Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

97
Beshalach
The Story that Should Have, Could Have, but Wasn’t
Rav Mordechai Kaplan
A s we have all experienced in our lifetimes, despite our great efforts to plan the
perfect plan, often times, for one reason or another, we have to divert to “Plan B.”
Although God is the Almighty and nothing stands in front of His will, God created
man who has free will to choose and make good decisions and bad decisions. Many
times throughout history, man has brought the world to God’s “Plan B.” Examples of
this are seen throughout the Tanach: for instance, the sin of Adam Ha-Rishon, the
Mabul, the sin of the Golden Calf, the sin of the spies, and the destruction of the two
Temples, just to name a few.
Another more discreet example of this is the events of Yetziat Mitzrayim. Based on
the teachings of Rav Menachem Leibtag we can reveal that the manner in which the
Jews were taken out of Mitzrayim was not God’s “Plan A” (keviachol); rather, due to
man’s free choice, God had to divert to “Plan B.”
Plan “A” is expressed in Parshat Va’era (6:5-8) where God says He will remember
the brit with Avraham and free the Jewish people in order that they will recognize
that “I am God.” Within these three pesukim of the “leshonot of Geula” we find “Ani
Hashem” mentioned three times, giving the clear message that Yetziat Mitzrayim will
occur in order to gain freedom and recognize the existence of God. Unfortunately, the
response of the Jewish people is, “השק הדובעמו חור רצקמ השמ לא ועמש אלו,“ “they did
not listen to Moshe because of shortness of breath and hard work” (6:9). The Jewish