The protracted negotiations between Moses and Pharaoh that were aimed at forcing him to release the Jews, raises a lot of questions. Why couldn’t God have achieved His ends in one fell swoop, in one go? Why did He give Moses certain signs and wonders to perform that Pharaoh’s magicians could copy? Why did Pharaoh keep on changing his mind…
Author: Jeremy Rosen
Free Will
If God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, he had no choice. It wasn’t fair. I have often heard this said. But what do we mean when we talk about God hardening a person’s heart? Maybe it just means that God allows people to make bad decisions. The Torah uses popular language without going into philosophical detail. We are used to an idea…
A Hard Heart
The Torah uses the word KaVeD, we normally translate this as hard, to harden. Literally it means heavy, stubborn, inflexible in different ways. But also, dignity and, respect. Things we may either be born with or develop or come to be appointed to. So the root word KVD can be used to say He (God) hardened his (Pharaoh’s) heart. But…
Ten Plagues
The Ten Plagues that were sent to persuade Pharaoh to let the Children of Israel leave Egypt. Originally the request was for temporary leave but the longer the negotiations dragged, the heavier the price became! That’s a lesson! But what were the plagues and why did it require ten of them to change Pharaohs mind? Some argue that they were,…
Who was Pharaoh?
The challenging question that these early chapters of Exodus raise is whether Pharaoh had any freedom to act or was it all determined when God says, “I will harden his heart”? Perhaps he had no choice at all. On the other hand, you might say that everything about Pharaoh’s background and education made his response predictable. After all he was…
What Makes a Great Leader?
The Book of Genesis, Bereishit, ends with Joseph as the primary character. Exodus, Shemot, introduces us to Moses. Both are emblematic of the Jewish people. The greatness of our tradition is that it has survived conquests, tragedies, oppression, near extinction and yet somehow has managed to overcome them. Some see this as the result of Divine Intervention. But Divine Intervention…