Bo 5784

Part I. My World

The Selfish Father

At the end of this week’s sedrah the Jewish father is talking to his children about Yetzias Mitzrayim, about why we keep the mitzvos of Pesach and the mitzvos in general, and he says as follows: בַּעֲבוּר זֶה עָשָׂה ה’ לִי בְּצֵאתִי מִמִּצְרָיִם – Because of what Hashem did for me when I went out of Mitzrayim” (Shemos 13:8)

Now, we wouldn’t have said it that way. We would have said, “What He did for us when we went out of Mitzrayim.” It seems more appropriate, more true. But the Torah instead puts these words in the mouth of the Jewish father: ‘It’s because of this that I fulfill the word of Hashem; because of what He did for me when I went out of Mitzrayim.”

Now, Yetzias Mitzrayim was a tremendous event, full of sensations. Even without all the nissim v’niflaos, it was an extraordinary occurrence in history; it was the birth of our nation. And then, above and beyond that, the miracles, the yad chazakah that was apparent, made it much more tremendous. There’s no question that Yetzias Mitzrayim was one of the most spectacular phenomena ever seen by men.

However, there were millions of Bnei Yisroel who experienced it; six hundred thousand men between twenty and sixty. And they all were married; and all had children too. So there were at least two million, probably many more; and they all experienced Yetzias Mitzrayim.

And so actually it wasn’t done for one person; it was done for millions. It was an experience of national proportions and therefore if you would divide the importance of this great spectacle by two million, even though it would still be an important share for each person but it’s only a share. Like a man who expends a hundred million dollars for a million people; each one gets only a hundred dollars.

The Wise Selfish Father

But here, the wise Jewish father says, ’עָשָׂה ה – “All these great events that Hakadosh Baruch Hu caused to take place, לִי –He did them for me!”

Now we’re not thinking about any drashos now; we’re talking pshuto shel mikra, the plain meaning of the possuk. And the pshuto shel mikra is telling us that it was done for only him. You have to understand that fundamental Torah principle: Everything that took place was done for this one man.

It was done for the others too, but you don’t divide it. The Torah Jew appreciates the entire panorama of Yetzias Mitzrayim – all the upheavals, all the makkos, the great victory, the great mapalah, the downfall of the enemy – he appreciates everything as if it was done only for him. “Everything He did, He did it for me!”

Now that’s a grand concept and I know most people don’t begin to grasp that. You think it’s just drush, just some words meant to inspire. No, we don’t say drush here. It’s the plain truth, pshuto shel mikra. לִי – it was done for me.

The Selfish Seder

That’s included in what we say, חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם – every person should regard himself as if he personally went out of Egypt (Pesachim 10:5). It’s not just something we say at the Seder on Pesach, something we try to imagine. No, it’s much more than that – it’s the plain truth. עָשָׂה לִי – He did it for me.

The esser makkos? It was for me. Krias Yam Suf? He did it for me. We became a nation? That was for me. That’s how you should think. And that’s the truth! All of the tremendous benefits of Yetzias Mitzrayim, all of those spectacles that electrified the nation in Mitzrayim and al sfas hayam, were intended by Hakadosh Baruch Hu for each individual person to gain. It wasn’t a hundred dollars for each person – each one gets the full hundred million dollars.

That’s a new way to look at our history, at our lives. When Hashem wants to do a benefit and give a certain aliyah, a certain tikkun, a certain improvement, He intends it for every person individually, so that each one should gain the maximum. It’s done for the purpose that each person should feel that it was made for him alone; because it was worth it for each one alone. That’s how important every Yisroel is!

And so at the Yam Suf when וּמַלְכוּתוֹ בְרָצוֹן קִבְּלוּ עֲלֵיהֶם, when they said, “Hashem from now on You’re our King. We don’t need any kings anymore. You’ll be our King,” it means that each one gained his own King. Each one was so electrified that he called out, זֶה אֵ-לִי – This is my Hashem! (Shemos 15:2). אַתָּה הוּא מַלְכִּי אֱלֹקִים – “You’re my Melech; my own personal King (Tehillim 44:5).

A Personal Benefit

And that’s how each Yisroel feels today. He’s obligated to feel that; חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם. I have to feel that Hakadosh Baruch Hu, when He took us out of Mitzrayim with such a spectacular demonstration, it was for the purpose that each one of us individually should gain those benefits!

And what were the benefits He did for me? Many benefits! Everything we are today is because of Yetzias Mitzrayim. All of our gratitude, all of our responsibilities, are traced back to that great event. All of our greatness, בְּנִי בְּכוֹרִי יִשְׂרָאֵל, the promise that we’ll be His forever, that we’ll serve Him forever, it all comes from then. And it wasn’t for everyone together – every yachid should say, “It was for me.”

Now, that needs more explanation – we’ll come to that soon, about the responsibilities that come as a result of this principle – but we do see at least one thing here. We see how important the yachid is, how paramount the individual is, in the eyes of Hashem!

A Personal World

Now, what you’re hearing now, this Torah attitude of עָשָׂה לִי – it was done for me, is much more important than how I’m saying it. Because it’s not only Yetzias Mitzrayim – it’s a sweeping and far-reaching Torah principle that threads itself through many things, through all the days of our lives with tremendous ramifications. Because just like the creation of our people at Yetzias Mitzrayim was made for the individual, so too all of creation is for the individual; the entire universe is made for you!

Now you might say, “For me?! All of creation? How could you say that? After all, the world is made for millions and millions of people. Who am I? I’m just one out of who knows how many?” So pay attention and you’ll soon see it’s not so.

The Mishnah in Sanhedrin (4:5) asks a question. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu created trees, He didn’t create one tree and from that one tree all the trees developed. No. תַּדְשֵׁא הָאָרֶץ, trees began growing all over the world; with that one command, millions of trees. Suddenly, there were forests all over the world.

When Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted to make animals, he didn’t make one pair that they should increase and multiply. No. He didn’t wait. He was in a hurry – there was a big globe to populate – and so He said, “The world should be covered with animals,” and immediately the entire world was full of animals.

The True Theory

Now that might be surprising to you but it’s the only explanation. I must tell you that the scientists, they’re looking for other ways of explaining what happened and how it happened but they’ve failed miserably in their investigations and their imaginary theories. The only explanation is that plants and animals were created by a command of Hashem in abundance all at once; there’s no way of understanding it otherwise.

And the truth is that it’s already verily demonstrated that it’s the only answer to all of their questions only they’re afraid to admit it openly; but underneath, in their conscience, they recognize how false are all their theories. They know that there’s only one explanation: בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹקִים – He made everything and He made it at once. He gave the command, ‘Yehi rabbits’ and there were a million rabbits hopping. He said ‘Yehi monkeys’ and there were millions of monkeys climbing millions of trees.

And so the question arises then: Why did Hashem make only one man, one man and one woman? Is it because He didn’t want so many men? He wanted man to remain only a lonesome few? Of course not. He wanted very many! וּמִלְּאוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ – ‘Fill up the world,’ He said (Bereishis 1:28). He wanted millions and billions of Adams. So why didn’t He make a million men to start with, like he made a million rabbits and a million monkeys? Wouldn’t it have been much faster to fill up the world if He had started off with a million men; a million families?

Daas Torah

The answer is that there is something more important than many men! And that is the daas that man can acquire from being created alone. What daas? That every person should know that he’s the only person that matters. לְפִיכָךְ נִבְרָא אָדָם יָחִיד – Why did Hashem make man alone? כְּדֵי שֶׁיֹּאמְרוּ כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד – so that every individual should say, בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם – because of me the world was created.

For that daas, so that you should understand that principle, it was worth it to make man alone. Because a nugget of daas that a person can acquire is more valuable than getting a head start on a world filled with people. It was worth it for Hashem to not make millions of men at once just so that every one of us should be able to say, ‘The world was created for me.’

Hashem made Adam alone, so that you should be able to wake up in the morning and when you see the sun shining in through the window you could say, “Dus iz meine zun. It’s my sun.” You never heard that before? It’s a Slabodka Torah; they said that in Slabodka. The Alter said that. Don’t say Hashem made the sun for millions of other people for all generations. No, He made the sun for you. Not that you have a millionth fraction – no, it’s your world.

It’s All For You

Adam, after all, didn’t know who’s going to come after him. He’s one man standing alone in the world! He sees the sun – the sun is for me. The moon? It’s for me. The stars are for me. I’m one man in the world all by myself and all these wondrous things, these miracles of creation wherever I look, are only for me! I’m the only one here!” That’s the way Adam looked at the world – it was the only way to look at the world.

And that’s what Hakadosh Baruch Hu intended. That was the purpose, so that attitude should continue forever; so that man should continue to think that way forever and ever! And even now that the world is populated by billions, each person should hark back to that first day when one man standing alone in the world was taught by His Creator that everything was for him.

Now, I know that we don’t understand it. You’ll hem and haw; even if you won’t have the chutzpah to say it – it’s a Mishnah after all – but you’re thinking, ‘Well, still, there are so many people today. I can’t say I am the only one’. You must say it! לְפִיכָךְ כָּל אֶחָד חַיָּב לוֹמַר – Everyone is obligated to say ‘the world is made for me’.

You must say it and believe it! It’s a yesod haTorah; one of the fundamentals of the Torah. Never make a mistake about it – you yourself are the purpose of creation. You’re not one in a million. You’re the only one. The world is yours, only yours.

Part II. My Greatness

The Narcissistic Instinct

Now, before we continue, before we get to the subject, we have to first answer the question that’s niggling in our minds. If you’re still awake, then it should be bothering you. It’s the question of ga’avah, arrogance. Ga’avah, everyone knows, is the רֹאשׁ כָּל חַטָּאת – it’s considered the top in the list of sins; it’s a big sin on its own and it causes most other sins. And so we understand that it’s serious business. To say ‘me, me’, it’s not so simple.

And yet we know that ga’avah is a natural instinct of human beings. Don’t we see little babies who stand in their cribs and when they jump up and down and you applaud them so they do it with redoubled energy because they see they have a grandstand. They want to be important. It’s an inborn instinct.

Now, the rule is that עָשָׂה הָאֱלֹקִים אֶת הָאָדָם יָשָׁר – when Hashem made man, He made him right (Koheles 7:29). He didn’t put anything wrong in a man. All the tendencies, all the passions and urges, all the natural instincts are for a good purpose – only that a yetzer hara comes to a man and makes him misuse his instinct.

You know, a sefer Torah is a very good thing to have; it’s a beautiful gift if someone would give you that. But suppose you would get angry and you pick up your sefer Torah and hit somebody over the head with it; then it’s not so good anymore. But it wouldn’t be the fault of the one who gave you that gift.

Think Big

And therefore you have to understand that ga’avah was put into man for a purpose. It’s a very good middah to have ga’avah. You hear that chiddush? Ga’avah is a gift from Hashem. Only that the yetzer hara tells you to misuse it, to hit your fellow man over the head with it, to put him down or to lord over him. Oh no, you should never use that instinct improperly. And yet, at the same time you must listen to it as it pounds in your breast.

What is it saying? What is it pounding about? Ga’avah says, אֲנִי וְאַפְסִי עוֹד – I am all important (Yeshaya 47:10). And the truth is you are! Only that the yetzer hara comes along and wants you to misuse it, that it should come at the expense of others. But the truth is, you have to know that in Hashem’s eyes you are all-important. That’s the truth! Don’t make any mistake about it because misplaced humility is unhealthy. You’ll only accomplish big things if you think big.

About Yehoshafat, one of our great kings, it was said, וַיִּגְבַּהּ לִבּוֹ בְּדַרְכֵי הַשֵּׁם – his heart became proud in the ways of Hashem (Divrei Hayamim 2 17:6). He’s praised for that, that he was high-minded, proud. Proud? The answer is he had the instinct of ga’avah: “I’m somebody!”

Not the pshat that I’m going to belittle other people. It’s not וְאַפְסִי עוֹד, that no one else matters. It’s not pshat that I’m going to try to make other people smaller than I am. No. But I’m going to be something; I’m going to make something from myself because I’m important. That’s the ga’avah Hashem is waiting for! וַיִּגְבַּהּ לִבּוֹ בְּדַרְכֵי הַשֵּׁם! I’m going to walk in the ways of Hashem and make myself as perfect as I can. I’m important enough to aim high.

The Humble Ox

When a person doesn’t think so, that’s not humility; it’s the humility of an ox. Here, you see a little boy six years old, seven years old, and he’s leading a big bull, an ox. Now, the boy weighs at most a hundred pounds; the ox, about two thousand pounds. And yet the big ox is submissive to the little boy. The boy gives the ox a whack on the behind and tells it to keep moving. ‘I’m the boss here,’ the boy is saying. And the big ox doesn’t make trouble because he doesn’t understand what he’s capable of.

Now, that’s good for an ox; after all that’s all we want from him, to be a good ox. We don’t want trouble from two thousands pounds of ox. But a person who’s going to be that way, he’s going to be lacking in the gaavah of ‘walking proud in the ways of Hashem’.

The Human Ox

The Chovos Halevovos said there is a wrong humility which is falsely given that name. That just means you have an inferiority complex. It’s a complex; it’s a sickness and a weakness, not a virtue. Some people – I’m the same – are too bashful sometimes to demand things that they deserve, things they have a right too. That’s a weakness, not humility. And if a person won’t accomplish things because of that weakness, it’s a fault. Everyone has an obligation to recognize his self-worth and live up to his greatness – to be high-minded in walking in the ways of Hashem; not to aim low but high. That’s the ga’avah that Hashem looks for; when you know who you are, when you recognize your worth.

Now, you want to know how important you are? You want to know how much is expected from you? You’re important enough that all of Yetzias Mitzrayim was for you. Hakadosh Baruch Hu took you out of Mitzrayim so that you should become great, so that you should serve Him. He created the world for you so that you should accomplish. Of course, it was done for you and for him and for him and for him and for him too. But not because it’s a klal; not because it was a nation. He did it so that each one individually should say, “It was for me.”

The Burden of Importance

Not for me that I should be the owner of the world, the ruler of the world. No, that’s not it. It’s made for you means that you’re responsible for the world. If there are a million people or a billion created at once, they would say ‘So, I am responsible? Look how many people are in this world. How much responsibility comes to my share? A grain.’

But now he knows that the entire universe is on his shoulders. ‘The world was created for me’ means that as far as Hakadosh Boruch Hu is concerned you’re what matters in this world; Hakadosh Baruch Hu is looking at you and only you.

I’ll quote from the Gemara in Kiddushin (40b): ר’ אֶלְעָזָר בְּר’ שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר לְפִי שֶׁהָעוֹלָם נִדּוֹן אַחַר רֻבּוֹ – the world is judged according to the majority. If the majority are good, then the world gets a good verdict. If not, then it’s the opposite verdict.

And the individual too; he’s also judged by his majority. וְהַיָּחִיד נִדּוֹן אַחַר רֻבּוֹ – Every person is judged whether he is a tzaddik or not according to majority; majority of his deeds.

עָשָׂה מִצְוָה אַחַת אַשְׁרָיו – If he did one mitzvah, he should think how fortunate he is, שֶׁהִכְרִיעַ אֶת עַצְמוֹ וְאֶת כָּל הָעוֹלָם לְכַּף זְכוּת – that he tilted the scales in his own benefit and in the benefit of the whole world. עָבַר עֲבֵרָה אַחַת אוֹי לוֹ – But if he did one wrong thing, oy vey for him, שֶׁהִכְרִיעַ אֶת עַצְמוֹ וְאֶת כָּל הָעוֹלָם לְכַּף חוֹבָה – because he tilted the scales of the world to the side of guilt.

The Rigged Election

Of course you’ll say, “Well, that’s improbable. One person in the whole world should be the deciding factor? An election in which one person will turn the tables, it’s quite improbable.”

But listen to what it means. The Torah wants us to know that it’s possible that one act that a person does can save the world or chalilah plunge the world into misfortune. The fact that it doesn’t turn out so because of the law of averages has nothing to do with the fact that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has made things in such a way that it could be that way. And He did that because He wants you to know how important you really are. You’re not one little speck in the mass of humanity.

You know, if you are a foolish fellow, someone who falls for every prank that the atheist evolutionists play on the world, so you might think that man is an accident that came along later after all the other things came into existence. And so what is he? He’s only a drop of protoplasm on a little speck of dust floating in space.

That’s the attitude of the world. Of course it’s sheker v’chazav and it’s anti-Torah, anti-Hashem, but even more, it underrates by infinite magnitudes the importance of every individual. An individual is so important that Hashem made it that it could be that his one movement can destroy or save the world.

The Vote That Counts

Will it ever happen that you’ll be the deciding factor? Probably not. But the idea is that whatever you do is important in the Eyes of Hashem – and those are the Eyes that matter – as if you’re the only one. And therefore we are learning something here, that a person should know how greatly important he is in the world!

That’s what the Zohar says, לְעוֹלָם יִרְאֶה אָדָם עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ תָּלוּי בּוֹ – A person should always see himself as if the entire world depends on him (Tzav 9:71). It’s not like people think that it’s just a good attitude that we should acquire, an incentive to act with a little more responsibility by imagining as if the whole world depends on you. No; it’s the plain truth – you have to feel that the entire existence of the world depends on you because that’s how important you are.

Don’t say there are other people who are upholding the principles of the Torah, other people who are doing what’s right. No! You’re the one! If Yetzias Mitzrayim was made only for you, if briyas ha’olam yeish mei’ayin was made only for you – you, sitting here right now – it means that you’re very important!

And Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, “I’m going to hold you responsible. Don’t think it’s a hefker world that has no connection with you. No. The entire universe is waiting that you should make something from yourself; and if you don’t it’s considered in my Eyes as if you wasted My universe.”

Raining On The Party

Because if you make all the preparations for somebody – let’s say someone prepared a big party for you and he brought in a caterer and he rented chairs and he made every arrangement and invited guests. And now everything is ready for you. But you don’t bother coming; or you come but you sit in the corner doing nothing. You spoiled the whole thing!

So you’ll say, “I didn’t spoil everything. I didn’t break the plates. I didn’t throw the food into the garbage can. I just didn’t come. Who am I?” No! This party was made for you and if you didn’t show up then it was a waste.

It’s a tremendous concept because it means that your behavior is therefore of the utmost importance. The whole universe is made for you and therefore if you misbehave it’s considered as if you destroyed the universe. And if you make from yourself a person of excellence, if you develop your mind and your character, then you’re doing what’s most important in the entire universe.

Now I understand this is very remote in our minds as of yet. We’re going to see soon some practical examples, how we apply this attitude, but even if we don’t grasp it fully yet, let’s at least say the words – something will penetrate. Everyone should say, בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם – “The world was created for me.”

Part III. My Responsibility

Idealism of the Individual

Now Rabbosai! You know what should be the result of our talk? What should happen? וַיִּגְבַּהּ לִבּוֹ – Your mind aims high! You live with idealism!

Because when a person spends some time contemplating this doctrine of his importance in this world – that all of history is for him and that all of Creation is for him – so what happens? He begins to recognize his place in this world; he realizes that his life had more meaning than he ever imagined. Once he understands he’s remarkably more important than he thought, that he’s not one among many – he’s the one – so what he can accomplish in the world, that’s the most important business in the world.

And that means he becomes a mevakeish, an idealist. Because he knows that בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם, he’s not mevater; he doesn’t yield any opportunity to do the best that he can for himself.

Seriously Serious Business

And now he takes this success very seriously. Of course he does! Because his actions, his thoughts, his dibburim, mean everything. The world is dependent on him and so he wants to accomplish. Whatever is good in this world, he wants that for himself.

Now, if that’s so, it pays to know what is the greatest of all accomplishments for a person while he’s in this world. You know, if I ask you, you might not know. Even if you go into the beis medrash you might not find the answer; it depends who you ask. So let’s consult somebody who is an authority on this subject. Let’s ask Dovid Hamelech and see what he has to say on the subject: וַאֲנִי – “As far as I am concerned” – it means maybe you think otherwise but va’ani, I say, קִרֲבַת אֱלֹקִים לִי טוֹב – “that to come close to Hashem, that’s the greatest good” (Tehillim 73:28). Because I know that אֲנִי, that there’s a me, that I’m important.

You hear that? What matters most? To come close to Hashem! And because a person has learned his importance – and never make a mistake about that, you’re very important; that’s the point – he desires to come close to Hashem. A man’s recognition of his importance is translated in his desire that he himself should make the best of himself by coming close to Hashem.

The Self-Serving Saying

And therefore, his motto in life becomes: I am important and therefore I have to do the best I can for myself. That’s what it means to prepare for the Next World – to become the best you can be. הַתְקֵן עַצְמְךָ בַּפְּרוֹזְדוֹר – prepare yourself! The main purpose is yourself!

Now that seems very queer to people when they hear these words. But you have to know, if you’ll be an anav and concede, you’re making the mistake of your life. And if you’ll be the opposite, if you’ll fulfill ‘וַיִּגְבַּהּ לִבּוֹ בְּדַרְכֵי ה, you’re doing the greatest benefit to yourself. You’re fulfilling the purpose of the world – yourself. הַתְקֵן עַצְמְךָ בַּפְּרוֹזְדוֹר! Prepare yourself for the Next World!

That’s why we find that Dovid Hamelech was always talking to himself; all the time. הַלְלִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת הַשֵּׁם – “My soul, praise Hashem” (Tehillim 146:1). בָּרֲכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת הַשֵּׁם – “My soul bless Hashem” (ibid. 104:1). Dovid spoke to himself. He spoke to others too, absolutely, but he knew that he himself was too important to ignore. עוּרָה כְבוֹדִי – “Awake, my glory,” he said to himself (ibid. 57:9). He was constantly urging himself to come close to Hashem because that’s what matters most.

Of course, those words ‘close to Hashem’ need a lecture in itself. Not one lecture, many lectures. Maybe we’ll have time to talk about it for a few minutes soon but if we had to put it down in a few words, it means thinking about Hashem. The more you think about Him, the closer you are to Him. And the closer you are to Him, the more you’re fulfilling the purpose of creation.

It’s Never Nothing

I’ll tell you a piece of advice: when you hear that, immediately think of Hakadosh Baruch Hu! This second, don’t wait! Don’t say I’ll put it off until I will become a gadol baTorah, a tzaddik. Don’t say ‘I’ll put it off till after the lecture, after Rabbi Miller finishes speaking.’ This minute, right now, think about Hakadosh Baruch Hu!

“What’s the use?” someone thinks. “I’m nobody anyhow. I came to the lecture only because I wanted to get out of the house, not because I’m going to be something. I’ll continue to be a nobody.”

No, no. That’s all wrong. You’re somebody. The whole world is made for you! All the nissim of Mitzrayim are made for you! And therefore everything you do is important. You’re too important for something to be nothing.

Pay attention. Everything an important person does is important! Nothing that he does is unimportant! Even a little bit is an achievement because it’s not a little bit. There’s no such thing as a little bit if you understand that Hashem made Yetzias Mitzrayim for you, so that you should serve Him. When you’re the one the world was created for, nothing is unimportant anymore.

The Unhumble Home

You could be in your humble little home, in your kitchen – your husband is at work and nobody home except the little babies – and so you’re thinking, ‘What of it? There are tens of thousands of others in their own little homes, just like me.’

Oh no! That’s not the Torah way of looking at it. The world was created for you and that means this moment is of utmost significance. Utilize it! You’re feeding the baby and you’re thinking that your hand is the hand of Hashem. That is how a woman can think. נֹתֵן לֶחֶם לְכָל בָּשָׂר – He gives food to everyone and I am His messenger.

The child says, “Give me a piece of bread, Mommy,” so you give the baby a piece of bread and you’re thinking, “My hand is the Hand of Hashem. A woman who nurses her baby or she’s giving the baby a bottle, how great is that! Hakadosh Baruch Hu is feeding your baby and you are the messenger; all day long you are doing the will of Hashem.

She passes a mezuzah and thinks, “Hashem is looking at me.” Oh, that’s a great moment in the history of the world. Nobody is going to applaud her; there is no audience. But because the world is hers, because Yetzias Mitzrayim was for her, so there’s an audience of One that matters.

A Little Bit Is So Important

A man at work too; he is laboring in the factory or laboring with customers but he has in mind – not every minute; that’s impossible, but from time to time he reminds himself: “I am serving Hakadosh Baruch Hu. I want to pay the tuition of my children in the yeshivas, I want to marry off my daughter to a ben Torah. I want to keep a good kosher frum house and give maaser to tzeddakah.”

A fleeting, unimportant thought? No! No thought is unimportant for the man who knows that בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם. When a person understands his importance so nothing is unimportant. Every little bit is a great success, or the opposite chas v’shalom.

If you’re able to change yourself, to control yourself, even a little bit, you’ve done something tremendous. So let’s say that you come to a chasunah and you remember this maamar, בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם. So you make up your mind that you’ll guard your tongue; you won’t talk too much.

All night? No I can’t do that yet. But at least a little bit I’ll do it. It’s not a little after all for someone who the world was created for him. So let’s say for the first ten minutes, you just smile, say mazel tov to everybody and keep your mouth closed. After that you let go. It’s an achievement. It’s not just ten minutes in the life of one man among millions; it’s ten minutes in the life of a yachid bi’olamo. It’s an achievement of utmost importance!

An Important Modim

The Chofetz Chaim writes in one place that let’s say you’re standing Shemoneh Esrei and when you come to modim, you discover that you’re standing Shemoneh Esrei. You remind yourself, “Oh, I’m not on an African safari – that’s where you’ve been since you started Shemoneh Esrei; you’ve been traveling the world. And now you remind yourself. So he says, “Don’t give up and say, ‘Well, I wasted all this time. I might as well just finish up quickly.’” No! You’re too important for such things. Be mizchazek and salvage that last bit of Shemoneh Esrei that you can!

Say modim with emotion! “I thank You, Hashem what You’re doing for me!” Think of something, something – a davar shel mamesh – that you ate a good meal today, you made some money today, you moved your bowels today. Whatever it is. You have no headache today. מוֹדִים אֲנַחְנוּ לָךְ. And try to serve Hashem with the rest of shemoneh esrei.

You’re an unknown person? You’re standing all the way in the back of the shul? Nobody notices you? Forget about that! The One that matters notices and as far as He’s concerned you’re the only one. And therefore that little bit is a tremendous achievement.

Never Too Late

The same also if a man didn’t understand this lesson most of his life – he never heard it maybe – and now he’s a little older, his hair turned white already. And now he starts thinking, “I don’t have a hundred years to live now. Maybe I should do something before the end comes.” It happens sometimes; a person realizes that it’s getting late in life and so he’s aroused to do something about it.

But then he thinks, “Look, I wasted so many years! I didn’t become a talmid chacham. I didn’t become a tzaddik. Now I should wake up? What’s the purpose? It’s no use.”

No! Man is too important to say it’s too late. It’s never too late for a person to strive for excellence. Even if you never learned Gemara before – a man who is even eighty can begin learning Gemara successfully; hascholas Gemara!

It could be you won’t become a baki b’Shas but you sit down and learn one line, two lines, three lines. After a while, you can say a whole amud Gemara inside! To know a whole amud gemara, one page of Gemara inside!

In a few years you’ll know ten blatt Gemara. Even at a slow pace you’ll know ten blatt. When you learn the second blatt you go back and review the first blatt. Eventually you know the ten blatt cold. To be able to say ten blatt rapidly like Ashrei is a wonderful achievement.

Live Up To Your Career

Not only Gemara. When a man decides, even in his old age – surely if he’s still a young man of sixty – that he’s going to commit himself to a career of living up to his importance, so he can become a tzaddik too. He opens up a Mesillas Yesharim and says, “I’m going to do this!”

And little by little he learns it from cover to cover. That’s an experience! You never learned Mesillas Yesharim? It’s an experience that will change your life!

Man is too important to say it’s too late. Man is too important to say it’s too little. It’s never too late and never too little once you understand that the whole world is made for you! All the nissim of Mitzrayim are made for you!

You can’t rely on the fact that others utilize it. You have to utilize it! And Hakadosh Baruch Hu is waiting! And the ga’avah, the pride in the human breast, that should be our guide – we should know we are somebody! Every one of us, men, women and children, we can make something out of ourselves!

Have A Wonderful Shabbos

This week’s booklet is based on tapes: 12 – Perils of Humility | 610 – The Great Ones | 858 – I Am Important | E-7 – History is Now | E-27 – Birthday of the Universe | E-237 – Reenacting the Great Events of History in Our Daily Lives

Let’s Get Practical

It’s My World

In our parshah we learn that the Jewish father tells his child “Hashem did all this for me when He took me out of Mitzrayim”. Although Hashem does many all-encompassing kindnesses, we’re expected to react as if Hashem did it just for us; we’re that important.

With great importance comes great responsibility, and every tiny act we do is tremendously valuable. This week, once every day I will bli neder take a look at the sun or the clouds or the trees and remind myself that בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם – everything I see in the world around me was created for me. I will then spend 30 seconds reflecting on the ramifications of this.