Parshat Va'eira
January 23rd-24th, 2004
1 Shevat, 5764

(SHABBOS ROSH CHODESH)

With this Torah portion, we begin to read about the plagues (makos) that Hashem brought upon the Egyptians before leading the Jewish people out of Egypt.

Here’s a funny “coincidence” to report (but there really are no coincidences) before we move on to the subject at hand.

Just this morning, a news story surfaced on the Internet reporting that Russian mathematicians have concluded that the splitting of the Red Sea--the culmination of the physical Exodus from Egypt--was scientifically possible. "I am convinced that God rules the Earth through the laws of physics," stated the main researcher, an expert in “ocean phenomena, flooding and tidal waves.” How exactly to understand the nature of the miracles and wonders reported in the Torah is a large and interesting topic, and perhaps we can come back to it another time. Suffice it to say that such a finding by these Russian scientists is extremely heartening to those who believe in the truth of the Torah, and may perhaps be in accord with the position of Maimonidies (as stated in his introduction to Pirkei Avos, the “Eight Chapters”):

“We…believe that the Divine Will ordained everything at creation and that all things, at all times, are regulated by the laws of nature and run their natural course, in accordance with what Solomon said, As it was so will it ever be , as it was made so it continues, and there is nothing new under the  sun [Ecclesiastes]. This occasioned the Sages to say that all miracles which deviate from the natural course of events, whether they have already occurred, or according to promise, are to take place in the future, were foreordained by the Divine Will during the six days of creation, nature being then so constituted that those miracles which were to happen really did afterward take place. Then, when such an occurrence happens at its proper time, it may have been regarded as an absolute innovation, whereas in reality it was not.” (from A Maimonidies Reader)

Even if we understand that the splitting of the Sea was, given certain exact atmospheric and oceanographic conditions, a “natural” occurrence [that is, in keeping with the laws of nature operating at the Sea], it can still properly be called a “miracle,” meaning here an open act of Divine Providence specifically intended for the salvation of the Jewish people (who were “miraculously” able to take advantage of that “natural process” at exactly the right moment to escape the Egyptians). In other words, The Divine Will foreordained that the Jewish people would be able to benefit from that exact concatenation of natural forces and processes that would allow them to “come within the sea on dry land” and cross over to safety as they fled from Pharaoh’s army. That is a miracle…though it operates through the laws of nature.

There’s more to say on that, but we must move on. Back to the plagues, to those calamities and devastations that overtook the obdurate Pharaoh and his nation.

What was the purpose of these makos? Couldn’t Hashem have speedily (and miraculously) whisked the Children of Israel out of that blasted country without going through the whole drawn-out process of blasting that country?! (The answer is, “YES.”) Why not just lead the Jews out quietly and immediately, without any fanfare?

The Torah itself gives an answer to this question in the parsha--in two places.

Here‘s answer number one:

“Therefore [G-d tells Moshe], say to the Children of Israel: ‘I am Hashem, And I shall take you out from under the burdens of Egypt; I shall rescue you  From their service; I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great Judgments. I shall take you to Me for a people and I shall be a G-d to you; and You shall know that I am Hashem your G-d, Who takes you out from under The burdens of Egypt.” [6: 6-7; my emphasis]

Here’s answer number two:

“You [Moshe] shall speak everything that I command you…But I shall harden Pharaoh’s Heart and I shall multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh will not Heed you, and I shall put My hand on Egypt; and I shall take out My legions--My people, The Children of Israel--from the land of Egypt with great judgments. And Egypt shall Know that I am Hashem, when I stretch out My hand over Egypt….” [7: 1-5; my emphasis]

The display of divine omnipotence through the vehicle of the makos had (at least) two distinct purposes, it would seem.

First, it was intended to “make a statement,“ or “teach a lesson” to the Egyptians (and their monarch) --the citizens of that great ancient civilization--who were collectively enslaving and brutalizing the Children of Israel. They had to be shown that “I am Hashem,” that their riches and power and splendor existed only because Hashem willed it to be so. And they had to be shown that the One G-d of Heaven and Earth was intervening, stepping into the historical process, on behalf of a small and powerless nation:

“He reveals Himself as the sole Creator, the Lord of nature--even though human hands had sought to subjugate it. He reveals Himself, too, as Lord over the life of nations, as Vindicator of the oppressed, as Judge of the Arrogant. Egypt’s glory collapses before the majesty of a people that has nothing but G-d alone.” (S.R. Hirsch, The Nineteen Letters)

That lesson was directed, really, to all the nations of the world, for all time--even though Egypt was the immediate and particular recipient of G-d’s wrath.

But there was a second purpose to the makos as well…and that was the lesson directed to the Jewish people specifically: and You shall know that I am Hashem your G-d, Who takes you out from under the burdens of Egypt.” I would argue that this was the more important purpose--insofar as the Exodus was meant to be the prelude to the historical (and eternal) covenant between G-d and the Jewish people. (G-d was bringing us out of Egypt so that He could take us to Himself to be a people.) The Jewish people had to be shown G-d’s omnipotence so that they would be able to understand just “Who they were dealing with,“ and just “Who was becoming their Redeemer.” And the fact that they had been steeped in the idolatry of Egypt for so long (over 200 years) required that this process of education take place over the course of a considerable period of time, and that it involve a series of makos.

To make my language more precise: The Jewish people had to be shown Who IS, and ALWAYS WILL BE, their Redeemer! Indeed, the Torah itself highlights this by using the present tense in the verse quoted above: and You shall know that I am Hashem your G-d, Who takes you out from under the burdens of Egypt.” We were being taught that He is the One Who ALWAYS TAKES us out from the burdens of Egypt--Who redeems us from all the different exiles, with their attendant sufferings, in our history.

And continuing to the present day…for each and every one of us. The S’fas Emes writes that each Jewish person must work to internalize the knowledge that G-d is the One Who constantly takes him/her out from “the burdens of Egypt”--from the physical and spiritual barriers that separate us from clinging to Him, and prevent us from serving Him properly. If we truly realize, he continues, that G-d is the One Who redeems us, then we are already on the way to “redemption,” even though we may still be in the midst of our troubles. To understand that G-d can “bring us out” from under our burdens, and--more radically still--that He actually gave us those very burdens in order that we turn to Him (and, thereby, grow spiritually from the tribulations) eases the pain of “exile” to a significant degree. It doesn’t automatically take away our problems, but it illuminates their true nature in the spiritual sense: to be an impetus for us to grow as human beings (and Jews), and to seek to draw ourselves to G-d ever more closely.

For He is the One (and the only One) to take us out from under the burdens of Egypt. May we, the descendants of those who witnessed the plagues in Egypt, take to heart the valuable lessons they contain.

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