Staff in Hand

20 Teves 5782

“Moses took the staff of G‑d in his hand.” (Shemos 4:20)

The Rebbe explains this verse in Chassidus, “Even though Moshe gave Pharaoh the honor due a king and spoke to him respectfully, he made no compromises in his demands concerning the people’s spiritual and physical needs. He spoke with ’the staff of G‑d in his hand,’ i.e., with authority and determination.”

“They will perish, but You will endure; all of them will wear out like a garment; You will exchange them like a robe, and they will vanish. But You remain the same; Your years will not end.” (Tehillim 102:27-28)

The lesson for us in this is that whenever we are confronted with an ‘Egyptian king,’ i.e., someone who seeks to impose upon us elements of a lifestyle that goes against our values and principles – whether through kindness or force – we must recognize the inherent danger in succumbing to such pressure. We must respectfully and resolutely decline, with the certainty that this culture, like all others that came before it, will in the end vanish.

Only our way, that of the Torah, will persevere. It will continue to give us life, no matter what the world around us looks like, and which cultural or political movement is currently on the rise. This certainty is the “staff of G-d” in our hand.

“The time [of prayer] is propitious for every man to ascend to a higher spiritual level.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 12)

We gain this certainty during our daily prayer, in which we - through careful preparation and tenacious concentration - connect with Hashem, binding our intellectual faculties, consisting of chochmah, binah, and daat to Him. We then bring this concentration into our daily life - our minor interactions, our business, our family - spreading positivity and awareness of the one true G-d.