Hi Rabbi, I think that you took some liberty with the text when you say that "...Pharaoh's heart was hardened, Pharaoh hardens his heart." While the text does say (Exod 8:11 & 28) that Pharaoh hardened his heart, we are told later that it was HaShem who hardened Pharaoh's heart, for the specific purpose of showing off HaShem's might (Exod 10:1). While I agree with your sentiment of the need to guard against our hardening our own hearts, it has always bothered me that our tradition has HaShem manipulating the deck to make the game come out as it does.
a beautiful, succinct and relevant message. Shabbat Shalom!
ReplyDelete-Rabbi Judy Kempler
Hi Rabbi,
ReplyDeleteI think that you took some liberty with the text when you say that "...Pharaoh's heart was hardened, Pharaoh hardens his heart." While the text does say (Exod 8:11 & 28) that Pharaoh hardened his heart, we are told later that it was HaShem who hardened Pharaoh's heart, for the specific purpose of showing off HaShem's might (Exod 10:1). While I agree with your sentiment of the need to guard against our hardening our own hearts, it has always bothered me that our tradition has HaShem manipulating the deck to make the game come out as it does.
Shabbat shalom,
Alan Steinfeld