Special Features Where is his Free Will? In theory, a person's free will "accompanies him" throughout his lifetime, and only ceases at death. (In reality, a person's ability to exercise his free will is restricted at different times during his life, due to such things as illness and injury, advanced age, and circumstances.) In Par'o's case, his free will was suspendedby G-d so that the Plagues would continue to their originally prophesied conclusion, namely, the "smiting of the first-born". These plagues were not only punishment for the Egyptians - had they been only that, Par'o might have been completely free to "let the People go", if he so chose, to spare himself further punishment. But the ten plagues were also miracles performed for the People of Israel, to teach them and the rest of the world exactly Who G-d is. They confirmed G-d's creation of the world by reversing the laws of nature. The answer then to the question is "yes", we do have a contradiction to the concept of Free Will, but other factorsdetermined this unusual situation. One might even say that Par'o was like a living corpse from the moment his Free Will was revoked, no longer having one of the main features of a human being - Free Will. The other approach considers the hardening of Par'o's heart as the necessary "equalizer" to guarantee that Par'o will still possess free will. If a child is given a "choice" of an ice cream cone or a spanking, he will obviously choose the former. Is this really an exercise of free will? If Par'o has been subjected to thedevastating effects of several plagues and the pressure of his advisers and people to acquiesce to Moshe's demands, can it be considered an exercise of free will if he lets the People go upon threat of yet another plague? By hardening his heart, G-d is permitting Par'o to make an actual "free will decision". The Chafetz Chaim takes a different view of the situation. He explains that a person who sins sometimes can be, and is, helped by G-d, so to speak, to repent. To be sure, the individual must expend much effort to repent his ways. But "Heaven's Help" is invaluable, and makes the "job" much easier. When a person sins so much,or if the kind of sins are particularly heinous, then G-d refuses to help. In the language of the Rambam, the path to T'shuva is blocked. Repentance is still not impossible, but it is extremely difficult to achieve. This is what happened to Par'o, says the Chafetz Chaim. He had gone so far in his wickedness against thePeople of Israel that G-d withheld all help from him. Even if Par'o would have wanted to repent, he would have had a very hard time of it. When G-d withdrew this Divine help, the burden on Par'o increased greatly. One might say that his heart got heavier. This explanation is particularly appropriate for the term L'HACH-BID- to make the heart heavy. (In contrast to L'CHAZEIK - to strengthen the heart, which would fit better with the second explanation above.) The Chafetz Chaim says that Par'o still had his Free Will, but it would have been a practically insurmountable task to change his behavior. Chonology of Slavery Years are A.M. (from
Creation) OBSERVATION Furthermore, each set of three brought a different message to Par'o and his people and each set operated in a different realm. The first 3 on ground level (river, from the river to land, land). The second 3 operated on those that inhabit the Earth (animals, animals, people). The third set had to do with the heavens. There are other ways to explain the partitioning of the plagues into sets of three. One of the Hagada commentaries says that the "signs" that Rabbi Yehuda gave for the plagues, namely, D'Tza"Ch, ADa"Sh, B'ACha"V was meant to show us the 3 sets of 3 plagues each. G'MATRIYA G'MATRIYA by R. Yaakov Auerbach z"l A Special Rosh Chodesh As such, Rosh Chodesh Shvat is like Shavuot in that both days represent the receiving of the Torah (and a bit like Yom Kippur, for the same reason). Sefer HaToda'a says that it is appropriate for us to rededicate ourselves to Torah study (and practice) on Rosh Chodesh Shvat. Let us each find at least a few extra minutesa day for Torah study, a few hours a week to attend some more shiurim (at the Israel Center or elsewhere). TORAH TIDBITS, the football team With a minute left in the game, TT scored a key TD but also failed to convert, leaving the score tied at 6-6. It looked like we were facing a sudden-death overtime, but with a few swconds left, the boys on red came through with a clutch TD and a point after. With continued, determined, aggressive play until the final whistle, the game ended at 13-6 with a well-fought victory to Torah Tidbits, coach Danny T. and offensive coach Joey Pollack. Joey will be quartering for the team when we go head-to-head with Big Blue in the semi finals this Friday. What a game! What a team! Torah Tidbits Dedications on the occasion of a Yahrzeit or in honor of a birth, Bar or Bat Mitzva, engagement, wedding, anniversary, birthday, graduation, someone's starting the army or Sherut Leumi can be inserted in TT. Call us. Hold this date The Jewish Outreach Center of Ra'anana in
cooperation with the Israel Center present • Full board (3 meals plus high tea) Prices (not including VAT): Condolences to the family of Moses J. Grundwerg z"l GIFT BASKETS TO ISRAEL [The Va'eira Homepage] |
