- By Rabbi C. Edelstein, Rosh Yeshiva Outdoors
A wheat grain is enclosed in a hard shell, which must be removed before it can be of benefit.
In this week’s parshah “Bo,” we read again that G-d hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let the Israelites leave Egypt. Of course, if G-d directly interfered and caused Pharaoh to act without choice, then what about free will? Rather than Pharaoh making his decision due to an inability to act otherwise, it seems that Pharaoh acted by his own free will. Rabbi Chaim Ibn Attar (Ohr haChaim) taught that G-d’s intervention did not directly interfere with Pharaoh’s freedom of will, rather, G-d worked into the plagues small details that could bring doubt. Ohr haChaim points out that at the end of last week’s parshah, there is a detail that explains this situation. In Chapter 9, verse 30, the Torah interrupts our story to tell us that after the hail storm all of the crops are destroyed, except for the wheat and emmer which ripen later in the season. This allowed Pharaoh to believe G-d was unable to destroy these plants and as such was not the only or all-powerful deity. However, the next plague—the locusts—come and consume all of the vegetation in Egypt that had not already been destroyed by the fiery hail storm.
if G-d directly interfered and caused Pharaoh to act without choice, then what about free will?
This entire story of Pharaoh illustrates how, even today, our human nature can drive us to dig in our heels and refuse to change our views when faced with a truth that is opposed to what we were taught or believe. Moses turned the water into blood, but so did the magicians (although they could only change the water directly in front of them, and Moses by HaShem's command turned all the water in Egypt). The hail destroyed the barley and flax, but not the wheat and emmer. Instead of facing these events with critical thought and reason, Pharaoh takes the easier path of refusing to change and simply believes that he alone knows the truth and believes that Moses is a fraud. The Torah says that the advisors also had their hearts hardened; perhaps they were becoming convinced of the truth Moses brought, but seeing Pharaoh maintain his position reaffirmed what they had thought before. It is much harder to change than it is to stay the same. In order for change to occur, the hard "shell" of the evil inclination which surrounds the heart must be broken, so that the heart can be beneficial to the body and soul, and not control the mind.