Jewish Tribune: Let My People Go???

The question can be asked. Why does Hashem send Moshe Rabbeinu to ask Pharaoh to free the Jewish People? Why, effectively, does Moshe ask for permission? Why not just pick up and leave?

In my latest Jewish Tribune article, I present my thoughts in response to these questions. This article is reproduced below.

Rabbi Ben Hecht
 

Let My People Go???

It is the line that encompasses in most of our minds the force and intensity of the holiday—Let My People Go. Moshe Rabbeinu stands before the most powerful ruler of the world at the time, demanding of Pharaoh, again and again, that he free the Jews. Each refusal is met with a Divine plague, each one worse than the one before, still Pharaoh says no. Then comes the final plague and Pharaoh can take no more. The tables turn and it is now this mighty ruler who must search all over for Moshe, to declare before this great leader of our people that the Jews are now free, that Pharaoh indeed will finally let the people go. I, though, have always had a bit of a problem with this story. Why did Moshe, in the first place, need to go before Pharaoh to request that he let the Jews go? Why didn’t the Jews, under the guidance and protection of God, just leave?

There was, of course, great drama in these confrontations between Moshe and Pharaoh. The story would not be the same without them. But why were they necessary? Could the Jews not have just left Egypt without this so-called permission? The God Who brought the plagues against the Egyptians could also have easily protected the Jews from any potential assault against them if they would have just left. Why the need for “Let My People Go”? Could Moshe’s line not just as easily have been “So long, We’re Leaving”?

The drama of the story would no doubt have been different but it could also have had its force and imagery. Imagine – the Jewish nation, under the direction of Moshe, gathering together and starting to simply march out of Egypt. Pharaoh comes to challenge them, ordering them to return, even sending his army against them to stop them – of course, unsuccessfully. The armies’ arrows fall helplessly to the ground. Soldiers attempting to attack the Jews fall into pits that open underneath them. Maybe walls of water would fall mightily on these Egyptians attempting to prevent the Jews from leaving without permission. Wait a second, though – isn’t that already, in a certain way, part of the story, down by the Reed Sea? Indeed, Moshe’s final line, if there was one, was, simply, “Goodbye.”

There is a drama within this drama of the Passover story that is often overlooked. In the end, the Jews did not leave because Pharaoh let them go. In the end, at the Reed Sea, the Jews actually left against Pharaoh’s will. It is also then, subsequent to this event, that Yul Brynner (playing Pharaoh) drops into his throne and states “He is God” – and this film presentation in The Ten Commandments wasn’t very far from the truth. Even after all the plagues in Egypt, even after finally succumbing to the pressure to release the Jewish slaves, Pharaoh still doubted – was this supernatural power that brought devastation to his nation truly the Divine Creator and Master of all existence? What was Pharaoh’s problem? Why did he still question? His problem was precisely that Moshe and the Jews didn’t just leave, that Moshe kept asking for permission, requesting “Let My People Go.” This led Pharaoh to believe that he was still necessary, that he still had to release the Jews. As long as Pharaoh believed that he had some power, that he was necessary, he could not truly comprehend and accept God in all His Majesty.

Each time that Moshe came before Pharaoh with the request to let the Jewish nation go, Pharaoh’s belief that he had rights was reinforced. These slaves were his and he, thus, had rights over their destiny, immutable rights, he believed, that were inherent in existence. Even as this Supernatural Force was wreaking havoc on Egypt, he still believed that the Jews could not leave without permission. To him, even this Force was bound by these inherent rights within existence. This principle, however, came crashing down with the waters of the Reed Sea. This is where he learned the true message of the Universal God: He is not subject to the rules but Writer of the rules.

.If God would have simply marched the Jewish nation out of Egypt, Pharaoh would not have fully felt this message. God thus had to set Pharaoh up, had to have him believing that his rights were immutable, only to discover at the Reed Sea that God could have really taken the Jewish People out of Egypt at any time, that the drama in Egypt was not really necessary in order to free the Jews. God was not bound by the events but, rather, He orchestrated them to, thereby, teach Pharaoh, and all, an important lesson about reality—that God is the very Source of existence.

The Passover story is not just about freedom. It is also our introduction to the Torah, the Jewish, view of God. It is for this very reason that the Passover Seder is built around the Question. The Question ultimately opens us up to new ideas. It is only thereby that we can learn from the Source—beyond our inherent perceptions and limitations.