The Torah, “Exodus” 2:23: And it came to pass in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. We should understand that we have to look inside, not outside, ourselves. This is my Pharaoh and my Egypt and it is all inside me. However, I want to build a new self inside me and in order to do so, I have to work hard and kill certain desires inside me and make them collide with one another.

Imagine Moses’ state, the tiny spark of bestowal that grew in the huge ego called Pharaoh’s palace.

The time comes and the king of Egypt dies and I am in the state in which my ego finally dies. I understand that there is no use for it and I want to be free of it, but in the meantime, I cannot. I see that this ego is dead. I want to escape it, but I don’t know how to break free of it.

“That the king of Egypt died,” means that the ego ceased to exist, just as people die in our world. It ceases to exist only in my eyes, in my assessment, and it loses its control over me. I don’t want to be its slave! It still dominates me, but it is already against my will. As far as I am concerned, it dies as other great rulers do and I no longer take it into account.

I cannot be free of its control as yet, but I no longer consider it great and don’t agree to respect it and perform all its caprices. I am no longer its loyal slave.

Look at the world and how people try and do everything for their ego. If they only knew that it is a stranger to them. If only they understood and saw that they are working for a liar who cunningly takes everything they earn from morning to night by their hard work. A person tries and makes efforts, but 99% of the fruit of his hard work is stolen from him by Pharaoh who only leaves him miserable crumbs so that he will not die and continue working day after day.

Everything is arranged and organized around a person. Television, advertising, the press, and elections operate in order to make him a slave who has no way of escaping. But gradually, a person begins to understand that he is a slave, and this is what is now happening to the Israeli nation. A person realizes that he has to break free and escape this vicious circle, but he doesn’t know how.

This is very similar to our current situation; we realize that if we leave things the way they are, we will bury ourselves in our ego, but we don’t know how to escape. We need the force of Moses!
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From KabTV’s “The Torah Chapters with Shmuel Vilozny,” 12/15/14

Related Material:
Nobody Holds Us Up In Egypt
The King Of Egypt Died!
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