On December 25, 1369 (5129), King Frederick III of Sicily ordered all Jews to wear a badge indicating their heritage. The badge consisted of a piece of red material, not smaller than the largest royal seal; men were required to wear it under the chin, and women on the chest.
We all have a little pharaoh inside. Sprawling through the veins of every human animal is a voice that says, “This world belongs to me and I have created myself.”
Just like Pharaoh:
“Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the big crocodile who sprawls in his channels, who says, ‘My Nile is my own and I have made myself.” (Ezekiel 29:3)
Resistance is futile. To imagine that you could confront and defeat your own ego is absurd. You are your ego. How will you defeat yourself?
Domesticate it, yes. It’s inconvenient when your little pharaoh bites people you need to live with. But a tame crocodile remains a crocodile.
Rather, the only strategy is to reframe this little pharaoh.
What, after all, is this voice inside that says "I am"?
It is really nothing less than G‑d Himself, the only true “I,” breathing inside you. Only that it has lost its frame, its greater context. And now it feels as an “I” all its own.
Your job then is to reconnect this ego of yours to its higher purpose and meaning.
Why does G‑d wish to breathe within you?
Because He wants you to complete His world from within. And such a job requires a mighty ego.
Mighty, because it is tied up with the only true ego, the One above.
Grant your little pharaoh its wish. Make your ego a true ego.