A man is stuck in a flood after a tsunami, barely keeping his head above the water to breathe. The current carries him by a house completely drowned in water, but on top of the house is another man holding a mop. The man with the mop calls out, “grab the mop and I will save!” To which the drowning man replied, “it is OK, G-d will save me!”

The current carries the drowning man farther until he passes by a woman on an inflatable raft. She calls out to the man, saying, “Hop on!” The man replies with his usual response, “I am OK, G-d will save me!”

Again the man is floating along, barely holding on to life. Above him he sees a rescue helicopter and the rescuer launches a ladder for the man to climb up. The man calls up to the rescue team, “I am fine! G-d will save me!”

Eventually the man drowns and dies. He ascends to heaven and approaches is final judgement. He pointed out to G-d that he was extremely pious and believed in G-d but that in the end G-d didn’t save him. G-d replied, “What are you talking about? I sent you a man on a house, a woman on a raft and even a helicopter!”

In this week’s parsha, Shemot, we see the Jews as slaves in Egypt. They cry out to G-d, and G-d hears their cries. Hashem turns Moshe from a prince of Egypt into a humble shepherd, and then sends him back to his homeland to save the Jewish people.

This parsha and story teaches us a very important lesson about living a religious, Jewish life. G-d is here for us, and he will send us what we need, but often what we need passes us by because we are looking for something else. It is our job, not Hashem’s, to locate the gifts we are given and utilize them as they are meant to be used.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ari Zwiren