The Irritating Nature of Cynicism Another Medrash in this weeks parsha is very appropriate for our times. The pasuk says, Not so; let the men go now. Serve Hashem, for that is what you seek! And he drove them out from Pharaohs presence [Shmos 10:11]. The Medrash makes an interesting comment: Because of the Almightys extreme displeasure at Pharaohs mocking attitude, He now changed the order of nature in delivering the next plague. In all of the plagues up to this point, the Almighty did not change the order of nature. This means that all prior plagues could to some extent be given some natural explanation. For example, the Nile being filled with blood could have been the result of pollution, a type of oil spill, etc.; frogs can congregate in one place, occasionally; and so forth. None of the first eight plagues represented a fundamental change to the order of nature. However, the ninth plague of Darkness did represent a change in the course of nature. Three days of consecutive darkness, was a miraculous departure from the natural day night cycle. Why now? The Medrash attributes it to a special Divine irritation with the king of Egypt. This time Pharaoh did something that the Almighty would not tolerate. Pharaoh was cynical. He mocked the Jewish people. He treated Moshe Rabbeinu with derision. G-d has, so to speak, a special aversion to cynicism (leitzanus) and mockery. The trait of cynicism and the practice of acting with derision is abhorred by Heaven to such an extent that when Pharaoh engaged in that behavior, G-d increased the intensity of the plagues by changing the order of nature. Rav Shimon Schwab asks where in the above quoted pasuk do we find mocking or derision? Where is the cynicism here? Rav Schwab suggests that the word nah in the expression lechu nah haGevarim (Let the men go now) means please. Furthermore, the word Gevarim has the connotation of distinguished individuals, whereas Pharaoh was really speaking about slaves. Pharaoh thus begins with the statement Please, let only the elders and statesmen go. Then the pasuk concludes and he drove them out from Pharaohs presence as if to say get out of here! (or something much stronger). He mocks them by first speaking with a false respect and then throwing them out like trash. His attitude toward them was one of derision and cynicism. G-d said, Now you have done it! Leitzanus is a very serious matter before the Almighty. Treat them nicely or treat them not nicely, but dont play games with them. Dont mock them. Cynicism is very irritating both in Heaven and down here on Earth. May we guard against it so that we may be able to find favor in the eyes of G-d as well as in the eyes of man.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 02:30:01 +0000
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