Pessimism is a Downer

Parshat Beshalach

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

As they are being confronted by a pursuing Egyptian army, some of the Israelites turn to Moshe and say “We told you so!” Or, to be more precise in translating their words, “This is indeed the thing we told you of in Egypt, that we are better off serving Egypt than dying in the wilderness.” As to what they actually told him in Egypt, most sources point to Shemos 5:21 when, after hearing their workload has gotten harder since they will no longer be provided with straw, the people say “May God look upon you and judge, for you have brought us into foul odor in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to place a sword into their hand[s] to kill us.” The Pesikta describes their “journey” in this way: “First we were pained in Egypt on account of our slavery. Then the deaths of our brethren during the 3 days of darkness hit us, which was more painful than slavery. And now we perceive our own pending death in the wilderness as even worse than the deaths of our brethren in Egypt, for they were buried, and in this wilderness, who will bury us?” [The reference to darkness is a line of thinking in the Midrash that the Israelites who were unworthy or who did not want to leave Egypt died during the Plague of Darkness, so the Egyptians would not see the devastation wrought against the Israelites during those 3 days.]

Surely there is an element of human nature on display here, whether it’s wistful nostalgia for the olden days, a grim look at the present in comparing it to the past, or a simple pessimism that apparently things DO always get worse. 

This sentiment is addressed by some of the commentaries on the Torah. Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrachi, a super-commentary on Rashi (commentary on a commentary) notes the 5:21 quote mentioned above as to when they told Moshe in Egypt of how bad things were indicating that when they said “you are putting a sword in their hand…” they were not indicating that it is better for us to be enslaved in Egypt than to die in the wilderness. After all, at that point they were still in Egypt, and the prospect of possibly dying in the wilderness was not an option yet. AND their brethren hadn’t died in Darkness yet. In fact, none of the plagues had taken place yet at that point. 

 What they are saying here is that “what we said at that time turned out to be correct. You had made things worse for us in Egypt through causing our labor to be harder. Subsequent to that, we’ve seen our brethren die in the Darkness, and we are about to be killed ourselves. Everything was much better before you (Moshe) showed up and only made things worse than our original status quo.” 

It’s amazing how slaves can be so beaten down that their reality of slavery, of no hope, of a seemingly endless road to nowhere can come to be accepted as “normal” and something which is “good.” Certainly when people are optimistic about their abysmal conditions, they may say “Things can always be worse.” But these texts indicate that it’s only when things get worse that in hindsight people appreciate how the previous “bad” was “better” than what we are facing now. 

 Kli Yakar notes the reality that when Pharaoh made the labor more intense back in Chapter 5, he did not make any decrees of genocide. Their claim “to put a sword in their hands to kill us” was not only an exaggeration, but it was a lie. In their defense, perhaps their backbreaking labor is compared to a sword, and making their labor harder will inevitably lead to more deaths, even if there isn’t a specific genocidal campaign against them. 

Kli Yakar suggests that they indicated both that Pharaoh did not send them, and he made them into further pariahs through how the Egyptians perceive them (“into foul odor in the eyes of the Egyptians”). Continuing the thought process of how Pharaoh will perceive them, “You told Pharaoh we’d be celebrating God in the wilderness, but now Pharaoh perceives that we are not coming back altogether. Undoubtedly this will cause him to chase after us! In other words, this method of deception is as if you have put a sword in their hands with designs on killing us. Now that we see them actually chasing, whatever had been held in check is now part of history. NOW, Egypt is looking for blood.” 

 Alternatively, “now that we see how about our situation outside of Egypt is, we should have noted how much better things were for us in Egypt. We are only noticing and realizing this now.” 

As noted above, this is human nature. While some people are very good about living in the moment and appreciating God’s hand in every aspect of life, some only notice the things they missed earlier when the moment is gone, or when it is too late. 

 It is hard to tell a pessimist to be an optimist, just as it is hard to encourage an optimist to be pessimistic. We can’t make an extrovert be introverted, and good luck trying to get the introvert to be an extrovert. It’s not that passion can’t push a person beyond natural limitations, but looking to change someone’s nature is very difficult, if not impossible. 

 When we consider the viewpoint expressed by the Midrash, that in hindsight, things are only getting worse, we see a perspective that Moshe challenges and dismisses. 

 Forget about Egypt and what you perceive! As you see Egypt today, you will not see them again! In other words, things are getting better! Not only is slavery over, but you are free… free to move into the sea and see God’s mighty hand, free to move on from slavery, free to do many things you’ve thought are forbidden, free to choose to have God in your life, free to raise your children, free to educate your children, free to be free of being owned by the State. 

 It is not the intention to change anyone’s nature in this essay. But perhaps Moshe Rabbenu’s message to the people he addresses is “Don’t be SO pessimistic. Not every charge, not every perceived outcome turns out the way you think it will be.” 

Such is life. We do our part, we trust that God will carry us the rest of the way, and we must always always always hope and pray for the best. There is an old line (which I am slightly modifying), “For those who don’t believe, there are no answers. For those who believe, there aren’t really any questions.” 

 Moshe Rabbenu was trying to teach the Bnei Yisrael to believe, because there shouldn’t really be questions. And of course the outcome of what followed this incredible tale is “And they believed in God, and in Moshe His servant.”