Being a Stick? It Really Makes Life Easier!

The world we live in is called the world of action, and in such a world, it is easy for a person to walk upright and mistakenly conclude that everything they have done, do, and will do here happens because of them.<\/p>

They may dangerously allow the illusion that their very existence depends on their livelihood, or the illusion that their health relies on the best doctors who they entrusted with their body, to overshadow the clarity of their thinking.<\/p>

For it is as clear as day to them that the house they reside in is the result of endless activities and respectable salaries that allowed them the means to achieve what they desired and indeed achieved.<\/p>

This also applies to their car, social status, and even wisdom.<\/p>

To them, everything here is thanks to them, an outcome of their personality, and yes - also thanks to their parents who enabled them to be here as part of the weave.<\/p>

And their parents are who they are because of themselves as well.<\/p>

In such a world, it is very easy for a person to claim their successes as their own, while it is very difficult for them to internalize that they are merely guided by a higher power that operates them, that they merely shine from an external source. The understanding that their entire existence depends solely on a divine will that decreed or allowed them to be here, belittles their perception compared to their reality.<\/p>

Did we say difficult?<\/p>

So what can really make this essential understanding easier to grasp? And what will make it a significant part of our perception of ourselves and our role in this world?<\/p>

If this intriguing question opens up new thoughts for you, you are invited to delve into it, and you might be surprised to see just how easy it really is, and how holding onto a stick can indeed lighten your burden.<\/p>

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The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot states (5, 6): "Ten things were created at twilight of Shabbat eve... and the staff".<\/p>

In the Book of Exodus, Parashat Va'era, we are first introduced to that staff/stick and can observe it closely, both externally and intrinsically.<\/p>

So what really is hidden in the story of Moses' staff? How did that staff come into the hands of Moses our teacher? And what is the difference between the insights he held which allowed him to hold the staff, and those the nations held which prevented them from using it? And why was it created specifically at twilight?

A look into Parashat Va'era in the Book of Exodus can broaden our perspective, truly understanding the value of the staff and consequently gripping it as tightly as possible.<\/p>

Moses our teacher, who was chosen to lead the Jewish people, represent them before Pharaoh, lead them through the Red Sea, and fight against Amalek, held throughout all these events the "staff".<\/p>

That staff which was created at twilight of Shabbat eve initially served Adam, transferred to Noah, passed to Shem, to Abraham, through Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and from there to Jethro's garden.<\/p>

When the Kenite heroes attempted to uproot it from its place, they could not, only Moses was able to hold it, and this staff also served Aaron the Priest, down to David, through the other kings, until the destruction of the Temple.<\/p>

It turns out that holding the staff is not a simple request at all!<\/p>

A staff is called so because of the action done with it, "tilting".<\/p>

It can be tilted to any side we wish.<\/p>

A stick – is the way to describe it as an object, an artifact.<\/p>

The stick allows you to do whatever you desire with it, without any resistance, and moreover, it never has the ability to feel it is something special, even if you perform extraordinary acts with it like signs and wonders, or splitting a sea in two.<\/p>

It is in your hand like clay in a potter's hand, a means to achieve your goal, and insignificant in your presence.<\/p>

It operates as a result of the power exerted on it, not from its essence or nature.<\/p>

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So what is the secret and foundation of the stick?<\/strong><\/h3>

"And Hashem said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' and he said, 'A staff'" (Exodus 4:2). Did Hashem not see what was in Moses' hand?<\/p>

Rather, Hashem wishes to instill in Moses the insight that can and should be learned from the stick.<\/p>

Just before, with the staff, Moses is about to tilt and strike ten plagues before the Egyptians, just before he is about to split the sea for the Israelites, just before he is about to fight Amalek, Hashem asks Moses to stop and observe the non-inherent power of this stick. It has nothing of its own. Hashem wants Moses to feel that he is a simple stick, just like that stick... just a small reminder before all the "show" you are about to perform, remember – you and the stick are equal, and like it, you act only as a result of that power exerted on you. Like it, you are null compared to that divine reality far above you.<\/p>

This is Moses' strength and greatness, the leader of the chosen people, to feel that after going above and beyond, he and the stick are equal.<\/p>

Everything you do is just like the stick, receiving instructions from above and executing them, and therefore the shape of the stick is like the letter "Vav". There is a continuation that acts upon you from a higher power, much higher than you, to which you, here below – are nullified.<\/p>

When a person understands and internalizes that they are a stick, it eases their conduct here below, their attitude, and their ability to cope with the crises they face.<\/p>

If they mistakenly think that everything is under their control and responsibility, they might end up working tirelessly, striving to achieve their desires, securing the best for themselves, fighting for everything they believe they deserve, and even mistakingly claiming to everyone that they are merely "making efforts".<\/p>

And of course, in their eyes, it is not "excessive".<\/p>

Such a person's end is to encounter countless disappointments and failures, witnessing the shattering of all their desires before their eyes. For whoever throws the staff, the stick to the ground and does not understand the secret and foundation that it is merely a stick, will quickly witness how this stick turns into a snake, a symbol of impurity, a symbol of distancing from the source of good and abundance.<\/p>

And if a person has already thrown the stick, abandoned the factual and transparent insight, they should not fall or flee from that snake, as it was said about Moses "and Moses fled from before it" (Exodus 4:3) but now the time has come, after the fall, to adopt the mindset that was set aside.<\/p>

Seize the snake's tail so that it turns back into a stick. Because the point of the fall is the point of rising, and this was Hashem's instruction to Moses, from which we must learn to seize the point of the fall, to understand it was created by the casting away of the stick, the disconnect from the notion that one is merely a stick and that everything comes from a higher source – and from that point to grow upwards, refine within you that simple insight that all human actions here derive from an inner and divine force that Hashem instilled, and nothing comes from oneself.<\/p>

Such an insight was difficult for the Kenite heroes to reach, because it requires the nullification of the self, and it is known that the soul of a gentile is merely animalistic. It is difficult for it not to see itself as an independent entity, living, breathing, striving to provide for itself and believing that it all depends – only on itself!

And because those "heroes" did not have that understanding, they had no power to uproot the staff from its place until Moses came and took it.<\/p>

That stick, weighing 40 se'ah (Exodus Rabbah 8:3), is the measure of purification in water. When holding onto these insights, they purify our soul from within, instilling in us an inner, true, and deep view of reality, allowing us to surpass, with much greater ease, the crises lying in wait.<\/p>

It is no coincidence it was created at twilight of Shabbat eve, a time particularly prone to falls and pitfalls. Because when a person knows, internalizes, and understands that they are merely a stick – it allows them to accept everything with love, to behave forgivingly towards reality, to embrace it and flex with it, since reality is Hashem's word, and they – the person – merely operate within it and nullify themselves to it.<\/p>

And if they do so, they will succeed in not claiming the powers emanating from them as their own, and thus neither their successes nor their failures.<\/p>

They understand they are merely a stick, receiving instructions and nullifying themselves to execute them in the best possible way.<\/p>

Because being a stick truly eases one's journey, and it is also a request from G-d.<\/p>

Inspired by the "Path of the Baal Shem Tov" newsletter.<\/strong><\/p>

Inbal Elhayani, <\/strong>M.A<\/strong> is a certified therapist in <\/strong>NLP<\/strong>, mindfulness, and guided imagery.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>