The Strong Hand of Faith - Shemot 5786

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At the end of Parshat Shemot, we learn about Moshe’s complaint to Hashem. After all the excitement of the Burning Bush and the miracles that Moshe had performed for the Jewish people and Pharaoh, instead of the promised liberation, Pharaoh ratcheted up the hard labor. In addition to making bricks for the buildings, the Jews now had to find their own straw, and produce the same quota of bricks. They were beaten and whipped and it was a dire situation. 


“Moses returned to God and said, “God, why have You mistreated this people? Why have You sent me? For ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has made things worse for this people, and still You have not delivered Your people!” (Shemot 5:22,23)  Hashem answered him (23:1): “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: that because of a strong hand he will send them forth, and indeed, with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”


Rashi comments on the double term “with a strong hand”: The first “with a strong hand” means: “for on account of My powerful force that will bear down hard upon him, he will send them forth.”

The second means: through Pharaoh’s strong hand, i.e., against Israel’s will, he will drive them out, for they will not have enough time to prepare for themselves proper provisions; and so it says: “The Egyptians urged the people on, hurrying them out….”


(Pardon the interruption.  I am looking forward to the next JLI course I will be teaching with Hashem’s help beginning January 25.  It is a fascinating study of the incredible body of Jewish “responsa”, questions and answers through the ages that shaped Jewish law.  If you like history, law, philosophy, the study of a unique legal process and even a little mysticism, this course is for you.  Come for the first lesson free and see if you like it.  More information and registration here.)


In 1965, the Rebbe discussed this Rashi at length.  One of his points was that (paraphrasing) in the harsh conditions of the exile, the people had a hard time believing in Hashem’s redemption.  Hashem was telling Moshe that there would be great miracles that would force Pharaoh to accept Hashem and let the people go.  That in turn would then impact the Jews, and they would leave Egypt with great faith.  In fact, Rashi is alluding to the fact that the Jews left hurriedly, in such a rush, in fact, that they took no provisions!  They went out into a desert without food or other provisions for themselves or their animals.  They went from originally losing faith to complete faith and trust.


Now when you analyze what happened, the truth is that they didn't really need to care about Pharaoh rushing them out at this point.  His spirit had been broken and he had admitted defeat.  Now he was rushing those people whom he had brutally enslaved, whose children he had murdered, and whom he had mistreated in any way possible.  They could easily have told them to wait a couple of days while they put together some food and supplies.  Instead, they up and left with nothing.  This, the Rebbe said, was a result of their extreme faith in Hashem, trusting that He would feed them and provide for all their needs.


That faith was rewarded in may ways, as we read in the Rosh Hashana liturgy that Hashem says “I remember the kindness of your youth , the early love, when you went after Me in the desert, a land where no food is cultivated.”  This faith was the “strong hand” that Pharaoh used to send them away.  Hashem’s strong hand on him caused him to press the people to express their faith and go.


We are experiencing the bitterness of exile.  Jews may have become complacent, thinking that we don’t need to pine for our freedom in the rebuilt land of Israel, or a Holy Temple.  We have everything we need here in the US or elsewhere in the free world.  Or so many of us thought.  While we are experiencing an intensification of the exile, we are realizing that we do indeed need redemption, both here and in Israel, from the bitter exile.  Seeing some of the miracles we have experienced at the same time as the pain, we are energized with the knowledge that just as in ancient Egypt, the intensification of the bitterness was the precursor to redemption, so it is today. We are ready to go!

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