The Reality of Life
By Moshe Katz
CEO
Israeli Krav International

February 12, 2017, Alabama, USA

Exodus chapter 11

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֔ה כֹּ֖ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָֹ֑ה כַּֽחֲצֹ֣ת הַלַּ֔יְלָה אֲנִ֥י יוֹצֵ֖א בְּת֥וֹךְ מִצְרָֽיִם:

And Moshe said, this is what God has said, at about midnight I am going into the midst of Egypt .

Exodus chapter 12

וַיְהִ֣י בַּֽחֲצִ֣י הַלַּ֗יְלָה וַֽיהוָֹה֘ הִכָּ֣ה כָל-בְּכוֹר֘ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֒יִם֒ מִבְּכֹ֤ר פַּרְעֹה֙ הַיֹּשֵׁ֣ב עַל-כִּסְא֔וֹ עַ֚ד בְּכ֣וֹר הַשְּׁבִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּבֵ֣ית הַבּ֑וֹר וְכֹ֖ל בְּכ֥וֹר בְּהֵמָֽה

וַיָּ֨קָם פַּרְעֹ֜ה לַ֗יְלָה ה֤וּא וְכָל-עֲבָדָיו֙ וְכָל-מִצְרַ֔יִם וַתְּהִ֛י צְעָקָ֥ה גְדֹלָ֖ה בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם כִּי-אֵ֣ין בַּ֔יִת אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵין-שָׁ֖ם מֵֽת

And behold at about midnight and God struck down all the first born in the land of Egypt from the first born who sat on the throne to the first born of sitting in prison and the first born of the cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all of Egypt. And behold there was a great scream, an outcry, for in all of Egypt there was not a household which did not suffer a death.

The Reality of Life is that sometimes we just have to walk away from a bad situation. Leave a bad job, leave a bad relationship and never look back. Revenge is for the foolish; get out and get on with your life. God took the children of Israel out of Egypt after 400 years of brutal enslavement, he did not try to fix and cure the Egyptian society and make it more tolerant and Multi Cultural. He said, Hebrews! Get out in the middle of the night, hurry and do not look back. He struck hard and fast and got out. Similarly when Lot and his family were told to leave the evil Sodom they were instructed by God to leave and "Never look back".

Reality stays real. It does not change with the times, the nature of man does not change. The Messiah is not here yet. So we have to cope, save what we can and as Hal likes to quote, know when to fold and when to stay. Know when to hold and know when to fold. Sometimes we just need to get the heck out of here.

So I watch Krav Maga students doing gun disarms, or knife defenses, and they seem to have ingrained habits that the next step is always to attack. Some even seem to engage in a series of strikes. Now let us think about this for a moment.

You are on your way home from work. You are tired, you are stressed out, you are wearing a business suit and your mind is on your mortgage, your debts, your troubles. And then suddenly someone walks up to you, he has a totally different agenda for the evening. he pulls out a gun and pushes it into your face. At this point all the time and money you spent on Krav Maga lessons no longer seems like a waste. Every second was well spent.

Your only goal at this point is to take that gun away and get away with your life, nothing more. Remember, you are tired and stressed out, he has come to "work" and is ready. Now you have the gun in your hands, you have the chance to walk away with your life. Now why would you choose to engage this person in a fist fight? You have the gun but guess what? In reality he can take it back. The longer you stay and engage him in combat the more opportunities you are giving him to retake the lead and retrieve his gun. He may be stronger than you, he may be pumped up. He may be younger than you and he is certainly motivated. You got a good break, you took the gun away, like a gambler you should know that this is the time to get up from the table and put away with your winnings. Those who stay too long at the table go home without their car, or their house. Don't be a fool.

Be humble and be content that you can walk away from this with no damage. Try to get a good look so you can describe him to the police but why stick around to see what happens next? Why risk losing all you have gained? Do not stick around to "teach him a lesson", he has already flunked out of school. Do not lecture him on Peace, Justice and the American way. Just be happy you are alive.