The 80/20 Rule

It says that 80 percent of The Jewish People did not get to leave Egypt when God took the Jews out. 

It always bothered me, they went through hell, suffered at the hands of the Egyptians, they held out hope and believed that one day they'd be free. Yet they got punished and never made it out. After all that, & no salvation. Cruel if you ask me. 

And this wasn't just a small number of the Jews. It was 80 percent of them! Millions of people! Possibly hundreds of millions of people. What could they possibly have done wrong to deserve such an ending. 

They ask a famous question. When God first reveals himself to the Jewish people at Mt Sinai, he starts off by saying I'm the One who took you out of Egypt. You'd think God would've introduced Himself as the One who created the world. The One who created the entire cosmos. The One who created an Apple seed with all its intelligence and apparatus to bloom into a full blown tree. 

But no, He says, I'm the One who took you out of Egypt. That seems like a lesser deal then creation. 

I was thinking, everyone wants to leave Egypt and get to the promised land, but nobody wants to go through the desert. The 80 percent who didn't leave weren't punished. They said it's too hard. We can't go through the pain of the desert to reach the promise of the other side. We'd rather stay here and die, it's just too painful. 

And so God says no problem, you don't have leave, you can die out. But one way or another I'm getting you to the promised land. You might die today, but you'll be back. Back in the same situation. Because the only way out - is through, and staying in Egypt is only a temporary solution.

We are all in Egypt. Each one of us in our own constraints. Fears, negative beliefs, destructive behaviors. We all have a Pharaoh inside of us. We might all call it by a different name or title, but it's there.  And we all need to shed it. Individually & as a collective. 

We know we have so much within us that's pure, holy and way beyond powerful, yet we are  stuck. And God says I want to take you out of Egypt. I want to take you to the promised land. The promised land of joy, courage, beauty, trust freedom, but you'll need to first enter the desert. 

No water exists. There's no shade from the brutal sun. You'll need to face all of the demons you've been running from. There's nowhere to hide. Nothing to get busy with. And 80 percent of our individual body says no! I cannot go through with this. I cannot leave my Egypt, my comfort zone. 

And we have that tiny voice, that 20 percent, which barely even registers, that says go! Leave Egypt! You can do this. You don't deserve to be enslaved by distractions that no longer serve you. Go and be a free man. But we can't find the courage to out score the 80 percent. 

And God gives us infinite amount of chances. Daily opportunities of which we can work that muscle to finally be free. But many of us miss it, or worse, see it as God's punishment to us. But it's not true. He's just trying to get us out. Out of our own way. Out of our own misery. 

So when God reveals Himself to mankind, He says you know who I am? What's my greatest success? Forget that I'm the creator! Forget the brilliant apple seed! I'm the one who got you out of Egypt. I'm that tiny voice who convinced you to take the first step! I'm the One who carried you through the desert. I'm the One you grabbed onto when you entered the abyss. 

Creation!? That's nothing compared to getting someone out of their own way. Creation involves only God, leaving Egypt needed the two of us and that is no small feat.

Being stuck is part of the human condition, it's by design. But part of the design is to also be able to break free. To tap into the deepest parts of ourselves, parts we never knew existed and bloom. 

We are all in this together. Collectively and individually. Let's help each other learn how to let go of our destructive behaviors and walk out like a free people. Let us all trust in our Creator who isn't really giving us a choice of leaving for a better life. Let us do it this time around so that we no longer need to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. 

-איש