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BSHALACH
The Pharaoh of Egypt has finally relented and freed the Jewish people from their centuries of slavery and persecution and allowed them to leave his country. Even though he was forced to do so by continuing plagues and disasters that fell upon him and his people, nevertheless freeing the Jewish people was a noble thing that he accomplished. Yet, as is the want of all tyrants and evil people, he does not view his behavior and action as being noble and praiseworthy. Instead he is convinced that he has made a grave error and in order to correct that mistake, immobilizes his army in order to force the Jewish people back into Egyptian slavery.
He has second thoughts about what he did and is determined to revert once again to tyranny and murder in order to “correct” his previous error. It is this process of regretting the good and repeating the evil that will prove to be his ultimate undoing.
In Judaism, second thoughts and regret are usually reserved for the process of repentance for misdeeds and earlier mistakes and sins. The first step in the process of repentance is experiencing full and sincere regret at having been guilty of wrong behavior and forbidden actions. Second thoughts are reserved for good and for improvement, not for backtracking and sorrow over what one has done in his or her life.
The reason that regret can transform previous wrongs into positive action and serve as a token of forgiveness for that action is that second thoughts, the true reflection of what we believe and feel, reveal our true intent and our inner desires. If we are able to regret evil that means that we are determined to pursue good and therefore the Lord will accept, so to speak, our wishes and convert the previous fall into a positive step, in the direction of obedience and holiness.
The Pharaoh’s second thoughts reveal his true nature and what he felt and desired. He never intended to release the Jewish people from bondage and only did so under the pressure of the death of the firstborn in the Egyptian nation. However, once that initial shock was removed and his true nature began to exhibit itself, Pharaoh pursues the children of Israel and is determined to destroy them and bring them back into Egyptian slavery.
The Torah teaches us here that our second thoughts in life reveal to a great extent who we are and what path in life we wish to pursue. Many times we are forced to do good things because of social pressures and other unholy motives. When these disappear so does our desire to do good. And the same is true in the opposite vein.
Sometimes we are forced to do things that are really repugnant to us because of outside pressures that we cannot control. But we regret having done so because our inner self only desires good and a sincere attachment to God and His Torah. So, to a great extent, it is our second thoughts that reveal our true selves and reveal to all who we really are.
Shabbat shalom
Rabbi Berel Wein
