Don't Hope for the Easy Path | Mr. Charlie Harary

When Klal Yisroel comes out of Mitzrayim, the pasuk says, Hashem, doesn’t take them up the דרך ארץ פלישתים. There was a path. It was right up the coast. Remember, the north of Egypt to Israel is the Mediterranean. You walk the coast, on the left there’s a beautiful view. You're there in a couple of minutes. You don't need Waze for that. HaKadosh Baruch Hu didn't take them up the path. Why? The Torah says, because Because it was too close. What does that mean, ‘It was too close’? So the Midrash tells us what was waiting for Klal Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel, at the time. When they left Mitzrayim, the Canaanim knew and they scorched the place, so when they got there they couldn't plant. The Amalekim knew and they were ready for them to kill them on the way. There were the bones of Efraim that were there for the Shevet that didn’t get in, all scattered along the way. HaKadosh Baruch Hu didn't take them up the easy path, because Eretz Canaan wasn't ready for them. That was the real reason. Why doesn't Hashem say: You know why I didn’t take you up that path? Because that path would have destroyed you. You know what it says instead? It was easy. You know, when a butterfly is coming out of that cocoon and struggling to get out of that cocoon, you know that if you make one little slit in that cocoon, you make it a drop easier, the butterfly dies. Why? We, in life, think that we have two paths, easy and hard. The hard is the worst one. We think challenge is the detour to success. We think struggling is the proof that I’m not enough. You know, when I look out to the world and I'm tempted, that's the proof that I'm not holy. When I fell, it’s the proof to me that I'm not enough in Hashem’s eyes. When I struggle, it means that I must not be who he wants me to be. We think when God puts us on a path, or when we walk on a path that is not the קרוב path, not the good path, not the easy path, it is a sign that there's something wrong with me. Hashem says: There's a lot of reasons why you didn’t go to Eretz Yisroel right away, but let me tell you the one I want you to know, because it was too easy. Easy paths lead to mediocrity. Easy paths lead to failure. Easy paths lead to softness and brokenness. Challenge makes you great. Struggle brings out your essence. And so if you're on a path right now that feels far from קרוב, and you're struggling and you're pushing, it reminds me of another people that walked for 40 years in the scorching hot desert, wondering: What are we doing here? And HaKadosh Baruch Hu is saying: Relax. You just keep on walking. Don't worry, because by the time you're walking in the challenge that's in front of you, the land is getting fertilized and the nation is making mistakes and they’re coming to you and losing wars and the bones are going away, and you'll see at the end, you’ll have a lot more than you think. As you struggle, as we struggle with the world around us, let’s not hope for the easy path. Let's just lean into the struggle, and remember, when it's our turn to come to Eretz Yisroel, to our own promised land, it’ll be ready for us, too.