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THE WEEKLY SIDRA- BO
Rabbi Moshe Greebel
It is sufficient enough to suffer the punishment of a bad choice, but being shamed for it as well, rubbing the salt into the wound so to speak, is really quite intolerable. Yet, it must be said that punishment and being shamed not only assist in the perpetrator not repeating past offences, but help others to learn a valuable lesson from all this as well. And so, there are times when HaKadosh Baruch Hu, in His infinite wisdom, has not only severely scourged evil people, but has also made certain to shame them.
After the seventh Makka (plague) of Barad (hail), and directly prior to the next Makka of Arbeh (locusts), HaShem related the following to Moshe:
“And that you may tell in the ears of your son, and of your grandson, how I have mocked Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am HaShem.” (Sh’mos 10:2)
Concerning this mocking of Egypt, Rashi instructed:
“I (HaShem) have laughed at them!”
On this Passuk (verse), the Ramban (Rav Moshe Ben Nachman 1194- 1270) of blessed memory, expounded:
“For I (HaShem) parody him (the Pharaoh), in that I harden his heart, and take revenge upon him, in the manner of ‘He who sits in the heavens shall laugh: the L-rd shall have them in derision.’” (T’hillim 2:4)
The celebrated 20th century Rav Yosef Tzvi Salant of blessed memory, in his text Be’er Yosef, stated that part of the Mitzvah of Sippur Y’tziyas Mitzrayim (the narration at the Seder of the Exodus), must include the relating over of the mocking of the Pharaoh and Egypt. And, if we closely examine the Torah, we will see that no less than four different types of mockery were aimed at the Pharaoh and Egypt.
1. In this week’s Sidra, when HaShem wanted to warn the Pharaoh of the upcoming Makka of the Arbeh (locusts), we find the following:
“And HaShem said to Moshe, ‘Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these My signs before him.’” (Sh’mos 10:1)
Rav Yosef Tzvi taught that this is the first time before a Makka, that HaShem disclosed that He will be hardening the heart of the Pharaoh. For, when it came to the preceding seven Makkos, the Pharaoh dealt with Moshe in a kingly manner, according to the dictates of formality and propriety. Yet, after being warned about the Makka of Arbeh, the Pharaoh suddenly changed his style:
“…..And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.” (ibid. 10:11)
No more did the Pharaoh deal in a kingly fashion with Moshe and Aharon. In fact, he had them literally thrown out of his palace. And, to make matter worse, after being warned of the upcoming Makka of Choshech (darkness), the Pharaoh completely lost his temper, and dealt in an even more impolite manner with them:
“And Pharaoh said to him, ‘Get out from me, take heed to yourself, see my face no more; for the day you see my face you shall die!’” (ibid. 10:28)
Yet, after having treated Moshe and Aharon in so ill-mannered a way, it was soon the Pharaoh’s turn to be severely shamed. For, after Makkas B’choros (plague of the death of the first born) came upon Egypt, the Pharaoh was in great need of Moshe. It was the Pharaoh who got out of his bed that night, not slept late as kings do, this Pharaoh who portrayed himself as a deity. He himself was personally shamed by having to run through the streets, calling out everywhere, “Where is the residence of Moshe?” after having told Moshe he would only see the Pharaoh’s face again under penalty of death.
And, when he finally found Moshe, we read:
“And he called for Moshe and Aharon by night, and said, ‘Rise up, and get out from among my people, both you and the B’nai Yisroel; and go, serve HaShem, as you have said!’” (ibid. 12:31)
“That is,” the Pharaoh would have said to Moshe, “everything is as you (Moshe) said, and not as I said! From now on there is no more ‘I will not send out’ (ibid. 5:2), nor is there any more ‘But who are they that shall go?’ (ibid. 10:8), nor is there any more ‘Only let your flocks and your herds stay!’ (ibid. 10:24) Please pray for me, for I too am a first born (as Rashi explained, citing the M’chilta)!”
No greater shame or mockery could have been experienced by any monarch, as the Pharaoh experienced.
2. The second mockery of the Pharaoh and Egypt, explained Rav Yosef Tzvi, took place after the B’nai Yisroel left Egypt, prior to Kriyas Yam Suf (splitting of Reed Sea). We find the following:
“And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, ‘Why have we done this, that we have let Yisroel go from serving us?’” (ibid. 14:5)
The M’chilta taught that the above Passuk was said to the Pharaoh by his servants, after these same servants once begged the Pharaoh to release the B’nai Yisroel:
“How long shall this man (Moshe) be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve HaShem their G-d; Do you not know yet that Egypt is destroyed?” (ibid. 10:7)
The servants of the Pharaoh now complained, “Had we been smitten (by the Makkos), and not sent the B’nai Yisroel out, that would have been fitting! Or, had we been smitten and allowed them to leave, but without our wealth, that would have been fitting! But, we were smitten, then we allowed them to leave, and to take our wealth with them!”
The M’chilta continued by teaching that this is comparable to a servant who was told by his master to go to the market, and to bring home a fish. The servant did so, but brought back a rotten fish. Disgusted with his servant, the master ordered, “Either you will eat that fish, or you will receive a certain amount of floggings, or you will pay a fine of money!”
The servant agreed to eat the fish, but since it was so rotten, he could not eat more of it than one bite. He then agreed to the floggings, but after one or two, could take no more of that either, and screamed, “Stop! Stop! I will pay the fine!” In essence then, this foolish servant was forced to eat rotten fish, then be flogged, and in the end, had to pay the fine. This embarrassing mockery happened to the Pharaoh and all of Egypt, in that they were smitten, lost their slaves, and lost all their wealth to boot.
3. As is well known, when going to the Nile, the source of Egypt’s sustenance, the Pharaoh publicly claimed to be a divinity, through whom the Nile would overflow its banks and irrigate Egypt. The Pharaoh was seen by his nation as the sustainer of all Egypt.
But now, after Makkas Barad (plague of hail) and Makkas Arbeh (plague of locusts), all the grain in Egypt was destroyed or consumed, none being left. This shamed the Pharaoh, by clearly illustrating to all that he could not even sustain his own household in those days. He became the laughingstock of the land.
4. The Barad destroyed all the growing produce in Egypt, including trees, flax, and barley:
“And the hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.” (ibid. 9:25)
“And the flax and the barley were ruined…..” (ibid. 9:31)
However, when it came to wheat and spelt, they were not destroyed:
“But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined; for they were late ripening.” (ibid. 9:32)
In Midrash Sh’mos Rabba 12-6, we find the following disputation over this Passuk:
“…..Rav Pinchas and Rav Y’huda Ben Shalom explained this differently. The first said that HaKadosh Baruch Hu wrought miracles with them; the second, that they were late in ripening…..”
That is, according to Rav Pinchas, the wheat and spelt were miraculously saved, even though the Barad should have destroyed them. According to Rav Y’huda, no miracle occurred, because the wheat and spelt were too un-ripened yet to have been destroyed.
Now, if we follow the opinion of Rav Pinchas, when the thunder and hail concluded, the Egyptians went out to their fields, and were overwhelmed with depression due to the devastating destruction of their crops. Yet, when they saw that the wheat and spelt survived through a miracle which they assumed was in their honor, their spirits were raised high again, since they would have something to eat.
However, Makkas Barad was followed by Makkas Arbeh:
“For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.” (ibid. 10:15)
Now, because of the destruction of everything edible ‘which the hail had left,’ the Egyptians were totally demoralized. And so, this emotional rollercoaster ride, from despair to hope, and back to despair, mocked and shamed the Egyptians.
In the text Eved HaMelech, we are told that as a result of the Makkas Arbeh, not only were all crops destroyed, but people were killed as well, which completely distressed the Egyptians. Yet, there seemed to have been a consolation prize for the Egyptians in this Makka, because they were able to collect tons of locusts, which they preserved in salt and through boiling, to be eaten at a later time.
However, when the Makka of the Arbeh concluded, and the myriads of locusts were taken away by HaShem via a strong west wind (ibid. 10:19), those locusts which were preserved, miraculously sprouted their wings once again, and took flight with the rest of their fellow creatures, demoralizing the Egyptians once again on this emotional rollercoaster.
The same emotional rollercoaster played out with the Makkas Arov (plague of mixtures of wild beats), in that the Egyptians managed to kill some and collect their hides for profit. However, once the Makkas Arov concluded, the collected hides miraculously came back to life, and took flight with the rest of their fellow creatures, yet another mockery.
However, concerning the Makkas Tz’fardaiya (plague of frogs), the ridicule came in a different manner, for all the frogs died in this Makka, none were left alive:
“And they gathered them together upon heaps; and the land stank.” (ibid. 8:10)
The land of Egypt stank even after Makkas Tz’fardaiya, as a further derision of Pharaoh and Egypt.
And so, since the mockery of the Pharaoh and Egypt must be part of the Sippur Y’tziyas Mitzrayim, these four perspectives presented in this mailing, might prove somewhat useful in the upcoming Pesach.
May we soon see the G’ulah Sh’laimah in its complete resplendency- and in our times. Good Shabbos.
