Parashat Bo

by Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon

Founder and Board Chairman, JobKatif

Moshe could technically have stopped at the plague of blood.  He could have told Pharoah that until he frees the Jewish people, the plague won’t stop. How much time would Pharoah have been able to hold out when every ounce of liquid in his country was blood? So what exactly was the need for the other plagues?

This is the proof that each plague had a special purpose. They weren’t just set loose on Egypt so the Jewish people would be freed. The Torah writes about each plague “So that you will know the I am G-d in the midst of the land.” The plagues were brought upon the land of Egypt, to show that G-d is the one in charge and he plays a role in the happenings of this world.

There is another reason. We know that G-d hardened Pharoah’s heart and made him stubborn. If this is so, why was it then necessary to punish Pharoah? The Rambam (in Hilchot Teshuva 6:3) explains that the sin of Pharoah was so great that he forfeited his will to do Teshuva.

But still how could have G-d taken away Pharoah’s free will?

G-d never actually took away Pharoah’s free will. The idea of hardening Pharoah’s heart can be understood in a different way. G-d gave Pharoah the illusion that he was in charge of the situation. G-d sent the plague of blood, Pharoah made a promise to let the Jewish people go and then the plague stopped. At this time, Pharoah began to think that he could play against G-d.  He could say that he would let His people go and then the plague would go away.  This is what he did with each plague.  Pharoah got the feeling that there is nothing wrong with mocking G-d. Maybe he even started to feel that these plagues were natural disasters.  After all, they did go away each time.  They never actually destroyed all of Egypt.  Because of this, he hardened his own heart and stopped believing in the power of G-d. This is what caused Pharoah not to let the nation of Israel go.  He really started to feel as if he was in control of the situation. G-d allowed this belief to perpetuate so that he would be able to completely punish Pharoah and teach the world about divine providence. G-d never did any action to take away Pharoah’s free will, rather Pharoah felt as if he could go up fight against G-d.

(I heard this Idea from Rav Madan, Rosh Yeshiva of Har Etzion based on the commentaries of the Abarbenel and Sefer Ha’Ekarim)

This is in fact the reality in our lives. We don’t actually see the hand of G-d clearly in our everyday lives. If G-d’s providence was so clear, then we wouldn’t have the choice to follow Him freely. If wee saw how G-d punishes every sin and rewards every good deed, then every one of us would choose to do the will of G-d. He gave us the option to choose to do the right thing or not. But we must be carful not to harden our own hearts, not to feel that we can do what ever we want. We need to know how to choose the will of G-d, even in a reality where it seems that we can choose what we want.

Shabbat Shalom!