Let my people go (forever) vs. Let my people pray in the desert (and we'll come back)
Wasn't Moshe deceiving Paro in his request to Let my people pray in the desert? It is true that Moshe wanted to pray in the desert but didn't Moshe really not want to come back?
How can you explain this apparent deceit?
There was definately deceit going on here, and Paroh knew it. That's why he wanted the cattle to stay so he could use it as a hostage. I personally feel that Moshe does not have to justify himself for 2 reasons. 1. He's deceiving Paroh, Paroh had been lying non stop the whole Sefer Shmot. 2. He is acting under direct accordance of Hashem. We know from Bereishit tht Hashem will in fact lie for a greater purpose. He told Avraham that Sarah laughed when He told her she was going to have a baby because she was too old when really she said Avraham is too old. So we see this lie is okay as it directly results in the Hebrews leaving Egypt receiving the torah and becoming a nation.
ReplyDeleteAlso, a question i thought of in class that everyone can ponder. After Locusts, Paro admits fault and asks Moshe to pray to Hashem to take them away. The the Chumash says he hardens his heart and doesn't let them go. However, he never made the stopping of the locusts a condition of their release. There was no discussion about leaving at all. If he never said they could go, why would his heart harden. He isn't changing his mind if he never said he was going to let them leave.
Throughout the request and rejection process Paraoh is always unsure of how he can figure a way to get the Israelites to come back. Paraoh knew something tricky was up and that's why he was always reluctant.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Moshe did want to leave Egypt forever, but that was not the entire purpose of freeing the Bnei. One of the more important parts of the mission was to pray to HASHEM. Although Moshe did not prefer to just leave Egypt for a few days and then return, he figured it was more likely for paro to let the Bnei pray for 3 days rather than leave forever. I don't think Mose was trying to deceive Paro by asking to leave for just a few days, but he was genually asking Paro.
ReplyDeleteIsaac "Julio De La Fuerte" Graber
Gabriel - Even if Paro knew that he was being tricked, the question is still valid - why does Moshe resort to trickery - shouldn't we be an upstanding people?
ReplyDeleteRabbi, excellent question. Of course Pharaoh knew exactly what Moshe was saying, for he honestly wanted his people to go pray in the desert. Moshe wasn't only asking for his people to be totally able to ditch Egypt altogether, he wanted the ability to first go pray. He wanted something simple to ask of Pharaoh. Also, if Pharaoh would say no when Moshe asks can we go pray, then surely asking the more intense question of letting his people go would be rejected. (Had trouble explaining this clearly, but it's just an idea.)
ReplyDeleteMoshe knew that Pharaoh would not agree to sending the bnei out forever, which is why he asked him to send them out for a 3 day journey in order to pray to their god. That was really what god wanted. It is ludicrous that Pharaoh would actually believe Moshe that they would go out for only three days and come back after, which is why his request was a bit deceitful, but as we discussed in class, it is a slave's mentality to obey his owner.
ReplyDeleteAkiva Somer
Ethan's interpretation is the one given by Abarbanel, Malbim, Haketav Vehakabbala and Oznayim L'Torah (in his first approach). Great answer!
ReplyDeleteIn response to my own question from last night, ReZesh takes a bit of a stretched answer. It is similar to the idea of Hashem Warning Paro to bring in his animals before the previous plague of Barad. Paro hardens his heart after the locusts because he did in fact change his mind. The ReZesh feels the Paro and Moshe did have the standard conversation of I;ll let the Jews go just do this and do that, but the Torah leaves this conversation out to teach us a lesson. It leaves it out to show that the conversation didn't matter because after seeing Paro lie again and again and again there is no point in trying to reason with him any longer to try to get an honest response out of him.The torah leaves the conversation out because Mohe knows Paro isn't telling the truth, yet he reacts by stopping the plague as if he truely beleived that Paro was sincere. He did this because he has pitty on Paro. He presents a very impressive character trait. the same one that Hashem uses by warning Paro to bring his animals in side. He takes pitty and helps out his own enemy who he's trying to beat and who he knows is lying to him.
ReplyDeleteRabbi, I appreciate the compliment. Very kind of you to say the least.
ReplyDelete