Jewish Heroism

בס"ד

What makes a hero ?

In Egypt, we find that while the Israelites were enslaved there was a tiered system. There were slaves and overseers. The slaves were answerable to the Jewish overseers who, in turn, were answerable to their Egyptian taskmasters.

When Moshe first requests that Pharaoh let the Jews go he is met by ridicule ("Who is the Hashem that I should listen to him?!"). He is also faced with a nasty reality. Rather than relenting, Pharaoh's cruel logic makes him impose even harsher tasks on the hapless Jewish slaves.

The Torah teaches us that the Jewish overseers performed heroically under these new, unreasonable, decrees. (See Shemos 5:14) In fact, for their heroics, they were later projected to roles of prominence in Jewish society.

Just what were these heroic acts in the face of the angered Egyptian taskmasters ? The Jewish overseers took the beating meant for the slaves. They realized that the goals and jobs set before their brothers were impossible. They endeavored to help them finish up – but when that proved untenable – they took responsibility, and the subsequent beating, in their brothers' stead.

A Jewish hero is not necessarily one who triumphs with raw physical power. When it comes to strength, we know that Hashem has it covered more thoroughly than we ever could. So what does He leave for us ? To make the right and noble choice. It takes a bully to throw a punch – it takes a real hero to take one.

Let us use this week to increase our sense of responsibility for our fellow Jews – what can we do for them ? Regardless of who is at fault, or who should have done it – what can we do to alleviate a fellow Jew's hardship ?

This week we can all be heros.

Hatzlacha !!