Ki Sisa

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R'Yisroel Menachem..... In perek lamud beis psukim alef and dalid it says "Vayar ha'am ki boshesh Moshe laredes min hahar...Va'yaseihu eigel maseicha vayomru eileh elokecha."  Rashi says that it doesn't say "eileh elokeinu," "this is our g-d", rather it says "this is your g-d".  From here we see that the instigators for the eigel were the eirev rav, and they were the ones that made it, and only after Klal Yisroel was nicshal and follwed along.  Rav Chaim Shmulevitz ztl asks, we see that Klal Yisroel would not have sinned if not for the eirev rav, but what about the eirav rav themselves?  They were part of the dor deah, part of a tremendous generation.  Chazal say, "Ra'asah shifcha al hayam ma shelo ra'ah haniviim." The eirav rav were there too.  They saw the shchina; They were included in "vayiru ha'am es Hashem va'ya'aminu ba'Hashem uvi'Moshe avdo."  How
 could they stoop so low?  Reb Chaim answers, "ra'asah shifcha", the shifcha saw the shchina!  She was a part of tremendous nisim.  Wouldn't you think that at the end of the day she would be greater than the neviim?  Yet she remained a shifcha.  The tremendous nisim that occurred did not change who she was.  We see from here a tremendous yesod.  It is not being a part of great events that makes you great.  No outside source can make you grow.  True growth comes from working on yourself, your midos, your learning, your mentshlichkeit, on the things that will help you become a bigger eved Hashem.  The eirev rav saw a lot, they were part of many nisim, but it was exterior, it was not a part of them, and so they remained on their madrega, and were able to be machti the rabim with an eigel.   But a Navi Hashem's spark comes from within, his growth is not exterior and therefore it helps him grow to greater heights.  We can see how important it is to truly work on ourselves to grow from within and reach our true potential... Good Shabbos