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In this week's Parshas Shemos, we read in Shemot 2:23
ויהי בימים הרבים ההם וּימת מלך מצרים ויאנחו בני־ישראל מן־העבדה ויזעקו
ותעל שועתם אל־האלקים מן־העבדה
A long time after that, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites
were groaning under the bondage and cried out, and their cry
for help from the bondage rose up to God.
In this Pasuk we see the words מצרים מלך וימת The king of Egypt
died.
Rashi points out that פרעה didn’t die. He had Tzaraas, and he
would kill Jewish children and bathe in their blood as a cure for
the Tzaraas.
The Gaon of Vilna asks why this Pasuk calls him Melech.
There is a Medrish in Koheles Rabbah that says, Dovid is called
Melech Dovid 52 times. But when he passes away the Pasuk
says למות. He was not called David Hamelech. We see from the
Medresh that when someone is about to diet they are no longer
called Melech. No matter how much power or money someone
has they cannot interfere with the Melech Hamaves.
Rav Chaim of Volozhin writes in Ruach Chaim his commentary
on Pirkei Avos (4:1)
Wealth and honor are gifts from Hashem. The only aspect of
wealth that man can control is his attitude toward it. The Sages
said, "No man dies having acquired even half of his desires. For
one who owns 100 desires 200" (Midrash Koheles 1:34). A
wealthy man is one who has achieved his financial goals. Only
one who rejoices with his portion feels satisfied.
Rav Chaim gives a Mashul, If a pauper suddenly acquires great
wealth, he will rejoice in his good fortune and praise Hashem.
As time passes, however, he will forget his initial rush of joy
and no longer rejoice over his wealth. More than likely, he will
become frustrated over his inability to increase this wealth
even more.
However, if he constantly reminds himself that wealth is a
transient gift and that in one moment he could revert to his
former state of poverty, he will continuously rejoice over this
wealth. He will view every moment as if he had just found these
riches and will react accordingly.
The Mishna concludes by quoting the verse, "When you eat the
fruits of your labor, you are fortunate and it is good for you"
One who views his wealth as nothing more than his source of
food is fortunate even in this world, for he will be satisfied with
whatever he has. On the other hand, one who is dissatisfied
with his present and seeks to increase his wealth will never be
happy, for he will never fulfill his desires.
The question is how does this relate? It relates because we
cannot control everything that happens. If someone is a king
they think that they can control the world but truly it's the
opposite. Hashem runs the world and we do what our mission
is, and Hashem does the rest. So the real question is how do we
have this mindset? Through Peace of Mind.
Rav Eliezer Papo writes in Pele Yoetz “Parched bread with
serenity - without emotional stress and continuous pain and
fear - is better than riches with them.” He then writes about the
Pasuk, "And you will love the Lord, your G-d, with all of your
heart, with all of your soul..." (Devarim, 6:5) And quotes the
Gemara Brachos 61b, which says that you should still love
Hashem even if he takes your soul. Rav Papo asks who is the
person who can do this?
The person who gets rid of distractions and goes to learn
Torah. When we get rid of distractions we permit ourselves to
better understand our learning. But this does not mean we stop
learning Torah in order to gain peace of mind. We attain peace
of mind by learning Torah. The Gaon of Vilna writes in Even
Shleimah that the yetzer hara is a pestering fly, the way to stop
it from distracting us is by bringing it to the beis midrash. So
when we feel that the Yetzer hara is distracting us we should go
and learn for it will help us gain peace of mind.