Bo 5631 Second Ma'amar

The seventh plague came and went and Pharaoh still could not bring himself to let us leave Egypt.  Imagine the exasperation!  God said that there would be a redemption with signs and wonders and yet, we were still in Egypt.  Pharaoh was being obstinate.  Where was the promised redemption? 

The first Midrash on the parsha explains that we did not deserve to be redeemed.[1]  God had made us His own and instead of embracing God we angered Him by not renouncing idol worship.  For this we deserved to be destroyed.[2]  God redeemed us so that Pharaoh would not say that God destroyed them because he was unable to redeem them.  In order to redeem us in spite of ourselves, God caused Pharaoh to be obstinate.  As a result of Pharaoh’s obstinacy we were redeemed.

With this Midrash we can understand a pasuk in Mishlei (27:3), “ כֹּבֶד־אֶבֶן וְנֵטֶל הַחוֹל וְכַעַס אֱוִיל כָבֵד מִשְּׁנֵיהֶם/A stone has weight and sand has mass, but the anger of a fool is heavier than both.”  The beginning of this pasuk refers to the nation of Israel.  The Hebrew word for weight – כּוֹבֶד – has the same root as the word for honor – כָּבוֹד.  God honored the nation of Israel.  We angered God, though.  The end of the pasuk – the anger of a fool – refers to Pharaoh.  We could not be redeemed immediately on our own merit.  So, God orchestrated a series of events whereby Pharaoh’s obstinacy would be his undoing. 

God explains this to Moshe Rabbeinu at the beginning of our parsha, “... בֹּא אֶל־פַּרְעֹה כִּי־אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְתִּי אֶת־לִבּוֹ .../Go to Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart …” (Shmos 10:1)  The situation in Egypt did not seem promising for the nation of Israel.  Pharaoh was showing no sign of weakening his resolve to keep the Jews even after seven terrible plagues.  God tells Moshe not to despair and not to be concerned for it was He who had hardened Pharaoh’s heart in order to be able to redeem the unworthy nation.  What appeared to be a cause for concern was actually the very thing that permitted the nation to be redeemed.

This is an important lesson for each of us when we find ourselves in a predicament and wonder where God is.  Why isn’t He helping me?  The lesson of Egypt teaches us not to despair in these situations.  We can remember that Pharaoh’s stubbornness was really a blessing in disguise.  It was the very thing that brought about the redemption. 

God is always helping us.  In every situation He has our best interests in mind.  Even if we do not understand how, we can understand that God arranges everything that happens to us for our own benefit.

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[1] Shmos R. 13:1

[2] See Yechezkel 20:5-9

Bo 5631 First Ma'amar

The Chiddushei HaRim asks why it was necessary for God to bring specifically ten plagues upon the Egyptians.  God could have achieved His purpose with any number of plagues or with no plagues at all.  Why ten?  The Chiddushei HaRim answers that the ten plagues removed God’s concealment from the ten commands with which the world was created and changed them from עֲשָׂרָה מַאֲמָרוֹת/ten commands to עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת/Ten Commandments.

The Sfas Emes explains this enigmatic answer.  God created the world with עֲשָׂרָה מַאֲמָרוֹת/ten commands.  These are stated clearly in the first chapter of Breishis.  God constructed the Creation mechanism so that when He uttered the words of creation, the words themselves gave their creations existence.  So, for example, when God said, “Let there be light,” (Breishis 1:3) those words gave existence to light.  The life force behind everything in this world is the letters in the beginning of the Torah which describe the Creation.  The letters are the means through which God extends His will to create and continue the existence of the entire creation.  This is a crucial concept.  The Creation was not a one time act.  It is continuous. 

Looking around us, though, it is not clear that the life force that gives everything existence is in the letters of these very commands.  In fact, it is not obvious that there is a spiritual life force at all.  The Godly life force in Creation is hidden.  The purpose of the plagues that God wrought upon Egypt was to clearly reveal that the physical Creation owes its continuing existence to a Godly life force.  It was to make it known that there is more to the world around us than our eyes perceive.  Each plague revealed God in one aspect of the Creation.  Each plague removed a barrier preventing us from being aware of God in that aspect of nature referred to in one Creation מַאֲמַר/command.  This is why God brought ten plagues upon the Egyptians; one plague for each of the ten commands by which God created the world.

What does the Chiddushei HaRim mean, though, when he says that each מַאֲמַר/command changed to a דִבּוּר/utterance?  The Chiddushei HaRim is using a play on words.  Although in Hebrew the root דַבָר/DBR means speech, in Aramaic it means leader.  The Zohar uses this same play on words when it explains, “וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם/You will speak about them.”  The Zohar explains this as, “You will guide your actions according to the word of God.”[1]  דִבּוּר/Leadership symbolizes the revelation of God in the world.  In the exile God’s truth is hidden.  The Zohar describes this as the aspect of דִבּוּר/leadership being in exile.[2]  At the time the Torah was given the aspect of דִבּוּר/leadership was revealed.  This is why right before the Ten Commandments we find, “וַיְדַבֵּר אֱ-לֹהִים אֵת כָּל־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה .../God spoke all these words …” (Shmos 20:1)  God’s leadership was no longer in exile.  It was clear for all to see.

We find this concept regarding Moshe Rabbeinu’s speech impediment as well.  When God asked Moshe Rabbeinu to return to Egypt to speak to Pharaoh and begin the redemption process, he responds, “לֹא אִישׁ דְּבָרִים אָנֹכִי/I am not a man of words.” (Shmos 4:10)  After the Torah was given, however, the pasuk says, “אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר מִשֶׁה .../These are the words that Moshe spoke …” (Devarim 1:1)  How did Moshe change from a man with a speech impediment to one who could speak and explain the entire Torah to the nation?  The Midrash teaches us that after he merited receiving the Torah he was healed.[3]  In the exile Moshe Rabbeinu was not a man of words.  Moshe Rabbeinu understood that in the exile God’s influence was far from apparent.  But at the giving of the Torah, God’s leadership was clear for all to see.  It follows that Moshe Rabbeinu’s speech impediment, which symbolized God’s concealment, was healed. 

As we’ve said, the ten plagues removed God’s concealment from theעֲשָׂרָה מַאֲמָרוֹת/ten commands with which the world was created.  As we and the Egyptians became more aware of God with each plague, each aspect of nature represented by one of the ten commands was changed to an aspect of God’s דִבּוּר/leadership.  Finally, they were aware of God in all aspects of nature.  This is why the Chiddushei HaRim said that the ten commands which created the world changed to עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת/ten aspects of (God’s) leadership.

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[1] Zohar 3:269a

[2] Zohar 2:25b

[3] Devarim R. 1:1