Parshas Shemos - We Know the End and the Beginning, Not the Middle

G-d tells Moshe much of how his mission to Egypt will play out. Including the first plague and the last plague. 

But not any of the 8 in between.

Why tell Moshe only the first and last plague, blood and the firstborn? These are the plagues that most directly and graphically address the Egyptian mass murder of Jews and the punishment to come.

But the beginning and the ending of things is also how we live our lives. And it's the Jewish story.

We all know how we begin and will end in the most general sense. And we know, more specifically, the beginning and ending of the story of the Jewish people.

What we do not know is all that comes in between.

Even knowing the ultimate ending, Moshe felt uncertainty and had questions for G-d. As do we.

From our vantage point the most important parts of life are those that happen in the middle. Like right now. But that is also what we are not meant to know because while the beginning and end are in the hands of the Almighty, much of what passes in between is up to us. 

In times of uncertainty and doubt, we should remember that the beginning and the end are in His hands.

And we must do the best that we can with the middle.