2006Things were not going well for Moses and the Israelites in Egypt. Moses' and Aaron's diplomatic approaches to Pharaoh were rebuffed. In fact, the situation had worsened immeasurably. Moses had asked Pharaoh for three days of rest to celebrate a religious festival, but Pharaoh refused. Pharaoh increased the hardship on the Israelites by making them provide their own straw for the production of bricks.
Softening Your Heart
Faced with these increased hardships, the people of Israel were emotionally crushed and demoralized by Moses' unsuccessful meetings with Pharaoh. This week's portion, Vaeyra, begins with God reaffirming his covenant with Israel to deliver them from bondage. However, their spirit was so crushed that the people of Israel would not even listen to Moses. God instructs Moses to demand their freedom from Pharaoh, but Moses hesitates. "The Israelites would not listen to me; how then should Pharaoh heed me, a man of impeded speech!" (Exodus 6:12)
At this point, God reaffirms the special role that Moses will play with Pharaoh with Aaron as his spokesman. Mindful that Moses has expressed his own skepticism regarding his ability to persuade Pharaoh, God advises Moses that "[he] will harden Pharaoh's heart…" (Exodus 7:3). After seeking to astound Pharaoh with some magical signs, we now read the detailed accounting of the infamous 10 plagues, though only the first seven plagues will be described in this portion.
As explained in Etz Chaim Torah and Commentary, published by the Rabbinical Assembly of the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism, the seven plagues were caused by the following:
Blood: Most likely caused by heavy rainfall washing a large amount of red sediment into the Nile River
Frogs: The flooded Nile created bacteria that would kill its fish and thus force the frogs out of its natural habitat onto the land.
Vermin: Lice or mosquitoes are plentiful in Egypt under ordinary circumstances; the prior plagues would have caused even more.
Wild beasts or flies.
Pestilence was likely exacerbated by diseases created from the rotting frogs.
Hail: destructive thunderstorms. Before this plague struck, Egyptians were, for the first time, provided with warning and an opportunity take shelter. After the hail stopped, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and agreed to free the Israelites if the plague stopped. Vaeyra concludes with Pharaoh changing his mind. "So Pharaoh's heart stiffened and he would not let the Israelites go; just as the Lord had foretold through Moses." (Exodus 9:35)
Among the many themes in this portion, there is an interesting question raised here about free will and choice. If God hardened Pharaoh's heart, how can he be held accountable for his actions? When Egypt is afflicted with the seven plagues described in this portion, it is written that God hardened Pharaoh's heart and then brought along a sequence of additional, more intensive plagues. It could be argued that this was fundamentally unjust because Pharaoh was only acting in response to God's action in hardening Pharaoh's heart. If God had hardened his heart, why should we hold Pharaoh responsible?
However, the events are not so unfair or harsh. Pharaoh was responsible for his own actions and consequences during the first five plagues because he hardened his own heart for them and refused to liberate the Israelites. It was only after these five plagues that we see that God hardened Pharaoh's heart.
Pharaoh's hardened heart was due to his being overly stubborn and arrogant. He had five separate opportunities to do the right thing and allow the Israelites to leave, but he chose not to do so. At each different plague, Pharaoh could have given up his stubbornness, avoided the hardships on his own people and freed the Israelites. Instead, he chose to continue his self-destructive behavior. With each impending plague looming over him and his people, Pharaoh weighed whether it made more sense for him to free the Israelites, as he was being demanded to do, or cling to his stubbornness. With each new calamity and suffering inflicted on his own people, Pharaoh chose not to change his ways.
How many times do we obstinately cling to our behaviors and refuse to change? We do not change even when we know that we should. We become comfortable in acting a certain way even when we know we need to change. These destructive behaviors may take many forms such as arrogance, procrastination, apathy or, in the case of Pharaoh, stubbornness. They may start out as isolated actions, but over time they become ingrained in our personality and difficult to change. However, the lesson of this portion is that it is up to each individual to decide to change him- or herself and then purposefully act in a different way. Pharaoh could have ended his stubbornness; he was given at least five chances to do so. We all have free will, including the freedom to change.
Prepared by Howard Horowitz, Florida Director of Campus Advancement
Additional commentaries and text studies on Parshat Vaeyra at MyJewishLearning.com.