...AND HE RAISED THE STAFF AND STRUCK THE WATER THAT WAS IN THE NILE BEFORE THE EYES OF PHARAOH AND BEFORE THE EYES OF HIS SERVANTS, AND ALL THE WATER THAT WAS IN THE NILE TURNED TO BLOOD.

AND THE FISH THAT WERE IN THE NILE DIED, AND THE NILE BECAME PUTRID; THE EGYPTIANS COULD NOT DRINK WATER FROM THE NILE, AND THERE WAS BLOOD THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE LAND OF EGYPT.

(Shemot 7:20-21)

 

Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and... they will become blood:

Say to Aaron Since the Nile protected Moses when he was cast into it, it therefore was not smitten by him, neither with blood nor with frogs, but was smitten by Aaron.

(Rashi Shemot 7:19, Judaica Press translation)

 

 and there was blood throughout the entire land of Egypt - This was the plague of famine that was one of the four punishments, for when God changed the Nile to blood it became disgusting and useless, and there was no food or water, because it is not a land watered by rain and no country can survive without water. This plague came to shame Pharaoh for his kingship and his decree regarding the infant boys [of the Israelites, who were to be thrown into the Nile]. That is to say: "You mixed the blood of innocents into the waters of your Nile and I shall turn your water to blood. You thought to reduce the numbers of the Israelites, who are fruitful and multiply like the fishes, and I shall decree that the fish die. You treated the Israelites with disgust, for it says, and they were disgusted by the Israelites - you shall be disgusted by your darling Nile that waters your land when its waters become putrid."

(R. Yitzhak Shmuel Reggio, Shemot 7:21)

 

Free Choice and Faith - the Land as the Gift of the Inheritance

Shlomo Fox

When reading the parasha, we wonder why God strengthened Pharaoh's heart and deprived him of freedom of choice and how is it to be explained that Pharaoh was not convinced to send out the Israelites until the killing of the first-born.

Study of the Exodus story shows that Pharaoh was not alone in his stiff-neckedness. According to parashat Shemot, Moses did not believe either, even though he witnessed God's revelation in the burning bush; was his heart also hardened? As we see later, the people also did not listen and did not believe that they would be redeemed.

The previous parasha ends with Moses' words:

So Moses returned to the Lord and said, "O Lord! Why have You harmed this people? Why have You sent me? Since I have come to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has harmed this people, and You have not saved Your people" (Shemot 5:22-23).

These words continue Moses' complaint to God following the revelation of the burning bush:

Moses answered and said, "Behold they will not believe me, and they will not heed my voice, but they will say, 'The Lord has not appeared to you' " (Shemot 4:1).

In response, God gives him two signs, and then adds a third: "blood." Moses remains unconvinced and continues to refuse his mission, saying:

Moses said to the Lord, "I beseech You, O Lord. I am not a man of words, neither from yesterday nor from the day before yesterday, nor from the time You have spoken to Your servant, for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue." But the Lord said to him, "Who gave man a mouth, or who makes [one] dumb or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? So now, go! I will be with your mouth, and I will instruct you what you shall speak." But he said, "I beseech You, O Lord, send now [Your message] with whom You would send."

This finally causes God to answer:

And the Lord's wrath was kindled against Moses, and He said, "Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know that he will surely speak, and behold, he is coming forth toward you, and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart. (Shemot 4:10-14)

Parashat Ve'Era opens with God's saying [amira] to Moses:

And the Lord said [va'yomer] to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a mighty hand he will send them out, and with a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land." (Shemot 6:1)

Immediately, God moves over to speech [dibbur] : God spoke[diber] to Moses, and He said to him, "I am the Lord." Following the midrash, Rashi explains: "God spoke to Moses - He called him to account since he [Moses] had spoken harshly by saying, ‘Why have You harmed this people?'" (Judaica Press translation). Rashi adds that the coda of the verse, I am the Lord means: "[I am] faithful to recompense all those who walk before Me. I did not send you [to Pharaoh] except to fulfill My words, which I spoke to the early fathers. In this sense, we find that it is interpreted in many places [in Scripture] as "I am the Lord," [meaning that I am] faithful to exact retribution." That is to say: we should understand the phrase, I am the Lord as referring to God's anger at Moses' lack of faith.

God continues and explains the reason for and manner of the redemption:

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob with [the name] Almighty God, but [with] My name YHWH, I did not become known to them. And also, I established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings in which they sojourned. And also, I heard the moans of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians are holding in bondage, and I remembered My covenant. Therefore, say to the children of Israel, 'I am the Lord, and I will take you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will save you from their labor, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. And I will take you to Me as a people, and I will be a God to you, and you will know that I am the Lord your God, Who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land, concerning which I raised My hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as an inheritance; I am the Lord.'" Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel, but they did not hearken to Moses because of [their] shortness of breath and because of [their] hard labor. (Shemot 6:3-9)

Despite God's words, the people were not prepared for redemption and did not hearken to Moses. The hardened heart is not unique to Pharaoh and Moses - it can also be found amongst the people. Moses continues and infers: But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, "Behold, the children of Israel did not hearken to me. How then will Pharaoh hearken to me, seeing that I am of closed lips?" (6:12).

Referring to this, the midrash (Sifri Bamidbar 105) states: "Rabbi Eliezer ben Azaria said: Moses made a request of God in four places, and his pleas were answered. For example, it says: But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, "Behold, the children of Israel did not hearken to me." (6:12). Do not learn it [as if it is written] saying, but he told Him: ‘Answer me whether or not you will redeem them,' until the Holy One blessed be He answered him: Now you shall see what I shall do to Pharaoh (6:1). This midrash explains Moses' words as being a demand that God tell him whether or not He intends to redeem Israel.

The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 111a) finds fault with Moses' behavior:

We learned: R. Elazer said in the name of R. Yosi: Once I entered Alexandria, Egypt. There I found an old man, who said to me: "Come and I will show you what my fathers did to your fathers; they drowned some of them in the sea; some they slew by the sword; some they crushed at the construction sites".

Our Rabbi Moses was punished on this account, for it says: It has been worse for this people since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name (Shemot 5). The Holy One, Blessed Be He said to him: Woe for those lost and not recovered! How many times did I reveal myself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Shaddai, and they did not question Me or ask Me What is Your name?

I said to Abraham: Rise, walk through the land, through its length and its breadth for I will give it to you (Bereishit 13). He sought a place to bury Sarah, and did not find one before purchasing it at great expense, 400 silver shekels, yet he did not doubt Me.

I told Isaac: Dwell in this land and I shall be with you and bless you (Bereishit 26). His servants sought water to drink, but did not find it until they entered a quarrel, as is written: The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with the shepherds of Isaac saying, "The water is ours" (Bereishit 26) yet he did not question Me.

I said to Jacob: The land upon which you lie, I will give to you (Bereishit 28). He wished to set up his tent, but did not find a place until he paid one hundred ksita, yet he did not question, he did not ask What is Your name?

However, at the start you asked: What is Your name? And now you say You have not saved Your people (Shemot 5). Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh -

you shall see the war against Pharaoh, but you will not see the war against the thirty-one kings [i.e., the conquest of the Land].

Another midrash (Shemot Rabbah 5:23) emphasizes the point: "From here you learn that it was then that Moses was sentenced not to enter the Land." These midrashim explain that the reason why Moses did not enter the land was not the incident at Mei Meriva, but rather because of his lack of faith at the first stage of the redemption.

We find that Moses found it difficult to believe, and he asks what is Your name? The people do not listen because of their weariness and hard work, leading Moses to ask and how will Pharaoh listen to me? Indeed, due to the Lord having made his heart heavy and hardened, Pharaoh does not listen. It seems that each of these is - in its own way - just an excuse based upon "hardening of the heart."

Perhaps it could be said that in order to develop belief in the Creator such "excuses" must be excised from our thinking, and we must take responsibility for our actions as free people who have left Egypt. In the words of R. Moshe Haim Efrayim, the Ba'al Shem Tov's grandson and author of Degel Mahane Efrayim: We must remove the "Egyptian" from within the Jew.

 

The Land was Given as a Gift and an Inheritance

The fifth formulation of redemption is: I will bring you to the land, concerning which I raised My hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as an inheritance; I am the Lord.' " (Shemot 6:8).

The midrash explain the verse:

And it will come to pass when the Lord will bring you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and to your forefathers, and He has given it to you. "And it will come - this can only mean immediately. When the Lord will bring you - perform a commandment mentioned in this connection, so that you shall enter the Land by its merit... as He swore to you and to your forefathers - it is all by your merit and the merit of your forefathers and I will give it to you - do not see it as an inheritance from your forefathers, but rather as if it were now given to you as a gift." (Mekhilta DeRaShBI, 13:11).

This midrash requires that a commandment be performed in order that the entry to the Land be a matter of a "gift" rather than "the inheritance of the forefathers."

The double formulation of "gift" and "heritage" invites much attention, for instance in the Jerusalem Talmud (Bava Batra 8:2):

R. Yohanan explains: Since it was given to them as a gift, he returned and gave it to them as an inheritance. That is to say: the Land of Israel can be acquired in two ways: as an inheritance, and as a gift. Later, the Talmud compares inheriting the Land to inheriting the Torah.

Rabbi Kasher (Torah Sheleimah Va'Era 52) interprets R. Yohanan's dictum as it appears in Kaftor Va'Ferah (R. Ashtori Ha'Parhi 1280 Provence, died in Eretz Yisrael 1355). He claims that the verse cited in the Jerusalem Talmud is actually formed out of two verses, one from our parasha (Shemot 6:8), and the other from Ezekiel (33:34): Son of man, the dwellers of these ruins on the soil of Israel speak, saying: Abraham was one, and he inherited the land, and we are many - the land has [surely] been given to us for an inheritance.

The continuation of the prophet's message, which emphasizes that inheritance of the land is dependent upon our behavior, is important for our discussion: Therefore, say to them: So said the Lord God, You eat of the blood and you raise your eyes to your pagan deities, and you shed blood - and you should inherit the land? You stood on your sword, you committed abominations, and you contaminated each man his neighbor's wife, and you should inherit the land?

The Rebbe from Slonim (Netivot Shalom pg. 57) explains the difference between "gift" and "inheritance": An inheritance does not depend upon the inheritors' status or deeds, while a gift is dependent upon his behavior. There are two levels in the service of God: That of inheritance - which every Jew enjoys even if he does not toil to achieve it, but which lacks the aspect of a "good eye" and it gives him no pleasure, and that of gift, which is given only to those who prove themselves worthy of receiving it. It is given to those who toil and weary themselves to achieve a feeling of holy pleasure and then he who gives with a good eye is the one who gives, and his reward is very great - he merits experiencing the highest pleasure.

The Sabbath is also given with these two aspects. Thus, the liturgy reads, "The Lord your God did not give it to the nations of the earth, and our King did not bequeath it as an inheritance to the idolaters... for He lovingly gave it to His people." At its higher level, the Sabbath reflects the World-to-Come and it is the gift stored up in the Lord's treasure-house (Shabbat 10b).

The Torah is also given with these two aspects, as an inheritance - Moses commanded us the Torah, an inheritance (Devarim 33), and also He gave it to Moses (Shemot 31). Similarly, we bless He who "gives the Torah."

The Sabbath is given both as an inheritance and as a gift. It requires of us appropriate behavior; the Torah was also given to us as an inheritance and as a gift and requires observance - similarly, the Land was given as an inheritance and as a gift and it also requires appropriate behavior of us, lest - God forbid - the land vomits out its inhabitants (Vayikra 18:28).

At the beginning of this article, surprise was expressed at how God seemingly robbed Pharaoh of his free will by hardening and weighing down his heart. However, Moses also found it difficult to believe. Apparently, the people, later called a stiff-necked people, did not believe in their redemption, and so we thought that the message of the Exodus involves contemplation of the way free will is used.

The story of the Exodus shows that freedom of choice does exist at times. Sometimes our behavior can be explained in terms of external factors such as divine coercion, but other times man is aware of his own freedom to choose. People are judged by their willed struggles.

From there we went on to discuss the significance of the acquisition of the land and we saw that it has two foundations: by virtue of inheritance and by virtue of a gift. Here again humans are judged by their actions. When and how the land shall be inherited. There exists a parallel between inheritance of the land and inheritance of the Torah and of the Sabbath.

It seems that free will is like education; sometimes it seems like education involves coercion. The Exodus from Egypt was also achieved with a strong arm; the strong arm would not be applied only to Pharaoh but even against Israel, as the Prophet Ezekiel (20:32-37) states:

But what enters your mind shall not come about, what you say, "Let us be like the nations, like the families of the lands, to serve wood and stone." As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with poured out fury, will I reign over you. And I shall take you out of the peoples, and I shall gather you from the lands in which you were scattered, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with poured out fury. And I shall bring you to the wilderness of the peoples, and I shall contend with you there face to face. As I contended with your forefathers in he wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I contend with you, says the Lord God. And I shall cause you to pass under the rod, and I shall bring you into the transmission of the covenant.

We must accept the fact that we are not judged by explanations, but rather by our actions!

Shlomo Fox teaches at the Hebrew Union College, at Beit Shmuel and at Kolot. He serves as educational director for Beit Morasha's IDF project.

 

And when you go, you shall not go empty handed - Liberation with Reconciliation

For an Israelite, the word Egyptian had the bitterest associations. It would not have been remarkable had the Jew hated the Egyptian as the enslaver of his ancestors and would have reserved the right not to accord him the generous treatment enjoined by the Torah with regard to the stranger... But the Torah records that the Egyptians and the Jews parted friends, the former, liberally furnishing them with gifts as the latter themselves had been bidden, in the case of sending away their own Hebrew servants... .Consequently "thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, thou wert a stranger in his land." But since the Egyptians could not be expected to offer gifts of their own initiative, Israel was bidden to spur them to do it and say to them: Let us part friends and we'll take with us a parting gift.

(R. Benno Jacob, as quoted in N. Leibowitz: Studies in Shemot [Aryeh Newman, trans.] pp. 190)

 

 

 

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