Pushed From Behind

Nothing limits you, no force that holds you captive—other than a fiction of your imagination. So you will say, “What, then, of the forces of nature? Of the constraints of a human body? Of the hard reality that slams against me when I attempt to stride through the barriers of life?” Yes, they are there. But they are not what they seem to be. They are not there to oppose you, but to carry you. As your soul pulls forward, those barriers force her inward, towards her deepest, strongest self. From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. To order Rabbi Freeman’s book, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.

Our retelling of the Exodus on Passover ends when we close the Haggadah text. But when did the story really end?

Leaving Egypt

You might think that the story ended when the Jewish people left Egypt on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan, 1313 BCE. On that day the Jews were freed from the land where they had been enslaved. But it was not so easy to leave slavery behind...

The Red Sea

The Egyptians pursued the Jews until, a week later, the Jews crossed the Red Sea, and the Egyptians were drowned in their wake. We celebrate this final freedom from our oppressors on the last days of Passover.

Mount Sinai

The Jews were now free, but freedom without purpose is not true freedom. “Let my people go, that they may serve me,” G‑d told Pharaoh through Moses (Exodus 8:1). The ultimate purpose of the Exodus was that the Jews should receive the Torah at Mount Sinai 49 days later. The first commandment, “I am the L‑rd, your G‑d, who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage,” (Exodus 20:2) makes it clear that the Jewish people were taken out of Egypt only so that they might know G‑d.

Indeed, each year we relive the connection between these events by counting the 49 days from Passover until the holiday of Shavuot, when we commemorate the giving of the Torah. (You can join the count on our Counting the Omer - SefiratHaomer minisite.)

The Land of Israel

Now the Jews had the Torah, but they were still homeless and unable to fulfill many of its laws. G‑d used four expressions of redemption to promise Moses that He would redeem the Jews from Egypt. (We commemorate them by drinking four cups of wine at the Passover Seder.) But the four expressions were followed by a fifth promise (Exodus 6:8), “And I will bring you to the land…”

Similarly, G‑d told Moses that, “I have descended to rescue them from the hand[s] of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8).

Surely it’s safe to say that the Exodus narrative ends when the Jews enter the Promised Land after 40 years in the desert?

The Holy Temple in Jerusalem

But the first few centuries after the Jewish people entered Israel were tumultuous, and it was only when King Solomon ruled that there was true peace, and “Each man sat under his vine and his fig tree.”

Support for the idea that the Exodus concluded with the building of Solomon’s Temple can be found in the famous “Dayeinu” song in the Passover Hagaddah reader. The song reviews all the miracles that G‑d did for the Jews after they were saved from Egypt, concluding with the building of the Holy Temple.

Not Yet

But Solomon’s reign ended, and it was followed by eras of civil strife, the destruction of the first and second Holy Temples, and the dispersal of the Jewish nation in exile. We end the Seder with the prayer, “Next year in Jerusalem,” that we may speedily merit the final redemption and the building of the third Temple.

Concerning the future redemption, the prophet Micah tells us, “As in the days of your exodus from the land of Egypt, I will show you wonders” (7:15). Notice that the verse refers to “the days,” plural. Leaving Egypt is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. As we say in the Haggadah, “In every generation, a person is obligated to see himself as if he had gone out of Egypt.”

Mitzrayim, the Hebrew name for Egypt, is similar to the word meitzarim, which means “boundaries” or “limitations.” We each have our own personal limitations and boundaries that prevent us from serving G‑d as well as we might. They may be external circumstances or internal ones, character traits or desires that pull us away from the right path. We experience a personal redemption when we overcome these challenges. The process is an ongoing one, and we are constantly working on ourselves to “leave Egypt” once and for all.

Read the Passover Story from our Jewish History section.

Dear Rabbi,

I have been under the impression that “turning the other cheek” to your enemies is not a Jewish approach. But recently a friend pointed out the verse in Lamentations (3:30), “Let him offer his cheek to his smiter; let him be filled with reproach.”

So now I’m confused:

1. Is it or is it not a Jewish value?
2. If it is, how does that jibe with the Talmudic dictum, “If someone is coming to kill you, kill him first?”

Answer:

Don’t Turn The Cheek!

It is clear that “turning the other cheek” to a violent aggressor is not the Jewish way.

King Solomon, wisest of all men, proclaimed:

There is a time to kill and a time to heal… a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1,8.

There is no doubt that there are times when it is necessary to battle adversaries.

In fact, throughout the Biblical account of history, the Jewish people were commanded to strike at their enemies, sometimes even preemptively.

For example, in the story of teh holiday of Purim the Jews preemptively killed those who planned in killing them (Scroll of Esther, Ch. 9).

As you pointed out correctly, our sages instruct, “If someone comes to kill you, you should rise up and kill him first.”

Talmud Brachot 58b, 62b, Sanhedrin 72a based on Exodus 22:1.

See The Jew's Double Standard.

The Context Counts!

As often happens, the original phrase in the context of the surrounding passage has a completely different connotation than it has on its own. In fact, there is nothing in that passage about an enemy, or being under attack. And if it were not for the word “smiter,” we would not even know that there was another person involved, since the rest of the passage clearly attributes the afflictions to the hand of G‑d.

Let’s examine the prophecy in its context. The Prophecy refers to a crucial point in history when the Holy Temple lies in ruins and the Jewish nation has been exiled. Morale is at an all-time low, and fighting back is not logistically possible. So Jeremiah does not lecture about the importance of self-defense. That would be futile. Instead, he offers hope, comfort and perspective to sustain the Jewish people in exile

There is a debate between the sages whether the book of Lamentations was written before or after the destruction of the Holy Temple (See Midrash Aicha Rabah 1:1). According to the view that it was written before the actual destruction (which seems to be the prevailing opinion), Jeremiah first dictated to his student, Baruch ben Neirah, a dire prophecy that would befall the Jewish nation. This prophecy contained what are today chapters 1, 2 and 4 of the book of Lamentations, and were written in advance of the actual event in the hope that it would arouse the Jews to repent. However, when it was read before the king, he cut up the scroll containing the prophecy and threw it into the fire. Later, G‑d told Jeremiah to rewrite these prophecies adding chapters 3 (the chapter under discussion) and 5 , as it is recounted in the book of Jeremiah ch. 36 . According to the view that the book of Lamentations was written after the destruction, the book of Lamentations that we have is not the same scroll that was thrown into the fire. For more on this see When was the Book of Lamentation Written?

But, regardless of when it was actually written, the book in general, and particularly chapter 3, address the time after the destruction of the holy Temple and the exile of the Jewish nation.

.

After lamenting at considerable length about his suffering and despair, Jeremiah, turns to hope saying:

This I reply to my heart; therefore I have hope. Verily, the kindnesses of the L‑rd never cease! Indeed, His mercies never fail! “The L‑rd is my portion,” says my soul; “therefore I will hope in Him...

Lamentations 3:21-22,24.

”

He then elaborates on that hope, expressing faith in G‑d’s mercy:

It is good for a man that he bear a yoke in his youth. Let him sit solitary and wait, for He has laid [it] upon him. Let him put his mouth into the dust; there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to his smiter; let him be filled with reproach. For the L‑rd will not cast [him] off forever. Though he cause grief, He will yet have compassion according to the abundance of His kindness. For He does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of man…

ibid 3:27-33.

Toward the end of the chapter, lest one think that he was absolving the perpetrators of what they have done, Jeremiah calls on G‑d to punish and destroy them:

My enemies have hunted me like a bird, without cause… I called on Your name, O L‑rd, from the depths of the pit… You did draw near when I called on You; You did say, “Do not fear.” …Requite them, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. Give them a weakness of heart; may Your curse be upon them. Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the L‑rd.

ibid 3:52,55,57,64-66.

”

It becomes clear that the remark about “offering the cheek” is not said in relation to confrontation with an adversary. Rather, the remark is made within the context of hope and consolation.

A True Lesson from This Verse

According to Rabbi Moshe Alshich (1508–1593), the verse, “It is good for a man that he bear a yoke in his youth,” means that when a person is afflicted with tragedies in the physical world, the person should remember that G‑d is all-merciful and good. The purpose of one’s suffering may very well be in order that she or he will receive a greater reward at a future time, in this world or the next.

Rabbi Moshe Alshich in Devarim Nechumim on Lamentations ibid.

Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, Nachmanides, explains that mild suffering in this World can save one from severe judgment in the Coming World.

In his introduction to his commentary on the book of Job.

And Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi compares the physical-world spiritual-world parallel to the sun and its shadow. Anytime the sun moves, shadows on earth are altered. To us, thousands of miles below, the change may be so slight and gradual that we hardly notice. But something big is going on in the galaxy – the sun is in orbit. In the same way, the goings on in our world are a reflection and result of the goings on Above.

Tanya, Iggeret Hateshuvah ch. 12.

So the instruction, “Let him offer his cheek to his smiter; let him be filled with reproach,” is a guideline for attitude in the face of adversary. We are expected to receive our afflictions with the knowledge and belief that all G‑d does is ultimately for the good, even if the purpose is not apparent.

According to Rabbi Isaac Luria, the Arizal, when we adopt this attitude towards our suffering, we will merit to not actually suffer at the hands of those enemies.

Likutei Torah of the Arizal on Eichah 3:30; see also the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Torat Menachem 5710 p. 184.

See Anger Management 101.