One verse, five voices. Edited by Nina Litvak and Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist
“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and I will multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.”
– Exodus 7:3
Yehudit Wolffe
Founder Bais Chana of California & KoherSofer.com
“I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will multiply My signs and My wonders,” reveals a profound Torah truth about resistance and revelation. Pharaoh represents the force that opposes Divine revelation. Chassidus explains that resistance itself becomes the vessel for revelation: the deeper the concealment, precisely there G-d’s miracles multiply. Opposition is not an interruption of redemption, but its catalyst.
This reaches its fullest expression in miracles beyond nature. By hardening Pharaoh’s heart, Hashem revealed not a limited power, but Divine Essence, where light is not measured. Had Pharaoh yielded easily, the revelation would have been limited. Intensified resistance made room for a higher, essential light to emerge.
Chassidus teaches that such higher revelations surface when darkness seems overwhelming. We saw this after the Bondi terror attack on Hanukkah. Hanukkah celebrates light that defies logic and holiness overpowering threatening evils. In our own family, this truth became personal. My granddaughter B”H emerged from the Bondi attack unharmed. Instead of retreating in fear, she and my son transformed fear into a strong light onto the nations.
Together, they began spreading messages of love, moral clarity and guidance on Instagram @mindfulrabbi. As a result, his message reached 20 million views within two weeks, publicizing the universal values of the Seven Noachide Laws. Many emerging stories of courage from Sydney are testimony that evil revealed hidden resilience, unity, love … This is a catalyst to the Geulah, when all nations will recognize One G-d and will serve Him together in unity and peace.
Rabbi Shmuel Reichman
Bestselling Author and International Speaker, ShmuelReichman.com
We are complicated beings, living in an exceedingly complex world. Many people become overwhelmed by these complexities of life, hiding behind simplicity. Yet, those driven by curiosity choose to embrace the complexities of this world; those striving for the truth constantly question the nature of the world we live in.
Through the miracles and Makkos of Yetzias Mitzrayim, Hashem revealed Himself to the world. When Pharaoh hardened his heart, the laws of nature were broken, the impossible became possible, the unfathomable, fathomable. But to fully understand and appreciate the meaning of a miracle, we must first attempt to understand nature itself.
The very idea of nature is enigmatic. After all, what do we mean when we refer to the natural? Naturally, what goes up tends to come back down. Nature also causes rainstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes and appears to be responsible for disease and illness. We tend to give nature credit for most of what happens in this world. However, any thoughtful Jew should be troubled by the concept of nature. If Hashem created this world, how are we supposed to approach nature? Is nature independent from Hashem?
The Ramban beautifully explains that the only fundamental difference between open miracles and nature is the frequency. The miracles of Yetzias Mitzrayim occurred only once in history, while the miracles of nature occur every second. Let us be inspired to see past the mask of nature, to find Hashem in every aspect of our lives, and to recognize the miraculous within the natural.
Rabbi Johnny Solomon
Spiritual Coach, #theVirtualRabbi at WebYeshiva.org
The Bible uses a range of names to describe God, with each focusing on a different aspect of God’s essence. Specifically, the two names that are most often used for God are Elohim — which conveys God’s power — and the Tetragrammaton – which conveys God’s mercy.
When God gave the Jewish people the Torah, God became known as both a God of power and a God of mercy, and though there were other nations who knew of God, they only acknowledged God’s power but they did not acknowledge God’s mercy. This fact is evident in the exchange between Moshe, Aaron & Pharaoh where Moshe & Aaron use both names of God (see Shemot 5:1), to which Pharaoh replies by asking, “Who is this God (using the Tetragrammaton) that I should obey Him? … I do not know this God (using the Tetragrammaton)!” (ibid. 5:2). As Rabbi Abraham Saba explains (in his Tzror HaMor commentary), Pharoh recognized that there was a God, but he denied the merciful aspect of God.
This now brings us to our verse (Shemot 7:3) which seemingly informs us that God intended to harden Pharoh’s heart. But if we pay close attention, we see that the name of God that is used in this verse is the Tetragrammaton. Accordingly, Rabbi Saba explains that rather than God actively hardening Pharaoh’s heart, by denying God’s merciful dimension, Pharaoh’s heart became more hardened. From here we learn that when we fail to recognize grace and mercy, our hearts become hardened.
Elan Javanfard
LMFT, Professor & Author, “Psycho-Spiritual Insights” Blog
At first glance, this verse is unsettling. If Hashem hardened Pharaoh’s heart, where was his free will? Rashi, Ramban and Chizkuni offer a striking answer that aligns closely with modern psychology: free will is not a fixed trait. It is a capacity that can be strengthened or weakened over time.
In the first plagues, Pharaoh hardens his own heart. He repeatedly ignores suffering, rationalizes cruelty and refuses to change. Psychology tells us that repeated behavior creates patterns. Each choice reinforces the next. Over time, flexibility shrinks. What once felt like a choice becomes a reflex.
Only later does the Torah say that Hashem hardens Pharaoh’s heart, not as punishment alone, but as consequence. Pharaoh has so consistently resisted moral awareness that he can no longer access it. Even when he considers letting the people go, it is not out of values or responsibility, but simply to stop the pain. Change motivated only by relief rarely lasts.
The Torah is teaching a sobering truth: we do not lose freedom suddenly; we erode it gradually. When we ignore conscience, dismiss feedback or justify harmful patterns, we make future change harder. The hopeful side is equally powerful. Every small act of integrity, accountability and courage strengthens our capacity to choose again. The heart is not just hardened. It is shaped. The question Pharaoh leaves us with is not: Do I have free will? It is: What kind of heart am I shaping through my choices?
Michael Milgraum
Psychologist and Author
On this parsha Rashi comments that Hashem has the following intention when making this decree: Pharaoh acted wickedly and defied Hashem; since there is no delight among the nations to repent wholeheartedly, it is better for Hashem that Pharaoh’s heart be hardened, so that Hashem can increase His signs and wonders and Israel should hear and fear.
Rashi’s thought is such a powerful statement of Hashem’s awesome and overarching power in all that we experience in the world. It is not accurate to say that Hashem’s power overrides human free will. Rather, His power coexists with human choices, so that, regardless of the choices made, Hashem’s ultimate designs will be accomplished. Rashi himself notes that the Torah does not initially say that Hashem hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but that, during the first five plagues, Pharaoh strengthened his own heart, that is, he steeled himself to keep up his defiance of Moshe, despite the plagues. This was a free choice on the part of Pharaoh, which showed Hashem how much Pharaoh did not delight in wholehearted repentance.
Did this thwart Hashem’s design? Not at all. Hashem’s design was to magnify His glory and increase Israel’s awe towards him. This design could be accomplished by all peoples wholeheartedly revering Hashem, but there were other ways to accomplish this goal. It was in the midst of darkness and destruction for Pharaoh and the Egyptians and in the glorious protection of Israel, His holy servants, that Hashem’s awesomeness was magnified in the world.
