In Parashat Va-eira, Pharaoh, plagued with frogs, asks Moshe and Aharon to "entreat" God to remove the plague and says that he'll respond by releasing the Israelites. Moshe agrees, and then we have (Exodus 8:8):
וַיֵּצֵא מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן מֵעִם פַּרְעֹה וַיִּצְעַק מֹשֶׁה אֶל ה' עַל דְּבַר הַצְפַרְדְּעִים אֲשֶׁר שָׂם לְפַרְעֹה
And Moses and Aaron went away from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs that He had brought upon Pharaoh.
(emphasis mine)
I've always had a problem with the verb "cried out" here. It seems to me that people "cry out" about things that are really, really bothering them. In fact, this would seem to be the pattern the other times we have "וַיִּצְעַק" in the Torah:
- Esav, upon learning that Ya'akov had taken their father's blessing. (Genesis 27:34)
- Starving Egyptians, begging Pharaoh for food. (Genesis 41:55)
- The Israelites, when a wrathful fire from God was burning them for being whiners. (Numbers 11:2)
- Moshe, when his sister was afflicted with Tzara'at. (Numbers 12:13)
So, what was bothering Moshe so much here that he "cried out"? The frogs weren't plaguing him, and I assume that he didn't love Pharaoh like a sister. Why not just say to God "Pharaoh said he'd let us go if You take away the frogs. Could You please do that?" Why did Moshe have to get so emotional about his oppressors' frog problem?
No comments:
Post a Comment