The Ancient Egyptian Stockholm Syndrome

[Music] this week's parure starts off with the Jews being in one of the lowest places the Jews have ever been before and we've been to a lot of Low Places we're worked to the core we're beaten to a pulp we're terrorized and abused the Jews have seen some pretty dark times in their life this might have been the darkest so one would think that when Moshe approached the Jews and declared that there is an all powerful God out there who promised their grandparents that he would make them great and give them their own land and make them into a holy chosen people you would think there would be this outpour of relief you would expect the tremendous celebration you would think that the Jews would eagerly tune in to listen to every word that Misha was saying as to get out of this brutal Egyptian workload and Terror but what in fact happens is puzzling in peric V PK test it says that Misha went over to the Jews and relayed this message but they refused to listen the PK says it was because of this thing called kiter which literally translates to mean from a shortness of breath and difficult work now why would that be the reason why they didn't listen to mosha shouldn't it be the exact opposite shouldn't the over overwhelmingly difficult work regimen and brutal conditions be the exact reason they would run to listen to my Sho to any glimmer of hope they could find weren't they desperately looking for a savior to release them from their misery this was it why did Mosa's words fall on deaf ears and even Stranger in peric Bim it says that when parro died the Jews in mits cried out in pain now why did parro's death prompt tears shouldn't they been ecstatic shouldn't theyve celebrated they should have rejoiced they're thinking perhaps a new king would replace the old evil parro and he would bring peace it can't get any worse why does parro's death lead them to cries and pain shouldn't they've been thrilled so the far Sarno says something interesting he writes that the reason the Jews didn't listen to mosha was not out of disbelief it wasn't because they didn't think what he was saying was true the reason the Jews didn't listen to mosha was because their life did not offer them even a second to think and consider that what mosa was saying may be true they had no mental space to consider that their lives were horrible and Misha could be the ticket to their freedom they suffered from a degree of Stockholm syndrome after working in brutal conditions for so long they conditioned themselves to think that this was it this was normal they told themselves this is life life can't get any better we have to run to work we don't have time to listen to some prophet's claims that there's something more to life than laying bricks we don't have time to listen to his speech about how there's a loving God who wants them to have an exclusive relationship with us we don't have time to listen we simply have too much work to do the hey MCD adds that when parro died there was a national day of mourning throughout Egypt and for once the Jews were given a single day off the Jews finally had a day to think to contemplate to ponder the realization hit them like a ton of bricks for the first time in a long time they realized that perhaps life could get better perhaps there was something more meaningful to life perhaps this endless work wasn't something to get used to this Epiphany LED them to tears it opened up their eyes to the life that they have been living and the life that they have been missing out on and they did nothing but cry sometimes we too get so caught up in the game of life that we forget that life could be even better we let life get in the way of life we let the hustle and bustle of the everyday prevent us from enjoying the meaningful sides to life someone once asked the's son-in-law what his father-in-law's most impressive character trait was what what was a Mida that stood out so you would have thought you would expect he would resp respond that it was his refraining from lashara or his zealousness in no he said it was his his ability to remain mentally calm despite the very hectic life around him the great rebba the a once said that the term the T uses to describe the ultimate impure animal is the word sheret creepy crawling insects what does the word sherids have to do with creepy crawling insects where does the word come from he said it comes from the word she ruts it is always running and never stops for a second always on the run coming and going he said that is the source of all bad the inability to stop and to ponder and to take stock and to meditate is something that can prevent tremendous spiritual growth amongst us you ever wonder why Hashem made people age why did Hashem make humans slowly deter iate over time as the years Move Along people begin to lose energy and they walk slower and they move slower why doesn't Hashem just design man that we have the energy of a seven-year-old until the day we die perhaps the answer is that if we had the energy of a seven-year-old our entire lives we would never stop to think we would never take time to sit with our children or grandchildren we would never take stock of life and its meaning we would never have time to enjoy the beautiful small things in life we would be forever running from here to there and there to here the paraa teaches us the great lesson to take life slow to live life with depth and meaning to constantly contemplate if one is living perhaps too superficially to constantly ask oneself perhaps I work too much perhaps I don't spend enough time with my family perhaps I spend too much time on my phone when I'm sitting with my family perhaps there are huge worlds of spirituality that I'm not tapping into this para is a reminder to occasionally take one step back in order to take two real steps forward a SL once asked his Reb for a he said Reb I just want a small BR nothing big I'm not asking for wealth I'm not asking for kids all I want is a small BR yes some mental calmness the rebba looked at him and laughed that's what you call a small braa that is the biggest braa of them all [Music]