“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Come to Pharaoh, etc.’” Many have wondered about this section, as it does not mention what Moses should say to Pharaoh upon coming to him, since nothing is mentioned about the plague of locusts. What Ramban explained in the name of the Rabbati, that there is a hint to the plague of locusts in the phrase and so that you may tell in the ears of your son and your son’s son how I have made a mockery of Egypt, and it is written about locusts in Joel (1:3) Tell your children about it, and let your children tell their children — this is not sufficient to resolve this difficulty, because the very same question remains: why was it said specifically regarding this plague that he should tell it to his children more than all the other plagues? And I have an additional difficulty: why is the hardening of the hearts of his servants mentioned only in relation to the plagues of hail and locusts? According to the simple meaning, it seems to me that in all the plagues there is certainly no difference between Pharaoh and his servants, as Pharaoh surely felt them all just like his servants, except for the plague of famine and drought, which only affected his servants but not the king himself, since kings generally have storehouses of grain for years of famine. Only in an exaggerated case would famine affect the king himself. Therefore, regarding the hail it says, and he hardened his heart, he and his servants — not only he, but even his servants, who should have taken to heart that God had called for famine, nevertheless did not care because the wheat and the spelt were not struck. And when God said again to Moses, For I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, Moses understood from this that he should warn him a second time, that God had called for famine and yet they would not pay attention to his warning — not only Pharaoh but even his servants. From this, Moses understood that it was God’s will to send locusts, because typically, crops that have ripened in the field can only be destroyed by hail or locusts. And since hail had already occurred, this could only be locusts that would eat what the hail had left. Therefore, specifically regarding this plague it says, And Pharaoh’s servants said to him, ‘How long shall this be a snare to us?’ because the famine affected his servants more than Pharaoh, so they urged Pharaoh to send the people away.

And what is said in this plague, and so that you may tell in the ears of your son and your son’s son more than in all the other plagues, here is a place for me to explain this based on what the Ramban wrote in this section in the name of Rabbeinu Chananel on the verse and after it there shall not be such (Exodus 10:14). And this is his language: “From Moses’ entreaty until now, locusts do not damage anything in the entire border of Egypt, and if they fall in the land of Israel and enter the border of Egypt, they do not eat anything from the produce of Egypt, and this is known to all, and about this it is said (Psalms 105:2), Speak of all His wonders.” End quote. Look to the right and see that the verse Speak of all His wonders is very similar to the verse and so that you may tell in the ears of your son and your son’s son. The explanation of the matter is that in all the plagues that were in Egypt, no trace of them remained in Egypt after their removal that would cause future generations to ask “what is this and what is this about?” For their memory was forgotten among the masses as the days grew long and everything was forgotten. But with the plague of locusts, a trace remained for generations even after the removal of the plague, for over the course of time, generations would find something new and see that locusts would come but not eat anything from the produce of Egypt. Then surely the children would ask about this miracle, why they do not eat from the produce of Egypt but only from the produce of the land of Israel. And you would necessarily have to respond with the story of all that happened in the land of Egypt, and that Moses said upon the removal of the plague that no locusts would remain in all the territory of Egypt, and through this they would tell of the miracles of Egypt and recognize the power of His blessed kingdom. This is what Rabbeinu Chananel concludes in his words with the verse Speak of all His wonders, for undoubtedly the Holy One, blessed be He, left this trace for generations so that through it they would remember the Exodus from Egypt and speak of all His wonders. This is what is meant by and so that you may tell in the ears of your son, etc. and you shall know that I am the Lord. For through this telling, future generations would know His blessed might and His wonders, and this explanation is precious and very correct. And what is said about the locusts in Joel, Tell your children, etc. — this is not a difficulty, for certainly it is appropriate to tell future generations how much sin causes harm to Israel so that future generations might take moral instruction. But here, certainly the explanation is not like this, for if so, why did He command to tell his children specifically about the plague of locusts more than all the plagues? Rather, certainly the reason is as we have mentioned.

And that which the plague of locusts was not mentioned explicitly but only by hint is because the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted Moses to rebuke Pharaoh for his foolishness, for he was never humbled because of God’s word, but only because of the plagues that had already come. And repentance that a person does out of compulsion is not complete repentance, because when the compulsion is removed, he will return to his wicked ways, as happened with Pharaoh. Therefore, He did not explicitly mention the plague so that Moses would understand from this that he should begin with rebuke for his sin, and ask him to be humbled because of God’s word and not because of the plague, and then he would remain in his righteousness. And so Moses did, for the beginning of his words were How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? meaning before God’s word and not because of the plague. Therefore, Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this be a snare for us?” And they wanted to make a compromise with Moses before the coming of the plague, as Moses had spoken, and his servants bore the weight first for the reason explained above.

And he will not be able to see the earth. Rashi explains [this refers to] the seer, but the essence [of this] is missing from the text. Additionally, according to his interpretation, the fact that they will not be able to see the land has no practical relevance to the damage. At the very least, it should have first mentioned and it will eat the remainder of what has escaped, as this is the main damage. Similarly, in the implementation of the plague, it is also said, and the land was darkened, and it ate all the vegetation of the land, implying that the reason for the eating was due to the darkening of the land. This matter requires explanation.

And I say, from what is known that all blind people eat and are not satisfied, so too this locust plague, due to their great numbers causes the land to darken, and even the locusts cannot see what they are eating. Thus, they eat like a blind person [fumbling] in a chimney, and they are not satisfied. Therefore, it shall eat all that is in the field, and still not be satisfied until it enters from the field also into the houses, and your houses shall be filled, etc. And this is what it means by and one will not be able to see — meaning the locusts that were mentioned previously will not be able to see the land. And because the locusts will not see the land, they will eat everything and not be satisfied until they seek afterwards also what is in the houses. And what we find that in the actual plague they only ate what was in the fields and we do not find that they entered the houses, [this is] because it says And Pharaoh hastened to call Moses and Aaron. Why is the language of “hastening” not used in any other plague? Rather, because Pharaoh knew that if they did not find [enough food] in the fields, they would also eat what was in the houses. Therefore, Pharaoh hastened before they could enter his house, and thus [said] now, please forgive my sin — now, immediately, before they could enter the houses.

“And they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all Egypt.” Without doubt, the king’s house is more inner than the houses of all his servants, and the houses of all his servants are more inner than the houses of all Egypt. So how would the locusts enter first into the innermost areas and only afterward to the head of all streets? Rather, certainly this was done miraculously, because the punishment matched the sin. For he [Pharaoh] began the corruption first, and afterward his servants, because without doubt the sin was attributed more to him than to his servants, and more to his servants than to all his people, as Rashi explains regarding the frogs (7:28) where it says And they shall ascend and come into your house, etc., and into the houses of your servants and your people. And perhaps about this reversed order it says there was no locust like it before, meaning there could have been locusts like it, but not in this reversed order that was contrary to the way of the world.

And he turned and went out from Pharaoh. It can be interpreted that he had not yet left, but rather turned his face away from him to leave, and he only left “from Pharaoh” but was still among his servants. And during this time, Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this be a snare to us?” They were pointing at Moses with their finger, saying, “This Moses, the man — we do not know how long he will be a snare to us.” And from the fact that they said this, we can learn that he was still among them. Therefore, Moses and Aaron were brought back — they were brought back automatically, because Pharaoh did not need to send for them as they were still among them and heard the words of his servants. And because of this, they were brought back and returned to Pharaoh, and he said to them, Go, worship, etc.

“Who and who are going.” There are questions in this matter: First, the repetition of who and who when one would suffice; second, the use of are going in the present tense, which is inappropriate as it should say “who will go,” implying the future, because are going suggests they are going now, but they have not yet gone; third, the phrase we will go appears twice, and surely one of them is superfluous, as it should say “with our youth and our elders, with our sons and our daughters we will go”; fourth, the phrase for it is a festival of the Lord for us, yet earlier it was said in the name of the Lord and they shall celebrate for Me in the wilderness, suggesting the festival is for the Lord and not for us. This distinction is well-known: a festival for the Lord involves divine service, while a festival for us involves the joy of the worshippers, as it is written a solemn assembly for the Lord (Deuteronomy 16:8), and it is written there shall be a solemn assembly for you (Numbers 29:35). Our Sages said (Pesachim 68b) as a compromise: “half for the Lord and half for you.” And here, who is wise and who knows the interpretation of this matter? Furthermore, the phrase this is what you are seeking is in the present tense, when it should say “this is what you sought” in the past tense, because now they are asking for more than that, as they said with our youth and our elders, etc. — indicating they wanted to uproot everything from there. The explanation of the commentators is already known, and instead of the word this [otah], it should have said “it is what you seek.”

And the explanation for all these questions is, that Pharaoh did not ask Moses who would go, but rather decreed definitively that only the males, whose way it is to sacrifice, would certainly go. He said, Go, serve the Lord your God, and [implied], “Search throughout the entire world and see what is customary — who typically goes [to sacrifice].” Therefore, he repeated who and who, meaning whether you look to the right or to the left to see in every place what is customary regarding who typically goes to sacrifice. This explains the language of those who go, which refers to all those who go [to sacrifice] throughout the world, “and from there you will see and likewise you shall also do” according to what is customary. Moses replied, With our young and with our old we will go. Seemingly, according to the simple meaning, the word we will go is completely superfluous. That is to say, both [times he says, “we will go”] are unnecessary, since he is responding to the question of who and who will go. He should have answered “our young and our old, our sons, etc.” with all of it referring to those who are going. But certainly, it does not refer to those who are going. Rather, [Moses] was saying: “You tell us to go as is the way of those who go [to sacrifice] throughout the world, but we will not do so. Rather, with our young and with our old we will go.” And there is a distinction between we will go and “those who go,” as one is not comparable to the other. Even though among all those who go to sacrifice, only those whose way it is to sacrifice actually go, nevertheless, we will all go completely. And he gave a reason for this: because it is a festival of the Lord for us. For indeed, regarding all those [in the world] who go only to sacrifice, it is appropriate that only those who typically sacrifice should go. But for us, beyond the service, namely the festival to the Lord, we have another additional commandment, which is the joy of the festival. This is what he meant by saying because it is a festival of the Lord for us — it needs to be for us</i. as well. And it is known that a person’s joy is not complete unless his wife, his children, and all his possessions are with him. For how can one sing the song of the Lord on foreign soil while his wife, children, and possessions are left as a pledge for him? And he who dwells without a wife dwells without joy. Therefore, Moses said we will go twice, to make two divisions among those going: “our young and our old we will go” to serve, and “our sons and our daughters” will go for the purpose of joy — meaning that we will rejoice with them to fulfill God’s commandment upon us to give half to the Lord and half to ourselves and our children, for the sake of joy.

And he said to them, “Let the Lord be with you, etc.” You are saying to associate God with you when I send you and your children, because you [want] to go for the service of God and your children for your joy, so that God will be associated with you. Therefore, I say, Let the Lord be with you only if I send you and your children, for I have no desire to send the children with you, and then God will also not be with you, because it is not proper to associate God’s name with something else. See that evil is before your faces — for you are going to sacrifice in order to nullify the influence of the star called “evil,” and it should be enough for you to be saved from the evil. Yet you also seek abundant joy, to flee from one extreme to the other — this is not proper. Not so, let the men go and serve the Lord, for “it” — meaning the joy — is what you seek. I say that you seek joy and are inventing it from your hearts, for it does not come from the Most High, but you are seeking this joy from your hearts. For at first you said in God’s name, They shall celebrate for Me in the wilderness — for Me implies for My name alone, for Me and not for you. So how can you now say in God’s name for it is the Lord’s festival for us? For God is not a man that He should change His mind. Rather, it is certain that you are seeking this from your [own] hearts. Therefore, Pharaoh was filled with rage against them, and consequently he drove them out from before Pharaoh.

And what it says with our youth and our elders, with our flocks and our herds implies that they made themselves secondary to all of these, since they did not say “will go with us.” Yet Pharaoh said even your young ones will go with you, implying that the children were secondary to them. This will be explained adjacently, God willing.

“Look, for evil is before your faces, etc.” According to what our Sages said (Shabbat 156), “One who is born under the influence of Mars will be a person who sheds blood. What is his remedy? He should become a butcher or a surgeon.” The reason for this is that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not completely override the astrological influences, but rather this is what the Lord will do for those who fear the Lord and think of His name — that when there is some evil indicated in the astrological configuration, then the Holy One, blessed be He, redirects the influence toward something else similar to it, in such a way that one who observes a commandment will know no evil. And the decree of the astrological configuration will be fulfilled in any case.

And in this way, we find (Moed Katan 9b) “Go to them so they may bless you.” They said to him, “May it be God’s will that you sow but not reap… may your house be destroyed…” He replied, “All of these are actually blessings…” People question why they blessed him with parables and riddles instead of blessing him clearly and not with riddles. Rather, because he saw that the celestial decree indicated “you will sow but not reap” and wanted to transform it into a blessing in a way that would fulfill the celestial decree while ensuring he would not be harmed. Similarly, when Israel left Egypt, Pharaoh saw through his astrology that the planet Mars, whose name is “Ra’ah” [evil], was rising against them, indicating bloodshed. The influence of this planet could only be remedied through a circumciser or a slaughterer, and both together are good. This is because there is uncertainty whether this planet indicates actual killing, or merely wounds and bruises alone, or both together. Therefore, to remedy this uncertainty, both are needed: a circumciser and a slaughterer. For this reason, God gave Israel two commandments: the blood of the Passover sacrifice and the blood of circumcision. He wanted to save them from the celestial decree and redirect the influence of that planet toward the slaughterer and circumciser – the slaughterer referring to the slaughtering of the Passover sacrifice, and the circumciser referring to circumcision. A hint to this matter is that the numerical value of “Ra’ah” [evil] equals that of “orlah” [foreskin]. They were commanded regarding both to be saved from actual killing and from wounds and bruises. Pharaoh said, “I see that the planet whose name is ‘Ra’ah’ is rising to meet you and all who leave Egypt, whether men, women, or children. So how will you remedy these two aspects of the celestial decree? Granted, the men can remedy it through the blood of the Passover sacrifice and circumcision, but how will the women and children remedy it? For women are not obligated in circumcision, and it is not the way of children to slaughter sacrifices. Therefore, let the men go and serve the Lord, for that is what you seek – to remedy the influence of the planet.” After all, you have already said, Lest He strike us with pestilence or sword. This is the reason for and we will sacrifice to the Lord our God specifically – not just about going – so that Pharaoh would not say, “Go serve some service without sacrifice,” which would leave your livestock here. Therefore, Moses said, and we will sacrifice so that those who go would not be struck with pestilence or sword due to the planet’s influence. That is why he mentioned the term strike, indicating those who would go in any case. Thus, your own mouth testifies against you that you need to remedy the influence of the celestial decree indicating pestilence and sword, and this can only be remedied by the men, so women and children must necessarily remain with us.

“And now, please forgive my sin, etc.” Since Pharaoh said, I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you, he mentioned the sin against God first because it was too great to bear, more so than the sin he committed against Moses and Aaron. Nevertheless, the Holy One, blessed be He, forgives iniquity and is more abundant in pardoning than flesh and blood. Therefore, Pharaoh first asked forgiveness from Moses and then from the Blessed God, thinking that if Moses forgave him first, then Moses would become an intermediary between him and God. Still, God would not be displeased that Pharaoh delayed asking Him first, because the Holy One, blessed be He, is abundant in mercy, and with Him is forgiveness. Moreover, God knows that Pharaoh needs an intermediary, which is why it says, And now, please forgive my sin. Meaning, now immediately please forgive my sin, and afterward pray for me to the Lord your God. And regarding why he said please forgive in the singular form rather than “please forgive” in the plural form, perhaps because since Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s house, Pharaoh knew that he was an extremely humble man who pardons and forgives anyone who causes him pain. Therefore, he thought there was no need to ask forgiveness except from Aaron, as Pharaoh did not know Aaron’s character.

And regarding what it says, “remove from me only this death,” some say that he [Pharaoh] requested that He [God] only remove the living [locusts], because they are harmful and cause death, but not the salted ones [dead locusts] that were already dead, since they don’t cause death or harm. And the Holy One, blessed be He, did not grant him this request and sent away even the salted ones [dead locusts].

“And darkness was removed/touched [vayamesh].” This is a term of removal, because it is the nature of creation that every person has both day and night. What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do? He removed the ordinary darkness of night from the territory of Israel and placed it upon the land of Egypt. Therefore, the Egyptians had double darkness, and for this reason the wicked are silenced in darkness (1 Samuel 2:9) even during the day, because the sun had no time to shine except during the day, since the night was already dark anyway. And for this reason, the children of Israel had light in their dwellings even at night. A hint to this is that [the verse] and for all the children of Israel there was — these four words end with the letters that spell “lailah” [night]. And afterward it is written light in their dwellings, as if to say that even the night was light for Israel, as it is written and the night is light around me (Psalms 139:11). And this is what Rashi meant when he said that the darkness was doubled, that is, the measure of both day and night.

And what Rashi asks, why did He bring upon them darkness — and Rashi did not ask this regarding all the plagues — because in all these plagues, if Pharaoh had wanted to repent while the plague was still active, he could have. But here, no one rose from his place for three days, and even if he had wanted to repent during those three days, he would not have been able to. So why would such a thing come from Him, blessed be He? For although God had already hardened his heart, that was because Pharaoh himself had hardened his heart while the plague was active, therefore it is justified to harden his heart after the plague passes. But during the plague of darkness, even if he had wanted to repent while the plague was active, he couldn’t. So why did God bring this plague, preventing him from the path of repentance? It was because of the wicked among Israel, etc.

And Pharaoh called to Moses. Even though in all the plagues he called for Moses and Aaron, nevertheless, now he only called for Moses, because he knew that when Moses was born the entire house was filled with light, and he thought that perhaps this was a sign for the future that he [Moses] would have the special power to bring light to a place of darkness.

“Only your flocks and your herds shall be detained.” If their flocks and herds are detained, then what will they sacrifice? And the word only is superfluous. And why does he call them here flocks and herds and afterwards says and also our livestock shall go with us? Furthermore, it is difficult to understand why he inserted flocks and herds between connected phrases, for he should have said “Go, serve the Lord, also your little ones shall go with you, only your flocks and your herds shall be detained,” because the statement also your little ones shall go does not fit after shall be detained, and the word also is superfluous. Additionally, it is difficult to understand what he means by saying you shall also give into our hands sacrifices and burnt offerings. If this also comes to include the livestock of Israel, then why does he repeat and say and also our livestock shall go with us? Haven’t they already been included in the word also? It appears that our livestock refers to camels and donkeys, because without doubt the Israelites also had camels and donkeys, and regarding them he says and also our livestock shall go with us. For even though it is not appropriate to offer them as sacrifices, nevertheless from it we shall take to serve the Lord our God, meaning we shall take from it and sell them and buy with their money sheep and cattle for the service of God. Therefore it says from it we shall take to serve rather than “from it we shall serve,” using language of purchasing and buying, and thus necessarily this livestock refers to those not suitable for sacrifice.

However, in order to resolve all the questions, I say that the Israelites acquired much livestock beyond the sheep and cattle they already owned, because they knew they would be going to a desert that is not a place for livestock. Pharaoh thought that they bought these in order to sacrifice them to God so they wouldn’t need to take from their homes a bull or from their pens he-goats. This is the meaning of our livestock, namely the sheep and cattle that they purchased now. Therefore, Pharaoh said, Only your sheep and cattle shall remain, and with the word only he excluded their recently acquired livestock, that it should go with them for sacrifice purposes. And it is obvious that this livestock must go because there can be no sacrifice without them. But even your children, who are not necessary for the service but only for celebration, may nevertheless go. Moses said, not only is it obvious that our sheep and our cattle that we already have must go — for how could it be that we would not take from the firstborns of our flocks and our herds that we already own to sacrifice to God, as it is not respectful to buy from the market to sacrifice to God instead of taking from the choicest sheep and cattle we already own — but you must also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings. And if you [Pharaoh] would say, “If so, you presumably intend to sacrifice the best, which would be the sheep and cattle that grew up in your stalls, and therefore what you purchased you intend to keep for yourselves, so at least let the livestock you purchased remain here, since you don’t intend to sacrifice from it” — to this Moses responded, Our livestock, too, shall go with us, etc. For we did not purchase it to keep for ourselves, but because we shall not know with what we are to worship the Lord, as Rashi explains, perhaps He will ask for more than what we have. And with this, all the questions are resolved.

Also your little ones shall go with you. He made the little ones subsidiary to them, while Moses said the opposite, We will go with our sons and our daughters (Exodus 10:9), making themselves subsidiary even to the little ones. This is because Moses, due to his great humility, made himself subsidiary to everyone — to youths, elders, sons, and daughters — all were essential in the service of the blessed God, [saying] “and we will go with them incidentally because we are subsidiary to them.” And concerning with our flocks and with our herds we will go (Exodus 10:9), since they were going to be slaughtered for divine service, obviously we are subsidiary to them, as our Sages said (Genesis Rabbah 33:1) You save man and beast, O Lord (Psalms 36:7) — man is saved by the merit of beasts. But Pharaoh, for the sake of dignity, could not properly make them subsidiary to the little ones, therefore he said also your little ones shall go with you, making them [the adults] primary and the little ones subsidiary to them. And what Moses said, also our livestock will go with us, here he made the livestock subsidiary, because here he speaks of livestock possessions, and it is the way of the spiritually complete that their possessions are subsidiary to them and they rule over their possessions, unlike the way of lesser people, whose possessions rule over them to direct them wherever they desire, as we elaborated on this in the portion of Vayishlach on the verse I have plenty (Genesis 33:9) — see there. Whether according to the first interpretation we mentioned above that also our livestock refers to camels and donkeys, or according to the second interpretation that it speaks of what they acquired as animals for their needs, ultimately it’s all property possession, and it is not the way of the spiritually complete to make themselves subsidiary and their possessions primary. But above it said with our flocks and with our herds we will go (Exodus 10:9), [referring to animals] going for divine service to be slaughtered, [and so] they made themselves subsidiary as mentioned.