The March of Folly
By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
There is a fascinating moment in the unfolding story of the plagues that should make us stop and take notice. Seven plagues have now struck Mitzrayim. The people are suffering. Several times, Pharaoh seems to soften, only to harden his heart again. And now, Moshe and Aharon have warned him of another plague, a plague of locusts that will devour all the grain left after the hail as well as the fruit of the trees. And for the first time, we hear something we have not heard before. Pharaoh’s own advisors tell him he is making a mistake! But will he listen?
Back in 1984, historian Barbara Tuchman published a famous book called The March of Folly. In it, she asks the great question: How is it that throughout history, intelligent people have made foolish decisions that, even at the time, they could see were damaging both to their own position and that of the people they led? In other words, decisions where there were clear red flags, but they were ignored.
One example Tuchman offers is the famous story of the wooden horse of Troy, where the Trojans were fooled into accepting a giant wooden horse into their city, but a team of Greek soldiers was hiding inside it. That night, the Greek soldiers burst out of hiding and were able to capture the city of Troy. It was a brilliant ploy, but Laocoön, the Trojan priest, had guessed that it was a trick and warned the people. His warning was ignored, and Troy fell.
That is the context in which we should read the story of Pharaoh and his advisers. This is one of the first recorded instances of “the march of folly,” where clear warnings are bafflingly disregarded.
Rabbi Sacks was brought in as an advisor when the animated movie, The Prince of Egypt, was in production. He noted that Pharaoh was portrayed in a fascinating way in that film - not as a sinisterly evil man but as a leader focused on maintaining the success of the longest-lived empire of the ancient world and not allowing it, as it were, to be undermined by change. Let slaves go free, he might have thought, and who knows what will happen next? Royal authority will seem to have been undermined. He did not wish to show weakness or to change. That is what led to his downfall.
We tend to see Pharaoh as both wicked and foolish because we know the story all the way to the end. But at the time, he may well have felt that he was being strong while his advisers were merely fearful. Decisions are only easy, and errors are only clearly visible, in retrospect.
Yet, Pharaoh remains an enduring symbol of failure. He could not see that the world had changed, that he was facing something new, that his enslavement of a people was no longer tolerable. He failed to understand that the old magic no longer worked, that the empire over which he was presiding was growing older, and that the more obstinate he became, the closer he was bringing his people to tragedy.
Knowing how to listen to advice, how to respond to change, and when to admit you’ve got it wrong remain three of the most difficult tasks of leadership. Rejecting advice, refusing to change, and refusing to admit you’re wrong may look like strength to some. But usually, they are the beginning of yet another march of folly.
