‘Nitzutz HaYehudi’ is the Jew’s eternal spark
Our Sages maintain that Hashem performed ten miracles for our forefathers in Egypt. The Rambam, Rabbeinu Yonah and the Ritva interpret this statement as referring to the ten Makkot.
Pharoah is warned in our parasha, Vaera, that if he refuses to let our ancestors go and serve the Almighty, G-d “will incite against you and against your servants and against your people and … the houses of Egypt will be filled with the arov.”
Arov connotes a mixture of some kind, but the text does not reveal its composition. This leads Rashi to suggest that it includes “all species of wild beasts, snakes, and scorpions in a mixture, and these played havoc among them.’
The Rav explores the first three havdalot in tefilat Havdalah: the separations that obtain between the holy and profane, light and darkness, and between the Jewish people and the nations of the world. While at first glance they may appear to be similar, the Rav notes that there is a fundamental difference between them.
The havdalah between light and darkness is clear for all to perceive — even animals and plants respond to these stimuli.
This is not the case, however, regarding the distinction between kodesh and chol — “The eye cannot perceive this havdalah. A person needs to have special intuition, to see with his heart, as this separation can only be sensed.”
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According to the Rav, the havdalah between the Jewish people and the nations of the world shares elements of the first two havdalot, that become fully actualized through holiness: — “When Jews keep the commandments, when they live their lives as a holy nation, the contrast between Israel and the nations becomes evident to all. When the Jew abandons G-d, however, no longer is there obvious evidence of havdalah.”
The Rav adds that this should not lead to a loss of hope, for even when our people have turned away from the Almighty, the connection between ourselves and the Holy One blessed be He remains eternal: “Yet as mired in sin as the Jew may be, deep in the Jewish soul there remains something holy and mysterious, which can neither be erased nor destroyed.”
What is this holy and mysterious entity that remains deep in the Jewish soul? It is the pintele Yid, the nitzutz haYehudi, the eternally burning spark that can never be extinguished, no matter how far a Jew may drift away from Hashem, the Torah and the mitzvot.
Chazal note in a variety of midrashim and kabbalistic sources, that both the Egyptians and the Jewish people at this time were idol worshippers. As the Rav explains, however, even though “one could barely perceive a contrast between them…the Master of the Universe indeed separated between them.” He did this because, “He discerned holiness in the soul, which was profane and full of sin, and therefore saved His people.”
May the time come soon, and in our time, when the nitzutz haYehudi will burn bright as the sun in the souls of us all, and may Hashem bring us back to Him b’ahavah rabbah, in great love. As Yirmiyahu the prophet said so long ago: “Hashiveinu Hashem alecha v’nashuvah, chadeish yameinu k’kedem. Cause us to come back to You, Hashem, and we will return! Renew our days as of old.”
