Shabbat Forshpeis
A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat
PHAROAH AND THE NATURE OF
THE GIFT OF FREE WILL
PARSHAT VA-EIRA
JANUARY 3-4, 2003 / 1 SHEVAT 5763
In this weeks portion the Torah
emphasizes that God hardened Pharaohs heart. (Exodus 7:3) Why should Pharaoh be punished for refusing to allow the Jews to leave Egypt if his attitude was controlled not by him, but by God? Didnt he have free will like every other human being?
Sforno argues that were it not for God hardening Pharaohs heart, Pharaoh would have had no choice but to let the Jews go. This was due to the severity of the plagues. They were so harsh that Pharaoh would have immediately succumbed to Moshes (Moses) wishes in order for the plagues to stop. The hardening served as a counter balance, to provide Pharaoh the choice of allowing the Jews to leave not because he was coerced, but out of true repentance. In other words, ironically, God hardened Pharaohs heart which gave him a true choice.
Another answer comes to mind. Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler argues that every act has two elements. The act itself and the consequences of the act upon the actor. For example: if one steals, not only has something been taken, but the thief has been affected: his conscience has been altered and the next time it will be easier for him to rob.
So too with Pharaoh. Every time Pharaoh refused to allow the Jews to leave, his personality changed and it became psychologically easier for him to refuse to free the Jewish people. "Such is the law of conscience," writes Dr. I.H. Hertz, "every time the voice of conscience is disobeyed, it becomes duller and feebler and the heart grows hard."
When the Torah states that God hardened Pharaohs heart, it means that God allowed the natural psychological consequences of saying "no" to influence Pharaohs personality, making it virtually impossible for him to allow the Jews to leave.
No wonder that the Torah, after the first five plagues, records that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Only from the sixth plague on does the Torah state that God hardened Pharaohs heart. Having said "no" so many times, it became less likely for Pharaoh to free the Jews. Although it was less likely it was still not impossible.
For Sforno, true choice involves equal balance. For Rabbi Dessler, choice continues to exist even when the cards are stacked against you. Even Pharaoh, whose entire psyche turned against the Jews, still had a choice and therefore was responsible for his actions.
Although it is not always simply presented, the great gift of free will given to us by God, always exists. Even when forces in our society make it appear that we have no choice, we must remember that we always do. We can do wrong or right. While it may be hard and sometimes seemingly impossible, we can always choose to do the right thing. And when we do the right thing, it positively trains our minds and our souls to continue in the direction of the good.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Avi Weiss
|
|
|
