One of the most commonly discussed topics in the whole Torah is why Hashem kept hardening Pharaoh’s heart. If Pharaoh and the Egyptians were worthy of punishment because of how they treated Bnei Yisrael, then give them their punishment all at once! Why go through this process of punishing them, hardening Pharaoh’s heart and then punishing them again? To solve this problem, we have to change our thinking. Maybe the point of this process had nothing to do with punishing the Egyptians and everything to do with inspiring the Jewish people.
Aliza was in medical school and had a lot of studying to do. Her favorite place to study was the local library, where she spent at least 15 hours every week. One weekend, Aliza found herself in California for a family simcha. Aliza arrived early on Friday morning and Shabbat wasn’t until 7:45 p.m., so she dropped her stuff off at Uncle Phil and Aunt Vivian’s, and headed to the Bel Air Public Library. She found a quiet spot, opened up her books, and began studying.
After an hour or so, Aliza felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the librarian with her arms folded and looking upset. She was accompanied by two police officers who handcuffed Aliza and led her into a police car. On the ride to the station, Aliza was feeling and looking completely confused. “Excuse me, why was I arrested?” she asked. “As if you don’t know, Miss MEDICAL STUDENT,” responded the officer in the passenger seat. This didn’t clear anything up, but it gave Aliza a clue. “I’m sorry, I’m not from here. Is it illegal to be a medical student in Bel Air?” Both officers began to laugh. “Illegal to be a medical student! That’s ridiculous!” The driver stopped laughing suddenly and took on a serious voice. “But if you are a medical student, it is illegal to sneeze in a library on a Friday in Bel Air. Up to six months in jail.”
Try as Aliza’s family and lawyer could, she was still sentenced to ten weeks in jail. So Aliza, who had never even received a parking ticket, found herself as a prisoner. “Ridiculous!” thought Aliza to herself. “How can I be arrested for such a silly reason. Also, how was I supposed to know? I’m getting out of here!” Aliza stood up, walked out of her cell, out of the building, and out of the courtyard (this was one of those “honor system” jails for people who broke silly laws). Aliza took a taxi to the airport, and took a plane back home.
Back home, which was actually a farm in Kansas, Aliza got right back to her family and her studying. Each day, she did her morning farm chores and headed to the library to study. Upon arriving, Aliza went straight to the librarian to ask if it was legal for a female medical student with a name starting with “A” and a father named Jason to study at this library. “Of course it’s legal, Aliza; why do you ask? Also, are you okay?” Aliza smiled awkwardly, said “forget it, thanks,” and headed to study. One day, after two weeks of this same routine (with a different question for the librarian each day) Aliza got an itch to hop on Google. She typed in “strange laws in Kansas,” and started to read through the results, taking notes.
When returning home that night, Aliza went straight to the pig pen, searching for her favorite pig, Ham Zu LaTova. She found Ham Zu, hooked a leash to his collar, and led the pig into the house and into the downstairs bathroom. Aliza ran the bath, put Ham Zu in and went to get her dog, Bark Anthony. She put Bark in the bath with Ham Zu and filmed herself cleaning them. After returning her newly cleaned pets to their places, Aliza went on Facebook, posted the bath video, tagged the local police department in the post, and waited by the front door with her coat. Within 30 minutes, Aliza was back in jail, thanks to violating the old Kansasian law against bathing a pig and dog together. This time, her sentence was only two weeks, and she didn’t even bother fighting the charge. Aliza pled guilty, but this was her second time being arrested, so she was not placed in an honor system jail. However, she did not need to wait long to get out. Two days after being jailed, a friendly looking officer approached her cell. “Pssst, Aliza! I heard how you ended up in here. Ridiculous. I’ll get you out in no time. See you tonight!” As promised, the officer returned at midnight, let Aliza out of her cell and even drove her back home. Nobody cared that she escaped, as all the local law enforcement officers agreed it was a silly law.
This freedom did not last long. Only one day after being freed, Aliza heard that the state government of Kansas passed a law declaring an automatic one-year jail sentence for littering. The streets of Kansas had been overrun with garbage, and it was time to put a stop to it. You know what happened next: Aliza was back in jail for littering. This time she had no way out, and had to wait nine whole months (she got time off for good behavior) until she was able to return to her regular life. However, this time was different. Aliza got back to her farm chores, studying and following the law. She was never arrested again, and went on to a successful career as a pediatrician.
What changed for Aliza the last time? Why did she stop looking to get arrested? Did you notice the difference? That’s right, she didn’t escape. You see, after being arrested for the first time, Aliza began to think of herself as a rule-breaker. Escaping from jail (even with the officer’s help) only made this feeling worse, as she never really redeemed herself. Only after serving her full sentence—minus the good behavior time, which she earned—did Aliza feel as if she deserved a fresh start.
This is what Bnei Yisrael needed. If Pharaoh would have sent Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim because he feared being punished, Bnei Yisrael would not feel as if they deserved to be let out. Only after makat barad was Pharaoh able to say, “Hashem is true and I and my nation are wicked.” By the end of the ten makkot, we were finally able to feel like a special people, deserving of freedom. Similarly, in our lives, it is so important not to take shortcuts to overcome challenges. Often, we cheat to avoid challenges instead of taking them head on. When this happens, we are reinforcing the feeling that we can’t grow in the right way. May Hashem give us the strength to meet our challenges head on, and the wisdom to realize how special each of us truly is.
Yair Daar is the middle school dean of students at Yeshivat He’Atid. He can be reached at [email protected].
