As a Jewish nation we went through 3 stages.
Egypt.
Desert.
The Land of Israel.
This is also the inner story of every person.
Sometimes a person has already left Egypt, but he is still stuck in the desert.
The goal is not to remain in the desert.
The goal is to reach the Land of Israel.
Not only to run away from the pain, but to transform what we went through into purpose.
A slave has no time to think.
No time to dream.
He does not have the ability to ask:
Who am I really?
What is my mission?
He is only surviving.
This is called Egypt.
Mitzrayim comes from the word metzarim, meaning boundaries, limitations.
Thank G-d, most people are not in prison.
But in their mind, in their heart, in their soul, they may feel choked.
A person went through trauma.
Disappointment.
A difficult relationship.
Words that were said in childhood.
And he is not able to free himself from it.
The word Mitzrayim has the numerical value of 380.
The word slave has the numerical value of 76.
76 times 5 is 380.
In Egypt, we were slaves in all five parts of our being:
*Slaves in our body.*
*Slaves in our emotions.*
*Slaves in our thoughts.*
*Slaves in our speech.*
*Slaves in our purpose.*
Leaving Egypt is not only running away from a painful place.
It also means to stop being a slave to the identity that was built from the pain.
Sometimes a person leaves his own Egypt through therapy.
A psychologist.
A vacation.
A change of environment.
That is important.
But not everyone who leaves Egypt enters the Land of Israel.
Sometimes a person leaves Egypt and remains in the desert.
He is no longer in a choking place, but he still has no direction.
No meaning.
No purpose.
He may still not trust people, and more importantly not trust himself.
Good psychology can help a person leave Egypt.
The teachings of Kabbalah leads a person into the Land of Israel.
Not only to free himself from the past, but to transform his past into a mission, *to discover how Hashem is part of his story.*
Eretz means will.
When we enter Eretz Yisrael, we ask:
Why did G-d give me another day?
What is my mission?
Yisrael means Sar-El, a minister of Hashem.
A minister has influence on the whole country.
When I do a mitzvah, I influence my family, my community, and the whole world.
*Exercise of the week:*
Ask yourself:
Did I leave Egypt?
Am I still in the desert?
What will it take for me to come to the Land of Israel?
How can I use my experience to help someone else?
How can I use my difficult journey to be more sensitive and understanding to others?
——
Rabbi Zalman Gansburg
Chabad of Palmetto Bay