Hardening One's Own Heart....A Torah Lesson

Vayera tells the story of the first seven plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians and Pharoah’s reaction to each.  Today we’re going to look at the reactions displayed by Pharoah after each plague.

#1- Blood….Pharoah’s heart became hardened and he did not listen to them, as HaShem had spoken.  Pharoah turned away and came to his house.

#2- Frogs….Pharoah saw that there had been a relief, and kept hardening his heart.  He did not listen to them, as HaShem had spoken.

#3- lice….Pharoah’s heart became hardened and he did not heed them, as HaShem had spoken.

#4- wild beasts….But Pharoah made his heart stubborn this time also, and he did not send out the people.

#5- cattle plague…Pharoah’s heart became stubborn and he did not send out the people.

For each of the first 5 plagues mentioned, Pharoah hardens his own heart.  At any point he could have chosen to use his free will to repent with a full heart.  Then the game plan changes.

#6- boils….HaShem strengthened the heart of Pharoah and he did not heed them, as HaShem had spoken to Moses.

#7- hail….Pharoah actually says, “This time I have sinned; HaShem is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the wicked ones.”  But after seeing everything cease he continued to sin and he made his heart stubborn….Pharoah’s heart became strong and he did not send out the Children of Israel, as HaShem had spoken through Moses. 

Rambam commented on the fact that after plague number #6, boils, HaShem strengthens the heart of Pharoah.  He explains that originally Pharoah “sinned in full freedom by inflicting evil on Yisrael who were guests in his country, and justice demanded that he be restrained from preventing repercussions through making use of teshuvah.” (mishne Torah, Hilchot Teshuvah, 6:1-3)

Rambam’s analysis understands that human beings are free to make choices but those choices have undeniable consequences.  When you turn yourself towards a path of evil and you behave in evil ways, you have that right.  But, one cannot choose the path of teshuvah to avoid the consequences of one’s actions.  If we are to be truly free than we have to learn to live with the consequences of our actions even if they lead to our own self-destruction. Another way of saying this is that teshuvah is a means of returning to G-d but not for the purpose of avoiding negative repercussions for one’s current choices. Real teshuvah requires courage to change and honesty to know why one wants to change.

Perhaps you might be wondering why G-d would send Moses to Pharoah in the first place asking him to send forth the people if G-d already stated that Pharoah would not do so.  The Torah’s answer is that G-d wants the inhabitants of the world, and Egypt was the center of the civilized world at that time, to know that G-d can negate an individual’s free choice if they have committed evil acts and will not allow them to repent.  The perpetrator of evil will die because of his wickedness. That was the lesson that the Torah tries to teach in Parashat Vaera.  Is it a lesson that resonates with you?  How do you understand the issues of free will and the ability to sin in full freedom by inflicting evil on others? Do you believe that there is a modern day equivalence to the phenomenon of an evil agent in history who has brought self-destruction upon himself?