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Foolin’ Round
Moshe told Paroh the Jews did not want out – they only wanted a three day festival in the desert.
What for? To worship Hashem.
Paroh [with arm twisted]; ‘Fine, worship right here!’
Moshe: ‘What, sacrifice venerated sheep before Egypt’s eyes?! It improper, and we will get stoned for it…’
Paroh: ‘Alrighty, take what animals you need and leave the rest’
Moshe: ‘We cannot know what sacrifice Hashem will ask. We need to take all our animals, to the last hoof!’
However the Jews were instructed to sacrifice SHEEP. IN. EGYPT. Yup!
What happened to not knowing what to sacrifice? Or of not being able to sacrifice before the Egyptians??
It was all a game.
Paroh knew the Jews would leave for good. He said to Moshe ‘Behold, your wicked plotting to escape will turn against you!’. (Paroh told Moshe ‘See that evil is facing you!’ The Targum explains this ‘See that the evil you intend to do [i.e. running away,] will block your progress’)
Paroh knew the score. And Moshe knew that Paroh knew. But they played in doublespeak; the cover story was a three day holiday.
When the Jews sacrificed publicly in Egypt they broadcast a clear message: ‘It’s official! We are leaving for good. It’s all over; forget the 3 day story!’
Thereafter, the Egyptians had no moral claim on the Jews running away, for they had announced their true intentions and the Egyptians sent them out despite knowing them.
This is a clear Pasuk: ‘And Paroh and his servants changed their hearts regarding the nation, and said “What have we done, for we have sent Israel from our servitude!'”
They did not say ‘Why did we grant a three day vacation?’ They said ‘Why did we set them free?’ For that was exactly what they did.
What is the moral in this?
The Rambam writes that the Paroh story is an allegory. Paroh is the Yetzer Harah. These parshios teach us how to deal with our desires.
We learn here that the Yetzer responds well to being fooled. Feel free to say to your lesser inclination: ‘Sure I’ll do that – tomorrow!’
Push things off. Change the subject. Lie, tell the Yetzer sob stories. Divert it’s attention. Claim (and focus on the fact that) you are tired right now.
Learn from Moshe, and win big.
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Just An Excuse?
Pharoh said ‘The Jews can go, but their cattle stays’.
Moshe answered ‘Not only will we take our every last hoof, you will even donate yours to bring as sacrifices to Hashem’
Hashem hardened Paroh’s heart.
He shouted at Moshe ‘Watch out! Next time you come here, you die!’
Moshe: ‘Fine, I’m not coming again’, and went on to warn Pharoh that his firstborn, and all firstborn in Egypt, will die at midnight.
The sequence seems logical; Pharoh dictates his terms that the Jews leave their animals, Moshe laughs at him, and Pharoh gets mad and threatens Moshe. Why does the Torah insert that Hashem hardened Pharoh’s heart?
Often when someone wants to do something unjustified, he will try to justify it by whatever means he has at hand. But never confuse a reason with a motive: he does it because he wants to, not for his stated reason!
Pharoh’s heart was hard, hardened by Hashem. He simply did not want to let the Jews go. When Moshe sneered at him he responded by threatening Moshe’s life. Perhaps he would normally have let it pass, but now he used the insult to justify refusing the Jews’ request.
Said Moshe: ‘Oh, you persist in refusal? Hashem will be taking your firstborn tonight, my friend!’
Tip: I see this all the time. Someone justifies an action and then other people will address his justification. As if it were meaningful!!
Tip: Don’t waste your time responding to reasons…
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Fooling Foolers
Why did the Jews take the Egyptian’s belongings in such a devious manner, asking them as a loan?
As suggested above, Paroh and Moshe spoke in doublespeak, for appearances only. Paroh knew well what the Jews were at, and that’s why he balked at sending the Jews for a three day sacrifice. Everyone knew: the Jews were going to freedom.
And therefore… requests for loans were really requests for presents…
Why did Hashem want things done this way?
Here is a thought: Paroh kicked off the enslavement with ‘not knowing Yosef’. Of course, he did know Yosef. He merely pretended he didn’t to enslave the Jews on pretense, claiming them enemies of the state.
Additionally he used a ruse to get them to actually work, by showing up to the work himself, as the Medrash tells us.
We treat this master at fakery in his own coin; by pretend and make-believe.
Another consideration is what Rashi teaches us that Moshe was commanded to take care not to offend the King’s dignity. Therefore the language was suave, diplomatic and cloaked in doublespeak.
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What About The Money?
The Jews’ left with a good deal of Egyptian money.
The Gemarah tells that this was fair wage for the time they enslaved them, probably less than fair wage.
Here is a thought: the Jews were leaving as a debased people. The Egyptians had made a shambles of them. One divider between a slave and a freeman is that a freeman has the time and money to pursue luxury items and hobbies, things that are not strictly utilitarian.
It was incumbent on the Egyptians to reinstate the Jewish people to their former status. One thing they could do towards this was to furnish them with gold and silver vessels and fancy clothes.
It was the least they could do!
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Hard Of Heart
The plague where Hashem hardened the hearts of Paroh’s advisors was Arbeh, locust: ‘for I hardened his heart and the hearts of his advisors’.
And the plague where those advisors immediately spoke up, protesting Paroh’s policy was….Arbeh!
Weren’t their hearts hardened??
Hardening the heart does not mean they could not choose. Indeed, this was the ultimate indictment of Pharoh: indeed, his heart was hardened. But so was his advisors’ hearts. Yet they choose to do right anyhow.
Sometimes we just don’t feel into it. Doesn’t matter. Don’t pay attention: You are boss, not your heart.
Remember that!
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Stong-Arm Tactics
Ohr Hachaim: The Torah refers to
1. Hashem’s Great Hand, and
2. Hashem’s Strong Hand.
They are not the same. The Great Hand is Hashem’s merciful leadership. The Strong Hand is the hand of Judgement, used to destroy Egypt.
The right hand is the Great Hand, and the left is the Strong Hand.
(Obviously the right is the stronger of the two, but as Hashem uses force most reluctantly, the left is used to represent it)
T’fillin, phylacteries, commemorate Hashem taking out the Jews with a Strong Hand. Where do T’fillin go? On the left hand, of course!
Keep in mind next time you lay T’fillin!
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Caught Unprepared
Why didn’t the Jews bake bread for the way? Why were they caught without provisions – having to eat dry Matzah?
One thought is expressed in the Or Hachaim – it was Pesach, they were forbidden to bake Chametz. They couldn’t make bread at all anyhow!
Another idea heard was that they were too busy to prepare – they were collecting the Egyptian’s gold and silver!
And Perhaps the Jews believed that they were leaving, but yet it wasn’t reality to them. They knew to prepare – intellectually – but emotionally they were still staying in Egypt.
And so they didn’t prepare….