David Schwartz Hy"d
David Schwartz Hy"dCourtesy

In Memory of our beloved David Schwartz, who fell in battle sanctifying God’s name, on 27 Tevet, 5784 (8 January 2024).

“Le’David Barchi Nafshi” is a compilation of essays written on the weekly Torah reading by David Schwartz, of blessed memory. First published on the occasion of his marriage to Meital, David’s unique Torah thoughts that delve into the depths of the Torah are shared now to elevate his memory and sanctify his soul.

In our parsha, God gives Moshe and his brother Aharon the difficult task of going before Pharaoh to liberate the people of Israel. (6:13) They went to Pharaoh earlier, and Pharaoh told them without hesitation: “I do not know who the Lord is and I will not let Israel go.” (5:2) After deliberating with God, Moshe goes to Pharaoh for a second time and shows him the signs of God’s power. At the start of every plague, Pharaoh agrees to free Israel, but when the plague stops, Pharaoh retracts his promise and insists that the people remain in Egypt.

Following the first five plagues, God sends Moshe to speak with Pharaoh, but adds, “I will harden the heart of Pharaoh.” (Ex. 7:3) From the fifth plague onward, it is not Pharaoh by himself who is refusing to send out the Hebrew slaves, but it is God who makes his heart hard so that time after time he refuses to release the Israelites. It seems that if it were not for divine intervention, Pharaoh naturally would have relented and allowed Israel to leave.

The question that cries out to be answered is: Why did God visit all these punishments upon Pharaoh and harden his heart? On account of this, Pharaoh’s refusal to send out the Israelites, can be blamed on an external force which hardened his heart. The Ramban, among other commentators, examines this problem.

The Ramban cites Shemot Rabbah 13:3. Rabbi Yohanan said: “From here there is an opening for the heretics to say that he had no [opportunity] to repent, as it is stated: ‘As I have hardened his heart.’” Reish Lakish, replied, “The Holy One blessed be He forewarns a person the first time, the second, and the third, and if he does not relent, He locks his heart from repentance in order to exact retribution for his sins.”

As the text above indicates, God sent Pharaoh five signs so that he would turn away from his wickedness, but these warnings did not suffice. As a result, God decreed that he could no longer turn back (i.e., repent) and absolve his debt. Pharaoh’s stubborn course at the beginning of the plagues was what brought about God’s just decree that later prevented him from doing teshuva.

The Ramban adds two reasons to this. The first is that while God did decree that Israel be enslaved in Egypt and Pharaoh was the messenger, Pharaoh chose to increase the burden of servitude with great evils. He did this because of his wickedness alone. God, therefore, says that “I will increase the defilement that already is defiling within you.”

The second idea that the Ramban presents is that Pharaoh was consenting to free Israel only because of the power of the plagues. In other words the plague itself was what was driving his decision [not God]. In fact, after God would cancel the plague, Pharaoh would refuse to release the Israelites. Pharaoh was not agreeing to free Israel in order to honor God, which was the higher purpose. As the Ramban writes, the goal of the plagues was “in order that My marvels may be multiplied in the land of Egypt” (11:9). God brought plagues to Egypt to display His strength and power, and wished that Pharaoh would realize this and heed God’s demand. This is what the verse literally states. For God says to Moshe: “For I have hardened his heart … in order that I may display these My signs among them. And that you may recount in the hearing of your sons and of your sons’ sons how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I displayed my signs among them - in order that you may know that I am the Lord.” (10:1-2)

In the writings of the Slonimer Rebbe, Shalom Berezovsky, 1911-2000, this idea is further developed. In his work, the Netivot Shalom, he notes that Rabbi Yehuda in the Talmud divided the plagues into three groups based on the acronym: DaTZa”Ch, ADa”SH, B’AaCHa”B. The three groups designate plagues that were done beneath the ground, plagues that were done on the face of the earth, and plagues that were done in heaven. They were all executed to show Pharaoh that the kingdom of God is without any boundaries, because Pharaoh had proclaimed “I do not know who the Lord is.”

At the end of parshat Bo, we find that the Ramban further explains that the miracles of the Exodus were performed so that we will remember the wonders through all the generations.

In Memory of our beloved David Schwartz, who fell in battle sanctifying God’s name, on 27 Tevet, 5784 (8 January 2024).

“Le’David Barchi Nafshi” is a compilation of essays written on the weekly Torah reading by David Schwartz, of blessed memory. First published on the occasion of his marriage to Meital, David’s unique Torah thoughts that delve into the depths of the Torah are shared now to elevate his memory and sanctify his soul.

In our parsha, God gives Moshe and his brother Aharon the difficult task of going before Pharaoh to liberate the people of Israel. (6:13) They went to Pharaoh earlier, and Pharaoh told them without hesitation: “I do not know who the Lord is and I will not let Israel go.” (5:2) After deliberating with God, Moshe goes to Pharaoh for a second time and shows him the signs of God’s power. At the start of every plague, Pharaoh agrees to free Israel, but when the plague stops, Pharaoh retracts his promise and insists that the people remain in Egypt.

Following the first five plagues, God sends Moshe to speak with Pharaoh, but adds, “I will harden the heart of Pharaoh.” (Ex. 7:3) From the fifth plague onward, it is not Pharaoh by himself who is refusing to send out the Hebrew slaves, but it is God who makes his heart hard so that time after time he refuses to release the Israelites. It seems that if it were not for divine intervention, Pharaoh naturally would have relented and allowed Israel to leave.

The question that cries out to be answered is: Why did God visit all these punishments upon Pharaoh and harden his heart? On account of this, Pharaoh’s refusal to send out the Israelites, can be blamed on an external force which hardened his heart. The Ramban, among other commentators, examines this problem.

The Ramban cites Shemot Rabbah 13:3. Rabbi Yohanan said: “From here there is an opening for the heretics to say that he had no [opportunity] to repent, as it is stated: ‘As I have hardened his heart.’” Reish Lakish, replied, “The Holy One blessed be He forewarns a person the first time, the second, and the third, and if he does not relent, He locks his heart from repentance in order to exact retribution for his sins.”

As the text above indicates, God sent Pharaoh five signs so that he would turn away from his wickedness, but these warnings did not suffice. As a result, God decreed that he could no longer turn back (i.e., repent) and absolve his debt. Pharaoh’s stubborn course at the beginning of the plagues was what brought about God’s just decree that later prevented him from doing teshuva.

The Ramban adds two reasons to this. The first is that while God did decree that Israel be enslaved in Egypt and Pharaoh was the messenger, Pharaoh chose to increase the burden of servitude with great evils. He did this because of his wickedness alone. God, therefore, says that “I will increase the defilement that already is defiling within you.”

The second idea that the Ramban presents is that Pharaoh was consenting to free Israel only because of the power of the plagues. In other words the plague itself was what was driving his decision [not God]. In fact, after God would cancel the plague, Pharaoh would refuse to release the Israelites. Pharaoh was not agreeing to free Israel in order to honor God, which was the higher purpose. As the Ramban writes, the goal of the plagues was “in order that My marvels may be multiplied in the land of Egypt” (11:9). God brought plagues to Egypt to display His strength and power, and wished that Pharaoh would realize this and heed God’s demand. This is what the verse literally states. For God says to Moshe: “For I have hardened his heart … in order that I may display these My signs among them. And that you may recount in the hearing of your sons and of your sons’ sons how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I displayed my signs among them - in order that you may know that I am the Lord.” (10:1-2)

In the writings of the Slonimer Rebbe, Shalom Berezovsky, 1911-2000, this idea is further developed. In his work, the Netivot Shalom, he notes that Rabbi Yehuda in the Talmud divided the plagues into three groups based on the acronym: DaTZa”Ch, ADa”SH, B’AaCHa”B. The three groups designate plagues that were done beneath the ground, plagues that were done on the face of the earth, and plagues that were done in heaven. They were all executed to show Pharaoh that the kingdom of God is without any boundaries, because Pharaoh had proclaimed “I do not know who the Lord is.”

At the end of parshat Bo, we find that the Ramban further explains that the miracles of the Exodus were performed so that we will remember the wonders through all the generations. The miracles in Egypt demonstrate to our ancestors and to us through every generation the awesome might of God. “The purpose of this was so that we would believe in our God and we would acknowledge Him that He is our Creator and this is the purpose of creation.” The Ramban explains: “From the great, prominent miracles, a person comes to realize that there are hidden miracles that are the foundation of the entire Torah. For a person does not integrate the Torah of Moshe into his being unless he believes that all of our events and occurrences are miraculous in scope. These miracles take place outside of the natural workings of the world.” The miracles were performed for Israel so that through them we would acknowledge our Father in heaven through the generations and so that we would praise His great name at every moment in time. This is the higher purpose of the plagues in Egypt. It is for this reason that God blocked Pharaoh’s pathway to repentance.

“The purpose of this was so that we would believe in our God and we would acknowledge Him, that He is our Creator and this is the purpose of creation.”

The Ramban explains: “From the great, prominent miracles, a person comes to realize that there are hidden miracles that are the foundation of the entire Torah. For a person does not integrate the Torah of Moshe into his being unless he believes that all of our events and occurrences are miraculous in scope. These miracles take place outside of the natural workings of the world.” The miracles were performed for Israel so that through them we would acknowledge our Father in heaven through the generations and so that we would praise His great name at every moment in time. This is the higher purpose of the plagues in Egypt. It is for this reason that God blocked Pharaoh’s pathway to repentance.

Translated by Akiva Herzfeld ([email protected])