This week's parsha
Unless otherwise noted, "This week's Parsha" comprises articles taken from contributors to the Chabad.org website. We show the original author's name here, so that proper attribution is given. For the sake of brevity, footnotes cited in the original author's writings are omitted from this website. If you need to see the citations, please refer to the original articles on the Chabad.org website.
Never Again!
The glorious end to the years of slavery in Egypt is related in the Parshah of Beshalach. Pharaoh dreamed of annihilating the Jewish people by a two-pronged attack: To physically destroy a portion of the people, and to actively promote the assimilation of the remainder, thereby effectively eliminating their Jewish identity, G-d forbid. Pharaoh's evil dream was forever swept away in the waters of the Red Sea.
In every generation, "Pharaohs" arise who share the evil hope of the ancient Egyptian monarch. In our own generation, Hitler, may his name and memory be erased, decimated the number of Jewish people by one-third, annihilating six million of our people physically, and destroying many of our spiritual institutions. Many of our people have structured their lives around the principle "Never again"; but they channel this powerful feeling into combating only one prong of Pharaoh's attack -- the physical. Incredibly, they fail to realize that there is another, equally effective kind of decimation of Jews; it is assimilation, the second arm of ancient Pharaoh's attack. It has destroyed the identity of perhaps one million Jews in recent years in the U.S. and elsewhere, and the trend threatens to continue.
In every generation, "Pharaohs" arise who share the evil hope of the ancient Egyptian monarch. In our own generation, Hitler, may his name and memory be erased, decimated the number of Jewish people by one-third, annihilating six million of our people physically, and destroying many of our spiritual institutions. Many of our people have structured their lives around the principle "Never again"; but they channel this powerful feeling into combating only one prong of Pharaoh's attack -- the physical. Incredibly, they fail to realize that there is another, equally effective kind of decimation of Jews; it is assimilation, the second arm of ancient Pharaoh's attack. It has destroyed the identity of perhaps one million Jews in recent years in the U.S. and elsewhere, and the trend threatens to continue.
Stony Light
In this week's Torah reading, the Israelites receive their first mitzvah: "This month shall be to you the head of the months..." (Exodus 12:2). This is the commandment to sanctify the new month upon the appearance of the crescent new moon.
Undoubtedly, the fact that G-d chose this commandment to be the first mitzvah to be given to the Jewish people has special significance. And, indeed, our sages tell us that "[the People of] Israel are similar to the moon, and [therefore] count [their calendar months] according to the moon." On a basic level, this means that just as the moon waxes and wanes, so, too, the condition of Jewry is constantly in flux – at times we are small and oppressed, and eventually we will shine in our full glory with the arrival of the Messianic Era.
Undoubtedly, the fact that G-d chose this commandment to be the first mitzvah to be given to the Jewish people has special significance. And, indeed, our sages tell us that "[the People of] Israel are similar to the moon, and [therefore] count [their calendar months] according to the moon." On a basic level, this means that just as the moon waxes and wanes, so, too, the condition of Jewry is constantly in flux – at times we are small and oppressed, and eventually we will shine in our full glory with the arrival of the Messianic Era.
Why Didn't Pharaoh Release the Israelites?
"But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and I will increase My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt." – Exodus 7:3
Free Choice is the essential component which justifies the concepts of reward and punishment. It would be inappropriate to punish a robot for performing an immoral act which it was programmed to do. Nor would one reward a stove for cooking a sumptuous meal, or a bee for producing delicious honey. Humans, on the other hand, are rewarded and punished for their actions because they choose to do good or evil. This is why this week's Torah portion has always puzzled Jewish philosophers: How could Pharaoh be punished for refusing to comply with G-d's demands to grant freedom to the Israelites, if G-d Himself "hardened his heart"? To borrow a line from our Patriarch Abraham: "Will the Judge of the entire earth not perform justice?!"
Many interesting answers are given to explain this seeming injustice. Nachmanides offers an answer which is as profound as it is astoundingly simple. Nachmanides argues that had G-d refrained from hardening Pharaoh's heart, he would have then been deprived of the ability to make a coherent and true choice. Indeed, the plagues would have compelled him to let the Israelites go — an option he most certainly would not have chosen in the absence of G-d's strong hand.
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