Parshat Va'eira/Rosh Chodesh Shevat
January 3rd-4th, 2003
1 Shevat, 5763

It’s a good thing to know how to quit while ahead, to have the courage and maturity to bow out gracefully when the right time comes.

Thursday’s Wall Street Journal (January 2nd) contains an interesting article on this very topic, subtitled, "The Science of a Well-Timed Exit." As author Jeffrey Zaslow explains, we can easily think of aging professional athletes (Michael Jordan, Cal Ripkin, etc.) or entertainers (The Rolling Stones?!) who have faced--or currently face--the psychologically painful issue of whether or not to call it quits, leave the spotlight, hang up the cleats, retire the jersey, throw in the towel (and so forth). Lately, it has been certain disgraced politicians and pontiffs who, after much public agonizing, have stepped down from their positions once they acknowledged--however grudgingly--that it was not prudent (or feasible) to continue.

Now, in many cases, I’m sure, making an exit is a tough call to make. In others, it may be painfully obvious to everybody in the world (including the person himself) that the time has indeed arrived…though it could be that others need to step in, finally, and yank him offstage with the trusty old cane! (Did you hear that, Saddam??!!)

Speaking of which…

We encounter, in this week’s parsha (and next week’s as well), an egomaniacal monarch, Pharaoh, who blindly and single-mindedly refuses to make his own exit at the right time--or, more precisely, to let the Jewish people make their exit from Egypt--and yield the historical spotlight to Hashem. Despite the repeated commandment from G-d, as relayed by Moshe and Aharon ("Let My people go!"), as well as the increasing havoc being wrought on his own country because of his refusal, Pharaoh continues on his destructive course. We should pay attention to the story, and try to see what we can learn from it about human nature (i.e., about our own hearts and minds).

Hashem tells Moshe and Aharon to go before Pharaoh, and He provides them with a wondrous sign meant if not to close the deal outright, then at least to provoke Pharaoh’s respectful consideration and get the negotiations rolling.

"Hashem spoke to Moshe and Aharon, saying: ‘When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Provide a wonder for yourselves,’ you [Moshe] shall say to Aharon, ‘Take your staff, and cast it down before Pharaoh—it will become a snake.’ (7, 8)

When Moshe and Aharon do as G-d commands, Pharaoh responds by calling on his own wise men and sorcerers (for which, our Sages tell us, Egypt was renowned in the ancient world) to do the very same thing. And with their incantations and occult wisdom, they are able to reproduce (or simulate) the stick-to-snake transformation. Ah, but the G-d of Israel has even more tricks up His sleeve: the Torah tells us (verse 12) that "the staff of Aharon swallowed their staffs," and the Midrash (cited by Rashi) explains that this happened after Aharon’s staff was no longer in the form of a snake!

How did Pharaoh react to the sight of Aharon’s devouring staff? "The heart of Pharaoh was strong and he did not heed them…" (my emphasis)

Note that the Torah does not report that Pharaoh was unimpressed. Indeed, Rabbi Eli Munk (in The Call of the Torah, Volume II, p. 89) cites a Midrash that Pharaoh was very much impressed: "Pharaoh was shocked and startled by this new feat, and began to sense the unique power of Moshe and Aharon." Pharaoh had "gotten the message," or at least a part of it, but he chose not to heed it!

Similarly, we see that the Torah does not report anything about Pharaoh discounting the awesome reality, or scope, of the very first plague that G-d brings upon the Egyptians--the transformation of the Nile River to blood. Though his magicians were able to imperfectly simulate the same trick, Pharaoh was not really fooled (or convinced of their prowess): "Pharaoh turned away and came to his palace. He did not take this to heart either." (verse 23; my emphasis) Again, Pharaoh had "gotten the message," or at least (an even bigger) part of it--for the Nile was worshipped as a deity in Egypt, and yet here it had been reduced to mere plasma and corpuscles--but he chose not to take it to heart!

And so on, throughout the story. By the time of the third plague (lice), Pharaoh’s famed magicians cannot even begin to simulate the miracle, and they openly declare their helplessness (and G-d’s greatness) in his majesty’s presence, "It is a finger of G-d!" (8, 15) Yet, what is Pharaoh’s response? "Pharaoh’s heart was strong, and he did not heed them…"

As the plagues go on, Pharaoh begins a pattern of relenting temporarily and then rebounding to his previous hard-heartedness. Our commentaries point out that after the sixth plague (boils), the language of the Torah noticeably changes: rather than reporting that Pharaoh strengthened his own heart, it says that "Hashem strengthened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not heed them…" (9, 12) From that point on, according to Maimonidies (and others), Pharaoh’s free will was actually taken away in punishment for his repeated acts of wickedness and his refusal to acknowledge the sovereignty of Hashem. In other words, by freely choosing so many times to disregard the Divine command, Pharaoh was dealt what Maimonidies explains is the ultimate punishment (reserved only for the extremely wicked): losing the ability to freely choose the path of repentance. [Please note that other commentators offer very different explanations to reconcile G-d’s "hardening Pharaoh’s heart" with the Torah axiom of moral free will.]

According to this understanding, Pharaoh ultimately became frozen in his evil, trapped on an evil path--one that originally had been freely chosen, but that was now a path of no return.

But what we can learn most from, I believe, is the part of the story before Plague # 6, when Pharaoh (on some level) saw the truth…but yet repeatedly chose not to heed it! When he had certain intellectual perceptions of the authenticity of Moshe and Aharon’s mission, and the omnipotence of the One Who had sent them…but, yet, stubbornly refused to "take them to heart." A common--and tragic--human failing (and folly): to feel certain internal stirrings (the prompting of our conscience, the perception of what’s right or good), and yet to turn away (into our palace?) and refuse to take them to heart--i.e., actualize them in our lives, direct our actions in accordance with them. Sometimes, it’s true, we may fail to get the message altogether. But very often, like Pharaoh, we receive the message (faintly, or loud and clear)…and, yet, disregard it.

We return to the Wall Street Journal (don’t we Jews always return to the Wall Street Journal?!), and the story about making that well-timed career exit. Some people, it tells us, are strong (or honest) enough to face the music: "…when their inner voice tells them to cut their losses, they pay attention." Others, regrettably, choose a different path (like Pharaoh): "When it’s time to quit, they’re in denial about what is obvious to the rest of us. It’s the hypnosis of attachment."

However we choose to understand, or characterize, the nature of Pharaoh’s particular denial (or hypnotic attachment), we should at least take to heart the moral lesson that his downfall provides us. When the wise men say, "It’s the finger of G-d," and when we know ourselves that it is so (because we hear an inner voice), the right thing to do is to be a mensch, and admit the truth. To admit the truth is a classic Jewish value, and in fact, it is listed specifically among the seven traits that characterize a wise person in Pirkei Avos (Ethics of the Fathers): "…he acknowledges the truth." Our very designation as Yehudim (Jews) suggests (besides its etymological connection to the idea of "giving thanks"—hoda’ah) that we are the people called on to acknowledge the truth ("modeh")--specifically, the truth of G-d’s Creation and Governance of this world, the truth of His unceasing kindness.

May we all take to heart the wisdom of the Torah (and, l’havdil, the Journal!), and be true to our title of Yehudim, those who acknowledge the truth and refuse to turn away from its demands. (Even if it means stepping down at a certain point--Trent…Saddam--, then so be it.) We’ll see clearly in the upcoming Torah portions that the alternative, Pharaoh’s habit of turning away from the truth, is simply not a winning strategy. It only leads to devastation. GOOD SHABBOS!

My e-mail address is yosefe@comcast.net

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Rabbi Yosef Edelstein, Savannah Kollel. Phone: 912-351-0469; fax: 354-9923