In an ironic twist of hashgachah, below is the assignment my lecturer required for “Individual Intervention” class. Maybe I’ll update later with the comments and grade he gives…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rashi on this verse explains that the iron furnace serves to purify iron of its impurities. The message of this verse is that the slavery in Egypt was not just bondage, it served to rectify negative aspects the Jewish people had that could impair them in their mission in receiving the Torah and doing God\u2019s will. The exile to Egypt was not happenstance, or a mere punishment \u2013 it was an ends in itself that had a purpose and direction.
\nAlong these lines, the Michtav Me\u2019Eliyahu explains that the Jewish people needed to be able to experience what it is to have a master, to be completely beholden to a higher authority. Only in this way would they later be able to accept and follow the Torah \u2013 instructions given by God.<\/p>\n
This idea would seem in contradiction with the Mishna in Mesechet Avot:<\/p>\n
“\u05d7\u05b8\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05e2\u05dc \u05d4\u05dc\u05d5\u05d7\u05d5\u05ea” – “\u05d0\u05dc \u05ea\u05e7\u05e8\u05d0 ‘\u05d7\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea’ \u05d0\u05dc\u05d0 \u05d7\u05d9\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea, \u05e9\u05d0\u05d9\u05df \u05dc\u05da \u05d1\u05df \u05d7\u05d5\u05e8\u05d9\u05df \u05d0\u05dc\u05d0 \u05de\u05d9 \u05e9\u05e2\u05d5\u05e1\u05e7 \u05d1\u05ea\u05dc\u05de\u05d5\u05d3 \u05ea\u05d5\u05e8\u05d4, \u05e9\u05db\u05dc \u05de\u05d9 \u05e9\u05e2\u05d5\u05e1\u05e7 \u05d1\u05ea\u05d5\u05e8\u05d4, \u05d4\u05e8\u05d9 \u05d6\u05d4 \u05de\u05ea\u05e2\u05dc\u05d4.”<\/p>\n
Engraved on the tablets\u2026\u201d Do not read the verse \u201cengraved,\u201d rather \u201cfreedom.\u201d For there is no free man besides he who is involved with Torah study, for anyone who is involved with Torah, behold he is exalted.<\/em> In his famous essay \u201cEgo Distortion in Terms of Real and False Self,\u201d Winnicott elaborates on the nature and source of a person\u2019s false self, as opposed to his real self. He explains that as a child we have natural, spontaneous, body-centered and creative expressions of self \u2013 actions that come from the True self. When we see that others don\u2019t approve of, or respond to these self-expressions, we develop other ways of acting which are more in line with the expectations of our caretakers and people in our environment. In his essay Winnicott does not differentiate between the True self\u2019s aspects of spontaneous spirituality and connection to divine, vs. spontaneous creative desire for physical and earthly pleasures. The True self is defined as essentially the self of creative and spontaneous expression \u2013 simply that. He mentions the physical aspect, but not to the exclusion of other aspects. (Perhaps in another article he does make a dichotomy, I\u2019m not aware of this.) In an ironic twist of hashgachah, below is the assignment my lecturer required for “Individual Intervention” class. Maybe I’ll update later with the comments and grade he gives…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42,"url":"https:\/\/growingupwithtorah.shmuelelbinger.com\/index.php\/2013\/04\/10\/chapter-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":272,"position":0},"title":"Chapter One, Part One","date":"April 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Power of a Question Why do Jews always answer a question with a question? Why not? Questioning has always been a very important part of being Jewish. All of the Talmud, the combined Oral Law as transmitted by the Sages, is written in a question and answer style. Most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "God's Plan Book"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":120,"url":"https:\/\/growingupwithtorah.shmuelelbinger.com\/index.php\/2013\/04\/30\/raising-up-our-intent\/","url_meta":{"origin":272,"position":1},"title":"A Happy Wife a Happy Life – Making it L'shmah","date":"April 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I wish I remembered how this came to me, but I recently had a great insight worth sharing. I think I was learning a Rambam from Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah for my MJI class. It's about l'shmah, relationships, and growing up. 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When we understand basically what we're doing here,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "God's Plan Book"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":208,"url":"https:\/\/growingupwithtorah.shmuelelbinger.com\/index.php\/2013\/07\/26\/hodaah-gratitude-saving-the-world-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":272,"position":3},"title":"Ho'da'ah – Gratitude – Saving the World, Part 1","date":"July 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've mentioned that I'm in a course that teaches using Torah principles in counseling and couching. My coaching buddy \"Medium sized Mike,\" has been encouraging me to go forward on my writing projects. One of them was a little pamphlet I'd like to publish on Ho'da'ah. It's based on a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":164,"url":"https:\/\/growingupwithtorah.shmuelelbinger.com\/index.php\/2013\/07\/07\/a-need-to-be-negative\/","url_meta":{"origin":272,"position":4},"title":"A Need to be Negative","date":"July 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm starting to see a pattern here. Recently I realized that my \"constructive criticism\" is missing on the constructive side. Please bear with the\u00a0 kind of personal nature of this post - you'll get your profound Torah wisdom at the end, I promise (hope). I guess you can skip if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/growingupwithtorah.shmuelelbinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Mashiach-Painting-2-300x218.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":154,"url":"https:\/\/growingupwithtorah.shmuelelbinger.com\/index.php\/2013\/06\/11\/i-wish-i-was-someone-else\/","url_meta":{"origin":272,"position":5},"title":"I Wish I Was Someone Else…","date":"June 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"so I could be sameach b'chelki (happy with my lot\/portion). That's what I quipped to my friend at the yeshivah while discussing jealousy, and its root in a lack of bitachon\/faith. 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\nThe final goal of leaving Egypt was to receive the Torah, to give us true freedom. Freedom to choose. Freedom to be in line with one\u2019s higher self. The freedom to express our love and thanks for our Creator with the Mitvahs. How then is learning subservience to a master, which we have noted was a goal of the exile, in line with ultimate outcome, the exodus, and becoming free?<\/p>\nFree Self, Enslaved Self<\/h2>\n
\nWinnicott describes varying levels of identification of Self with False Self, from extreme pathology to healthy range. In the case of the most pathological, the False Self totally takes over the person, and he is just a reflection of what others want him to be \u2013 a type of slave to his environment. On the other end of the spectrum, as a healthy reaction, this False Self enables a person to interact with others effectively, and thus helps him achieve expression of his True self, similar to how the healthy ego can regulate and manage its environment in order to fulfill id needs in Freud\u2019s structural model. (Although in Freud\u2019s model the ego always interacts with reality to balance id and superego needs with reality. Here, the False self only takes on a similar function in full health.)
\nThis idea of Winnicott sheds light on our dilemma above. In Winnicott\u2019s model the False Self and the True Self do not have to be at odds, it is possible for the False Self to help facilitate the True Self\u2019s meaningful, creative expression. The outside mandated reactions of the False self instead of enslavement, can serve to facilitate the expression of the True self\u2026 Bondage thus serving freedom.<\/p>\nA Synthesis of Ideas, Above and Below, Perspective and True Freedom<\/h2>\n
\nHowever, In the Torah model there is a clear differentiation. The yetzer hara<\/em> is not considered the true essence of the person, and is not ultimately the True self. To the Torah perspective, although it is internal, the yetzer hara<\/em> represents a type of outside influence, outside to the True self of the soul. So it would be more accurate to say (or at least a useful model for understanding the Mishnah) that the yetzer hara<\/em> positively reinforces earthly physicality and disconnection to spirit with its promises of pleasure and pain, just as a child\u2019s first caretaker may respond in different ways (good enough) to allow for true self responses, or to generate false self (not good enough). From the Torah perspective, the yetzer hara<\/em> functions as an outside influence that can lead to creation of the false self, to varying levels of health.
\nThe Mishnah doesn\u2019t mean that one who studies Torah is \u201cexalted,\u201d \u05de\u05ea\u05e2\u05dc\u05d4 should be translated \u201clifts himself up.\u201d With the Torah, we are able to have the perspective we need to see that the yetzer hara<\/em> and earthly connections are not who we really are. We see that we can form a way of reacting and being, a healthy false self, that helps us to channel our earthly aspects, and positively interact with the world in a way that will help us express our highest true self, express our souls by bringing spirituality into this world. It is thus possible to make the yetzer hara not only \u201cgood-enough\u201d but very good, tov meod<\/em>!
\nThis can only be done with the proper perspective of the Torah, and it is a constant job, a constant occuptation, requiring us to learn perspective from the Torah, but also to have discipline and to serve Hashem, to stick to a plan, so that the influence of our earthly selves does not become our master, and we do not become a slave to our false self, the over identification with the influence of the yetzer hara<\/em>. Thus serving a higher ideal is the means that facilitates our higher expression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"