At the end of last week’s Parsha, after Pharaoh wholeheartedly disregards him, Moshe approaches Hashem with a broken heart and cries, “Why have You wronged this nation?”

In Perek 51 of Tehillim, David HaMelech writes that, more than anything else, HaShem desires a “Ruach Nishbara,” a “broken spirit.” Such a state is as valuable—as recognized and as heard—as any Korban offered to HaShem. The Midrash points out that, while something broken usually disqualifies a Korban, a broken spirit is the greatest Korban one can bring! As the Kotzker Rebbe used to say, “אין שלם מלב שבור,” “There is nothing as whole as a broken heart.”

The Shem MiShmuel quotes this Midrash and adds that the breaking of the heart is just like the removal of the Orlah at a Brit Milah—it’s a validation, not a disqualification! It’s the whole heart that’s disqualified. That’s why Moshe, whose heart is externally broken, is really the one with the heart that is whole at its core, and Pharaoh, whose heart is externally whole, is the real בעל מום.
We should all have the privilege of having a broken heart, in the truest sense of the term!

At the end of the parasha, we encounter the plague of hail. Pharaoh requests that Moshe, “Plead to HaShem that He end the thunder and hail, and I’ll send you from here; you need not stay any longer.” And the Torah tells us “And Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had ceased, and he continued to sin.” Why does the order of thunder and hail flip? First, thunder comes before hail; then, hail comes before thunder.

Rabbi Karhi explains: The only thing that really bothered Pharaoh was the thunder, which the Torah calls, “the sounds of G-d.” While hail, at the end of the day, is just water, the “sounds of G-d” search out your heart and ask that you change and improve. And that’s what scared Pharaoh! So, when he asks for the plagues to stop, the first thing he mentions is the thunder, the “sounds of G-d.” And once they ceased, “he continued to sin.” But for Bnei Yisrael, the thunder was medicinal. Because, for a Jew, there is nothing sweeter than the sound of G-d! So, when the plague stopped, the thunder ended last.

We should be blessed to always hear G-d speaking to us!

The Redemption is very connected to our eyes and how we use them. As it’s written, “Our eyes should behold our merciful return to Zion,” and “Eye after eye will witness the return of HaShem to Zion,” and “Our eyes will see Your Kingship.”

Reb Shlomo explains, in the name of Rav Kook, that there are eyes of exile and there are eyes of Eretz Yisrael. Our exile is represented by Mitzrayim (Egypt), the root of all exiles. Mitzrayim comes from the word tzar, or narrow. Someone with narrow vision sees only the obstacles of life and takes the pessimistic view. Eretz Yisrael, in contrast, is connected to the idea of seeing G-d in everything and to the idea of G-dly vision and eyes of Emunah. 

The Chalban explains that we will be redeemed in the merit of our Emunah, like the Baal Shem Tov’s teaching that Emunah (אמונה) is made up of the first letters of the passuk in Yechezkel, ״נִפְתְּחוּ֙ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וָאֶרְאֶ֖ה מַרְא֥וֹת אֱלֹהִֽים״/ “the heavens opened, and I saw visions of God.” If we have Emunah, the Heavens open up to shower us with blessing. But Chazal teach also that HaShem rewards and punishes “measure for measure.” If someone doesn’t believe in Him, G-d forbid, the pipes of Divine aid are closed off…
On the other hand, the hardships of life are themselves our salvation, only we can’t see it yet. But a believer understands that they’re being saved. A believer only asks to see the good, to see, as wrote above, “visions of G-d.”

We should all be blessed to see the extent to which our Emunah opens up the Heavens!