In this week’s Parsha, Beshalach, we follow the Bnei Yisrael as they leave Egypt, witness the miracles at the Yam Suf, and begin their journey toward Har Sinai. Along the way, they stop at a place called Marah. The Torah tells us:
“They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter… and the people grumbled against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’ So he cried out to Hashem, and Hashem showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.”
The Kotzker Rebbe shares a famous lesson about this story: The water wasn’t actually the problem—the people’s attitudes were. He suggests that the word “bitter” referred to the people themselves.
We’ve all had days like that—where it feels like everything “stinks,” from the school lunch to our social lives. But usually, it’s our mood that’s the problem, not our reality. When we choose to be positive, the world around us starts to feel like a much happier place.
As we learn from Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s Growth Through Torah, a good attitude is the secret to a less stressful and more joyful life.