MRS. MACHLA SHAFFER

Communications Associate

as heard from Rabbi Ian Shaffer

Adjunct Bible Professor - Stern College for Women

Chizuk Halev - What does this mean?

 

One of the great theological issues in the story of the Exodus is the discussion surrounding the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. Many commentaries raise the obvious question - is this action of G-d forcing Pharaoh to not send the Jews out, so as to punish him and the Egyptians for their cruel enslavement of the Jewish people? But if G-d hardened Pharaoh's heart, then Pharaoh is not to blame for his actions. So why is he being punished in this seemingly unfair way?

Rambam in Hilchot Teshuva (chapters 5 - 6) gives a classic response to this question. He maintains that there are people in the history of the world whose ability to repent will be denied them as a result of their very cruel ways. In our time, as the war was ending and defeat was obvious, the German leader's command at the end was to "continue the war against the Jews." Such a person lost the ability to repent, and died in the midst of his sin, without reprieve. The same is true for Pharaoh and many other anti-semites we have experienced in our history. "Hardening the heart" for Rambam means that the possibility of Teshuva has been removed, deservedly so, due to the evil deeds of the individual.

Many people have objected to the Rambam's explanation, as we are told that Teshuva is available to anyone and everyone (even Nineveh, as we read on Yom Kippur). The suggestion that G-d has removed the 'gift' of Teshuva from certain people is very controversial, although in terms of reward and punishment the Rambam's idea has within it a certain sense of satisfaction. Evil people cannot get a free pass if their deeds are as bad as those of Pharaoh and others.

 

The Bet Halevi, Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik (great grandfather of Rav Soloveitchik of Yeshiva University), argues in the opposite direction, based on an approach seen in the Seforno Torah commentary. In fact, G-d wants Pharaoh to make a balanced decision to let the Jews go, and the plagues may be seen as coercing him to let them go against his will. In order to counteract this pressure, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, i.e. he is able to withstand the pressure and make a balanced decision to let the Jews go. Bet Halevi is saying that "hardening the heart" gave Pharaoh the ability to choose, as opposed to the Rambam who said that Pharaoh was denied the ability to choose as punishment for his bad deeds.

An interesting modern approach is found in the writing of Rabbi Y. Eisenberg, a Bible professor at Bar Ilan in Israel. He analyzes all the cases where we are told there was a "hardening of the heart" (Pharaoh, Sichon, the wars of Yehoshua, the sons of Eli), and he concludes as follows: the "hardening of the heart" in all these cases represents the logical conclusion of the evil doer, according to the circumstances in which he finds himself. In the case of Sichon, he felt it was logical to go to war against Israel, and for Pharaoh it was logical to resist the pressure to let the Jews go. We are told that  G-d allowed these evil men to arrive at their 'logical' conclusions in order to bring about their destruction. The "hardening of the heart" represents G-d providing the evil man with the data to pursue his evil ways, which seem logical at the time, but are seen to be wrong after the event. This explanation is particularly helpful in explaining the strange story of Eli's children, who continue their negative behavior in the Tabernacle (Samuel 1, ch.2). What they did seemed logical to them, but with hindsight it was clearly wrong, and they were punished accordingly. It is the equivalent of giving a person enough rope with which to hang himself, but the choice to do so is still in the hands of the perpetrator.

 

This whole issue has certainly taxed the minds of our great commentators, both old and new. It is exciting to see how the discussion ranges from one extreme to the other in an effort to understand the story and the actions of G-d. This is surely one aspect of  the greatness of Torah; it demands our full attention and focus to truly understand the hidden depths of meaning in so many of its stories.

 

Shabbat Shalom

Director of College Guidance & Academic Advising

Basya Goldman as Cecily & Nitza Goldman as Miss Prism

Alyssa Simmons as Gwendolyn & Adi El as Lady Bracknel

Michael (KYHS  '20)  Klein

or e-mail 

Mrs. Tammie Neuman