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1) The One Thing Worse Than Hatred
Why does the Torah use such awkward language in our parasha to describe those Egyptians who ignored Moshe's warning before the makas Barad? The pasuk (9:21) says "va'asher lo sam libo el devar Hashem"— literally, "he who did not put his heart to God's word." Why not simply "lo yarei es Hashem" (didn't fear God) or "sonei Hashem" (hated God)?
Rabbi Lamm z”l points to the Targum Yerushalmi, which illuminates this with two contrasting examples: Iyov, who represents "yarei es devar Hashem" – constantly questioning, protesting, demanding of God, but always engaged. On the other hand is Bilam, who represents "lo sam libo" – a spiritual mercenary who never truly cared. When his donkey stopped, he beat it mercilessly, indifferent to why it halted. "Vayaazov es avadav ve'et mikneihu basadeh" – he left his slaves and cattle to die, because someone indifferent to God becomes indifferent to everything.
The Midrash (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:13) makes this even better: An am ha'aretz mispronounces "ve'ahavta es Hashem" as "ve'ayavta", you shall hate. Hashem says, "Dilugo alai ahava", as if to say, his mistake is beloved to Me! Better hatred, anger, and even rebellion than deadly indifference. "Ve'ayavta", an Iyov, at least acknowledges God's existence; "lo sam libo", a Bilam, doesn't even grant Him consideration.
Our generation's greatest spiritual defect isn't atheism – it's apathy! The opposite of yiras Hashem is a mindset of "lo sam libo", of not putting your heart into shul, Torah, mitzvos. The Torah's challenge, in Rabbi Lamm’s words: Have a heart.
2) The Story That Creates the Storytellers
Why does Hashem harden Pharaoh's heart and prolong the shibbud? Rabbi Yakov Nagen shows how the pasuk in our parasha reveals an unexpected answer: "U'lema'an tesaper be'oznei bincha u'ven bincha, so that you may tell in the ears of your son and your son's son what I brought upon Egypt" (10:2). God deliberately extends the suffering not merely to punish Egypt, but to create a monumental story, a narrative so powerful it would shape Jewish identity forever.
Rav Nagen has a powerful quote from novelist Paul Auster, who wrote: "Stories happen only to those who are able to tell them." He mentions Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ extension of this insight as well: The Jewish people aren't a nation that has a story, but a story that has a nation. Yetzias Mitzrayim had to unfold with dramatic plagues and supernatural redemption because Hashem was crafting the foundational narrative that would continuously recreate Am Yisrael through the generations.
This explains why Moshe's first command instructs Bnei Yisrael to tell their children and grandchildren what they've witnessed. He quotes Sefer Yetzira (1:1), teaching that Hashem created the world itself through storytelling. Stories do more than recount reality – they shape it. Our obligation isn't just to remember the Yetzias Mitzrayim as history, but to recognize Yad Hashem guiding our lives, always, and become active storytellers of the ongoing redemption.
3) Chomer Lidrush from last year, Click Here
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