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PARSHAS VAEIRA| 1 SHEVAT 5770 | 16 JANUARY 2010
The author of Yaaros Devash, RabbiYonason Eybeschutz, is puzzled by thereason given for the Jewish peoples inabilityto accept Moses reassurance. Shouldnttheir distress and hard work be cause forthem to grasp at straws and believe in anychance for redemption? He explainshowever that the reason they were unableto accept G-ds message of reassurance isbecause they believed that someone whowas not personally enslaved could notproperly serve as their representative.Moses, a member of the tribe of Levi a
tribe that was not part of Pharoahs decree was therefore unsuited for the position.
Why would Pharaoh leave one tribe free todo as they pleased, while subjecting the restof the nation to harsh slavery?
The answer offers a profound insight intohuman psychology. Pharaoh did notsubjugate the tribe of Levi, because hisastrologers told him that the Jewish saviorwould come from that tribe. He allowed the
Levites to remain free so that they wouldnot feel the pain of the other Jews, and thusfeel the urgency to release them from theirbondage.
King Solomon said that The protector of thefig tree shall eat its fruit (Proverbs 27:18).In this verse, he conveyed that only the onewho invests enormous efforts into a fig tree watching it, weeding it, watering it, andtending to it will truly reap the reward ofeating its fruit. Anyone else who eats thefruit will not share that experience, because
he never invested any effort into itsdevelopment. With this in mind, Pharaohdiabolically kept the tribe of Levi free fromenslavement so that they would not cometo the Jews rescue.
So how was Moses indeed able to advocatefor the Jewish slaves? Our Sages tell us thatwhile he was still a prince in the royalpalace, long before he was asked by G-d toserve as the emissary of the Jews, Mosesfelt his brothers pain. When he came out of
the palace and saw the Jews toiling under
their merciless taskmasters, he would throwoff his royal cloak, put his shoulder underthe load, and assist his brothers with theirburden. This bit of knowledge was unknownto the Jews and was the cause of their lackof confidence in Moses to serve as theirrepresentative to Pharaoh.
After World War II, countless refugeeswandered around aimlessly in variousDisplaced Persons camps, their livesshattered by the horror they experiencedand from the suffering they endured. Therewas one man to whom people flocked forsolace a man who was able to give hope
to thousands of seemingly inconsolablepeople. That man, Rabbi Yekusiel YehudahHalberstam, the founding Rebbe of theSanz-Klausenberger chasidic dynasty, hadsuffered together with his brethren. (Hisown wife and eleven children weremurdered by the Nazis while incarcerated inseveral concentration camps.) He felt theirpain and was able to uplift their spirits. LikeMoses, he shouldered the burdens of hispeople.
While it might not seem obvious, we all playa leadership role whether as a parent,teacher, community member or sibling. Themessage we learn from the Jewish peoplesunderestimation of Moses sensitivity shouldserve as a reminder for us that the key tosuccessful leadership is feeling not only thejoy of others, but also sharing in their pain. Ifwe open ourselves up to anothers distress,we will be able to lead them to a betterplace.
Rabbi Burnham can be reached at:[email protected]
So Moses spoke accordingly to the Children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses,
because of shortness of breath and hard work." (Exodus 6:9)
In this week's portion, G-d responded to Moses complaint (see end of lastweeks Torah portion) about his G-d-given mission. Rather thanimproving the Jewish peoples lot, Moses asserted that his efforts madethings worse. G-d initially chastised Moses for his diminished faith andproceeded to instruct him on what he should say to reassure the Jewish peopleabout their impending redemption from slavery. Though Moses carries out hisnew assignment, the enslaved Jews were unable to accept the good tidings
because of shortness of breath and hard work.
Parsha Perspectives RABBI LEIBY BURNHAM
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V A E I R A Talking Points RABBI ELAZAR MEISELS1. CAN YOU HEAR MEAnd also, I have heard the groaning of the Childrenof Israel, whom the Egyptians enslave, and I haverecalled My covenant. 6:5
I have heard the groaningand I haverecalled My covenant In the merit of their groaning and prayers to Me, they have
become worthy of the fulfillment of Mycovenant with them. Sforno
I have heard the groaningand I haverecalled My covenant They complainedthat the Egyptians were mistreating them far
in excess of what G-d had intended. G-dagreed, and He therefore recalled Hiscovenant and decided to emancipate them. Taz al HaTorah
Chasam Sofer points out that the wordalso in the verse is redundant, for itneed not have said more than, And Ihave heard groans of the Jewish people...The extra word also implies that
someone other than G-d also heard theirgroans and somehow that had aninfluence on G-ds decision to help us.Chasam Sofer explains that indeed, theextra word intends to include the Jewishpeople, and that the verse should beunderstood as follows: Not only did G-dhear their groaning, but the Jewish peoplealso heard each others cries, andalthough each person suffered on apersonal level, they were deeplysympathetic to each others plight.Amazingly, their personal suffering did notblind them to the pain of the others. This
incredible display of selflessness and lovefor the other convinced the Almighty totake them out of Egypt.
2. NO GOOD DEED GOESUNREWARDEDThe fish that were in the river died, and the riverbecame so polluted that the Egyptians were unable to
drink the water from the river, and there was bloodthroughout all the land of Egypt Pharaoh turnedand went into his house, and his heart was notbestirred even by this. 7:21-23
Even by this He remained unimpressed bythe miracle of the rod that turned into a
serpent, and by the water that turned toblood. Rashi
This was the only plague which failed to impress Pharaoh in the least. By all the remaining plagues his heart was humbledduring the actual plague, but after itsconclusion it hardened once again. PanimYafos
Why did the plague of blood fail toimpress Pharaoh altogether? Was thesuffering of his subjects of so little interestto him? Meshech Chochmah explains thatat the onset of the plagues, there was stilla debt of gratitude that had to be paid tothe palace of Pharaoh which had
collectively raised Moses in his youth.Therefore, G-d ordained that the plague ofblood should not affect the palace at all.Untouched by the plague, Pharaohremained oblivious to his countrymensplight. Once the debt was repaid, allremaining plagues affected his palace aswell. Forced to suffer too, Pharaoh wouldbecome overwhelmed by his sufferingand plead for it to be brought to a close.Such is the degree of justice that theAlmighty dispenses that even a wickedman like Pharaoh is rewarded for a gooddeed committed many years earlier.
3. CRASHING THE PALACE PARTYG-d said to Moses, Come to Pharaoh and say tohim, This is what Hashem, G-d of the Hebrews hassaid, Send out My people and let them serve Me.9:1
Come to Pharaoh There are two termsused by G-d to instruct Moses to present
himself before Pharaoh: Come to Pharaohand Go to Pharaoh. The term Come to
Pharaoh, was used to describe his visits to Pharaoh in his palace, whereas Go to Pharaoh, was used to describe theirencounters at the Nile. Ohr HaChayim
Ohr Hachayim explains that any time theterm Come to Pharaoh is used, it impliesthat he must present himself althoughPharaoh had not agreed to see him, forMoses had never been invited, and theroyal palace was surrounded by guards,v ic ious dogs, and wild beasts.Nevertheless, Moses was instructed to goto the palace and pay no heed to any ofthem. This he did, and miraculously theywere powerless to stop him. Moses cameand went, and there was nothing anyoneor anything could do about it. This wasone of the many open miracles thatoccurred during this period that were noteven mentioned explicitly in the Torah.
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Dear Sara,
For thousands of years, Jewish thinkers andcommentators have pondered this question.Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler (1892-1953, Latvia-Israel), lists a number of their insights in hiswork, Michtav MEliyahu. Perhaps you will findone (or all) of them to be satisfying!
Rashi (1040-1105, France) says that Pharaohhad already shown such wickedness, and G-dknew that he would never truly repent. G-d
hardened Pharaohs heart, so that the Jewishpeople could be redeemed through openmiracles. The whole world would thusrecognize G-d as all-powerful.
Maimonides (1135-1204, Spain-Egypt)explains that G-d took away Pharaohs ability torepent by treating him with the attribute of strict
judgment. Repentance is one of G-ds greatestacts of kindness. He allows us to repent for oursins (with G-d and with other human beings)and accepts our repentance when it is donewith sincerity. However, G-d did not extend thiskindness to Pharaoh, so that he could notrepent for the innumerable Jewish lives he wasresponsible for destroying.
Nachmonides (1194-1270, Gerona-Israel)
shares a similar explanation to that ofMaimonides and presents another insight aswell. We have free will to steal or not to steal.However, if every time someone stole, alightning bolt would come down from heavenand strike him, he would likely not steal again nor would others do so either. Pharaoh sawG-ds control so clearly that he would have hadno other choice but to release the Jewishpeople in order to end any of the plagues. G-dhardened Pharaohs heart in order to restore
him to the level of free will he had possessedbefore the plagues occurred. Sforno (1475-1550, Italy) gives an almost identical answer.
Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1164, Spain)says that G-d set up the natural world in a wayin which we are constantly fighting our yetzerhara (evil inclination). Our purpose in life is toovercome our natural tendencies to sin and toelevate ourselves. Every time we sin, we bothfail the test sent by Hashem and on our part,succumb to the challenge, instead of risingabove it. When Hashem hardened Pharaohsheart, He tested him with the yetzer hara,which Pharaoh could not overcome. Ibn Ezrapoints to two verses in the Torah for support:But Hashem strengthened Pharaoh's heart,and he did not heed them, as Hashem had
spoken to Moses; And he continued to sin,and he made his heart stubborn, he and hisservants (Exodus 9:12, 34). The hardening ofPharaohs heart was not only a test fromHashem, who gave him an opportunity to makethe proper choice and grow from it, but alsoPharaohs failure to overcome his haughtinessin order to do what was right.
Rabbi Dessler himself explains that usually,when someone does something wrong, hefeels bad about it. However, sinning repeatedlyin the same way accustoms him to the sin, andhe thus no longer feels that he is in the wrong.Pharaoh repeatedly denied G-d and hisoppression of the Jews to the point at which hedid not recognize his sin (so his heart washardened).
I hope that some of these answers resonatewith you!
Regards,Rabbi Leiby Burnham
Rabbi Burnham can be reached at:
FREE WILL RABBI LEIBY BURNHAMDear Rabbi,
Im into my third year of studying the Torah portion each week, and the idea of hardeningPharaohs heart seems to go against everything Ive been taught about free will. Eachtime G-d hardened Pharaohs heart, He punished him for refusing to send out the Jews. Itseems unfair to take away someones free will, and then to punish him for his baddecisions. How can we understand this?
Thanks,Sara B.
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Hashem said to Moses, See, I have made you amaster over Pharaoh, and Aaron your brothershall be your spokesman. You shall speakeverything that I shall command you, and Aaronyour brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that heshould send the C hildren of Israel from his land.But I shall harden Pharaohs heart and I shallmult iply My signs and My wo nders in the land ofEgypt. Pharaoh wil l not heed you, and I shall putMy hand upon Egypt; and I shall take out Mylegions My people the Children of Israel fromthe land of Egypt, with great judgments. AndEgypt shall know that I am Hashem, when Istretch out My hand over Egypt; and I shall takethe Children of Israel out from amongthem. (Shemos 7:1-5)
( s it was clear that G-d intended to endthe bondage of the Jewish people regardless of Pharaohs consent, whywas it important to secure his approval?
( nce it was clear that Pharaoh did notintend to free the Jews, why would G-dharden Pharaohs heart? Hardening hisheart seems to have unnecessari ly prolonged thepain of the process.
( hy would it be important for al l of Egyptto know, I am G-d when I stretch out Myhand over Egypt? Of what importance istheir opinion?Rabbi Lam can be reached at: [email protected]
TABLE TALKFOR DISCUSSION AROUND THE SHABBAT TABLE
RABBI LABEL LAM
Parsha At-A-GlanceHashem spoke to Moses, reiterating thepromise to give the land of Canaan to Hispeople. He had heard the outcries of BneiYisrael, and would redeem them from Egyptianbondage with great miracles. Moses protested,stating that Bnei Yisrael would not listen to himin other instances, so there was no reason forthem to do so now. He also mentioned hisspeech impediment at this time, in order torelieve him of the duty. Nevertheless, Hashemcommanded Moses and Aharon to speak toBnei Yisrael and to Pharaoh. The Torah thendetails the genealogy of Moses and Aharon.
Now 80 and 83 years old, respectively, theywere sent to Pharaoh, who was not receptive toHis words, as Hashem had warned. As Hashemcommanded, Aharon threw his staff on theground before Pharaoh, and it became apoisonous snake. Pharaohs magicians easilyduplicated this trick, but Aharons staffswallowed their staffs. Pharaoh wasunimpressed.
Hashem commanded Moses to bring the firstplague initiated by Aharon upon theEgyptians. Striking the Nile River with the staff
turned the water into blood. The fish-life in theriver died, and the Nile had a foul smell.Pharaohs magicians also turned water intoblood, so Pharaoh refused to give in. The watersof Egypt remained as blood for a week. Thesecond plague covered Egypt with croakingfrogs. Pharaohs magicians replicated theplague, but Pharaohs request to Moses andAharon to stop it implied that the magicianscould not do so. Moses cried out to Hashem,and the frogs died, piling up everywhere andcreating a stench in the land. Pharaoh remainedstubborn.
The third plague brought lice upon man andbeast. The magicians could not duplicate thisplague, calling it the finger of G-d, but Pharaohwas unmoved. The fourth plague was a swarmof wild beasts, causing devastation of the land.The land of Goshen remained untouched.Pharaoh instructed Moses and Aharon tosacrifice to Hashem in the land of Egypt. WhenMoses refused, Pharaoh said that they couldleave Egypt for three days, as long as theywould pray to end the plague and not stray toofar. Hashem answered Moses prayers, butPharaoh would not let the Jews go.
The fifth plague brought a severe epidemic,killing only the livestock owned by theEgyptians. Pharaoh remained haughty andstubborn. Moses and Aharon initiated the sixthplague, tossing handfuls of soot towardsheaven. The soot returned to earth, causinghavoc throughout the land. The Egyptians werecovered with the skin disease called boils. Thecourt magicians could not even appear beforeMoses in their distress.
The seventh plague established which of theEgyptians feared Hashems word. Those who
did took in their slaves and livestock from thefields. Hail a mixture of fire and ice rainedover the land, destroying the crops and trees.Only the land of Goshen was spared. Pharaohsummoned Moses and Aharon, admitting thathe had sinned this time. Moses promised thatupon leaving the city, he would pray both thatthe plague would end and that Pharaoh wouldtruly recognize Hashems control over the earth.He did as he had said, and the plague ended,but Pharaoh was once again stubborn andrefused to send out the Jewish people.
