וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל משֶׁה בֹּא אֶל פַּרְ עֹה כִּי אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְ תִּ י אֶת לִבּוֹ וגו' לְמַעַן שִׁ תִ י אֹתֹתַי אֵלֶּה בְּקִרְ בּוֹ (י, א)
And Hashem said to Moshe, “Come to Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart... in order that I may place these signs of Mine in his midst.”
He Commanded Him to Go on His Own:
The Meforshim ask why Hashem told Moshe to “come” (bo) to Pharaoh, rather than saying to “go” (lech) to him. The Noam Elimelech answers that the main reason Hashem wanted to strike Pharaoh and his servants was to create “signs” for Klal Yisroel, and for these events to be recorded in the Torah, so that it should not be missing even one letter.
Moshe did not want to go to Pharaoh because he did not want to look at the face of a rasha. Therefore, Hashem told him “bo” – which means to come of one’s own volition – so that the amount of letters in the Torah could be increased through him. He did not tell him “lech” – which could mean to go against one’s will – as He wanted to give him the zechus of having the number of letters in the Torah increased through his voluntary action. Thus, He told him to go voluntarily and, thereby, to “place his signs”, meaning to increase the letters of the Torah.
Every Word is True:
It is related (Daas Zekeinim, page 52) that the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch zy”a once had a meeting with the Czar of Russia. During this meeting, the Czar asked the Rebbe many questions about the Talmud. One question he asked was why the Gemara seems to exaggerate many stories. One example of many that he quoted was the Gemara (Bechoros 57B) that says that one egg of a certain large bird was so big that when it broke, it drowned 60 cities and broke 300 cedar trees. The Czar then said, “You can see why I believe those who make fun of the Gemara and say that it isn’t true.”
In those days, there was a new law that Jews were prohibited from living within 50 acres of the border. With this in mind, the Tzemach Tzedek told him, “His majesty knows that I am an important person by the Jews. Every word I say is considered holy to them. If I would write a book today, and I would write that the Czar of Russia is so great and massive that when a drop of ink falls of his quill it could drown 60 cities, everyone would understand my intentions. Everyone would realize that I meant to say that with a little ink that the Czar used to sign the new law, he destroyed many Jewish towns near the border. However, if someone would read this 100 years from now, no one would know what I was talking about, as the decree will certainly be annulled and forgotten about by then. However, even then no one would claim that I wrote a lie. Rather, they would understand that I wrote the truth but they don’t have the facts to understand what I was referring to. So too, when the Chochomim wrote those words in the Gemara, everyone knew what they meant. Every word they wrote is true, even if we don’t know what they were talking about.”
Relating the Story of Yetzias Mitzrayim Elicits Its Influence:
Sefer Noam Elimelech explains that when Hashem performs a miracle for Klal Yisroel and shows compassion for us by vanquishing our enemies, His Divine attribute of compassion is aroused and is made available for us in the future. When similar situations later arise and we are again faced with enemies who wish to harm us, Hashem will destroy them by using the same attribute of compassion that has already been aroused.
He explains that when the pasuk says: “in order that you tell into the ears of your son and your son’s son how I made a mockery of the Egyptians”, the intent is that when we relate this story to our children, Hashem’s compassion will be aroused and he will destroy all of their enemies who want to hurt them.
Why Did Pharaoh Not Want to Send Out The Children at First?
Sefer Toras Hatamarim relates that after the Satmar Rov zy”a miraculously escaped from the Nazi inferno, he came to Switzerland. He spent one Shabbos after the war in the city of Zurich, where he encouraged the local Jews to support the activists who were working to locate Jewish children who had been hidden by their parents in Christian monasteries in order to return them to their heritage. He spoke in shul before Kriyas Hatorah, and a large crowd came to hear him.
During his lecture, the Rov said, “Before Makas Choshech, Moshe Rabenu asked Pharaoh to release the children of Yisroel and allow them to leave the land of Egypt. Pharaoh asked who would be going, and Moshe answered, ‘We will go with our youth and our elderly, with our sons and our daughters.’ Pharaoh replied that he would not allow the children to leave under any circumstances.
“However, after Makas Choshech, something changed. Pharaoh told Moshe that ‘the children will also go with you, only the sheep and cattle will remain.’ He now agreed to allow the children to leave. Why did he change his mind?
“The answer is that Pharaoh knew that if he let the adults go, but made the children stay in Egypt, they would be worried about leaving their children with non-Jews, who might serve them non-kosher food and who wouldn’t educate them properly. However, Pharaoh also had many Jews on his side, as Rashi says that the Jewish sinners who wanted to remain in Egypt died during the days of darkness. These people had kosher kitchens and kept all the Jewish laws.
“Pharaoh thought that the Jews didn’t need to take their children with them, as they could stay with the Jews who remained in Egypt. But once these Jews all died during Makas Choshech, he had no choice but to agree to let the children go, as he knew they couldn’t stay in Egyptian homes.”
With these words, he impressed upon the people how important it is to ensure that the Jewish children would be removed from the non-Jewish monasteries and brought to Jewish homes.
No Mitzvah to Bury a Rasha:
Rashi states that Hashem made it dark because there were sinful Jewish people who did not want to leave. They all died during the three days of darkness so that the Egyptians wouldn’t see that Jews were dying too.
There once was a Jewish tavern owner who lost his source of livelihood when a fellow Jew outbid him and took over his tavern. The Sanzer Rov zy”a chastised the new owner, but the man defended himself by saying, “The man I replaced is a rasha who does not keep the Torah. It is a mitzvah to bury him!”
The Rov asked him, “Who says that there is a mitzvah to bury a rasha?” He proceeded to bring a proof from the Torah that, in fact, there is no mitzvah to do so. Rashi says that the Jewish sinners died during the days of darkness. It is certain that the rest of the Jews buried them. Rashi later says (12:6) that Klal Yisroel had no mitzvos to serve as zechusim to be redeemed, so Hashem gave them the two mitzvos of the Korban Pesach and milah. The Rov asked: Why does it say that they had no mitzvos? Didn’t they have the mitzvah of burying those who died during Makas Choshech?
We see from here, said the Rov, that there is no mitzvah to bury wicked people. He then ordered the man to return the tavern to its previous owner.
The Light of Shabbos:
Sefer Degel Machane Efraim explains as follows:
Shabbos is the light of the world. The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh writes (Parshas Bereishis) that the world was created only with the ability to last for six days but when Shabbos came, it added life to the world to last for another six days, and this occurs every week.
It is certain that righteous Jews kept Shabbos already in Mitzrayim, as is stated in the Medrash (quoted in Tur Orech Chaim 281). Although they were living in the darkness of slavery, they had the light of Shabbos. Thus, the pasuk that says that the Jews had “light” in their homes is referring to the light of Shabbos.
The Teshuva of Bnei Yisroel Was Accepted in the Merit of the Gentiles Sacrifices:
The Medrash (Shemos Rabbah 14:4) says that Moshe told Pharaoh, “Don’t think that we will sacrifice any of your animals for ourselves. Rather, you will give us your animals to sacrifice to Hashem in your name.”
Rav Yissochor Dov of Belz zy”a asks why Moshe wanted to sacrifice animals on Pharaoh’s behalf? Did he really want to give zechusim to Pharaoh?
He answers that when a Jewish person brings a korban to atone for a sin, he also must do complete teshuva. However, it is extremely difficult to do teshuva fully. For this reason, the halacha is that we accept korbanos from non-Jews (Chulin 13B). By doing so, we are judged in relation to them and, in comparison, our teshuva is considered perfect.
Thus, Moshe wanted to first bring korbanos on behalf of Pharaoh, so that the korbanos of the Jews should be considered perfect in comparison.
A Talmud Chacham Rejects the Daughter of an Am Ha’aretz, Not the Other Way Around:
Rashi states: “Yes you have spoken correctly: You have spoken appropriately, and you have spoken at the right time.” Sefer Zichron Chaim (written by Rav Chaim of Kaminka zy”a, a student of the Chozeh of Lublin zy”a and the Ohr L’Shomayim of Apta zy”a) explains that this world is a “backwards world”. As an example, he notes that it can occur that when a serious, upright young Torah scholar reaches marriageable age, the father of a girl may be uninterested in him because he lacks financial resources. While a young talmid chochom like this certainly should be accepted with honor, the father of the girl may reject him because he has no money.
In the eyes of man, this seems like a terrible slight. One may wonder how it could be that Hashem allows an ignorant man to disgrace a worthy Torah scholar by rejecting him as a match for his daughter.
However, in reality, the opposite is true. The reason the girl’s father is unable to accept the talmid chochom is because he is unworthy of having him as a son-in-law. Although it looks like he is doing the rejecting, the truth is that he is being rejected. Accordingly, although it may have appeared that Pharaoh was rejecting Moshe and saying that he never wanted to see him again, the truth was that Hashem put this thought into his mind because he was unworthy of seeing him again. Therefore, Moshe told him that he had spoken correctly, but it was not as he thought. The truth was that, as Moshe said, “I will not see your face again”, because you are unworthy.
The Hatred an Am Ha’aretz Has Towards a Talmid Chochom:
Sefer Da’as Zekeinim relates that a Rov once came to Rav Itzikel of Vorka zy”a and told him that there were several men in his town who were making a lot of trouble for him and inciting people against him. The Rebbe sent a message to these men to come to him and, when they came, he told them, “In the old days, it was common for wealthy, ignorant men to travel to the large yeshivos and ask the Roshei Yeshiva to suggest a distinguished bochur as a match for their daughter. The rich man would offer a large dowry and several years of support to get a talmid chochom to become his son-in-law and live in his home. The reason they would do this was to get a talmid chochom under their control so that they could ‘bite him’, as Chazal say (Pesachim 49B) that an am ha’aretz despises a Torah scholar and wants to bite him.
“In our times, the ignorant people have gotten smarter. They realize that they don’t have to offer a lot of money to get ahold of their own, personal talmid chochom. Instead, they just get a talmid chochom to become their Rov, which only costs each congregant a small amount, and they can then all bite him together....”
All the Miracles Were in the Merit of Kabalas Hatorah:
The Shach al Hatorah states that the words “Rosh Chadashim” refer to the Torah, which is “rosh hachidushim” – the head of all novel thoughts in the world. The Torah is called by this name because it was around well before the world was created.
Rav Shmuel of Vorka zy”a (Sefer Toras Shmuel) uses this idea to explain that Moshe Rabenu had asked Hashem in what zechus the Jewish nation would leave Egypt, and Hashem replied that it would be because “they will serve Hashem on this mountain”, meaning that they will be redeemed because they will then accept the Torah.
Hashem then added the words “hachodesh hazeh”. With these words, he was saying that all the “chidushim” that occurred to them – such as the miracles that happened in Egypt, Kriyas Yam Suf etc., all of which were “new” things that had never before occurred – were in the merit of the “Rosh Chadashim”, meaning that it was all in the zechus of accepting the Torah.
The Forbidden Cheese:
It is related that when the Rema once traveled on a ship to Italy, there was a Jewish merchant on the same ship who was transporting a shipment of non-kosher cheese. The merchant asked the Chida to give a hechsher to his cheese so that he could sell it to Jews in Italy but since the Chida knew that it wasn’t kosher, he refused. The merchant offered him a lot of money, but he still said no.
When he saw that offering money wouldn’t help, the merchant decided to force the Chida to give him his hechsher. He hired several strong sailors to grab him in the middle of the night and threaten to kill him. Left with no other choice, the Chida said that he would give the approbation. He wrote: “So-and-so’s cheese is kosher l’mehadrin, and may be eaten.” He then added the words: “Signed on Tuesday of the week of ‘v’kacha sochlu oso masneichem chagurim’ in Chumash Shemos, in the year 5513.”
When the merchant arrived in Italy, he advertised the “kosher l’mehadrin” cheese that he had brought from Eretz Yisroel, which bore the hechsher of the esteemed Chida. He showed his wares to a local Rov, who read the wording of the hechsher. When he got to the end, where the Chida quoted the pasuk, he wondered why he had written that it was in “Chumash Shemos.” Everyone knows that’s where this verse is located, so what’s the point of writing it?
The Rov tried to understand what the Chida had in mind by writing these words, and then he finally understood. The word “Shemos” is an acronym for “shnayim mikrah v’echad targum.” Perhaps, he thought, the Chida wanted him to look at the Targum on these words.
He looked up the Targum on the pasuk and saw that it said: “Masneichem chagurim: Charitzeichen yehun asirin.” While this literally means “your loins should be girded”, it also could be translated to mean “the cheese is forbidden.” The Rov realized that the Chida was hinting that the cheese was not kosher and he grilled the merchant until he admitted what he did.
The Rov was amazed by the Chida’s wisdom. The next time he saw him, he made the bracha of “shechalah m’chachmaso l’yerei’av”, which is said on a great talmid chochom.
Why Hashem Himself Took Them Out:
Rav Shimshon Pinkus zt”l (Sefer Tiferes Shimshon) explains as follows:
Chazal tell us that Hashem took us out of Egypt, passed through the land, and killed all the firstborn Egyptians on His own. He did not use a malach for this. Rather, he did it all Himself. This is as the verse states: “I am Hashem- I and no other.”
Why did Hashem not want to use an angel for these jobs? He destroyed Sodom and Amorah through Malach Gavriel, which proves that he was more than capable of doing such things. If so, why did Hashem need to do this on His own?
Chazal describe how Menashe Melech Yehuda was one of the wickedest people in Jewish history. His father, Chizkiyahu, was a great tzadik, but Menashe was the exact opposite of his father. Chizkiyahu placed a sword at the door of the bais medrash and said that anyone who did not come to learn would be killed (Sanhedrin 20A) but Menashe commanded that anyone who learned Torah should be killed. He even went so far as to kill Yeshaya Hanavi (ibid 103B).
We further see from the pasuk (2 Malachim 26-27) that his actions led to the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh, as Hashem’s anger started due to him and did not abate until the Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed. The Medrash (Devarim Rabbah 2) relates that in the end, Menashe was captured and bound in chains. A fire was lit under him and it was burning him up. At that time, Menashe called out to every avodah zara in the world, as he was familiar with all of them, but none of them answered him.
Finally, he remembered that his father used to repeat the verse to him: “When you are distressed, and all these things happen upon you in the end of days, then you will return to Hashem.” He said, “Master of the World, You are the G-d of all gods. If You don’t save me, people may say that You are not all-powerful!” He was, so to speak, making a deal with Hashem.
All the angels who heard his words “shut the windows to Heaven” so that his prayer would not be heard. They said, “How could a man who placed idols in the Chamber of the Bais Hamikdosh have his prayers answered?”
What did Hashem do? He dug a tunnel under His throne and allowed Menashe’s prayers to come in that way. Hashem heard his prayers and returned him to Yerushalaim.
