HUMAN CAPACITY FOR RENEWAL AND GROWTH

Dear Family,

I hope that everyone is keeping well.

Mazal Tov again to Shlomo Kehaty on his beautiful opsherin this week. He has grown up overnight with his haircut, new kappel and tzitzis BH. Wishing Mendel and Freida much continued nachas!

Thanks Sid, for supplying more information for the Family Tree from your side, which Kevin has now updated, and he has also updated Avri onto the Group. Many thanks Kevin! See updated Family Tree attached.

I saw an interesting article from Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz on this week's Parshah, Vaera, which gives a deep insight into human nature, which I would like to share.

A number of the current Parshiot centre on the protracted confrontation between G-d (through Mosheh) and Pharoah, and it is Pharoah's complex character that catches our attention.

This battle draws us to reflect more deeply into human nature, and our own natures.

Pharoah grew up believing he was a god, with a very strong preconceived world view and value system, and he was defiant, with a hardened heart, against any change to his status quo from Mosheh and Hashem.

The Kotzker Rebbe points out that Pharoah's continued defiance against each plague and miracle, one after another, reflects his resolute commitment to his worldview

Pharoah goes through a life-changing ordeal.

He suddenly experiences thunder and lightning, with strange things falling from the heavens, etc, the likes of which he has never experienced in his life, and he is seized with terror.

He begins to think, for the first time (after the 7th plague - of hail, where he acknowledges that "G-d is righteous"), that perhaps he is not a god. This marked a pivotal shift.

At that moment an abyss opens wide before him, and he asks himself: What have I done with my whole life? This was the beginning of deep remorse.

But the happy news is that it also serves as a reminder to us of the enduring human capacity for renewal and growth, even when there is profound 'failure'.

Pharoah's experience, even although it is an extreme example, is universal.

Only by questioning the broader framework of our existence, can we open ourselves to genuine change.

True Teshuvah demands an honest confrontation with the entirety of one's life and values.

Gut Shabbos and Gut Chodesh to all