A thought on Parshas Bo

"...ad ma'sai yiyeh zeh lanu l'mokesh..."
"...how much longer will this be a nuisance to us..." (10:7)

Pharaoh is getting impatient. He is annoyed. First this threat, then another, then a plague, then another complication. Moshe comes back yet again with more foreboding predictions. It is no wonder that Pharaoh complains and wonders out loud, "How much more of this do we have to put up with?"

The mystery question, though, is what does the word "this" (zeh) in our verse refer to? Many commentaries suggest that "this" refers to the overall plague-threat process. Pharaoh is annoyed about the repeated problems. Other suggest that "this" refers to Moshe, and Pharaoh means "how much longer do we have to deal with this person?" After all, notes Rabbeinu Bachya, elsewhere, Moshe is been referred to as "this man" (32:1).

However, Rabbeinu Bachya writes, there is a more intriguing possibility. "This" nuisance that Pharaoh is kvetching about refers to.........HaShem Himself. After all, HaShem is also referred to as "Zeh" (15:2; 13:8.) He is the consummate "This" in a world of this and that.

Pharaoh revealed his primitive view of the Divine. He saw G-d as nothing more than he viewed any of his own deities, as a sort of humanoid entity who gets caught up in the petty issues that most people are involved with. He looked at G-d as some sort of cosmic jester who pokes fun at people, or harasses them, and needs to be bribed, placated or gotten rid of. Even as Pharaoh's kingdom was disintegrating and his nation was on the run and falling apart, he did not really get it. Every time Moshe approached him, he rolled his eyes and said, "what's it going to be this time?" He did not get the message. He did not relinquish control and accept that there was One G-d displaying dominion over every event at every moment.

How often do we regress into such a cognitive cul-de-sac? When things don't work out for us, or the going gets difficult, do we wonder to ourselves how much more of this do we have to put up with until "This" leaves us alone or goes away? Do we understand our interaction with the Above as some sort of unfair game we are temporarily caught up in against our will and against our better judgment? Do we look for quick fixes, superficial solutions, as if we have to recite a formula or say the magic word and "This" will pick on someone else?Rabbeinu Bachya says that "that" line of reasoning about "This" would indicate that one is a kofer b'ikar - one who rejects the truth and reality about HaShem's world.

What do you think about that? I mean, about this? I am sending this off early as I will be leaving shortly for Jerusalem b'e'H. Good Shabbos. D Fox