ChatGPT said:
(Written in July 2014)
I would like to refer to Parashat Vaera, the second parasha of the Book of Shemot, and its main character, Pharaoh.
Moshe initially offers Pharaoh a peaceful and civilized solution: “Let my people go. We do not seek revenge for 210 years of slavery, nor do we want you or your people to suffer. We only want to be free to serve our God.” However, Pharaoh refused to free the Hebrew slaves. Moshe clarified that he was speaking on behalf of the God of the Hebrews, who regards the people of Israel as His child, and that if Pharaoh did not let His children go, Egypt would suffer the consequences. Pharaoh refused once again.
Then HaShem sent the first plague: blood. But the vain Pharaoh was not intimidated: “A great magic trick,” he reasoned, and continued his refusal. Frogs invaded Egypt, and Pharaoh thought, “Well, this might not be a magic trick, but perhaps it’s a cosmic coincidence.” Then Egypt was filled with lice (kinim) and later with insects (‘arov). Pharaoh requested a “humanitarian ceasefire,” asking Moshe to remove the plague and promising he would let them go free. However, once the plague was gone, Pharaoh again refused to release them. Even after the fifth plague (dever, cattle disease), Pharaoh persisted in his refusal.
By now, Pharaoh was witnessing the collapse of Egypt’s economy and the first casualties of the battle. Undoubtedly, many Egyptian civilians had died because of Pharaoh’s stubbornness and his refusal to end hostilities. Yet Pharaoh never pointed the finger at himself. He never took responsibility for the consequences of his decisions.
Pharaoh began to realize something else. He understood that perhaps he had miscalculated the power of the One fighting for the Hebrews. He slightly lowered his “demands,” but essentially, he did not deviate from his original position and persisted in his rejection.
In the eighth plague (arbe, locusts), we see the first cracks in Pharaoh’s cabinet. Pharaoh’s officials begged him to let the Israelites go and stop the rocket launches. Yet Pharaoh was unwilling to yield.
The big question is: once Pharaoh realized that the forces of Am Israel were so powerful, and especially once he saw Egypt’s destruction and civilian deaths, how could he still refuse Moshe’s proposal? It makes no sense.
The Torah states that HaShem “hardened his heart,” meaning that God intervened in Pharaoh’s thoughts, affecting his objective judgment. Maimonides explains that HaShem typically does not interfere with our decision-making process. He granted humans free will and holds us accountable for our decisions. But Pharaoh’s case was an exception. Pharaoh had five opportunities to backtrack, stop the hostilities, and let the Jews go. But as some say, Pharaoh never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. From his total free will, he refused. After the fifth refusal, Maimonides explains, HaShem took away Pharaoh’s freedom of choice.
Other commentators offer a different interpretation of why HaShem intervened and prevented Pharaoh from surrendering. Some say HaShem wanted the whole world, and especially the Jews, to know that HaShem always has a way of saving His people from the hands of their enemies, even by intervening in their thoughts.
This morning, I read in Israeli newspapers that Hamas prisoners captured by Israel in battle confessed to the terrorist organization’s macabre plan. Hamas planned to attack Israel on the upcoming Rosh Hashanah, sending hundreds of terrorists through their network of terror tunnels. The terrorists would have entered Israel’s territory on Rosh Hashanah 5775 and, God forbid, killed thousands of Jews. Israeli newspaper headlines read: “The discovery of these tunnels prevented a tragedy on the scale of the Yom Kippur War” (in which 2,800 Israeli soldiers died and 9,000 were wounded).
I asked myself: What would have happened if two weeks ago, when Israel offered Hamas “silence and peace” for Gaza if Hamas simply stopped launching rockets at Israel, Hamas had said “yes”? The answer: all those tunnels would still be there! What happened? Why did Hamas reject a ceasefire? Did they miscalculate the possible response of the Israeli army or its determination to enter Gaza?
What would have happened if Hamas leaders had accepted the ceasefire offered by Egypt, the European Union, Kerry, or the UN? If Hamas had accepted repeated offers to end hostilities, the tunnels—at least most of them—would not have been discovered by Israel, leaving Israel exposed to an existential threat. But incredibly, and against all military or social logic, Hamas refused. Again and again, it was Hamas that said NO to the ceasefire.
Perhaps, because Pharaoh’s refusal was mirrored in Hamas’s refusal, HaShem intervened in the thoughts of our enemies once again to thwart the plans of those who seek to destroy us.
Shabbat Shalom
שיר המעלות לדוד לולי ה’ שהיה לנו יאמר נא ישראל
לולי ה’ שהיה לנו בקום עלינו אדם
אזי חיים בלעונו בחרות אפם בנו
אזי המים שטפונו נחלה עבר על נפשנו
אזי עבר על נפשנו המים הזידונים
ברוך ה’ שלא נתננו טרף לשניהם
נפשנו כצפור נמלטה מפח יוקשים הפח נשבר ואנחנו נמלטנו
עזרנו בשם ה’ עושה שמים וארץ
1. A Song of Ascents, by David:
“If HaShem had not been on our side,” let all of Israel proclaim.
2. “If HaShem had not been on our side when men [=the enemies of Israel] came to attack us,
3. they would have swallowed us alive, in their burning hatred against us!
4. Like torrents of water, they would have overwhelmed us; waters would have drowned us.
5. Those deadly waters of violence would have swept over our very lives.
6. Blessed is HaShem, who did not let them tear us apart with their teeth.
7. We escaped like a bird escaping from the hunter’s trap. The trap was broken, and we were freed.
8. Our help comes from HaShem, the Creator of heaven and earth.”
