Holy Days
Was Wicked Pharaoh Really Wicked?
Part I
The Biblical account of the exodus from Egypt relates
in detail the wickedness of Pharaoh and of the Egyptian people, and the
spectacular Divine punishment that brought them to their knees. At the Passover
Seder, we try to experience ourselves the exodus from Egypt – the defining
moment of the birth of the Jewish nation.
Yet it is much more than an historical account. The story
of the enslavement of the Jewish people in Egypt and their subsequent
redemption is the paradigm of good triumphing over evil, and of holiness
vanquishing the forces of darkness.
On the other hand, one might be left
with nagging impression that the “evil” seems to be a sort of Divine
entrapment. Pharaoh obstinately refuses Moses’ demand to, “Let my people go,”
but we are told that it was G-d one who, “hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” How then
could G‑d turn around and punish Pharaoh and the Egyptian people, when
they seem to have been merely His puppets?
Furthermore, in a prophetic vision
G-d had already revealed to Abraham that, “Your descendants will be strangers
in a foreign land for 400 years, and they will enslave and oppress them. But I
shall bring judgment upon the nation who enslaves them, and they [the Jewish
people] will then leave with great wealth.” (Genesis 15: 13-14)
G-d therefore knew the entire
scenario – both the evil and its punishment – hundreds of years before they
happened. If it was all preordained, how could the Egyptians be held
responsible?
This quickly leads to the one of the
most central principles in Judaism, one which lays at the core of the
relationship between G-d and humanity – that of free choice. If G-d knows
everything that is going to happen, how can we have any choice in what we do?
And if this is the case, what is the point of Him giving us commandments? How
can there be any reward or punishment?
Furthermore, if G-d is the true Master of all
existence, how can anything operate outside of His dominion? If G-d desires
that a certain person carry out a certain action, he is compelled to do so, and
should receive no reward for doing so. If, on the other hand, there is absolute
free choice, then it seems that G-d’s authority is not complete.
Trying to resolve this paradox has been compared to two people trying to cover themselves with a blanket large enough only for one. If we “pull the blanket” to one side and say that G-d’s sovereignty is absolute, then free choice is left out in the cold. But if we “pull the blanket” to cover "free choice" by positing that it is absolute, then G-d’s omnipotence seems compromised.
If we can solve the above mentioned quandary with
Pharaoh, however, we will be able to answer the question in general, because in
many ways the story exemplifies the paradox in the extreme. At issue in this
biblical narrative is more than just a question of G-d’s knowing what happened;
it involves G-d having decreed what shall happen. Furthermore, the decree was
not just a possibility envisioned by G‑d in the heavenly realms – it had
already descended into the physical world in a prophetic form to Abraham. And
beyond all this, G-d Himself takes direct responsibility for “hardening
Pharaoh’s heart.”
The problem is multi-faceted, and the classic
philosophers and commentaries have discussed it at length, but one is somehow
left unsatisfied. The great Rabbi Abraham ben David, known as the Raavad,
eloquently expressed his frustration when he wrote, after concluding an explanation
of the subject, “But all this is really worth nothing.”
The revelation of the secrets of Kabala has
illuminated the subject with a brilliant radiance. In subsequent articles, we
will endeavor to shed at least a glimpse of the light available through the
Kabalistic approach.
>>Next article: Why was Pharaoh punished?
Wasn’t G-d
the One to “harden Pharaoh’s heart”?
Rabbi Berel Bell is a well-known educator, author and
lecturer. Many of his classes can be heard on http://www.chassidus.com/audio/. He
and his family reside in Montreal, Canada.