A Thought on Parshas Va'era

"...v'lo shom'u...mi'kotzer ruach u'mae'avoda kasha..." "...the Jews did not listen to Moshe because of their hard labor..." (5:9) "...hen Benei Yisroel lo shomu v'eich yishma'eini Pharaoh?..." (5:12) "...if the Jews didn't listen to me why would Pharaoh listen to me?..." Rashi cites the words of our sages that Moshe's statement here represents one of the ten times we see "kal v'chomer" deductive reasoning used in the Torah. Moshe's point makes great sense, at first glance: if the Jews had refused to accept his offer to pick up and leave, certainly Pharaoh would have no interest in granting Moshe's request! That seems obvious, until we go back to the first verse above. The Torah seems to offer a reason why the Jews were not keen on the plan. The Torah spells out that they were out of breath and overworked, and this may have dulled their interest in putting forth effort to change their circumstances. They lacked the spirit. That factor, though, had nothing to do with Pharaoh. Maybe Pharaoh would indeed be inspired by Moshe's plan, or maybe not. Regardless, whatever stance he took cannot be deduced from the Jewish people's disinterest, which was a product of their misery and slavery. Rashi's interpretation makes it hard to see what "kal v'chomer" our sages attribute to Moshe's assertion. The commentaries struggle to understand Rashi, in view of this point. The Panae'ach Raza challenges Rashi's approach, questioning if this is indeed a true "Kal v'Chomer", as explained. He then offers a different angle. Our first verse, which describes how the Jews lacked motivation and energy, is not a reference to their slavery and bondage in Egypt. It is a reference to their feeling unready to go and embrace a new religious lifestyle fraught with hard ritual avoda. They felt that the requirements and burdens involved in serving HaShem in so many ways would be exhausting. They believed that they lacked the energy and the stamina to take on "avoda kasha" - demanding religious service. The hard work referred to in the verse is not the bondage in Egypt, but the religious commitments upon leaving Egypt. They felt helpless and weak, and were not inspired to take this on. The Torah is explaining, in this verse, the reason the Jews turned down the offer to leave Egypt. This then was the actual kal v'chomer: if the Jews evinced no interest or enthusiasm about serving HaShem, how would Moshe be able to argue that Pharaoh should let them do it, given that they didn't want to go anyway?! The reasoning was "if the people do not want to go, I certainly cannot convince Pharaoh that he should agree to let them go." At this low point in the enslaved lives of our nation, the lure of replacing one form of servitude with another, even when our "task Master" was the Divine, did not appeal to the broken spirit of the people. The verse should be understand as stating "the Children of Israel were broken in spirit and were not enticed by the offer of leaving exile in order to undertake the demands and challenges of a religious life." Another spin on two verses, and a Chazal, which many have read, over and again, without stopping to ponder it. Maybe some of us continue to resist "avoda kasha." The Panae'ach Raza revives our spirit, and makes the work a bit easier for us! Good Shabbos. D Fox