by Rabbi Wayne Allen
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
Rashi, perhaps the greatest of all the classical commentators, is customarily terse. But his comment on Exodus 14:6 is laconic to the extreme. The narrative states that Pharaoh “made ready his chariot” to which Rashi adds two words: “he himself.” What Rashi tells us is that, rather than Pharaoh typically assigning such menial tasks as saddling his horse or preparing his chariot to some subordinate, in this instance his took on the task personally. But Rashi does not explain why. Surely Pharaoh must have some reason to do himself what otherwise would be the job of an inferior. But Rashi does not reveal what that reason might be.
In all likelihood, Rashi was counting on his readers’ familiarity with the world of Rabbinic legend. In one of the earliest Midrashic commentaries on the Book of Exodus (Mekhilta D’Rabbi Yishmael), readers would have already been exposed to the notion of Pharaoh’s departure from the norm. And readers of the Talmud (Sanhedrin 105b) would be aware of the reason for the departure. Says the Talmud: “sin’ah m’vatelet shurah,” meaning, “hatred disrupts protocol.”
Here Rashi is suggesting that ordinarily, Pharaoh would have assigned the task of preparing his chariot to one of his servants. But upon hearing how the Israelites had left Egypt under the pall of the death of all firstborn Egyptians, and after absorbing the consequence of the challenge to his previously uncontested power, a hatred for the Israelites was awakened in Pharaoh that was so powerful that he dispensed with court etiquette. He was compelled to act personally, not to waste even a moment in his single-minded pursuit of his enemy.
Our tradition recognized the powerful psychological forces that motivate human behavior and Rashi brings that understanding to our attention with a striking economy of words. But the message is undeniable. Some people are so absorbed with the hatred of Israel that they will never let etiquette, protocol, or diplomacy stand in their way. Witness the gamut of anti-Israel diatribes, now being voiced by European intellectuals, that were heretofore considered bad taste. Add to that the growing number of articles that, on the basis of a disagreement with Israeli government policy, question Israel’s very right to exist – a question never raised against any other country in the world. That is the unfortunate outcome of hatred.
Shabbat Shalom!
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Born and raised in New York City and currently a resident of Toronto, Rabbi Wayne Allen has blended a career of service to the Jewish community as an ordained rabbi with his academic pursuits. Rabbi Allen is recognized as an expert both in Jewish law and in 18th century British moral philosophy. The books he has written and those he has edited are distinguished by the inclusion of philosophical analysis and historical context, adding an extra dimension to the more traditional forms of responding to questions on Jewish practice. He is a panelist for Jewish Values On-line, an Internet site devoted to providing authoritative answers to questions on Jewish life.
Rabbi Allen has traveled extensively and has led groups to Europe and Israel, lecturing beforehand on the history of the communities to be visited. He has served as a faculty member at the American Jewish University where he taught Jewish law, at California State University Long Beach where he taught the History of Modern Jewish Thought and Zionism, and at the University of Waterloo where he taught Theology After the Holocaust. He has also been invited as a guest lecturer at York University in Toronto and at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Allen has served as a scholar-in-residence at synagogues in St. Louis and Ottawa and currently teaches at the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto where he serves as chairman of the Rabbinics Department.
Samples of Rabbi Allen’s teaching are accessible on his website, www.rabbiwayneallen.ca.
Rabbi Allen's published books, available from the UTJ Bookstore are: