The Torah column is supported by a generous donation from Eve Gordon-Ramek in memory of Kenneth Gordon.
Bo
Exodus 10:1-13:16
In last week’s Torah portion, the showdown between Moses and Pharaoh was well underway. The first seven of the 10 plagues had already decimated most of Egypt, and the pressure was mounting for Pharaoh to release the Hebrews.
It is worth noting that the request made of Pharaoh was for a short respite to serve God. As Moses said to Pharaoh, “Let us go for a three-day journey in the wilderness, and we will offer sacrifices to HaShem our God. (Exodus 4:3)
Moses had not suggested that the Israelites were planning to leave altogether, even though God had clearly indicated to Moses that this was to be a complete redemption. In their conversation at the burning bush, God stated clearly, “I will descend to rescue [the nation] from the hand of Egypt and to bring it up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land that flows with milk and honey….” (Exodus 3:8)
Bo, this week’s Torah portion, opens with a directive from God to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh for I have made his heart and the heart of his servants heavy in order for me to put my signs in his midst, and so that you will tell over to your children and grandchildren that I made a mockery of Egypt and about the signs of mine that I put among them, and you will know that I am HaShem.” (Exodus 10:1-2)
There is a lot of debate among the classic commentators of the Torah as to the nature of free will as it plays out in the Exodus. The term that God uses to describe affecting Pharaoh’s heart is kaved, which can be translated as heavy, meaning a stubborn heart, one that does not bend under pressure. A little bit further in the text, it states that God strengthened the heart of Pharaoh. (Exodus 10:20) There is clearly some interference on the part of God that looks like the manipulation of Pharaoh’s heart so that God can carry out his own agenda.
Nachmanides (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, 1194-1270) and Rabbi Ovadia Sforno (1475–1550), two classic medieval commentators, both suggest that in reality, God was preserving the free will of Pharaoh. One can only imagine the pressure of the plagues. Blood, frogs, lice and pestilence are just some of what the Egyptians had to endure. A mere mortal king would certainly have capitulated under such an attack. By hardening or strengthening Pharaoh’s heart, God was allowing him to continue to exercise his free will even under duress.
That interpretation is definitely convenient for those who want to defend the principle that our very humanity is defined by having free will to choose between what is right and wrong. One can certainly challenge the explanation and simply leave it as a form of manipulation on the part of God, which robbed Pharaoh of his own ability to choose. So which is it?
One indication comes from the first verse of the parashah, where we are told that God has made the heart of Pharaoh and the hearts of his servants heavy. What happens to those servants?
“The servants of Pharaoh said to him, ‘Until when will this be a snare for us? Send out the men, and they will serve HaShem, their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is lost?!’” (Exodus 10:7) This is the first time that we have seen the servants of Pharaoh protest. Suddenly, they acquire the courage to challenge their totalitarian ruler. What happened during the first seven plagues? Where were their voices then?
If you adopt the understanding of Nachmanides and Sforno, everything makes a lot of sense. The duress that they were under was the threat of the king’s wrath. Now that God was making their hearts heavy, they could choose to defy him. The result of the hardening of their hearts was the opposite of what Pharaoh experienced. It gave him the courage to continue refusing to send out the Israelites, while the servants gained the courage to stand up to Pharaoh.
“Moses and Aaron were returned to Pharaoh, and he said to them, ‘Go and serve HaShem….’” (Exodus 10:8) The king had no choice but to respond to the impending mutiny. Pharaoh was clever enough to find a way to appease his servants by appearing cooperative, while still maintaining his position of refusal.
We are all confronted with choices that challenge us in life. It would be easy to ask God to choose for us and remove our free will so that we do not end up with mistakes and regret. From this story it seems that it would actually be appropriate to ask God for the courage to make the right choice, even when the pressure to do the opposite seems too much to bear.