SEDRAH SELECTIONS PARSHAS BO 5765 BS"D
Ch. 10, v. 7: "Va'yomru avdei Pharoh eilov .. shalach es ho'anoshim v'yaavdu
es Hashem Elokeihem ha'terem teida ki ovdoh Mitzroyim" - And Paroh's servants
said to him .. send the men and they will serve Hashem their G-d do you not
yet know that Mitzrayim is lost - Paroh was so impressed with their advice that
he had Moshe and Aharon brought back and he asked them who would go on the
three-day hiatus to serve Hashem (verse 8). When they responded that absolutely
everyone would go and that they planned to take all their livestock as well
(verse 9), Paroh countered that only the adult men may go, and had them driven
out of his presence (verse 11).
>From this point onwards we no longer find Paroh's advisors suggesting that
the bnei Yisroel be sent to serve Hashem. What changed? Actually things got even
worse as they experienced the devastation of the locusts and the total
darkness, yet not a word from them any more.
The Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh answers that Paroh told his servants that they had a
good point, but it was inconclusive that Hashem had the power to take the
bnei Yisroel out of Egypt against Paroh's will. Moshe had requested a three-day
hiatus to serve Hashem, a round-trip ticket for each of the bnei Yisroel.
Paroh reasoned that there is the possibility that Moshe would be true to his word
and that indeed he only wanted three days for a festival to serve Hashem with
sacrifices. If that is the case it surely isn't worth being obstinate at the
price of suffering through more plagues, as his servants posited.
On the other hand if Moshe's true intention was to permanently leave, why
would he request a three-day jaunt to the inhospitable desert? It might just be
that Hashem was (ch"v) incapable of extracting them from Egypt proper, as it
was under Paroh's domain, but once they would be in the desert, no man's land,
He would be able to lead them further afield, i.e. back to Eretz Yisroel. This
could be simply clarified by asking Moshe who the intended participants in the
sacrificial service would be. When Moshe answered that all would be involved,
even young boys and girls, Paroh concluded that the request was a fa?ade, as
children never participate in such activities, and that Moshe wanted to lead
the bnei Yisroel out of Egypt never to return. He felt assured through this
reasoning that Hashem had no power to remove the bnei Yisroel from Egypt and that
it was worthwhile to grin and bear it for a while rather than permanently
lose such a large free workforce. This reasoning satisfied his servants and not a
peep was heard from them afterwards. This is a most wonderful insight.
Let us expand upon this idea. Moshe had stated to Paroh numerous times
earlier that all he wanted was a three-day jaunt into the desert to serve Hashem
(7:16,26 - 8:16,23 - 9:1,13). Why did this issue with all its reasoning
delineated by the Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh come to light here by the 8th plague and not
much earlier? We can simply say that this is the first time that Moshe detailed
exactly who would participate, in response to Paroh's asking who would go.
However, why didn't Paroh ask this earlier when he temporarily agreed under duress
to release the bnei Yisroel (7:4, 8:21,24 - 9:28)?
In a homiletic manner we might answer this based on the Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh
himself. The essence of Paroh's refusal was based on the request for a
three-day holiday in the desert, as mentioned above. This, coupled with the request
to have every last ben and bas Yisroel leave misled him to erroneously believe
that Hashem lacked the ability to extract the bnei Yisroel from Egypt proper.
However, once the bnei Yisroel would be in the desert He could lead them
further.
This is just like the nature of locust. They have four legs that transport
them when they are earthbound. They are incapable of becoming airborne through
the power of their wings alone. A pair of springing legs propels them into the
air, and once airborne they can fly further with the propulsion of their wings.
Perhaps Hashem orchestrated matters so that the question of exactly who the
participants are would not come to light until the plague of locust, as they
symbolize, in a startling likeness, Paroh's miscalculation. Just as Paroh felt
that Hashem did not have the ability to take the bnei Yisroel out of Egypt and
could only take them back to Eretz Yisroel once they were in the desert, out
of Paroh's domain, so too a locust cannot fly from a position on the ground,
but only after he is airborne by springing upwards. Only then can his wings
transport him a great distance. The punishment of locust is a punishment in kind,
"midoh k'ne'ged midoh," coupled with Paroh's calculations that brought him to
believe that Hashem is ch"v limited in ability and that Moshe is not being
truthful.
Hashem's teaching Paroh this lesson might be esoterically alluded to in the
parsha of kosher and non-kosher flying insects. In Vayikra 11:22 the verse
states, "Ach es zeh tochlu mikole sheretz ho'ofe haholeich al arba asher LO
chro'ayim mimaal l'raglov l'na'teir bo'hen al ho'oretz," - Only this may you consume
from among the flying insects that walk on four (legs), that which *has
not/has* jumping legs above its other (four) legs with which to spring upon the
ground. Kosher locust and grasshoppers have the feature of a third pair of legs
that propel them off the ground. The word LO in this verse is one of numerous
ones in TaNa"CH that are spelled LO with an Alef ("ksiv"), meaning NO, and are
to be understood as LO with a Vov ("kri"), "to it." (A most wonderful insight
into the double meaning of LO in our verse was offered in parshas Shmini 5763
in the name of Rabbi Avrohom Steiner of Grosvardain in Beis Avrohom.)
Perhaps we can say as follows: The gemara Shabbos 88b says that the first
word in the Ten Commandments, "ANoCHI" (Shmos 20:2, Dvorim 5:6), is an acronym
for "Ano Nafshi Ksovis Y'hovis," - I (Hashem) have written My essence (in the
words of the Torah) and have handed it over (to the bnei Yisroel). The letters
of the Torah are the essence of Hashem in the written word (see the Holy Zohar
Vayikra pages 73a, 265b, and 298b). As the written words of this verse appear
in the Torah, i.e. the essence of Hashem, the locust, including "arbeh" as per
the following verse, "has not" - LO with an Alef - any jumping legs. It can
propel itself from the ground directly into flight. This alludes to Hashem
responding to Paroh that he is mistaken, that Hashem does not need to have the
bnei Yisroel first removed from Paroh's domain to be able to afterwards do with
them as He wishes. Hashem can take them directly out of Egypt, right from under
Paroh's nose. The read form, "kri," is not the essence of Hashem, and the
"arbeh" does have jumping legs, LO with a Vov, and Paroh "reads" inaccurately
into Hashem the limited ability of only being able to lead and direct the bnei
Yisroel after they spring out of Egypt, out of Paroh's control.
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