So Moshe and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to him, "So said the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, and they will worship Me." (10:3) Rashi explains the the word as the Targum Unkelos renders and it is derived from i¦p ̈r/ You have refused to be humble and meek before Me. The Meforshim ask however, what is the meaning of the word “to humble yourself “before Me”. Since the purpose was for Pharaoh, who was arrogant, to be humble, if so it would have been sufficient to simply state in the Posuk How long will you refuse to humble yourself?
In last weeks Parsha, we find an interesting dialogue with Moshe and Pharaoh after the plague of Barad it says Posuk 25, Moshe stretched forth his staff heavenward, and the Lord gave forth thunder and hail, and fire came down to the earth, and the Lord rained down hail upon the land of Egypt. This was devastating to the entire land of Egypt, therefore: So Pharaoh sent and summoned Moshe and Aaron and said to them, "I have sinned this time. The Lord is the righteous One, and I and my people are the guilty ones. Entreat the Lord, and let it be enough." And Moshe said to him, "When I leave the city, I will spread my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, in order that you know that the land is the Lord's. But you and your servants I know that you still do not fear the Lord God." (9:27-30).
The dialogue is self-understood as Pharaoh is begging Moshe to remove the hail from his land, and Moshe agrees to do it. However, the last Posuk 30, But you and your servants, I know that you still do not fear the Lord God, which has no meaning here. Pharaoh already repented and said The Lord is the righteous One, and I and my people are the guilty ones. Why does Moshe have to rebuke Pharaoh again?
The answer may be: There are two types of Teshuva: Teshuva from fear of punishment and Teshuva from fearing Hashem. The difference between them are: Teshuvah that comes through the influence of others such as warnings of grave punishment if you don’t do teshuva. This is teshuva that may actually stop the sinner from continuing his aveiros, but it does little to bring him closer to Hashem. Besides he will likley continue to sin.
The real Teshuva is when a person does teshuva from his own arousal. There is no external cause instigating the teshuva. The person who committed an aveira examines the situation and realizes the message from Hashem and is aroused to return to Hashem. This form of teshuva stops the person from doing aveiros and brings forth a love of Hashem that was not previously found in the person.
The Gemara Berachos 7a states: And Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: A single regret or pang of guilt in one’s heart is preferable to many lashes administered by others that cause only physical pain. Remorse is more effective than any externally imposed punishment listed.
This concept can be applied to Pharaoh. Hashem demanded that Pharaoh let Klal Yisrael leave Egypt. After warning him of plagues and suffering, Pharaoh always repented and promised to send out the Yidden. Yet his arrogance arose again, and he forgot his suffering. Hence, another plague came. If Pharaoh had even repented of his fear from Hashem, All plagues would have ended. However, Pharaoh had no fear of Hashem; he always had a fear of punishment. Therefore, when the punishment subsided, he was again with his evil self.
This was the punchline of Moshe’s rebuke “But you and your servants I know that you still do not fear the Lord God”. Sure you fear punishment and repented, but you lack the fear of Hashem, and your words of “The Lord is the righteous One, and I and my people are the guilty ones” is only contingent on fear of the suffering. That is the meaning of our Posuk to humble yourself “before Me”.To be humble and fear “Me” Hashem, and repent truthfully, and send out my children.
This is a powerful daily lesson. We want to live a comfortable life and do Aveiros, and Hashem sends warnings in the form of monetary losses or Chalila with illness, all in order for us to do Teshuva. Unfortunately, when the crises goes away we are back to our old ways. The true objective is to fear Hashem, not the punishments. When we fear Hashem and constantly have Hashem within us, we will be guarded with angels on both sides and live a successful and tranquil life, Amein. (Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
