Good Influences

Sometimes a great deal can be learned from an incidental statement. A case in point was when Pharoah asked Moshe Rabbeinu to pray to remove the ברד, hail, from Egypt. The Torah lets us know that Moshe had to leave the city in order to pray. It is written, כצאתי את העיר, meaning: when I leave the city, I’ll be able to reach out to Hashem. The commentators add to these words, אבל לא בתוך העיר, but not in the city. Moshe was unable to communicate with Hashem in a place filled with impurity. This is a lesson that is reiterated over and over again by the Torah and the Rabbis. It is impossible to thrive and grow spiritually when one is in a place that is not spiritual. The obstacles to growth are that much greater when one is not living among others who are similarly trying to grow. Nobody, not even Avraham Avinu or Moshe Rabbeinu, is able to reach his full potential if he is not living in the right place among the right people.