A thought on Parshas Vaera

"...HaShem haTzadik..." "...G-d is Just..." (9:27) When Pharaoh is confronted with further signs that unnatural changes are destroying his empire, he confesses his guilt and admits that HaShem is just in His decrees against the Egyptians. What is the deeper significance of these words, as Pharaoh utters them? Rabbeinu Avigdor begins at the pshat level and points to the irony: earlier on (5:2) this same Pharaoh had claimed that he did not know or recognize this purported "G-d" of the Jews; now he concedes that this G-d is real. He concedes and acknowledges that this HaShem is just and correct in punishing the Egyptians. Rabbeinu Avigdor then goes to the drash level. He cites a midrashic tradition that when the tides turned at the sea and drowned the Egyptian army, Pharaoh was saved. This, says Rabbeinu Avigdor, was because he had accepted the judgement against him as our verse writes. He had accepted HaShem's justice, which is known as tziduk ha'din. Rabbeinu Avigdor now adds a surprising angle of interpretation. He turns to sod, a more mystical level of finding interrelatedness within Biblical passages, and then develops from it a halachic teaching. It is clear from the Torah that something significant happened when Pharaoh declared "HaShem haTzadik." From the midrashic understanding, we see that the word "tzadik" is a noun, and not an adjective. Moreover, it is a sacred noun rather than a common noun. That is, Pharaoh is not describing HaShem as just or righteous. He is naming HaShem "the Just One." That means that with those words, Pharaoh actually "anointed" HaShem with a "new" title. This was an act of submission on his part. In the same way that a servant bows to a king in acknowledging that he is his sovereign ruler and master, Pharaoh was acknowledging that when HaShem acts, His actions are just and unquestionable. This was a great moment in the history of humanity. For this reason, we can then follow why the midrash is certain that Pharaoh deserved a personal miracle - he survived the catastrophe at the sea. And now, Rabbeinu Avigdor introduces a practical application of this message. You may recall that at many points in the year, we offer prayers of awareness that HaShem is the Just G-d. At the close of our Ashamnu confessions, we echo a verse from the Book of Nechemia (9:33) "V'Ata Tzadik al kol ha'ba aleinu ki emes Asisa va'anachnu hirshanu." I have always chanted this, along with most others, as "V'Ata....Tzadik al kol ha'ba..." etc. and I have always assumed that the proper meaning is "And You (HaShem) ---- are justified in all that overcomes us." Rabbeinu Avigdor corrects this. He rules (as psak) that it is proper to call out aloud as a single clause "V'Ata Tzadik" - You are Just! Since HaShem veritably glorifies Himself before the Heavenly host when He is acknowledged as Just, it is that proclamation which is central. The words of contrition and confession which follow in that verse are powerful and very important, but the statement which can change the decree, that can alter the natural progression, is "HaShem You are Just." Good Shabbos. D Fox