by Yehuda HaKohen. “Pharaoh replied, `Who is HaShem that I should heed His voice to send out Israel? I do not know HaShem, nor will I send out Israel!'” (SHEMOT 5:2)
When Moshe and Aharon demanded on behalf of HaShem that the Hebrews be permitted to go out and serve Him in the wilderness, the Egyptian monarch responded with contempt. Pharaoh not only rejected the demand to send out his slaves but also denied HaShem’s very existence. G-D then revealed to Moshe what would occur next.
“`Pharaoh will not heed you, and I shall put My hand upon Egypt; and I shall take out My legions – My nation the Children of Israel – from the land of Egypt, with great judgments. And Egypt shall know that I am HaShem, when I stretch out My hand over Egypt; and I shall take the Children of Israel out from among them.'” (SHEMOT 7:4-5)
Due to his ability to enslave and persecute the Hebrews, Pharaoh was certain that there was no G-D of Israel. To him – as to most of Israel’s antagonists throughout history – the very degradation of the Jewish Nation appeared as proof of HaShem’s weakness or non-existence. The ability of gentiles to persecute Israel is the ultimate profanation of G-D’s holy Name, which is inseparably connected to Am Yisrael’s stature among the nations. Even in a situation where the Jewish people are guilty of serious transgressions, our honor is still intrinsically united with the honor of G-D. The main purpose of the plagues was to reveal the Divine unity of HaShem’s Kingship over all, which the Egyptians could only learn through experiencing His power.
“`For this time I shall send all my plagues against your heart and upon your servants, and your people, so that you shall know that there is none like Me in all the world. For now I could have sent My hand and stricken you and your people with the pestilence and you would have been obliterated from the earth. However, for this have I let you endure, in order to show you My strength and so that My Name may be declared throughout the world.'” (SHEMOT 9:14-15)
The plague of hail is described here as “all My plagues” because it begins the collapse of Egyptian faith in false gods. This was the goal for all of the plagues – the destruction of idolatry and the revelation that everything in Creation is subordinate to HaShem. Pharaoh was permitted to survive the fifth plague – disease – only in order that he would be forced to recognize HaShem’s sovereignty and proclaim it to the world.
“`You still tread upon My people, not to send them out. Behold, at this time tomorrow I shall rain a very heavy hail, such as there has never been in Egypt, from the day it was founded until now. And now send, gather in your livestock and everything you have in the field; all the people and animals that are found in the field and are not gathered into the house – the hail shall descend upon them and they shall die.’ Whoever among the servants of Pharaoh feared the word of HaShem chased his servants and his livestock into the houses. And whoever did not take the word of G-D to heart – he left his servants and livestock in the field.” (SHEMOT 9:17-21)
The sanctification of G-D’s Name comes about through the revelation of HaShem’s might and the degradation of false deities. The plague of hail was the first time HaShem granted the Egyptians an opportunity to spare themselves. Were they to heed the G-D of Israel, it would have constituted acknowledgment that He encompasses and directs all that exists. HaShem therefore warned Egypt that He was bringing hail and that their idols would be powerless to protect them from the plague. The Egyptians would only be saved through abandoning their faith in false gods and acknowledging HaShem’s sovereignty. Their faith in idolatry was destroyed and G-D’s Name was sanctified throughout the land of Egypt.
Because HaShem is the timeless ultimate Reality without end that encompasses all in existence and is beyond all existence, ascribing any genuine power to false deities or human rulers prevents one from truly recognizing His Divine unity over all. Fear of foreign powers therefore takes away from our belief in G-D’s Oneness and profanes His holy Name. Because the Children of Israel are the national representatives of HaShem’s Ideal in this world and the weakness of the Jewish people appears to the nations as the weakness of our G-D, Israel must strengthen our resolve and advance our national struggle without fear of human rulers or the power they claim to wield. The Jewish people must stand strong against all those seeking to impede our liberation so that we can bring existence to what it was always meant to be through establishing the Hebrew Kingdom that will shine blessing and light to all of Creation from Jerusalem. Shabbat Shalom.
With Love of Israel,
-Yehuda HaKohen
Am Segula
