Horse and its Rider

2 Shevat 5782

“The L-rd said to Moses, ‘I will bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go from here. When he lets you out, he will completely drive you out of here.’” (Shemos 11:1)

Rashi comments on an earlier verse that “the plague of the killing of the firstborn was equal in severity to all the other plagues combined” (Shemos 9:14). One might ask, “Why was the last plague, which only killed a small subset of the Egyptian population, worse than the destruction of Egypt’s entire crop and livestock, rendering it only a minor regional power, free to be conquered and subjugated at will?”

The Plague of the Firstborn attacked the very core of Egyptian society. Egyptian society was ruled by the firstborn. They held absolute power in the family unit and all positions of leadership in Egyptian society. In fact, Pharaoh was the firstborn of the firstborn of the firstborn. Thus the killing of the firstborn was a complete refutation of the Egyptian model of society.

The Netziv explains this using a verse from the Song at the Sea, “The horse and its rider He cast into the sea” (Shemos 15:1). He explains that this verse encapsulates the defeat of Egypt: the philosophy of the “horse and the rider.” As the rider rides on the subjugated horse, so must the rider listen to the officer, and that officer listen to the general, and that general listen to the commander-in-chief. They all followed blindly in the power-structure, and all together were they smitten and cast into the sea.

“Therefore, this 101st revision, which is beyond the normal practice to which the student has been accustomed since his childhood, is equivalent to all the previous one hundred revisions combined.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, end of Chapter 15)

Here too, lehavdil, the very last effort goes above and beyond the normal practice, refuting our previous spiritual standing, forcing us to exert ourselves by actively drawing upon the heart’s hidden love for G-d. By challenging our previous nature, the 101st revision encapsulates within it all the previous hundred revision combined. It complete nullifies our previous spiritual standing and lifts us up to a whole new level. We no longer follow blindly our second nature, like a horse under its rider, but actively challenge it, thereby rising to a new level of “he who serves G-d” (Malachi 3:18).

“Make known to me the path of life, that I may be satiated with the joy of Your presence, with the bliss of Your right hand forever.” (Tehillim 16:11)

All we can do is ask Hashem to lead us to the opportunities to rise above our own nature and give us the strength to recognize and pursue them when they come.