Then and Now

                                                                                        בס"ד
There was an excellent article in the Orthodox Union Torah Tidbits last week entitled:

Why Did G-D Harden Pharaoh's Heart?

by Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher

Dean of Students, Diaspora Yeshiva

Why did G-D need to harden Pharaoh's heart? Why was there a need for the Ten Plagues? Why couldn't G-D bring about the Exodus by having Pharaoh come to the realization that it was to his benefit to get rid of his Hebrew slaves? Hadn't Pharaoh expressed his fears that in the event of war, the Hebrew nation would join our enemies and wage war against us (Sh'mot 1: 10)? If he was so afraid that the Jews would be collaborators against him, and by their miraculous population explosion soon outnumber the Egyptians, why didn't he just let them go?

Rav Shlomo Kluger explains that it would have been a disaster if the Exodus from Egypt would have come about in this way, with Pharaoh playing the role of the Great Emancipator. Instead of Klal Yisrael being free from Pharaoh, this would have created a situation where the Jewish nation would be eternally indebted to Pharaoh for giving us independence by permitting us to leave Egypt.

The trait of HAKARAT RATOV (gratitude) is deeply engrained in the heart and soul of our nation and is the essence of many Mitzvot in the Torah. Even a kindness done to our ancestors many centuries ago creates a debt of gratitude that we must continue to honor and not allow to diminish with the passage of time.

The very purpose of the Exodus from Egypt was that "I shall take you to Me for a people and I shall be a G-D to you, you shall know that I am Hashem your G-D, Who takes you out from under the burdens of Egypt" (Sh'mot 6:7). The only way the Jewish Nation could show its total loyalty and express its boundless thanks to G-D for taking us out of Egypt was if we had no reason to show any gratitude to Pharaoh. Our gratitude must be solely for G-D alone.

Therefore, G-D had to bring out the very worst in the Egyptian King, and continually harden his heart to refuse Moshe's request to let us go free. This was achieved by afflicting Pharaoh and his nation with the Ten Plagues. Despite the devastation the plagues caused, Pharaoh stubbornly refused to give in until the death of the first born finally caused him to let the Jews go.

The Exodus from Egypt is what made our people into the Nation of G-D. Numerous Mitzvot that we perform are a memorial of the Exodus from Egypt, and the miracles that G-D performed during the Exodus is the basis of our EMUNAH in Him.

Therefore, if Israel would in any way be indebted to Pharaoh, that would detract from the total loyalty and gratitude we owe to G-D for taking us out of the Egyptian bondage. Thus, G-D had to remove Pharaoh's Free Will for our eternal benefit.

After reading the article, I thought aren’t we facing the same situation today? I see so many Jews who are praising the new President Trump and saying that he will do many things for Israel and the Jews. There have also been messages that Hashem has put this man in the White House. I do believe that Trump has a much better attitude than his predecessor with respect to Israel and the Jews. I also believe that in the same way that Hashem hardened the heart of Pharaoh, so we would not give the evil Pharaoh credit for the Exodus from Egypt, let us analyze what Trump is doing and how Hashem is using him to help us. The bottom line again is that it is Hashem, not some human leader that is providing help.

But what are some of the changes and the result of such changes. There is the proposal of the American Embassy moving to Jerusalem, the wall that is being built on the Mexican border (which Netanyahu praised), the great rift that is being created in the US between the Right and the Left, the great change in immigration, the renewed friendship with Israel, the bringing of a Jewish son-in-law into the Trump government and other measures. They all seem like positive changes to the US, but they are all creating an increase in Jew-hatred around the world. Everything complaint from the left is causing the population that follows them to point the finger, blaming the Zionist, which is the modern euphemism for Jew.

Many of the changes happening are having one effect, dividing the nation and perhaps causing in the end a vast exit of Jews to Israel. Recently, I believe it was Binyamin, who said: “Trump will come in and kick out all the Jews.” I didn’t understand that statement at first, but when we see how Hashem works, it becomes much more apparent that He put Trump in to cause the Jews to come home.

There is so much of a division in the US that there appears to be a situation that is leading to a new civil war. This time instead of the blacks and the issue of slavery, it is the Jews and desire for Zionist domination.

Did we see Obama as the new Pharaoh for this Geula (we have talked about the great possibility that Obama is the reincarnation of Pharaoh)? And now do we believe that Trump was designated by Hashem as the Moses of today to “let our people go?” After all Moses didn’t enter the land, but Hashem used his servant to cause the Exodus, and the eventual entering of our land.

I have mentioned that the events of the first Geula are prophetic messages for this final Geula. Is this what is happening? In the end we will see for sure that a leader has been chosen by Hashem to carry out Hashem’s will? When the people start to believe that it is not the leader of a country that is helping us, but Hashem saving us with “an with a mighty hand outstretched arm.” Are we seeing that it cannot be done by one plague, but ten to bring the people to the truth? Will the last plague be Nibiru destroying much of the world except for Israel, convincing all the people that it only could have come from an Infinite Force, Hashem?

I just asked lots of questions that I believe will be answered soon. If all that we are seeing is the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Geula from Egypt, I believe all Jews should consider packing their things. There are not coincidences; there is only the complete consistency of Hashem’s ways. The only way the Jewish Nation could show its total loyalty and express its boundless thanks to Hashem for taking us out of Magog was if we had no reason to show any gratitude to Trump or any other human leader. Our gratitude must be solely for Hashem alone.