Seven out of the Ten plagues this week. Moses commands again and again, “Let my people go!” Little two foot tall Pharaoh, the most haughty man ever, practically killed off his entire kingdom because he wouldn’t let the Israelites* go. The plagues stopped immediately once he let the them go, however in coming weeks we’ll see how Pharoah changed his mind and really did wipe out all his people as a consequence. When is enough really enough? The man couldn’t make a logical decision to let the Israelites free because he could not acknowledge that these plagues were from G-d. He wanted to have total control over his world. As we know, there are some things G-d does that we have no control over. Succumbing to our powerless nature over such events is the first step to acceptance and learning how to live with difficult circumstances. Things will always play out as they are meant to and how G-d wants them to unfold. Pharoah, who thought he himself was a god, couldn’t admit to this. He insisted on having things his way – to live life by his rules. It wasn’t such a happy ending for Pharaoh…
I hope you enjoy all the fun sound effects in this week’s video! Thanks to my wife for making it happen.
*We cannot call them Jews yet because they had not yet received the Torah. This means they had not yet received instructions on how to practice the religion of Judaism nor had they experienced the cataclysmic event at Sinai that is a major part of the religion. Therefore, they are referred to as the people of Israel, the Israelites.
Thanks for this series, I’m learning a lot!
I appreciate the asterisk notation this week, the reference to “Jews” and “pharaoh keeping them so busy…they did not have time to study the torah” in last week’s Parshas Shemos video did confuse me at the time.
Question one – any insight to the mesorah as to why this parsha contains 7 out of 10 plagues?
Question two – “… two foot tall Pharaoh”? I’ve seen references to him being under 5 feet tall, but no mention of him being able to join the Lollypop Guild from the Wizard of Oz!
I will answer as best i can
1)
I don’t know of any traditions regarding this but 7 is a very holy spiritual number.
Shabbat is the 7th day
7 weeks between passover and shavuot
7 spheres of heaven
7 diamonds in my wife’s engagement ring!!
So maybe it has something to do with that-
2)
The talmud in moed katan 18a ( at the bottom of the page) says he was an ‘amoh’ tall which is a measurement of approximately 2 feet and his beard was also 2 feet i.e down to the floor and his penis was also 2 feet- just thought you would like to know. I am not sure whether these things have to be taken literally or if it means in some way he was only 2 feet and he liked to hide himself away and committing adultery . I have heard that ‘tutankamun’ or whatever which people think was the pharoah of moses was 5 feet tall, but who knows?