Shabbat shalom,
Have you ever wondered why change can be so hard for some people, even painful? Voldemort from Harry Potter, for example, stayed evil throughout the book series. But what if he did change his mind before making that first kill? How different would the story be with no villain for Harry to fight? Voldemort, along with everybody else, has the capacity to be either good or evil, yet he turned evil. But is it possible for anyone to change their mind once they’ve come too far?
That’s what’s happening in this week’s portion, Bo. It comes from the Book of Exodus, and describes when the Israelites were slaves. In this portion, God tells Moses that he must demand that Pharaoh free the Israelites. Pharaoh is stubborn and unwilling to free them, so God casts the ten plagues. This harms many innocent Egyptians in order to convince Pharaoh of God's wonders and scare him into giving the Israelites freedom. Moses gives Pharaoh lots of chances to free the people. At first, Pharaoh agrees to free them so that the plagues will end. But each time, he changes his mind. Eventually, after Pharaoh still isn’t letting the Israelites go, God brings the tenth plague, killing all the first-born in Egypt. Finally Pharaoh lets them go, before changing his mind yet again.
After each plague, the Torah says that Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. For the first five, Pharaoh hardened his own heart and does not let the Israelites go. For the last five, God hardens his heart for him. This raises a question; what does it mean that God hardens Pharaoh’s heart?
Rabbis in the past have tried answering this question. Samson Raphael Hirsh, a rabbi living in Germany in the eighteen hundreds, points out how the Torah uses three different words to express the hardening of Pharaoh's heart--Kasha, Kaved, and Chazak. Kasha means “to be hard”. Rabbi Hirsch explains that in this stage, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, and he doesn’t acknowledge or even notice Moses’s pleadings, how the Israelites suffered, or the plagues. The second, Kaved, means “heavy”. Rabbi Hirsch tells us that during this change, Pharaoh notices the suffering, but does not let himself be guided by it. There is a gap between him listening, and being affected by all the suffering. The last, Chazak, means “firm”. Now Rabbi Hirsch understands that this means that Pharaoh notices everything Moses is trying to convince him of, but consciously opposes it and doesn’t want it at all. Pharaoh could not change, and changing Pharaoh was not the purpose of hardening Pharaoh's heart. According to Rabbi Hirsch, the purpose of the plagues was to educate future generations of God’s power. This is similar to the Civil Rights Movement, where people were protesting so that there could be equal rights for African Americans. Future generations would learn from people who spoke out and society would have better norms. Both of these are trying to make a point that some part of the world just might not have known.
Another rabbi approached this differently. Rambam, or Rabbi Moses Maimonides, lived in Spain during the eleven hundreds. He believed that every person had free will, and nobody is forced to do anything. But Rambam said that there’s a point at which people have done so many bad deeds that they can’t turn back, their heart is fully hardened. Pharaoh chose not to let the Isrealites go, and he was not changing his mind. So it was he who brought upon himself his own heart turning cold, God was just fulfilling what Pharaoh had brought upon himself because he couldn’t change. There are times when you have complete control of your actions, and times when you don’t. Sometimes, you have no control of your actions. When you get really mad, in the moment it is hard to think straight, and you could do something that you’d never think you’d do, and you face the consequences of your actions.
Another strong point happens in the Midrash. The rabbis taught us that the Israelites were extremely determined to have freedom, and that made them strong. Pharaoh didn’t think they were actually powerful, believing himself to be an all-mighty and invincible god. The torah tells us that the people who are powerful by being determined and hopeful always win over those who believe that they have all the power. The rabbis believe that this is actually a hopeful story to teach us to always believe in the power of justice. This is not only used in the Torah, the same message of hope is also in many books throughout history. In the book The Hate U Give, the main character, Starr, speaks out against police brutality so that truth and justice is heard.
Why God would do such a thing as harden Pharaoh’s heart is a challenging question, and my views match up with some of these commentaries, while I disagree with others. Rambam said that people all have free will, and Pharaoh was sealing his own fate. I say that even though Pharaoh was already on a path to destruction, there still could have been a slight chance that he could have changed. He could have had somebody persuade him, anything could have happened. But I think for God to harden his heart, God was deciding Pharaoh’s fate and who he would turn out to be. Free will was not allowed here, which is a right that everybody deserves, even Pharaoh.
A commentary I agree with, though, is Samson Raphael Hirsh’s. He was the one to say it wasn’t about Pharaoh refusing, but it was all just a lesson to teach future generations about what happens to you once you take the wrong path. Voldemort and many other villains also took the wrong path, and it ended up killing them. This makes the most sense because it makes the hardening have a purpose and a moral, so it can teach a lesson to the outside world. A lesson about the true meaning of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. If this was true, change was never an option, after Pharaoh went as far as he went. What if in the Torah, instead of hardening Pharaoh's heart, God changed Pharaoh's heart for the better? But then the Israelites would have been freed early on and it wouldn’t have been a story with a lesson.
This torah portion taught me several things. One that you never know who is capable of change. Also that everybody is equal. The Egyptians, the Israelites, Pharaoh, everybody. Nobody should have power over others, which doesn’t only count for the Israelites, but also the Egyptians who have to go through the plagues. But sometimes, you have to be forced to change to make freedom.
I have also learned about change by doing my Mitzvah Project. I want to tell you about More Than Words. More Than Words is an organization that helps teenagers who are homeless, in the system, in foster care, or have had a hard life in other ways. They give them a job and teach them business skills that will help them have a better life and have more choices and chances to change. More than Words has several bookstores including one in Waltham and one in South Boston. They take used books, audiobooks, music cd, clothes and donations. I am helping them by holding book a drive and by teaching people about More than Words. This has been a really meaningful experience for me, and it has shown me that people need to help out, in a world that needs much more help than people willing to give Everybody can help out just a little bt to create a better future. This is similar to how people change their views, little by little, until they realize how different they’ve become.
I couldn’t have done this without many people helping me along the way. First off, thank you everybody for coming here today and making this experience so meaningful. I would also like to thank my hebrew tutor Tracy for being so patient with me and encouraging me throughout this process. Additionally, Rabbi Penzner has spent so much time helping me get my ideas on paper and helped prepare me for this day. Thank you. Thank you to Jean for helping me figure out my mitzvah project and helping me move forward, Thank you Avi for all your hard work to make origami flowers and for being a really good brother. Thank you Savta and Saba for being so caring to me and helping me organize everything for this day. Thank you to all my family and friends who have traveled here from far away and made the distance. Thank you to my friends who came from close by for showing support and coming here today. Lastly, Thank you mom and dad for staying on top of me and always being there for me when I need it the most. I couldn’t have done it without you.
Shabat Shalom