A vort from the Rebbe on this week's parshah, Parshat Vaera. In Parshat Vaera the pasuk says the Aibershter said, ואני אקשה את לב פרעה. I will make Pharaoh's heart hard and he won't let the Yidden out. So Rashi says these words: טוב לי שיקשה לבו, it's good for me that his heart will become hard, למען הרבות את אותותי ויכירו את גבורותי, so I shall multiply my miracles and they will recognize my strength. And then Rashi adds, וכן מדתו של הקדוש ברוך הוא, this is the middah of השם, מביא פורעניות על אומות העולם כדי שישמעו ישראל וייראו. The Aibershter brings punishments on the goyim כדי the Yidden should listen and be afraid. When the Yidden see the punishments the goyim get, that it'll bring more yirat Shamayim to the Yidden also. But lichorah, it's not clear. When the goyim behave in a way that they deserve to be punished, isn't that a good enough reason Hashem should bring punishment upon them? So what is the pshat that this is מדתו של הקדוש ברוך הוא? The middah of Hashem is that he brings punishment, puraniyot on the goyim not mitzad what they deserve, which is definitely true, but it's not the real reason because that's what they deserve, but kedei the Yidden should hear and Yidden should have yirat Shamayim, Yidden should be afraid. But lichorah, why is it not enough that they get punished because they deserve to get punished, because of their behavior?

So the Rebbe explains it, we know what Rashi says in the beginning of the Torah that the world was created בשביל ישראל, בשביל התורה. It says בראשית ברא אלקים את השמים ואת הארץ. The word בראשית is made up of ב׳ ראשית. There are two things, ב׳ is two, two things which are referred to as ראשית, and Rashi brings ראיות from the pesukim that the Yidden are called ראשית and the Torah is called ראשית, so, and the letter ב׳ is also abbreviation of the word bishvil. The world was created because of these two things which are called ראשית, because of the Torah and because of the Yidden. So pshat is like this: since the whole world was created because of the Yidden, m'meila it's obvious that whatever happens in the world is because of the Yidden. So therefore, even if it looks like there's another reason, when we see goyim get punished and it seems like the reason is because their behavior deserves to punish them, nevertheless, there also must be a reason here that this should be something because of the Yidden. And that's the pshat what Rashi says that the goyim are punished כדי שישמעו ישראל וייראו, the Yidden should see and be afraid. That means that even though superficially it looks like the punishment on the goyim is because of them, because likorah what's noge'a to the Yidden what a goy sinned and he gets punished? Now the emes is that even these things are בשביל ישראל, because the real reason why he brings the punishment on the goyim is because the Yidden should hear and have yirat shamayim and be afraid of Hashem. It fits to this idea that the world was created for the sake of the Torah and the sake of the Yidden, and everything that happens in the world is noge'a to the Yidden. And that's what Rashi says, this is מדתו של הקדוש ברוך הוא, this is the Eibershter's middah that he brings punishment on the גוים כדי שישמעו ישראל וייראו, so that it should bring extra yirat shamayim to the Yidden.