Courage In The Darkness

We have been presented, in the recent weeks and months, with striking portraits of courage: from the gutsy hostages who have emerged from hell with dignity and grit, to the heroic soldiers who have marched into the line of fire to protect us from a barbarous enemy. At times of crisis and upheaval, we witness acts of bravery and fortitude that stagger the mind and force us to wonder if we would be able to comport ourselves so valiantly in the face of such brutality and terror.

In less tumultuous times, each of us faces more internal and personal anxieties on a regular and perhaps even daily basis. Fear is a shadow that follows us through the uncertainty of this world. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but we do know all too well that there are harsh and dark forces that swarm around us and threaten our safety and well-being. Yet there is a way for us to overcome fear and to maintain confidence in spite of the ever-present dangers and challenges.

In parshas Bo, God instructs Moses to go to Pharaoh again and to warn him of the final plagues that will occur if he continues to refuse to let the Hebrew people go. Though Moses had confidently confronted Pharaoh multiple times already, this time he hesitates. The Sages recognize this hesitation in the specific wording of God’s instruction: “Vayomer A-donai el Moshe BO el Paro/And God said to Moses, come to Pharaoh” (Exodus 10:1). The verse is typically translated as “go to Pharaoh,” but the word “bo” means “to come,” and the verse therefore literally means “come to Pharaoh.”

The Zohar (II, 34a) asks why God invites Moses here to “come” to Pharaoh, rather than commanding him to “go” to Pharaoh. It answers that Moses was afraid because unlike previous meetings in which he encountered only Pharaoh’s physical presence, God was instructing Moses here to penetrate to Pharaoh’s core, which is referred to as the “mighty snake.” In order to defeat Pharaoh completely, Moses would have to get to his root and essence. Though he had confronted Pharaoh’s imposing physical presence until now, Moses feared the deepest, darkest levels of the spiritual evil that Pharaoh represented. Therefore, God told him “come,” I will go with you and you will have nothing to fear.

With the reassurance of God’s accompaniment, Moses penetrates to Pharaoh’s deepest levels. There he finds not the fearful serpent that he had expected, but, to his astonishment, only God. He discovers that God is at the source and center of all things, even the most apparently “evil” and “ungodly” aspects of creation. God instructs Moses to “come” not only because He will accompany him to Pharaoh’s depths, but because He is already there, beckoning Moses to come find Him. This is the revelation that enables Moses to overcome Pharaoh – that Pharaoh too, in his innermost essence, is only Godliness.

When we are conscious of God’s absolute Oneness – the reality that there is absolutely nothing other than Him – then regardless of where we are sent, we will go there with confidence, and no matter what we encounter there, we will work to reveal its inherent divinity. Drawing courage from the Godliness that resides deep within us, we will be able to transform all of the darkness we confront into the pure unadulterated Godliness that it has always been, and that it has always been waiting to express.

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Excerpted in part from Pnei Hashem, an introduction to the deepest depths of the human experience based on the esoteric teachings of Torah.  www.pneihashem.com