Summary Va'era 5762

Va'era begins with G-d's implied rebuke of Moses, by an unfavourable comparison with the forefathers: "I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the name of G-d Almighty; but the name of Hashem, I did not make known to them"(6,3). The commentator Rashi says that the name 'Hashem' defines G-d as One Who fulfils his promises. G-d informed the forefathers that they and their offspring would inherit the Land of Israel, but they did not live to see it. Yet they did not complain. Moses was given the task of bringing this vision to reality with direct contact from G-d, yet he complained at the first hurdle.

G-d then informs Moses of the four expressions of redemption:

• vehotzaitee - and I shall take you out from the burdens of Egypt;
• vehitzaltee - and I shall save you from their slavery;
• vega'altee - and I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm;
• velakachtee - and I shall take you to me for a people (6: 6-7).

These four expressions of redemption are one of the reasons that we have four cups of wine on the Seder night. Some add a fifth cup, based on a further expression: -veheveitee - and I shall bring you to the Land that I promised your forefathers(6:8).

Moses then says to G-d 'the Israelites won't listen to me, so how will Pharaoh do so, and I have a speech impediment!' G-d replies by telling Moses to take his brother Aaron with as his spokesman.

The sedra then continues with the first seven of the Ten Plagues: blood; frogs; lice; wild beasts; cattle disease; boils and hail. One of the most theologically difficult aspects of this drama is the question of freedom of choice. Following the first five plagues, we see that Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let the Israelites leave Egypt, despite the terrible suffering of his people. Following each of the last five plagues, the Torah tells us that G-d hardened Pharaoh's heart. This means that Pharaoh was ready to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt, but G-d intervened and stopped him.

This raises two questions:

1. If man has free will, why did G-d intervene to prevent Pharaoh from freeing the Israelites?
   
2. Why did G-d delay the Israelites' freedom?
   

The assumption that we possess freedom of choice, is the cornerstone of normative Jewish thought. According to Maimonides, life without such freedom would be meaningless. Man would have no responsibility for his actions, and life itself would be futile.

A few answers:

a) The plagues themselves limited Pharaoh's freedom of choice. Having a gun to your head does not exactly make you a free agent! Hardening his heart returned Pharaoh to a position of rationality with regard to his approach to G-d, otherwise any change of heart would have been due to extreme pressure, rather than a considered approach on his part.

b) The Torah is alluding to basic human nature, that the more a person becomes entrenched in a certain mode of behaviour, the more difficult it is to change. This is the nature that G-d implanted within us. Thus is could be argued that the Torah is making a general statement: due to the nature that G-d has given to humans - Pharaoh hardened his heart.

c) When G-d warns a man once, twice, and even a third time, and he still does not repent, then G-d closes his heart against repentance, so that He should punish him for his sins. This punishment is measure for measure: Pharaoh had closed his heart and ignored G-d, now Pharaoh was punished by losing the sensitivity of his heart - which he had hardened himself.

The first five times Moshe approached him, Pharaoh ignored the display of G-d's power. At that point, he lost the ability to repent. He was thus not punished for his failure to listen to G-d in the latter plagues, but for his harsh and at times, murderous treatment of the Israelites and for his refusal to learn the lesson of the early plagues.

d) There is a view that although we have freedom of choice, G-d may limit such freedom with monarchs, as part of a larger scheme. "The heart of kings is in the hands of G-d".

In question 2, we asked why G-d delayed the Israelites' freedom by hardening Pharaoh's heart. Why should they have to suffer? We may briefly answer this question by suggesting that the signs and wonders were to make a deep impression upon all those who witnessed them, such that they would never be forgotten. Given that the Pesach rituals are still widely observed by Jews all over the world, it seems to have worked. Had Pharaoh made it easy to leave, the events would have had a much smaller impact, and it's even possible that the Israelites may not have wanted to leave Egypt.

Shabbat Shalom