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Dvar Torah - Parashat Bo – Rav Abe Weschler
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God speaks to Moshe and explains the facts to him. 'It is not that Pharaoh is
resisting you of his own free will, it is I that am hardening his spirit!' (See
Shemot 10:1). Why is God telling this to Moshe? Is this supposed to make Moshe feel
any better to know that God is tag-teaming it with Pharaoh against him? What is
the sense of conveying this information to Moshe?
Moshe saw how difficult it was to impress upon Pharaoh the truth of his message,
the validity of his position. Pharaoh was neither buying his philosophical arguments
nor his religious ones. Pharaoh was not going to give any leeway to his slave force
to go and worship out in the desert. Pharaoh was not even paying heed to the miraculous
"natural" and not-so-natural assault on his country. Nothing was going to budge
Pharaoh from his stance. This abstinence troubled Moshe. Did he have the stamina
to continue to wage this battle? Did he have the fortitude to go on against this
unmovable force? 'How could this man (Pharaoh) continue in this fashion without
wavering while I feel like collapsing already?' Moshe was on the verge of calling
it quits.
So God comes to relieve Moshe of his distress. 'Do not be discouraged by what this
other man says and does, for he is not acting on his own. His great obstinacy is
not his alone, but I am assisting him on his way. His strength is not human strength
alone and you should not feel despondent upon witnessing it.' (Based on the explanation
offered by Rav Yechiel Meir of Gostinin)
So I ask again, how was this supposed to relieve Moshe?
The answer is, God puts each and every one of us into situations to challenge us
to do our best, in the same way He thrust Israelite' leadership upon Moshe. Often
times we will feel like giving up because we cannot overcome what we are up against;
we think it is too powerful for us. Comes God to tell us that the only thing we
are truly up against is God and the challenge that He puts in our way. This is an
uplifting message, because as the old saying goes, 'God never gives us a challenge
that He knows we cannot do.' Knowing that all that we face is from God actually
gives us the strength to press forward.
Had Moshe gone on thinking that he was fighting against Pharaoh he may have given
up, because perhaps Pharaoh was the stronger of the two. But now that Moshe knew
that God was "playing" the other side, Moshe knew that he could do more. And so,
"Moshe and Aharon came to Pharaoh…" (ibid. 10:3).
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