Why 1 Serpent is Better Than 100

 

Just a Game?

This week’s parasha reminds me of the kid’s game rock-paper-scissors.

When I was growing up in Los Angeles, here is how we described the winner of each round:

• Rock breaks scissors
• Scissors cuts paper
• Paper covers rock

No matter what choice you make, you might win or you might lose. Sure, if you both make the same choice, then the game is a draw. But I always played to win :-).

Summary

Before the first plague, Hashem sends Moshe to Paro. The basic message to Paro is to send the Jewish people out of Egypt (see Shemot 6:10).

Also, Moshe and his brother Aharon are told to show Paro a sign. This is recorded in the Torah as the incident of the staff turning into a serpent.

Here is the Judaic Classics translation of Shemot 7:8-13:

8. And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

9. When Pharaoh shall speak to you, saying, Show a miracle; then you shall say to Aaron, Take your rod, and throw it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.

10. And Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and they did as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

11. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.

12. For they threw down every man his rod, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

13. And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he listened not to them; as the Lord had said.

Assumptions

One of the problems raised in this week’s parasha is free will. Does Paro have free will? In other words, does Paro have the capacity to say to himself,

“Yes, I understand what Moshe and Aharon are telling me and showing me. I am now convinced that Hashem is God. Because I have this clarity, I now know that the proper course of action is to allow the Jewish people to leave Egypt.”

My approach in understanding the beginning of Sefer Shemot is that Paro did have free will.

Later, during the actual plagues, there is a strong basis for saying that his free will was taken away. But now, especially at this incident with the serpent, I understand that Paro had complete free will.

Also, is Paro faced with two competing claims that are equally convincing? If one claim is clearly superior to the other, then not much of a choice is involved.

We need to understand exactly the nature of the choice that Paro was facing.

Encounters

I asked a number of questions earlier this week. Let’s try to answer a few of them.

The first time Moshe spoke to Paro the outcome was not so positive. Paro proclaimed:

Who is Hashem that I should listen to Him to send away the Jewish People? I don’t know Hashem and also I will not send away the Jewish People. (Shemot 5:2)

Paro had no problem with the concept that the Jews should have their own god. Everybody else did, so why not them?

He did have a problem with why the Jewish god should make any demands on him.

In this week’s parasha, Paro requests, “Give for yourself a wonder.” He was asking for Moshe and Aharon to authenticate the one who sent them. They claimed to come as Hashem’s messengers. So, prove that Hashem has power that should be respected and obeyed.

The answer to this challenge is that Aharon tossed his staff on the ground and it became a tanin.

Tanin

What is a tanin?

The word is often translated as snake or serpent. However, the word is used in Tanach to refer to an aquatic creature. Also, the word is used in Yechezkel 29:3 in reference to Paro:

Speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great crocodile (tanin) that lies in the midst of his streams, which has said, My river is my own, and I have made it for myself. (Judaic Classics translation)

We see that the tanin is a large aquatic creature, probably a crocodile.

Aharon’s staff has turned into a crocodile. How did Paro react? He called for his wise men, sorcerers, and magicians. All of them threw their staffs on the ground and they also became crocodiles.

So now the score is tied. Nothing has been proved.

Who Swallowed Who?

But the Torah adds one more phrase: Aharon’s staff swallowed their staffs.

The verse does not say that Aharon’s crocodile swallowed their crocodiles. Why not?

The Netziv in his commentary HaEmek Davar explains the nature of sorcery. After its affect wears off, the object returns to its natural state. The Egyptian’s operated with the power of sorcery, so their crocodiles turned back into inanimate staffs.

Aharon’s staff had turned into a crocodile. But not via the power of sorcery but via the power of Hashem to transform the natural world. It also turned back into a staff, but it was still animated and able to swallow the Egyptian staffs.

This is the key point in the whole demonstration. Now it is up to Paro. Does he accept that what he just saw could only come from Hashem, God who controls nature. Or, does he say, “Yeah, that was good. Their sorcery is just that much better than ours.”

To go back to the kid’s game, Paro said to himself, “This time I chose scissors and they chose rock. OK, they won. Next time, I’ll choose paper.”

Did Paro have free will? Yes, and he used it to rationalize away the great demonstration of Hashem’s power that he had just seen.

Make It Personal

What steps can you take to ensure that you accept and acknowledge the truth when you see it?

What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

Please share your thoughts in the comments.

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Photo from Flickr by Ecstatic Mark.