In the moment prior to Moshe stretching out his hand to bring the waters crashing down upon the pursuing Egyptians, they seem to make a confession and finally succumb to the reality of G-d’s sole control of the universe
ויסר את אפן מרכבתיו וינהגהו בכבדות ואמר מצרים אנוסה מפני בני ישראל כי ד' נלחם להם במצרים, He removed the wheels of their chariots and caused them to drive with heaviness, Egypt said, “I shall flee before Israel, for G-d is waging war for them against Egypt.” (שמות יד כה)
Rashi describes how the riders were suddenly tossed about in their horse drawn chariots that continued to move, bouncing along the rough seabed without any wheels, and their limbs consequently becoming dislocated. At this juncture they accepted G-d’s dominion.
Rashi further notes that the usage of the word בכבדות, literally with ‘heaviness’, in describing this now wheel less, but weighty chariot, ricocheting wildly off the rough and hard ground, battering its inhabitants harshly, is informative. It echoes the language the Torah used in describing the ‘hardening of the hearts of Pharaoh and his people’ in their refusal to release their Jewish slaves, as it says, ויכבד לבו הוא ועבדיו (שם ט לה), and he made his heart ‘heavy’, he and his servants. This is a fulfillment of G-d’s unique method of dispensing instructive punishment, ‘measure for measure’.
Yet, other than the use of similar language, these are two very distinct contexts and implications. The beating they took as a result of their lost wheel resulted in their chariot being weighted down heavily against the ground with the natural result of their being thrown wildly within their compartments. The ‘heavy’ heart reference though, is merely descriptive of their obstinacy, ‘weighed down’ by their stubbornness and unable to move from their positions.
Truth be told, the source for Rashi’s theory is the Mechilta who actually directs us to a totally other verse.
After Moshe makes his first foray in confronting Pharaoh to send the nation out, so that they may serve G-d, Pharaoh reacts by increasing the workload, as the verse states his order to, תכבד העבדה על האנשים ויעשו ואל ישעו בדברי שקר (שם ה ט), Let the work get ‘heavier’ upon the men and let them engage in it; and let them not pay attention to false words.
This parallels more closely the ‘heaviness’ of the earlier verse in that they both refer to the ‘heaviness’ of their ‘burdens’, be it being tossed about or breaking under a difficult load of work.
In either case, the question that begs is, what is implied in the metaphor of their pain; stubbornness; work, as being ‘heavy’? What is meant by describing suffering as ‘heavy’ that is not covered by simply portraying it as painful? In what way is the obstinacy in a person’s heart transformed into ‘heaviness’? Does ‘heavy’ work imply solely the transporting of denser and larger masses and the need to bear its weight with difficulty?
Weight is not really a characteristic inherent within an object but rather a measurement of the gravitational force upon it. The actual nature of an object relates to its mass not its weight. The same mass will weigh nothing in an environment totally removed from earth’s gravitational pull.
So when we speak of the weight of an item we are describing how much it is drawn by the force of earth’s gravity.
A wheel is a marvelous invention by which one can transport a large mass with relative ease. Normally a large and dense mass is difficult to lift because of the gravitational pull against earth. It is also extremely hard to push or pull because of the friction between the surface area of the object and the ground, that impedes the effect of any forceful movement pulling or pushing it. The brilliance in a wheel lies in its the reduction of surface friction. When a wheel is rolling along the ground, only a small fraction of the surface touches the ground at any one time. That reduces friction. It enables an outside force to face less resistance, causing it to ‘roll’ along with relative ease.
The Chasam Sofer teaches that man is comprised of three forces: צומחת, vegetative; חיונית, animative; שכלית, intellect. These correspond respectively to the chariot, its horse and rider. The chariot in ancient times was most often composed of materials that grow from the earth, i.e. trees. The horse represents power that gives the chariot ‘life’ in pulling it towards its objective, bringing its cargo to its destination. It is the rider through the power of his creative and intelligent choice that defines the goal and its meaningful purpose.
But too often in our fatal attraction to the gravitational pull towards earthly pleasures and instincts it can end up pulling the horse and its rider into the tumultuous sea, as it indeed transpired at the Red Sea.
The key to avoiding this ‘friction’ against earth lies in being able to minimize the surface that comes in contact to the earth, just like the wheel empowers us to transport even the densest of matter efficiently without its weighing us down.
The heaviness we confront in life is inevitably proportional to how much we allow ourselves to enter into its ‘gravitational’ pull.
The inability of this decadent Egyptian society to fathom the greatness of a Creator was attributed to the influence of their carnal desires that blinded them from seeing the truth. No wonder the Torah describes the ‘heaviness’ of their hearts as the metaphor for their being pulled deeply into the murky depths of earthliness and its temptations. They refused to relinquish material pleasures for the sake of matters of the spirit because they were weighed down by their desires.
When the Torah tells us early in the tale, how Pharaoh compels them to make the workload ‘heavier’ and ‘let them not pay attention to false words’, the Midrash tells us that this refers to their having had scrolls recording their tradition and heritage that they studied each Shabbos, to inspire themselves to keep away from outside influences and forces. It was this powerful inspirational study that Pharaoh feared and sought to quash by increasing the work tenfold, in the hope that with this total physical immersion in ‘heavy’ work, the ‘powers of gravity’ would pull them down quickly from their high and noble aspirations.
The great Kabbalist, Rav Moshe Dovid Valle teaches that the removal of the אפן, wheel, refers more deeply to the spiritual angel that directs each nation that comes from the class of angels known as אופנים, Ophanim.
ויסר את אפן מרכבתיו, He removed the ‘wheels’ of their chariots, means that G-d removed the אֹפֶן, the Ophan angel, that seeks to infuse holiness in the nation under its charge.
These angels exist only in the our world, the lowest of all worlds known as the Olam Ha’Asiyah, the World of Action.
These are the ‘wheels’ that make our world go round, perhaps symbolizing this need to limit the surface that connects to earth, so that we may power it successfully to higher goals, because when we allow ourselves to free-fall into the forces of ‘gravity’ we endanger our life force and our intellect in being sucked in as well.
This mighty lesson in physics/metaphysics was the moment of truth for the attacking Egyptians.
They discovered that not only ‘can a flat tire ruin your day’, it can ruin your whole existence.
Herein lies life’s ultimate lesson, that one must decrease the surface friction in one’s attachment to this material world in order to rise mightily above the clutches of gravity.
May we absorb this vital teaching and reach the heights of closeness to G-d.
באהבה,
צבי טייכמאן
