(Parsha Va’era)
When G-d gave Moshe the mission to go to Pharoah and demand to let His people go, He warned Moshe that it would not happen overnight. “Ve’ani yada’ati ki lo yitein eschem melech mitzraim lahaloch velo beyad chazaka” – “I know in advance,” says G-d to Moshe, “that the Egyptian king will not allow you to leave unless he is forced to do so.” “Veshalchti es yodi vehikeisi es Mitzraim bechol nifle’osei asher e’eseh bekirbo ve’acharei kein yeshalach eschem” – “I will then display My power and demolish Egypt through all the miraculous deeds that I will perform in their land. Then Pharaoh will let you leave” Shemos 3:19-20).
So Moshe knew that his mission would not meet with immediate success. Why then did he complain to G-d and say “Lama hareiosa le’am hazeh, lama zeh shelachtani? Ume’az basi el Pharaoh ledaber bishmecha, herah la’am hazeh, ve’hatzel lo hitzalta es amecha” (“O’ L-rd, why do You mistreat Your people? Why did you send me. As soon as I came to Pharoah to speak in your name, he made things worse for these people. You have done nothing to save your people” (5:22-23)).
Moshe was not complaining that it was taking a long time to release his people. He was complaining that rather than alleviating their plight, conditions were getting worse. His first meeting with Pharaoh resulted in the edict that forced the Jews to find their own straw with which to make bricks and still produce the same quota as before.
How often in ancient and contemporary Jewish history have we seen things become desperate before they improved? And yet we persevered and survived. And with this perseverance, our faith in G-d as our ultimate savior survived too.
What Moshe lost sight of was the promise that G-d gave to Avraham, “Ger yeheye zaracha be’eretz lo lahem, ve’avadum ve’inu osam arba me’os shana vegam es hagoy ahser ya’avodu dan anochi, ve’achere kein yetze’u be’rechush gadol – Know that your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs for 400 years. They will be enslaved and oppressed but I will finally bring judgment against the nation who enslaves them and they will then leave with great wealth.” Moshe in his pain for the Jewish people also lost sight of another promise made by G-d directly to him, “Behotze’acha es ha’am memitzraim, ta’avdun es Elokim al ha’har hazeh – When you take the people out of Egypt, you will serve G-d on this mountain” (Shemos 3:12). Only after the exodus from Egypt will they be worthy of receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai.
The connection between slavery in Egypt and receiving the Torah is a central theme throughout the Torah. The very first commandment to believe in G-d links the two together. “Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeiticha me’eretz mitzraim mibeis avadim – I am G-d your Lord who brought you out of Egypt, from the place of slavery.”
There are two reasons that explain this connection. First, the Torah liberates us from slavery. One only has to think of one’s own contemporary life to appreciate this. During the week we are slaves to our work. We are forced to be constantly accessible and respond immediately to all and any demands made of us, by phone, by e-mail, by text. Only one day per week are we allowed to switch off, and that is Shabbat. Only an Authority higher than work could afford us that freedom, “Ein Lecha ben chorin elah mi she’osek baTorah – Freedom is only through the Torah (Avos 6:7).
Second, we are asked to build a society that is kind to the stranger. “Ke’ezrach mikem yeheye lachem hager hagar itchem, ve’ahavta lo kamocha, ki geirim heyisem be’eretz mitzraim, Ani Hashem Elokeichem – The foreigner who becomes a proselyte must be exactly like one who is native born among you. You shall love him like you love yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am G-d your L-rd” (Vayikra 19:34). The gift of Jewish sovereignty given to us by G-d should not turn nationalistic. We are to accept all into the fold who genuinely wish to accept the Torah.
But 400 years of slavery was too long a lesson. “Vayishma Elokim es na’akasam, vayizkor Elokim es beriso es Avraham…Vayar Elokim es Bnei Yisrael, va’yeda Elokim – G-d heard their cries and he remembered his covenant with Avraham. G-d saw the children of Israel and G-d knew” (Shemos 2:24).
The promise G-d made to Avraham that the Jewish people would survive would have been broken if the full 400 years of slavery would have run their course. The Jews would have given in to Pharaoh’s demands to give up their Jewish identity, intermarry and become Egyptians, just in order to escape the hell of slavery. So G-d had to halt the servitude 190 years before its allotted time. But how could He do this without breaking His promise to Avraham that the bondage would last for 400 years? The only way to do so was to make the Jews work overtime. By making them look for straw, kash, which has the numerical value of 400, G-d was able to keep his promise to Avraham and yet let them out 190 years early. As we say in the Hagaddah of Pesach, “Hashem chishav es ha’keitz la’asos cemah she’amar le’Avraham avinu – G-d calculated the end of bondage in order to do as he said to our father Avraham.” The numerical value of “keitz” is the same 190 years that G-d deducted from the 400 years of slavery in order to keep his other promise to Avraham that the Jewish people would survive in their own land.
Sadly, Moshe would never witness the fullness of this promise in his life time. He would not be around for the “Vehevesi eschem el Ha’aretz ” (“I will bring you into the land”), the fifth promise of redemption (Shemos 6:8). But, replied G-d, neither did Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov see My promises come true in their lifetimes, yet they kept their faith and did not complain. I promised them the Land of Israel, yet Avraham had to buy the small parcel of land he needed to bury Sarah. They did not need Me to appear to them with the Shem Havayah, the name which symbolizes eternity and miracles, because they trusted Me in this natural world, the world symbolized by My name Shakai, which means enough. It was enough for them that I promised them reward and they believed Me that it would transpire, even if not in their lifetime.
Although G-d promised Avraham that his descendants will inherit the land of Israel, their right to the land is not a yerusha, a vested right, but a morasha (Shemos 6:8) a contingent right. It is contingent on them passing on their allegiance to the Torah to the next generations in the spirit of “Torah tzivah lanu Moshe, morasha kehilas Yaakov” (Devarim 33:4).
“Velo sham’u el Moshe mikoytzer ruach ume’avodah kasha – The people of Israel did not listen to Moshe because of their anguish of spirit and the cruel bondage” (Shemos 6:9). “Vayetzaveim el Bnei Yisrael – G-d commanded Moshe and Aharon regarding the children of Israel” (Shemos 6:13).
The words “el Bnei Yisrael” seem out of place when describing a commandment. It should have said “vayetzaveim es Bnei Yisrael.” Why use the word “el” instead of “es.” Rashi explains this in the following way: “He instructed them to lead them with tolerance and to be patient with them.” When people are suffering and skeptical of G-d’s salvation, do not rebuke them and label them non-believers. They do believe, but they are consumed with suffering. Come towards them, “el,” with kindness and compassion and do not come at them “et,” with words of castigation.
The first two plagues of blood and frogs should have convinced Pharaoh that these were the work of G-d, not the work of magic. But it was only when it came to Kinim, which created something out of almost nothing (Rashi to Shemos 8:14), that even Pharoah’s magicians had to concede that this was the hand of G-d.
But for Pharoah, even Kinim was not enough. He needed to see G-d’s hand not only in miracles from above, but also in nature on earth. Could G-d change the preordained course of nature?
So along came the next plague, wild beasts. G-d programmed nature so that wild beasts are afraid of human beings. “Umorachem vechitchem yiheye ul kol chyas ha’aretz – There shall be a fear and dread of man instilled in all the wild beasts of the earth” (Bereishis 9:2). But Pharaoh saw in the fourth plague that G-d could override the ordinary course of nature and reprogram beasts not to be afraid to attack the Egyptians even in their homes (Shemos 8:17).
