Moshe turned his back and walked out of the presence of Par'oh! Par'oh's servants said to him, “How long will this continue to be a menace to us? Let the men go, and let them serve their G-d. Do you not yet know that Mitrayim is being destroyed?” And Moshe and Aharon were returned to [the presence of] Par'oh, who said to them: “Go and worship Hashem your G-d. Who, who will be going?” Moshe said, “We will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters ...” And [Par'oh] said to them, “Let it be so. May Hashem be with you. If and when I let you go with your children, there will be evil confronting you. Let it not be so. Let only the males go and serve Hashem, because that is what you really seek.” And [then] he drove them away from the presence of Par'oh. (10:6-11)
This entire dialog is strange. Clearly, Moshe felt he could leave the presence of Par'oh with a show of anger and disdain. Yet, he is brought back into his presence, and addressed cordially. Then, he is thrown out. The plagues seem to have taken their toll. Moshe and Aharon seem to have won the grudging respect, or perhaps awe, of Par'oh and his staff. Yet, they reverted to treating him scornfully! Par'oh's staff had the audacity to challenge his judgment openly. The situation must have become rather precarious. Things were beginning to fall apart. Apparently, Par'oh's staff were ready to let the Jews go and worship, or at least to allow the men a furlough. Only Par'oh was unmoved, presumably due to the extra hardening of his heart. If so, why did they not go one step further and depose Par'oh? They seem to have been able to do so. They were not afraid to challenge him.
Furthermore, Par'oh actually did listen to them. It is even plausible that they brought Moshe and Aharon back to his presence without waiting for his consent. The staff was certainly in a position to influence his judgment. Why did things suddenly turn out differently? One could say that this just shows how far the Hand of G-d reached. Not only in the plagues, the open manifestation of His Hand! Even in everyday developments, the order was manipulated that Hashem would arrange all ten plagues and the final Exodus with a Strong Hand.
But on the simple level, why did Par'oh's staff not remove him from office? Why did they accept Par'oh's final offer to Moshe, and then drive Moshe away? This would not serve their goal of preventing the destruction of Mitzrayim! If Moshe asked for everyone to be let go, and this would stop the destruction, then let them go! Par'oh also seems to change his position very suddenly! Par'oh, apparently, agreed to his advisors that negotiations should take place. He conceded, for the moment, that something needed to be done. He agreed to enter into some sort of a negotiated deal, wherein he could get them to end the plagues, but without needing to release all the Jews. He said to his advisors: “Let's say this and that to them…they won't accept our terms, and we won't accept theirs. So we will need to wait it out, call their bluff, stare them down, and the like, until they back off a little.”
But there is a deeper lesson here. The staff, his servants themselves, essentially did not want to let Israel go. They had, however, been shaken by the plagues. They were afraid. It was this impression that drove them to the arrogance to challenge Par'oh. But this impression does not last for long in its original strength. Day by day, and hour by hour, it weakens. Soon the terror has passed. But how does such terror fade away? Through the negotiation process!
Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, zt'l, explains the story of Chushim the son of Dan (one of the twelve tribes) in the following way: Back in Parshas Vayechi, the children of Yaakov had brought the body of their father to the Me'aras Hamachpelah for burial. Eisav tried to block the burial. He claimed the burial plot as his own. The Shevatim argued, saying that they had a document back in Mitzrayim proving that Eisav had sold the right to Yaakov. Eisav demanded to see the document. They had no choice but to dispatch Naftali to run back to get it. Chushim ben Dan was hard of hearing. He did not follow the negotiations. He asked: “What's going on here?” They answered “Eisav's trying to prevent the burial.” Chushim picked up a shovel and knocked off the head of Eisav, which then rolled into the grave with Yaakov. Why was it that only Chushim reacted this way? Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, zt'l, explains that all the others were not as shocked. They had entered into negotiations. They had gotten used to the specter of the delay, slowly adapting to it. Chushim was taken by surprise, and his sudden reaction showed it!
Here too, Par'oh, who was not shaken personally, was able to talk with equanimity. His heart was hard and strong, and he spoke calmly in his usual tone of voice, and maybe even a little harshly. He negotiated, and slowly, as the negotiations drew on, his staff lost their fear and awe. They began to view the events as natural disasters. They forgot the miraculous nature of the plagues. They forgot the moments of terror, even the plague of hailstones. Eventually, they presented Moshe with their ultimatum, and they just drove him away!
We can learn from this how careful one must be not to lose an impression. How an inspiration can be washed away by negotiations. By over-analyzing an awe-inspiring event, or even by trying to argue about it with one who is determined not to be inspired, one can lose the entire inspiration. May we be zocheh to always be inspired.
Shabbat shalom.
