The Bumpy Road to Redemption
The complicated
beginnings of the Exodus from Egypt establish the expectation that redemption
is often not a smooth process.
By Rabbi Avraham Fischer
The following article
is reprinted with permission from the Orthodox
Union.
After much persuasion, Moshe agrees to accept Hashem's
mission to go to Pharaoh. The slavery and sufferings of the Children of Israel
have gone too far. The time for Hashem to fulfill His promises to the
Patriarchs is at hand. Moshe appears before Pharaoh as Hashem's emissary,
bearing the message:
"Thus says Hashem, G-d of Israel: 'Let My people go,
and they will celebrate for Me in the desert'" (Shemot 5:1).
And now, the process of deliverance will begin. But, it does
not.
Instead, Pharaoh refuses to listen to any message in the name of Hashem. Moshe
and Aharon's protestations and explanations are of no avail. Pharaoh, sensing
the beginnings of a slave uprising that could sweep across all Egypt,
intensifies the oppression: no straw, which is essential for producing the
bricks for the Egyptian national building project, will be provided, yet the
Hebrew slaves will be expected to produce the same quota of bricks.
The Egyptian taskmasters impose this rule on the Hebrew
officers, who pass it on to the Hebrew slaves. The slaves are unable to keep up
with the workload, and the Hebrew officers are beaten on the slaves' account.
The officers complain to Moshe and Aharon, and call upon Hashem to judge
between them. The Hebrews' situation has never been so bleak.
This is how salvation begins?!
Moshe pleads his case before Hashem:
And Moshe returned to Hashem and said, "Lord, why have
You done badly to this people? Why is it that You sent me? For, from the time
that I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, it has been bad for your people,
nor have You saved Your people" (5:22-23).
Moshe's words are the subject of some discussion among the
commentaries. Not all of them accept Rashi's critical reading, that Moshe is
questioning the ways of Hashem, for which he is punished.
Ibn Ezra (12th century
Spanish commentator) argues that Moshe knows Pharaoh will not agree without
miracles and plagues (as has been foretold in 3:19 and 4:21), so he is not
surprised that Pharaoh does not relent immediately. But, Moshe thought that the
process leading to redemption would at least begin now, gradually, with some
relief of the slaves' plight.
Instead, their sufferings increase! Moshe declares: I do not
understand why this has happened, neither do I know what to say to the
Israelite officers, nor why I was chosen to be the agent of greater suffering.
Moshe is asking for understanding and guidance.
Rabbenu Chananel (11th
century Tunisian commentator) further asserts that Moshe is asking so that he
may understand to what end Hashem is allowing this evil to occur.
Moshe asks the timeless question of the problem of evil: why
do the innocent suffer and why do the guilty prosper? Could the Israelites have
sinned? Or, are they suffering to make them deserving of greater reward, as it
says, In order to afflict you and in order to try you, so as to benefit you in
your end (Deuteronomy 8:16)? Could the Egyptians possibly be entitled to some
reward for some good they have done? Or, are they being prepared for greater
punishment later?
Hashem's answer to Moshe concludes our portion:
And Hashem said to Moshe, "Now you will see what I will
do to Pharaoh, that with a strong hand will he release them, and with a strong
hand will he expel them from his land" (6:1).
And now the process of deliverance is underway.
The fundamental question about this episode remains: Why did Hashem allow this
to happen? How did this suffering further the goal of liberation?
Again, the commentaries focus on the different elements of these events:
Chizkuni (R.
Chizkiya ben Manoach, mid 13th century commentator) focuses on the
Egyptian people: When the slaves spread out through the whole land of
Egypt to gather stubble for straw (5:12), the slaves must not have found the
straw easily, which means that all the Egyptians prevented them. This demonstrated
the complicity of the Egyptian people in the oppression of the Hebrew slaves.
The Egyptians could not subsequently complain that they did not deserve to be
punished along with Pharaoh.
Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch (19th century
German scholar) focuses on Pharaoh: Despite the reasonable requests made by
Moshe to Pharaoh, he stubbornly refuses. Therefore, it is evident what kind of
a hard-hearted man Pharaoh is, and thus, the only way to deal with him will be
through the plagues.
Rabbenu Chananel focuses on Hashem: As a result of this
episode, Pharaoh and the Egyptians will be punished even more, and the
Israelites will be rewarded even more. This event occurs so as to demonstrate
Hashem's justice in the world.
Indeed, all three explanations show Hashem's justice:
Chizkuni emphasizes that the Egyptian people deserve punishment; Hirsch points
out that Pharaoh could not be reasoned with; and Rabbenu Chananel argues that
Hashem rewards the deserving and punishes the guilty.
We might add: The liberation from Egypt is the prototype for all future
liberations, although it is the most miraculous of them all. Still, it is the
model by which all future redemptions would be measured. If the Egyptian
redemption had occurred smoothly, then whenever in the future the Israelites
would require salvation, any setbacks would signify that no redemption is
forthcoming, and the Jewish people would despair.
The way of Hashem is not always understood, even by those who are closest to
Him, except perhaps in retrospect. There is Divine justice, but the road to
salvation is not always direct. There will be hazards along the way,
fluctuations of fortune, setbacks and loss of hope. But redemption will come.
And when it does, every part of the journey will be understood and justified.
