Honesty and Egypt
By Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz
In the portion of Kedoshim, we find the mitzvah of making and keeping honest measuring tools. Whether they are for calculating weight, dry measures or liquid, they need to be accurate. It is forbidden to possess inaccurate measuring tools, even if you have no intention to use them.
With many mitzvahs, G-d signs off with “I am the L-rd” or “I am the L-rd your G-d.” After this mitzvah, He signs off with, “I am the L-rd your G-d who took you out of Egypt.”
What is the connection between honest weights and measures, and the exodus from Egypt? Also, why is it a sin to merely own them, even if you have no intention to use them?
The simple answer brought by Rashi is this: G-d took us out of Egypt to be a paragon of honesty. He also suggests that just like G-d could discern in Egypt who is a firstborn and who is not, so can He tell if someone falsifies his weights.
Perhaps there is a deeper reason. This is the way of the evil inclination: He doesn’t tell you to steal or rob another. You would never go for that. First, he says, “What is so bad to own these false weights? You’re not even going to use them.” Then he goes a step further. “What is the big deal if you use them? They are just a drop off.” And step by step, he drags you down until he’s made a thief out of you.
Owning false weights and measures are first steps. They are the beginning of dishonesty, even though no one was hurt by them. They represent ill intent and bad choices, which is the prelude
to more trouble down the line.
This is where Egypt comes in. Though Hashem decreed that the Jewish people would suffer by the hands of the Egyptians, each individual Egyptian had the freedom to choose not to oppress them. At a certain point, each individual Egyptian made those first bad choices that brought them to oppress the Jewish people.
G-d is saying: I took you out of Egypt, the place of ill intentions and bad choices. I want you to be better than them. I want you to be a beacon of goodness and honesty. And honesty is the starting point for all the mitzvahs and what defines you as My people. That is why I took you out of Egypt.
To dispel dishonesty, we first need to remove the self-acquired bad influences and temptations. You will find it freeing, like a weight being removed from your shoulders. And finally, being honest in business and with your acquaintances is the way you influence them to want to be more like you, and to follow in G-d’s ways.
And one more thing: By connecting honesty with the exodus from Egypt, G-d gives us an indication that honesty is a prerequisite to bringing the future redemption. May it come soon.
The “Aleph" Of Chassidus
THE “ALEPH ” OF CHASSIDUS
The renowned chassid Rabbi Moshe Meisels of Vilna, youngest of Rabbi Shneur Zalman’s disciples, once told Rabbi Eizik of Homel: “The aleph of Chassidus saved me from a certain death.”
What was he referring to?
Reb Moshe, an extremely learned man, was fluent in German, Russian, Polish and French. During Napoleon’s war on Russia he served as a translator for the French High Command. The Alter Rebbe had charged him to associate with the French military officials, to attain a position in their service, and to convey all that he learned to the commanders of the Russian army. Within a short while Reb Moshe had succeeded in gaining the favor of the chief commanders of Napoleon’s army and was privy to their most secret plans.
“The High Command of the French army was meeting,” related Reb Moshe “and hotly debating the maneuvers and the arrangement of the flanks for the upcoming battle. The maps were spread on the floor, and the generals were examining the roads and trails, unable to reach a decision. Time was short. Tomorrow, or, at the very latest, the day after, the battle on the environs of Vilna must begin.
“They were still debating when the door flew open with a crash. The guard stationed inside the door was greatly alarmed and drew his revolver. So great was the commotion, that everyone thought that the enemy had burst in in an attempt to capture the French Chief Command...
“But it was Napoleon himself who appeared in the doorway. The Emperor’s face was dark with fury. He stormed into the room and
raged: ‘Has the battle been planned? Have the orders to form the flanks been issued?’
“ ‘And who is this stranger?!’ he continued, pointing to me. In a flash he was at my side. ‘You are a spy for Russia!’ he thundered, and placed his hand upon my chest to feel the pounding heart of a man exposed.
“At that moment, the aleph of Chassidus stood by me. My mind commanded my heart to beat not an increment faster. In an unwavering voice I said: ‘The commanders of His Highness the Emperor have taken me as their interpreter, as I am knowledgeable in the languages crucial to the carrying out of their duties...’”
Reb Moshe ended by remarking: “The (Alter) Rebbe taught us that the aleph of Chassidus is to use our natural traits and instincts in avoda. The beginning of avoda is to employ the natural characteristics of man’s powers, for example the natural dominion of mind over heart.*
(Hayom Yom 19 Adar II; Igros of the Rebbe Rayatz Vol. 3 p. 313, translated in “Once Upon a Chassid”)
THE ALTER REBBE “BEINONI”
The Alter Rebbe farbrenged with his Chassidim on Yud-Tes Kislev and said about himself, “Like me, a Beinoni.” The Chassid, R’ Mordechai of Liepli said, “Rebbe, I also am not a Rasha...”
The Alter Rebbe said, “A Beinoni is an entire world,” or in another version, “Within ‘Beinoni’ there are many levels, 500 levels.”
(Ramach Osiyos, ch. 187)
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