d and His morality, challenging the Egyptians to do the right thing. They continually refused to change. Why? Didn’t they see the devastating results of retaining the Jews and tremendous safety of freeing them?
Moshe proved to the Egyptians that G-d was the ruler of the world by showing G-d’s control over nature by having Aaron’s wooden staff eat the Egyptians’ staffs. They were up against a force they could not beat. But the Egyptians felt no loss and would not budge.
Then came the plagues. Each one brought a little more devastation and loss to the Egyptians than the previous, and time was given between each plague for the Egyptians to contemplate the ultimate power of G-d, and the folly of not changing their position. Each time, they hardened their hearts and stood their ground. Why didn’t they admit they were wrong and let the Jews go while they still had a country left?
Finally, after the tenth plague, the Egyptians changed their minds and began even forcing the Jews to leave Egypt quickly. What was it that changed their minds?
The Torah (Exodus 12:33) tells us that they screamed, “We are all going to die!” Didn’t they understand this was a possibility from the beginning? Why did they wait till it was too late?
Two parables will help us with the answer:
- A salesman was making his rounds of country farms. As he approached one farm house he saw a farmer sitting on his porch and next to him on the floor was a large hound dog. As the salesman got closer he heard the dog slightly whimpering. The farmer greeted him warmly, but even as they spoke, the dog continued to whimper sporadically. When they finished their conversation the salesman asked, “Why does your dog keep whimpering?” The farmer answered, “He is laying on a tack.” The confused salesman asked, “If he is laying on a tack why doesn’t he get up and move?” With a wide grin the farmer answered, “He is lying on a tack but it doesn’t hurt him enough for him to get up and move.”
- The Rabbeinu Bachya (a Jewish philosopher and rabbi who lived in Spain, in the first half of the eleventh century) wrote: A king told his servant to bring him a fish from the market. The servant went and came back with a fish that was spoiled. The angry king told the servant he could choose from three possible punishments. Either eat the rotten fish himself, receive one hundred lashes, or pay a fine of one hundred silver coins. The servant chose to eat the fish. Midway he could no longer stomach the vile taste so he said to give him the lashes instead. After some fifty lashes the servant’s pain was too much and he broke down and said he would pay the money.
Both of these parables represent the majority of people. Like the dog many people know that things aren’t right but live with the pain and won’t make a change. A whole life with pain could have been avoided with just a little change. The servant represents many other people who know the best way out, but try to take shortcuts. Eventually something drastic may force them to change, but only after a tremendous loss.
The Egyptians waited until the pain was so great that their very lives were threatened. But by then they had already suffered the terrible destruction of their country. If only they had made the very same change, several months earlier.
We too, unfortunately, often behave that way. Many people have unhealthy habits that they know they should change. They know that their lifestyle could or will result in health issues. However, the minor pain and discomfort those bad habits cause, are not enough to make them get up and change. Similarly, many people are confronted with serious medical problems, which should scare them into change. But it’s not until their doctor hands them the prescription for insulin or blood pressure medicine, that they start to think seriously about changing. Some people wait until even greater health issues occur. And all of them could have made the same change earlier, and avoided the suffering.
May we be blessed with the clear thinking, understanding, and foresight to recognize and make needed changes at the most opportune time. May we merit to have the strength and courage to get off the “tack” and, if needed, pay the fine in the first place, to avoid unnecessary discomfort.
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Rabbi Marks is a certified health coach who may be contacted
ahealthyrabbi@gmail.com