HaShem strengthened Pharaoh's heart

(Exodus 10:1)

Shevat 7, 5777/February 3, 2017

"Come to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart... " (Exodus 10:1) "But HaShem strengthened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out." (ibid 10:20) "HaShem strengthened Pharaoh's heart, and he was unwilling to let them out." (ibid 10:27) " ...but HaShem strengthened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel out of his land." (ibid 11:10)

Four times in this week's Torah reading, parashat Bo, we are told that G-d either "hardened" or "strengthened Pharaoh's heart," as he repeatedly refused to allow Israel to make a three day retreat into the desert so that they could serve their G-d. These four instances in which G-d, and not Pharaoh, hardens Pharaoh's heart beg the inevitable question: What has become of Pharaoh's free will?

After all, isn't free will a gift from G-d? Is it not one of the prime attributes of man which separate us from the animals? Is it not hard-wired into our DNA, an inheritance that cannot be abrogated, an inalienable right that cannot be annulled or overturned? Is G-d not playing fair concerning Pharaoh? Robbed of his ability to choose for himself, has Pharaoh been denied the most human ability to do teshuvah - to repent of his evil ways and make good by sending Israel away?

The free will which G-d endowed man with and which Adam actualized when he ate of the forbidden fruit, is the ability to choose between doing G-d's will, or not, between doing good or not, between being G-d's partner in creation or not. G-d is the source of our free will and therefore we only possess real free will when we recognize G-d. Show me someone who exercises free will as described above and I will show you someone who, regardless of what he or she might profess that they believe or not believe, recognizes on some level of their being, the existence of G-d. Show me someone, on the other hand, who fervently and repeatedly denies knowledge of the name of HaShem, as does Pharaoh, and I will show you someone who has effectively severed themselves from the source of their free will, rendering themselves nothing more than a walking, talking automaton.

Pharaoh was repeatedly entreated by G-d Himself, through His emissary Moshe, to "Let My people go," to do the right thing! The choice to fulfill G-d's will, or not, was clearly Pharaoh's to make. Yet he not only repeatedly denied G-d's exhortations, he denied G-d as the Divine source of his ability to deny G-d's will. You can't have it both ways, G-d tells Pharaoh: If you deny My existence then you can no longer choose to deny My will!

At the very same time that G-d has made Himself the sole arbiter of Pharaoh's will, G-d is busy sharing with Israel the commandment of the first of the months and the many commandments surrounding the Passover offering that they are preparing to perform for the first time, on the eve of their exodus from Egypt. Pharaoh has chosen to deny G-d's existence and has, as a result, forfeited his free will, while Israel, who has recognized G-d, is being delivered a road-map of G-d's will and an invitation to actualize her free will to the very limits of its potential, by diligently fulfilling G-d's will in every moment and purpose in life.

Parashat Bo is ultimately not about the tragedy of Pharaoh's self destructive denial of the reality of G-d, and the disastrous consequences his denial has for Egypt, or even of the willingness with which Israel took up G-d's offer to perform His will. Parashat Bo describes a watershed moment in history in which G-d challenges man to step up to the plate, to become the free-willed being possessed with untold responsibility that G-d has intended, a full partner and player in the unfolding revelation of G-d's will as it manifests itself throughout history, or to merely become a prop in G-d's revealed truth.

Pharaoh chose to be a prop, a pawn no longer capable of choosing for himself between right and wrong. Israel chose to fully embrace the challenge G-d was presenting them, to become His partner in transforming our world into a hospitable world empowered to welcome His Presence and embrace His knowledge.

Look around you now. How many pride-filled potentates do you see, self-appointed authorities on what is right and what is wrong, high priests of the ego-temple of the I-me-mine? Don't be fooled. They are no more capable of choosing between right and wrong than was Pharaoh, yet every bit as capable of wreaking havoc and destruction upon all who hearken to their catechism of G-d denial. These shameless self promoters are nothing but stage props, extras, useful idiots at best, in G-d's ongoing revelation. The real power to heal our world today can be found in the people and nations who hearts are open to G-d's word and whose freedom to chose is lovingly harnessed to the goal of performing G-d's will in our world!

-The Temple Institute